He seemed to have fully recovered.
However, Serdur mentioned that there was still a stubborn root of the ailment hidden in his ankle, which required several days of herbal compress treatment. After gathering a few more herbs, he bid farewell to everyone and slid away alone towards the forest.
"Gauss, don’t you want to follow him and take a look, in case he encounters any wild beasts?" Host still felt a bit uneasy watching Serdur’s disappearing figure.
"..." Gauss paused for a moment. "Don’t worry, Serdur is very strong."
He wasn’t lying. Despite being a priest, Serdur was quite formidable. With his ability to summon magical weapons, not only ordinary beasts but even same-tier combat professionals would find it not easy to take him down.
Moreover, with his mobility, even if he couldn’t win, retreating wouldn’t be difficult.
He is a nimble priest whose teleportation ability is maxed out.
While Serdur went out to gather herbs, Gauss didn’t stay idle either.
He simply joined Aaliyah and took Celeron to play by the creek outside the village.
By the babbling brook, Aaliyah and Celeron chased after fish in the clear shallow water with bare feet, while Ulfen and Aik surrounded them, entrapping the prey.
With more and more small fish added to the basket, their silvery laughter echoed around the shallow beach.
Gauss withdrew his gaze.
A cool breeze stirred his fine black hair, and he felt exceptionally calm and content.
It was as if an invisible burden had been lifted from him, allowing him to finally begin addressing leftover family matters without constantly worrying about them.
In this unburdened state, his mind became even more active.
He took out the White Magic Wand.
As a warm light emerged, the clay in front of him slowly transformed into four Clay Spiders quietly resting on the ground before him.
Since advancing Clay Magic to lv3, he noticed slight changes in the magic, becoming more versatile and capable of fusing with other materials.
For this, he had already prepared several suitable materials in advance.
He had been silently waiting for the day his spell proficiency reached lv3.
These materials included various mixed toxins, flammable oils and explosives, steel ingots, luminescent substances, and adhesive materials.
He called a small spider forward.
The first to move was the strongest, Little White.
With various materials in hand, Gauss focused on the Clay Spider, his 12-intellect brain rapidly planning.
In his imagination, the materials he prepared were destined to create: 1. [Venomous Spider] form, using internal pores and grooves in the mandibles to inject venom when attacking the enemy.
2. [Explosive Spider] form. This would be employed like a suicide engineer, combining flammable oil and explosives, compressing within the Clay Spider’s internal space to form a violent explosion.
Clay creatures wouldn’t really die, even after "self-destructing," they could still reorganize via Magic Power after the explosion. Thus, there wouldn’t be a scenario of harming the enemy while severely damaging oneself.
Additionally, this form possessed a certain degree of concealment. Most first-time enemies would find it hard to discern its functions from its appearance. Even if they knew, it’s not that easy to evade; the greatest strength of Clay Spider lies in its mobility, allowing swift and free movement across any terrain.
3. [Steel Armor Scout] form. Controlling molten metal to cover key areas like the mandibles, head, and back with a layer of jagged steel armor, giving the Clay Spider increased hardness, attack power, and defense.
There’s no need to worry about the shock of the attack causing damage to the clay core through the steel armor. Same rationale, the Clay Spider is not a real creature, and doesn’t have relatively weak organs like viscera or heart. Once the steel armor grows and becomes part of it, its strength significantly increases.
4. [Decoy Spider] form. Using luminescent materials and special lures to emit a glow in dark environments and release a unique scent to attract the enemy’s attention as a decoy.
As for why not use [Light Spell].
Of course, it could be used, but the magical fluctuations of the Light Spell make enemies more alert compared to ordinary luminescent materials. Such a spider wouldn’t be a decoy but would instead alert the enemy.
5. [Binding Spider] form. By spraying or applying powerful adhesive, it quickly adheres enemies, especially small ones, to the ground or walls, hence limiting their movement.
It can also produce strong adhesive at necessary times to help them climb steep or smooth rock walls.
...
Of course, these are Gauss’s ideas, and whether they can be realized, and which ones can, will require Gauss’s verification through experiment.
However, he felt there was a reasonable chance of success.
Because the information conveyed by the spell model indicated that the Clay Spider could absorb substances, transform, and enhance corresponding effects.
Yes, it’s about using Magic Power to enhance material effects, and after memorizing the material, a corresponding rune would form in the spell’s magic property, then continuously use Magic Power to produce similar effects.
Thus, the "venom," "steel," "adhesive" in essence become magical effects instead of real substances, and when Magic Power is depleted, it returns to its original state.
In other words, the potency of the toxins he carries might be 1, but through the integration and enhancement by Clay Magic, its potency could reach 1.5 or higher.