Looking at the book I had been guided to by the curator, I wondered if it would really be of any use to me.

  Lancel's Tips and Tricks for Fast Casting.

  It was a relatively unimpressive title, and I had never heard of the author, Lancel.

  Of course, it's not like I would know every mage in the world, so he could be a rather impressive guy.

  Since it was on the fourth floor which was restricted to C rank or above, it'd probably have something I could use.

  The fact that it was heavily worn out was a good sign, indicating many people before me had read the book.

  But even so, I couldn't be sure that it would be a good use of my time.

  After all, I was not an ordinary mage.

  Thanks to Blue, I had the ability to increase the level of my magic purely through the devouring of monsters.

  Glancing at my status, I questioned if it would be more efficient to hunt monsters or to try learn through this book.

  My status had not changed in any particular way, except for my circulation going up a grade.

  As my master had explained, it was a technique split into multiple levels, and I had just managed to reach the second level.

  Once I had tried circulating whilst using mode, the technique immediately increased in rank.

  But unfortunately, trying to use mode and that wretched technique was too much for me to handle.

  At most, I'd be able to do two circulations of mana before reaching my limit.

  'Still, it's far more efficient than before.'

  It would allow me to simultaneously improve my circuits whilst also improving my mastery over mode.

  If I could hypothetically keep mode constantly active through fights, my combat power would rise exponentially.

  But for now, that idea would remain a pipe dream.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I placed the book in my pouch and read through the details of my mission.

  Taking down a goblin campsite.

  "Easy enough."

  I set off at noon into one of the many biomes around Babel.

  As if it were a videogame, Babel was surrounded by several ridiculous wild lanscapes which varied immensely in danger.

  There were 'newbie' areas that even F ranks would be fine in, such as small forests which held regular beasts.

  And on the other end, there were areas only S ranks could dare brave, such as a volcano biome filled with powerful magic beasts.

  I was in a newbie area, simply known as the 'Goblin Mountain'.

  It was known, obviously, for the large goblin presence.

  As one ascended the mountain, they would find various goblin tribes and even a great chieftain at the peak of the mountain.

  Unfortunately, I had no plans to go that high.

  "Oh, that's it."

  Seeing a pattern of slashes engraved into a tree, I checked my map to make sure it matched.

  It was a mark left by a scout form the association, indicating that the campsite would be closeby.

  Diverting myself from the main path, I started stealthily shifting through the forest shrubbery.

  'It should have... maybe twenty goblins.'

  It had taken me a few hours to get to this point, so it was currently the evening.

  That meant that most of the goblins would be at the camp, probably eating or whatever goblins did.

  After a few minutes, I saw a dim light in the forest.

  There was a small clearing with several huts.

  Naturally, there were also plenty of goblins.

  "Krazak Kek Kwaryak!"

  Hearing a strange language, I tried to erase my presence as much as possible.

  Even though they were just goblins, they were stil natives of the forest who had superior natural instincts than I.

  Thankfully, they seemed to be preoccupied.

  '...What kind of ritual is this?'

  About twenty goblins were dancing around a pole.

  ...And tied to that pole were four humans.

  From what I could tell, they were unconscious and moderately injured.

  Frankly, the situation was in my favor.

  The goblins were clearly distracted.

  I could only assume they were trying to perform some strange ritual, since it did not seem as if they were trying to cook the adventurers.

  Unfortunately, I had no knowledge of the strange shamanic magics of goblins, but I could guess by the bloody pattern drawn on the ground around the pole that they were planning something troublesome.

  A single goblin stood next to the pole, chanting in the goblin tongue.

  I began formulating a battle plan in my head.

  Chances were that all the goblins in the camp were present for the ritual, meaning that once they spotted me I'd have to fight all of them.

  Fighting twenty goblins at once... if it were in a larger more open area, I'd be fine, but in a forest area such as this, my inhibited movements could allow for them to land a lucky hit.

  'But, I could easily kill half of them before they realise what's going on, right?'

  A properly aimed sneak attack could easily take out a few goblins, and before they come to their senses, I could kill a few more.

  'Right, damn, I can just rampage through all of them, can't I?'

  Immediately, a magic circle appeared on my fingertip.

  I pointed at the center of the group of dancing goblins, targeting the chanting goblin who I presumed to be their leader.

  A second ring quickly formed, which would cause the bullet to have an explosive impact..

  Then, a third ring appeared, dyeing the whole circle a fiery orange.

  Boom!

  Explosive magic bullets blasted apart several goblins, with the center goblin being seemingly annihilated.

  A cloud of smoke appeared, and I prepared another circle with the same operations.

  I fired wildly into the camp, making sure to avoid the direction of the pole where the adventurers were tied.

  As the smoke faded, several wounded goblins lay gasping for breath.

  "Damn, you guys weren't even able to put up a fight, huh?"

  A few goblins still had the energy to fight, but before they could reach me I swiftly executed them with a wave of bullets.

  It was a quick fight, going exactly as I had hoped.

  Looking at the pole, I saw the captured adventurers staring at me wide eyed in shock.

  Since their mouths were gagged, they couldn't say anything.

  I turned my attention back to the final living goblin, the camp leader, who was barely alive.

  To be honest, he was a little high level for a place like this, I was expecting a warrior rather than a shaman.

  He was quietly chanting whilst his finger barely managed to touch the circle of blood.

  LOG 35 - RITUAL MAGIC

  Although not everyone is born with magic circuitry, all living things are able to store certain amounts of mana. This could range from the petals of a flower or blades of grass which contain miniscule amounts to blood and flesh, which contain far larger amounts, albeit unusable if the host lacks circuitry. Ritual magic involves using these materials (most commonly blood and flesh) to allow even those without circuitry to perform magic. Unsurprisingly, ritual magic is a favourite of dark magicians who have been known to sacrifice entire villages to perform magical feats far beyond their actual capacity.