When they encounter a strong opponent they can’t defeat, they run away.
No matter how strong Gauss is, he’s just one person. Facing hundreds of escape routes, he is powerless to intercept them all.
"How does it feel?"
He turned his head to look at Toga not far away and asked with a smile.
"Much easier than I imagined."
This was Toga’s first time fighting alongside Gauss and others.
Before the action started, she had full confidence in Gauss, but she didn’t expect it to be so easy when they actually started fighting.
She didn’t kill many monsters; her teammates quickly grabbed all the enemies.
Even though on paper her level was higher than some of the team members, she found that once they started fighting, there was quite a big gap in efficiency.
Especially Aaliyah and Ying, their speed was too fast, moving through the jungle like the wind.
As for Gauss, needless to say, he was on another level.
Looking at the clan members beside her who were panting heavily, she supported her forehead with frustration.
Indeed, she hadn’t led them into battle often enough.
If the leader saw this, he would think that the dwarves lacked combat prowess.
However, she had misunderstood Gauss.
Gauss didn’t think this way at all; in fact, the dwarves’ open and bold fighting style wasn’t suited for complex jungle battles at all.
Moreover, not all adventurers can seize monsters at Gauss’s team’s side.
To kill small monsters, speed, agility, early perception of enemies, and keen eyesight are more critical than strength.
In these aspects, the dwarf warriors were at a disadvantage.
However, at least they formed a net with Gauss and others, preventing the Jackal-Wolf People from scattering, so their role was realized.
"Start collecting the spoils."
The distance was relatively far this time, so Gauss didn’t specifically bring along the Red Dragon Team’s field unit.
Fortunately, even with these two combat squads and some clay creatures, the labor force was not in small numbers.
Gauss’s team of 5 people, 2 shadow clones, Toga’s team of 5 people, forty to fifty clay creatures, totaling almost sixty action units.
"Let’s get started."
...
Collecting the spoils took more than ten times the time of the battle.
While commanding the clay creatures to carry out the collection work, he glanced at the panel.
The [Demonic Hour] just exploded with a new skill.
[Stalk]: Marks an enemy target. While marked, your movement speed toward the enemy will slightly increase, making it easier to perceive the target’s existence, increasing the probability of hitting the target, and reducing the chance of the enemy escaping your hunt.
"Oh?"
After checking, Gauss raised an eyebrow.
A good skill exploded; does this count as triggering a guaranteed minimum?
Unlike those biting and swimming skills, this [Stalk] looks pretty useful.
Judging by the effect, it seems he can mark an enemy target, increase the movement speed toward the enemy, enhance the perception of the target, and increase the precision of attacks.
Of course, it’s not useful for killing small monsters, but against a similar strength target with a speed advantage, this looks like it can be quite effective.
It seems he needs to practice more often, raising the proficiency level.
...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Gauss organized several more outward missions.
The total number of monsters killed: 26655
Since he couldn’t find a suitable large-scale monster nest mission, he instead chose missions dominated by demons to accumulate more leadership points.
Leadership points: 70
Through his efforts, after consuming them all last time for advancing [Sturdy Scale Bloodline], he accumulated 65 points again this time.
He set his sights on the blue-quality talent [Special Stomach].
He had already decided before, after advancing the Sturdy Scale Bloodline, that the next target was the Special Stomach.
"I wonder if it’s enough."
If he remembered correctly, advancing the Sturdy Scale Bloodline to Dragon Type consumed 90 leadership points in total.
But Gauss thought that the points consumed for advancement might not be a fixed value.
As his thoughts focused on [Special Stomach].
"The conditions required for advancement have been met. Would you like to advance the blue-quality racial talent [Special Stomach]?"
It appears to be enough.
Gauss breathed a sigh of relief.
After notifying Aaliyah and others, he walked toward the cultivation chamber below his residence.
This underground chamber was also built in the last half month, not as good as the cultivation chamber in the Adventurer’s Guild, but as a private cultivation chamber, it is at least safer than ordinary houses. The materials, formations, and construction cost nearly three hundred gold coins.
After closing the door.
The cultivation chamber was isolated from the outside world, like entering another universe.
"Yes."
He glanced at the food and water sources stored in advance on the wall shelves around him, and he chose to start advancement.
Leadership points: 70→10
After consuming 60 leadership points, the [Special Stomach] attribute began to change. The blue gradually deepened, and then a hint of purple light slowly emerged from the depths, becoming more and more brilliant over time.
Gauss felt his body starting to change.
The stomach and digestive organs began to writhe within his body.
If it were an ordinary person, experiencing this level of "organ aberration", they would have been driven mad with pain long ago, possibly not holding out for more than a few seconds before losing vital signs.
But Gauss acted as if nothing was happening, his face calm.
The powerful physical attributes and enhancement from [Dragon Type] had long given his body extraordinary adaptability.
"Such a trifling fatal injury..."
Gauss felt those organs starting to act as if they had their own consciousness, exhaled.
It seems this evolution does have risks, but those risks are meant for the weak.
If an ordinary person suddenly possessed this racial talent, it would not be a boon, but might become a death sentence instead.
The surface tissue of the stomach broke apart but quickly regenerated.
"Cough——"
Gauss spat out the blood that remained in his throat.
For most animals, internal organs are the most fragile; even he is no exception.
So as Gauss’s internal organs began to evolve, naturally, damage occurred. However, his self-healing ability caused the wounds to heal as soon as they appeared.
As time passed, the evolution within Gauss’s body gradually heated up.
The stomach’s muscle layers expanded and were compressed again, like a piece of metal being repeatedly hammered and forged by a blacksmith. Each "forging" made the muscle tighter and tougher.
Externally, the muscle layer of the stomach now looked as dense as fine scale armor, appearing like a beautifully crafted artifact.
Gauss’s throat, esophagus, liver, and intestine were also changing.
The entire digestive and absorption system seemed to be undergoing an upgrade.
Digestive fluids started to be secreted in concentrated amounts inside...
Not knowing how long had passed.
Evolution finally ceased.
"Hmm..."
Gauss opened his eyes, letting out a muffled groan.
In the depths of his consciousness, the panel revealed the effects of the new talent, radiating a steady and profound purple glow.
"Blue-quality talent [Special Stomach] successfully advanced to purple-quality talent [Feast]."
[Feast] retains the original talent’s special effects while greatly enhancing your ability to "extract" from the food.
Ingesting the same food, your abnormal organs can completely digest it, releasing several times or more energy, whereas simultaneously reducing the waste produced by ingestion significantly.
In regular times, you can convert excess food intake into [Power of Feast], storing it within your body, with a maximum reserve of 3 Power of Feast units. Each unit can replenish your magic power from empty to full.
Your capability through [Pica] is strengthened, with a durable stomach and esophagus dramatically lowering the risks posed by ingesting special food.
"Whew..."
With a successful advancement of the [Feast] talent, Gauss’s face broke out into a smile.
Feast significantly strengthened its abilities based on Special Stomach.
His digestion and absorption powers are now much stronger.
With the same food, he can extract more energy, at least meaning that he doesn’t have to worry about starving to death or, like some monsters, being urged by hunger to continually eat.
[Power of Feast] allows his blue bar to grow manifold.
Although before, he could also quickly recover magic power during combat through absorbing magic stones, that required time. In intense combat scenarios, he couldn’t spare the time, so direct conversion of this Power of Feast is much faster in recovery.