Before Lynn could even ask, Old Henry had already noticed his gaze and inquired, “What is it? Looking to replace your leather armor? The set you're wearing looks like it came from our workshop. Is it already damaged?”
Lynn took the opportunity to speak up. “I'm thinking of upgrading to something a bit more expensive. This one looks quite nice.”
As he spoke, Lynn pointed to the leather armor bearing the mark.
“That one, eh? I bought it off an adventurer. It's made of monster hide and is still in excellent condition, which is why it's pricier than ordinary leather armor. If you want it, I'll let you have it for three gold coins.”
“Three gold coins, huh...”
Lynn feigned hesitation.
After lingering for a moment, he pretended he couldn't afford it and took his leave.
Since Old Henry mentioned he had acquired the gear from an adventurer, he likely didn't know anything about the mark either.
It was best to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.
However, Lynn did glean one piece of information: there was a significant amount of this gear circulating.
Many adventurers had probably noticed the same thing and reported it to the Guild.
No wonder the Guild had told them they already had some leads.
Still, this matter didn't have much to do with Lynn.
The Dungeon Slime was his primary target right now.
...
The sewers of Wingen Town.
Lynn and Lupa worked together to heave aside the stone slab blocking the entrance.
“Lynn, are you sure you want to go after that Dungeon Slime again?”
Thud!
The hundred-kilogram stone slab was cast aside heavily by the two of them.
Lynn brushed the dust off his hands. “Why? Worried I can't beat it?”
“No, it's not that...”
Lupa bit her lip.
Though she denied it aloud, in her heart, she truly believed Lynn was no match for the Dungeon Slime.
Their last encounter with the Dungeon Slime had only been seven or eight days ago.
Back then, the two of them had been chased into a frantic retreat—though the Dungeon Slime hadn't had an easy time of it either.
Even so, could Lynn really turn the tables and slay the Dungeon Slime after just a week or so?
It was true that Lynn had instantly killed the Gnoll Stalker a couple of days ago, and Lupa had witnessed his strength firsthand.
But the Dungeon Slime and the Gnoll Stalker...
Although both had a Challenge Rating of 1, they were completely different types of monsters.
The gnoll was an assassin-type monster. In an open plain or a forest, it could easily toy with a Dungeon Slime.
But if the two were locked in a death match within a cramped environment like the sewers, the gnoll would likely be crushed instantly.
Thus, Lupa was not optimistic about this quest.
But since Lynn had made up his mind, she, as a Shield Guard, said nothing more.
After all, even if they couldn't win, escaping together would still be quite easy.
“Don't worry. I wouldn't have accepted the quest if I weren't prepared,” Lynn said, comforting the young beastkin girl while glancing at the Monster Identification Manual beside him:
“Magic Missile Lv. 2 (First-Circle spell): Effect - Explosion”
“Light Lv. 1 (Zero-Circle spell)”
Last night, he had stayed up to learn a Zero-Circle spell specifically to trigger the 【Burst Step】 Rune quickly.
With the aid of his staff, Lynn could now cast a cantrip like Light in under 1.5 seconds.
On top of that, there was a pleasant surprise: the 【Burst Step】 Rune had no cooldown!
As long as Lynn had enough mana to cast spells, he could trigger it!
This gave cantrips an immense amount of utility.
A cantrip like Light consumed less than a tenth of the mana required for Magic Missile.
With Lynn's current maximum mana, even after casting Magic Missile twice, his remaining mana was still enough to cast Light three or four times.
The Dungeon Slime wouldn't even be able to touch him this time.
Lynn believed he could now solo the Dungeon Slime.
The only reason he had brought Lupa along was for an extra layer of insurance.
As the two of them stepped down the stone stairs into the sewers, their vision instantly plunged into darkness.
Fortunately, thanks to the passive effect of Stealth, Lynn could see perfectly well even in low light.
But as they ventured deeper, their surroundings turned pitch-black, enveloped in a spine-chilling darkness.
“Lynn, didn't you bring a lightning lantern?”
Lupa gripped Lynn's armguard, looking a little frightened.
“We don't need a lightning lantern.”
“Light.”
Lynn gave his staff a gentle wave, and a small orb of soft light appeared overhead, hovering to follow them.
During his last quest in the sewers, Lynn had been envious of Betty's Light spell. Now, he had learned it himself.
Spells truly were convenient.
Although the glowing orb wasn't large—only illuminating a radius of seven or eight meters—both Lynn and Lupa possessed some low-light vision, so it didn't feel too dark.
Furthermore, this spell allowed Lynn to discover a second major advantage of the 【Burst Step】 Rune.
When using a continuous spell like Light, although the 【Burst Step】 Rune couldn't be triggered repeatedly, its power remained active and held in reserve for the entire duration of the spell.
In other words, Lynn could choose to activate 【Burst Step】 at any point during the spell's duration.
This meant that while Lynn maintained the spell, anyone attempting to ambush him would have to consider whether they could chase him down faster than Lynn's 【Burst Step】 could carry him away.
Lynn felt more and more that choosing 【Burst Step】 back then had been the right decision.
That aside,
the water in the sewers was still rushing rapidly.
Lynn had no idea where these sewers even led for the current to be so swift.
It wasn't even raining.
Fortunately, the noise didn't interfere with Lynn's Echolocation.
His throat vibrated slightly.
In an instant, the sound waves bounced back to his ears.
Within a fifteen-meter radius, everything in the sewers formed a three-dimensional map in Lynn's mind, allowing him to clearly perceive even what lay beyond the corners.
If he focused the sound waves in a single direction, his detection range could extend up to thirty meters.
No monster could ambush him now.
As he activated more and more monster bloodlines, Lynn's shortcomings were gradually being patched up, turning him into an all-rounder adventurer.
What he lacked most right now were Constitution and defensive capabilities.
Fortunately, he would soon find the Dungeon Slime and acquire its bloodline.
Lynn had been waiting a long time for those three points of Constitution.
Rate on N.U.
