Gauss didn't think much of Alia's request.
She was probably just curious about the magic academy and wanted to tag along and see it for herself.
"Next time I go to give a lecture, I'll call you. If you're free then, you can come."
"Deal."
Gauss looked at Alia.
After breaking through to Level 5, her appearance seemed to have changed again.
Her features were still basically the same, but they looked slightly "refined," edging a bit closer to those unmistakably elven traits.
If every level-up brought changes like this, then after a few more levels, she might end up no different from a true pure-blood elf.
The thought made Gauss feel a flicker of envy.
Elves weren't like humans—they were long-lived.
Even without any special methods, pure high elves commonly lived past a thousand years. Gauss had even read stories about elves who lived ten thousand years.
I wonder how long I'll live now?
He wasn't at the age where he needed to worry about it, but he was curious.
He figured he'd already surpassed normal human limits. His body was absurdly strong, and the life energy inside him felt almost monstrous. Living one or two hundred years probably wouldn't be a problem.
And as he kept leveling up, and his racial traits continued to strengthen, his lifespan would only rise further.
"By the way—how much money do you have on you? Want me to move you some from the ledger?"
"I should still have a little over twenty gold in loose change. Why are you suddenly giving me money?" Alia looked baffled.
She'd acted shocked at Gauss's "professor salary," sure, but that was mostly her playing along. She didn't really need money for much.
If she ever did, she could just ask Gauss—he wasn't going to gatekeep her. Recently, she'd already poured close to two hundred gold into buying magic plants for her dream-garden and funding experiments.
"To buy spells. You're Level 5 now—shouldn't you be picking up some Level 3 druid spells already?"
Seeing Alia's blank look, Gauss sighed and spelled it out.
He hadn't expected her to be this… unconcerned about her own training.
He'd thought she might be too shy to ask for money.
Turns out she'd simply forgotten.
Good thing I'm here.
"Huh?"
Alia shook her head.
"Spells?"
"I don't need to buy any. After I broke through, I just naturally gained two Level 3 spells. I think it was a reward from that Moon Goddess, since I've been moving magic plants into the dreamland."
"Kind of like how you awakened spells through your bloodline regression."
As the most veteran member of the team, Alia knew very well that Gauss would "randomly" gain spells now and then.
In this world, besides learning normally, there were rarer paths too—bloodline inheritance, sudden enlightenment, special contracts, forbidden surgery, holy relics, divine blessings, and certain rituals. Most people never got anywhere near those routes.
"…"
Gauss felt a little embarrassed.
So that's what it's like to have someone powerful backing you.
Seems the goddess behind Alia was pretty generous—helping her elven blood awaken and handing out spells.
Still, it was a good thing. Those "gifted" spells saved him money.
And the stronger Alia got, the stronger he got—because her kills could be shared into his monster record.
Which meant Alia's "goddess" was basically handing him benefits too.
"Then what spells did you get?" Gauss asked, curiosity winning.
Alia didn't hide it.
"Moonlight Vines and Bloomward."
"Moonlight Vines forms three to five vines around me. I can control them, or they can attack on their own."
As she spoke, she demonstrated.
Silver moonlight slowly gathered around her. After a while, three vine-like "tails" of moonlight grew from her lower back.
It was obvious she'd only learned it recently—she was still clumsy with it.
The moonlight vines braced against the floor and slowly lifted her up from the chair.
Gauss wasn't fooled by the beautiful look. Beneath the glow, he could feel the terrifying energy inside. If an ordinary creature took one hit, it would probably die on the spot.
A beautiful, lethal offensive spell.
And it looked like it could double as a solid mobility tool too.
For a Level 3 spell, it was extremely well-rounded.
The only downside was range—its effective area was just a few meters around her.
"As for Bloomward…"
Alia closed her eyes and drew up that moonlike life-energy.
She failed a few times before it finally worked.
When she opened her blue eyes again, pale pink-white petals formed and spun into small shield-plates around her.
"It blocks attacks, and when a shield breaks, it heals whoever it's protecting."
"And if I cast it on my animal partners, it can merge into them and boost their combat power."
The petal-shields circled her—offense, defense, and healing.
The Level 3 kit she'd received was genuinely strong.
"These are good," Gauss said. "But you need to grind your proficiency. Fast."
Alia stuck out her tongue.
"I only just got back, okay?"
Not long after, the rest of the team came over to see her too.
Over the next few days, Gauss went out and picked up a few small commissions.
Alia stayed at the estate—practicing her new spells while continuing to cultivate her guard-plant project.
…
Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, dappling the ground.
In the bushes, a goblin reached out and snatched a big grasshopper that had landed on a wildflower.
It swallowed, then opened its mouth, revealing uneven, yellowed fangs.
The grasshopper disappeared between its teeth. As it chewed, yellow-green juice burst across its mouth and slid down its throat.
It smacked its thick lips, unsatisfied.
Too little. Too little…
Ever since it got separated from its group, it rarely caught food that truly satisfied it.
Without a tribe, big prey—deer, sheep, boar—were no longer within reach.
Still, goblins were omnivores.
It could survive on roots, berries, bugs, bark—at worst it would just be unhealthy.
So hungry. So hungry!
Without meat for too long, it could still live, but it couldn't run as fast anymore.
Worse than that, a primal hunger began whispering to it like a demon.
The craving for blood and flesh slowly consumed its mind.
It needed better food.
Not these dry little insects.
It swallowed again. A violent greed flickered behind its cloudy eyes, and it licked its lips.
While scavenging, it had seen a human village.
The moment it thought of pale, tender humans, that tiny spark of desire flared into a blaze.
It had lost reason, never realizing that charging a village alone was basically suicide.
Or maybe that greedy torment had lasted so long that it simply couldn't think anymore.
And it was exactly that irrational hunger that made goblins so easy to feed—yet still endlessly eager to raid human settlements.
It turned, as if it had made a decision.
But the instant it stepped forward, its foot locked to the ground like it had been poured full of metal—heavy, immovable.
That wasn't because it came to its senses.
In sheer terror, it saw several human figures slowly approaching.
And among them, that white-clad figure…
In its vision, he was just a tiny dot.
Yet the goblin noticed him first.
Or rather—it was noticed.
His gaze "caught" it.
In that single glance, time seemed to freeze.
The goblin saw the most terrifying existence it had ever encountered—like a devil made flesh.
That distant white figure was wrapped in strange "tentacles." In the next instant, the tentacles went wild and lunged toward it at horrifying speed.
It felt them bind it tight. Its heart stopped dead. Strength drained out of its body.
It grabbed at its own throat as breathing became impossible.
Thud! The goblin collapsed into the bushes, the light in its eyes snuffed out.
"Goblin Slain ×1"
"Total Monster Kills: 22,551"
A hundred meters away, Gauss withdrew his gaze. The monster record had already popped up.
"What happened?" Albena noticed his look and glanced in that direction, but saw nothing.
"Nothing. Keep moving."
Gauss shook his head.
Just a goblin that died from intimidation.
Not worth talking about.
He'd killed more goblins than most people had eaten loaves of bread.
And this time, he hadn't come here for goblins.
According to the commission report, a warband of gnolls was roaming nearby.
They were remnants from the recent wave of monster sieges, but they'd re-formed on their march north and were now hiding in this forest.
Since they arrived, wild animals in the area had dropped sharply.
"They already destroyed a village along the way. We can't let them leave here."
Even as a routed force, they'd rekindled their fighting spirit through raiding—and if they kept expanding, the surrounding villages would be wiped out.
Luckily, Gauss's team arrived quickly—almost as soon as the gnoll warband's trail surfaced.
To avoid spooking them into scattering, Gauss had Hephaestus land and entered the forest on foot.
"Locate Creature."
Gauss cast the spell again.
This time, his senses finally caught the enemy.
"That way—move!"
"Captain, wait for us!" the dwarf Rick shouted.
Gauss had brought along the dwarven second squad this time—Torga's group.
It was also the first time since joining the Red Dragon Company that he'd taken them on a mission directly. Before this, they'd mostly been handling smaller jobs around Falrim on their own.
"You need to train your legs more," Gauss joked—and slowed slightly.
Honestly, dwarves weren't that slow. Even the weakest among them was a Level 3 warrior. But speed is always relative.
Gauss could cover in one step what took them several.
Even if they ran until their legs smoked, they still wouldn't catch him at full pace.
Rick didn't argue. Lately he'd focused too much on upper-body strength and neglected systematic leg training.
After pushing through the forest for a while, dense gnoll shapes appeared ahead.
Gauss said nothing. He signaled, and everyone silently fanned out.
Only when everyone was in position did Gauss summon the red dragon drake, Hephaestus.
The air warmed instantly.
Gauss leapt onto the dragon's back. [Rider] activated—man and dragon moving as one.
In the next moment, Hephaestus beat his wings hard, lifting his massive body above the treetops.
Almost immediately, several gnolls in the warband looked up.
What they saw was a red-brown monster in the sky.
A leader gnoll's eyes shrank, and despair spread across his face.
Gnolls weren't unfamiliar with dragon-shaped creatures. If something like that belonged to them, it would ignite morale and make their pack fight like fanatics.
But when that same creature stared down at them with hostility—and had a terrifying human sitting on its back—it became a completely different story.
"W-W-WHAT—!!!"
The rest of the gnolls realized a beat later, and their fur stood on end. Their courage evaporated. Many of them started trembling.
The leaders exchanged a glance.
They understood each other instantly.
Run. Only run.
The fight was over before it even began.
They were a cobbled-together routed force. Their morale wasn't exactly unbreakable.
And the enemy was… absurd.
As former servants under the green dragon queen's sphere, they understood exactly how terrifying dragon power was.
Then a waterfall of flame poured from the sky.
"Gnoll Slain ×32"
"Gnoll Slain ×26"
…
Hephaestus's breath had grown more terrifying.
In a single moment, the first wave of dragonfire erased over three hundred gnolls. Even more were injured by the blast.
The warband collapsed into chaos.
And worse—when they tried to flee, every direction was already sealed.
Alia, Albena, and the others—nine fighters total—plus Ulfen, Echo, Shadow Clones, and Gauss's clay constructs: fifteen clay goblins and thirty clay spiders.
It was a closing net around the camp, designed to prevent escape.
Since founding the Red Dragon Company, Gauss had been steadily buying spell-grade mana clay.
That was why his clay force had expanded to this scale.
And it was one of the key reasons he'd built the company at all.
An adventurer company meant maximizing commission profits, earning more money—and for Gauss, money equaled power.
His money never sat in storage gathering dust. It was always reinvested.
It became skillbooks, supplies, magic plants—and even just mana clay, which directly expanded his clay army.
Kill → record progress → gain abilities → earn money → get stronger → kill faster.
A snowball rolling downhill into a perfect feedback loop.
"Kill!"
Gauss called out from the dragon's back.
[Proof of Leadership] activated across allies—human and beast alike. Their aura surged.
For Torga's dwarves, this was the first time experiencing that battle buff. Their faces lit with surprise—blood boiling, strength surging, a violent urge to fight rising fast.