Chapter 134: Raven

「It's snowing, and so suddenly.」

The two were eating breakfast, discussing the sudden early snowfall.

「It doesn’t usually snow this early in the past years, does it?」

「Indeed,」Gauss nodded in agreement. In truth, he didn’t feel particularly affected by it.

Although he possessed the original body’s memories, having not personally experienced them still made a difference.

But for Arya, who often had to travel outside, her impressions of such things were likely much deeper.

「Feels like this year’s Winter Hunt will probably come earlier,」Arya continued.「We need to start preparing soon too.」

The fine snowflakes fell for just an hour or two before stopping.

After the snow stopped, the streets gradually grew busier, with the figures of Bronze-rank Adventurers especially conspicuous.

Clearly, those who realized that this early snowfall might mean an earlier Winter Hunt were not limited to Gauss and Arya.

Over the next few days, the two received a notice from the Adventurer’s Guild and refrained from accepting any new outdoor commissions.

Taking advantage of the timing, both threw themselves entirely into training, hoping to improve their abilities and strength before the Winter Hunt arrived.

Gauss devoted all his effort to Magic Missile.

A few days earlier, Magic Missile had been just a few points of experience away from leveling up.

Though proficiency growth had slowed after lv3, through Gauss’s repeated casting and adjustments during intense training, the progress bar was finally pushed to full.

Tier 1 Spell · Magic Missile lv4 (1/100)

After successfully upgrading from lv3 to lv4, the most notable change was the further improvement in target locking speed!

Previously, he had to hold his breath and concentrate deeply before battle to lock onto an enemy before he could successfully cast the spell. Now, during targeting, it had clearly become much easier. With just a bit of mental focus, he could smoothly anchor onto a target.

His ability to lock onto moving targets had also greatly improved.

This was actually a very significant enhancement. Compared to spell power and speed, while it might seem less eye-catching, locking was the foundation of everything.

Without the first step, there would be no successful casting afterward.

Not to mention injuring or killing the enemy.

Even the most powerful spell was meaningless if it couldn’t hit the enemy.

Moreover, the higher the skill proficiency, the more likely Gauss could improve the spell’s effects through intensive training.

For instance, the poison resistance he currently wanted to add to Gauss Force Field, as well as his future attempt to increase the number of Magic Missiles fired simultaneously — all these required sufficient proficiency as a foundation.

The higher the proficiency, the deeper the understanding of the spell’s essence, and the greater the operability.

This was also why many powerful Mages or other Professionals would develop unique spellcasting styles of their own.

While Gauss was hard at training, Arya had also been productive, achieving abundant results.

First, she had finally mastered the Divine Berry Technique. She had been training in this divine art for some time, but had been stuck at a critical point. Fortunately, with Gauss’s help recently, her progress surged forward.

Secondly, she had completed the contract with her second new avian companion — the Raven.

There were a few reasons why she chose the Raven over other avian beasts.

First, the "Pet Market" in Graystone Town was not as complete as those in large cities, where one could easily buy any kind of animal.

Second, compared to hawks or falcons, Ravens were superior in intelligence and communication. After training, a Raven could master simple human vocabulary. Even for someone like Gauss, who couldn’t understand animal speech, information could still be conveyed accurately.

Furthermore, they excelled in map marking, alerts, and identifying and reacting to anomalies in the forest, far better than other common birds of prey.

Additionally, Ravens were more discreet, drawing less attention within towns.

After the contract, the Raven could blend into flocks of wild crows found everywhere or form its own group,

and collect and compile information through communication with its peers.

Therefore, as a reconnaissance scout, it was highly competent.

Having made their respective improvements, Gauss and Arya shared their results with each other in an open field.

Gauss received the "Magical Berry" created through Arya’s Divine Berry Technique.

A faintly glowing light-red fruit, no larger than a fingertip.

「Want to try the taste?」

Gauss nodded and popped the Magical Berry into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, the Magical Berry dissolved instantly, its sweet juice flowing down his throat into his body.

Immediately afterward, due to the presence of magical effects, the energy it provided to satiate hunger spread rapidly, becoming a highly pure energy that was extremely easy to digest and absorb.

Gauss’s 【Energy Storage Gland】 talent swiftly detected the presence of this energy.

One was naturally suited for absorption, the other naturally accelerated absorption.

The existence of the two was simply a match made in heaven.

Very quickly, the mana Gauss had consumed from testing Magic Missile earlier began to recover under the transformation of the Energy Storage Gland.

Eating the Magical Berry bypassed the digestion process of normal food and went straight into the absorption stage.

「Excellent,」Gauss’s eyes lit up.

He had thought that the berries produced by Divine Berry Technique might suit him, but he hadn’t expected them to be this compatible.

It was almost as if the spell had been tailor-made for him.

This meant that in battle, as long as he had reserves of Magical Berries, he could perform rapid replenishment at any time.

「Arya, how many of these Magical Berries can you produce right now?」

「Eight within a short period,」Arya replied.「However, I can make some in advance. But Magical Berries don’t store well. Within two to three hours, the magic will dissipate and they’ll spoil.」

Gauss nodded.

Having about ten on hand in emergencies would suffice.

He couldn’t possibly rely on Magical Berries as regular meals anyway—besides, he still had dried frog meat.

Combining both for consumption should give him substantial endurance.

Moreover, Arya couldn’t just be treated as a Magical Berry-producing humanoid machine; she also needed to reserve enough Nature’s Bind for casting other spells and divine arts later.

After tasting the Magical Berry, Gauss looked to the side at the Raven frolicking in the air with the gray wolf Ulfen.

The Raven was larger than a typical crow.

Arya’s Raven seemed to still be in its adolescent stage, but already measured about fifty centimeters in body length. Under normal development, a Raven could grow to sixty or seventy centimeters with a wingspan of about 1.2 meters.

With special cultivation, its size could grow even larger.

So although it was positioned as a reconnaissance scout, it wasn’t lacking in combat capability either.

Gauss looked at the Raven, somewhat intrigued.

Its appearance seemed entirely black, but on closer inspection, it was not pure black—at the tips of its feathers shimmered layered blue-black iridescence, like quenched metal.

Its eyes were sharp, gleaming with intelligent spirit.

The most striking features were its claws and beak. The beak was thick and obsidian-like, while its sickle-shaped talons were covered in rough, scale-like skin. The sharp claw tips were enough to tear through tough bark.

Could he get the contracted Raven to form alliances with wild Ravens and crows, building and expanding its own group?

If so, then wherever Gauss’s small team was, an invisible massive network of circling ravens above could continuously provide intelligence for them.

Such thoughts flickered through Gauss’s mind.

Arya had already summoned the Raven and introduced Gauss to her companion.

Ravens were intelligent creatures. After receiving Arya’s introduction, it sensibly showed affection to its new master’s companion, gently rubbing its head against Gauss’s arm.

Of course, part of that could also be attributed to Gauss’s Charisma.

Charisma wasn’t only effective on humans; occasionally, it could influence some neutral non-human creatures as well.

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