"Tasty! Tasty!"
Everyone gathered around the giant crab chieftain and started feasting on the spot.
Even the drake Hephaestus got so.
Of course, Hephaestus received a limited portion, otherwise one full dragon could’ve eaten the entire crab by itself. Seeing that Gauss only provided a few legs and the central crab roe, and had no intention of giving more, Hephaestus thought for a mont,
then wandered over to other crab bodies and used his dragon fla to roast them, doing the cooking himself and securing his own al.
However, to its regret, the other crabs—even the larger giant crabs—didn't taste as good as that chieftain.
Still, they were far tastier than goblins and goblin-like creatures, so it quietly enjoyed its al.
Before long, a two-ter-wide giant crab had been completely carved up by the group’s "onslaught," only its bare shell left behind.
"Fuh—"
Gauss also let out a rare satisfied belch.
This Level 5 giant crab was very nutritious, especially the midsection at and the crab roe, which left his body warm and cozy, as if soaking in a hot spring.
"This Ironclaw Giant Crab Chieftain seems to have sothing different about it."
Gauss didn't fully believe it was just because it was a Level 5 monster or solely due to the Ironclaw Giant Crab species.
Just like every person has unique traits, other creatures and monsters can have their own special characteristics.
The other teammates in the party were equally content and full.
Watching them drift off drowsily after stuffing themselves, Gauss felt a bit sleepy too, but considering there were only twenty-two monsters left until the kill count reached 8,000, he perked up again.
"You all rest here for a bit and collect the spoils. Hephaestus and I will patrol nearby to see if there are more monsters." Gauss glanced at Hephaestus, already lying down to rest in the distance, and told Aria and the others.
"Okay, go ahead." Aria nodded.
After notifying his companions, Gauss waved to Hephaestus and mounted the drake.
Hephaestus beat its wings and carried him back into the sky.
...
Searching through a hundred or two hundred monsters might be troubleso, but tracking down a dozen or twenty was easy, especially using the Eagle Eye Monocle from high altitude.
"Goblin killed *1"
Monts later another goblin was pinned to the ground by a Fire Bolt Gauss had launched, its body giving off the charred sll of being roasted.
The cumulative kill total in front of his eyes finally jumped to a new milestone.
"Total monsters killed: 7,999"
"Total monsters killed: 8,000"
The node representing 8,000 kills lit up.
"Total monsters killed: 8,000/8,000
"Reward obtained: Special casting thod [Breath Casting]"
What the heck?
Gauss paused. He had assud the reward would be a spell or so special professional talent.
Instead, an entirely new reward type appeared that he had never seen before.
The phrase itself was not hard to understand.
It should grant him a new casting thod, so could he now release spells in the form of a dragon-like breath?
What use was that?
After accepting the reward, a strange energy gradually gathered from deep within his body toward Gauss's throat and mouth.
The energy continuously stimulated his Adam’s apple, his oral cavity, his tongue tip, mucous mbranes...
For a while, Gauss felt his throat and entire mouth go tingly and numb, as if a low-voltage current were constantly shocking him.
"Uh..."
Gauss waited patiently for several minutes.
When his body finished the transformation,
he exhaled.
"Click!"
As he breathed out, perhaps because he was not yet familiar with this casting ability, a stream of mana shot out through his mouth, causing the air before him to visibly ripple.
"Huh?"
Gauss hurriedly closed his mouth.
It really was different.
How to describe it?
This casting thod was a very peculiar experience.
Previously, his casting mainly took two forms: one was wand casting, where the spell gathered at the wand tip or condensed in front of him or at a designated point via the wand.
Or there was freehand casting, where mana naturally flowed from his body outward,
a thod that was comparatively weaker.
For low-level cantrips like Fire Bolt or very practiced 1st circle spells like Magic Missile, he sotis cast barehanded for convenience.
In theory, mana could flow out from most parts of his body to produce magical effects externally,
so although he had not tried it before, releasing mana from his mouth should be possible.
But that form felt completely different from this new breath casting.
He examined the unique changes breath casting brought on.
Finally, he reached a preliminary conclusion.
In short, acquiring this Breath Casting transford part of his oral physiology on a physical level.
It altered his mouth to possess sothing like a magical organ similar to a dragon’s.
He could pre-accumulate mana in his mouth, speeding up subsequent spell release,
he felt an extra instinctive stream of information in his mind.
Gauss prepared to test this new casting thod practically.
He adjusted his body state slightly.
For the first use of the new thod, of course he started with the simplest cantrip, Fire Bolt.
"Fire Bolt!"
He was already very practiced at this spell.
After the thought, the cantrip’s pattern and mana in his body automatically activated.
But this ti, under Gauss’s conscious control, mana quickly flowed to his mouth,
lding with the mucous mbrane on the roof of his mouth.
If soone pried Gauss’s mouth open at that mont, they would see red-brown magical patterns glowing inside his mouth;
even his tongue had turned bright red.
"Release."
A thought flashed through Gauss’s mind.
He opened his mouth.
The next mont, a blazing red Fire Bolt shot from his mouth.
"Whoosh!!"
The initial velocity of the Fire Bolt was extrely high.
In an instant it tore through the air and struck the rock he had pre-aid at.
"!!!"
The fla exploded!
A black hole the size of a head was blasted out of the boulder.
Success on the first try!
"Ka—ka!" Gauss coughed lightly, as though expelling smoke from his mouth.
"!!!!"
Beside Gauss, Hephaestus, who had just casually stomped on and killed a goblin, twisted its head in shock toward Gauss and stared hard at him.
It then looked back at the rock that had been blown out into a crater.
Its peripheral vision seed to catch a familiar scene,
but it wasn't entirely certain...
Gauss paid no attention to its reaction.
He was ready to test it again.
This ti he tried Magic Missile.
Magic Missile was a higher-level spell than Fire Bolt, but fortunately it was another spell he was very practiced with.
After a brief ditation, he regained the feeling for casting.
"Magic Missile!"
Familiar mana flowed along Gauss’s throat into his mouth,
his throat glowed a deep blue through his skin.
The familiar magical fluctuation condensed in his mouth.
Gauss had cast Magic Missile so many tis that as soon as it finished forming in his mouth, he knew the spell had latched on!
"Boom!"
He opened his mouth to release.
A streak of azure flowed from his mouth like a breath.
Waves of air rolled out around the Magic Missile.
Finally, it struck accurately the crater made earlier by the Fire Bolt.
"!!"
This impact was louder.
Debris flew. When the dust and magical ripples cleared, a deeper cavity remained, spiderweb cracks radiating outward.
Success again.
Gauss couldn't help but feel pleased.
He sensed his magical talent improving.
Although these were the two spells he knew best, the fact he could successfully cast them on the first attempt after changing his casting thod indicated his outstanding aptitude.
Not far away,
Hephaestus’s pupils suddenly constricted.
It blinked.
This ti it watched Gauss the whole ti, certain it hadn't misread things.
Why did it look so familiar? Thinking further,
Isn't this the technique it uses most often?
How could Gauss have mastered it?
And he can not only breathe fla, but expel that blue orb, too?
"Pf!"
After hesitating, it tried to imitate and blew out a breath as well.
But what ca from its mouth was still only fla.
Why can’t I do that?
A giant confusion filled its mind.
Gauss swallowed.
"Cough cough!"
After two practical breath casts,
he discovered many advantages to this new casting thod.
The first was stealth.
Compared to normal casting, Breath Casting was more covert, like a sudden hidden arrow.
You could open your mouth and release—preparation had already been done inside the mouth.
Enemies would have a hard ti anticipating it.
His throat and mouth seed to have been modified into a simple mana organ.
Before release, the mana fluctuations were isolated and protected by an invisible mbrane around his oral cavity and throat.
Only in the mont he opened his mouth did his "fangs" reveal themselves.
So insidious.
Even Gauss had to marvel.
Imagine casually chatting with soone, and without warning they just spew magical attacks from their mouth—who could react in ti?
As for power, Gauss felt Breath Casting’s strength was acceptable.
Holding a wand provided equipnt bonuses;
wand casting was sowhat stronger than normal casting.
But the amplification wasn't huge;
its danger lay mainly in speed and stealth.
Also, possibly aided by the magical organ, stability was better.
Overall, it was an excellent casting thod.
"Cough cough!"
However, Breath Casting did have costs.
Gauss’s throat and mouth felt a little numb and tingly.
Although modified, he was not a dragon and couldn’t reach a dragon’s physiological resilience—
at least not yet.
So after casting, his body inevitably suffered a bit of strain.
"Within acceptable limits."
Gauss swallowed twice.
The numb, hot sensation in his mouth caused by mana fluctuations subsided.
So Breath Casting couldn't be used repeatedly without pause;
after overheating it needed a cooldown?
Gauss pondered.
Also, 1st circle spells placed slightly more burden on the mouth than 0-circle cantrips.
What about 2nd circle or 3rd circle spells?
In fact, Fireball seed well-suited to Breath Casting in Gauss’s mind.
Fireball required a long preparation ti that often alerted enemies.
If part of that preparation could be shifted inside the mouth, the subsequent release would be faster and harder to counter.
Fly—Stable Casting Master—Breath Casting—Fireball.
Holding spells in the mouth sounded promising.
But thinking on, Gauss looked at Hephaestus, who looked increasingly like a bewildered dragon.
Am I becoming more like this dumb drake?
Really turning into a humanoid dragon?
Gauss shook his head.
Still, it's not bad.
Growing stronger is always good;
regardless of whether the casting thod is unconventional, destructive spells must kill enemies.
A spell that can kill stronger foes is a better spell.
Dead enemies don’t get to complain to the gods that you cast like a dragon.
But Fireball would probably place a huge burden on the mouth.
After a mont’s thought, he wasn't sure whether his current physical constitution could handle casting Fireball via breath.
He decided to transition by testing 2nd circle spells first.
He ran through the spells he knew in his mind.
Not all spells were suitable for Breath Casting.
For example, Shaping Magic: Clay required actual clay as a dium;
breath alone would be useless.
Or Heat tal, which manipulates tal equipnt on enemies to heat it up.
In the end, he chose Cloud of Daggers.
"Should be fine, right?"
Gauss hesitated a little.
To be honest, he hadn't used this spell particularly often.
He had practiced it during private training, but not used it much in battle.
With this uncertainty, Gauss began practicing.
Soon,
a special magical fluctuation leaked from his mouth, and the practice failed.
"Cough cough!"
Gauss bent over and coughed, expelling sharp magical ripples from his mouth.
The mana left his body and swept across the grass below.
The dispersed magical fluctuations quickly shredded the blades of grass.
After the failed test, Gauss felt the numbness in his mouth more pronounced than with Magic Missile, and a slight burning pain.
Fortunately, his mouth had been modified and his constitution wasn't low, so the minor injury healed instantly.
Gauss tried several more tis.
Finally, after one casting,
a sharp magical fluctuation burst from his mouth.
After leaving his lips it rapidly expanded and swept the ground before him,
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The storm of magical sword-blades sounded like a clashing cloud, emitting piercing impacts.
The ground and lawn along its path were plowed through, and the blade-cloud slamd into a wobbly boulder.
Under the relentless assault of the blade storm, the boulder finally cracked open with a bang, surface spiderweb fissures splintering outward.
Gauss breathed a sigh of relief.
From Cloud of Daggers as a breath-cast 2nd circle spell, his current limit seed to be 2nd circle.
A 3rd circle Fireball might at most save part of the preparation ti, but achieving the sa instant, mouth-open release effect as Fire Bolt and Magic Missile was definitely beyond him now.
The road to becoming a humanoid dragon is long and hard.
Gauss stopped practicing;
he shouldn't be away from his companions too long.
He beckoned to the entranced Hephaestus.
"What's up, want to learn?"
Hephaestus nodded vigorously.
"You want to learn? I can’t really teach you."
Gauss shook his head and spread his hands.
Although he had taken the lead in dragon-like techniques,
it was well known drakes were born without casting ability;
he had tried teaching it, but without success.
This one would have to rely on itself to shine.
Maybe one day it would have its own revelation and beco a spellcasting drake.
As for the promise he made on their first day eting—about teaching it to use true dragon power—that had just been idle trash talk before battle.
Seeing Hephaestus’s plaintive look,
"Keep it up!"
He patted the drake on the head.
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