"Are we almost there?"
"Should be. Let me check."
Under the blazing noon sun, a few figures trudged down an endless dirt path, trailing behind an old draft horse pulling a cart.
As he walked, Gauss kept scanning the area—not to admire the view, but to check against the mental map in his head.
Wherever he had traveled before, the map would light up the surrounding area. Whenever he passed a notable landmark or some kind of distinct terrain, he'd subconsciously mark it with a name and a tag, just to keep things organized.
At the moment, the only clearly visible area on his mental map was around Grayrock Town. Beyond that, everything else was still shrouded in darkness—just a few winding trails branching out from the town, each ending in one of the nearby villages he'd visited on past quests.
The map feature might not seem impressive on paper, but when you're deep in some endless forest or stuck in a vast wilderness with zero man-made structures in sight, being able to pinpoint your location and distance from civilization is a huge relief.
It meant never having to worry about getting lost.
And for low-tier adventurers, that kind of ability was incredibly valuable.
In fact, once he eventually stepped into higher-level ruins, dungeons, and labyrinths, this feature would likely become even more critical.
Whether it was a maze, a cave, an underground world, or an oceanic expedition—if he'd been there, he wouldn't lose his way.
He marked a nearby water source on his map and pulled out of the interface.
Up ahead, he spotted the glittering outline of a large river in the distance.
That was their next mission site: the Enns River.
This job was to eliminate a group of water ghouls that had taken up residence along the shoreline—about twenty in total. Their task was to search the docks and surrounding areas and wipe out the monsters.
It was their second mission since the rain cleared up. The previous one involved clearing skeletons from a graveyard.
Regular skeletons were, without a doubt, the weakest monsters Gauss had faced so far.
Unfortunately, there hadn't been many of them, and although Gauss had taken down most of them, he only got credit for eight.
Skeleton-related quests were rare anyway. They were so weak that villagers could take them out with pitchforks. No one wanted to pay adventurers to do it.
Honestly, skeletons were a disgrace to monsters everywhere.
Still, those 8 skeletons pushed Gauss's total kill count closer to the next milestone. Now he only needed 10 more to hit the magic number: 50.
Ten enemies? Definitely possible in a single mission.
"Let's stay sharp," Laevin warned as they neared the docks. "That storm may have brought more than just water ghouls."
Gauss nodded in agreement.
Rivers were already home to plenty of monsters. With all the recent rainfall, who knew what else might have been washed down this way?
Up on the ridge overlooking the river sat a small fishing village. Down below was a tidy wooden dock with dozens of small boats tied along the bank. Beneath the boats, colorful water weeds swayed under the sparkling surface, pierced by shafts of sunlight. It was quite a scenic view.
Sailors, loaders, and fishermen bustled about, busy at work.
"Looks peaceful enough," someone muttered.
From their vantage point, they could see most of the riverbank—but nothing resembling a water ghoul in sight.
"Let's check the tavern."
The group headed into the village toward the only tavern in sight.
The mission had been posted by a trade guild based in Grayrock, which also happened to run the dock operations here. The tavern was one of the guild's properties too.
So asking around there was the obvious move.
The sign above the entrance read: "The Mermaid Tavern."
Its logo: a seductive mermaid with a shimmering fishtail.
Even during the day, the place was packed.
Dock workers, merchants, and locals filled the place with noise—eating, drinking, shouting over one another.
"Creeaakk…"
The door swung open with a painful screech, and sunlight cut sharply through the dim, noisy interior.
The sudden sound made everyone turn to look.
Heavy, synchronized footsteps echoed in, followed by a group of adventurers in full gear.
At the front was Laevin, towering and stone-faced, like a walking fortress. The rest of the group didn't look any easier to mess with.
Their presence was so intense that most of the tavern instinctively looked away and returned to what they were doing.
Even the volume of conversation dropped like someone had flipped a switch.
Gauss, watching Laevin's perfectly timed intimidation act, mentally took notes.
Yeah… putting on a bit of a tough guy act isn't a bad idea. Especially in a place like this—full of booze, shady people, and questionable tempers. Look too soft, and someone might get bold.
What Gauss didn't realize was that he looked just as unapproachable—if not more.
Though he wore simple leather armor and a standard round shield with a longsword at his hip, those striking emerald eyes and his unnaturally calm aura gave people pause.
One glance into his eyes, and even without meaning to, his 7-point Intelligence stat exuded an invisible pressure that made normal folks instinctively avoid eye contact.
"You guys are the ones who picked up the job, right? I'm Harvey, the tavern owner."
"Nice to meet you," Laevin said.
They hadn't been waiting long before the owner approached.
Harvey waved them toward a private room in the back so they wouldn't disturb the other customers.
Once inside and the door closed behind them, Gauss asked, "So… we didn't see any water ghouls. The mission said there were over 20 hanging around the docks?"
Harvey gave a nervous chuckle and scratched his head.
After briefly meeting Gauss's eyes—and immediately feeling that weird pressure—he looked away awkwardly.
"Well, yes… That was the case. But yesterday, a bunch of drunk sailors got it in their heads to 'take care of business' themselves. They went down to the shore, swords swinging…"
"And?" Gauss raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't kill them all," Harvey admitted with a wry smile. "Hurt a few ghouls, lost a few guys in the process. Found two dead ghouls afterward, but the rest fled. We haven't seen them since."
"Thing is… a bunch of merchant ships are scheduled to dock soon. We really need someone to find those things and finish the job."
The team exchanged glances.
Seriously?
Some half-baked revenge squad stirred the hornet's nest, and now the ghouls were in hiding?
Which just made their job harder.
Sensing the shift in mood, Harvey quickly added, "How about this? I'll request a bonus from the trade guild. I can offer an additional 20 silver as compensation."
Now that got their attention.
Water ghoul hunts were already known for high payouts. That's why they'd taken the job.
With the original 1 silver per ghoul reward, plus the 20-silver bonus, and whatever loot they might collect from the monsters—armor, weapons, salvage, or even useful organs like bile sacs, tongues, and brains for poison crafting—this mission was shaping up to be very profitable.
They'd probably earn more than 60 silver total.
That meant 10+ silver per person, easily.
Which was… a lot for a single job.
"We'll need to discuss this first," Laevin said.
"Of course," Harvey nodded and left the room to give them privacy.
"So? What do you think?"
"Extra 20 silver? Yeah, I'm down."
"And the ghouls drop a lot of useful stuff anyway," Meva added. "Seems worth it."
Laevin looked around at everyone, got nods in return, and made the call.
"Alright. We'll take the job."
"But stay sharp," he added, lowering his voice. "Something feels off."
He couldn't quite explain the tightness in his chest, but the unease had been building ever since they got near the river.
It was the same kind of gut feeling that often came with his role as a shield bearer.
He couldn't put his finger on it—so he just warned everyone to be cautious.
They nodded, though no one seemed too concerned. Laevin always worried like this before a fight.
Gauss, meanwhile, was focused on something else entirely:
He was 10 kills away from hitting 50.
Just 10 more and he'd hit the next major milestone.
[Total Monster Kills: 40/50]
[Monster Types Collected: 3/5 (Goblin, Slime, Skeleton)]
Maybe—just maybe—he could finish the set with this mission.