Starting with the goblin extermination

"I never thought I'd be sleeping in so late."

Logan lay on the wooden bed, the morning sunlight streaming into his eyes from the window. He tossed and turned in bed, unwilling to get up.

After dividing the money yesterday, both of them felt they should rest for a few days. After all, whether it was relaxing or using the money wisely to improve their strength, it would take some time. So Logan simply gave the [Black Beast] team two days off, and he, who usually got up early, also lay in bed for a while.

Staying in bed is really comfortable; if possible, he'd like to get up in the afternoon.

However, Logan still threw off the covers and got up; he had more important things to do.

That is spending money.

If someone had suddenly acquired such a large fortune through other adventures, they might have squandered the gold coins on fine wine or women's bellies, or saved some to buy property.

Logan wasn't without worldly desires. In any case, his youthful and vigorous body also had restless blood flowing through it, especially since he had recently been thoroughly provoked; he just had a very high tolerance for them.

For Logan, the most important thing right now is to use his large fortune to quickly improve his own strength.

He already had a plan: new combat skills, new equipment, and some life-saving potions. He couldn't wait to enjoy the thrill of shopping.

......

Logan arrived at the Adventurers' Guild's hall once again.

The place was still crowded, but compared to the long lines at other windows, there was no one else at the goblin Kruger's window.

Sometimes, Logan wondered if the goblin had cast some kind of bad luck spell in front of the window.

However, this also made things easier for Logan. Kruger practically became his personal salesman.

The goblin Kruger was idly flipping through a newspaper when he saw Logan approaching, and he gave him a knowing smile.

"Good day, Mr. Logan! I knew you'd be back! One night of reflection should have made you understand the importance of combat skills. We can proceed with the loan signing now..."

"Huh?" Logan looked at him, puzzled.

"...Oh, sorry, sorry," Kruger realized his mistake and adjusted his glasses apologetically. "What kind of business do you need today?"

Logan noticed something amiss with the goblin's reaction, but he didn't continue the conversation; he simply made a note of it.

"I don't offer loans, but you're right, I did come here to inquire about combat techniques."

Kruger's smile froze on his face, and he looked somewhat taken aback.

"You...you've raised enough money?"

Logan didn't answer, he just looked at him, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Seeing this, Kruger pulled a thick book from under the counter and pushed it over.

"This is the 'Complete Guide to Combat Skills' published by the guild. It includes the basic combat skills of the most mainstream professions on the continent. It's very comprehensive," he said, his tone returning to that of a standard salesman. "One gold coin is definitely worth it."

Logan took the book and opened it.

It was thicker than he had expected; he glanced at the table of contents.

The so-called "encyclopedia" actually only includes the basic professions that everyone is familiar with, such as warrior, ranger, wanderer, shield guard, and so on.

These professions have the largest number of employees, the most research, the most complete development, and are quite demanding. They have clear promotion paths and specific combat skill affiliations, making them the choice of most people.

As for rare professions beyond the basic ones, they are not included in the complete list. Knowledge is power, and most rare professions with clear advancement paths are firmly controlled by nobles or large organizations. How could one possibly learn about such information for just 1 gold coin?

Logan began to read the main text.

The combat skills for each profession are listed, along with brief descriptions and applicable conditions.

"Mr. Logan, you can focus on the combat techniques marked with red circles. These are the ones that our branch currently has instructors who can teach."

Logan skipped the lengthy section on mage magic and paused at the Ranger section, where the first circled combat skill was listed below:

【Name】Prey Marks

[Occupation] Ranger

[Price] 120 Gold Coins

[Effect] Marks damaged prey, enhancing perception of marked targets and increasing damage dealt to them...

He continued flipping through the pages and found his old friend in the warrior class section—

【Name】Thrust

[Class] Warrior

【Price】100

[Effect] A single-point, explosive thrust that concentrates power at the weapon's tip, possessing extremely high armor penetration...

At 100 gold coins, it's practically the cheapest tier in the entire list. Most combat skills are around this price, with only a few fluctuating between 120 and 150 gold coins. As for the most expensive combat skill, it's the Wanderer's [Shadow Step], which is priced at a whopping 200 gold coins—outrageously expensive.

"The price of combat skills is determined by the scarcity of instructors, the effects of the skills, and the difficulty of learning them, so the price is very fair."

Kruger noticed that Logan had stopped at the [Shadowstep] combat skill page and gave him a quiet reminder.

It seems that my 160 gold coins aren't enough to live on.

Logan muttered to himself, finally understanding firsthand how the old dwarf Thorin was worried about combat skills.

Keep in mind that this is just the price for learning combat skills. To upgrade the skill level, besides practicing on your own, hiring a teacher is definitely a faster way. If you can't improve your proficiency through combat, who knows how much more money it would cost.

Logan couldn't find the "Wolf Attack" text in the book. That was a problem.

His original goal was to become a basic warrior, but [Wolf Strike] was clearly an uncollected special combat skill. What if he managed to collect three combat skills, but couldn't trigger the [Warrior] job requirement because the skill types didn't match...?

Or perhaps you'll be lucky enough to encounter a rare class's combat skill combination...

Forget about it. I got the [Wolf Raid] skill for free anyway. If I can't complete the warrior class skill combination, I can just learn another prerequisite warrior skill myself.

Moreover, the [Wolf Attack] combat skill is essentially a combination of dash and dodge footwork, which suits my current fighting style very well, so I'll use it for now.

So now Logan is faced with six warrior prerequisite combat skills that the guild can teach: [Heavy Slash], [Whirlwind Slash], [Pierce], [Parry], [Dash], and [Hard Body].

He reviewed all six combat skills from beginning to end, and finally focused on the two defensive skills: [Hard Body] and [Parry].

[Hard Body] Logan had already witnessed this before. The scarred orc he encountered when rescuing Elsa used this combat technique to block Logan's slash, but that was all. [Hard Body] can harden the skin and comprehensively improve one's defense, but the improvement is limited and the upper limit is too low to withstand high damage. It's better to save money and buy a good set of armor.

The description of "parry" is more concise, but after reading it, Logan felt that it should be this one - using special techniques to deflect enemy attacks, with stronger local defense, and even able to block projectiles if used well.

Total price: 110 gold coins.

Without further ado, he's the one.

"This is it, [Parry]."

"A wise choice. This is the foundation of a warrior; how many great warriors began with parrying!"

Kruger's hands were moving under the counter.

"The total price is 110 gold coins. The guild offers flexible payment options. You can pay 40 gold coins upfront, and then pay 10 gold coins for each lesson, for a total of seven lessons."

"Even if you are a once-in-a-century genius and learn this combat skill in the first lesson, you must complete the remaining courses or pay all the money at once, otherwise you will not be able to learn new combat skills in the guild."

"Of course, I believe no one will give up on the rest of the course. After all, when it comes to combat skills, getting started is just the beginning, right?"

Logan nodded in agreement. "It's just a down payment. The guild is quite humane."

"The instructor is a Level 2 professional from the guild, Lord Soben. He teaches at the guild's training grounds every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon. Today happens to be Wednesday, so once you sign the form, you can go straight to get beaten up... oh no, go to class."

"Guaranteed to teach you until you learn?"

"I guarantee you'll learn, but I don't guarantee you'll master it," Kruger chuckled slyly. "But don't worry, most people will be able to get the basics down within seven lessons."

Logan readily spent 40 gold coins to complete the registration and left the Adventurers' Guild.

As Logan's figure disappeared into the hall, Kruger's smile gradually faded.

The goblin picked up the newspaper again, muttering to himself, "This is unbelievable! That northern kid actually managed to scrape together the money. What was that girl doing here yesterday trying to get a loan?"