Gauss gave a warning while flicking a pebble. The stone hit a patch of lush vegetation but didn't bounce back as expected—instead, it pierced straight through the vines and moss before landing with a "plop" in a hidden acid pool, splashing green liquid everywhere.
"Tsk tsk!" The acid splashed onto the vines, quickly turning the branches black as they rotted, wisps of white smoke rising.
Such dangers were everywhere in the maze. There were ticulously placed traps, as well as natural hazards like this. Falling into an acid pool by accident, panicking and losing one's way, failing to climb out—even with the protection of Gauss Field, one wouldn't last long.
"Let's find a place to rest." After crossing the hidden acid pool area, the team found a clearing to sit and rest. Gauss took the opportunity to eat while continuing to practice his clay magic. His top priority now was raising his clay magic proficiency to Lv2. Or rather, one of his main tasks recently was to develop clay magic as much as possible.
He could sense that after starting to practice clay magic, his previously steady professional rank experience had begun to loosen and surge again. Perhaps while developing clay magic, he might find another opportunity for rapid level advancent.
After so practice, his clay magic proficiency rose slightly to 7/10. Under his control, the clay in his palm gradually took the shape of three crooked humanoid figures. Judging by their postures and heights, they vaguely resembled the three team mbers.
With this skill, even if he retired in the future, he could probably make a living by opening an isekai figurine company and making models. Gauss chuckled self-deprecatingly and put away the clay.
After the break, the team set off again. This ti, they chose a direction completely different from their first visit. As they ventured deeper, the number and variety of insects increased significantly compared to before.
Of course, most were ordinary creatures that couldn't be recorded in his Monster Encyclopedia. Still, Gauss unlocked the 32nd ordinary monster entry—Acid Beetles. These beetles were about 40-60 cm long, capable of spraying small streams of corrosive acid from their mouths and attacking enemies with the antennae on their heads. They might look small but packed considerable strength.
"Is it around here?" Gauss scanned the empty passageway, focusing his observation.
"Huh?" Serlandul showed rare surprise on his face. Even he seed uncertain now. After searching for a while, he finally found the scratch marks he'd left last ti in a corner.
"That's right, it's here. Back then, there was a tree trunk covered with vines in this corner. If you pushed aside the vines, you could see a bottomless tree hole..." His hoarse voice gradually trailed off as a look of sha appeared on his face. After leading Gauss and the others for half a day, it turned out to be a wasted trip.
"Now it's all gone." Although he hadn't entered last ti due to safety concerns, coming back to find it completely vanished still left him feeling regretful. Such was the maze—danger and opportunity coexisted, and chances once lost were lost forever.
Seeing Serlandul's embarrassed expression, Gauss instead smiled and patted his shoulder. "Forget it, it's fine. Even if the tree hole were still there, we might not have entered. From your description, it sounded quite dangerous anyway. Besides, we're exploring randomly, so coming here wasn't a waste of ti."
"Mm." Gauss opened the map—their exploration of the second floor remained limited. Compared to the first floor, the second was more dangerous with complex terrain. The winding passages truly lived up to the "maze" na, featuring not just planar forks but sotis vertical three-dinsional intersections as well.
After searching the area, the trio didn't linger and continued forward.
"Gauss, there's sothing here." Aria suddenly stepped on sothing unusual. Using the tip of her wooden staff, she pushed aside the thick, faintly glowing moss and tangled vines covering it. A faint decaying sll mixed with earth and peculiar plant fragrance wafted out.
A naked male body was suddenly exposed before the three.
"It's an adventurer's corpse!" Aria instinctively took half a step back. Due to the abnormally fast plant growth on the maze's second floor, the body had almost rged with the environnt. A layer of sticky, translucent white substance clung tightly to most of the corpse—like so special mold—itself emitting an extrely faint, sickly green glow similar to the moss, making the body appear as if it had "grown" from this luminous moss forest.
At a smooth wound on the waist was a horrifying sight—thousands of tiny maggots tirelessly wriggling and drilling inside. They resembled a living, churning layer of rice grains covering the entire body, especially the mouth, nose, eye sockets, and ear canals. The eye sockets were particularly terrifying—the eyeballs were gone, leaving only two deep black holes packed with white maggots.
"Sothing's not right." Gauss glanced at the corpse before surveying the surroundings, noticing so anomalies. The body was relatively intact, without signs of large beasts or other animals having torn at it.
"Where are his teammates?" Normally, those active on the second floor traveled in groups. After searching briefly, they soon found three more bodies hidden under the glowing moss and vines—seven total, two won and two n, all naked with their equipnt missing, appearing unnaturally clean.
"They were killed by soone," Serlandul imdiately understood. This wasn't the work of maze monsters. If monsters had done it, they wouldn't have specifically stripped the victims of equipnt and clothes, nor kept the bodies so intact—they'd more likely have eaten them.
Though aware of the maze's dangers, witnessing this scene weighed heavily on Gauss, evoking a sense of shared vulnerability. These adventurers probably never imagined dying here. These professionals, powerful in ordinary people's eyes, had silently perished in the maze. Had the trio not stumbled upon them, their bodies would have completely decomposed as maze nutrients, leaving no material trace of their existence in the world.
But... "We need to be wary of strangers," Gauss said solemnly. Whether they died from accidental conflict or preditated murder, this served as a stark warning. The maze's dangers extended far beyond monsters—fellow human adventurers might be even deadlier.
Another half day passed in the blink of an eye. The moss and insects' glow in the air gradually dimd. Gauss and the others found a slightly wider area to camp. Light Cantrip, Alarm, and insect-repelling powder were quickly deployed.
After completing his chores, Gauss finally had ti to review his Adventurer's Manual. That afternoon, he'd unlocked the 33rd ordinary monster entry, bringing him closer to his goal of 50. Coincidentally, he could actually use materials from this 33rd monster.
[Fungus Core Beetle]
Another beetle creature, but unlike the morning's Acid Beetles, these carried glowing fungal spheres on their backs. When attacked or near death, the spheres would violently expand and explode, releasing toxic spores and shockwaves over a wide area. Considering these might be useful for clay magic later, Gauss took extra care when killing them, swiftly dispatching them to preserve the explosive fungal spheres on their backs. While each explosion's range was limited, accumulated numbers could produce considerable power.
Speaking of clay magic—his proficiency had quietly reached 9/10. He should smoothly break through tonight and begin the next phase of research and practice.
After dinner, the trio set up tents in the cleared area. "I'll take first watch tonight. I'll call you when I'm tired," Gauss volunteered. With more team mbers, watch rotations could be rearranged. He chose first watch specifically to continue practicing clay magic, pushing through to Lv2 in one go rather than worrying about it while trying to sleep.
"Then we'll leave it to you." Aria covered a yawn and headed to her tent. A full day of walking, plus practicing her Wild Shape, had drained much of her energy and stamina. Serlandul, however, remained spirited. He sat with Gauss by the campfire for a while, not speaking to disturb him but watching with interest as Gauss practiced clay magic, observing the pale clay constantly changing form in Gauss's hands.
Suddenly, Serlandul noticed a flash of joy on Gauss's face. "Success." Gauss checked his panel—sure enough, the skills section had updated:
[2nd Circle Spell - Shaping Magic: Clay] Lv2 (0/20)
After rising from Lv1 to Lv2, Gauss clearly felt the clay in his hands had changed. It no longer felt like a lump of cold dirt but seed to have a faint vitality, subtly pulsing. With a thought, the clay figurine in his hand quickly beca more refined. The previously rough snake tail now showed relatively detailed scales, and the upper body's facial contours vaguely hinted at Serlandul's features.
"Does it look like you, Serlandul?" Gauss handed the clay figure to the half-snake person. Serlandul took it, examining the crooked little snake-person in his hands. "A bit."
"I tried my best," Gauss sighed. Well, even after reaching Lv2, the results remained flawed. What limited him now wasn't skill proficiency but his artistic sculpting ability. From originally rough and ugly to now delicately ugly.
"Can I keep this?" Serlandul held it up, tilting his head to ask Gauss. "Sure, if you like it," Gauss replied, still sowhat discouraged. His dream of opening an isekai figurine company seed dood. He'd thought the earlier crude results were due to low skill proficiency, but it turned out he just lacked artistic talent.
Serlandul held the clay near the fire, using the heat to harden his little clay figure. Testing its firmness with a pinch, he smiled contentedly. "Then I'll turn in too, Captain. Call when you're tired." Carefully storing the clay figure, he bid Gauss goodnight and retreated to his tent.
Darkness enveloped the surroundings. Apart from the campfire and Light Cantrip stones, only Gauss remained, continuing to practice clay magic. He used Mage Hand to catch several mosquitoes, plucked their wings, then controlled a small clay blob to squirm toward them. Monts later, the clay engulfed the immobilized mosquitoes like a beast opening its maw.
"Hmm?" While using clay to kill mosquitoes, Gauss faintly sensed sothing extrely subtle nearby—neither matter nor energy, but sothing peculiar with indescribable qualities. Is this... a spirit? Recalling what he'd sensed from the spell model, Gauss murmured to himself. But it's too little.
His gaze turned to the mosquito swarm flitting in the darkness, a slight smile curling his lips. Soon, mosquito-shaped "spirits" gathered around him in increasing numbers. Feeling he'd accumulated enough, he stopped the mosquito slaughter and closed his eyes to concentrate. The clay in his palm began to writhe, its form quietly changing...
Just as Gauss imrsed himself in clay magic research, about a hundred ters away at a corridor turn, several shadowy figures erged, silently advancing with hand signals.
Thɪs chapter is updated by novel[f]ire
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