Scorching yet icy energy swiftly coursed through Gauss’s body, permeating every bone and limb with this miraculous alien energy.
The first thing to change was still the toughness of his skin.
He could feel countless energy streams flowing into the surface layer of his skin, quickly merging with the thin skin layer and penetrating every cell, tissue, and pore.
The physical protective layer of his skin increased once again, and Gauss sensed a peculiar tightening state.
Whenever he wanted to actively control it, he could make his originally fair and smooth skin feel like tough leather or covered with subtle keratin scales, enhancing both texture and defense. Though this activated state might be invisible to the naked eye, touching it would reveal a strange sensation. His resistance to ordinary swords and claws was greatly improved, possibly even granting slight resistance against certain special energies.
Although Gauss already had a near-permanent Gauss Field defense surrounding him, one can never have too many defensive measures.
This was because defensive effects could stack.
He could already imagine the despair it would bring to enemies as his Gauss Field and his Reptilian racial traits continuously upgraded and evolved.
When enemies broke through his Gauss Field, they would find his mage robe layered with protective enchantments; breaking the robe would trigger the natural defenses granted by his Reptilian talent to intercept attacks.
Layer upon layer of defense, like nested armor dolls, protected him to the fullest extent.Just thinking about this future made one eagerly anticipate it.
After completing the skin transformation, the alien energy flowed next to modify other parts: internal organs, bones, muscles...
All the attribute bonuses from the Reptilian race were enhanced to varying degrees.
His bodily vitality and mana activity strengthened.
Environmental tolerance increased once again. Whether in freezing cold, scorching heat, low oxygen, or underwater, he could maintain considerable endurance and mobility in all harsh environments.
His bodily coordination and recovery abilities were also improved.
Additionally, he gained a kind of dynamic vision resembling that of lizards or snakes. When looking at flying mosquitoes dancing in the air, he could capture their flight trajectories more clearly, and his brain would rapidly make predictions based on that.
Overall, the Reptilian upgrade enhanced every effect attribute.
Gauss ended his perception of the talent enhancement and shifted his attention back from internal observation to the real world.
Only two or three seconds had passed.
Turning his head, he saw Serlandul staring at him intently.
“Captain, why do you have a familiar aura about you? If it’s something secret you can’t share, that’s fine.”
He hesitated for a moment but still asked.
If it were a temporary teammate from before—those who changed every few days—he definitely wouldn’t pry into such privacy.
But Gauss’s team, he sensed, was likely to last a long time, at least not monthly or daily replacements.
With long-term teammates, it was better to speak frankly and avoid bottling things up.
“Maybe you sensed some other bloodline within me? My body is a bit special...” Gauss explained vaguely.
Just now, it was the Reptilian racial talent upgrading its level. Serlandul, as a spellcaster, could sense the changes and enhancements brought by it.
Besides, half-snake people inherently possessed a considerable degree of snake bloodline, and snakes were the most common reptiles with fairly sharp senses—it wouldn’t be strange for him to detect that.
But I also know how to explain the existence of the Reptilian talent—only by analogizing it as a bloodline.
Actually, in this world, every human has more or less mixed blood from other races, but the proportions are so low that they are suppressed by the main human genes and cannot manifest. So, the vast majority are “pure-blood humans.”
Those like half-orcs or half-snake people have a certain directional bloodline so abundant that it causes visible changes in appearance.
In such cases, some humans would still regard them as kin with special powers, but most rural villagers would consider them outsiders, even monsters no different from goblins or goblin-like creatures.
There are also existences between half-snake people, half-orcs, and pure-blood humans.
They usually look like ordinary humans but exhibit changes in appearance and power once their bloodline is activated.
Although the system’s talent conversion description says it adapts and improves based on human physiology without affecting the purity of the original bloodline and gains advantages of other creatures,
based on the description, it shouldn’t alter the bloodline, but at least from others’ perspective, it’s barely distinguishable.
However, Gauss wasn’t overly concerned about this.
In this world, as professionals climb higher and their power levels leap, their bodies naturally grow stronger and more unique, indistinguishable from monsters in the eyes of ordinary people.
It was already hard to call them the same race.
“I see.”
Serlandul muttered quietly.
Was it because of the battle that the bloodline was triggered and stirred, allowing me to detect it?
If so, that made sense.
He recalled Gauss’s brief transformation against the Hobgoblin into some pale form—it must have been the special bloodline power hidden within him.
Thinking this, he couldn’t help but feel more recognition toward Gauss.
However, this time it wasn’t about anything else, just a shared sense of recognition as “minorities” in human society.
But he still envied Gauss a bit. At least the captain was a handsome normal human in his usual state, only revealing his special form in battle.
Unlike him, carrying a snake tail and various snake features, drawing strange looks wherever he went.
Though he had long since gotten used to it after years mingling in human society, if he could reduce some trouble and freely switch between two states, he would definitely welcome that.
After Serlandul performed magical treatment on several villagers, he sent them off.
The two then gathered the goblin corpses and various spoils in the forest.
They mainly scavenged the goblin tribe’s newly built village nest and that Hobgoblin.
The Hobgoblin’s body held quite a few valuable items.
First was its weapon, a giant maul with a massive hammerhead made from exceptionally hard black iron and a handle crafted from a certain tough hardwood. Although the craftsmanship was rough, the materials themselves were good and carried considerable value.
It could be sold to warriors needing heavy weapons or dismantled to sell to blacksmiths and weapon dealers.
Its tattered leather armor and iron strips on its wooden shield could also fetch some price.
Furthermore, the body itself was valuable; most elite monsters’ bodies were worth a lot.
A few days ago at the Spellcasters Association, Gauss had paid special attention to how to earn contribution points.
One method was to exchange research-worthy and alchemy-worthy materials for contribution points.
Contribution points could then be redeemed for more resources from the Spellcasters Association.
The Hobgoblin had plenty of alchemy and potion-making materials.
Gauss and Serlandul used small knives, following instructions from a book, to dissect the goblin corpse.
They knocked the Hobgoblin’s fangs off its gums. These fangs could be ground into powder to make berserk potions, strength-enhancing potions, or certain goblin-specific poisons and repellents. They were important auxiliary materials.
Next were the long, tough tendons peeled from the Hobgoblin’s strong arms, legs, or back.
These tendons were much stronger than ordinary goblin tendons, elastic, resistant to tension, and not easily dampened. They were excellent materials for bowstrings and crossbow strings.
Moreover, due to their ability to conduct mana and store energy, they were suitable for alchemy or enchantments.
The Hobgoblin’s blood was also a valuable material, though its smell was fishy and pungent, seemingly ominous, it was a special spellcasting and alchemical ingredient, along with its skin and internal organs.
Gauss referenced the monster material book gifted by the Spellcasters Association.
He collected all valuable organs and tissues from the Hobgoblin.
Under his careful stripping, the originally intact massive monster body was quickly dismantled into indistinct fragments of flesh and blood scattered all over.
After meticulous collection, his palms, arms, chest, and cheeks inevitably got stained with sticky blood and chunks of flesh, painting an indescribably gruesome bloody scene combined with the joyful smile on his face like an old farmer during autumn harvest.
If a villager happened to pass by here, they would probably faint from sheer fright, thinking they had stumbled into some evil ritual.
“What a bountiful harvest!”
Gauss sighed with emotion.
Besides some resources that could be exchanged for money, what he valued more were the organs and tissues obtained from the Hobgoblin’s body.
They could be exchanged for contribution points at the Spellcasters Association, and contribution points could be used to purchase special items, equipment, and spells not available on the market, far more precious than ordinary gold coins.
Many high-level resources were valuable but lacked market circulation, monopolized internally by organizations like the Spellcasters Association and the Adventurers Guild, making it hard for ordinary adventurers—even professionals—to access.
Unfortunately, these materials with alchemical, enchanting, or other uses often required high activity, so he had wasted many due to lack of knowledge and channels before, especially since trips from Grayrock Town were time-consuming.
However, he would pay special attention in future scavenging.
Serlandul, on the other hand, was not as concerned about this aspect as Gauss.
Though not wealthy, coming from a relatively backward small island and surrounded by snake people, his trade habits remained bartering-based despite years in human society.
He hadn’t changed this mindset and lacked awareness of money value, so he didn’t value external things unrelated to his body much.
He had used this set of leather armor for a long time; though it looked a bit old, the quality was good, so he hadn’t replaced it.
This was why he generously gave Gauss the magical bracelet when he got it.
His snake senses could already gather more information from the environment; since he didn’t need it, he preferred to give it to a “good person” who had helped him.
Seeing Gauss’s low spirits, he forced a symbolic smile, but under the scene’s influence, his smile appeared even more sinister.
In the remote village forest before noon, the figure of a man and a half-snake person looked like villains plotting some great conspiracy.
...
Returning to the village.
The two did not delay cleaning their bodies.
Of course, Gauss couldn’t return to human society covered in blood.
In the village, some felt sorrow, some joy.
The two had successfully cleared a sizable goblin nest, removing the threat, so villagers did not need to relocate urgently.
Moving was a hassle in any era or world, especially with a panicked heart and tight schedule.
Killing goblins of this scale also had the benefit that the village would not face many monster attacks nearby for a long time.
No one could say exactly why, possibly due to some mysterious magnetic field left in the environment, which affected passing monsters, causing them to avoid the area until the field’s effect faded, after which monsters would gradually flood into this blank lowland like a stream.
In this respect, this successful clearing was truly a good thing.
As for sadness, it was the families of the deceased. Two strong young family members had died, which was not only emotionally hard to accept but also severely impacted the whole family’s productivity and economic situation.
Gauss could do nothing about this.
He had done his best with a clear conscience, not wasting much time on the way or during the mission.
If people still died, it was simply fate’s arrangement.
He was only a level 2 minor magician, not an all-knowing, omnipotent savior.
Doing his best was enough.
Gauss withdrew his light from the grieving families holding their weeping parents, brothers, and sisters and sighed inwardly.
Village Chief Bob greeted Gauss and Serlandul with a broad smile.
The two had a meal at the chief’s home, barely qualifying as a “sumptuous” lunch.
It was only barely sumptuous because the dish quality, for someone like Gauss who had eaten many delicacies recently, was mediocre.
But it was clear that the chief’s family had carefully prepared the meal to the highest standard possible.
They had even slaughtered a lamb and an old hen for this.
The table was set with roast lamb, stewed chicken, coarse dark bread, stewed root vegetable soup, honey-soaked wild berries, and homemade beer.
They probably wouldn’t even eat this richly during their own New Year.
Unfortunately, due to relatively limited cooking skills and seasonings, the dishes weren’t very delicious.
At the table, watching the two children silently swallow their saliva but never dare touch the meat, only quietly eating the dark bread and vegetable soup, Gauss felt somewhat moved.
He knew the adults must have repeatedly reminded them.
After Gauss called their attention several times, the chief and the old chief exchanged glances and finally allowed their children to enjoy the rare delicacies.
After the meal, Gauss said his goodbyes.
Watching Gauss and the half-snake person mount the ostrich and leave,
the village chief, old chief, rescued villagers, and family members all waved together.
“Although there’s a fierce-looking teammate, these two adventurers are good people!”
“Mm-hmm.”
“That young man is so handsome; I’ve never seen anyone so handsome in my life.”
“I heard the half-snake person call him something—it seems that young man is actually their team captain.”
Seeing the villagers gossip, Theo, the only one who had witnessed Gauss’s ghost form, didn’t spread the news loudly. Instead, he felt a bit secretly proud, as if he knew some incredible secret.
“Bob, have the adventurers left? They left 30 silver coins at home with a letter saying it’s payment for the lunch just now.”
The chief’s wife came running out.
Bob looked toward where Gauss and Serlandul had disappeared at the road’s end, opened his mouth but said nothing for a long time.
Compared to those arrogant adventurers before, he couldn’t help but feel that his village had indeed met good people.