章節 10: Forest's Depths
編輯: Exodus Tales
Chapter 10 - Forest's Depths
While Zwei meditated, time flew by.
When he shook his aching head and opened his eyes, the time was already past one in the morning.
The furniture he used to barricade the door looked normal, so it seemed that nothing tried to barge into his home while he was meditating.
The results he got from his prolonged meditation were quite good. Maybe it was because of his weak foundation, but he had actually increased his mana pool by 20% during this meditation session.
Later on, once he started casting second-circle magic, he would need to refine his mana into a higher quality to power his magic. A large amount of mana would be expended during this refinement process. Hence, the bigger his mana pool was, the greater the amount of refined mana he would be able to produce. In addition, having a larger mana pool meant he could cast more Lesser Fireballs than before. This was a wonderful outcome.
Satisfied with his meditation results, Zwei focused his mental power into the tattoo on his hand and called up the Trial Gate's panel.
His plan was very simple. He was missing only five Metal resources to construct the Dean's Mage Tower. In that case, all he needed to do was enter the Night Forest's Outskirts and collect the Rusty Blade Fragments the strong goblins dropped. Each blade fragment could be exchanged for one Metal resource. He would have what he needed after collecting just five blade fragments.
Once he had the Dean's Mage Tower, he would have the ability to protect himself.
Moreover, he would be able to activate one of the two new dungeons that appeared on the Trial Gate panel. Once he cleared that dungeon, he would obtain another Proof of the Strong. So long as he learned new magic, even if the mysterious predator appeared before him, he would have the confidence to fight it!
However, when Zwei's eyes fell on the Trial Gate panel, he was stunned.
Previously, aside from the original green dot and the two yellow dots, the panel was a cluster of red dots. Now, however, an additional green dot had appeared above the green dot of the Night Forest's Outskirts.
After hesitating for a second, Zwei selected the new green dot.
New information appeared in his mind.
…
[Night Forest · Depths]
Activation condition: [Night Forest · Outskirts] cleared at evaluation A or above. (Activated)
[Enter/Cancel]
…
"So, that's the case…" Zwei now understood the principle behind these different colors.
Red meant that he had fulfilled none of the activation conditions, yellow meant he had partially fulfilled the conditions, and green meant he had fulfilled all of the conditions and activated the dungeon.
Originally, Zwei had been planning to raid the new dungeons for more Proof of the Strong. Now, however, it seemed that wouldn't be necessary. Without hesitation, he chose to enter the Night Forest's Depths.
The stone walls around him instantly turned into a small, open-air tent. A bonfire was burning at the tent's entrance.
Just like when he entered the Night Forest's Outskirts, Zwei's mage robe had turned into a set of burlap clothes. After doing some stretches, he exited the tent.
Unlike in the Outskirts, the tent in the Depths was inside the forest. Aside from the clearing the tent stood in, the surrounding area was a sea of trees.
"Say… If I go through the woods behind the tent, will I reach the Night Forest's Outskirts?" Zwei eyed the back of the tent curiously. Unlike the Outskirts, there was no mist here to block his view. However, now clearly wasn't the time to explore. He should experiment only when he had time to spare.
Like in the Outskirts, the bonfire here was flanked by two large chests: one blue and one red.
After collecting the supplies in the blue chest, Zwei made his way into the forest, which had many more beast paths than the Outskirts.
Similar to the Outskirts, the main enemies in the Depths were still goblins. The only difference was that the goblins here appeared in groups of three or four, often with a strong goblin or even a goblin spellcaster leading them.
Fortunately, Zwei could now kill ordinary goblins instantly. Even strong goblins didn't last more than two hits. As for goblin spellcasters, so long as they did not possess fire resistance, their frail bodies fared the same as ordinary goblins against his Lesser Fireballs.
Unfortunately, Zwei's luck didn't seem very good. During the dozen or so minutes he spent wiping out goblins, he managed to collect only two Rusty Blade Fragments; everything else was either underwear or goblin bones that carried blood or meat with them.
After eliminating three more goblin squads, Zwei arrived before a clearing.
The size of this clearing was similar to the one that housed his base camp; neither was particularly large. Meanwhile, there was a brown-skinned goblin in the middle of this clearing.
Normally, in order to ensure their own safety and the continuation of their race, weak creatures like goblins had strong reproductive capabilities. In the case of goblins, they had also evolved to have green skin, which helped them blend with the forest they lived in.
However, once a goblin mutated and obtained strength beyond ordinary goblins, its skin would take on other colors for better affinity with specific elements.
Among mutated goblins, brown-skinned goblins had a good affinity with the earth element. They were the so-called earth goblins.
Besides having the inherent ability Stoneskin, earth goblins would also know how to cast one to three first-circle earth magic.
Depending on the magic they learned, their hunting level could range from four to eight. Some extreme cases would even reach Level 9, just one level away from becoming a dangerous monster.
However, the earth goblin Zwei encountered seemed to know only Rock Punch, a spell that had good power but could launch only linear attacks.
Compared to Zwei's relatively flexible movements, the earth goblin, which relied on Stoneskin for defense and lacked antigravity magic, was much slower. Like a live target, the earth goblin ate Zwei's Lesser Fireballs in the face one after another.
Despite mutating, earth goblins still had the same intelligence as ordinary goblins. Even after the layer of stone on its chest got smashed apart, the earth goblin still refused to abandon the stone armor covering the other parts of its body. In the end, Zwei easily defeated the earth goblin.
And to Zwei's joy, he actually collected something good from the earth goblin.
…
[Dust Crystal]
Material/Gemstone
A rare magical material. It is possibly a mutated mana crystal, and it is brimming with earth elementals. It can be used for making magical devices.
Remarks: "Hey, this can be exchanged for 30 gold coins! Small gold coins, of course." — by Merchant Hollola.
…
The so-called small gold coins, also referred to as black gold coins, were gold coins minted by certain lords to increase their supposed wealth. The gold content of these privately minted gold coins was not as high as that of official gold coins, so their value also wasn't as high. However, there was also an unspoken rule among lords that privately minted gold coins that a small gold coin's value should be around 30 silver coins.
Nevertheless, Zwei's attention wasn't on the value of this crystal but the name "Merchant Hololla."
Why would such a tag appear? Does the Magic Academy System's Trial Gate have some sort of special background? Or does it have something to do with the emergence of this system?
However, Zwei religiously followed the concept of "don't think about things you can't figure out." Seeing as he lacked clues, he set aside his unrealistic conjectures, for now.
"Regardless, this is a good harvest~."
Zwei then stored the grayish ball in his Temporary Pocket.
Unfortunately, the clearing the earth goblin resided in did not feature a treasure chest. Instead, it had an entrance to another beast path.
The earth goblin Zwei fought should be about Level 5. The defense of its Stoneskin was strong, and the power of its Rock Punch was good. In addition, as both spells were innate magic, the earth goblin could cast them instantly. Hence, it was a powerful opponent for ordinary humans. Only humans that had undergone combat training and wielded ranged weapons, such as a heavy crossbow, would have a fighting chance.
In fact, even Basic Magicians wouldn't have an easy time against this Level 5 Earth Goblin. They would first have to put some distance between themselves and the goblin before relying on powerful second-circle spells to kill it. The only reason Zwei could defeat the earth goblin despite being an Apprentice Magician was his ability to silent cast.
"Even an earth goblin is only considered an elite monster?" As Zwei looked at the dark beast path, which resembled a beast's maw, he started growing a little apprehensive. "What kind of monstrosity will be the Boss this time?"
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