In the azure blue flames, yellow-green viscous blood spurted from the charred wounds, erupting into a pungent green mist the moment it encountered the flames.
The cracks in the shattered armor rapidly spread under the high temperature, emitting a brittle "crackle" like glass being quenched.
The once seemingly indestructible chitin shell began to peel off in pieces, exposing the thick rope-like fibrous muscle tissue underneath. Under the gnawing of the spores attached to the blue flames, a burnt protein smell was released.
"Can it be burned to death?"
Watching the mantis creature burn fiercely amidst the fireball, Gauss, without receiving the kill prompt from his panel, had to drag Edith, who was weak-limbed not far away, to a safer distance.
After confirming she was uninjured, he casually grabbed the one-handed crossbow and the short arrows scattered on the ground beside her.
He placed an arrow in the groove, cocked it, aimed, and fired!
Just like that, he kept shooting arrows in the direction of the mantis creature.
The others also came to his side at this time, similarly not daring to approach the mantis creature.
Even though it now looked miserable, especially with its compound eyes blasted into fine particle fragments all over the ground by the spore bomb’s shockwave.
But from the psychological shadow left earlier, everyone still dared not approach to finish it off.
Afraid that the mantis creature, riddled with wounds from the blast, still possessed the power to kill.
"Be careful, it’s not dead yet, don’t go over," Gauss cautioned.
This was also a function of the panel.
As long as the panel didn’t display a kill notification, it meant the enemy wasn’t completely dead.
It also ensured he wouldn’t encounter a situation where an enemy feigned death and retaliated fatally while dying.
"Okay."
Upon hearing Gauss say this, the others dared even less to approach.
Now momentarily relaxed, they began to recall the details of the battle just now.
Upon reflecting a bit, they quickly realized one thing.
If Gauss hadn’t been there today.
Everyone present might not have survived.
It wasn’t self-deprecating but acknowledging the massive gap between them and the mantis creature.
This is the terrifying nature of monsters with a challenge level.
The front-line Warrior Apprentice couldn’t effectively hold off the mantis creature, and even the back-line Archer and Mage struggled to make an impact.
Furthermore, the mantis creature had high mobility that they couldn’t match, allowing it to bypass their relatively cumbersome frontline and raid the relatively vulnerable Mage and Archer.
If not for the mantis creature focusing on Gauss from the beginning.
Then perhaps Bianca wouldn’t have been the only one killed instantly.
Thinking of Bianca.
Those present showed some sadness, especially Lawrence, who didn’t dare to look in the direction of his fallen body.
Afraid to see the head fallen on the ground.
Edith also had a face full of lingering fear.
If Gauss hadn’t extended a helping hand in time, she might have ended up like Bianca.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Gauss wasn’t aware of his teammates’ complicated emotions.
He just transformed into an unfeeling execution machine.
The shockwave from the spore bomb shattered the mantis creature’s tough armor, and the persistently burning flames widened the cracks, exposing its internal flesh and blood.
Now every arrow he shot could pierce into the mantis creature’s flesh.
Finally.
When the one-handed crossbow fired another arrow.
Gauss finally saw that translucent prompt that allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Killed Sriklan Mantis Creature*1"
"Total Monsters Killed: 179"
"Breakdown: Ordinary Monsters 178, Elite Monsters 1"
"First elite monster kill, reward: Perception +1. Reward Skill: Enhanced Jump"
"Skill [Enhanced Jump], after using this skill, more stamina is consumed, temporarily enhancing leg muscles for stronger jumping ability, enabling better terrain crossing and rapid mobility."
"You have killed 1 Sriklan Mantis Creature in total."
"Earned the title [Mantis Hunter], this title will upgrade as the number of Sriklan Mantis Creatures killed increases."
"Current effect: Armor-Piercing. Slightly enhances the armor-piercing effect of attacks against Sriklan Mantis Creatures and related advanced species."
The text continually flashed before Gauss, like having too much information to process at once.
Meanwhile, after a certain prompt sound.
A clear, cool energy enveloped his brain, feeling incredibly comfortable.
Then came changes in perception, including vision, hearing, and smell.
With each blink, the information captured in his vision seemed to increase, with changes at various levels in color, pixel, and the speed of visual signal reception; in hearing, it was as if an invisible veil was pierced, and after a hum, the world became much quieter...
Gauss felt as if the world in front of him was renewed.
Is this the world with enhanced perception?
He stood there dazed, taking a while to get used to the differences brought on by the enhanced perception.
He opened the panel.
Name: Gauss
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 6
Charm: 6
On the attribute panel, the final shortcoming was filled up.
He thought it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe himself as a low-tier "Hexagon Warrior".
With a bit of compulsiveness, Gauss looked at the panel, finally feeling satisfied since everything except his 7 Intelligence was a uniform 6.
Next is the change in skill proficiency.
With the completion of the last room in the dungeon, all skills have seen a certain degree of growth.
Skills:
0th Ring Trick Light Spell Lv2 (7/20)
0th Ring Trick Mage’s Hand Lv3 (27/50)
1st Ring Spell Magic Missile Lv3 (17/50)
1st Ring Spell Mage Armor Lv3 (48/50)
Basic Swordsmanship Lv2 (12/20)
Enhanced Jump Lv1 (1/10)
Traits: Rapid Digestion, Magic Resistance.
Light Spell increased by 2 points, Mage’s Hand by 2 points, Magic Missile by 4 points, Mage Armor by 3 points, Basic Swordsmanship by 2 points.
And the new skill just obtained from the Mantis People: [Enhanced Jump].
Includes exploration assistance skills, long-range spell attack skills, protective skills, close combat weapon skills, displacement enhancement skills.
His abilities have unknowingly become more comprehensive and enriched.
Open the second page of the Monster Atlas.
Besides the ordinary monsters on the first page, the elite section of the second page has also been unveiled.
A tall and mighty dark brown Mantis Person appeared on the first page of the elite atlas.
Gauss focused intently, and a data card about it popped up.
"Huh?"
He was somewhat surprised.
Isn’t this discrimination? Clearly, ordinary-level monsters don’t have this.
Creature Name: Sriklan Mantis Person
Challenge Level: 1
Creature Type: Humanoid (Insect Subspecies)
Size: Medium (Adult Height 1.8-2.2 meters)
Habitat: Desert, Grassland, Sparse Trees Plains
Social Structure: Solitary or small hunting groups (usually 2-3)
Lifespan: About 30 years (no need for sleep, leading to shorter lifespan)
Racial Talents: Chameleon Shell, Super Jump, Four-Armed Combat, Spiritual Talent (appears in few)
Looking at the information on the Mantis Person’s data card in the atlas.
Gauss gained more understanding about this monster he was initially unfamiliar with.
This Mantis Person, appearing as the final "BOSS" in the dungeon, should be close to 2.2 meters in height.
In other words, if judged solely by size, it should be a standout among its kind.
However, since it’s Gauss’ first encounter with the Mantis People, he’s unsure if this one ranks strong or weak among normal individuals of their species.
Exiting the Adventurer’s Handbook, Gauss started feeling a wave of hunger.
The Magic Missile released earlier consumed a lot of magic power, urging his body to eat quickly to replenish the depleted magic energy.
"It’s alright now, it should be dead." While eating, Gauss noticed his teammates were still on guard, realizing he forgot to share this information with them.
"Ah—it’s finally dead?" Lawrence sat down heavily.
His back was completely drenched with sweat.
The mental pressure from the Mantis Person was enormous, nearly equating to death for a weak Caster Apprentice if it got close.
Of course, Gauss can’t be counted.
Gauss was the only one in the team who faced the Mantis Person head-on for several rounds.
Almost all effective damage was dealt by him.
In lower-level scenarios, the difference in strength between Gauss and teammates might not be evident; everyone could more easily kill low-level monsters. But in this "high-end scenario," the gap between Gauss and other Professional Apprentices becomes clear.
"Is this the way out?"
Gauss noticed a sloped passage had appeared on the side, likely leading back to the surface.
But there’s no rush to leave now.
There’s still much to handle on-site.
Approaching the Mantis Person.
The blue spore flame wrapped around it had burned for a long time, becoming significantly weaker.
The Mantis Person had been charred black by the flames.
"What a pity." Gauss sighed.
If the Mantis Person’s corpse were intact, it could yield a lot of valuable material.
Its tough insect armor, knife-like sharp four frontal limbs, its complex compound eyes, etc.
Unfortunately, an explosion and sustained burning flames greatly damaged its organ materials, likely reducing their value significantly.
But then again.
Without the help of the spore bomb’s shockwave and flames, it might not have been captured so easily. Reducing danger makes it worth it.
"Hey! Watch out, there’s movement!"
As Gauss lamented, a call of surprise came from teammate Edith in the distance.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Following the teammates’ gaze, a rumbling sound preceded the emergence of a large platform from the smooth ground.
"So frightening, isn’t this the room reward?" Lawrence was startled by his teammate’s loud voice but relaxed seeing a larger scale reward platform similar to the previous ones.
What’s the reward item this time?
The others approached out of curiosity.
On the square-meter platform, a roughly meter-long, pitch-black metallic staff, smooth without pattern, silently was embedded, with a dusty earth vein quartz at the top.
"Unbreakable Staff."
As before, the information about the reward item suddenly appeared in everyone’s minds.
"Steel’s spine unbroken, the bearer’s will remains unyielding."