Chapter 74: The Abnormality of Mage Armor
Gauss picked through the daily goods store and bought quite a few items.
Several sets of ordinary linen clothes for changing.
A black cloak, neat and tidy when draped over the back, useful for shading from the sun or blocking the rain, and in a pinch, could be thrown on the ground as a blanket.
Polished black leather boots with thick wooden soles, tightened at the sides with metal buckles.
An extra-large tanned leather water pouch.
A larger adventurer's backpack, equipped with more buckles, external tool mesh, hidden compartments, and storage pouches, capable of carrying more tools and equipment.
After upgrading his daily gear all around, he spent another eight silver coins.
But Gauss wasn’t too distressed—old items needed replacing, and money was meant to be spent.
Before leaving the shop, he thought for a moment and bought a set of ceramic teacups, which came with a small booklet titled A Guide to Tea Brewing.
After eating, Gauss returned to the inn, newly equipped from head to toe.
“Back already? This outing seemed longer than before?” Sophia asked as she saw Gauss enter with his bundle.
“Stayed out for a few extra nights.” Gauss walked to the counter. “Oh right, Sophia, I brought you a gift.”
He placed the tea set on the counter.
“Why are you buying me a gift?” Sophia glanced at him oddly.
“I just happened to see it while shopping and thought of how you usually enjoy brewing flower tea, so I picked it up casually. It wasn’t expensive.”
Gauss hadn’t thought too much about it—he simply wanted to show some appreciation for Sophia’s usual care.
He wasn’t the type to take others’ kindness for granted.
“You too… Why would you buy this for me? Can it still be returned?”
“Probably not. Just accept it, Sophia. I’m a bit tired, going upstairs to rest.” Gauss shook his head and went upstairs quickly without waiting for a response.
“Hey, wait... Ah, well... thank you then!” Sophia watched his back disappear up the stairs, then looked down at the ceramic tea set in her hands, a faint smile appearing on her face.
It had been a long time since she’d received a gift.
Early in the morning.
As magical energy surged, a layer of invisible, transparent armor condensed around Gauss.
A familiar flow of warmth seeped from the surface of the armor into his body, warming him all over.
“Mage Armor lv2 (19/20)”
That proficiency had been stuck for several days.
For Gauss, this clearly wasn’t a normal pace.
Could it be that, unlike Tier 0 cantrips, Tier 1 spells approaching level 3 were already close to triggering the threshold of the Professional Path?
Gauss remembered that in the intelligence shared by Shopkeeper Groln, any skill practiced to a highly proficient level would allow one to sense a mysterious guiding force from the world.
Following that guiding force would lead one onto the path of the Professional.
But he hadn’t felt anything like a guiding force.
“It’s time to visit Thorn Cottage again.”
Though he might be disturbing someone, Gauss currently had no other familiar Professionals in the spellcasting field, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and visit.
Mainly, he felt the last meeting with the Halfling Miss Andini had gone quite well, and she likely hadn’t developed any dislike or rejection towards him.
Leaving the inn and following the map, Gauss reached Thorn Cottage with ease this time.
Just like last time, the outer walls of the cottage were still mottled, moss growing thickly.
The oak door with a copper bell embedded was just as dusty, looking long abandoned.
Knock knock!
He lightly tapped on the door.
Perhaps because it was his second visit.
This time, after two knocks, the door creaked open on its own.
“Come... in!”
Andini’s voice drifted from the hall inside, sounding like she was talking in her sleep.
Crossing the threshold and entering the passageway, the door automatically closed again behind him.
As expected, upon entering the hall—
Andini was lying comfortably on a rattan chair, covered by a soft wool blanket, sound asleep.
Her eyes were shut tight, and there were faint traces of dried drool at the corner of her mouth.
One of her legs had kicked out from under the blanket and was draped over the armrest of the chair, swinging back and forth.
Gauss looked on, black lines forming on his forehead.
Even though she normally didn’t have customers, this was just too lazy.
Besides, wasn’t this already regular shop hours? Why was she still sleeping?
Damn, he was really envious of a retired veteran’s lifestyle...
“Haaah—”
Perhaps sensing an outsider in the hall, Andini yawned and sat up from the chair.
Her sleepwear hung loosely, and she didn’t mind it at all as she rubbed her sleepy eyes, chewing the air absentmindedly while spacing out for several minutes.
Several minutes later, it was like her brain finally reconnected—her eyes gradually regained clarity.
“Eh! Gauss? What are you doing here?” She turned her head and was startled to see Gauss.
“I’ve been here for a while now.” Gauss couldn’t help but remind her. “Senior Andini, what if it had been another customer? This scene wouldn’t be great to witness, right?”
Even though Andini was a halfling and probably didn’t fit the mating standards of most humans, there might be some folks with unusual preferences, right?
Even if she was a Professional, she still needed to be mindful of such things, no?
“Relax. Outsiders can’t come in at this hour. Very few people have access to my front door.”
“......” Gauss pressed his lips together, a question mark appearing over his forehead.
Should he be grateful for Andini’s trust?
If he remembered correctly, they had only met once before, and now she had already set him up with access permissions?
Though this likely only activated when Andini herself was present, it still felt too familiar given their relationship.
So why?
Gauss didn’t think his Charisma, which had just gone up from 5 to 6, had the power to charm people so easily.
And could a veteran adventurer who had been out there for years and was now in retirement really be a simple, naïve sweetheart?
There must be some key point here he just couldn’t figure out.
Andini glanced at the pondering Gauss and spoke up.
“So, what are you here for today?”
Judging by her previous impression of Gauss’ finances, she assumed he probably wasn’t here to buy anything.
“Well... it’s like this.” Gauss didn’t dwell on his earlier confusion and quickly shifted focus to the topic he had come to ask about.
For any adventurer, anything related to advancing their class was of utmost importance.
He hesitated a moment but decided to share the changes he had been experiencing—mainly how training Mage Armor now caused a slight heat to spread through his body.
What surprised him, though, was that despite him only recently demonstrating the Tier 0 cantrip Mage Hand, and now possessing another Tier 1 spell Mage Armor, Andini showed no curiosity at all.
After listening to his account, she simply blinked, then stared into space as if deep in thought, seemingly analyzing the changes in Gauss.
A moment later, a thick, hardcover tome suddenly fell from the air into her hands.
She licked her fingers and set the book—almost half the size of her torso—on her crossed legs, lowered her head, and began flipping through it quickly.
The pages rustled loudly as she turned them, making one wonder if she could really find what she wanted at such a speed.
Just as Gauss was thinking that, Andini’s finger suddenly stopped.
“Found it! I know the reason!”