I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 110: Class Ranking

"Excuse me, please make way."

"Sorry."

Gauss had been staring blankly for quite a while, only realizing he was blocking the stairway entrance when he heard movement behind him. He hurriedly stepped aside.

The woman ascending the stairs gave a smile.

Gauss returned the smile courteously, though he felt slightly embarrassed.

However, thinking about it, it wasn't entirely his fault. Every first-time newcomer Professional likely experienced the same thing.

Perhaps the scenery here wasn't so breathtaking that it made people lose themselves, but the emotions within would unconsciously amplify every sensation.

If he was like this, then for those newcomers who had fought for years, even decades or more, the overwhelming mixture of feelings would surely be even more intense.

"Let’s find a place to organize the current information and observe the surroundings for now."

In the hall, tables and chairs for resting were everywhere.

Gauss picked a spot with excellent visibility and no one nearby, then sat down.

He began calming himself.

First, including yesterday’s loot sales, the commission he just received, and the 5 gold coins reward from the Newcomer Gift Pack, he now had 14 gold and 35 silver coins in cash.

As for other items, the Life Magic Stone was worth about 2.5 gold coins, the Teleportation Scroll 4 gold coins, and the Healing Scroll 3 gold coins.

Adding these three relatively high-value items, his total assets came to around 24 gold coins.

If possible, he wanted to keep the two scrolls.

Considering the Life Magic Stone’s effect had significantly diminished after he officially advanced to the Professional level, its nourishing effect on the body was nearly negligible.

If urgently needing funds, it could be sold.

That would give him about 17 gold coins he could use in the short term.

"And I need to pick and buy several Cantrips, which would probably cost a few gold coins. I wonder if I can find a reasonably priced Magical Item with storage capabilities."

Gauss looked around at the surrounding shops.

Perhaps because they were operated by the Adventurer’s Guild, the shops had little flashy decoration outside, presenting an overall minimalist style.

Groceries, Equipment, Potions, Magical Items, Skills, Books, Commissions—elegantly designed icons alongside the signs made it easy for any Adventurer visiting for the first time to grasp the store's function at a glance.

"But no rush to enter a store yet, better to check out the book I just received first."

Gauss took out one of the books—it was the Adventurer’s Handbook.

In fact, he had wanted to flip through it downstairs, but couldn’t find a suitable quiet spot.

Now that he finally had a bit of leisure, naturally he intended to gather some information first.

Speaking of which, though he had advanced to a Professional, he actually knew little about Class Ranks, Adventurer Ranks, how to advance further, or how to change Class.

Andini had told him a bit, but not in a systematic way, since she had been away from the frontlines for quite a long time.

Flipping open the book, Gauss quietly began reading.

At the reception desk, a staff member in Adventurer’s Guild uniform even brought him a complimentary drink.

It gave him a rare sense of peace and comfort, like the quiet reading moments in a library from his previous life.

Time passed slowly.

Gauss looked up, his thoughts drifting from the book, a few traces of sudden insight showing on his face.

He now had a preliminary understanding of the Class system.

First, for Class Levels: regular levels range from Level 1 to 20—Elite (1-5), Master (6-10), Extraordinary (11-15), Epic (16-20). Levels 21 and above belonged to a realm almost inaccessible to ordinary people.

As for Adventurer Ranks—Bronze, Black Iron, Silver, and Gold—they generally corresponded to Class Levels 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, and 16-20 respectively.

Like the small six-pointed star on his Identity Badge, it represented that he was a Tier 1 Bronze-rank Adventurer.

However, while Adventurer Ranks could roughly correspond to Class Levels, they were not entirely equivalent, since Adventurer Rank also depended on commission history.

For example, if an Adventurer possessed the power of a Level 10 Professional, they might quickly be promoted to a multi-star Black Iron-rank Adventurer—but that didn’t mean they could skip all commissions and directly become a 5-star Black Iron-rank Adventurer.

As for the final Platinum Rank, it corresponded to powers above Level 21.

To ordinary people, the power of a Silver-rank Adventurer was already astonishing. Gold or even Platinum—those levels might as well be gods from legends.

It was said that many of today’s unique terrains—mountains, gorges—were shaped by Platinum-tier Professionals.

Every Platinum-rank Adventurer was a kingdom-level pillar of power. Due to their overwhelming strength, they seldom took action unless absolutely necessary, and thus most people might never witness their power in a lifetime, making them increasingly mythical in folklore.

As for changing Class, that was a rather complicated process.

Most Professionals began with basic Classes like Warrior, Mage, Warlock, Ranger—common types that had their advanced paths.

For instance, a Warrior could be promoted to a Storm Warrior or Berserker. A Warlock could awaken their bloodline and advance to a Dragonblood Warlock or Banshee Warlock, and so on...

Upon Class advancement, one could gain special abilities relevant to that path. A Storm Warrior might gain Wind Affinity, making their sword strikes resemble a storm. A Dragonblood Warlock might gain Dragon Scale Protection and dragon-related powers.

In theory, Gauss's Mage profession could also be advanced.

But since Mage wasn’t a mainstream Class, its advancement route wasn’t as clearly explored as standard Classes.

Still, that didn’t matter much, because advancing a Class was extremely difficult for most Adventurers.

Even with mainstream Classes that had clearly defined advancement paths, it remained difficult.

Knowing did not mean achieving.

There were too many conditions: meeting physical standards, acquiring special advancement items, undergoing professional rituals, using auxiliary tools, success rate... all complex factors.

It was like in Gauss’s past life—every student knew that scoring in the top few dozen of their province in the college entrance exam would get them into the top two universities, but how many could actually do it?

So, for most Professionals, they could only maintain their base Class throughout their life.

Advanced Classes were more of an aspiration.

Fortunately, Gauss’s Mage Class was already overpowered.

Since becoming a Professional, he could vaguely feel that his Mage Class had far superior combat capabilities compared to standard Mages or Warlocks.

As for how to increase Class Level—a core question—there were records in the book.

Leveling up was tied to one’s Class Rank.

Everyone’s Class Rank manifested differently.

For Gauss, it was that small cup continuously surging with magical energy.

For a Warrior, it might be a greatsword or something similar.

Regardless of the form, Class Rank upgrades were intimately linked to one’s Class.

By accumulating relevant experience—adventures, combat, skill training, duels, life-or-death battles, travels—anything that suited oneself, one could gather advancement experience for their Class Rank, eventually upgrading to the next level.

After leveling up, certain physical attributes or abilities might be enhanced.

For spellcaster-related Classes, the most common upgrade was an improvement in Magical Energy Quality.

The higher the quality, the more powerful a spell could become, even if it was the same spell.

Simply increasing Magical Energy quantity wouldn’t achieve this—it would only allow more frequent casting.

Gauss closed the book.

He hadn’t finished reading everything, but he had grasped most of what interested him. The rest, he would read slowly later.

He stuffed the book back into his pack and stood up, heading toward the shops.

The first store he visited was the Skill Shop that sold Spell Learning Scrolls.

There weren’t many customers inside.

Which made sense. Unlike Potions that needed constant replenishing and Equipment that required frequent maintenance, most Professionals wouldn’t revisit this place repeatedly after one purchase.

Warrior / Ranger / Rogue / Mage...

Inside the Skill Shop, different sections were divided according to Class.