Chapter 47: Ten Days

Today's harvest was truly bountiful to the extreme. After settling the commissions, the earnings exceeded 220 gold.

After giving them 30 gold as remuneration, Lu Cang was left with 190 gold.

For a child, this amount could be considered a fortune.

As expected, as long as one has strength, money is easy to earn.

It was only dusk by the time he finished ten commissions.

He felt that his physical strength today was slightly better than yesterday. Even after running around all day, he didn't feel particularly exhausted.

The number of people in the Adventurers' Guild had noticeably increased.

His teammates from today's party all intended to go for a drink to celebrate today's harvest. For a Rank 3 adventurer, earning 10 gold in a single day was a rare income even during a harvest month, let alone doing it so easily.

Lu Cang declined their invitation.

Currently, he was alone in Rain Town. Although he had become familiar with today's teammates, he had not yet established a bond deep enough to risk his life for them. Under these circumstances, Lu Cang did not want to risk falling into a state of unconsciousness.

He glanced at the sky. The curtain of night and the stars were gradually being drawn.

"Forget it... I'll go practice magic."

Lu Cang rented a private training ground to continue grinding his magic proficiency. At the same time, he practiced using Ice Shuttles for flight a bit more.

...

If one didn't count the approaching monster tide and the influx of adventurers, life was indeed quite peaceful. The storms and dangers he had imagined did not erupt.

After that, ten unremarkable days passed. Every day, Lu Cang bought a newspaper to see what new news had come from the God-Burial Monument Valley.

The Rank 7 dungeon was indeed dangerous. Bad news arrived every day; currently, only a few scattered adventurer groups had not been completely wiped out. Iz's team was one of them.

He couldn't help them; besides tossing a coin every day to pray for them, there was nothing else he could do.

Almost all the magic he had learned had been trained to LV: 200. Just as he had imagined, after completing the evolution, he could no longer increase the level, stuck at LV: 201. Even the "Mana Enhancement" technique had reached LV: 200. However, the Mana Enhancement technique could not evolve.

His progress in magic had essentially hit a stalemate.

During the day over these ten days, he spent most of his time accepting adventure commissions, forming a stable team with Ros and the others. He cleared over eighty Rank 3 dungeons, subjugated more than ninety Rank 3 Lord-level monsters, and wiped out over thirty wild monster settlements.

In the Adventurers' Guild, a crowd of people stared at the monthly commission rankings. The star of the month on the list... was none other than Lu Cang.

A single person had accepted over two hundred commissions in ten days. Moreover, they were all major commissions: killing Rank 3 monsters, exploring Rank 3 dungeons, and exterminating monster swarms. He hadn't taken a single small commission like "investigation," "harvesting," "gathering," or "transportation."

His income from commission rewards alone had exceeded 300 gold. It was hard to imagine how he had managed it. Completing over 20 commissions a day—even just traveling from one location to another would take a considerable amount of time, wouldn't it?

Even without relying on Izpart's reputation, Lu Cang had already become a legend whispered about among adventurers.

...

【Rain Town Library】

Lu Cang did not go to take missions today.

The main purpose of accepting adventure commissions was to test his strength, increase his magic proficiency, and get himself used to combat. This world required fighting, and Lu Cang did not want to act like a fool when encountering danger. On the other hand, it was to increase his understanding of the world through adventuring, while also gaining information through communication with teammates.

Now, his magic had reached its maximum level, and he had accumulated a lot of combat experience. He had explored many dungeons and talked extensively with his teammates; there was no more specific intelligence he wanted to learn from them. Therefore, there was no longer a need to continue taking commissions.

"Yo~ Little Lu Cang!"

"Are you really not taking commissions today?"

In the library, seeing little Lu Cang, Ros walked over and draped her arm over him, pressing her chest against his shoulder.

*Oh, it's the debt-ridden healer...*

"Hehe, I've taken commissions for too many consecutive days, so I wanted to rest a bit today," Lu Cang replied smoothly.

Ros: "True, after all, you've been adventuring for so many days straight. Alright, alright."

"But, this monster tide is getting thicker and thicker."

"I saw the weather forecast saying the monster tide is almost reaching Level 5 concentration. If this continues, Level 5 monsters might actually be born in the wild."

"That really is dangerous," Lu Cang responded, turning a page in his book.

A Level 5 monster tide.

The wild was different from dungeons; it was difficult for high-rank monsters to be born in the wild. Most of the time, the monsters appearing in the wild were Rank 1 to 3. Most towns did not have Rank 4 monsters nearby to subjugate; they were basically only encountered in dungeons.

Lu Cang did not treat Ros's words as mere background noise. Instead, he very seriously considered his countermeasures while flipping through *Advanced Magic*.

This was not a good sign. Should he avoid this area?

A Level 5 monster was three ranks above him; there was a high possibility he couldn't win. The best method should be to hide in another safe place... and wait for this wave of the monster tide to pass.

Lu Cang asked nonchalantly, "Sister Ros, are there any other relatively safe towns nearby?"

Ros tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Hmm, there probably isn't anywhere safer than Rain Town."

"The kingdom's powerhouses are all rushing this way; they certainly won't leave a monster tide of this scale unchecked."

"Besides, Rain Town actually already has several Level 5 adventurers."

"In fact, going out recklessly right now makes it very easy to encounter a fully-formed, powerful monster alone."

"But with your strength, little Lu Cang, you'll definitely be able to survive in front of a Rank 4 monster~"

*Oh, so that means I won't survive in front of a Level 5 monster,* Lu Cang calculated in his mind.

Calculating it, Iz and the others said they would return in about half a month. It had been thirteen days since they left. They should be returning soon. Moreover, during this time, other Level 5 adventurers had arrived in Rain Town; theoretically, the town was very safe. Even if the sky fell, they would hit the others first. If they truly fought their way into the town, he would have time to escape.

For the remaining few days, he would stay in town to read and rest. He would also use the time to practice his recent ideas regarding magic; thinking about magic with the mindset of a transmigrator truly felt like a way to find a new path.

"If you want to rest, little Lu Cang, Mazer and I have an appointment to explore a Rank 3 dungeon with another team today."

"You don't mind, do you~"

Lu Cang nodded. "Mm-hmm, it's fine. You guys stay safe."

Ros had sufficient strength, and Rank 3 dungeons weren't that perilous. Based on his testing over the past few days, if he encountered a situation in a Rank 3 dungeon that he couldn't handle, escaping wouldn't be a problem.

Ros waved goodbye to Lu Cang. After she left, Lu Cang glanced at her retreating figure.

She was a very lively healer. Once familiar, she was the talkative one. The reason she was in debt was because she was too trusting. As long as someone was selling her something, she would buy it all without much effort. Consequently, even though she was a Rank 3 adventurer and quite good at making money, she had bought a pile of things she didn't need: defender's armor, warrior's swords, a blacksmith's anvil, an assassin's boots...

*Heh, it's a wonder she hasn't gone bankrupt.*

As for Mazer, after going out adventuring during the day, he could still manage his time at night to play both sides, dealing with two girls simultaneously without them finding out—even making excuses after staying in a room with one to go to the other...

*Heh, a true paragon of scum.*

Fortunately, he had earned quite a few gold coins with Lu Cang. Using money as an offensive, his progress with those two girls had been very heated these past few days. Every day during travel, he would talk about his romantic exploits as if he were a man without a conscience. Of course, Ros and Trand's disdain for him was unavoidable.

But regardless, they were among the first group of friends Lu Cang had made since coming to this world. As for Iz and the others... he felt more of a mentor-and-friend relationship, as if they were guides and enlighteners.

...

Lu Cang soaked in the library all day. When he returned to the inn in the evening, he passed by the Adventurers' Guild.

He saw the white notices posted on the wall.

Another adventurer had lost contact.

Although various preparations were made before every adventure, accidents always happened. Some adventurers who luckily escaped would report the death or disappearance of teammates in the dungeon to the guild. The guild would then post a list of the missing, just like this.

They were called "missing," but in reality, they were likely dead, because very few ever returned.