The clay converts faithfully executed Gauss’s orders, closely following the leading demon convert, melding into the trees and stealthily navigating the network of underground roots.
Along the way, more converts continually joined the advancing group, as if summoned by some special existence, all rushing in the same direction.
Through shared perception, Gauss vaguely captured their position. Even when separated by a distance, he could still outline their general route in his mind.
The deeper they went, the taller and darker the surrounding trees became, with twisted bark and trunks occasionally revealing grotesque human-faced patterns.
However, due to the increasing number of luminescent fungi, the environment became significantly brighter.
Gauss dismounted from the chocobo.
He left Golden Ears and the slingshot in place, with Ulfen staying behind to protect them.
The next area was no longer suitable for their continued advance.
After marking the location of the mounts on his mental map, Gauss continued cautiously deeper into the Black Forest with Aaliyah and Serdur.
"Chirp-chirp-chirp—"
Aside from the insects’ chirping, there were no other sounds.
Yet, for fear of alarming the enemy, Gauss did not release the clay spiders for a "buffet."
The three of them carefully observed their surroundings, advancing through the Black Forest.
Along the way, they also encountered several monsters.
Despite the invisibility effect of the scale powder butterflies, invisibility did not equate to complete disappearance, as there were many methods to sense their presence.
As a result, Gauss’s Monster Atlas added two more ordinary entries—blade ants and jewel beetles.
The total number of species reached 35.
Blade ants are a type of large ants with forelimbs as sharp as blades.
In contrast, jewel beetles are insects that shine brightly, but their bodies are not real gems; rather, they are covered in an irritating sparkle. Once they perceive an approaching target, they eject the dust, covering several meters, to attack the enemy.
Nevertheless, low-level monsters were no longer a threat to Gauss.
He swiftly dealt with several encounters using a short blade, wiping off the slime, spraying deodorant, and then proceeded further.
Using melee weapons for attacks in such close-quarter situations is the simplest, most efficient way with the least noise.
"There are more and more insects." Aaliyah unconsciously shrank as she looked at the insects wriggling densely on the trunks and ground.
For ordinary insects, Gauss temporarily lacked interest and had no intention to clear them out.
Even though these insects could potentially evolve into monsters in the future, for now, they were just ordinary creatures.
The demon’s birth methods in nature are more diverse.
Some are bred by male and female individuals within a demon species; others are like goblins, planted in other creatures’ bodies, and some even reproduce on their own.
What about the origins of these demons?
Humans have also conducted related research on this question.
It resembles Gauss’s previous world dilemma about "the chicken or the egg."
Most demons are known to have been born from demons themselves, so how did the first demons come to be? What is their origin?
These questions, like a profound whirlpool, have continuously attracted thinkers and sparked endless debates among scholars throughout history.
Mainstream speculations can be divided into several categories.
The Chaotic Origins theory suggests that demons and humans, along with other creatures, naturally condensed into entities from the chaos, inherently existing creations.
The Ancient God Creation theory posits that powerful and indescribable entities created the earliest demons for purposes such as experiments, warfare, or merely to alleviate boredom. Between different demons, as well as between demons and creatures, new bloodlines emerged, resulting in more diverse races.
Another mainstream opinion is the Magic-Induced Mutation theory, which argues that the appearance of demons is more like a natural phenomenon. In environments rich or polluted with magic, or other unique conditions, local creatures experience inducible mutations over time. Through reproduction, these influences deepen.
Ultimately, their forms, behaviors, and essence undergo irreversible changes, differentiating drastically from the original species, forming demons.
Additionally, there are the Hypothesis of Other Realms, Natural Evolution theory, and so forth.
It’s possible that many of these conjectures might coexist to some extent.
The Black Forest already resides near an abnormal magic node. While personally there, Gauss felt increasingly convinced of the validity of the Magic-Induced Mutation theory, influenced by the vibrant magic in the forest.
The environment can indeed create demons.
Suddenly, Gauss paused in his tracks.
It wasn’t because he encountered an enemy.
Rather, in the second consciousness connected in his mind, the imagery finally changed.
The vision of the clay construct, which had been following the demon converts, finally emerged from the sunlight-deprived underground.
This discovery allowed Gauss, who had been continuously split-focused on the situation with the clay construct, to breathe a sigh of relief.
The activity of the clay construct also required the consumption of magic power.
The recent underground journey had already consumed a lot of pre-stored magic power in the clay. If it kept moving further, Gauss worried it would be completely depleted.
This is a major drawback of Clay Magic—excessive consumption.
Being a clay construct, all its activities draw energy from the magic power Gauss pre-stored.