Chapter 20
I stepped into the forest—
Only one kind of monster appeared in this forest.
They were stronger than slimes, but they were still weak monsters.
Unlike slimes, they attacked in packs. But unless you were surrounded by a large number of them, they weren’t very dangerous.
And with 【Presence Concealment Lv. 1】 and 【Presence Detection Lv. 1】, there was virtually no risk of a surprise attack.
After walking deeper into the forest for a while—【Presence Detection】 picked up a monster right away.
A filthy little goblin.
The goblin looked around restlessly, sniffing the air as it searched for prey.
But even when I got within about ten meters, it showed no sign of noticing me, thanks to 【Presence Concealment】.
I cast a spell at its back.
“—Fireball.”
A fireball about thirty centimeters in diameter shot from my outstretched left palm—and the goblin burst into flames when it struck.
—Gyaaah!
With an ugly shriek, the goblin died.
“That was a breeze.”
“Well, it was a goblin.”
Goblins were among the lowest-ranked monsters.
Even back when I had no Skills, they were easy for me to take down.
I’d known this would happen before I even tried.
But the fact that I’d defeated one with my own magic moved me so much that I trembled.
I can fight!
Even I can fight!
I can keep getting stronger without limit by purchasing Skills!
Fireball is a spell learned through 【Fire Magic Lv. 1】.
It costs 2 MP.
Even a novice adventurer has enough mana to cast it four or five times.
A novice’s Fireball might not deal enough damage to defeat a goblin in one shot, but thanks to 【Mana Control】, mine was larger and more powerful.
Against a goblin, I could easily take it down with one shot.
And my maximum MP was over six thousand.
With natural recovery, I could fire them endlessly.
At this rate, I could probably take on multiple goblins at once without any trouble.
The goblin’s corpse quickly vanished, leaving behind a small magic stone.
When monsters die inside a dungeon, their corpses disappear, leaving behind magic stones and drop items.
No one knows why.
The prevailing theory is that the dungeon absorbs them and uses them as nourishment to create new monsters.
“So this is a magic stone. It’s my first time seeing one.”
The goblin’s magic stone was crystal clear.
It was tiny—about half the size of my little fingernail.
It was the lowest grade of magic stone.
Even so, MP’s eyes were sparkling.
I remember how moved I was the first time I defeated a monster and saw a magic stone, too.
Magic stones contain mana and are used for all sorts of things, including as materials for potions and magic tools.
They make up most of an adventurer’s income.
A goblin’s magic stone is worth about as much as a loaf of bread, but a powerful monster’s stone can apparently be worth enough to build a mansion—their value is limitless.
Back when I was with the ‘Sky-Cleaving Sword,’ I would’ve ignored a worthless magic stone like this.
But now I didn’t have much money to spare, so I made sure to pick it up.
“All right, let’s look for the next goblin.”
“Let’s find one!”