Heart-Palpitating

The first step of the joint practice naturally began with Gauss.

The gazes of the others all converged on him without exception.

"The Magic I'm demonstrating now is Mage Hand."

"Mage Hand!"

Gauss's thoughts flowed, and his control over Mage Hand was already quite proficient.

As Mana intertwined and took shape before him, an invisible magical hand appeared.

Except for the Priest Daphne, the others couldn't specifically feel the energy flow changes in front of Gauss.

Yet, they could vaguely sense that after Gauss uttered the name of that spell, there was indeed an indescribable strangeness.

Perhaps it was the so-called sixth sense.

Since the others couldn't see the existence of Mage Hand, Gauss could only control it to pick up the Rapier and wave it around in the air a few times to demonstrate its effect to them.

"It feels very weak," Doyle, the Swordsman, commented subconsciously without much thought.

His evaluation was based entirely on comparing it to the force of his own usual sword swings.

Naturally, he felt this slash was soft and powerless.

The expressions of the others varied.

Only Leven's eyes lit up upon seeing Mage Hand.

"No, no, it's a very powerful spell," he couldn't help but exclaim.

Hearing a completely different evaluation from his own, Doyle shot Leven a surprised look.

"It can help us detect traps, and it can also trigger Meva's traps and mechanisms from a distance. Oh right, Gauss, how strong is your Mage Hand?"

"About ten pounds."

"A bit small, but it's enough. It can also have an interfering effect in combat," Leven mused, resting his chin on his hand.

"Can it pick up powder?"

"I think so." Gauss hadn't specifically tried it and wasn't entirely sure.

Controlling Mage Hand to come before him, he bent down, scooped up some soil and dust, and carefully sprinkled it onto Mage Hand.

A thin layer of dust quickly covered Mage Hand. Although Gauss felt he could shake it off at any time, it could indeed adhere to it.

"It really is a hand!" Oliver, the taciturn Archer, who saw the hand materialize in the air, also leaned in curiously.

Although they had encountered Magic before to varying degrees, opportunities to observe it up close were still rare.

"That's great!" Leven clapped his hands together decisively.

"Meva, you can share some of your specially prepared poison powder with Gauss later."

The others also understood Leven's meaning.

One by one, they wore expressions of sudden realization.

If it were poison powder + Mage Hand, even if it would reveal itself, as long as it was controlled properly and applied or sprinkled onto vulnerable parts of monsters like their eyes, it could immediately inflict negative status effects and control effects. At the very least, their combat effectiveness would be reduced.

Against some monsters with insufficient defense, the ten-pound force would even be enough to break through enemy defenses with a poisoned dagger.

"We can think about specific ways to cooperate with Gauss based on Mage Hand's effects later."

Although it was an auxiliary ability with weak direct combat power, as long as it was fully developed and had the support and assistance of the team, it could still play a very strong role.

Doyle and the others looked at Gauss with much more enthusiasm.

Even Doyle, who believed most strongly in power and was never fond of strange and bizarre Magic, had to admit that Mages, compared to straightforward Warriors, sometimes seemed more terrifying.

At the very least, he absolutely did not want to have his eyes blinded by poison powder suddenly sprinkled from above, or be stabbed in the back by a hidden dagger during a fight.

As for vigilance, who could pay attention to so many things during combat?

As he thought about it, his gaze towards Gauss couldn't help but carry a hint of awe.

Mages were indeed insidious and terrifying fellows.

"Alright, Gauss's skill demonstration is over. Next up will be..." Leven was about to continue when he noticed Gauss beside him hesitating to speak.

"What's wrong?"

"No, Captain Leven, I wanted to say, I've mastered another spell."

"?"

"There's more?"

Everyone who had already started warming up turned their eyes back to him in unison, their gazes carrying an inexplicable meaning.

Generally speaking, aspiring Professionals like them, due to limited energy, time, and resources, would mostly choose to focus on one skill.

Occasionally, some might learn an additional skill to enhance their combat power.

But they were mostly Warriors.

Would Mages also learn an additional Magic?

Like Daphne, the Priest in their party, she only mastered one 0-ring Cantrip, Life Sustaining Technique.

Its ability is to stabilize the injuries of wounded life forms, preventing them from worsening, after which she can provide further treatment with medical tools.

The effectiveness of Life Sustaining Technique depends on the caster's skill.

It is said that when cast by a high-level Priest, even if the injured were on the brink of death, clinging to their last breath, with death's scythe about to swing, their life could be immediately stabilized.

Gauss nodded.

He still needed to use Magic Missile in combat to improve his proficiency.

If he didn't show it now, but used it later, wouldn't that just be awkward?

Just as the others subconsciously assumed Gauss's next spell would be a support spell similar to Mage Hand.

Gauss spoke.

"The second spell I've mastered is called Magic Missile."

"Magic Missile."

"Magic Missile?"

Everyone silently repeated the spell's name in their minds.

The next moment, before they could ponder it further.

"Magic Missile!"

Gauss unleashed his Mana.

A ball of azure light condensed in the air before Gauss.

At Lv2 proficiency, he no longer needed to clench his hand to control it.

The flow of air seemed to change with the appearance of this light ball.

The wind began to stir gently.

"Be careful and move back a bit, the power might be a little strong."

Gauss reminded his other teammates, who were already a bit dazed, and after confirming they had moved to a safe distance.

He locked his consciousness onto the casting target—a patch of open ground in the distance.

Then, in the next moment, Magic Missile was unleashed!

"Bang!"

As the thought flashed through his mind, it began to accelerate continuously, reaching its maximum speed in the blink of an eye.

This extreme speed caused Magic Missile to trail a brilliant beam of light through the air.

And at the end of the beam, the moment it reached the ground in the distance.

A heavy explosion resounded with a boom.

"Thump!"

It was like a heavy object crashing deeply into the ground.

Clods of earth and soil particles scattered.

Dust billowed up from the explosion, and there was even a slight tremor beneath their feet.

When the dust settled.

A shallow, spiderweb-like crater dozens of centimeters in diameter had appeared on the ground, with a fist-sized indentation at its core.

"So strong!!" Doyle and the others snapped back to reality, swallowing in unison.

Their expressions towards Gauss had completely changed.

They hadn't expected that a "Mage" casually pulled from the Adventurer's Guild by their captain, Leven, could possess such power.

The power of this spell was immense!

It didn't seem like something a low-level Adventurer who hadn't entered the professional stage could master at all!

The missile just hitting the ground earlier had created such great destructive power; what if it hit them?

They would likely be instantly killed or crippled, and it was so fast, how could they dodge it?

They stared blankly at the large pit, feeling a sense of dread.