Gauss's Background

After the group rested and recovered their stamina, they returned to Valencia Village.

After informing the Village Chief of their success in clearing out the Slimes and showing him the fresh Slime Gel, everyone took a short break at the inn for lunch. In the afternoon, they set off, leaving the somewhat dilapidated little village behind.

"There aren't many people in this village."

"Yeah, besides the outsiders like us at the bar and inn, you don't see many locals anywhere else."

"Young people nowadays prefer to go to big towns to make their fortune. In a few more years, this village might be completely abandoned. I see that trend in many villages."

"But the village where my family lives is quite lively."

"And yet you left, didn't you?"

"You can't have a conversation like this."

"Sigh, so it's no wonder the number of commissions has been increasing in recent years."

On their way back, Leven and the others chatted idly.

Gauss didn't have much to say about this. He hadn't been in the profession for very long, so he just listened quietly.

"By the way, Gauss. What were you before? Before you became an Adventurer?" Doyle turned his head to look at Gauss, who was walking silently beside him.

The topic had shifted to him.

The others also glanced casually at Gauss in the middle of the group. Doyle's question was also on their minds.

Come to think of it, although this was only the second mission the team had undertaken together, Gauss's identity had always been shrouded in mystery for them.

They had only heard Gauss say that he was a rookie Adventurer.

Before teaming up with them temporarily, he had only completed one commission mission.

And it seemed it hadn't gone smoothly. After the mission, the team disbanded and went their separate ways. Except for Gauss, who remained in Grayrock Town, his other teammates had gone to Barry for treatment.

If his resume stopped there, he seemed no different from many rookie Adventurers who faced setbacks right after starting out.

However, the Gauss before them was clearly not such an ordinary rookie.

Logically, an Adventurer with such shallow qualifications shouldn't possess the "powerful" strength that Gauss had.

Especially when they compared it to their own adventuring experiences, they felt even more that Gauss was extraordinary.

At this moment, they could no longer suppress their curiosity.

"Of course, if it's inconvenient to say, you don't have to."

On both sides of the road the group was walking on, the grass was knee-high.

The wind on the plains swept through with a "whoosh," and the green grass surged like waves with a "rustling" sound.

Gauss pushed back the hair blown into his eyes by the wind and shook his head.

"There's nothing I can't say."

He didn't think his life before becoming an "Adventurer" was worth mentioning.

In his memory, it was a life of a mountain villager and farmer for over a decade. He caught mice barefoot in the fields, fished in the river, and trapped rabbits and pheasants.

If it weren't for his family splitting up as he approached adulthood, and his former self choosing to refuse the marriage arranged by his parents and resolutely venturing out.

Otherwise, he would probably still be holed up in the mountain gullies, living a life of working from sunrise to sunset, facing the loess, with a peasant woman of ordinary looks and wide pelvis.

However, although Gauss felt there was nothing to talk about, seeing how curious his teammates were.

Besides, it wasn't a disgraceful past that needed to be hidden, so he didn't conceal it, and simply picked out some parts to talk about.

"..."

"After I came out, I lived alone. As for Magic, I learned it by chance."

As soon as Gauss finished speaking.

His teammates looked at each other, their faces a mixture of complex emotions.

The answer Gauss gave was clearly not exactly what they had expected, but rather completely unrelated.

They had actually discussed and speculated about Gauss's identity privately.

They thought he might be the son of a noble. Considering he didn't have a lot of money, he was likely illegitimate, or perhaps the descendant or apprentice of a Mage Professional.

They never expected these guesses to be wrong. A year ago, he was just a most ordinary farm boy.

"So, you gained your current strength in just a short year?" Leven realized that the timeline Gauss revealed was unusual and asked in surprise.

Actually, it was only about half a month.

Gauss thought to himself, but didn't show it on his face.

After a pause, he nodded.

In his opinion, if the timeline was stretched to a year, having his current strength wouldn't be considered too outrageous.

Didn't the blacksmith, Mr. Gron, mention it? The normal time for an ordinary person to become a Professional was short, one to two years, or long, decades.

Since some people could become Professionals in a year, then him not yet becoming a Professional wasn't an excessively exaggerated pace, was it?

"One year... perhaps you really are a genius." Doyle couldn't help but sigh.

The feeling of unspoken rivalry that had taken root in his heart, the urge to compete with Gauss, suddenly vanished.

He knew that someone like Gauss was absolutely destined to walk the path of a Professional.

The only difference was a matter of time.

Perhaps in a few years, after an ordinary dusk, they might meet by chance in a tavern in some unfamiliar town, and Gauss would already be a high-and-mighty Mage Professional.

While he himself might still be struggling in the apprentice stage.

The others also fell silent.

Leven realized that the chances of him successfully inviting Gauss to officially join their team were dwindling.

He sighed inwardly, then tried to comfort himself.

Being able to team up a few more times was also a good thing.

At the very least, having the combat power of someone like Gauss, who was considered strong among low-level Adventurers, would make the team's safety more secure.

Gauss turned his head and glanced at the suddenly quiet team.

He somehow felt like he had done something that had dealt a serious blow to them.

However, this was due to his lack of understanding of their situations.

Although they were all young, Gauss was undoubtedly the youngest.

Leven and Oliver, the oldest members of the team, were nearing 30.

Even if they had become Adventurers at 20, that would still be nearly 10 years of wasted time.

As for the others, they had at least 2 to 3 years of Adventurer experience.

Furthermore, compared to professions like Warrior and Ranger, the entry barrier for Spellcasting-related professions was clearly higher.

But now, it seemed that Gauss, who was younger, had already surpassed their progress by a large margin in more difficult spells, and was continuing to grow at a visibly rapid pace.

This could only make them feel a sense of powerlessness from the bottom of their hearts.

Sometimes, the gap between people was wider than the gap between a human and a dog.

They traveled in silence.

Just as they were about to return to Grayrock Town, the previously clear sky suddenly became overcast.

Howling winds whipped large raindrops that pelted them head-on.

The rain soaked the once-level dirt road, leaving behind puddles everywhere, and the falling raindrops splashed up dirty water.

Because the rain came so suddenly, everyone couldn't find a suitable place to shelter for a while.

Moreover, since they weren't far from Grayrock Town, they could only quicken their pace.

Braving the heavy rain, they tightened their cloaks and continued forward, their boots sinking into the mud.

Occasionally, when they encountered a flatbed cart stuck in a puddle, they had to push it forward from behind.

By the time the team finally managed to rush back to Grayrock Town, it was already late at night.

Like drowned rats, they couldn't even bother to go to the Adventurer's Guild hall to submit their quest.

They agreed to meet at the hall's entrance early the next morning and then parted ways.

Gauss hurried back to the inn and looked up at the sky, where lightning and thunder still raged.

He couldn't help but sigh.

This weather really changed its mind faster than flipping a book; just a moment ago it was clear skies, and now it was pouring rain.

Fortunately, they had brought a rain tarp, so the supplies on the flatbed cart were not wet, which could be considered good news.