After having a simple lunch at the village near the mission site, the two of them and a wolf left the village, heading towards the Rust Frogs’ habitat.
"Rust Frogs... I’ve never encountered them before," Aaliyah said as she walked, flipping through the Monster Manual with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "According to the book, their spit can corrode iron."
"No wonder the bounty price is 1 silver and 30 copper," Gauss replied. "I suppose many warriors aren’t willing to take on this kind of task."
Among the lower-tier creatures, this is already a relatively high bounty price.
Like in the last mission, the price for a Ratman was only 1 silver coin each.
Tasks that are difficult and that no one wants to take on often have higher unit prices.
For close-combat professionals who rely on metal armor and weapons, such creatures that accelerate equipment wear are simply a nightmare.
The hard-earned commission would immediately go towards the repair costs at the blacksmith’s shop, which is really not worthwhile.
However, for Gauss and Aaliyah, this is not much of a problem.
Gauss has various long-range attack methods, and Aaliyah is an excellent controller and support.
More importantly, their core protection doesn’t rely on metal armor but rather on Gauss’s field protection, so there’s naturally no equipment wear.
Before departure, Gauss had already applied the [Gauss Force Field] to himself and Aaliyah.
The Gauss Force Field, under no erosion, can last about six hours.
For most battles, this is more than enough preparation time.
That’s why Gauss is accustomed to setting up the shield in a safe area before combat.
Then, using the effect of the [Energy Storage Glands] to replenish the consumed magic power, and once the magic power is fully restored, he can face the enemy in the best state.
This way, they can save the magic power needed for two additional force field protections.
Though they might not lack these two uses of magic power, it’s always good to pay more attention to details if possible.
As they got closer to the habitat, the two stopped talking and quietly approached their destination.
Suddenly.
Gauss perked up his ears.
A chill wind carried a peculiar sound from afar.
"Croak! Croak! Croak!"
A strange and urgent croaking, mixed with heavy footsteps and a certain kind of frightened shouting, came from afar, breaking the wilderness’s silence!
Is it the Rust Frogs’ commotion?
Gauss signaled Aaliyah to stop.
Then he looked into the distance.
He saw dust rising in the distance, with several young figures tumbling and crawling wildly along the path, their faces pale, breathing heavily as if exhausted.
And behind them, leaping through the dust, were many rounded figures.
Their every leap seemed clumsy yet extraordinarily powerful, as they relentlessly pursued their prey.
Those were exactly Gauss’s mission targets this time, the Rust Frogs!
"Prepare to engage!"
Suddenly encountering the Rust Frogs, Gauss and Aaliyah didn’t have time to think much.
He instantly entered combat mode, and Aaliyah gripped her wooden staff tightly.
"Bro... Brothers! Run!!!" The young man at the front shouted hoarsely when he saw the two blocking the way ahead, his eyes filled with fatigue and bewilderment—why weren’t these two running?
Both he and his companions were already out of breath, their faces and lips deathly pale, but they didn’t dare stop. Once they stopped, the group of seemingly "clumsy" large frogs behind them would devour them to the bone.
Rust Frogs are omnivorous creatures, and even when not leaping, they are over fifty centimeters in size.
Their oversized body for a frog also means they have to spend a lot of time eating each day; like many monsters, they eat whatever they can find.
Not only wild beasts and plants, mosquitoes and fish in the water, sparrows, and birds resting in the sky, even humans are on their menu.
To ordinary people, they may appear unremarkable, but in actuality, they’re very dangerous creatures.
But Gauss and Aaliyah stood like a rock, unmoved.
The group of young people fled past them like frightened rabbits, never looking back until after distancing themselves before daring to slow down a bit and look back.
They happened to see a scene that made them widen their eyes.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three brilliant azure magic energies almost simultaneously formed at the tip of Gauss’s White Bone Staff.
They tore through the air, dragging a comet-like magnificent light tail, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, and accurately bombarded the forefront of the frog group!
Boom!
Splat—!
A dull crash and the sound of flesh tearing echoed together!
Like a heated knife slicing through butter.
The blue magic energy shredded the Rust Frogs’ flesh in an extremely short time.
The three Rust Frogs hit were violently flung away like ragged sacks by the enormous impact.
Their tough skin was no match for the magic energy, instantly torn open, with foul blood and viscera scattering, momentarily halting the frogs’ ferocious charge.
The few people who saw this stopped in their tracks, gasping for air, exchanging a look.
Is this... encountering a master!
And Gauss’s duo in the distance had no time to pay attention to the changes behind them; they focused all their attention on the incoming frog group ahead.
Although this was a very sudden encounter.
It didn’t develop as they had planned—to reach the Rust Frogs’ habitat, scout, determine numbers, set the battle site, and plan specific strategies...