Chapter 178: Sevenfold Great Achievement Trials, the God Icarus

The long night finally passed.

The sudden massive explosion last night was no less intense than the time Buck detonated an alchemical bomb within town.

The enormous blast directly alarmed Graystone Town’s guards.

As a result, poor Lance had still been tallying up his gains when fully armed patrol guards rushed over and brought him back to the patrol station.

After spending the entire night there, the moment dawn arrived, he was dragged over to the Administrative Hall, where he spent the morning frantically filling out all kinds of fine paperwork.

Fortunately, the precision of that Explosive Fireball thrown by the Elven female mage had been astonishingly accurate.

All of the explosive force had been concentrated entirely upon the house Lance rented, without spreading across a large area to damage the neighboring homes tightly clustered nearby.

After officials from the Administrative Hall conducted an on-site damage assessment, Lance merely needed to pay a symbolic public security disturbance fine of a little over a dozen silver coins.

However, while the government-related troubles were resolved, the private troubles had only just begun.

The owner of the house was an elderly grandmother in her sixties with a head full of silver hair.

The old woman rushed to the ruins early in the morning, and the moment she saw her perfectly fine house reduced to charred wreckage, she cried so hard she nearly fainted on the spot.

According to the neighbors around town, the grandmother’s son was a traveling merchant who spent all year running around outside. This courtyard house had been purchased at enormous expense by that filial son specifically so his mother could peacefully live out her retirement.

Watching the old woman wiping away tears while sitting on a bench, Lance also felt deeply apologetic.

He sat beside the grandmother inside the Administrative Hall and gently comforted her for a very long time. In front of the administrative officials, he even signed a written guarantee promising that he would definitely earn enough money as soon as possible to fully compensate her for all housing damages.

After all, Cecilia’s hot-tempered aunt had immediately escaped using teleportation magic after throwing that fireball.

With this mess left behind, the debt could only be placed entirely upon Lance’s shoulders.

There was no way he could possibly ask an unarmed elderly grandmother to travel across mountains and rivers all the way to White River City just to seek justice from a high-level Elven mage.

He could only silently bear it himself for now and settle the score with that woman once he had the opportunity to visit White River City in the future.

However, after all this back-and-forth chaos—

Lance’s wallet, which had only recently become somewhat full, instantly experienced the tragic feeling of returning to absolute poverty overnight.

After paying all the various fines and ensuring he still had enough for basic meals over the next few days, he only had a pitiful ten silver coins remaining.

And according to the Administrative Hall’s valuation, the destroyed house had possessed a market price of roughly fifteen gold coins.

Which basically meant he had instantly fallen into debt overnight.

He absolutely had to find a way to make money quickly.

And in a border region like Graystone Town, the fastest source of income was naturally the Dungeon outside town.

Standing before the Administrative Hall entrance, Lance raised his head and gazed toward the endless mountain ranges in the distance.

He had dreamed about this for so long.

Now, the time had finally come to venture inside.

However, before entering the Dungeon, he first needed to complete the long-delayed Class Advancement Ceremony.

He had already looked forward to the Great Achievement Class 【Pale Sentinel】 for a very long time.

The reason Dungeons required adventurers to at least reach the professional class level before being allowed entry for exploration—

Was entirely because invisible Chaotic Aether permeated throughout them.

That energy was completely different from the gentle free-floating Aether outside.

It constantly eroded the flesh of living beings every second.

If someone stayed inside for too long, this chaotic energy would inflict all kinds of terrifying negative statuses upon explorers.

At best, it caused hallucinations.

At worst, it could completely drive someone insane, or even mutate their limbs and transform them into new monsters.

Only after officially advancing into a class and forming a stable 【Source Essence Furnace】 within the body could one resist this chaotic erosion for extended periods of time.

Even with a furnace protecting them, many adventurer parties still needed to bring along Clerics or Bards during deep exploration.

They relied upon these support-type professions with purification abilities or mental calming capabilities. Without such companions, parties could very easily fall into the danger of total annihilation without even realizing it.

Lance rubbed his shriveled wallet.

Every possession he owned at home had already been burned into ashes during that violent explosion.

Fortunately, he had maintained the habit of carrying the compass seized from Buck on his person. Otherwise, even that Curious Object would have been destroyed.

For the remainder of today, he planned to first make a trip to the Guild’s internal library.

Using the special permission granted by the old Guildmaster, he intended to properly read through that book titled 《Hermann’s Great Achievement Hypothesis》.

Then, once evening arrived, he planned to directly seek lodging at Uncle Ryan’s house.

Without a place to stay for the time being, he could only shamelessly trouble that kind elder for help.

Once dawn came tomorrow, he planned to head over to neighboring White Birch Town and find Toby to acquire the Ironhide Wild Boar’s racial talent.

As long as he obtained that talent, all his prerequisite conditions would be fully satisfied, and he could perform the Class Advancement Ceremony at any time.

Walking along the bustling commercial streets—

Lance methodically organized all his upcoming plans within his mind.

Standing amidst the passing crowds, he stretched his body with an exceptionally relaxed yawn.

Although the house he rented had been blown apart and he now carried massive debt upon his shoulders, he surprisingly did not feel particularly irritated.

On the contrary, his mood was actually quite good.

After everything that happened last night, his relationship with Cecilia had advanced another step forward, and he had also completely confirmed Nia’s feelings for him.

His talents were continuously realizing their potential, and he could genuinely feel himself becoming stronger every single day.

Although he clearly understood there was still a hidden manipulator behind the scenes, looming over his fate like thick dark clouds—

Lance did not feel afraid.

One day, he would pierce through those dark clouds with his spear and once again bathe beneath the sunlight of freedom.

……

After arriving at the Adventurers’ Guild library—

Lance displayed the Bronze Badge authorization granted by the old Guildmaster to the staff at the entrance and inquired about the specific book he wished to read.

Following the staff’s directions, Lance quickly found the heavy volume titled 《Hermann’s Great Achievement Hypothesis》 upon a bookshelf deep inside.

Could this perhaps be an academic work specifically dedicated to analyzing the mysteries of various Great Achievements throughout this world?

Filled with intense curiosity, he opened the book.

Unexpectedly, the opening preface turned out to be a short mythological story.

It recorded in detail the tale of a mortal named Icarus eventually ascending to godhood.

According to the account, under the secret guidance of a god, Icarus painstakingly completed seven unbelievable Great Achievement Trials.

Relying upon these accomplishments, he ultimately shed his mortal body and became the God governing Potential and Resistance.

What shocked Lance most was—

The name Icarus truly existed as an officially recorded orthodox deity within this world.