Chapter 44: After the Storm
The next day.
When Gauss got up, he sneezed several times in a row, catching a bit of a cold.
Fortunately, his constitution now exceeded that of an average person—had it been his sub-healthy self from his previous life, he might already be sick with a fever.
“Whew—”
Gauss drank some water.
With a constitution of 6 points, it was already hard for him to fall ill under normal circumstances.
He glanced at the Life Magic Stone hanging around his neck.
Besides the benefit from that previous constitution stat boost, the stone also played a significant role.
It too subtly enhanced Gauss’s constitution over time, especially when paired with stat points—it was like adding fuel to a fire.
He stretched lazily.
He had now reached a height of 1.8 meters and had stopped growing taller.
More importantly, beyond just growing taller, his physique had also become much sturdier—at the very least, he could now travel for half a day without feeling too exhausted.
Also, after finishing a fight, the time he needed to rest had shortened.
His endurance during combat had improved as well.
These were all benefits brought by increased constitution.
In short, for all Professionals, whether warriors, rangers, or spellcasters, constitution was an extremely important physical attribute.
Sitting on the bed, he immersed himself into the Adventurer’s Handbook deep within his consciousness.
In the Monster Encyclopedia detail page, the image of the second monster had already been lit up.
It was a green slime monster, with the species name listed as “Slime,” and the bottom right corner of the image showed a kill count of 9.
He still needed 18 more monster kills of any kind, along with 3 new types of monsters.
Gauss thought for a moment and figured the former would likely be achieved first.
However, compared to the unclear and uncertain talent extraction, the attribute rewards from total monster kills were much more straightforward.
He decided not to place too much hope on monster talent extraction for now—after all, the prompt had also stated that weaker talents had a higher chance of being drawn.
As the saying goes, no expectations, no disappointment—lowering expectations was a good way to increase happiness.
After sorting out his thoughts, Gauss got out of bed, got dressed, and headed downstairs.
The heavy rain had come and gone quickly.
At this moment, the weather outside had cleared up.
In the inn’s first-floor lobby, several unfamiliar tenants were having breakfast.
Gauss wasn’t surprised—temporary tenants came and went frequently in the inn.
They probably also noticed that Gauss, dressed in “elite” gear and carrying weapons, looked hard to mess with.
Several tables of tenants who had been chatting while eating suddenly lowered their voices in unison.
Gauss noticed this but didn’t pay it much mind—he glanced at them and looked away.
In this world, ordinary people generally didn’t want to mess with adventurers.
On one hand, adventurers often carried sharper weapons and better armor, making them tough to handle in a fight.
On the other hand, adventurers constantly faced risks and stress from commissions and monsters, and some had short tempers—just one wrong look could set them off.
Although the town had guards and a sheriff, they were of little help in sudden disputes.
The best way to avoid trouble was to steer clear.
“You’re up? Yesterday’s rain was heavy. You should’ve rested a day before coming back,” said Sophia, tending to a potted plant she had just placed on the counter.
“No choice. The weather was fine before we left—then it suddenly started raining on the road,” Gauss shook his head.
Unexpected situations like that couldn’t be predicted.
“What plant is this?” He glanced at the herb on the counter.
“Rosemary. The inn’s been a bit damp lately, so I put it here to improve the smell and repel insects.”
Gauss smiled, thinking it probably didn’t do much.
After breakfast at the inn, he headed for the Adventurer’s Guild.
This morning, the first thing to do was to submit yesterday’s task.
Walking on the road, he felt in great spirits.
Although this was his third time carrying out a commission, each time he submitted a task and received payment, it always gave the same sense of relief as handing in the last exam paper in his previous life.
The other members of the Night Owl Team lived in different places—some rented standalone houses, others stayed long-term on the second floor of taverns—so they arrived at different times.
When Gauss arrived, only Levin was already there.
He always seemed to be the first to arrive for every meeting.
“Morning.” They greeted each other.
The rain had left Levin looking a bit drained, but perhaps to avoid an awkward silence, he forced himself to chat casually with Gauss.
“There should be a noticeable increase in the number of monster-related commissions recently.”
“Why?”
“After heavy rain followed by clear skies, a lot of monsters come out and become more active. It’s a pattern people have observed.”
“Then should we hurry and take on more commissions these days?” Gauss didn’t ask without reason.
More commissions meant more options to choose from, including better tasks.
Adventurers couldn’t take commissions blindly. Task location, monster types, potential weapon damage, reward, and the healing items and equipment required all had to be carefully considered beforehand.
If one took random commissions and ended up with troublesome ones, the team might end up spending more than they earned.
This analysis work was usually something Levin discussed and coordinated with everyone.
“Yeah, I’m thinking about it, but it depends on everyone’s physical condition,” Levin nodded.
“If possible, Captain Levin, could we try to take on commissions involving other monsters next time?” Gauss felt a little embarrassed as he brought this up.
“Not Goblins or Slimes?” Levin smiled knowingly, remembering the last time.
“Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll consider it for the next task.” Though Levin didn’t promise outright, he was already thinking about suitable monster-related commissions in his head.
Seeing how seriously Levin took it, Gauss figured the next mission would likely involve hunting new monsters, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He needed to quickly reach the milestone of fifty monster kills and see if he could extract a monster racial talent as soon as possible.
He sensed that after receiving those two rewards, his personal strength would go through another leap.
At that point, he could even consider taking on smaller tasks solo.
He couldn’t always rely on the team to accommodate him.
In fact, he felt that he might already be able to handle about ten low-level monsters alone, and the simplest monster groupings for commissions usually fell within that range.
However, he couldn’t completely guarantee that nothing unexpected would happen.
After all, in the just-finished mission, although he had killed nearly ten Slimes, that was with teammates taking the front line, drawing attention, and providing flanking and ranged support.
If he faced opponents ten times his number alone, the difficulty would surely increase drastically.
Out of caution, he still wanted to develop steadily for a while longer.
Compared to efficiency, someone like him—who was destined to keep growing stronger—needed to prioritize personal safety, especially before he had fully matured in the early stages.
Adventuring commissions weren’t like games—there was no resurrection after death, so safety had to come first.