Such loyal spiders...
Gauss shook his head.
He had read books and knew some information about the Eit Monsters.
Thus, he understood that in the eyes of the Eit Monsters, the spiders they cultivated weren’t regarded as kin, but rather as pure tools.
They were cold "Spider Shepherds." Although they released pheromones to brainwash their servants, in reality, these spiders were akin to "hunting dogs," "workers," or even "mobile food."
In the absence of food, they would unhesitatingly consume these spiders.
Although Gauss was surprised by their moth-to-a-flame-like blind loyalty, and even appreciated it in a strange way, he would show no mercy in his actions.
A barrage of Flaming Arrows shot out from in front of him.
His Intelligence was as high as 15 points.
Flaming Arrow, as a trick, was as easy for him as breathing.
None of the spiders he targeted could escape the lock of the Flaming Arrows.
"Killed Eit Servant Spider *1"
"Killed Eit Servant Spider *1"
....
As Gauss cast his spells, the words of his kills flickered continuously before him.
As expected, Gauss knew these were not ordinary spiders.
Each of their sizes was at least as big as an adult’s head, and coupled with their venom, in the forest swamps—a terrain with low visibility—these spiders posed a greater threat to ordinary people than most low-level demons.
While slogging through the muddy waters, a bite from a spider hidden in a corner could paralyze a person, leading to an ambush by more spiders until they became food for the Eit Monster.
Eit Monsters utilized the hunted prey of these servants to continuously create more slave spiders.
This was also the reason why this quest was marked as urgent.
The Eit Servant Spider became Gauss’s 50th entry in the Ordinary Monster Atlas.
Although he met the quota, there were still many enemies ahead.
He was like an aerial turret, continuously raining down fire to cleanse the monsters below.
After some time resting, Maggie, still hanging in the web, regained her senses.
She watched how the flames shot out like a torrential storm from in front of Gauss, feeling a surreal sense of disorientation.
Those terrifying spiders turned to charred corpses under the fiery baptism, even the muddy swamp ground steamed and hardened under the high heat.
What tormented her for over a day—a terrifying ghostly swamp—was, in front of this handsome man, overturned with a mere flip of his hand.
"Is this... an Adventurer, is this... a Mage?"
She muttered, utterly shocked in her heart.
Although she had heard rumors of powerful professionals mastering great power beyond common understanding, they were just hearsay. Not until this man appeared before her, could she truly grasp how remarkable a professional could be.
Before long, Albena and others, who were a step behind, arrived at the battlefield.
"Gauss, I’m here to help you."
"I... I’m here too."
...
The battle concluded swiftly.
"Total Monsters Killed: 8433"
Gauss killed a total of 121 ordinary Eit Servant Spiders and 1 elite Eit Monster.
He finally had time to take the woman hanging from the web down and hand her over to the team’s doctor, Serdur.
"Don’t worry, this is my companion, Serdur, an excellent healer."
Noticing the woman’s slightly terrified gaze towards the half-Snake Man, Serdur, Gauss explained.
"Thank you, my lord."
Maggie swallowed hard.
Despite her fear of Serdur’s monster-like appearance, since he was her savior, she could only suppress her unease and nod obediently.
Nearby, Albena, her face slightly pale, glanced enviously at Maggie in Gauss’s arms.
"Are you alright, Albena?"
Noticing her abnormal complexion, Gauss asked with concern.
He hadn’t realized Albena was truly afraid of spiders.
Fortunately, this quest didn’t require her to exert much effort.
"Perhaps you should find a place to rest?"
While the spoils of the battle needed to be sorted, Gauss wouldn’t push a companion who was feeling unwell.
"Lord Gauss, I’m fine," Albena swallowed hard.
Seeing her insist, Gauss didn’t press further, thinking more exposure would be beneficial.
He turned his attention to the Adventurer’s Handbook.
After collecting his 50th ordinary monster atlas entry, Gauss could finally draw another talent after a long while.
So, what would it be?
Come to think of it, 50 different monster types was quite a lot.
He was also curious what monster’s talent he would draw.
Could it be goblins again?
His previous two ordinary monster draws were both goblin talents. The first was Rapid Digestion, which evolved into a special stomach. The second was Crawling Type, now evolved into Scaled Bloodline.
He wouldn’t be surprised if it happened a third time.
Though it felt somewhat limiting.
While goblins were abundant, and drawing goblin talents helped his growth, broadening the reward pool a bit would be nice, given he wasn’t always hunting goblins.
But pondering too much was futile; talent draws were random and beyond his control.
"Ordinary Monster Atlas species reached 50: Goblin, Slime, Ordinary Skeleton... Iron Claw Giant Crab, Spine-back Arrowfish, Eit Servant Spider."
"Randomly drawing Racial Talent Ability, with Constitution improvement and adaptation in progress."
...
The scene before Gauss flashed constantly.
Those around him, like Aaliyah, who were collecting loot or recording points with Crystal Stones, simultaneously looked up and surveyed their surroundings.
The air felt different.
The mist was dissipating, and sunlight was slowly piercing through, illuminating the marsh that had been shrouded in fog all day.
"What’s happening?"
Aaliyah blinked.
Instinctively, she paused her actions.
While not understanding what was happening, in the wild, you always prepare for the worst during sudden changes.
Until Serdur looked at Gauss and saw a peculiar power surging around him, he signaled to the others about Gauss’s situation.
He then resumed treating Maggie’s swollen, purple legs.
After a quick glance, Aaliyah knowingly continued collecting spoils.
Sunlight bathed Gauss, warming his body.
After a while.
As he regained his composure, new text appeared before him.
"You have drawn one of the Kobold racial abilities: [Degenerate Dragon Tongue]"
"Improving to a racial talent: [Elementary Dragon Tongue], White Quality (Upgradeable)"
Upon reading the content, Gauss raised an eyebrow.
"Dragon Tongue counts as a racial talent? Shouldn’t this be a skill?"
Moreover...
Finally, the monster type changed.
This time it shifted from goblins to Kobolds.
Is the draw probability related to the number defeated?
Gauss couldn’t help but suspect.
He had indeed slain many Kobolds.
They were the second most hunted type after goblins.
Especially as he had just wiped out a Kobold tribe of nearly a thousand individuals.
If his guess was right, that expedition greatly increased the probability of Kobold draws in the reward pool.
As he mused over this.
Slight changes began to occur in his body.
A vast stream of information flooded his mind.
Peculiar knowledge forcibly crammed into his brain.
His mind blanked out temporarily, as if crashing.
Then, his throat experienced waves of mild itching, as if countless invisible micro scalpels were performing intricate surgery on his throat.
"Ugh..."
Gauss felt a wave of heat and chill in his throat.
Only then did he realize that Elementary Dragon Tongue, as a racial talent, wasn’t as simple as he first thought.