"Boom!"
They were too busy watching their surroundings and forgot that danger could also come from the sky.
With a dull thud, Red Dragon Hephaestus’ body fell from the sky like a meteor, crushing a few Little Fishmen on the spot.
"Wala! Guga!"
The surviving Little Fishmen let out terrified, piercing cries, and panic ensued.
Before they could react to this sudden disaster from the heavens, Hephaestus’ sturdy dragon tail already swept horizontally!
"Bang bang bang!"
Like dolls being tossed around, the Little Fishmen flew backward under Hephaestus’ tail attack.
Hephaestus’ size was only small relative to an adult Giant Dragon.
Compared to most Demons in the wild, he was considered a giant.
Not something these Bottom Adventurers could counter.
A few Little Fishmen positioned on the outskirts were lucky and survived both attacks. Screaming, they desperately ran towards the river, trying to escape into the water.
However, the flickering fire on the dragon’s back quickly extinguished their last hope.
Gauss swiftly finished off the remaining Little Fishmen with Flaming Arrows.
Then he jumped down from the dragon’s back.
Placed the score-recording Crystal Stone in front of the Fishmen bodies.
Soon, the numbers began to change.
1, 2, 3...
The score stopped at 23.
Does one Little Fishman equal one hunting point?
Gauss understood.
Although he didn’t take this seriously at first, after signing up, he couldn’t help but feel a bit competitive.
Hunting Demons is what he does best.
If possible, he didn’t want his rank to look too bad.
"Eat a bit."
Dragon Beast Hephaestus sniffed the Fishmen’s bodies and grimaced at the intense fishy smell.
He exhaled Dragon’s Breath flame twice, roasting the Fishmen, then ate them cleanly in a few bites.
"Let’s continue looking for targets."
The long night still had more work for them.
In the pitch-black night, the Dragon Beast kept taking off and landing, leaving a bloody trail wherever it went.
The surrounding waters were filled mostly with Water Ghosts and Little Fishmen.
As the hunt continued, the number of monsters killed quietly reached 7823.
Unnoticed, another two hundred Demons had been killed.
This area was indeed more bountiful compared to Gold and Silver Town, whether in natural or Demon resources.
"Killed 5 Ball Algae Monsters."
While unlocking another type of Ordinary Monsters.
Gauss glanced at the Monster Atlas and noticed the types of Ordinary Monsters had quietly reached 47.
This meant he only needed 3 more to satisfy a new round of Racial Talent drawing.
Unknowingly.
He hadn’t been fixating on this, yet it was quickly nearing 50 types.
Although he wanted to continue full steam ahead, he glanced at the sky.
He and the now exhausted Hephaestus had been busy for a long time, with most of the time spent searching for monsters.
Also, neither the kill count nor the remaining types could be fully accumulated in one night.
So he didn’t push it.
"Let’s head back."
...
The Adventurer’s Guild in Lake Town was bustling with people.
Gauss first presented the hunting Crystal Stone at the counter to synchronize data.
While the staff worked, he took a look around the Guild’s local environment.
"You went out and killed 212 Demons last night?"
Aaliyah knew Gauss had a habit of going out at night to hunt Demons, but she didn’t expect him to be so diligent.
The night wasn’t a good time to hunt Demons; visibility was limited, and many Demons also rested at night.
"Mm."
Gauss nodded.
His eyes looked towards a corner of the hall.
Herbert: 761
Koman: 615
Angela: 599
...
The hunting event had been underway for a few days, and the leaderboard had already begun to show differences.
Gauss shook his head.
The others weren’t moving slowly either.
Over seven hundred points, if excluding elite monsters, equated to killing over seven hundred Ordinary Monsters.
Regarding the points for elite monsters, Gauss consulted the staff, and they are roughly in the range of 10 to 100.
An elite monster worth 100 points is already at a challenge level of level 5, equivalent to a hundred ordinary monsters.
There are still 6 days left.
Gauss was not too anxious.
Although his current points are only just over two hundred, it took only a few hours to accumulate them.
Once he truly starts exerting effort, his points will rocket upward.
After the staff completed the registration, the crystal stone board refreshed.
His ranking is temporarily not very high.
With 212 points, he was ranked over two hundred, attracting no attention from anyone.
Because the interval of one or two hundred points is crowded with adventurers who signed up for the hunting event.
Some bottom adventurers, by pooling the strength of their teammates, can also accumulate one or two hundred points over the past four days.
"Herbert’s points are rising so fast; it was just over five hundred yesterday."
"I heard he took up a large commission."
"You have to understand that he didn’t register on the first day; it feels like he’s very likely to be the champion."
....
The onlookers at the leaderboard included not only Gauss and the others.
"Shall we go see if there’s a suitable commission?" After finding Gauss’s ranking, Aaliyah suggested.
"We should help Gauss push his ranking upward."
Though it’s an entertainment competition, since Gauss signed up, they also wanted to help out.
After explaining the situation to the counter staff, the group was quickly invited to a special VIP room.
Even if Gauss’s actual combat strength, far exceeds his level, this team is considered top-notch in any town.
In the VIP room, Gauss carefully selected this time.
Considering the need for both quantity and quality, and new types of monsters.
He finally chose a suitable commission.
"Eliminate the Giant Crab Tribe."
"Confirmed this is the one," Gauss settled on after discussing with his teammates, then turned and told the staff member in charge.
This commission requires clearing a tribe of iron-claw giant crabs active near a water area named "Broken Shell Shallow Beach."
The leader of this tribe is a sturdy elite iron-claw giant crab, as large as a millstone, whose claws can easily break stones, with a hard shell, dominating the shallows and posing a serious threat to fishermen and small boats passing by.
The commission reward is 80 gold coins and specifies "Nest clearance required, confirm the elimination of threat."
Considering this is a monster type that hasn’t been killed before, it’s guaranteed to add one ordinary atlas and one elite atlas. Also, the distance isn’t too far, so Gauss decided on it.
Though the distance isn’t exactly near.
Many nearer commissions have already been taken by adventurers who arrived early.
Fortunately, Gauss has the Red Dragon Beast, allowing him to ride it with his teammates to rapidly reach the commission location once in the wild.
"The terrain of Broken Shell Shallow Beach is complex, so please be extra careful," staff routinely reminded.
"Okay," Gauss nodded.
"Then I wish you successful hunting in advance," after the staff reminded them, they said no more.
After leaving the guild, the team immediately took action.
After arriving at the hidden spot outside the town.
They opened the organism pouch to summon the Red Dragon Dragon Beast Hephaestus.
All four quickly climbed onto the dragon’s back and found a place to sit down.
The space was still quite enough.
But the weight of the four, especially when Albena climbed onto the dragon’s back, made Hephaestus’s body noticeably sink down.
The molten gold vertical pupils quickly contracted a bit.
"Roar——"
So heavy.
Gauss placed his palm on its head, understanding its meaning.
It’s complaining.
Not that it can’t fly, but carrying so many gives it a feeling of being a workhorse.
It’s just a child yet bears a weight it should not at its age.
"Once these days are busy over, I’ll take you to find some cows and sheep for a change of taste."
Only when Gauss made this promise did Hephaestus reluctantly nod and agree.
"Set off!"
At Gauss’s command.
The Red Dragon Dragon Beast slowly flapped its wings, painfully flapping a few times to lift itself into the air, then headed to the distance.
"Whoa!!!"
Aaliyah shouted excitedly.
This was her first time riding a dragon, and though riding on Gauss’s coattails, she was thrilled nonetheless.
From now on, she’ll be a Druid who has ridden a dragon.
Albena and Serdur, though not vocalizing, their expressions showed their excitement.
Gauss smiled at his teammates’ reactions.
That’s just because Hephaestus is a Dragon Beast, and during this time together, Gauss has established absolute authority in its heart, making it subconsciously not resist him.
If it were a true dragon, forget cows and sheep; no matter the delicacies, you’d never think to make a proud Giant Dragon submit.