"It’s snowing, how sudden."
The two of them were having breakfast, discussing this unexpected early snowfall.
"It doesn’t usually come this early, right?"
"Indeed." Gauss nodded, agreeing. Actually, he didn’t have much of a feeling about it in his heart.
Although he had memories from a previous life, he hadn’t experienced it himself, so there was still some difference.
But for Aaliyah, who often has to travel outside, her impression of it might be particularly strong.
"Feels like this year’s winter hunt is likely going to be earlier," Aaliyah continued. "We need to prepare earlier."
The first snow stopped after about an hour.
People began to move about on the streets, and among them were many bronze adventurers.
Clearly, it wasn’t just Gauss and Aaliyah who realized that the snow might lead to an early winter hunt; many others thought the same.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
During this time.
Gauss and Aaliyah received a notice from the Adventurer’s Guild and did not continue taking on tasks outside.
Both were busy with their own training, aiming to advance their abilities and strength before the winter hunt.
Gauss was busy training his Magic Missile.
Just a few days ago, his Magic Missile was only a few points away from an upgrade.
Although after reaching level 3, the proficiency growth had slowed down, Gauss’s sprint-like intensive training still pushed it forward bit by bit.
Finally, the upgrade was completed.
1st-level Spell Magic Missile lv4 (1/100)
After successfully upgrading from lv3 to lv4, the biggest change was the faster targeting speed.
In the past, he needed to concentrate before a battle to lock onto an enemy and then successfully cast the spell. Now, locking on was much easier, with just a slight focus, he could smoothly lock onto a target.
His ability to target moving objects had also improved greatly.
This improvement was crucial, as compared to power and flight speed, it seemed unassuming.
But targeting is actually the foundation of everything.
Without the first step, there would be no successful casting.
Not to mention injuring or killing the enemy.
No matter how powerful a weapon is, if it can’t hit the enemy, it’s useless.
Moreover, the higher the skill proficiency, the higher the possibility for Gauss to improve the spell’s effects through extensive training.
For instance, he currently wants to add poison resistance to the Gauss Force Field and in the future try further to increase the number of simultaneous Missile releases, all requiring a sufficient proficiency foundation.
The higher the proficiency, the deeper the understanding of the skill, and the greater its operability.
That’s why many great Mages or other professionals form spell styles unique to them.
While Gauss was training hard, Aaliyah was not idle.
First, she finally mastered the Divine Art of the Sacred Berry; she had been training in this for some time but was stuck at a crucial stage. Fortunately, with Gauss’s recent help, her progress surged.
Second, she completed a contract with the second bird, a raven.
There were several reasons for choosing a raven over other birds.
First, the "pet market" in Gray Rock Town wasn’t as comprehensive as in big cities, where you could buy any animal you wanted at any time.
Second, compared to hawks and falcons, ravens are more advanced in intelligence and communication; through training, ravens can grasp simple human language expressions, allowing them to convey information accurately, even to someone like Gauss who can’t understand animal language.
Furthermore, they excel in map marking, warnings, and recognizing and responding to anomalies in the forest, far beyond other birds of prey.
Additionally, ravens have better stealth, even in town, they are not easily noticed.
The contracted raven could also blend into the wild raven groups everywhere, communicate with others, and gather intelligence.
Therefore, as a "scout" for intelligence gathering, it is very competent.
Gauss and Aaliyah, both having gained something, exchanged their results in an open field.
Gauss took the "Magic Berry" made from the Divine Art of Sacred Berries that Aaliyah handed over.
The berry was a pale red, emanating a faint glow.
"Want to try the taste?"
Gauss nodded and tossed the Magic Berry into his mouth.
The moment it entered, the Magic Berry dissolved in the mouth, the sweet fruit juice flowed down the throat and into the body.
In a short time, due to the magic effect’s presence, the hunger-quenching energy it provided quickly spread and became extraordinarily easy-to-digest and absorb pure energy.
Gauss’s [Energy Storage Glands] talent quickly detected this energy’s presence.
One was naturally suitable for absorption, and the other naturally accelerated absorption.
The existence of both was simply a perfect match.
Very soon, the magic power Gauss had depleted in testing the Magic Missile began to recover due to the Energy Storage Glands conversion.
There was no need to go through the previous [digestion] process, it went directly to the absorption stage.
"It’s very tasty." Gauss’s eyes lit up a bit.
He had thought Sacred Berry would likely be suitable for him, but he hadn’t expected it to be this fitting.
It was almost like a spell tailor-made for him.
This means that as long as he has stocked Magic Berries during combat, he can replenish quickly at any time.
"Aaliyah, how many Magic Berries can you make now?"
"In a short period, it’s 8," Aaliyah said. "However, I can make some in advance, but Magic Berries don’t store well; if they aren’t consumed within 2-3 hours, the magic power will quickly dissipate, and they will spoil."
Gauss nodded.
Having around ten in an emergency should be enough.
Certainly, they can’t treat Magic Berries as daily meals, plus he also has frog jerky.
With both, his endurance in battle should be impressive.
Moreover, they can’t depend on Aaliyah to be just a walking machine for Magic Berries, she also needs enough natural power saved for subsequent spell and Divine Art casting.
After tasting the Magic Berry, Gauss’s gaze moved to the raven that was playing in the air with Gray Wolf Ulfen.
The raven was larger than an ordinary crow.
Aaliyah’s raven seemed to be just in its adolescent stage but already had a body length of about fifty centimeters. In normal development, the raven would grow up to 60-70 cm, with a wingspan of about 1.2 meters.
So although it was positioned as a scout for intelligence gathering, its combat ability was not weak.
Gauss looked at the raven, slightly intrigued.
Its body appeared jet-black, but if you looked carefully, it wasn’t purely black; the wing tips had layered blue-black iridescence, like the cold gleam of metal.
Its eyes were particularly vibrant, glimmering with wisdom.
Most impressive were its claws and beak, the beak was as thick as obsidian, and its hook-like talons covered with rough scale-like skin could easily tear through tough hides.
Casters probably had ways to nurture an animal, though they likely couldn’t form a close bond like a Druid.
Temporarily setting aside those thoughts.
Aaliyah had already summoned the raven over and introduced Gauss to the raven.
Ravens are clever animals; after being notified by Aaliyah, it easily showed affection toward its new owner’s companion, gently brushing its head against Gauss’s arm.
Of course, some of this could be attributed to the effect of Charm.
Charm, as an attribute, doesn’t only work on humans, sometimes it also affects neutral creatures.