Starting with the goblin extermination

This is actually an extremely well-organized man-made room.

The walls of the room had been altered to be unusually smooth. The floor, covered in a layer of dust, was covered with countless strange magic circles.

"Logan..." Elsa peeked out from the side, her voice filled with undisguised shock, and pointed ahead, "Look in the middle."

There lay a strange corpse.

At first glance, it looks like a huge rat.

But when Logan approached with the longsword in hand, he could see its full form.

An indescribable hybrid of humans and rats.

Rat with a human face.

Its body is identical to that of a ferocious rat, but its forepaws and head are completely human-like. It looks as if a ferocious rat has been grafted onto the head of an elderly human.

Even more incredibly, the corpse of this human-faced rat was covered with a mage's robe, which, though tattered, was exquisitely crafted and adorned with magical runes.

Some say that the human-faced rats are the lucky mutants chosen by the evil gods from among the rat horde. Among thousands of ferocious rats that devour each other, the rat that survives to the end and receives the blessing of the gods will gain intelligence and transform into a human-faced rat.

The truth of the legend is hard to discern, but one thing is certain: the human-faced rats all possessed powerful magical talents.

Without a doubt, the corpse before me was a noble spellcaster in life.

Logan crouched down, his gaze falling on the strange wooden staff that the corpse was clutching tightly.

The moment his fingertips touched the wooden staff, the familiar panel popped up again:

......

[Fire-Dispelling Staff]

Type: Weapon/Staff

Quality: Standard (Green)

Protection: None

effect:

【Burning Hand (1 Ring), 2 times/day】—Consumes the holder's mana to unleash a fan-shaped burst of intense heat from the tip of the staff (Note: Only usable by spellcasters).

[+10% Casting Speed]

Item Description:

"A staff crafted from salamander scales and century-old hardwood. It once belonged to a rat-faced scholar who was lost on the edge of knowledge and madness."

The wisdom bestowed by the gods will ultimately be returned as a sacrifice.

......

Staff.

Magical items exclusive to the spellcaster class.

In this world, spellcaster classes capable of casting magic, such as mages and warlocks, are always rare and powerful.

Becoming a mage shares strikingly similar rules with becoming a low-level warrior: for example, the classic mage class also requires learning three basic spells and mastering one of them before even reaching the threshold of becoming a true professional. This is exactly the same as the requirement for non-spellcaster classes to hone their combat skills.

However, the biggest difference is that there is no threshold for learning combat skills. As long as you are a person with all four limbs intact, no matter how mediocre your talent is, as long as you are not afraid of death and are willing to bleed and sweat, and spend more than ten years wielding your sword on wooden stakes and monsters, you will eventually learn a combat skill.

And magic?

Even the most basic magic tricks, if you're not born with a talent for magic, you simply can't learn them.

No matter how much money or time you spend, you can never learn a magic trick, which also means you can never become a spellcaster.

Therefore, spellcasters who can cast spells have always been very rare, and anything related to spellcasters is extremely expensive.

Logan and Elsa might not be able to use this staff, but it could definitely be exchanged for an astonishing sum of money.

The two exchanged a glance, and even though Elsa was wearing a mask, Logan could see the slightly upturned corners of her mouth through her eyebrows that instantly curved into crescent shapes.

Logan stuffed it into his backpack.

He then searched inside his robes and quickly found two cold, hard objects, as well as a rolled-up piece of parchment.

Logan opened his palm and discovered there was another surprise.

Those were two coins.

However, it is not a gold coin, but a special currency with a silvery-white metallic luster.

Platinum coin.

In the monetary system, one platinum coin is equal to ten gold coins.

Logan's Adam's apple bobbed as he casually touched the dead body and found 20 gold coins.

Two platinum coins instantly fell into the money bag.

They've really struck it rich.

Finally, he unfolded the yellowed parchment. It was covered with twisted, eerie writing, which Logan couldn't understand at all, only feeling physically nauseous.

But this thing must be related to the magic circle on the ground. Logan didn't want to think too much about it, so he rolled it up and stuffed it into his bag.

"Logan, come here, there's a downward passage."

Elsa also found something interesting.

At the deepest part of the room, there is a wide downward passage.

Standing at the edge of the passage, you can feel a warm current of air rhythmically gushing out from deep underground.

Then the two heard a sound.

Snore... Snore...

The sound was deep and loud, and with each thud, Logan could feel the rocks beneath his feet trembling slightly.

The two looked at each other and could see the fear in each other's eyes.

It's that giant monster deep in the mine.

Perhaps the massive underground earthquake that caused the rat swarm not long ago was just this terrifying creature casually turning over in its sleep.

"...Should we go down and take another look?" Elsa asked, but she had already taken a half step back.

"Our job is to kill rats, not to feed others." Logan shook his head. "Let's go."

The two turned around in unison and returned to the entrance of the rift.

Outside in the mine tunnels, the rat swarm had completely disappeared, leaving only a scene of devastation.

Logan began clearing away the corpses blocking the entrance. Luckily, although most of the corpses were crushed into a pulp, a few were still intact.

In the end, Logan deftly dug out eight pairs of ferocious rat eyeballs that were flashing red.

With the unexpected discovery of the staff and platinum coins, the profits from this underground trip have far exceeded their expectations.

"withdraw."

The two carefully made their way back to the exit along the slippery, bloody remains of the mine tunnel.

The mine pit was empty again.

Occasionally, a few ferocious rats, injured by the trampling and left alone, would pounce fiercely in the darkness, but Logan and Elsa would easily kill them.

......

Finally, a warm light appeared ahead.

We've arrived at the export point.

However, just as they were about to step out of the darkness, a cacophony of curses and the clanging of weapons came from outside the mine.

"Damn it! Where did all these ferocious rats come from?! Die!"

"Boss! There are too many! My leg has been bitten!"

"Don't panic! Hold them off! They're running for their lives, they'll scatter soon!"

Logan and Elsa stopped at the edge of the cave entrance, exchanging a glance and both seeing a strange look in each other's eyes.

The two of them peeked out silently.

On the open ground outside the mine, three fully armed men were being torn apart by a swarm of ferocious rats.

Their perfectly planned ambush formation unexpectedly ran into a swarm of dozens of ferocious rats with red eyes fleeing for their lives. Although it wasn't a large force, they were still utterly routed.

boom!

The bald man at the head of the group kicked away a ferocious rat that was biting his trouser leg, and then pierced another one with his spear. His two henchmen were covered in wounds, their leather armor riddled with holes from being gnawed, and they were in a sorry state.

As time passed, the main force of the rat swarm had scattered into the deeper parts of the forest. The trio finally managed to kill the last few persistent and ferocious rats.

"Huff...cough cough...This is fucking bizarre...what the hell is going on in the mine...?"

The bald man leaned weakly on the ground with his spear, panting heavily, his face full of exhaustion.

"Alright! Stop howling! Hurry up and bandage this up, let's get ready to ambush again!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood and prepared to call his men to find new cover.

But when he turned around...

All that could be seen were two corpses lying on the ground.

And under the sunlight, his two original prey.