Chapter 126: 9 Wisdom

「Next stage: Total Monsters Killed has reached 1000.」

Gauss’s brain buzzed as if it were running on overdrive.

Like rusted gears newly oiled, like tense strings newly tuned, his thoughts and spirit became increasingly fluid.

His consciousness felt as though it was lifted by a soft yet powerful force, momentarily detaching from the confines of his body, becoming a calm observer.

He observed the changes in his spirit, feeling both the Mental Energy in his brain and the Magical Energy within his body surge violently.

Then, after a while—

His consciousness, like a bird returning to its nest, gently settled back into the depths of his body,

He opened his eyes.

His eyes became incomparably bright, the Mental Energy within them so abundant it seemed ready to spill out. If an ordinary person were to meet his gaze at that moment,

they might have been scorched by the sharpness of that near-tangible look.

「Intelligence: 9！」

The cold number surfaced in his mind, yet it fell far short of describing the transformation of his Spiritual World.

In truth, gaining a single point in Intelligence brought comprehensive enhancements.

First of all, his memory and logical thinking became more refined, aiding him in learning and constructing Spell Models.

The obscure passages in the 《Meditation Method》 that had shrouded his understanding like fog in the past two nights suddenly surfaced vividly in his mind, and the bottlenecks that once troubled him became instantly clear.

A sense of unprecedented clarity emerged within him.

He had an inexplicable confidence that if he found a quiet place and reopened the book 《Meditation Method》, he would surely grasp its essence—after all, the Meditation Method was designed as a training technique for spellcasters stepping into their Professional Path.

Other spellcasters could master it through repeated reading, copying, or stacking large amounts of time and memory. Gauss could naturally do the same—he had simply received this magic book too recently, and his magical knowledge base was relatively shallow, which was why he had been stuck on certain difficult parts.

But now, even the straightforward logic of “strength breaks bricks” applied on a mental level. With 9 Intelligence, he was no longer on the same level as when he had 8.

The change was not limited to comprehension.

The Magical Energy flowing within his body now ran smoother and more freely, like a dredged river.

The “Class Rank Chalice” suspended in the depths of his consciousness radiated an unprecedented brilliance, the runes on its walls flowing with light, with details becoming clearer and more visible.

He realized he had taken a significant step toward the lv2 Professional Class Rank, despite having advanced to lv1 not long ago.

Furthermore, Gauss faintly sensed that his Intelligence had possibly already exceeded the theoretical limit for pure-blood humans at the Tier 1 spellcaster stage.

This evident “long board” was invisibly uplifting the entire system.

Magical Energy control, spellcasting precision, Class Rank strength, the upper limit of learnable spells, and even the efficiency of meditation training were all nourished and enhanced like tender seedlings receiving extra sustenance!

His Mental Energy surged again, stirring a natural sense of boldness in his heart!

At Tier 1, perhaps there were no opponents left for him?

Even those fierce Tier 1 Challenge Rating monsters couldn’t possibly defeat him in single combat.

He even began to speculate whether he now had the capability to contend with Tier 2 Professionals or even higher-ranked ones?

Of course, that swelling thought only flashed through his mind briefly.

Reason immediately regained control.

Grow steadily—don’t get reckless!

Just like after advancing to Tier 1, he still tirelessly “bullied” Low-level Monsters to build up strength—this kind of safe and efficient growth path was the proper rhythm of getting stronger.

Not far away, Arya keenly noticed the unusual change in Gauss.

Though she couldn’t perceive the invisible transformation, the Druid’s intuition told her that he was currently in a mysterious critical state—and best not to disturb him.

She silently made a quieting gesture toward the excited gray wolf Ulfen, tugging it back a bit.

She then turned around and silently began collecting the Rust Frog trophies on the ground—the frog tongues used as Mission Proof, and the thigh meat Gauss needed.

When Gauss gradually retracted his spirit and refocused his attention on the real world, Arya, who had been watching him quietly all along, finally approached.

Beside her was a small pile of processed frog tongues, frog meat wrapped in oilcloth, and frog skins bundled up.

「How do you feel?」

She could sense that the aura around Gauss seemed to have become more refined and profound—like a sharpened blade, its edge subdued yet even sharper.

She had heard before that some extraordinarily gifted Professionals could draw nourishment from battle and convert it into the energy to grow stronger.

But this was the first time she had witnessed someone actually grow stronger during combat.

He truly was a once-in-a-million genius.

「Thanks, I’m good—I gained a little something, I guess.」Gauss revealed a reinvigorated smile. Seeing she’d been working for quite a while, a trace of apology flashed on his face.「Thanks for your hard work—leave the rest to me, take a break?」

「Look at you.」Arya started to instinctively rub her forehead, but seeing the dark red stains on her hand, she gave up with a helpless look and spoke in a firm tone that allowed no argument.「Saying that again—we’re teammates, remember?」

Gauss smiled and said no more, joining her in the harvesting work.

After killing monsters, cleaning the battlefield often took far more effort than the fight itself.

By the time the two finally finished processing the “spoils” of the fifty-two Rust Frogs,

the sun was almost setting.

The afterglow of dusk dyed the horizon a shade of orange-red.

This time, Gauss harvested over 200 more pounds of valuable frog thigh meat, bringing the total to nearly 400 pounds.

However, his Storage Space limit was 500 pounds (about 227 kg). With the meat added to what he already carried, he was clearly overloaded.

But he couldn’t bear to throw it away—this frog meat was extremely rich in energy, enough to feed him for a long while.

And it just seemed more fragrant and flavorful than ordinary meat, more chewy too.

After weighing his options, he chose to take some Packs out of his Storage Space and put all the frog meat inside. As for the displaced luggage, he and the gray wolf Ulfen each carried part.

To this end, Gauss also offered a few pieces of raw meat to Ulfen as payment for labor.

That night, the two stayed at the nearest village.

Resting and recharging, they planned to return to Graystone Town the next day.

「Arya.」After dinner, Gauss brought up a question he had been considering for a long time.「Do you think—we should think about getting mounts?」

「I was just about to bring that up.」Arya felt they were completely on the same page.「Before departure we can ride with the caravan, but on the way back—or for future missions—we can’t count on running into convenient rides every time.」

Gauss strongly agreed.

Previously, he hadn’t bought a mount because of a tight budget, lack of riding skills, and concern that fighting solo would leave his mount vulnerable or lost.

But now, with Arya the Druid in the team who could communicate with animals, the difficulty of learning to ride would be much reduced. While top-tier mounts were still out of reach, they at least had options now.

A reliable mount would be a qualitative leap in terms of load-bearing, mobility, and even overall Small Team efficiency.

Until they found a more magical method of transport, mounts were undoubtedly the most practical solution for Low-level Professionals.

「There aren’t many choices in Graystone Town.」Arya had clearly done her homework and analyzed seriously.「When it comes to mount trading, we have to mention the forest capital, Barry—it has the biggest market in the area. If you decide, we can look for a commission near Barry and pick a mount on the way back after the mission.」

「Among mounts, horses are the most common. Ponies suit forests. Big-hoof goats are good for climbing and hauling. Domesticated land lizards are drought-tolerant. Chocobos are fast. Rock goats, wild bulls… There are quite a few options, but I haven’t looked into the specific prices.」

Her great wolf Ulfen was strong, but its spine structure wasn’t suitable for carrying loads over long distances. A few times were fine—but forcing it to act as a mount long-term would just be a heavy burden.

As for taming wild ones with Druid powers? That was also impractical. The Druid’s Animal Communication wasn’t an all-powerful command.

Making a wild, untamable beast willingly leave its habitat and act as a mount long-term was no easy feat.

Meanwhile—

Barry·——·

Hearing that familiar name, Gauss’s thoughts involuntarily drifted away.

The first time he heard about Barry, he had still been a complete newbie who hadn’t even completed a single mission.

He even still kept the Commission Reward from that first mission close to his chest—the portion belonging to the whole Small Team, which had yet to be handed over.

He wondered how the others were doing now?

Ending their initial discussion about mounts, the two returned to their rooms to rest.

Lying on the hard wooden bed, Gauss felt no drowsiness at all,

The excitement brought by his Intelligence breakthrough was still subtly active.

He got up and opened the window.

Silvery moonlight like silk quietly streamed into the room, gently spilling across the desk.

The bright moonlight intertwined with the flickering glow of the Oil Lamp, illuminating the yellow-brown pages of the book.

It was a rare opportunity.

He wanted to take advantage of his heightened mental state from hitting 9 Intelligence to break through the final barrier of the Meditation Method in one go.

Once he mastered meditation, his Magical Energy growth would have a more stable daily training route,

More importantly, this was a key step in advancing his “Class Rank Chalice” to unlock deeper power!

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