That’s the harvest from killing that golem on the first level during the last adventure into the labyrinth.
Besides some mud, we also obtained a lump of white clay of Magic Items grade.
And now, with the newly acquired 2nd-level Spell [Shaping Magic: Clay].
To be honest, Gauss began to believe that the panel doesn’t reward at random.
Gauss’ thoughts returned to reality.
Not much time had passed, Serdur and the reverted human Aaliyah were harvesting the spoils.
After a brief "daze", Gauss joined them.
"Why did you change back?" Gauss asked as he approached Aaliyah. "Weren’t you able to maintain it for several hours?"
"A bit tired," Aaliyah replied.
Transforming into a wolf and joining the battle was more exhausting than she had imagined.
Her stamina wasn’t bad, but compared to Gauss or other Warrior professions, it certainly wasn’t as good.
"Turning into a raven seems to consume slightly less energy," Aaliyah added.
"It appears to be related to the intensity of the creature," Gauss nodded.
After scavenging the spoils, Gauss and the others took a brief rest not far away.
The number of monsters on the first level was considerably lesser than during their last visit.
Possibly due to the bounties issued by the Adventurer’s Guild.
Many Bottom Adventurers were hesitant to venture to the more dangerous lower levels, but on the first level, if handled carefully, it’s not as perilous as imagined.
Alternatively, taking other quests on the surface also posed dangers, at least in the labyrinth, one might unexpectedly stumble upon some special gains.
The three cleared a patch of ground.
Drank water, ate, recharged, and quietly waited for Raven Aik to return with intelligence.
Gauss seized this "resting time" to try out the newly acquired 2nd-level Spell.
Impatient to try out this freshly obtained "advanced" spell.
It was like getting a new phone or computer in a past life; until played with for a couple of days, the excitement wouldn’t pass. That’s how he felt now.
He found a broken column to sit on, placing the White Magic Wand on his knee.
Touching the White Magic Wand also continuously sparked his inspiration for Magic.
Taking advantage of this, he closed his eyes, concentrating deeply within his awareness.
There, numerous faintly glowing spell models hovered and circulated.
The most dazzling among them was the new 2nd-level Spell [Shaping Magic: Clay] model.
"Indeed, not a spell that can be compared to the 1st Ring..."
It floated like a rotating stellar cluster in the center of his sea of consciousness, in stark contrast to the relatively simple 1st-level Spells and Tricks around it, its complexity was geometrically greater.
Hundreds of strands of faint golden conscious energy intricately interweaved, forming a three-dimensional structure similar to a honeycomb, with rune lights flickering at the mesh nodes. Just seeing it could give any Caster first encountering a 2nd-level Spell model a headache.
From the perspective of an ordinary Caster, constructing this model with will alone should take a very long time, Gauss considered.
Even for him, doing it alone would take a fair amount of time.
"Luckily, I’m not ordinary."
Deconstructing its structure in the context of an already "constructed" model was significantly easier than building it brick by brick from scratch.
As time passed.
Gauss quickly gained a certain understanding of this 2nd-level Spell.
Clay Magic was a Transmutation spell, requiring appropriate casting materials.
Of course, Gauss could freely choose materials, such as manipulating the dirt on the ground, molding it through Magic Power and the spell’s effect, remodeling its shape, temporarily providing it with a bit of stable structure, but the effect would be relatively average.
The best would be to pair it with clay or other soil that conducts Magic well, shaping it into various creature forms.
Once proficient, he could attempt to imbue the clay with a hint of [Spirit], allowing it to possess a simple basic "intelligence."
Directing the clay creatures to execute some simple preset commands, such as attacking enemies, protecting targets, carrying items, etc.
Until the imbued Magic Power is exhausted, the clay creatures could continue to act, even if a part was destroyed, they could recover their body integrity by picking up the dropped clay.
As for how to obtain the [Spirit], it was not complicated, as long as he utilized the Clay Magic to kill some minimally thoughtful creatures, the clay could naturally absorb the [Spirit] they emitted.
However, this spirit is a consumable that can’t stack in large amounts, meaning the intelligence of his clay creatures can’t infinitely increase to the level of intelligent life.
That realm pertains to the powerful domain of creating life.
At least now, as a Level 2 Mage mastering the 2nd-level Spell, [Shaping Magic: Clay] doesn’t have such potent power.
Upon this perception.
Gauss faintly sensed that the spell offered by the reward had a high ceiling.
Saying so, it wasn’t out of favoritism for being his first 2nd-level Spell.
But because while researching its model, it vaguely emanated a feeling of open-source freedom, as if it could combine with many other spells and materials, creating new magical effects.