"Total Monster Kills: 70,005"
"Reward Obtained: Level 5 Necromancy Spell — Energy Drain."
Thanks to the Red Dragon Company's diligent work, the kill count on Gauss's Monster Index quickly broke past seventy thousand. And the moment it did, he received a new Level 5 spell as a reward: Energy Drain.
The effect of Energy Drain was similar to an upgraded version of Vampiric Touch.
It could likewise extend magical tendrils outward to attack targets within the spell's range, inflicting heavy shadow-corrosion damage while siphoning life force from the target and feeding it back to the caster.
Deep within his mind, Gauss examined the newly formed spell model of Energy Drain.
Compared to Vampiric Touch, Energy Drain consumed more mana to generate its tendrils, but it reached farther, could strike more targets at once, and drained life energy more efficiently.
And when paired with Gauss's Class Specialty, [Threefold Source Power], it was basically like upgrading the engine even further. He could now act like a pump, drawing life force from surrounding monsters at an even faster rate and converting it into stamina and mana.
So Gauss was extremely satisfied with this spell.
After all, Vampiric Touch was only a Level 3 spell. Even though upcasting could improve its effects, it still could not match the sheer simplicity and brute force of a higher-tier spell.
Of course, that did not mean Vampiric Touch, as its lower-tier substitute, had completely lost its place.
It still had its uses. Its advantage was that it cost less mana to cast, so in smaller, lighter battles where he could not be bothered to go all out, it could still come in handy.
And even if it really ended up having no practical use at all, Gauss still would not deliberately choose to forget it or erase its spell model from the depths of his consciousness.
There was simply no need. Up to now, he had never reached the limit of his mental burden from learning too many spells.
Since keeping it cost him nothing, he might as well leave it there. It could still serve as part of his magical foundation.
"Foundation" sounded vague and intangible, but it was very real.
Why could high-level casters master unfamiliar low-level spells much faster than low-level casters? Other than mana and class level, a large part of the reason was precisely that magical foundation.
They had studied more spells. The spell models in their minds were more varied and complex. That helped them draw on existing knowledge and reasoning, allowing them to infer new principles from old ones and understand unfamiliar magic much more quickly.
Gauss's magical talent was so powerful for the same reason—he simply had enough magic stored in his head.
It was like a healthy positive cycle.
The more spells he mastered, the larger his internal library of magical knowledge became. And that "algorithm" in turn helped him learn new magic even faster, while also improving the speed at which he could raise proficiency later on.
Even with something as notoriously difficult for ordinary people as spatial magic, Gauss had encountered no bottlenecks in practice. His progress had been remarkably smooth.
Because Energy Drain was a spell granted directly by the Index, he did not need to go through the trouble of learning it from scratch. And since he had already fully mastered two Level 5 spells, he was already familiar enough with the complexity of that tier.
So the first time he cast Energy Drain, the process was extremely smooth. He just reviewed the spell model a few times in his head, entered a brief meditative focus, and then more than a dozen ink-black tendrils of energy spread outward from beneath his feet.
The tendrils were vivid and lifelike, incredibly thick, writhing beneath him like the limbs of a giant octopus.
Still, unlike an Evocation spell like Bigby's Hand, the tendrils of Energy Drain were more energy than substance in nature. So while they looked substantial, they were far less effective in the purely physical sense if used like real tentacles.
In essence, although they appeared to have enough mass, their real purpose was still to inflict shadow-corrosion damage and drain life.
After practicing Energy Drain for a while, Gauss stopped.
He would have plenty more time to keep practicing later. Besides, something else had interrupted him.
"You're saying the Barry Adventurers' Guild headquarters is inviting all our adventurer parties to the central city for a meeting?"
"Yes, Commander Gauss."
George Bell and several other Commanders all nodded.
"Your party has probably sent people out to purchase supplies as well. Once they return, Commander Gauss, you should receive the invitation too."
Gauss did not doubt the information they were sharing.
They had no reason to lie to him. First, Barry was right next to the labyrinth, so it would not take much effort to confirm whether the information was real. Second, impersonating the Adventurers' Guild and spreading false information in its name was a serious crime. No adventurer party that regularly dealt with the guild would do something so stupid. If Gauss reported them afterward, they would be in deep trouble.
What puzzled him was why the Adventurers' Guild of the Forest City would invite so many adventurer groups at once.
As far as identity went, Gauss did not actually have much of a connection to Barry. He was neither a local born and raised there, nor was his party officially registered in the city.
Could it be that something major was about to happen?
Instinctively, he felt that this summons probably did not have much to do with the Timber Labyrinth.
Because of its restrictions, the Timber Labyrinth only really affected adventurers below the transcendent level. On the surface it looked lively and dramatic, but its deeper influence was nowhere near as great as the commotion it caused.
That was simply because the gap between transcendent combatants and those below that level was far too great.
You could tell from the way the upper echelons of the other adventurer groups in the labyrinth treated Gauss with such respect. Sure, his Charm was outstanding, but not so absurdly high that strangers would just throw themselves at his feet. The real reason they trusted and respected him so much was that he had displayed combat power far beyond everyone else—power at the transcendent level.
And the two top adventurer groups in Barry, the Golden Company and Thornheart, had not even sent members into the Timber Labyrinth at all.
That alone was enough to suggest that, in the eyes of Barry's real power players, the current Timber was still only a small-scale affair—unless there were even stronger monsters or other unusual threats hidden deeper inside.
If it was not about the labyrinth, then what could it be?
A few guesses surfaced faintly in Gauss's mind, but he did not let his thoughts spiral too far.
Like the high-ranking members of the other adventurer groups, he intended to attend the meeting.
Even if he was not technically an adventurer under the Forest City's jurisdiction, he was still operating on their turf, so he ought to show at least a little courtesy.
And as it happened, he had already been planning to slow the pace of the labyrinth expedition for a bit over the next few days. Going out now could count as a chance to relax.
Staying too long in the closed underground environment of a labyrinth could easily make people sink into suppressed, twisted emotions they did not even realize they were developing.
There were even said to be people who, after spending too long without leaving a labyrinth, developed mental problems and came down with a psychological condition known as labyrinth dependency syndrome. They would feel depressed, yet at the same time become afraid of leaving the labyrinth, even developing an aversion to natural sunlight and the open surface world.
Environment affected people in ways that were constant and unavoidable. Of course, Gauss and the others had only been down there for a relatively short time, nowhere near enough to develop that sort of illness—but since they now had a perfectly good reason to leave for a while, that was all to the good.
Other than Gauss, the first to hear the news was Eden.
The moment it learned about it, it began buzzing excitedly inside Gauss's mind.
If consciousness had a physical form, it probably would have been jumping up and down, waving its arms around.
"We're finally getting out of this damned labyrinth."
"Gauss, when are we leaving?"
You could hear just how excited Eden, the King of Slimes and a Demon King species no less, was at the thought of leaving the labyrinth.
It had probably been hoping for days that it might follow Gauss out into the outside world, but since everyone had been busy exploring the labyrinth, and Gauss as Commander obviously could not just abandon his team and go wandering around on his own, Eden had tactfully refrained from bringing it up.
"We'll leave in a bit."
"I still need to announce it to the others."
Yes—Gauss planned to bring the rest of the Red Dragon Company with him as well.
On one hand, it was a matter of safety and basic consideration. On the other, it was only possible because his team was small and highly mobile, and because he had complete real-time knowledge of the labyrinth map through the first five floors.
If this were a large adventurer group, they probably would not choose to withdraw the entire force. More likely they would leave part of their manpower stationed in the labyrinth, otherwise going back and forth would become too troublesome.
When Gauss announced the good news, the entire Red Dragon Company reacted with obvious excitement.
After fighting continuously for so many days, a lot of them really were tired. Being able to return to the city meant they could finally relax for a while. No more staying on edge, worrying about monsters raiding the camp at any moment.
They could start spending money freely again—bathing, drinking, eating good food, satisfying physical desires, and so on.
After all, people became adventurers and worked themselves half to death not only because of the instinctive desire to grow stronger and take control of their own fate, but also because they wanted to earn more money. And the whole point of earning money was to enjoy life—to indulge in services and pleasures inside the city that ordinary people would never dare spend on.
"Then move quickly. Pack up your things, and we'll head out."
As they packed and loaded up their baggage, many members of the other adventurer groups were also forming lines to head outside—but compared to the Red Dragon Company's full withdrawal, the proportion of people leaving from those other groups was much smaller.
When they saw from afar that the Red Dragon Company was dismantling every tent, packing everything up, and loading it all onto carts, many members of other groups who had not received approval to leave simply stared with eager eyes, their gazes full of genuine envy.
At that moment, the desire to join the Red Dragon Company reached an all-time high.
And it was not mere impulse, either. Quite a few were already seriously starting to think about how they might actually join the Red Dragon Company.
Of course, leaving their current group was not something that could be done overnight. And even if they did leave, there was no guarantee they would be accepted into the Red Dragon Company.
Maybe they should first find someone to quietly ask about the Company's recruitment standards.
But even without gathering any inside information, they knew perfectly well that getting into the Red Dragon Company now could not possibly be easy.
Aside from the earliest batch of veteran members, the requirements for joining later would only keep rising. Any adventurer with even a little brain, after seeing the strength of the Red Dragon Company's Commander with their own eyes, would know that following him meant a brighter future than staying in their current party. And once more people wanted in, competition would naturally become fiercer.
Many of the faster-moving upper-level teams from the other adventurer groups chose to travel out alongside Gauss.
That made the journey out of the labyrinth go much more smoothly.
Fourth floor, third floor, second floor...
The large force surged upward through the labyrinth levels like a breaking tide.
Many adventurers who lacked the clearance to receive inside information could only stare in confusion at this large group of obviously elite adventurers.
"Which adventurer group is that?"
"I recognize that red dragon banner—it looks like the Red Dragon Company. I heard they're the main force pushing through the labyrinth right now."
"Then why are they suddenly leaving?"
"How should I know?"
"There are a lot of people behind them too, with all kinds of banners. Are those adventurer groups as well?"
The uninformed adventurers whispered among themselves about Gauss and the others' sudden movement.
All they could tell was that something must be about to happen, but with their level of information network, they were nowhere near able to gather the summons that was still only circulating among the upper ranks of adventurer groups.
Maybe in several days, they would finally catch a few scraps of rumor.
That was simply the reality of low-level adventurers.
They were like sheep in a pen—numerous, but slow to realize almost anything, able only to follow the shepherd's lead.
By the time they reached the first floor of the labyrinth, signs of human activity became visibly denser.
This was the uppermost level, and also the one with the largest number of active adventurers. The great hall on the first floor had especially been transformed into something like a compact commercial town, full of hawking, trading, and all kinds of bustling business activity.
All the monsters in the surrounding area of the hall had long since been completely cleared out.
Gauss and the others did not linger. They quickly headed up the stairs.
And at last, when the long-missed warmth of sunlight fell across them again, Gauss and his people finally emerged from the underground labyrinth.
Gauss could not help letting out a long breath, struck by a strange feeling, almost as though an entire age had passed.
The surface world might not have had the same concentration of mana as the underground, but it was far easier for people to relax and settle into. It felt as if his whole body had suddenly become lighter, as though several pounds had fallen away—like returning home after a long work trip.
"Ah! We're finally back."
"The sunlight's so bright."
"When I get back to the city, I'm sleeping an entire day away."
"..."
The others reacted even more strongly than Gauss, but what they all showed, without exception, was the same thing: relief of body and mind.
Because this, after all, was the realm of humankind.
"Then we'll be off first, Commander Gauss."
"All right. See you at the meeting."
The high-ranking teams from the other adventurer groups also said their farewells one after another.
Naturally, the meeting was not scheduled for today. A few days had been left open for the adventurer groups first. Many of them were locals from Barry, and had family waiting for them in the city.
Now that they were finally back on the surface, they were all eager to return home as fast as possible.
Gauss, meanwhile, chose the nearest city gate and headed for it.
As they advanced, the group drew no small amount of attention.
Unlike when he had first arrived with only Alia, the Red Dragon Company now had a fair amount of fame in the Forest City's adventurer circles.
Many people had already read reports in the newspapers about their progress through the labyrinth, and had heard of Commander Gauss's extraordinary strength.
When they arrived at the city gate, Gauss looked up at the towering walls. Unlike his first visit to Barry with Alia—when he had been filled with the thrill of stepping into a grand fantasy metropolis for the first time—he now felt none of that emotional excitement.
Only Eden, who had been excited the entire way, kept muttering in his ear over and over, "Barry, Barry..."
Even before it had accidentally wandered into the labyrinth, back when it lived as a slime roaming freely in the wild, it had rarely ever entered places where humans gathered.
"Let's go in," Gauss said calmly.