They found a tavern and had a simple lunch. Aaliyah put down her utensils early and quietly watched Gauss devour his meal, smiling without saying a word.
After he was full, Aaliyah invited Gauss to visit her house, perhaps because he had asked her about buying a house the day before.
Gauss was also interested in buying a house, so he didn’t refuse.
Aaliyah’s little house wasn’t far from the inn, just down a side road and around two quiet street corners.
A small, charming two-story house came into view, surrounded by a low fence that enclosed a vibrant little garden.
Gray Wolf Ulfen was lazily sprawling on the soft lawn in the yard, basking in the sun. Hearing familiar footsteps, it just lazily lifted its eyelids and howled at the two as a greeting, then contentedly closed its eyes again.
Aaliyah gave Gauss a tour inside and out. Although the area wasn’t bustling, the interior was cozy and comfortable, with bright windows and clean spaces, reflecting the owner’s care in every detail.
Sunlight poured through the window frames onto the wooden furniture, while the air was filled with a faint fragrance of herbs and dried flowers.
Gauss was somewhat tempted and couldn’t help asking about the price.
"The house and this garden, plus various taxes, originally cost about 1 gold and 20 silver. It’s a bit more expensive than nearby, but I like the peace here."
"The subsequent renovations and the addition of simple furniture cost about one more gold coin."
She pushed open a window facing the garden.
"I initially stayed in an inn when I first came to Gray Rock Town. Later, when I had more money and thought about settling down here, I asked an intermediary to help me find this house."
"If it’s convenient, could you also have that intermediary keep an eye out for a similar place for me? Somewhere quiet, preferably with a small garden too," Gauss considered and then spoke up.
He also thought Aaliyah’s reasoning was sensible.
He needed a stable place to stay.
Otherwise, if he needed to entertain teammates and guests during his leisure time, it wouldn’t always be possible to do so at an inn or outside in a tavern.
"Sure, leave it to me." Aaliyah readily agreed. "I’ll contact him later."
Gauss lingered in Aaliyah’s little house for a while longer.
Watching her roll up her sleeves, carefully tending to the various herbs and ornamental plants in the garden, he suddenly felt that time passed slowly. Was this the leisurely daily life of a Druid profession?
During this time, a small, battle-scarred cat timidly sneaked into the garden, meowing softly at Aaliyah.
Aaliyah stopped her work and used Animal Communication Technique to meow back and forth with it before starting to clean and bandage its wounds carefully.
"If I knew the Healing Technique, it wouldn’t be such a hassle." Aaliyah noticed Gauss approaching and, without looking up, continued to bandage the little cat while speaking.
The Healing Technique is also one of the spells in the Druid’s spell sequence.
But as mentioned earlier, Aaliyah’s second spell currently being learned is the Goodberry Technique, so she probably won’t be able to learn the Healing Technique in the short term.
"However, the Goodberry Technique will probably be very useful with you as a partner." Aaliyah laughed as she spoke.
Gauss was slightly embarrassed at this remark.
Of course, he understood what Aaliyah meant.
The 1st-level spell Goodberry Technique is a multifunctional divine art. Its effect is to produce berries infused with natural magic, which, when consumed, provide not only minor basic healing but also nutritional support and energy to ease hunger.
Aaliyah’s implication was that he was a glutton.
With the Goodberry Technique, even when out in the wilderness on assignments and supplies run short, she could still create magic berries to satiate Gauss’s hunger.
Gauss didn’t argue with Aaliyah’s implications.
Food supplies were indeed very important to him.
Once Aaliyah mastered the Goodberry Technique, combined with his Energy Storage Glands and inherent rapid digestion ability, his endurance in battles would greatly improve!
Not to mention the berries themselves also provide basic healing effects.
Despite how peculiar the combination of a caster and a druid may sound, Gauss truly thought their partnership was quite effective.
They have durability, healing, melee abilities, ranged capabilities, control, and logistical support.
A good companion truly provides substantial assistance.
"So hurry and practice; I’m looking forward to your Goodberry Technique."
"Alright, I’ll master it as soon as I can," Aaliyah nodded upon hearing his words. "However, such natural divine arts can’t be rushed. It requires genuinely understanding the life force of plants and perceiving their rhythms, and it can’t be done by rote memorization inside a house."
"Also, I’m not very fast at learning this type of spell, maybe because my mind isn’t as sharp as yours," she seemed to remember something, sighed, and said troubled.
She could sense that Gauss was likely a genius caster and should be extremely quick at learning magic.
This was evident from how he had mastered many tricks and spells at such a young age.
She worried Gauss might think she wasn’t dedicated, so she explained why her leisure time was spent tending to plants.
"Uh, it’s okay, just go at your own pace," said Gauss, feeling apologetic for being so earnest, as if he were urging her like an overseer.
"And my speed at learning magic... well, it’s average."
Aaliyah said nothing, just silently watching him.
Since you put it that way, what more is there to say?
"Alright, compared to other casters, maybe my progress is relatively fast." Gauss initially wanted to be modest, but felt he was being pretentious, so he admitted it.
Aaliyah sighed with envy, and continued to bandage the little cat.
Meanwhile, he took this time to glance at the skill information on his panel.
Regarding 0th Ring Tricks:
Magic Tricks lv2 (6→15/20)
Communication Technique lv2 (3→7/20)
Repair Technique lv2 (1→5/20)
Flaming Arrow lv2 (0→16/20)
The most recently learned tricks have advanced quickly.
Especially Magic Tricks and Flaming Arrow, which are the most frequently practiced and used in combat; with the effect of the Spell Mastery talent, their proficiency soared swiftly.
In his perception, the proficiency of tricks reaching the lv3 level would make their use in combat very smooth.
He planned to practice Magic Tricks and Flaming Arrow to lv3 in the next couple of days, then choose two more tricks to learn.
Recently, apart from completing assignments, the time he spent on spell practice had brought significant gains.
He could clearly feel that the intangible "cup-shaped container" representing his profession tier was becoming more solid and full with each increase in spell proficiency and deeper understanding of the spell model.
Although he couldn’t quantify specific growth, this substantial sense of progress strongly indicated to him that learning new spells and enhancing existing spell control could propel him from lv1 to lv2.
Additionally, his nightly unwavering study of the Meditation Method was about to bear fruit; he was nearing the end of the profound book, meaning he would soon officially start meditation practice.
He believed that the act of meditation itself was likely able to accumulate experience for his profession tier.
At this moment, two clear paths to becoming stronger unfolded before Gauss.
One path was fulfilling the duties of a Magic Envoy: undertaking adventurous assignments, studying and researching magic, meditating, striving towards lv2, gaining attribute increases, and more importantly, enhancing the purity of magic power, which helps his spells exert greater power.
The other path was hunting monsters, completing the Monster Atlas, gaining attribute increases, and various other rewards, comprehensively strengthening himself.
Presently, he was advancing on both paths simultaneously.
Compared to his peers, fumbling their ways forward, he truly felt incredibly fortunate to have such a clear vision of his growth direction.