Monster Under the Moonlight

With Doyle's "courtesy," Gauss rushed forward in a few strides.

A flash of cold light!

The rapier in his hand precisely pierced the chest of the exhausted Water Ghost.

"Pfft!"

The Water Ghost's slimy skin was torn open with a large gash, and foul-smelling blood gushed out continuously.

Gauss cleanly withdrew his sword and retreated.

As the last Water Ghost perished by Gauss's hand, the long-awaited text finally reappeared.

"Killed Water Ghost *1"

"Total Monster Kills: 50"

"Reward Obtained: Professional Skill 1st-level spell [Mage Armor]!"

"Reward Obtained: Agility +1"

"Current Agility: 6"

"Next Stage: Accumulate 100 total monster kills."

After the pleasant notification.

Gauss's body trembled, and in a flash of lightning, goosebumps rose all over him.

An invisible force seemed to flow through all the nerves in his body, with subtle currents surging within, giving him an indescribable, wonderful sensation.

In just a few blinks of an eye, that magical power had completed its transformation of his body.

And in the next moment, another spell was etched into his consciousness.

"What's wrong?"

Doyle asked, seeing him frozen in place after killing the last Water Ghost, not understanding why.

"N-nothing, just let me take a moment," Gauss exhaled a long breath and shook his head.

Actually, he felt his body was in the best condition it could possibly be.

First, the Agility point. Although it was only one point, unlike Constitution, the feedback from Agility was much more direct.

After increasing from 5 to 6 points, he felt that his overall coordination and physical flexibility had become much more responsive.

To use an analogy from his past life, it was like playing a game with a network latency fluctuating between one to two hundred milliseconds, and now it had suddenly dropped to a stable few dozen milliseconds.

The two experiences were completely different.

Of course, whether this analogy was appropriate was another matter. After all, he had just finished leveling up, and his body's condition had changed drastically, so some psychological experiences might be amplified and distorted. But all in all, his control over his body had improved significantly.

Moreover, he had been rewarded with another spell this time.

A 1st-level spell, [Mage Armor].

Gauss sensed the new spell in his consciousness and quickly understood its effect.

Its specific function was that upon active release, it would consume a certain amount of Mana to form an invisible armor that enveloped the caster. It was equivalent to wearing a zero-weight, invisible force field armor.

This Mage Armor would not affect his movement speed or Agility. However, when attacked, it could absorb damage for him.

Feeling the effect of Mage Armor, Gauss's heart couldn't help but pound.

A very good spell.

He admitted that at this moment, he might be a bit fickle.

Just like how after obtaining Magic Missile, the more destructive missiles had replaced the role of Mage Hand.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that the seemingly perfect Magic Missile wasn't as appealing anymore.

In his mind now, Mage Armor's importance had risen another step above Magic Missile.

He even started to ponder whether he should change his core skill to this newly acquired spell.

Based on his intuition, practicing Mage Armor should be more efficient than practicing Magic Missile.

As an apprentice of a spellcaster profession, who might not be "squishy" but also not exactly "tanky," his biggest concern was being attacked.

No matter how powerful his destructive capabilities were, as long as he was still mortal, a single stray arrow could end his life.

The battlefield environment was often complex and unpredictable. Even someone as cautious as Gauss, with his Brain Acceleration ability, couldn't guarantee 100% evasion of all attacks from other creatures.

This was also why he had persisted in teaming up with others during this period. They could help share some of the enemy's firepower, allowing him to be less tense.

But now, with the mastery of Mage Armor, as long as he cast this spell in combat and the enemy's attacks did not break through the armor's absorption limit, some unexpected damage could be negated.

This would greatly improve his survivability in combat.

Of course, Gauss soon realized more information about Mage Armor in his mind.

He still needed to be cautious and not get carried away.

Mage Armor was not a life-saving charm. Once the damage dealt by an enemy to it in a short period exceeded its absorption limit, Mage Armor would break. Furthermore, for the time being, Mage Armor couldn't withstand all types of attacks.

Moreover, limited by his current apprentice stage, the spell's effect might not be as powerful as when used by a true Professional.

Further testing is needed to determine the specific outcomes.

Despite these various issues, it was still a spell very suited for him.

Gauss reined in his thoughts, having finished processing the changes in his body, and refocused on reality.

The contemplation hadn't taken long. After the others finished their fight, they were all rushing to recover their stamina.

Daphne began checking the other team members, especially the front-line trio, focusing on limbs, abdomen, and other easily attacked areas. She breathed a sigh of relief after confirming there were no wounds on their bodies.

Although the Water Ghosts' combat strength wasn't high, they carried many pathogens.

Some unnoticeable wounds, even those without pain, could be more troublesome than obvious injuries. If ignored, there was a small chance they could develop into diseases or even lead to death.

Meanwhile, Meva and Oliver, providing ranged support, donned gloves and, as usual, began collecting spoils.

Besides the left ear of the Water Ghost, which was needed as proof for the quest, they also needed to collect usable materials from the Water Ghosts themselves.

Therefore, this was a big undertaking.

After being checked by Daphne, Gauss also went to help with the post-battle cleanup.

Leven looked at his companions and breathed a sigh of relief.

The bad feeling in his head this time seemed to have just been an unreliable illusion; killing the Water Ghosts had gone surprisingly smoothly.

After a short rest, he joined the others in handling post-battle matters.

Overall, the collection of Water Ghosts was a process of pain and pleasure.

The Water Ghosts had a strong, unpleasant odor, and processing their corpses was not an enjoyable task. However, considering that every material was linked to Silver Coins, everyone found it worthwhile.

There is only one kind of suffering in the world, and that is poverty.

Just as everyone was busy working with great fervor...

Gauss's eyelids suddenly began twitching violently.

At first, he paid it no mind, thinking it was his nearly numb sense of smell suddenly kicking back in, making him feel unwell from the stench of the grayish-green Water Ghost limbs by his side.

But soon, his cerebral cortex went numb again, as if his body's instincts were warning him.

He finally realized something and abruptly looked up.

He gazed in one direction.

Under the moonlight, on the distant river surface shimmering with a faint silvery light, a tall, blue figure was walking along the riverbank.

Is it a person? Or...

No! It's a monster!!

Squinting into the distance under the moonlight, Gauss finally saw the specific appearance of the humanoid silhouette.

Its shriveled skin, covered in blue spots, clung tightly to its bones like a layer of dried, tanned leather. Patches of its skin were covered in fine scales.

Most striking was its face with canine features. Its sunken eye sockets held a pair of scarlet eyes like glowing embers, its snout protruded, filled with the sharp, needle-like fangs of a predator. Its large, thick, snake-like tongue flicked in and out of the air. The ends of its forelimbs were sharp claws like blades.

It moved with a hunched back, like a bipedal canine creature, moving lightly yet swiftly in the direction of the group.