Chapter 119: The One Who Drew the Holy Sword!

Gauss could indeed feel that the entire Graystone Town was enveloped in an indescribable atmosphere.

But the situation was something he couldn’t quite put into words.

Sorrow? It didn’t seem so.

Oppression?

It was there, but not much.

Perhaps it was more of a feeling that the wheels of history were rolling forward, witnessing the end of an era, coupled with a vague anxiety about the unknown.

Speaking of which, he did have some scattered fragments of memory about the Sword Saint Roland.

In his impression, he seemed to be the core member of the elite team that slew the Demon King, a legendary Sword Saint, the strongest human warrior, and the great hero who brought a century of peace.

But to the original Gauss, and to the vast majority of ordinary people, the Sword Saint Roland was more like a figure from storybooks, a name that lived in distant legends.

The era when Roland truly traversed the continent was over a hundred years ago.

Back then, let alone Gauss—even his original body's grandfather or great-grandfather probably hadn’t been born yet.

It was natural to not know much about such a distant age.

"Everyone dies in the end… even the strongest human once alive." Gauss felt a glimmer of insight in his heart.

Humans were inherently short-lived. In this era, it was rare for ordinary humans to live beyond a hundred years due to natural aging, while races like Elves and Dwarves generally lived for several centuries.

Not to mention Dragons and other long-lived magical creatures, the most powerful among them could live longer than entire kingdoms.

Even human powerhouses who reached the legendary domain, if they didn’t take measures to extend their lives, only lived to around 200–300 years, the gap was still obvious.

The only advantage was that humans, thanks to their sheer numbers, could always produce a new generation of strong individuals.

Of course, at this stage, for the nineteen-year-old Gauss, talking about the limits of life was still premature.

He merely felt something upon hearing the death of a legendary powerhouse.

Moreover, he possessed the Adventurer’s Handbook, and perhaps someday, he could find a suitable method to extend his life.

This thought quietly took root in his heart.

"Let’s go submit the commission first." He pulled his thoughts back to reality.

Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters.

The first-floor hall was still bustling, but beneath the noise, there was also a hint of distracted restlessness.

Levin was leading the Night Owl Team members Meiva, Daphne, Oliver, and Doyle to the mission wall to look for a suitable commission.

"Sword Saint Roland has died?"

Doyle suddenly spoke up.

"What does that have to do with us?" Meiva responded indifferently, her gaze still sweeping across the parchment on the wall.

"Of course it matters." Doyle immediately refuted, his face flushing with excitement. "Right now, adventurers from all over the world are gathering in the Imperial Capital."

"Don’t you know? The Emperor issued a ‘Universal Adventurer Decree’—whoever draws the Holy Sword can inherit the mantle of the Sword Saint and become the next Sword Saint!"

Doyle’s voice unconsciously rose in pitch, his face flushed with excitement.

He was a warrior, and even a swordsman; at this moment, his sense of immersion was overwhelming.

It was as if he could already see himself pulling out that legendary Holy Sword, shaking the continent with his name, with even the mischievous kids in his hometown proudly chanting the legend of "Sword Saint Doyle."

"Heh…" Meiva let out a faint, ambiguous laugh and shook her head.

"Doyle." Archer Oliver spoke with a smile, but his words brought him back to reality. "Planning to go to the Imperial Capital, Oridian? Better think about how you’re going to cross the entire Kingdom of Karos on your own, and then traverse most of the Empire. Do you really think, with just us—"

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was all too clear.

From a backwater like Graystone Town to reach the center of the human world, the glorious Holy Capital of Oridian—it was as good as an insurmountable chasm for low-level adventurers.

"Uh—there’s always a way, right? Like… some ultra long-distance teleportation spell…" Doyle’s voice grew quieter and weaker. He knew well that these high-level spells and teleportation arrays had nothing to do with bottom-tier adventurers like them.

Several mocking glances fell on him. Doyle finally deflated, his shoulders slumping.

"Sigh… can’t I even dream?—Really envy those guys born in the Imperial Capital!" he muttered, trying to change the topic. "By the way, how’s that Gauss kid doing? Haven’t seen him in a while."

His words stirred the thoughts of the Night Owl Team members.

"Maybe he’s about to advance to Professional. Could be that we haven’t seen him lately because he’s preparing for the advancement?" Levin’s tone carried a hint of undisguised envy.

Just then, the crowd near the hall entrance suddenly parted like a receding tide, creating a clear path.

This kind of scene usually meant a Professional-level adventurer had arrived.

The members of the Night Owl Team instinctively followed the gazes of the surrounding people.

As low-level adventurers, it was crucial for them to recognize the faces of the Professionals who passed through the town—otherwise, they might accidentally offend someone who looked unassuming but was actually a "stronger."

Two figures strode confidently into the hall.

Levin and the others’ gazes froze at once.

The man walking on the left had a tall build and handsome features. Under his neat, short black hair, his clear green eyes were especially striking. The more they looked, the more familiar that face seemed.

Because they seemed to know him?

It was Gauss, who had once teamed up with them for a month or two and had since left the team!

"Is… is that Gauss?" Doyle’s voice was dry as he swallowed hard, instinctively shrinking back a little.

The Gauss before them now was clearly different from the one in their memories.

His features seemed deeper, his aura calm and confident, and every gesture exuded a composed bearing they had only ever seen in true "strongers."

"Yeah." Meiva responded, though her gaze lingered a moment longer on the striking female companion beside Gauss.

"He really advanced to a Professional?" Daphne blinked, her voice full of disbelief.

The memories of adventuring with Gauss felt like just yesterday.

Under their watchful eyes, Gauss and his female teammate headed toward the stairs to the second floor.

The guard by the stairs, clad in guild-insignia leather armor, straightened his back immediately upon seeing the Bronze-rank Badge on Gauss’s chest. He placed his right fist to his chest in a formal salute and respectfully stepped aside.

The two ascended the stairs, disappearing around the corner.

"He really became a Bronze-rank Adventurer." Levin’s voice was low, tinged with a complicated emotion that was hard to describe.

That scene plunged the entire Night Owl Team into a brief silence.

Even Doyle, who had just been indulging in his fantasy about the Sword Saint, was now completely sobered, losing all interest in daydreaming.

While he had been lost in unrealistic fantasies, the companion he once knew had quietly and steadily stepped onto a higher level. This disparity left him feeling somewhat downcast.

The distance between the top and bottom of that staircase—merely ten meters in vertical height—might very well be an insurmountable chasm for low-level adventurers throughout their entire lives.

All sorts of emotions surged in everyone's hearts.

Meiva, however, appeared calm. Rather, she had long known that Gauss was not far from advancing to Professional.

"Levin." Daphne quietly suggested, "Should we—find a chance to offer Gauss our congratulations?"

"Let’s... just leave it be. Gauss is probably very busy right now." Levin was silent for a moment, his eyes a bit evasive. "Besides, he has new teammates now. Best not to disturb him."

"Y-yeah." Doyle quickly echoed.

"Mm, I heard that after just advancing to Bronze-rank, there are indeed a lot of new matters to handle." Oliver also nodded in agreement.

In truth, there was another sentiment they were too embarrassed to say aloud: they didn’t quite want to face the current Gauss. They feared he would see the stagnation in themselves, and were worried about detecting any sense of distance or condescension in his eyes.

Meiva quietly observed all her teammates’ reactions.

Although she didn’t speak much usually, her mind was quite attentive. Most of the time, she was simply silently watching over her teammates.

Seeing that everyone had rejected the idea of meeting Gauss and congratulating him, she said nothing more.

Even though she genuinely wanted to say—

Gauss likely wouldn’t be bothered by it.

But she could also understand this subtle sense of distance her teammates felt. She silently made up her mind: she would pick out a gift later and leave it at the front desk of the inn where he stayed.

"Gauss, what’s wrong?" Arya keenly noticed the momentary pause in her partner’s steps and asked softly.

"Nothing."

"Let’s go submit the commission first." Gauss shook his head and pressed his lips together.

"Alright." Seeing that Gauss didn’t want to elaborate, Arya considerately didn’t press further.

At this moment, she hadn’t fully realized that within their two-person team, she was subconsciously beginning to follow Gauss’s lead.

The two arrived at the second-floor commission hall counter.

After submitting the documents and badge, and a brief review and inspection, the commission was confirmed as complete.

"Adventurers, here is the reward for this commission: 70 silver coins. Please verify and accept it."

The Counter Receptionist respectfully pushed a heavy little coin pouch across the counter.

"Thank you." Gauss accepted the pouch, deftly weighing it with his fingertips before putting it away after confirming the weight was correct. Then he said seriously, "Additionally, during the mission, we discovered a piece of special information that needs to be reported to the Guild."

"Special information?" The receptionist’s expression tensed. "Understood. I will inform the Guild higher-ups for you two."

Special information naturally couldn’t be reported to just any Counter Receptionist.

"Please, both of you, follow me to the reception room for a moment."

The two followed along.

They waited quietly for a while in the reception room.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The crisp, rhythmic sound of heels striking the stone tiles grew closer.

Creak— the door opened, and a pair of long, pale legs stepped over the threshold.

A beautiful woman entered the room, her fiery red hair swaying like burning flames with her steps, and her tight robe accentuated a breathtaking curve across her chest.

After entering the room and scanning it once, her gaze finally locked onto Gauss.

"We meet again, Gauss." The red-haired female Warlock Shirley raised the corners of her lips, her tone carrying a hint of familiarity.

"Lady Shirley." Gauss nodded in greeting.

He should have expected that someone referred to as "high-ranking" and sent to hear special information would most likely be this female Warlock he had dealt with before.

"You two are teamed up?" Shirley’s curious gaze shifted to Arya, who sat quietly beside Gauss.

Clearly, she recognized this Druid as well.

"Yes."

"A Spellcaster and a Druid, huh... an interesting combination." Shirley raised her elegant brows.

Her thoughts raced quickly.

To be honest, this was a rather unconventional pairing. As a Spellcaster, the most common teammate would be a Warrior or a Priest.

The classic Warrior-Mage-Cleric triangle was the tried-and-true golden configuration.

Though she knew Gauss possessed a formidable Protective Spell, as a Spellcaster—especially in the early, low-level stages—it was still best to focus on ranged control and support damage.

In such cases, a solid frontline companion who could create a safe casting environment was extremely important.

But Shirley wasn’t one to lecture, so after a brief pause in thought, she didn’t say anything more.

"Then, what information did the two of you discover?"

Gauss took out the scale wrapped in cloth from his Storage Bag.

Then he began describing the final scene the two of them had witnessed.

Thanks to Gauss’s solid memory, he described it in great detail, especially repeating verbatim the words spoken by the elderly Ratman at the end.

After he finished reporting the information—

Shirley fell into a long silence, staring at the scale on the table.

Then she closed her eyes slightly, seemingly retrieving her memory about this kind of information.

After a while, she slowly opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Sorry, I have no recollection of the name Vispetilia," Shirley admitted. "This scale, I’ll need to forward it to a more specialized department for deeper analysis."

"However, I can indeed sense a very faint trace of Evil God power from it."

"According to the Guild’s ‘Regulations on Threats Related to Evil Gods,’ this item qualifies as a ‘Tier 1 Unknown Evil God Direct Evidence Item.’ The standard initial reward for such information is—10 gold coins."

"10 gold coins!" Gauss’s eyes widened.

They had gone through all the trouble to clear out the entire Ratman Lair and worked the whole day, and the commission only paid 70 silver coins.

Yet this unremarkable scale and a few lines of information were worth 10 gold coins?

"Don’t think it’s little. That’s just the base reward. If later analysis raises the threat level of this evidence, or if significant developments arise based on this information, the Guild will issue additional rewards accordingly." Shirley seemed to have misunderstood and took the initiative to explain.

There might be more bonuses?

Gauss took a deep breath.

Information about Evil Gods was worth that much?

He felt as if he had just discovered a golden opportunity.

The haze cast over his heart by the encounter with the Heretical Ritual was now soothed and calmed by the solid weight of gold coins.

Nothing settles the mortal heart quite like yellow and white metal!

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