Chapter 81: Trick and Dungeon (3K)
Gauss continued browsing several similar stalls and shops, and overall, the quality was mixed.
Some stalls were a bit more "honest," and you could buy a Trick Learning Scroll for 1-2 silver coins, or even for dozens of copper coins.
However, the stall owners weren’t very honest. When Gauss couldn’t help but ask about the authenticity, he got the owner’s sworn assurance, "No deception, or triple compensation for a fake," but obviously, what genuine item could be bought so cheaply?
Of course, there were also sincere stall owners. Upon discovering Gauss’s identity as a Caster Apprentice, realizing he wasn’t easy to deceive, they honestly admitted that their manuals, books, and scrolls were sourced from others.
True and false, hard to distinguish, even the stall owners themselves weren’t sure.
Besides the scattered stalls, there were shops selling legitimate scrolls, but the prices were very high, so they weren’t under consideration for now.
Just as Gauss was about to turn around and buy some adventuring tools.
He stopped in his tracks when passing a stall, his gaze suddenly lingering on the many tattered pages.
At this moment, the White Bone Staff at his waist was releasing a warm flow.
He approached the stall, grasped the staff, carefully perceiving, confirmed the target, and started inquiring about the price with the stall owner.
"How much for these torn pages?"
"1 silver coin each."
"Can it be cheaper?"
"No."
Gauss didn’t bother haggling, tossed a silver coin to the owner, pretended to choose randomly, and finally took the page that made the staff heat up.
After walking away, he then looked at the content on the paper.
"Light Spell."
"Isn’t this just an ordinary 0th Ring Trick?"
Gauss glanced at the White Bone Staff; it seemed to have returned to its usual calm, as if the previous guidance was an illusion.
So is this torn page authentic?
Gauss was quite happy to spend one silver coin on something genuine.
If he could learn it, at least it would enrich his magic skills inventory.
He was just puzzled why the White Bone Staff was so enamored with it.
After all, the store he passed by earlier had many genuine Trick and Spell skill books for sale, and the owner gave him a very unusual feeling.
Only the prices were too high, with Tricks generally starting at dozens of silver coins, even reaching 1 gold coin.
He looked them over and judged they should be genuine, but he couldn’t bring himself to buy them.
So the White Bone Staff’s reaction should have nothing to do with authenticity; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a basic magic wand but an excellent authenticity detector.
What’s different between the Light Spell and other spells?
Shaking his head, Gauss circled the marketplace again, bought some affordable small items, then returned to his rented inn.
Sitting on the bed, he began to flip through the Light Spell torn page he just purchased.
Although it’s a torn page, the main Magic Model page was preserved, and Gauss browsed through it.
If it weren’t for the staff’s reaction, he wouldn’t have bought it based on his own judgment; it didn’t look real.
Moreover, the information was incomplete, and its authenticity was unclear. Even if it was genuine, there was a considerable chance he couldn’t learn the Tricks or Spells recorded above.
Now that he had bought it, Gauss decided to first try learning it.
silver coin, he could afford it.
He lit an oil lamp, took the torn page, and slowly started to study it.
He had heard that wealthy apprentices could accelerate their understanding and learning of Tricks and Spells by purchasing blank Spellbooks and Special Ink for transcription, but being short on cash, he could only use the primitive old method of memorizing and learning by heart.
Fortunately, his Intelligence of 7 was considerably higher than the average person’s, so it wasn’t entirely hopeless.
But after reading the content several times, Gauss felt dizzy without gaining much.
This was his first time self-learning a magic spell, and it seemed much more challenging than he imagined.
The model of the Light Spell didn’t look complex, but for some reason, he would forget it as soon as he looked at it, let alone construct a clear and stable model in his mind.
Just then, he suddenly remembered the White Bone Staff.
Quickly grabbing the staff from the bedside cabinet.
Then, holding it, he continued reading the content on the torn page.
"Huh?"
After holding the staff, the knowledge that seemed somewhat difficult suddenly felt a bit different.
Moreover, as Gauss watched, the White Bone Staff began to emit a faint white glow, flickering from bright to dim, but overall, it seemed to be progressing, staying bright for longer periods.
"?"
A question mark popped up on Gauss’s forehead.
No, I haven’t learned it yet; why did you start learning it?
He walked to the window, shut it, and drew the curtains.
Shortly after, the White Bone Staff had fully "mastered" the Light Spell.
Watching the staff continuously emit a bright glow before his eyes.
Gauss wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
Somehow, he felt as if he was being mocked by a magic wand.
Fortunately, after glowing for a while, the luminous staff finally subdued its light and returned to its usual appearance.
At the same time, a mysterious awareness flowed into Gauss’s mind through the hand gripping the staff.
He glanced again at the contents on the remaining pages, and suddenly everything was clear.
Was it really this simple?
With the aid of the White Bone Staff, Gauss once again immersed himself in the knowledge of the leftover pages.
The next day.
"0th Ring Trick Light Spell lv1 (5/10)"
Early in the morning, he glanced at the information on the Adventurer’s Handbook’s Attribute Panel again.
The hard work of late last night didn’t go to waste.
With effort and talent, he managed to self-learn and master a new trick in just a few hours.
Feeling the newfound trick within his will.
Gauss was quite satisfied.
Although the Light Spell wouldn’t boost his combat prowess directly, its core function was to provide a stable light source in dark environments, negating some disadvantages brought by darkness, and aiding his exploration during adventures.
Moreover, it could also counter some magical effects of darkness in certain situations.
It was a very practical trick when traveling away from home.
The only thing worth noting was that the new Light Spell within his will seemed to slightly weigh on his spirit.
So, does self-learning spells increase some mental burden?
But this burden wasn’t too great, and if not felt carefully, it felt as though nothing had changed, so Gauss didn’t dwell on it any longer.
After getting up and washing, he ate breakfast in the inn’s dining room and hurried out.
He still had plans for this morning.
Yesterday, he and Lawrence had agreed to train spells at the Mutual Aid Association for the next few days.
Having finally found a practice room, Gauss certainly wanted to improve the proficiency of his Mage Armor as much as possible.
In the blink of an eye, four days passed.
"Mage Armor lv3 (23/50)"
Gauss felt his refreshed Mage Armor, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
The principle and mechanism of the magic resonance were becoming clearer with the continuous training and proficiency increases over these days.
"Feeling good today." Lawrence patted him on the shoulder.
After spending several days together, the relationship between them became quite familiar.
As the vice president of the Mutual Aid Association, Lawrence was a local whose family ran several herbal shops, considering him a well-off young man.
Aside from organizing activities at the association and practicing tricks, he spent his days indulging in leisure.
In his early twenties, he was already living a retiree’s enviable life.
Although Lawrence’s strength couldn’t compare to Gauss’s, he was quite proficient among the Caster Apprentices, especially in Undead Series tricks. With his own staff, many other Professional apprentices who were careless could get burned and develop a fear.
Moreover, he could suppress certain enemy healing recovery methods.
"Not bad." Gauss shook his head with a smile as he ate to recover his magic power.
"By the way, Gauss. We’re planning to explore a newly discovered micro-dungeon. Are you interested?" Lawrence suddenly recalled the main topic and invited Gauss.
"Micro-dungeon?" Gauss blinked.
"You don’t know about it?" Lawrence looked at Gauss, somewhat incredulous.
"I don’t, tell me about it." Gauss admitted honestly.
Lawrence was stunned for a moment before starting to explain to Gauss.
Simply put, a long time ago, there was a great kingdom, now called the Forgetfulness Country civilization. After reaching the pinnacle of magical research, it suddenly got destroyed by an unknown disaster.
The earth shattered, and the civilization collapsed.
The former prosperity became fleeting, leaving behind only dungeons, caves, and underground cities occasionally "refreshed" and squeezed to the surface as proofs of their existence.
By exploring various relics, from micro to large scale, modern human civilization has also embarked on a fast-developing path.
And micro-dungeons are the smallest scale of relics, where one might find unknown treasures and wealth. However, there are also uncontrollable potential risks.
As a friend known for less than a week, Lawrence was willing to proactively share this information, partly because he acknowledged Gauss as a person and partly because he valued his impressive fighting power.
His presence could make the dungeon exploration journey safer.
"Apart from us, who else?"
"There are a few other apprentice friends from different professions. Including us, there might be about 6-7 people." Lawrence continued to explain. "After all, it’s just a micro-dungeon, and too many people would be inconvenient and reduce the gains."
After asking about some dungeon details from Lawrence, Gauss began to ponder internally.
In recent days, he had sparred with almost everyone in the Mutual Aid Association, and the Mage Armor couldn’t gather much more information here, so theoretically, its proficiency growth would slow.
He might as well explore the dungeon. As Lawrence mentioned, many micro and small dungeons aren’t too risky, even manageable by apprentices like them.
With his current level of Mage Armor, he felt he could withstand a couple of Professional Level attacks without too much trouble.
With a certain level of safety ensured, exploring a dungeon seemed worth a try, especially since it might yield money, magic items, magic items, Spell Learning Scrolls, equipment, etc. - all the resources he currently lacked.
"Count me in then."
After weighing his options, Gauss finally decided to go.