Cold blood seeped into the charred earth beneath their feet.
Gauss planted one foot firmly on the back of the motionless giant rat. His rapier flashed, piercing its chest once more with pinpoint precision.
He pulled out his sword and flicked off the filthy blood.
His gaze swept over the wreckage of the battlefield.
Although the Adventurer's Handbook gave kill notifications, he could still miss things during a fight. Some monsters might not be quite dead.
So he had made a habit of finishing them off after battle.
The occasional kill notification was a little bonus while clearing the battlefield.
Alya and her big wolf watched silently as Gauss calmly finished off the stragglers.
She took out a towel and wiped the sticky blood from her cheek.
Thinking back on the brief but intense battle, she still looked at Gauss with some surprise.
His performance in close combat was more swordsman than a swordsman.
If she hadn't seen Gauss use spells earlier, she would have thought her partner was a Warrior.
"But this Protection Spell really is effective."
Almost unconsciously, she reached out and gently pressed her side through her tough leather armor.
A ratman's spear had indeed struck her there earlier.
Even without the layer of sturdy protective force field Gauss had cast beforehand, her armor alone would have been enough to block the damage. But she could never have come through the battle without a single scrape or bruise.
Actually, partnering with him feels pretty nice. The thought quietly surfaced in Alya's mind.
Although their party had only two members, she felt more at ease than she had in the four- or five-person parties she'd joined before.
All she had to do was cast control spells and occasionally stop any stragglers that got too close. Gauss handled everything