After making sure he'd reached a safe spot, Gauss finally turned his attention back to the Adventurer's Handbook.
[Reward obtained: Level 4 Conjuration Spell Any Door, Level 3 Illusion Spell Fear.]
[Reward Obtained: Agility +2, Perception +1, Charisma +1.]
Strength: 15
Agility: 12 → 14
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 17
Perception: 12 → 13
Charisma: 14(13) → 14
[Reward Obtained: Warlord Points x30.]
[New Professional Specialty Gained: Proof of Leadership.]
[Next Stage: Total Monster Kills reach 30,000.]
A rapid cascade of notifications flashed before his eyes.
Then waves of power surged through his entire body.
He'd been through this kind of sudden "power-up" so many times by now that he was almost used to it. After a brief moment of accepting and absorbing the change, his mind cleared again.
Two intricate spell structures had appeared in his head.
The larger one belonged to [Any Door].
Honestly, the moment he saw that name, he couldn't help thinking of that same-named gadget from a cartoon in his previous life, and his excitement spiked—
but as he carefully examined the spell model and understood what it actually did, his emotions cooled.
Functionally, the Level 4 spell [Any Door] did resemble that gadget in one sense: it allowed you to cross space.
It could teleport the caster, willing non-resisting creatures, and certain objects from the current location to another destination.
That destination had to be either within sight, or a place the caster could clearly visualize and define.
And of course, there were restrictions.
First was mana cost—and the amount consumed depended on multiple factors:
1. Distance. The farther the jump, the higher the cost. If the required mana exceeded the caster's maximum mana reserves, the spell simply failed.
2. Passengers and cargo. The more living beings and objects carried—and the stronger their energy—the more mana it consumed.
3. Destination conditions. If the target area was under a magical barrier or special warding, the teleport would either fail outright or drain mana drastically.
If the spell failed, the caster and any would-be passengers suffered backlash force damage. The spell would not take effect, and they would remain where they were.
Even so, it was still a space spell—and space magic wasn't just another utility. Its significance was on a different level, and its learning curve was typically far steeper.
Getting it as a handbook reward saved Gauss an enormous amount of research time. And if he could master [Any Door] smoothly, it would likely make future space-type spells much easier to pick up.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the time to practice.
His thoughts shifted, landing on the second spell: the Level 3 [Fear].
[Fear] created an illusion in the target's mind—something they feared most. If it landed successfully, the target would fall into panic, and their actions would be disrupted for the duration.
"…."
Seeing that effect only reinforced something Gauss had been suspecting for a while: the handbook's rewards weren't purely "random."
Just moments ago, while facing that goblin warlord, he'd been thinking about learning some intimidation-oriented tools to stack with the Goblin Expert title's Intimidation effect—maximize suppression, maximize weakness.
And now he'd been rewarded with [Fear].
Combine [Fear] + Goblin Expert's intimidation + his high Intelligence stat, and he'd become the nightmare of nearly every goblin that existed.
Next came the attribute gains.
This time, the boost went to his weaker areas: Agility, Perception, and Charisma—especially Agility, which jumped by two full points.
Agility and Perception didn't look as flashy as Intelligence, Constitution, or Strength, but in real combat they mattered immensely—especially in the blink-and-you-die exchanges where everything depended on instinct and reflex.
And from his own experience, the higher each stat climbed, the greater his odds of resisting enemy spells and abilities.
That was part of why he "bullied" weaker enemies more consistently than most same-level adventurers: some effects never even fully landed on him before being offset by his spell resistance, his Gauss Omni-Armor, and his almost bucket-like lack of major stat holes.
Most same-level adventurers had one or several weak points—low stats that made them vulnerable to certain types of magic or tactics.
With those three stats rising, Gauss's awareness sharpened again; the world felt slightly slower, cleaner, more readable.
As for Warlord Points…
He'd already had 10. Then the arboreal warlord goblin had given another 10. And the 20,000-kill milestone gave 30.
That was 50 gained now.
Add that to the 20 points he'd previously invested into [Ironscale Bloodline], and if he poured these 50 in as well, he'd reach 70 total invested points.
Back then, it took him 65 points to evolve the blue-rarity [Ghoul Form] into the purple-rarity [Second-Stage Ghoul Form].
But—
when he killed the warlord ogre chief who attacked Grayrock, he'd siphoned some wraith-bloodline from it, which likely reduced the "true" cost. So 70 looked larger than 65, but it still probably wouldn't be enough to force [Ironscale Bloodline] to evolve.
Sure enough, when he focused his mind—
those 50 Warlord Points sank into [Ironscale Bloodline], and a scorching warmth surged through him.
It lasted only briefly before fading.
But Gauss could tell: he was close now. Just a little more, and the threshold would be met.
He exhaled slowly.
[Ironscale Bloodline] was still one of his smoothest, most reliable tools. If it could rise from blue to purple, his overall combat profile would jump again.
Good things take time…
Gauss was patient. With his current approach—targeting large nests—he was almost guaranteed to run into warlord-tier enemies. Next job, or the one after, he'd likely be able to finish the evolution.
Then his gaze returned to the final milestone reward:
Professional Specialty: [Proof of Leadership]
To activate the specialty, he needed base Charisma 13 or higher.
"Good. My Charisma is 14."
He cleared the requirement with room to spare.
[Effect: You can actively trigger this specialty to inspire nearby teammates. For a period of time, their overall combat capability is temporarily increased. (Note: the increase depends on the teammate's own strength and quality, and also scales with the leader's Charisma—the higher the Charisma, the stronger the buff.)]
In addition, through proper management, members of your team will gain recognition and approval of you at a faster rate over time the longer they remain.
"Oh?"
He hadn't paid much attention to that specialty at first.
But it was a pleasant surprise.
This wasn't a self-only specialty like the others—it was team-based, clearly tied to the fact that he now led the Red Dragon Adventuring Company.
In short: a kind of buff aura.
Activate it before a fight, and it temporarily increases his allies' performance.
And since the strength also scales with his Charisma, that stat—previously not very exciting—suddenly gained major value.
After all, he could share kill credit with several teammates. If he boosted their combat output, he boosted his own kill intake speed.
And it probably wasn't limited to his core squad. If the Red Dragon Company's other members were within range, they'd likely benefit too—meaning faster work, faster logistics, faster everything.
Plus, that passive effect—higher recognition over time—was basically a loyalty accelerator.
Maybe it could even help Serandur and Albena eventually unlock kill-sharing the way Alia, Shadow, and Hephaestus already did.
After reading everything, Gauss was genuinely satisfied with this 20,000-kill milestone package.
He looked down.
The battle was still ongoing.
"Total Monster Kills: 20,091."
It felt like he'd spent a long time reading rewards, but in reality it had only been twenty seconds or so.
In that short span, Alia and Shadow had killed dozens more goblins for him.
He kicked off the branch, hopped lightly through the canopy, and dropped back into the heart of the tree-city.
The moment he landed, Gauss activated [Proof of Leadership].
A ripple seemed to pass through the air.
Whether it was Shadow weaving through the tree-city like a blade, or Alia's trio cutting inward from outside—everyone felt a sudden surge of strength settle into their bodies.
At first, the power startled them—
then they recognized the familiar "signature" inside it.
Gauss.
They relaxed instantly. Whatever this was, it was his doing—another buff.
"Kill!"
With their warlord dead and morale already collapsing, the goblins had no chance to form meaningful resistance.
Gauss and Shadow moved like storms inside the tree-city, carving a bloody path.
Outside, Alia's trio pressed in. Gauss's clay creatures swarmed. And Hephaestus waited like a guillotine in the sky.
The stinking, familiar "home" that had once made goblins feel safe turned into hell.
With his boosted Agility and Perception, Gauss could process more information at once.
Firebolts and Magic Missiles rained down like a storm on goblins scrambling like ants on a hot pan.
And the moment they fled into open air, they met the other half of death—deep cold, hail that hit like cannonballs, and, most lethal of all, the invisible winter magic saturating the air.
That cold seeped into their lungs, froze their throats, locked their breathing stiff—and killed them fast.
Thankfully, Gauss's team carried the blessing of wind and snow. Their resistance to cold was far higher than any normal creature's, so friendly fire from the storm was minimal.
The entire purge lasted about ten minutes.
When Gauss recalled the holy water, not a single goblin remained standing within sight—only corpses carpeting platforms, bridges, and the ground below.
He couldn't be absolutely sure there were no escapees—two thousand was a massive number, even for him.
But according to Locate Creature, there were no goblins left nearby.
"Total Monster Kills: 21991."
He released his spells one by one.
With the magic withdrawn, the clouds above thinned and dispersed. Temperature rose slowly again.
Even a Level 4 spell like Ice Storm had limits. Once dismissed, it couldn't keep the environment locked forever—though the truly high-end spells reportedly left lingering effects that didn't fade without intervention.
"Whew…"
Alia found a relatively clean platform and sat down.
As the buff faded, fatigue hit her like a wave. The others showed it too.
She quickly handed out dream-grown magic olives.
Gauss was in the best condition among them.
Thanks to Bloodthirst, his stamina was still plentiful—even if his mana reserves had been heavily drained.
He looked at his teammates' pale faces. The buff wasn't free.
There were side effects—mild, manageable, but real.
Replaying the fight in his mind, Gauss understood [Proof of Leadership] better now.
Alia was only Level 4, but Lunar Aspect Walker was powerful—and she likely had divine amplification. She already hit harder than most Level 5 casters.
Under the Leadership buff, her output had clearly crossed a threshold—Gauss felt like she was dealing damage beyond the usual Level 6 line.
Her Moonlight Glow had doubled in range and intensity. It looked stronger than many Level 5 casters throwing Level 3 spells—excluding him, of course.
As for Shadow, he couldn't measure it via mana fluctuations, but her burst movement and execution speed had jumped by at least fifty percent.
Everyone gained noticeably, and it lasted all the way until the fight ended—right up until Gauss dismissed the effect.
Compared to those gains, the fatigue afterward was nothing.
He glanced at Serandur, who was already chanting Mass Healing Word—not only mending wounds but easing fatigue and minor debuffs.
The "cost" also depended on how hard each person fought during the buff window.
Serandur, being the medic, hadn't fully committed to killing—so his backlash was much lighter.
"You rest," Gauss said. "I'll bring the other members in to loot."
He cast flight and shot toward the forest edge.
Back at the temporary camp—
Red Dragon Company members clustered around the massive silver wolf, anxious and restless.
The roaring from deep inside the forest had been loud enough to hear here.
"What's happening in there?"
"Can the captain and the others win?"
"Trust the captain…"
No one truly knew.
But everyone understood one thing:
if Gauss's squad failed in that forest, the rest of them likely wouldn't survive either.
Two thousand goblins—one-tenth of that could drown them.
Their fate was tied to Gauss's.
"Whoosh—!"
A sharp sound cut through the air.
Heads snapped up.
Then a flash of silver—so bright it stung the eyes.
Before anyone could react, Gauss dropped out of the sky and landed in front of them.
"It's the captain!"
"The captain's back!"
The moment they saw the smile on his face, the entire group erupted—relief and exhilaration spilling out all at once.
And somehow, he looked… different.
As if he carried a new, subtle pull to him—a charisma that hadn't been there before.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat.
The shouting quieted instantly.
"We won," Gauss announced. "Now follow me into the nest. We're looting."
"WOOO!!!"
Cheers exploded like fireworks.
They could hardly believe it—how could a fight of that scale end so quickly?
They didn't know how he did it.
But they believed him without hesitation.
Watching the flicker of near-reverence in their eyes, Gauss knew the passive effect of [Proof of Leadership] was already at work.
As a leader, what could inspire people more than victory—and deliver loyalty faster than results?
He turned toward the forest.
"Let's move."
~~~
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