"Looks like your magical talent is even better than I expected," Andeni said, her voice tinged with a bit of envy.
She couldn’t help but recall her own past—how hard she had worked after leaving her village. The struggle of going from a clueless novice to an apprentice who could finally cast cantrips, and only after countless quests, experiences, and saving enough coin, did she finally advance to become a full-fledged mage.
Even with her naturally heightened mana sensitivity—already better than most—it still took her nearly two years to achieve what Gauss had just done.
“I owe a lot of it to you, senior,” Gauss said sincerely. “If you hadn’t recommended the caster apprentice association in Wormwood Town, I probably wouldn’t have made this much progress so fast.”
He placed a bag of fruit on the table.
“I picked these up on the way over. Wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a bit of everything.”
Andeni locked eyes with him.
She had sent Gauss to Wormwood with the intention that he’d socialize, gain experience, and mature over a year or two before eventually advancing.
She hadn’t expected him to go, spend a few weeks, and come back a professional.
If that humble little association was really as effective as Gauss described, their doors would’ve been trampled flat by now.
Suppressing her mix of shock and emotion, she walked over, stood on her tiptoes, and peeked into the fruit bag.
“Why bring gifts?” she muttered.
But then she added, almost as an afterthought:
“For the record, I like blueberries.”
“Got it. I’ll bring you some next time.”
They washed some fruit and snacked as they talked.
Gauss took out the two scrolls he had looted.
“Senior, can you check these for me? I found them in a monster camp during my quest.”
Andeni wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, then placed a hand over the scrolls.
Magic rippled briefly through her fingers.
After a few seconds, she placed them back on the table.
“The first one’s a Level 3 teleportation scroll. When activated, it'll instantly move you up to 300 meters to a safe zone.”
“The other is a Level 3 healing scroll. It restores health and removes status effects like poison or minor wounds.”
“Note: both of them still consume some of your own mana to activate.”
“If you want to sell them, the teleportation scroll could fetch around 4 gold coins, and the healing one about 3 gold.”
“But unless you're desperate for cash, I’d recommend keeping them. For newly-advanced adventurers like you, these things can literally save your life.”
“Yeah, I’ll hold onto them,” Gauss nodded.
Truthfully, once he heard what they did, he already had no intention of selling.
They were one-time-use spells, sure, but the teleportation scroll alone could get him out of most combat situations instantly.
And the healing scroll was just as simple—and powerful.
Yes, using them meant burning 3–4 gold coins, but when your life’s on the line, what’s that compared to staying alive?
With these scrolls in hand, he felt way more confident about future missions.
If things went south, he’d just pop the scroll and bail—
That sounded… familiar.
Then he remembered—Alia’s furious rant about that white-haired mage who ditched her mid-fight by tearing a teleport scroll and disappearing.
But I’m not like him, Gauss thought. If I had a teammate, I’d at least warn them first.
He didn’t consider himself the type to abandon someone without a word.
He tucked the scrolls away, feeling a wave of accomplishment rise in his chest.
With over 5 gold coins in his pouch, a Life Mana Stone, a Level 3 teleport scroll, a Level 3 healing scroll, and a bunch of magic gear and loot—his assets now easily totaled over 10 gold coins.
That was almost enough to buy a full set of plate armor.
The thought made him grin.
A few months ago, he had barely a few silver to his name. Now? His wealth had reached a level most ordinary folks couldn’t imagine.
In this world of magic and monsters, if you wanted to rise—you became an adventurer.
Had he stayed a trapper, he might’ve spent a lifetime scraping together what he just earned in a few quests.
After that, Gauss asked Andeni more about what it meant to be a professional and a Bronze-ranked adventurer.
Maybe because he had advanced, or maybe because she saw potential in him, Andeni shared a lot more this time.
Topics she had once avoided as he was still an apprentice—she now freely explained.
Like how to obtain spellbooks.
Some cantrips could be bought in shops—but you had to know how to spot fakes.
Big cities also had Caster Guilds, where you could find higher-tier spells.
And once he officially became a Bronze-ranked adventurer, he’d gain access to the second floor of the Adventurer’s Guild, where the Adventurer's Store sold cantrip scrolls and even some basic spell scrolls.
But spell scrolls were expensive.
Even if you had the money, you had to choose carefully—because casters couldn’t just learn unlimited magic.
Too many spells, and your mental stamina would be overwhelmed.
Unless you used special items like a Memory Wipe Potion, you'd hit a hard limit until you reached a higher level.
How many spells you could learn depended on your Willpower and mental strength.
Some Level 1 Mages could only handle two Level 1 Spells. Others, with better talent, could manage three or even four.
But that didn’t mean more spells = stronger in combat.
Usually, casters relied on their favorite, most-practiced spell in real battle.
Still, a bigger spell repertoire meant more versatility, and the ability to adapt to different situations.
Cantrips also added to your mental burden—but far less so. Choosing your spell loadout wisely was part of being a smart caster.
Most rookies leaned heavily on cantrips anyway—they were cheap, functional, and made life easier.
Andeni recommended he focus on acquiring more cantrips first once he officially made Bronze rank.
Many functional cantrips had great utility in the field, and his current finances weren’t enough to go on a shopping spree for full-blown spells.
Basic cantrips at the guild store went for around 70–80 silver coins, while more useful ones might go up to 1 gold.
He could plan based on his needs and budget.
Gauss agreed with her advice.
Right now, he didn’t have many spells under his belt, and he didn’t feel the mental strain she described, meaning he could likely learn more.
Plus, he couldn't rely on the Adventurer’s Manual to just hand him spells all the time.
After all, he had learned Light through study, not rewards.
The guild’s second-floor shop didn’t just sell scrolls.
There were magic tools, adventurer gear, rare consumables—and more importantly: storage magic items.
Something Gauss had dreamed of owning for a while.
With one of those, he wouldn’t need to lug around heavy gear and huge bags anymore.
He could stash his loot in a pocket dimension and move light and fast—like a proper professional.
The more he listened, the more excited he became.
He couldn’t wait to finish his next two evaluation missions, earn his badge, and start shopping on the second floor.
A storage item… I need one.
His heart thumped just thinking about it.
He was a mage, after all. How could he not own a magic storage item?!
Of course… it also meant he needed more money.
So—back to killing more goblins.
Time to stack more gold.