Encountering a few stray monsters in the morning, Gauss was too lazy to lift a hand, leaving it all to the Clay Spider to handle.
All he needed to do was occasionally replenish food and from time to time, supplement the Clay Spider with Magic Power.
It gave off a feeling similar to the idle gaming style from the online games of his previous life.
The efficiency might not be much faster, especially since there was currently only one decent clay creature, but it was convenient as it required no effort.
So Gauss was quite satisfied.
Moreover, this clay creature had room for improvement. Later on, with increased spell proficiency, he could "add ingredients" to it or gather more clay or soil suitable for conducting magic power to create more clay creatures.
"Serdur, can your Blessing Spell be used on my Clay Spider?" His thought turned to Serdur beside him, and he suddenly inquired.
"Maybe, I need to try." The Half-Snake Man wasn’t entirely sure but nodded in agreement.
In the morning, Gauss and his team moved westward for quite a distance and then stopped for a lunch break.
"Gauss, does your spider pet need to eat?" Aaliyah asked curiously.
"No, but it consumes my Magic Power." Gauss replied.
"No wonder."
Aaliyah nodded, understanding why Gauss had been eating more throughout the morning.
Ulfen and Raven Aik circled around the new "animal companion," especially Ulfen, who occasionally jumped and bit down on the spider’s body.
At this moment, the Clay Spider’s body bore many teeth marks and traces of saliva from licking.
But the Clay Spider had classified it as a friendly unit, and with low intelligence, it was now engrossed in its work and paid little attention to the creature that resembled a wolf.
Alone, it silently crushed ants on the ground with its sharp legs.
Faithfully executing the tasks assigned by Gauss.
Like the spider spirit, it could absorb the spirit energy from the same species that had died and dissipated, but the efficiency of converting spirit energy from other creatures was far less than that from its own kind.
Gauss found the Giant Spider Spirit handy, so he let it continue killing ordinary insects around to enhance itself.
"Da-da-da."
"Da!"
The Clay Spider diligently worked, crushing one tiny ant after another into small puddles of slimy liquid with precision, and then some special essence merged into its form.
Such a hard-working little guy...
Gauss withdrew his gaze.
He squatted down and held the ever-active Ulfen in place, giving its wolf head a good rub.
"Ulfen, don’t disturb its work."
It seemed to understand Gauss’s intention, and once Gauss held it, it quickly displayed a naive expression, tongue hanging out, appearing "tamed."
To be honest, Ulfen was not afraid of its master now, but it still didn’t dare to act recklessly in Gauss’s presence.
A strict hierarchy and submission to the strong within the "family" were ingrained in the blood of canines.
Gauss, being the strongest in the team and like the patriarch, had always made Ulfen particularly obedient, especially when he seriously addressed issues.
Yet its gaze towards the Clay Spider still held some grievance.
It had been so amiable to this newly-joined "little brother," but was always met with aloofness and no response.
Thinking of this made it somewhat discouraged.
However, just a few seconds later, spotting Aaliyah approaching with cuts of steak, it perked up instantly, wagging its tail rapidly.
The allure of the steak quickly made it forget about the Clay Spider.
2nd-level Spell [Shaping Magic·Clay] lv2 (8/20)
Letting the Clay Spider work all morning, the magic power Gauss expended wasn’t in vain, turning into a solid 8 points of experience.
Although the growth might slow down in the later stages, this progress was still something he was very satisfied with.
Upon reaching level 3, he should be able to try integrating other items, thereby allowing clay creatures to acquire more traits.
This was the strong point of Clay Magic.
Though it seemed weak initially, with continuous practice, it would demonstrate its comprehensive tactical abilities.
"However, I need more clay."
The clay he had now was still too little to even form a decently sized clay minion.
"Serdur, did you ever encounter golems or other creatures that might produce clay on the second floor of the labyrinth before?"
He approached Serdur, who was studying to bless the Clay Spider.
"Huh?" Serdur was a bit taken aback by the sudden question. "Let me think..."
"I haven’t encountered golems directly, but if it’s related to clay, I might have a clue?"
He said this, but his tone held a bit of uncertainty.
"I once passed by a space that seemed like an abandoned herb garden, but it was overgrown with weeds, with no worthwhile herbs left to gather."
Because of this, he hadn’t told Gauss about this earlier.
In his eyes, this piece of information seemed to hold no value.
"Is it far from here?" Hearing this, Gauss found himself intrigued.
"It should be in the direction we’re heading." Serdur pointed to a spot on their hand-drawn map of the labyrinth.
"Then let’s head over this afternoon for a search."
Gauss needed special soil now, whether clay or black or yellow soil, as long as it was suitable for conducting magic power.
He had tried ordinary soil before. Though it could also create clay creatures, they were loose and fragile. The main issue was the excessive consumption of magic power and the inability to maintain their form for long.
Even the ordinary soil from golems was not viable; only that lump of white clay at the magic-item level was most suitable.
And he needed more!
...
Afternoon.
Since Serdur hadn’t specifically noted the location of the abandoned herb garden, and only had a vague impression of its general area, finding it wasn’t going to be easy.
Fortunately, it was on their way, so it didn’t take much time anyway.
Using their mind map, Gauss finally reached the location from Serdur’s memory.
The dim lighting revealed a scene more akin to ruins overgrown with brambles and weeds than a garden.
The roughly hewn stone walls of the outer perimeter had largely collapsed, the remaining outlines haphazardly tracing a semblance of the area’s original shape.
Ivy-like lichens covered much of the walls, giving the environment an overall sickly gray-green appearance.
The three of them stepped over what appeared to be remnants of gray-black stone columns that encircled the presumed entrance, entering the garden, treading on fragmented stone paths.
"The growth is impressive."
Gauss’s eyes scanned the garden enclosed by stone walls.
In his view was a dense, almost wild tangle of weeds and thorns, though there were no glowing mosses, ferns, vines, or shrubs typical of the labyrinth here.
The air was filled with a scent that mixed the decay of plants with the dampness of soil.
"Aaliyah, have you found anything?"
Aaliyah had already crouched, hands open, pressed to the ground.
Indeed, each one masters his trade.
Among the three, when it came to perception of nature, neither he nor Serdur could match Aaliyah’s prowess.
"The soil here seems different from other areas." Aaliyah infused her natural power into the land.
She grabbed a handful of the near-consolidated brown-black soil, and as her fingers moved she found something special about the soil texture here.