Chapter 9

Once we left the library and returned to my room, I checked the time.

It looked like we still had plenty of time before dinner.

“Gina, could you go handle selling our loot?”

Turning our dropped items into funds was crucial.

Since I was a prince, I received a decent allowance, and Gina managed that budget as well, but because I was weak, investing money into better equipment was definitely the right call.

Perhaps understanding that, Gina gave a firm nod.

“I will be stepping away for a short while, but I shall return by dinnertime.”

With those words, she departed.

Truthfully, I wanted her by my side every single second, though I wondered if I was just being overly anxious.

Until the original story officially kicked off, I shouldn’t have to worry about getting killed out of nowhere.

While Gina was away, I decided to map out my strategy moving forward.

Once I hit level three, I would learn a single offensive magic spell, and at level five, I would learn another.

Mage wasn’t a class that learned healing magic or status ailment counter-measures, and a Rogue didn’t have a single healing-type skill either.

In other words, unless we increased our party size, we couldn’t heal ourselves, meaning we needed to buy items and equipment.

Even without me saying a word, Gina probably already realized that.

For now, I flipped open one of the books I had brought back from the library: the Dungeon Encyclopedia.

It contained information on dungeons scattered throughout the empire.

The dungeons accessible at level five or higher, as well as those for level ten, were filled with names I didn’t recognize.

My goal for now was to grind up to level thirty and eventually unlock a class change.

Since exploring dungeons solo as Rasta was practically a death sentence… the fact that he was level fifteen when he appeared as a boss in the original game probably stemmed from circumstances just like this.

Once I could advance to the intermediate class of “High Mage,” I would start considering solo exploration.

A magic-based class exploring all alone carried massive risks, but the returns were equally large, allowing you to acquire hidden bonuses.

To avoid the fate of destruction, I wanted to grab as many of them as possible.

The easiest bonus to obtain was likely the “Lone Explorer” title, which was awarded the moment you cleared any dungeon entirely by yourself.

Acquiring this granted a bonus modifier to agility and magic power, alongside the “Presence Detection” skill.

Learning this would further boost a magic user’s mana pool while improving their weak points in agility and evasion capabilities.

Not only would this be immensely helpful for me, but the fact that I would still receive its benefits even when not acting alone made it especially important.

It would also make it easier for Gina to protect me, and her having more freedom of movement meant our dungeon explorations would go much more smoothly.

Of course, to conquer a dungeon all by yourself, you needed a well-stocked supply of healing potions.

Running out of magic power in particular was fatal, so hoarding magic potions was an absolute necessity.