Chapter 178: Sevenfold Trial of Great Feats, God Icarus

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Sevenfold Trial of Great Feats, God Icarus

The long night finally passed.

The sudden, massive explosion last night was no less intense than the time Buck detonated an Alchemy Bomb in town.

The tremendous boom immediately alerted the Guards of Gray Rock Town.

And so, poor Lance, who was still taking stock of his gains, was hauled off to the Patrol Bureau by the fully-armed patrol guards who rushed to the scene.

He spent the night there, and as soon as dawn broke, he was sent over to the administration hall to frantically fill out all sorts of fine-related paperwork.

Fortunately, the Bursting Fireball thrown by that Elf Female Mage had astonishingly good aim.

The full force of the explosion was unleashed on the house Lance was renting, and it didn’t cause widespread damage to the neighboring houses packed tightly beside it.

After an on-site damage assessment by an official from the administration hall, Lance only had to fork over a dozen or so Silver Coins as a token fine for disturbing the public peace.

But while the trouble with the authorities was resolved, the trouble with private parties was just beginning.

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

The old woman rushed to the ruins early in the morning, and upon seeing her perfectly fine house reduced to a pile of scorched rubble, she cried so hard she nearly fainted on the spot.

According to the neighbors in town, the old woman’s son was a traveling merchant who was always on the road. That filial son had spent a great deal of money to buy this house with a courtyard for his mother to live out her retirement in.

Watching the old woman wiping her tears on the bench, Lance felt extremely guilty.

He sat down next to her in the administration hall, comforting her for a long time in a gentle voice. Then, in front of the official, he signed a written guarantee, promising he would earn enough money as soon as possible to fully compensate her for the loss of the house.

After all, once Cecilia’s hot-tempered little aunt had launched the fireball, she’d vanished without a trace using a Teleportation Spell.

She left this mess behind, so the bill could only be put on Lance’s tab.

He couldn’t possibly expect a defenseless old woman to travel over mountains and rivers all the way to White River City to seek justice from a High Tier Elf Mage, could he?

Lance could only shoulder the burden himself and find a chance to go to White River City later to get even with that woman.

However, after all this trouble, the wallet Lance had just managed to fatten up was instantly returned to its former pathetic state.

After paying all the fines, he was left with a pitiful ten Silver Coins, just enough to cover his basic meals for the next few days.

Furthermore, according to the administration hall’s appraisal, the market price for the destroyed house was about fifteen Gold Coins.

This meant that overnight, he had fallen deep into debt.

’I have to find a way to make money, and fast.’

And in a border town like Gray Rock Town, the fastest way to make money was undoubtedly the Underground City just outside its walls.

Lance stood at the entrance of the administration hall, looking up at the rolling mountain range in the distance.

’I’ve dreamed about this for so long. It’s finally time to venture inside and test my mettle.’

But before setting foot in the Underground City, he had to take care of the long-overdue Profession ceremony.

He had long been looking forward to the Heroic Profession: [Pale Guard].

The Underground City required Adventurers to reach the Professional Level before they could enter and attempt to clear it. This was entirely because the place was permeated with Chaos Ether, invisible to the naked eye.

That Energy was completely different from the gentle, free-flowing Ether of the outside world.

It constantly eroded the bodies of the living.

If one stayed inside for too long, this chaotic energy would inflict all sorts of terrible negative statuses on an explorer.

At best, it would cause hallucinations; at worst, it would drive them completely mad or even cause physical mutations, turning them into new Demons.

Only by officially undertaking a Profession and forming a stable [Source Melting Furnace] within one’s body could a person resist this chaotic erosion for an extended period.

Even with the protection of the Melting Furnace, many Adventurer parties had to include a Holy Professional or a Minstrel when exploring deep inside.

They had to rely on these support-type Professionals, who had purifying effects or mind-soothing abilities. Without them, a team could easily be wiped out, the danger creeping up on them unnoticed.

Lance patted his empty pockets.

All of his belongings had been burned to ashes in that violent explosion.

Luckily, he had a habit of keeping the Compass he’d confiscated from Buck on his person; otherwise, even that wondrous item would have been lost.

For the rest of the day, he planned to first make a trip to the Guild’s private library.

He would use the special permission given to him by the old Guild Master to take a good look at that book, *Herman’s Great Achievement Conjecture*.

Then, when evening came, he planned to go straight to Uncle Rein’s house to stay the night.

With no place to stay for the time being, he would have to swallow his pride and trouble that kind elder.

As soon as it was light tomorrow, he would set off for the neighboring Baihua Town, find that kid Toby, and get the Iron-skinned Wild Boar’s Racial Talent.

Once he had that Talent, he would have met all the prerequisites and could perform the Profession ceremony at any time.

Walking down the bustling commercial street, Lance methodically sorted through his upcoming plans in his mind.

He stood amidst the bustling crowd and let out a big, relaxed stretch.

Even though the house he rented had been blown up and he was now saddled with a huge debt, he didn’t feel particularly frustrated at the moment.

On the contrary, he was actually in a pretty good mood.

After last night’s events, his relationship with Cecilia had grown closer, and he had also confirmed Nia’s feelings for him once and for all.

His own Talent was continuously realizing its potential, and he could genuinely feel himself getting stronger every day.

Although he was always aware of a hidden mastermind lurking in the shadows, shrouding his fate like a thick, dark cloud, Lance didn’t feel afraid.

One day, he would pierce that dark cloud with his spear and once again bask in the sunlight of freedom.

...

He arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild library.

Lance showed the staff member at the entrance the Bronze Badge authorization from the old Guild Master and inquired about the specific book he wanted to read.

Following the staff member’s directions, Lance quickly found the thick tome, *Herman’s Great Achievement Conjecture*, on a shelf deep within the library.

’Is this an academic work dedicated to analyzing the mysteries of the world’s various great achievements?’

He opened the book with intense curiosity.

Unexpectedly, the book’s preface was a short mythological story.

It detailed the story of a mortal named Icarus who eventually ascended to godhood.

In the tale, Icarus, under the secret guidance of a god, arduously completed seven incredible trials of great achievement.

By virtue of this merit, he ultimately shed his mortal form and became the god of potential and struggle.

What surprised Lance the most was that the name Icarus was, in fact, a genuine, recorded god in this world.