Chapter 49: Monsters Under the Moonlight
In Doyle’s “courtesy,” Gauss took several quick steps forward.
A flash of cold light!
The slender sword in his hand punctured the chest of the exhausted Water Wraith precisely.
“Puchi!”
Thick slime-covered skin ripped open, and its bloody, foul‑smelling gore gushed out.
Gauss deftly withdrew his sword and stepped back.
As the last Water Wraith fell by Gauss’s hand, the long‑awaited words finally reappeared.
“Killed Water Wraith *1”
“Total monsters killed: 50”
“Reward gained: Class skill Tier‑1 spell [Mage Armor]!”
“Reward gained: Agility +1”
“Current Agility: 6”
“Next milestone: Total monsters killed reaches 100.”
After the pleasant prompt.
Gauss shuddered all over, and a shiver ran through him like electric sparks over his skin.
An invisible force seemed to flow through every nerve, with a subtle current pulsing, giving him an indescribable sensation.
Within a few blinks, that miraculous force remodeled his body.
And in the next instant, his will imprinted with an additional spell.
“What’s wrong?”
Doyle, seeing him frozen in place after killing the last Water Wraith, asked in confusion.
“Nothing… nothing, just let me catch my breath.” Gauss exhaled and shook his head.
Actually, he felt his body was in better condition than ever.
First, the agility improvement—though just one point, agility’s feedback was more tangible than Constitution.
After raising from 5 to 6 points, he felt his coordination and bodily flexibility sharpen noticeably.
Using his past life as an example, it was like going from playing games with 100–200 ms fluctuating lag to a stable 30 ms.
The two experiences were worlds apart.
Whether the analogy was perfect aside, now that the buff had just finished and his body suddenly changed, some psychological experiences were magnified or distorted—overall, his bodily control improved significantly.
Plus, he also gained a spell this time.
Tier‑1 spell [Mage Armor].
Gauss sensed the new spell in his will and quickly grasped its effect.
Specifically, upon activation, it consumed a certain amount of mana and formed an invisible armor surrounding his body—equivalent to donning a weightless invisible force‑field armor.
This Mage Armor didn’t hinder his movement speed or agility, yet it could absorb damage when attacked.
Feeling its effect, Gauss’s heart pounded uncontrollably.
A very good spell.
He admitted that at this moment, he might be a bit fickle.
Just as after acquiring Magic Missile, the more powerful destructive missile had replaced Mage Hand’s position.
Now, he suddenly felt that the originally perfect Magic Missile didn’t seem so appealing anymore.
Mage Armor, in his current mind, had ascended above Magic Missile in importance.
He even began to agonize over whether to replace his core skill with this newly acquired spell.
By intuition, practising Mage Armor seemed faster than Magic Missile.
As an apprentice spellcaster who was perhaps not so “fragile” but far from “tanky,” his greatest worry was being hit himself.
No matter how destructive his attacks, as a mortal body, a stray arrow could take his life.
And the battlefield was often complex; even a cautious Gauss with accelerated thought couldn’t claim to dodge all enemy attacks completely.
That was why he’d been insisting on teaming with others—others could share some enemy fire, letting him relax slightly.
But now, with Mage Armor mastered, as long as he cast it in battle and enemy attacks stayed within its damage threshold, he could be immune to some unintended harm.
This would greatly increase his combat margin for error.
Of course, diving deeper into Mage Armor’s details, Gauss quickly realized.
He still needed to stay cautious, not get over‑confident.
Mage Armor wasn’t a death‑wish charm—if enemies quickly dealt damage exceeding its absorption threshold, it would break, and currently it might not resist all kinds of attacks.
Also, limited by his apprentice phase, its effect might not be as powerful as that of a true professional when used.
Further tests would be needed.
But even with these caveats, it remained a very suitable spell for him.
Gauss collected his thoughts, accepted the bodily changes, and returned his attention to the real world.
His pondering hadn’t taken long; once the fight ended, everyone was busy regaining energy.
Daphne likewise began checking teammates—especially the front three—piggy‑backing for wounds on limbs, waist, abdomen; after confirming no unseen wounds, she exhaled in relief.
Although Water Wraiths weren’t strong fighters, they carried many pathogens.
Some unnoticed minor wounds with no pain could be more troublesome than obvious injuries—if ignored they might worsen into disease or even death.
Meanwhile, ranged‑support Meiva and Oliver donned gloves and, as always, started gathering spoils.
Besides Water Wraith left ears for quest submission as proof, there were other usable materials to collect.
So it was a big job.
After Daphne checked him, Gauss went to help process the aftermath.
Levin looked at his companions and felt relieved.
This sense of foreboding had turned out to be a false alarm—killing the Water Wraiths had gone smoothly.
After a brief rest, he also joined the others in post‑battle work.
Overall, the Water Wraith collection task was painful yet joyful.
Their stench was strong, and handling the corpses wasn’t pleasant, but as each material linked to silver coins, everyone felt it was worthwhile.
The only bitterness in the world is poverty.
While everyone busily worked, Gauss suddenly felt his eyelid twitch uncontrollably.
At first he ignored it, thinking his numb sense of smell was reviving, overwhelmed by the stench of the gray‑green limbs nearby.
But soon his brain cortex tingled sharply, as if his body instinctively warned him.
He finally realized something and snapped his head up.
His gaze shifted in one direction.
Under the moonlight, on the river’s surface shimmering pale silver in the distance, a tall blue figure walked along the bank.
A person? Or…
No! A monster!!
In the moonlight, Gauss squinted and finally saw the humanoid outline clearly.
It was emaciated, with blue‑spotted skin clinging to its bones like dried leather, parts covered in fine scales.
Most striking was its canine‑like face: hollow eye sockets held two burning‑ember red eyes; its muzzle protruded with predator‑like sharp fangs; its long, thick snake‑like tongue flicked constantly through the air; its forelimbs ended in blade‑sharp claws.
It stooped and moved like a bipedal canine, light yet rapid, heading straight toward them.