Chapter 5

His gaze shifted toward a few wooden clubs scattered on the ground. A crude offering—perhaps a hint that he should arm himself before engaging.

It was unnecessary. He was no warrior.

“Magic Missile.”

A sharp sound rang through the air.

Thud!

“Keeeeeek!”

A streak of energy shot from his fingertips, striking one of the goblins squarely in the temple.

It let out a shrill cry before crumpling to the ground.

“Kehrek!? Kehek!”

“Kiiiiii!”

The remaining two spun to face him, their mouths stretching into wide, jagged grins.

It might have been his imagination, but they looked almost… excited. As though they had just discovered a new toy.

Annoyance flared within him.

“Magic Missile!”

Thud!

A second shot landed cleanly against the next goblin’s chest, sending it sprawling backward.

The last one lunged at him without hesitation, ignoring its fallen companion.

It was fast.

But not fast enough.

He had already positioned himself at a safe distance, and before it could even reach him—

Another spell struck home.

It collapsed instantly.

“Combat is all about distance,” he mused.

He was in no danger, yet his enemies crumbled beneath his attacks.

This was how a mage should fight.

Some might call it cowardly, but in the end, the only opinion that mattered was the victor’s. The dead had no voice.

“Kehhhrk…!”

A strangled gasp caught his attention.

His gaze flickered back.

Two of the goblins were still moving.

On closer inspection, only the one struck in the head had died outright.

The others—though wounded—were still alive.

Without hesitation, he fired another round at each of them.

This time, they did not rise again.

In the brief exchange, he gauged the true power of his magic.

‘It’s like swinging a baseball bat with full force.’

A direct hit to the head was lethal.

But if the spell struck the chest or stomach, survival was possible.

If it hit a limb, it would likely only result in a broken bone.

Against creatures tougher than goblins, it would be even less effective.

Fortunately, he already had a solution in mind.

《Tutorial Quest: “Prepare for Your First Battle” has been completed.》
《Quest Reward: 1 Point》
《Points can be allocated through the Status Window.》

The voice was as emotionless as ever, yet the message was nothing short of beautiful.

He pulled up his status screen.

Sure enough, a new option labeled Unallocated Points had appeared.

Without hesitation, he invested it into his magic stat, raising it to 11.

After all, the strength of magic scaled directly with magical aptitude.

‘This should increase my damage a little, but it’s not a fundamental fix.’

No matter how high his magical prowess became, the inherent limits of Magic Missile would remain.

The real solution was learning stronger magic.

And conveniently, someone capable of teaching him was nearby.

【”Who are you? This place is dangerous. Goblins have made a nest in these ruins. You should leave before they— wait. You… defeated them with magic? How surprising. To take them down using only a basic spell… You show promise. Would you like to learn magic from me?”】

The voice belonged to an old man.

This was the moment the Trainer NPCs made their appearance.

In the game, warriors would be guided by battle-hardened veterans, while mages were mentored by sages.

The system had remained unchanged.

‘If I recall correctly, he should be just ahead…’

And there he was.

A narrow passage opened into a wide chamber.

A lone figure sat within—a man wrapped in robes, a staff resting at his side.

He was unmistakably a mage.

As he approached, the old wizard’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Well now, this is quite something. You took them down using only basic magic?”

“…Excuse me?”

“You have potential, young one. What do you say? Would you like to learn from me?”

“Wait—hold on a moment.”

He raised a hand, cutting off the conversation abruptly.

The old mage, caught mid-sentence, tilted his head in confusion.

“What is it?”

“Do you know what kind of creatures I just fought?”

“What kind of—? Obviously, they were goblins—”

The mage’s voice trailed off.

Realization dawned on his face.

Not once had the young man mentioned the word goblin.

His eyes darted around for a moment before he cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner.

“Ahem. Ahem! Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The only monsters in this area are goblins! Naturally, I deduced it from that!”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yes! Yes, exactly! Regardless, for you to have defeated them using only basic magic—”

“I never said I could use magic.”

“….”

“….”

Silence settled over the space like a heavy fog.

He folded his arms, patiently waiting for the mage’s next words.

The old man, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, shifted uncomfortably.

A full minute passed before he finally let out an awkward chuckle and said, “Shall we start over?”

“No.”

“….”

“There’s no point in redoing this. I already know the truth, so let’s just move on.”

“…Damn it.”

For all his sage-like appearance, the mage had quite the foul mouth.

“Ahem! Anyway! The point remains—you have talent.”

“You’re really going to stick to that script, huh?”

“I hear nothing, I see nothing.”

Stubborn old man.

The entire scenario had gone off the rails, yet he still refused to abandon the act.

It was almost admirable.

“Well, regardless. Why don’t you learn magic from me?”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you at least ask if I want to learn?”

“Oh? So you’re not interested?”

“No, I am.”

That was, after all, the whole reason he had come here in the first place.

At his answer, the mage let out a relieved sigh and slumped down into his seat.

“Why couldn’t you have just said that from the start? Teaching takes cooperation, you know.”

“I didn’t do anything. If anything, you’re the one who tripped over your own feet—”

“AHEM! AHEHEM!”

Ah, so that was his strategy.

Whenever things got inconvenient, he simply coughed his way out of the conversation.

For a brief moment, he was tempted to say, You know what? I changed my mind. I won’t learn magic after all.

Just to see his reaction.

But in the end, he held back.

If the old man actually refused to teach him, that would be a problem.

“So, shall we begin? Learning is best done quickly.”