The instant the message popped up, Gauss keenly sensed something new inside his body—something special.
"You have obtained a fragment of the power of the world's rules."
"Rule: Precision."
"Huh?!"
When the dust settled and that mysterious power fully merged into him, Gauss' eyes widened reflexively as he read the details.
No wonder he reacted so sharply.
The information itself hit like a hammer.
"Power of the world's rules…"
He didn't yet know what it did, but the name alone sounded terrifyingly significant.
And the moment he saw the word "Precision," his mind jumped back to the fight just now—the valley full of fire-birds, swarming at him like moths to flame.
He'd assumed the kobold chieftain was actively controlling them.
He'd even thought, Sure, the chieftain's 'latency' is high, but coordinating that many fire clusters at once is still pretty impressive.
But now?
There was a good chance the kobold had nothing to do with it.
It was probably the golden candle itself—its divine essence, the very power Gauss had just absorbed.
He looked at his 2.65% Divine Favor. Objectively, that was still a small percentage… but the fact he'd extracted something new from it was worth celebrating.
And if this truly was a fragment of rule-power, then could he strengthen the "Precision" rule by collecting more fragments of the same type?
And did other kinds of rule-power exist?
Could other beings wield them too?
The more he thought, the more serious his expression became.
That elderly kobold hadn't looked like much, but with this fragment in hand—and by using it crudely—it could erupt with power far beyond its level.
If a human, or a smarter, stronger monster got hold of something like this… the boost would be terrifying.
World rule-power was dangerous.
If it became necessary, Gauss felt he should collect as much of it as he could.
His mind flashed to the kobold chieftain's final, burnt-out state.
Using rule-power seemed to demand an enormous price—less than a minute of use had drained the life out of an "Level 8" monster.
That was horrifying.
Or maybe the kobold hadn't really been that old to begin with.
It had been using the golden candle so smoothly—meaning it must have used it plenty of times before. Constant life-drain would absolutely accelerate aging.
So… what price would he pay if he used that power?
That was the key question.
If using it would burn through his lifespan the way it did to that kobold, then no matter how strong it was, he wouldn't touch it.
Spending "a few percent of your life" per use? Do that a few times and you're already dead.
Power like that would be an illusion.
He shoved the worry down for now and decided to test it carefully later, when he had time.
Right now, there was still cleanup to do.
His eyes flicked toward the remaining kobolds.
…
"Total Monster Kills: 30,922"
The battle ended.
Flames still licked through the mining valley, but aside from Red Dragon Company members, there wasn't a single living creature left.
"Cough—cough!"
A member of the company pulled off his mask to drink, but the stinging, lingering stink in the air—likely mixed with toxic fumes—made him gulp a few mouthfuls and immediately put the filter mask back on.
They stared at the valley, packed with corpses like a mass grave, and swallowed hard, still shaken.
They'd thought the kills they got while guarding the exits were already a lot.
Only after stepping into the valley did they realize it was barely a drop in the ocean.
"Captain Gauss is way too strong."
"This many monsters… even if you tied them up and dumped them in front of me, I'd hack until my arms gave out and still wouldn't finish."
"Ha! Of course. But hey—aren't you getting a bit full of yourself? Comparing yourself to the captain?"
"Let a man dream."
…
Ivan came up to Gauss.
"Captain Gauss."
"Mm?"
Gauss was recovering his mana.
He'd spent a lot.
But with Feast storing, he could refill an empty mana pool instantly.
In practice, he now had three "mana bars." His endurance had skyrocketed.
Most of the time, it was more than enough.
But this wasn't a safe place. Even if he still had some mana left, topping back up immediately was the smart move.
Hearing Ivan, he knew the man was here to report.
"Captain, three members were injured."
"Any dead?"
"None." Ivan answered, but there was still guilt on his face.
In his eyes, it was his failure.
In most other adventuring companies, taking a two-thousand-plus monster nest with that cost would be a massive victory.
Ordinary members were basically "consumables." If you survived multiple battles and proved yourself, you became "one of us."
If you died, or were crippled, or couldn't fight anymore, you were cut loose—sometimes with compensation, sometimes with nothing.
But Gauss was different.
He treated people like people, not disposable tools.
He let members gain real combat experience—but he didn't throw them into fights beyond their limits just to bleed them dry.
"How bad?"
"All from falling rock in the valley. Serandur treated them already—no danger to life, but they'll need a few days of rest and observation."
"Good." Gauss nodded.
"Treat them properly. If someone isn't fit to keep adventuring afterward, compensate them according to policy."
It wasn't "discarding" them—it was protecting everyone.
If their bodies couldn't handle it, forcing them back into missions would only raise the risk for them and for their teammates.
"I understand." Ivan nodded grimly.
He glanced at the members laughing and looting and couldn't help thinking how lucky they were to have a captain like Gauss.
…
"Gauss, I found a lot of valuable loot."
Shadow had pulled treasures out of the kobolds' mine tunnels—likely the chieftain's private stash.
There were several spellbooks written in crooked, unfamiliar script.
Chunks of gold ore.
A small box of mana stones—mostly low-grade, but also around twenty mid-grade ones.
And assorted low-value junk.
Gauss' eyes went straight to the spellbooks.
He flipped through them and cast Comprehend Languages. The tadpole-like letters turned readable.
Level 3: Memory Seal
Level 2: Hypnotic Charm
Level 2: Echo Location
His face brightened. Better than he'd expected.
Memory Seal, as a Level 3 spell, wasn't as strong as Modify Memory (Level 5).
It didn't rewrite the past—just sealed up to five minutes of very recent memory from the same day, on a willing or helpless target. Afterward, the person would "black out" that segment like an alcohol blackout, unless something unusual broke the seal.
Modify Memory, on the other hand, could permanently erase memories or implant new ones so smoothly the target would unconsciously fill in details.
Even so, Memory Seal was still very useful.
If someone witnessed something he didn't want remembered, he could simply seal that slice away.
He needed "flexible" spells.
Hypnotic Charm was also useful—force a target into specific behaviors or answers—though the downside was that the target might retain fragments afterward.
Echo Location was a sonar-style spell, like a bat's—mapping surroundings even in total darkness.
Gauss suspected the chieftain had collected these because it carried a treasure and feared its own followers. Especially the first two.
Gauss loved collecting magic. Whether he bought it in town or looted it off monsters, it was all the same to him: if it was worth learning, he'd take it.
Looting finished quickly.
They took what they could carry—materials and valuables—then smashed or burned what they couldn't.
They couldn't linger. Another monster clan might investigate.
And destroying tools and workshops wasn't cruelty—it was strategy. Otherwise those mining tools and forges might become weapons aimed at human towns later.
They withdrew, found a safer place, and finally camped.
Only then did Gauss slip out alone into an open field outside the village.
He still hadn't stopped thinking about "Precision."
Now he finally had a moment to test it.
"Don't let me down…"
He sank his awareness inward.
In his mind, he "saw" a radiant fragment—beautiful, dazzling, immense.
Even at first contact, he knew: this was the rule fragment.
It was breathtaking—carrying a vast, overwhelming pulse.
As he focused on it, information poured out like a flood.
"—Hah!"
Gauss panicked and forced his focus away.
Even that one second left him woozy.
He realized with a chill: even with his current Intelligence, he couldn't analyze it—he could barely look at it.
Stare too long, and the information torrent would cram his brain full, possibly causing irreversible damage.
He had to be extremely careful.
It felt dangerous.
But he couldn't deny how tempting it was.
As if reacting to his attention, the "Precision" fragment vibrated.
BZZT.
Instantly, his foggy mind cleared a little.
And then he began noticing changes in his magic.
"Is this…?"
In his inner vision, the dozens of spell models he'd learned began resonating under Precision's pulse.
"My spells… feel different."
He opened his eyes. A subtle, invisible "field" seemed to wrap his body.
He looked across the empty clearing.
"Mage Hand."
With a thought, an invisible hand formed—his very first cantrip.
Originally, it had a ten-meter range and required constant control.
As he grew stronger, the range increased. Without upcasting, he could now reach about twenty-five meters—but he still had to actively guide it.
Now, with Precision…
Everything changed.
He pointed at a sparrow on a branch.
"Go."
The hand moved toward it.
"And I don't have to keep steering it," Gauss realized. "It's locking on by itself."
He deliberately made a noise. The sparrow startled and flew away.
The invisible hand instantly adjusted its trajectory and chased the new position.
"Chirp—chirp—!"
It grabbed the sparrow in midair. The bird struggled, but couldn't break free.
Gauss released it a moment later.
The sparrow fled into the distance.
"So convenient."
He raised his eyebrows.
How to describe the sensation?
Like switching from a clunky old manual cart to a vehicle with intelligent assist—suddenly the spell "helped" you.
His spells now had a kind of target-lock, and his control felt more precise and effortless.
Even when the hand drifted beyond the old twenty-five-meter "limit," it kept tracking autonomously.
And this was only a fragment.
Gauss rubbed his chin, thinking.
If he completed more of this Precision power, how terrifying would it become?
If the "lock" kept strengthening, could it become something beyond common sense—true pursuit, even unavoidable hits?
He narrowed his eyes.
If that kind of absolute precision existed…
Then the world was about to get a lot scarier.
~~~
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