Gauss met Aaliyah on the second floor of the Adventurer’s Guild.
This druid lady was the one who returned with him from the Jade Forest two weeks ago, and at that time, she was accompanied by a majestic big wolf, who helped carry his luggage for a while, as he did not have a Storage Pouch yet.
Afterwards, the two of them kept in touch. Although not particularly familiar, they were at least acquaintances.
"Congratulations." Aaliyah’s gaze lingered on the brand-new bronze badge on Gauss’s chest for a moment, secretly admiring the speed of his promotion.
Recalling her own experience, she had prepared thoroughly for each assessment mission, and the time taken to complete three tasks, although she couldn’t remember the exact duration, was certainly longer than Gauss’s.
It’s important to know that with the mighty animal partner from her contract—the formidable big wolf—she already stood out among the new professionals. Gauss, as a caster, was able to ascend so efficiently, proving that his abilities were far from simple.
That’s why, even though she had recently been let down by a white-haired mage teammate, she didn’t refuse when Gauss suggested forming a team.
Moreover...
Aaliyah’s gaze swept unobtrusively across Gauss’s face.
The first impression he gave her was very comfortable; he didn’t look like someone who would abandon teammates in battle.
So, let’s try teaming up.
If it doesn’t work out, we can always change later on.
Aaliyah murmured to herself, knowing that her high standards for teammates might be the reason it was hard for her to find a consistent partner.
Many new professionals are relatively self-centered, making it not easy to find a compatible teammate for a while.
At least, for now, Gauss gave her a good first impression.
"Have you already chosen a task?"
"Yeah, if you hadn’t contacted me proactively, I would’ve been temporarily recruiting teammates in the mission hall these days."
"Let me see it."
Aaliyah handed over the parchment with the task details.
Gauss glanced at the content on it.
The mission target was a group of ratmen entrenched in a cellar, numbering at least over 70.
Ratmen are a cunning and greedy humanoid monster, often accompanied by rats and giant rats.
They are irritable by nature, with lean bodies, favoring light weapons and ambush tactics. Low-level ratmen tribes often live in the wild or near villages, plundering and stealing food, spreading diseases.
Higher ratmen clans might integrate into urban civilization, establishing their own intelligence network in the sewers, eventually developing into a vast ratman underground city.
The task at hand was to clean out these ratmen for the villagers.
The commission was a total of 70 silver coins.
Gauss finished reading the mission commission information.
"Want to team up?" Aaliyah asked.
Not all adventurers are willing to deal with creatures like ratmen, rats, or giant rats.
In fact, many professionals, when given a choice, would avoid such tasks.
It’s not that they’re particularly dangerous, it’s just that there’s not much profit in slaying ratmen, no noteworthy spoils to plunder, and most people, to some extent, have an aversion to rats, which spread disease and are seen as ominous creatures, creating the current situation.
"No problem."
To Aaliyah’s surprise, Gauss agreed quite readily.
"Sure, this mission looks pretty good."
Gauss returned the mission commission paper to Aaliyah.
He didn’t agree just to please Aaliyah, he genuinely thought the task was quite appealing.
Firstly, he hadn’t encountered ratmen before, and this mission would allow his Monster Atlas to include a new species.
Secondly, with more than 70 ratmen, he always had a liking for dealing with numerous small creatures, and perhaps the giant rats among them could be considered monsters too?
That way, there would be more to clear out at once.
As for the average commission of 1 silver coin per ratman, it was quite standard. Most bottom-level small creatures have similar prices, some higher, some lower, but not by much.
Unless you’re teaming up to tackle more challenging elite demons, this was the usual market price.
The two added Gauss’s information to this commission in the mission hall.
"We’ll need to prepare some supplies for the ratmen in advance."
They walked towards the general store.
Although ratmen aren’t strong in direct combat, that doesn’t mean there’s no danger for a level 1 professional.
In fact, no matter what bottom-level small creature it is, if there are enough of them, they can potentially threaten professionals.
The Association gave out the "Adventurer’s Guide" for free, which also mentions this.
The attacks from ratmen and rats, giant rats mainly involve bites and scratches. Their teeth and sharp claws carry many viruses and bacteria, so full protective measures should be taken before officially undertaking the mission.
A full-body protective leather suit is required, with special attention to the neck, wrists, and ankles.
"I know a Protective Spell that can effectively resist these attacks. See if you need to buy one," Gauss said, noticing Aaliyah was about to select protective clothing, and reminded her.
"It’s fine," Aaliyah nodded. "Even though you have mastered Protective Magic, battles can change in countless ways, and there will be times when you can’t look out for me. I should prepare some protective gear for myself so I won’t be too much of a burden to you."
Hearing her say this, Gauss felt it made sense and didn’t stop her.
After all, casting [Gauss’s Defense Shield], which is his upgraded Mage Armor as a core skill, is not as convenient to cast on others as it is for himself.
Currently, he needs to make physical contact with the target to equip them with the shield.
Apart from protective gear, they also need to buy gas masks and filters in advance.
Gauss also planned to purchase these; [Gauss’s Defense Shield] provides good resistance against physical and magical direct attacks but is not very effective against gas and miasma.
Then there are some flammable items, purifying items, basic medicines, food, and so forth.
Except for the protective gear and masks, the rest of the basic supplies were split evenly between them.
In terms of basic supplies, each of them spent about 6 silver coins.
Once the supplies were ready, they both started to return and make the final preparations for departure.
After returning to the inn, Gauss checked his belongings and confirmed that all necessary supplies were stored in the Storage Pouch.
He took a day to relax.
The next morning, at dawn.
"Be careful."
"Mm."
Gauss waved his hand and left the inn.
Meeting Aaliyah by the roadside.
This time, they were still setting off with a caravan.
But unlike their previous days as Bottom Adventurers when they had to contact the caravans themselves.
Since being promoted to bronze level, caravans often reach out to them proactively.
They don’t have to spend any money, getting free rides and food.
It’s said that if the journey is longer, the caravan even pays a fee to the professional adventurer as a security fee.
"Esteemed Adventurers, this is your carriage, and inside are food and fresh water prepared for you. If you have specific requirements, let me know."
The caravan steward was very polite, inviting them into a carriage free of cargo.
The carriage was clearly cleaned beforehand, with clean seat handles and hardly any odors.
Very nice.
Gauss nodded.
This is the treatment of a bronze-level adventurer, no longer having to squeeze into a carriage with a pile of goods.
The carriage began to move.
Lifting the curtain, the scenery outside the window came into view.
Beside the carriage, a large wolf unwittingly followed along.
Aaliyah leaned out, took a piece of meat she had prepared from her bag, and fed it to her animal companion.
Meanwhile, Gauss took this time to continue reading.
He was still studying the book on the Meditation Method. It had quite a lot of content and was not something one could finish in a couple of days.
Along the way, the caravan stopped once and encountered a few bandits armed with pitchforks and clubs.
However, they didn’t even need to lift a finger. The caravan’s guards quickly routed these fledgling bandits.
While on the carriage, Gauss seized the opportunity to ask his temporary companion Aaliyah a question he had been pondering.
"Aaliyah, can I ask you something about Druids?"
There aren’t many druid apprentices in town.
It’s even rarer to encounter professional druids.
All of Gauss’s information on Druids previously came from word of mouth.
"Sure, what do you want to know?" Aaliyah, feeling a bit bored, withdrew her gaze from the scenery outside the carriage.
"I’ve heard that Druids uphold natural peace and dislike killing. Is that true?"
"How could that be?" Aaliyah laughed and shook her head. "First of all, ’Druid’ is just a general term. It actually includes many sects, each with different beliefs and core ideologies. Of course, even if I were to explain now, you probably wouldn’t grasp all the differences."
"Just know that broadly speaking, there are the Conservatives, the Radicals, and the Mutants. Most Druids are Conservatives, who uphold the natural balance. But that doesn’t mean we refrain from killing."
"In fact, many Druids don’t shy away from slaying demons because killing is also a way to maintain the natural balance. Take many low-level demons, like goblins, Kobolds, and Ratmen; they inherently possess an evil power and reproduce too rapidly. If left unchecked, their numbers would soon encroach upon the living space of ordinary creatures."
"Got it," Gauss said, a stone in his heart quietly settled.
He was aware of his nearly "utterly destroying" stance towards demons. Thinking of the rumors about Druids, he was worried there might be a conflict of ideals with Aaliyah, so he decided to test the waters.
Now it seemed, at least for the moment, their goals did not conflict.
Aaliyah was working to fulfill her sect’s doctrine of preserving the natural balance by clearing out those proliferating low-level demons.
While Gauss, with his mysterious "atlas" system, needed to collect as much experience as possible.