Under the sword-shield-staff banner flapping in the wind—
After some time apart, the Night Owl party was back together again.
Compared to the dirt-covered, dead-tired crew that finished the last mission, everyone now looked totally refreshed. A few days off had clearly done wonders for morale.
"Morning, Gauss," Doyle greeted him with a wave, showing off a fresh new haircut.
"Morning," Gauss replied, nodding.
At first, Doyle had seemed quiet and stoic—but turns out he was just a little reserved. Once they got to know each other, he was surprisingly easygoing. Then again, maybe it was because Doyle now respected Gauss's strength.
"What's that?" Doyle's sharp eyes caught sight of something. "Is that a wand?"
The others followed his gaze, staring at the sleek white rod tucked at Gauss's waist.
"It's just a blank wand. No enchantments. Not worth much," Gauss said casually, waving it off.
But clearly, no one fully bought it—even though he was telling the truth. The wand just looked too refined to be "nothing special."
Even Daphne couldn't help but glance down at her own wooden staff, then back at Gauss's, lips tightening slightly. She suddenly wasn't as fond of hers anymore.
That material… was it bone? Crystal? Stone? It definitely didn't look like the standard wooden wands everyone else used.
"Alright, let's check the quest board," Laevin said, steering the team toward the Adventurer's Guild hall.
Inside, it was the usual chaos.
The moment they stepped through the door, a wall of voices hit them like a wave. No one at this level cared about keeping their voice down—especially the half-beasts. With their booming voices and zero volume control, it was like being in a tavern brawl without the punching.
"Hey Laevin," Gauss leaned in and raised his voice, "mind picking a different kind of quest this time?"
"Different how?"
"I want to fight something other than goblins. Something with a different build—get experience fighting different enemy types."
Laevin gave him a thoughtful nod. "Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
Gauss had proven himself more than capable, so of course Laevin would take his suggestion seriously. Besides, it wasn't a big ask.
Goblins were just the most common low-tier enemies—not the only ones.
Beginner adventurers also came across skeletons in graveyards, kobolds in old mines, water imps along rivers, and slimes lurking in swampy puddles.
All of them posed threats to towns or travelers in their own way, so bounty requests were common.
With the suggestion made, Gauss stepped back and let Laevin handle the decision. He opened his Adventurer's Manual and flipped to the Monster Index.
There were six total pages, but he only had access to the first one: [Common Monsters].
On that page, only one icon was lit—a snarling green goblin. The number 23 sat in the bottom corner of its portrait.
Everything else was still greyed out, shrouded in fog. He had no idea how many monster types were out there in this tier.
At the very bottom of the page was a summary:
[Common] Types Logged: 1
Total Defeated: 23 / 50
Since he'd only fought goblins so far, the species count and total kills were identical.
By the time Gauss snapped out of his thoughts, the others had already huddled around Laevin and picked a new quest.
…
"Locate and eliminate the slimes lurking near the orchard in Valencia Village.
Reward: 60 copper coins / slime.
Target: 20+ slimes.
Bonus: Collect slime core—30 copper per unit."
…
Slimes weren't as dangerous as goblins, but they were way harder to find. Cowardly by nature, they scattered at the first sign of danger.
That said, they weren't completely harmless. Their acidic cores could melt through gear if you weren't careful.
Still, all in all, it was a fairly chill mission. And the village wasn't far—just half a day's journey by map.
With everything settled, the group geared up and met at the town gate around noon, ready to head out again.
Since it was a short trip, the wagon carried less gear this time, leaving more room for people to rest when their turn came up.
When it was Gauss's turn to ride, he didn't waste it—he pulled out Adeni's notebook and started reading as the wagon bumped along the road.
He'd been carving out time every day to study it.
The notes didn't contain spell formulas, but they were full of personal insights about magic, mana, and theory. She'd also written down bits of magic knowledge she'd picked up over the years.
For someone like Gauss, who came from a world without any supernatural powers, it was a treasure trove of foundational knowledge.
He especially valued the section describing common cantrips and low-level spells.
That included the Identification spell Adeni had used on his Life Magic Stone. To his surprise, it was actually a Level 1 spell.
Its effect: while touching a magical item, the caster could analyze its nature and determine if it held any magical properties.
Unassuming, sure—but incredibly useful. Gauss made a mental note to learn it someday.
One thing he learned from the notes really stood out: a caster can only carry a limited number of spells in their mind at a time.
There wasn't a hard limit—it depended on one's soul strength—but the stronger the spell, the more burden it placed.
Some casters even had to erase old spells just to make room for new ones.
That's why even if someone had access to a dozen spellbooks, they would still carefully curate their active spell list. Quality over quantity.