Gauss withdrew his gaze.
This is also the power that comes with breaking through to master; his soul power has become stronger, now able to transmit emotions to ordinary beings.
The fawn sensed the genuine peace in his soul, and thus ceased its escape.
Gauss continued to walk through the forest, not long before he heard the sound of gurgling water.
By the stream, amidst several massive ancient trees, vines extended out, enclosing a floating "wooden cocoon" in the center.
This human-sized cocoon glowed with gentle, clear moonlight, even in the midday sun.
Gauss knew that Aaliyah was inside there.
Is this how Druids break through?
Gauss did not approach, but stood at a distance to observe.
Then, with his strong vision and observation ability, he examined the surrounding environment to ensure there was nothing that could harm Aaliyah or interrupt her breakthrough, before he decided to leave.
Just as he turned around.
The already bright moonlight enveloping the wooden cocoon quietly reached a zenith.
Above it, the space rippled like a water body.
Then more Moonlight Power poured down like a waterfall, continuously flowing into the cocoon.
Is it...?
Could it be successful?
Gauss hadn’t expected his timing to be so fortuitous.
He decided not to leave.
Planning to witness Aaliyah’s entire breakthrough ceremony, as he wouldn’t disturb her from afar.
In the forest, the sunlight gradually thinned.
Gauss noticed this detail.
The sunlight was retreating nearby, and within moments, the midday forest plunged into darkness.
Replaced by stronger moonlight.
This moonlight radiated a power of love, purity, and sacredness.
Gauss blinked; he faintly seemed to see a blurred feminine phantom appear behind the cocoon, opening her arms as if cradling an infant.
"Wow—"
Upon touching the cocoon, the feminine phantom slowly dissipated or perhaps merged into its interior.
For some reason, Gauss understood that the breakthrough ceremony had concluded.
After the embrace, the moonlight gradually dispersed, and sunlight once again poured into the forest.
Everything returned to its original state.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The green wooden cocoon, woven from vines, quickly crumbled, with fragments and leaves falling, while a naked figure, covered in silvery moonlight, gently descended from the sky.
Finally, like a slender feather, she drifted onto the grass.
That figure was indeed Aaliyah.
The moonlight surrounding her also began to retract into her body as the ceremony ended.
The surrounding woodland, bushes, and grass lightly swayed in the breeze, seemingly waving congratulations for her completed ceremony.
Gauss hesitated for a moment from afar, ultimately approaching her.
He retrieved a clean robe from the Storage Pouch and draped it over her.
Then he quietly sat beside her, waiting for her to awaken.
Now, after successfully breaking through in her transformation, Aaliyah also had some changes in appearance.
Gauss wondered if it was just his illusion, as he felt her ears had become slender and pointy, and her beauty had enhanced.
At least, the skin on her cheeks showed no blemishes, akin to perfect white jade.
He harbored some suspicions, but refrained from guessing further. He would ask Aaliyah directly upon waking.
After about half an hour.
Just as Gauss contemplated taking her to another place for rest, Aaliyah’s eyelids twitched.
Then she gently opened her eyes.
A pair of blue eyes, transparent like lake water, met Gauss’s.
"Gauss..."
"Where am I?"
She was dazed for a moment, perhaps having slept too long; the freshly awakened brain hadn’t fully revived.
Looking down at the robe draped over her body and the unfamiliar woodland surroundings.
"Put on the clothes first."
Gauss tapped the adjacent women’s apparel.
He actually always kept several sets of portable clothes for everyone in the Storage Pouch, but thought it inappropriate to dress her earlier.
Now that she finally regained consciousness, he left it to her.
Gauss turned around.
Behind Gauss’s back, the previously pretending-to-be-ignorant Aaliyah’s face turned beet red.
Her elf-like ears tinged with a hint of pink.
She bit her lip.
There were no other people present, only her and Gauss, and the robe covering her body must have been draped by Gauss.
Does that mean... Gauss has already seen...
Aaliyah covered her cheeks.
Took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
She told herself it wasn’t a big deal.
It wasn’t like an outsider saw...
After consoling herself a few times, her wildly beating heart finally calmed down a bit.
Feigning composure, she dressed, before telling Gauss to turn around.
Even though her slightly awkward movements revealed her internal unrest.
"Congratulations."
Gauss blinked, offering his congratulations.
As the saying goes, good things take time.
In his perception, the current Aaliyah was like a transformed butterfly, completely different from before.
Or, this change was not something a mere transformation can explain.
"Aaliyah, what’s with your ears?"
Both being old teammates, Gauss didn’t hesitate over his doubts, straightforwardly questioned.
Speaking of her own changes, Aaliyah finally emerged from her recent shy demeanor.
"This is..."
"Actually related to my family."
Aaliyah hesitated for a moment; she had not often spoken about her family background.
Not that she didn’t trust Gauss, it was just a bit hard to talk about.
"My family has elven blood, or perhaps held it long ago."
Gauss didn’t interrupt her, gesturing for her to continue.
"The elf civilization once ruled this land; at that time, elves’ reproductive ability was not strong, but far from today’s precarious state."
"My family was one branch among the elves."
"But somehow, elves contracted a strange illness; reproductive capability declined rapidly, and quite a few pure-blood elven bloodlines began to degrade."
"My family was such, feared of polluting the bloodline, the elves expelled them from their clan land."
"Among our family, I hold the thinnest elven blood, nearly non-existent, thus sent away at a young age for others to raise."
Talking about it now rendered Aaliyah somewhat relieved.
She once fretted over her origins, even feeling inferior.
Yet through numerous adventures, she accepted her inadequacies and defects.
Unexpectedly, now she experiences an ancestral revival.
Signs of Elf Transformation revived again in her body, the bloodline power she once dreamed of.
She felt that her bloodline hasn’t fully awakened yet; it will deepen as her strength enhances, eventually becoming a true pure-blood elf, perhaps different from most elves.
"I embraced the guidance of the Moon Goddess, transformed into a Moon-phase Walker, thus activating the dormant elven lineage within me."
Indeed...
Gauss had suspected this.
Though Aaliyah’s transformation caught him slightly off-guard, it wasn’t entirely without signs.
Strange dreams from before, the background Aaliyah deliberately ignored...
Just didn’t expect her to have connections with pure-blood elves.
Very few pure-blood elves roam this land now; they usually reside within their clan lands, living an untroubled existence.
Even half-elves, Gauss seldom encounters.
Indeed, half-elves and pure-blood elves are vastly different.
Half-elves retain pointy ears and beauty characteristic of elves, but their elven blood is rather thin.