Kael didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turns out Han Ming didn't actually have some grand "hero complex"; he simply wanted to flex his new powers and show off in front of the old NPC.

  The problem is, kid, you have the mana, but you don't have the spells.

  Seeing this, Kael understood the System's logic even better. Expecting the System to let someone "cheat" or get something for nothing was a fool's errand.

  Regardless, Kael was just happy to finally have enough people to enter the dungeon. The Goblin Mountains was a three-player instance, and with Han Ming, they finally hit the requirement.

  "Hey, someone else is here!" Ying Feng, who was wandering the village, spotted Han Ming. He walked up and greeted him like an old friend. "Brother, have you leveled up yet?"

  "Level up? How do you do that?" Han Ming asked, the term still sounding foreign to him.

  "You don't even know how to level? Come on, follow me into the mountains, I'll carry you." Seeing Han Ming's confusion, Ying Feng immediately adopted the persona of a "veteran player" leading a newbie.

  "Oh... okay." Han Ming, still dazed, allowed himself to be dragged into the mountains by the enthusiastic Ying Feng.

  The entrance to the dungeon was located in the deepest part of the mountain range. It appeared as a swirling, pitch-black vortex filled with flickering starlight, looking incredibly mysterious.

  "Boss! You're here too?" Han Ming exclaimed. Ying Feng had taken a shortcut to the entrance, and Kael was already waiting there.

  While the goblins in the open world were infinite, their respawn rate was fixed at once per day. Kael and Ying Feng had already cleared most of the path earlier, which was why they didn't run into any trouble on the way to the portal.

  "I've been waiting for you," Kael said calmly.

  "Listen, brother," Ying Feng pulled Han Ming aside, whispering a warning. "Once we're inside, you follow the Boss's orders. No questions asked, or you're on your own."

  "Understood." Han Ming knew Kael was no ordinary man, so he was more than willing to cooperate. No simple merchant could run a shop like this.

  Kael overheard them but remained silent. He had originally planned to tell them to just "stay back and watch," but since Ying Feng had already set the hierarchy, he didn't bother.

  Dungeon: The Goblin Mountains

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  As the first instance of the first map, it was designed as a tutorial for beginners. It wasn't overly difficult, and the three-player requirement was mainly there to ensure safety. In reality, Kael could have soloed it, but the System’s hard-coded rules required a full party to trigger the entrance.

  Upon entering the vortex, they could see a small mini-map in their minds. The dungeon consisted of only two rooms: a Mob Room for warming up, and a Boss Room for the final challenge.

  For Kael, it was child's play. With Ying Feng charging ahead to tank the monsters, Kael stood in the back, casually firing off spells to clear the room. Han Ming watched with absolute envy.

  "Boss... can you teach me how to use magic?" After watching for a while, Han Ming finally summoned his courage to ask.

  "You want to learn? What's your class?" Kael asked.

  Even though Kael had the Magic Mastery skill and knew every spell in existence, he couldn't tell what Han Ming’s class was just by looking at him, since the young man’s skill tree was blank.

  "A-A Wind Element Mage," Han Ming replied.

  "A Wind Mage, huh? I’m afraid I can't help you. In this world, magic cannot be 'taught.' It must be unlocked through the skill tree," Kael said. He hated to dampen the boy's spirits, but he had to be honest. In New World Mode, there were no "Skill Trainers" to visit.

  "B-but... my skill tree is empty. There’s nothing to unlock," Han Ming stuttered, looking devastated.

  "Then there's nothing I can do," Kael said, patting Han Ming’s shoulder with a sigh of pity.

  The bizarre situation of having mana but no access to skills only happened here, in the Training Room. In the real world, even if you couldn't find a prestigious mentor, finding a manual for a low-tier common spell was easy.

  "Boss, the Boss is out!"

  Ying Feng, who was busy holding the line, didn't have time for their conversation. He shouted a warning as a massive creature, over two meters tall and clutching a club as thick as a man's thigh, emerged from the dense forest. The sheer size of the Goblin Chieftain carried a heavy sense of pressure.

  "Pull it to the flank! When you hit the edge of the room, reverse direction. Don't try to trade hits with it!" Kael ignored the moping Han Ming and began barking orders.

  "Got it!" Ying Feng lunged forward and slashed the boss to secure aggro.

  "ROAAR—!"

  The Chieftain let out a piercing shriek and swung its massive club down. Ying Feng performed a quick side-roll; the club narrowly missed him, smashing into the earth and creating deep fissures in the ground.

  "He's got some kick," Ying Feng grinned. He scrambled up and delivered another slash to the boss's knee.

  "Good. Aggro is stable."

  Kael raised his staff and cast Slow, reducing the boss's movement speed. The Goblin Chieftain had a simple attack pattern—high health and high strength, but very little finesse. It was a "forgiving" boss for new players.

  Kael’s use of the slowing spell was mainly to ensure Ying Feng didn't get flattened. At Ying Feng's current level, two hits from that club would send him straight back to the village to respawn.

  From there, Kael stayed in the back, peppering the boss with Fireballs and Ice Spikes. It took some time, but they eventually whittled the boss's health down to zero safely.

  "First clear, and it didn't even give any extra loot," Kael grumbled as he checked the drops.

  Green Leather Armor: "Ying Feng, this is yours."

  Green Staff: "I'll keep this one."

  A Mystery Item...

  Kael’s eyes widened as he checked the final drop.

  Skill Book: Wind Blade

  Level Requirement: Level 3

  Class Restriction: Wind Element Mage

  "Well, that’s strange. Knowing the System’s personality, how did it actually drop something like this?" Kael muttered, turning the book over in his hands. He tried to flip it open, but it wouldn't budge.