Adventurers' Guild Hall
While the others picked out a quest, Gauss let his eyes wander around the hall.
He could tell—there were definitely more people here lately. Lots of new faces.
And it wasn’t just the rookie adventurers. What really stood out was the increase in pros, the kind who had enough rank to access the second floor.
Was the spike in quests around Grayrock pulling adventurers in from elsewhere?
Not too surprising, really. Grayrock sat right next to the Jade Forest—a place that could easily be called a monster empire.
Gauss had heard townsfolk talk about it before. The Jade Forest was basically the buffer between the Carlos Kingdom and the southern non-human territories.
Deep inside the forest, you’d find all kinds of terrifying monsters—green dragons, lizardmen, gargoyles, ogres, minotaurs, wyverns, hydras... the list went on.
Originally, Grayrock had just been a tiny outpost on the forest’s edge. It only grew into a town much later.
But as far as Gauss knew, the forest had been relatively quiet for years.
At least, there hadn’t been any large-scale conflicts in recent memory.
He pulled his focus back. The others had already settled on a quest.
“This one looks solid. What do you guys think?”
“Clear out a kobold tribe hiding in an abandoned mine—estimated group size: 20.”
Compared to goblins—Gauss’s old “buddies”—kobolds were arguably even weaker.
They were small, scaly, reptilian humanoids that lived in caves. They laid eggs, worshipped dragons, and took pride in serving as their minions.
They even claimed to have a drop of dragon blood in them.
Kobolds weren’t great in a fight, but they were excellent diggers and builders. They loved to expand and reshape any cave they found into a homey little lair.
Combat-wise, though, they didn’t pose much of a threat. Most didn’t even live past ten. They relied on numbers, which often backfired hard.
Gauss had no issues with the quest.
Kobolds were short—maybe four feet tall—and not much of a challenge in a straight-up fight. The only thing to really watch out for was their traps.
But their team had Meva, a trap and mechanism specialist, and Gauss himself, who had been quietly learning from her. Plus, his Mage Hand was perfect for probing dangerous areas from a safe distance.
That was probably why the team had picked this mission in the first place.
With the quest locked in, everyone split up to rest and get geared up.
They regrouped at the western gate not long after.
With more quests to choose from, they could now prioritize closer jobs to cut down on travel fatigue.
This one was only a few hours out.
The site was an old mine to the west of Grayrock—abandoned years ago after the resources dried up.
The job had been posted directly by the guild. They regularly issued monster-clearing requests, even in uninhabited places.
“Too bad it’s abandoned. Knowing kobolds, they probably stashed a bunch of shiny stuff,” Daphne sighed.
“If that were the case, we wouldn’t be the ones doing it. Someone else would've snatched it already,” Laevin replied with a chuckle.
He wasn’t wrong. In the low-tier adventuring world, high-reward quests vanished fast.
Some larger groups even paid people to hang out at the guild and grab the best jobs the second they appeared. What was left over usually didn’t pay much—or at least looked that way at first glance.
After a few hours on foot, they arrived at their destination—a mine so old it didn’t even have a name anymore.
It was just past noon.
The place was completely deserted, eerily quiet.
Weeds as tall as their waists swayed gently along the road.
The main tunnel entrance was partially collapsed. Rotten wooden beams were scattered across the ground.
Pale green water dripped from above.
The drip drip drip echoed even from a distance.
“Yup. This is the place.”
Gauss noticed some freshly dug dirt and stone near the entrance.
With no one living nearby, there was only one group that could’ve been digging recently.
Everywhere they went, they remodeled caves into their weird little dens.
After gathering some intel, the team decided not to rush in.
Instead, they moved a bit away, set up camp, grabbed food, and rested.
This job was different for Gauss. Unlike his past ones, this would involve going underground for battle.
Compared to the open wilds, a dark, claustrophobic mine was way riskier.
Low oxygen, cave-ins, poor visibility, getting lost—it all came with the territory.
Even if kobolds weren’t that strong, the whole team stayed sharp.
A careless adventurer wouldn’t last long in this business.
Once they’d recovered, Meva and Gauss took point to scout the cave.
Before heading in, Meva sprayed both of them with scent suppressants—it would help mask their smell and keep them hidden longer in tight quarters.
Gauss cast Mage Armor on himself before going in.
He didn’t cast it on Meva for two reasons:
1. He didn’t have enough mana for two casts.
2. He hadn’t mastered casting it on others yet—it was way harder than casting it on yourself.
Inside the cave, it was pitch black. Just enough light to make out nearby shapes.
Fortunately, Gauss’s internal map recorded everything around him as he moved.
He wouldn’t get lost. Plus, with his 6 Agility, he had no problem keeping up with Meva.
The two of them moved slowly and carefully.
The tunnels twisted and turned. A sharp, musky stench filled the air—the distinct kobold funk. It smelled like burned, spoiled mutton mixed with sulfur and rust.
Right after they entered, Meva activated a detection skill.
But the intensified stench messed with her senses, so she had to stop occasionally to steady herself.
Together, they scouted deeper, with Gauss using Mage Hand to check for traps and oddities along the way.
After nearly half an hour of cautious movement, they finally emerged from the cave—Meva pale and a bit dizzy.
“Yup, definitely kobolds,” Gauss reported. “Roughly 20 adults, a few little ones too.”
“They’re armed with daggers, pickaxes, and a few wooden weapons. No ranged gear, but they’ve rigged a few entrances with traps.”
“Air’s circulating inside, so there’s probably a hidden shaft or two.”
“The tunnel system is super winding. Easy to get lost if you’re not paying attention.”
“You’re amazing, Meva!” Doyle grinned, genuinely impressed.
“Nope—this was all Gauss,” Meva said, shaking her head as she glanced at him.
Not only had he handled all the trap-checking with Mage Hand, he’d also led the way out. Without him, she would've been stumbling around in the dark for who knows how long.
She recalled his claim that he had a “natural sense of direction.”
Something about it nagged at her—and maybe made her a little jealous.
Honestly… he felt more like a rogue than she did.