Gauss had to explain at length before Albenna understood that it was a skill, not some kind of bloodline.
Albenna nodded.
It was hard to tell whether she had actually taken it in or still had her doubts.
Either way, that matter was settled.
Gauss spent some time digging the Vine Monster's roots out from deep underground.
The roots in his hand looked like a one-meter-long ginseng root. After examining them, Gauss handed them to Alya to study.
These were, in fact, the Vine Monster's true body.
The main stems aboveground looked enormous, but were actually of little importance.
When faced with an opponent it couldn't defeat, the Vine Monster would pretend to die, then withdraw its life force into its roots. Once the enemy had left, it would move to somewhere safe, feed and absorb nutrients, and rise again.
This was the survival ability that creatures developed through natural evolution.
The more powerful a creature was, the better its chances of survival tended to be.
Various elemental resistances, self-healing, and faking death only to come back to life.
In short, they were armed to the teeth and incredibly difficult to kill.
Gauss glanced at the Adventurer's Handbook, then at his surroundings.
He set that aside for the moment and began collecting the body materials the Vine Monster had left behind.
Aside from the roots, the main stems aboveground were worth something too.
The materials from this one Vine Monster alone were worth at least three hundred gold coins.
After finishing the harvest, several more kill notifications appeared before Gauss.
The Clay Creatures he had sent out had also cleared away the goblins and other monsters he had spotted while scouting earlier.
"Let's get out of this forest first."
They returned to the temporary camp. Less than two hours had