I Am Not Goblin Slayer
Chapter 80: Market, Fraudulent Merchants

Gauss looked at the crowd blocking the doorway in front of him, then turned to look at Lawrence. His eyes were filled with confusion. If he remembered correctly, Lawrence was supposed to have gone to arrange for a spellcasting apprentice to train with him, right? So why were there so many people here right from the start? Was this some kind of gang fight? A bunch of them against just him.

"Uh... everyone heard that you want to train protective magic, so they’re all very enthusiastic and have voluntarily asked to come see if they can help," Lawrence smiled confidently. Although he had been a bit annoyed earlier—after all, he had exerted his full strength but still couldn’t break through Gauss’s defense—these people had come on their own, so it was nothing to do with him. At most, he had said a few words praising Gauss’s protective magic skill, and suddenly every apprentice’s eyes lit up. After all, who wouldn’t want a magic punching bag with good attack feedback?

Hitting a magical protective shield that has a magical force field effect is not comparable to training by striking a dummy or other props. Compared to other spellcasting apprentices, those learning protective cantrips were still relatively few. Moreover, many protective cantrips are not very durable, so finding a suitable "punching bag" itself was not an easy task.

“I’ll go first.” A male apprentice squeezed through the crowd. “My cantrip is Electric Claw. Please be careful.” The apprentice spoke politely, but his movements during the formal training were very rough. Without much preparation, he activated the cantrip—a blue lightning wrapped around his palm. He swung his palm toward Gauss’s direction, and blue electric light drifted along his fingers. Finally, the electric current gathered on Gauss’s body surface.

Lightning is a dangerous attack for ordinary people, but since this Electric Claw was cast by an apprentice, its strength was not too exaggerated. Gauss watched as the electric current on his body surface jumped like glowing little snakes, feeling a slight tingling sensation. Fortunately, the mage armor, infused with magic resistance, resisted most of the attack, so this tiny tingling feeling didn’t cause him much trouble.

“Did it really resist it?” “This protective spell is so strong, looks a bit like level 1 Mage Armor, but that’s a first-level spell, right?” “It shouldn’t be. I remember Mage Armor’s protection against magical attacks is weak.” “Should we ask?” “Shh! You forgot, it’s taboo to inquire recklessly about other people’s spells!”

There are countless kinds of magic and spells in this world. Some exist inside a gem, some are buried in ruins waiting to be discovered, and others are simply fused into the omnipresent natural magical energy. So theoretically, anyone could potentially master some mysterious spells or cantrips that others have never come into contact with or even understood.

Very few spells are perfect, especially some rare and niche spells. Therefore, many professional apprentices who have mastered uncommon cantrips or spells are reluctant to share their exact spell information. Of course, for some of the most common popular cantrips and spells, there is no need to hide. After all, for popular cantrips and spells, even if you don’t say anything, as long as you use them, apprentices with some experience will understand.

Gauss didn’t care about the murmurs from the crowd nearby. He was simply immersed in feeling the electric therapy—no, the Electric Claw—and the momentary surge of magical resonance within his body from the clash with Mage Armor. As he carefully savored that tingling yet warm resonance, the electric shock suddenly stopped. Was it over this quickly?

He looked up and saw the male apprentice, slightly panting, with an embarrassed expression. “Sorry, I’ve run out of magic.” Gauss clicked his tongue. Although interrupted during training and feeling a bit displeased, he still politely said, “Good job.” He was well aware that not everyone had superior conditions like him. With his extraordinary magic reserves, he could even cast several first-level spells in succession.

For other apprentices, this was almost unimaginable. Many spellcasting apprentices lacking resources and cultivation could not last long even with zero-level cantrips. This was the norm for ordinary apprentices. They had to carefully budget their limited magic power. Only after officially becoming professionals, gaining more magic reserves, and mastering core skills with lower consumption would this situation improve.

“Next one.” Time quietly passed during the “magic tag battle.”

“Mage Armor lv3 (5/50).” After a round of training, the Mage Armor, which had just reached level 3, gained a few more points of proficiency. This speed was very fast. Normally, ordinary training shouldn’t produce such effects, but there were simply too many varieties of attacks present. His Mage Armor seemed to be in a state of constantly collecting data, absorbing nutrients, and evolving. Every new spell seemed to bring new changes to Mage Armor. That’s why the level-up speed was so fast.

Gauss took out some meat he carried with him and chewed slowly. Although he had more magic power than other apprentices, it wasn’t enough to withstand eight or nine apprentices taking turns wearing him down without damage. During the process, he also replaced his Mage Armor and used his Rapid Digestion talent to train while eating and restoring magic power. So in the end, he completely drained the magic power of all the apprentices present.

Seeing them sitting on chairs by the wall, pale-faced, eyes closed and concentrating, Gauss shook his head. Ordinary apprentices really couldn’t wear him down with such consumption. First-level spells already had a considerable advantage over zero-level cantrips. Moreover, his Mage Armor could no longer be considered a simple first-level spell. Plus, he had abundant magic reserves and could supplement magic power while training. Unless they attacked together, one-on-one it was impossible to outlast him.

To be honest, although the process was often interrupted, the overall experience of this training was quite enjoyable. Of course, that meant watching the proficiency grow rapidly and feeling the thrill of progress. He didn’t particularly enjoy being "damaged" itself.

Glancing at the other mutual aid association apprentices, all looking exhausted and unlikely to continue training anytime soon due to excessive magic consumption, Gauss greeted Lawrence and left first. After Gauss left, the apprentices who had been sitting upright against the wall all relaxed and lay down on the benches.

“Lawrence, what exactly is his background?” “You’re not lying to us, right? Are you sure he’s not a professional spellcaster?”

Lawrence suddenly felt more balanced in his heart. Looking at the mutual aid members who were equally shocked, he finally wasn’t the only one doubting reality. “Ha, do you think I’d invite a professional spellcaster to put on a show with you guys?” Lawrence shook his head. “Besides, this apprentice came with a letter of introduction from Miss Andni. Isn’t it normal that they’re strong?”

The others fell silent upon hearing this. They naturally knew who Andni was. She was the founding first president of the Mutual Aid Association. For these young apprentices, her identity as an Iron-rank adventurer was legendary. Hearing that he came through Andni’s connections, the hidden feelings of discontent and jealousy in their hearts quietly dissipated. This was clearly someone not on their level.

“Hurry and practice your cantrips. Opportunities for training like this are rare.” Upon hearing this, no one said anything but inwardly agreed. Regardless of this or that, having a perfect practice dummy to fully display their cantrips was something to take advantage of. Better to practice first.

“President Lawrence, will he come again tomorrow?” Gauss walked along the streets of Absinthe Town, noticing that every town had its own characteristics. Grayrock Town, for example, was full of stone buildings and streets—a very typical adventurer town—while Absinthe Town had many natural elements like grass and trees.

Gauss also noticed that many adventurers returning from outside carried not various monster loot but freshly picked herbs. The pillar industry of a place affects many aspects.

Arriving at the night market location, the crowd was even denser. It was a small square nestled among low houses. Besides open shops, many small vendors had stalls with tarps spread out, displaying their goods for sale. It was quite lively.

As Gauss entered the square, he was dazzled. Merchants selling herbs, stones, and some unknown items; book vendors selling books and "skill books"; apprentices trading magical items, potions, and powders all gathered here. Everything was sold, a mixed crowd. No wonder Lawrence from the Mutual Aid Association had specifically warned him this afternoon to be careful and not be scammed.

Gauss approached a book and scroll vendor’s stall, crouching down to scan the tarps. “Look for whatever you want yourself,” the stall owner said coldly, seemingly not interested in actively introducing goods. This suited Gauss perfectly.

“Heads-Up Herbal Guide Around Absinthe Town,” “Cantrip Miscellany,” “Light Dance Technique Analysis,” “Archmage Manuscript,” “Mage Hand.” A rough glance revealed a dazzling variety. But Gauss was suspicious of some items, for example, would an Archmage Manuscript really appear in such a roadside stall’s stockpile?

Just then, he saw a familiar name. For verification, Gauss asked the vendor, “Can I open and take a look?” “You may. But no book can be read for too long.” Gauss picked up the scroll labeled Mage Hand, unrolled it, and quickly scanned the glowing content. Dense tiny text was interspersed with some small model images. After scanning, Gauss rolled the scroll back up.

It was a fake. Since he himself had mastered the Mage Hand cantrip, he could easily spot the flaws on the scroll. Even though it looked very real, it couldn’t fool him. If someone tried to use this scroll to learn magic, it would most likely be a complete waste of time.

He quietly put the scroll back on the stall and said nothing. After browsing a few more books, he left the stall. They all seemed to be fakes, probably only good for fooling ordinary people who wanted to become spellcasting apprentices or those apprentices who weren’t very skilled.

Torn pages of handwritten copies sold for about 2 to 5 silver coins, while some complete second-hand cantrips were priced near 30 silver coins. Gauss was stunned. If they were real, it wouldn’t matter, but these didn’t even look genuine. Would anyone really buy them?

Gauss couldn’t imagine how a normal person who had scraped together a few silver coins might spend all their savings buying several cantrip torn pages said to be able to teach spells. After months of cultivation, getting nothing in return, how desperate would that feeling be?

It was not easy. For ordinary people at the bottom, the first hurdle to becoming a spellcasting apprentice was not the difficulty of learning cantrips but earning money and how to buy authentic study scrolls. Someone like him could roughly judge authenticity by experience and magic power, but how could ordinary people discern real from fake among these vendors?

The path to becoming a professional was indeed full of hardship.