The Last Adventurer - Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: Return to the Past (2)

3.

When the Mystic Gate appeared in the world, someone said.

“The Mystic Gate is full of conveniences for adventurers. You can see the difficulty level of the gate beyond the gate by the color of the gate, red, yellow, blue, green, and purple. The number of people who can enter is displayed on the gate, and when you enter the gate, the number of monsters and boss monsters that appear will match the difficulty level. You can also exit if you find the exit without killing the boss monster. It’s like it was made for adventurers.”

The Mystic Gate is the best stage imaginable for adventurers.

“But you can’t let your guard down.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Mystic Gate is easy.

On the contrary, the death rate of adventurers has been higher than ever since the appearance of the Mystic Gate.

The reason is simple.

“Because no one knows what lies beyond the Mystic Gate.”

The number of monsters you can encounter beyond the Mystic Gate is simply too many to count.

“Once you exit the Mystic Gate through the exit, the Mystic Gate disappears.”

It was also impossible to go on an adventure in the Mystic Gate and come out with information to use for a different strategy.

“The problem is that the number of adventurers who can enter each Mystic Gate is fixed.”

Ultimately, the Mystic Gate was not a place where adventurers could freely form parties.

You had to form a party within the limited number of entries.

“The bigger problem is that it’s not easy to fill all of those limited spots with adventurers.”

Even that number was not filled with adventurers as often as you might think.

“Are adventurers rare? No, it’s not that. It’s because if the number of adventurers increases, their share will decrease.”

Because adventurers always think about how to maximize their profits.

“Compared to that, bait slaves are cheap.”

Thus were born the bait slaves, the miserable and wretched ones who throw away their lives for a pittance.

These bait slaves were more useful to adventurers than they thought.

First of all, bait slaves were effective in many ways when hunting monsters. As the name “bait” suggests, they could be used to lure monsters in the desired direction.

However, the time when bait slaves were most useful was not when hunting.

“I threw the bait!”

That’s when they were running away from a group of monsters.

“Everyone run!”

That’s what happened on the day that El Paume remembers.

The party that brought her as a bait slave was clumsy, and they eventually threw her away and ran away when they were in danger.

Of course, El Paume, who was a bait slave, was left in front of the danger, in front of a group of orange mushrooms.

“Eek!”

Along with five other bait slaves.

Of course, there was no option to fight.

The five slaves scattered and ran away, and the orange mushrooms also split up in response.

What had been hundreds became dozens and began to chase the bait slaves.

‘That’s exactly what happened.’

At that sight, the sight that was exactly the same as her memory, El Paume was now convinced.

‘It’s certain. I’ve gone back in time.’

That this was not a dream or an illusion.

‘But I don’t know why.’

Of course, this was absurd.

El Paume, the magician, knew how absurd it was to regress, to go back in time.

So El Paume didn’t question it at this moment.

That was not something he could understand.

Thud thud thud!

More importantly, El Paume was currently being chased by over twenty orange mushrooms.

Being chased by mushrooms, it sounds ridiculous when you hear it.

However, those from Victoria Island knew how terrifying these mushrooms were.

First of all, the mushrooms were of different sizes, and the larger ones could be larger than an adult man.

Thud thud thud!

And when they ran on two legs, they were as fast as an adult man.

The hunting method of these mushrooms was simple.

They would charge in and knock down their prey with their bodies, and then bite their prey madly with their teeth.

The attacks themselves were not that powerful, but the problem was that they were mushrooms.

They could reproduce by spores and increase their numbers from dozens to hundreds or even thousands at any time.

In addition, the bodies of the mushrooms were literally mushrooms. There was no such concept as bleeding.

The only weakness was to destroy the core!

Or to crush the whole body!

Neither was easy.

In short, it was no exaggeration to say that they were a nightmare for adventurers.

‘Orange mushrooms are the weakest among mushrooms, but they are not to be ignored.’

El Paume also knew this better than anyone.

Originally, at this point, he would have had to run for his life to survive against the orange mushrooms.

In other words, that was El Paume before he went back in time.

‘I don’t have to worry about them though.’

El Paume, who was here now, had easily caught mushrooms in the billions before he went back in time.

That experience was still valid.

That was why.

El Paume, who was running away, grabbed a spear that was lying on the ground.

Swoosh!

And the moment he grabbed it, El Paume stopped in his tracks.

El Paume, he started hunting.

4.

Orange mushrooms.

The weakest of the mushrooms, the strategy was simple.

Destroy the core!

However, putting this strategy into practice was more difficult than you might think.

“Mushrooms? The way to catch them is simple. Just stab the core. Most of the time, the core is between the eyes. The only problem is that the size of the mushrooms varies.”

As mentioned before, the mushrooms were of different sizes. This was a very troublesome feature for the hunter.

“The big ones are better. At least you can see them. The small ones don’t even catch your eye.”

There were also small ones called Spores, about the size of a small dog. The only way to kill them was to step on them, but the problem was that the Spore corpses that were stepped on like that would be a huge hindrance to the battle.

That’s why the orange mushrooms had a nickname.

“No matter how much you train, you’re bound to be confused if you don’t have experience. Especially for beginners.”

Beginner killer.

In other words, if you had enough experience, orange mushrooms weren’t that scary of an opponent.

Thud thud thud!

After all, there was no weapon that could inflict a fatal wound on an orange mushroom.

Although the body slam was powerful, it was still a mushroom, so its weight was not as much as a person of similar size, and its teeth were no more than what a person could bite.

Their movement speed was also similar to or slower than that of an ordinary adult male.

This meant that they were not a threat.

And if El Paume was the benchmark, they were not even a laughing matter.

El Paume proved it himself.

Puhk!

Every time he thrust his spear, it pierced the space between the eyes of the orange mushroom.

Crack!

And it was inserted just enough to pierce the core.

Puh-puh!

After that, El Paume pulled out the spear and immediately showed the same technique against another orange mushroom, this one 50 centimeters smaller than the one he had just faced.

Puhk!

He pierced it right between the eyes without the slightest error.

Thud thud thud!

He did this while backpedaling and stepping against the horde of orange mushrooms that were rushing in.

Puhk!

He put on a spectacular fight.

What was even more surprising was that El Paume was not a warrior, thief, or archer, but a magician.

Yet he showed better melee combat skills than any warrior, thief, or archer.

This was not a result he had achieved on purpose.

It was simply the result of surviving while facing monsters that rushed in after all his comrades had died.

Puhk!

For El Paume, fighting twenty or so orange mushrooms was hardly even hunting.

‘It’s said to be difficult, but that’s only for F-rank adventurers.’

El Paume thought to himself as he easily killed the orange mushrooms one by one.

He knew that even the weakest monsters could be deadly to inexperienced adventurers.

But for him, they were nothing more than a nuisance.

He had survived countless battles against far more dangerous enemies.

And now, he was back in the past, ready to change his fate.

It was not really a big deal.

That was why the Adventurer’s Association classified a group of orange mushrooms, not a single orange mushroom, as an F-rank monster.

An F-rank adventurer should be able to easily handle about twenty orange mushrooms.

‘But these days, there are too many people who don’t even qualify for that.’

In other words, the adventurers in the party that had brought El Paume here as a bait slave were not even F-rank adventurers.

They were people who could not even become adventurers.

And yet, they were able to become adventurers because of the Mystic Gate.

Originally, there were two things needed to become an adventurer.

One was items with skills, and the other was a mana circle that could generate the mana to activate those skills.

Before the Mystic Gate appeared, items with skills were very rare.

So rare that F-rank adventurers couldn’t even dream of them.

However, with the advent of the Mystic Gate, Maple World entered an era of overflowing items.

Naturally, those who had only opened their mana circles easily obtained items.

In fact, even this was not a problem.

The problem was that they were adventuring in the Mystic Gate using skills that they had not mastered.

In order to eat the magic stones that came out of killing monsters and to strengthen their mana circles, and to obtain the items beyond the Mystic Gate.

Only for greed, for that.

‘In the end, most of them died because they couldn’t even run away properly.’

The outcome of such adventurers was clear.

‘They were the same.’

The party that had brought El Paume as a bait slave was no different.

That’s why El Paume was now looking for them, the ones who had thrown him away as bait and ran away.

He wasn’t trying to save them.

To be honest, El Paume hated those who used bait slaves, to the point of loathing them.

During his three years as a bait slave, El Paume had felt with his whole body that they were an irreconcilable race.

Even so, the reason he was looking for them was simple.

‘To recover the items.’

As mentioned before, they would have the items.

And his prediction was correct.

‘There they are.’

El Paume found the body of a magician wearing a robe, already horribly mangled by the mushrooms, and he was able to obtain it from the body.

‘A staff.’

The first thing that caught his eye was a staff.

‘He definitely used Fire Arrow.’

Furthermore, El Paume clearly remembered what skill was contained in this staff.

The scene where he threatened the bait slaves with Fire Arrow was not something he could easily forget.

‘It’s not a bad skill.’

It was the most popular magic among 1st circle fire attribute magic skills.

It didn’t consume much mana, and it was powerful. It could pierce through the bodies of orange mushrooms like paper.

‘It’s suitable for my level.’

Moreover, the only thing on El Paume’s left wrist now was a single black ring.

1st circle, and it wasn’t just any 1st circle. The thickness of the ring was as thin as a thread. This meant that he was a 1st circle beginner, and in this state, it was difficult to even use 1st circle magic properly.

That was also why adventurers were so eager to adventure in the Mystic Gate.

Because the most reliable way to expand this mana circle was to consume the magic stones dropped by slain monsters.

While advancing from 1st circle to 2nd circle, commonly referred to as Circle Up, required innate talent, epiphany, or even chance encounters. This wasn’t relevant for El Paume.

‘Used it plenty of times before.’

What mattered to El Paume was acquiring a magic skill suitable for his current level.

‘There must be something else.’

Of course, El Paume wasn’t content to stop there. Even unusable items held value. After all, items remained expensive, though not as much as before.

‘No time to rest.’

Considering the upcoming war with monsters, El Paume couldn’t afford to waste anything.

Furthermore, monsters weren’t his sole adversaries anymore.

‘The Black Mage’s followers, I need to be cautious of them now too.’

El Paume understood. The followers of the Black Mage were the root of all the world’s turmoil.

Therefore, he would eventually have to confront them.

El Paume rummaged through the deceased magician adventurer’s body, his movements practiced. Actually, El Paume was an expert.

After monsters appeared, El Paume’s most frequent activity was searching for usable items from the bodies of monster-slain adventurers.

In that era, it was perfectly normal.

‘Simple things are carried in the bosom, the real treasures are usually hidden in the shoes.’

Therefore, El Paume removed the magician adventurer’s shoes and discovered something within.

‘A ring.’

The moment he found it, El Paume slipped the ring onto his finger without hesitation and immediately channeled mana into it.

In that instant, El Paume recognized the skill embedded within the ring.

The staff in El Paume’s hand began to rise of its own accord.

Telekinesis.

It was a powerful spell. There was hardly a more versatile magic than telekinesis, the ability to move objects with your mind.

However, it was also quite unpopular.

The reason was twofold. Firstly, very few mages were born with a natural aptitude for telekinesis. It was a rare talent, appearing in perhaps only one out of every hundred mages.

Secondly, telekinesis was much harder to master than other spells. Fire Arrow, for example, simply required summoning a flaming projectile and launching it. Telekinesis, however, was far more nuanced. Even for those with a natural affinity, simply levitating an object could be a challenge.

That’s likely why the deceased mage adventurer had kept the telekinesis skill item hidden away, unused.

Thud thud thud!

‘The orange mushrooms are coming.’

Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t ideal for El Paume to experiment with the new skill.

“Fire Arrow!”

Thankfully, he had another option.

‘Lucky me, getting a telekinesis spell this early on.’

El Paume, after all, was also known as one of the greatest telekinesis mages.

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