I Am Not Goblin Slayer Chapter 434: Hephaestus's Complete Enlightenment

Besides finalizing the sale of the spoils, the eting also confird several other matters.

First, Gauss was not in a hurry to open the sixth floor of the Timberbell Maze. This was mainly because the exploration of the fifth floor was far from complete, and rushing to open the sixth floor didn't offer him much advantage. After all, his map only showed the first five floors. Starting from the sixth floor, he would be on the sa starting line as the other adventuring guilds.

Furthermore, the spoils their own guild had gathered were just enough to send soone out for a sale run, while also replenishing those basic supplies, ensuring their resource reserves remained at a healthy level at all tis.

Therefore, he decided to first "rest and reorganize" on the fifth floor.

The item to open the maze floors was in his possession, obtained after defeating Eden, so he naturally needed to inform the others.

Regarding this announcent, most people present had no objections.

After all, forget the fifth floor, even the current exploration percentage of the fourth floor hadn't reached a particularly saturated level. The reason was that Gauss's efficiency as a driving force for maze progression was simply too fast.

Rushing into the sixth floor would be a case of unhealthy competition for everyone.

Large-scale adventuring with many people requires taking things step by step. Moving too quickly easily increases the probability of uncontrollable, unknown risks.

A few people also showed slight hesitation on their faces, but seeing that no one else objected, and since this was sothing Gauss had decided, they wisely didn't say anything.

After all, Gauss was the hero who defeated the Lord monster. He inherently had the right to decide when to open the next floor. The fact that he was now openly informing them was already going above and beyond.

Next was the allocation of exploration directions to prevent adventurers from all swarming in one direction.

Of course, this point wasn't strictly enforced. Adventurers are free individuals, and during exploration, it's inevitable to lose one's bearings. Taking a wrong turn is also a common occurrence.

This proposal also t with no opposition.

For everyone, this was inherently a good thing.

Moreover, everyone was still completely in the dark about the situation on the sixth floor. Choosing a direction was essentially random, so there was no question of anyone gaining an advantage or suffering a disadvantage.

The eting concluded, and after another round of polite formalities, everyone finally dispersed.

"It's been a long ti since I've seen so many people."

Eden's voice sounded in Gauss's ear.

Although it liked to chat, when Gauss was busy with serious matters, it would maintain a silent state, so it didn't cause Gauss any trouble.

To be honest, Gauss was sowhat impressed by Eden. Possessing human consciousness but trapped in the maze, unable to leave, with companions who weren't particularly suitable for conversation—over ti, it would be hard not to develop psychological issues.

But it seed to be in pretty good shape.

Even though there were so problems with its mory, its communication and conversational abilities were still intact.

He had a vague suspicion that if the Sli Eden's account of its origins wasn't a lie, then when it was human, it definitely wasn't an ordinary person.

Ordinary people don't have such a strong and stable consciousness.

Even with Gauss's current ntal strength, he wasn't sure he could maintain his original self under the erosion of the passage of vast amounts of ti and a monster's instincts.

"I'll have to rely on you for the exploration of the fifth floor next."

"No problem."

Although Eden spent most of its ti lazing around and sleeping, it was still relatively familiar with the environnt of the fifth-floor maze.

Gauss planned to let the Red Dragon Guild rest in place for a day, allowing mbers to recover their stamina and the wounded to receive treatnt.

He would take advantage of this ti to continue training the Red Dragon.

After he obtained the racial talent [Rider] and the professional feat [Proof of Leadership], Hephaestus's intelligence level began to improve at a steady, subtle pace.

In fact, when he arrived at the fifth floor of the maze and released Hephaestus, he had already discovered this good news. Perhaps the influence Gauss brought had crossed a certain threshold, where quantitative change led to qualitative change. Just today, Hephaestus had finally fully "awakened its intellect."

The specific manifestation was a significant increase in the Draconic Language it mastered.

And it wasn't just simply uttering anings; it could also use the Draconic Language to mobilize its deeper power, essentially awakening a stronger control over mana.

In the past, Hephaestus could barely summon flas. When in good condition, it could manage to use so cantrips, but the effects weren't very stable—a result of its low Intelligence attribute.

Now, after fully awakening its intellect, everything should be different.

"Cast the cantrip Fire Bolt."

Gauss spoke in standard Draconic, like a mother teaching a young child.

"Okay."

Hephaestus nodded.

Then it closed its eyelids, presumably concentrating. The next mont, a Fire Bolt appeared in front of it, rapidly shooting towards Gauss.

"Whoosh!"

A Fire Bolt far larger in volu than those cast by ordinary human spellcasters shot at high speed.

The surrounding air rapidly heated up due to the Fire Bolt's arrival.

Gauss didn't deliberately dodge.

He allowed the Fire Bolt to strike his body.

The next mont, the Fire Bolt erupted with surging flas, completely engulfing Gauss.

The fireball that devoured him lasted for over ten seconds before slowly extinguishing.

"Not bad, the aim was quite accurate."

As the flas receded, Gauss inside was naturally unhard.

On the other end, Hephaestus lowered its head sowhat guiltily.

Of course, Gauss, as its master, didn't mind this little act of retaliation.

Personally experiencing the power of the magic Hephaestus mastered after awakening its intellect, he gained a deeper understanding of the innate advantages of a Dragon's talents.

Hephaestus's 0th-circle cantrip, in terms of power, completely surpassed most 1st-circle spells used by human spellcasters.

One must rember, it was a complete magic novice, and it hadn't even mastered advanced techniques like heightened spellcasting. Yet, with just a casual cast, it could achieve such a level, which was truly remarkable.

"Now try Shocking Grasp?"

He had also tried to teach Hephaestus this elental cantrip in the past.

But perhaps because it possessed Red Dragon bloodline, back then, when in good condition, it could barely manage a clumsy Fire Bolt, but Shocking Grasp was beyond its capability.

Worried that Hephaestus might not rember, Gauss casually cast Shocking Grasp a few tis, deliberately slowing down to demonstrate.

Bolts of lightning shot from his palm, piercing the air. After the magic ended, small serpentine arcs of electricity still danced in the air.

Hephaestus's pair of golden vertical pupils drew close for a careful observation.

Similar to Gauss's burnished-gold dragon pupils when activating the power of Dragon Breed, Hephaestus could naturally also see the flow of mana.

However, it took several attempts before sporadic arcs of electricity erged.

A look of frustration appeared on Hephaestus's face.

"Sorry, Gauss, it's so hard."

Faced with its frustration, Gauss's eyes held appreciation instead. He could already sense that its innate talent was indeed completely different now. It seed like a failure, but with each attempt, it was getting closer and closer to a successful cast.

"Gauss, is this the big guy you raised? Is it a Dragon? Why does it seem a bit slow-witted?" Eden comnted.

Casting magic was as simple as eating and drinking for a natural talent like Eden.

In its view, although this Red Dragon was not yet an adult, its magical proficiency was a bit too lacking.

Perhaps sensing sothing instinctively, just as Eden spoke, Hephaestus, who had been feeling frustrated, actually raised its head and looked around in confusion.

"Can you hear soone talking?" Gauss looked at Hephaestus and asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

Could it be that Hephaestus could sense Eden's voice?

He had also asked Eden. Its communication with him was an advanced application of ntal power, a one-to-one information transmission. It wasn't like a loudspeaker where anyone with sufficient ntal strength could receive it.

Normally, Hephaestus shouldn't be able to hear it.

"No, it's just a bit strange," ca Hephaestus's muffled voice.

Seems it was its sixth sense.

Gauss nodded, while replying to Eden.

"Hephaestus was originally a Drake, you know. Oh right, do you know about Drakes?"

"Oh oh oh! I know, I know." Eden sounded sowhat surprised. "Then this big guy is quite clever."

"When I was outside before, I think I encountered a Drake. After it discovered , it wanted to eat . Very savage monsters."

"You seem to have clearer mories about monsters?" Gauss asked curiously.

"Maybe it's related to this body." Eden didn't seem too sure about this either. "So, are you teaching it magic now?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't disturb you. I'll just watch. Good luck."

Gauss and Eden completed a round of encrypted communication.

Beside them, Hephaestus saw that after its failed spellcasting, Gauss asked a strange question and then fell silent, standing to the side.

It thought the "teacher" was disappointed in it and crouched uneasily nearby.

"Gauss, how about... switching back to fire magic? I'm good at that."

Seeing Gauss co back to his senses, Hephaestus quickly offered this suggestion.

It instinctively felt that it indeed had a better aptitude for fire-attribute related magic.

"No, try again. I'll demonstrate it for you again."

Gauss shook his head.

Dragons are powerful magical creatures.

Hephaestus had finally, under his influence, awakened its intellect.

If it were limited to only single-elent fire magic, that would be a pity.

Although this "acquired" Dragon wasn't like a true innate Dragon with inherited bloodline magic, it seed that through self-learning, it should still be capable of mastering more types of magic.

And the stronger Hephaestus beca, the greater the help it would be to him.

He also wasn't worried about this guy rebelling. Under the dual effects of [Rider] and [Proof of Leadership], this guy had long since beco completely loyal to him.

At most, it might throw a small tantrum occasionally, but its wild nature had completely faded. Forget it leaving on its own, even if Gauss tried to drive it away now, it probably wouldn't be willing to go.

"Okay."

Sure enough, after receiving Gauss's reply, Hephaestus agreed.

After several patient, targeted pointers from Gauss, finally.

"Shocking Grasp!"

A bolt of lightning thicker than a person shot forth from its sharp, curved giant claw.

"Boom!"

This ti, Hephaestus wasn't actively attacking Gauss; it was doing so at Gauss's request.

After the electricity on the body's surface faded, Gauss stroked his chin.

This cantrip Shocking Grasp looked intimidating in appearance, but its actual power was much weaker than the previous Fire Bolt.

Hephaestus's Fire Bolt could surpass the power of a 1st-circle spell, while its Shocking Grasp's true destructive power was probably only slightly stronger than the cantrips cast by ordinary spellcasters, not reaching the level of a 1st-circle spell.

Of course, this was after all the first successful cast. Perhaps after extensive subsequent practice, improving proficiency with this cantrip, the power might see so increase, but it likely would never be able to compare with Fire Bolt.

If it possessed Blue Dragon bloodline, the situation would probably be completely reversed.

"Now try Mage Hand?"

Gauss released a transparent mana hand, about to take out the cantrip learning book to show Hephaestus the magical model inscribed on it for reference.

But the next mont, to Gauss's surprise, Hephaestus faintly condensed the shape of a dragon claw.

Unfortunately, before it could fully complete the condensation, it shattered like glass.

Yet this still exceeded Gauss's expectations.

It could actually complete the casting of a cantrip without relying on a ready-made magical model.

Even though this cantrip was the most basic and simplest Mage Hand, this was still extrely remarkable.

"Could it be... that Hephaestus is actually a hidden magic genius as well?" he speculated inwardly.

He felt he might have underestimated Hephaestus's magical talent.

For the electricity-attribute Shocking Grasp, Hephaestus had a slightly harder ti mastering it, but once switched to the elent-less Mage Hand, its learning speed was terrifyingly fast.

Perhaps its original magical talent was very strong, but its identity as a Drake from birth caused its intelligence level to be severely low, aning this talent might never have manifested if it hadn't t Gauss.

As for why it could have strong magical talent despite low innate intelligence?

Gauss could only say the relationship between the two is complex and cannot be completely equated. If forced to explain, they are only positively correlated, and exceptions can appear in individuals.

It's like a spellcaster of over ten levels might have a high Intelligence attribute, but compared to Gauss at level one or two, their magical talent would definitely be far inferior to Gauss's.

Of course, in large samples, people with high innate intelligence generally exhibit stronger overall magical talent.

But Hephaestus is a Drake, not a human. Completely applying human samples isn't appropriate unless there are many cases of similarly intellect-awakened Drakes like it.

"Continue."

Gauss signaled Hephaestus to continue.

Sure enough, after another attempt, an invisible dragon claw materialized in the air.

The effect of its dragon claw was also stronger than that used by ordinary human spellcasters.

In terms of force, it was probably more than double, and the range was also greater.

However, for Mage Hand, this didn't matter much. This spell was inherently difficult to use for offense, only being used in a few specific situations.

Next, Gauss planned to teach Hephaestus to learn higher-circle magic, of course, focusing mainly on fire magic.

Although he encouraged Hephaestus's all-around developnt, this didn't conflict with strongly promoting fire magic.

It's like parents educating their child to eat more vegetables and not be picky, but what they actually eat the most are staples like rice and noodles.

1st-circle magic Burning Hands, 2nd-circle magic Scorching Sphere, and even 3rd-circle magic Fireball—he could teach Hephaestus all of them. After all, it seed to have the ability to learn magic without relying on spell models.

He just wasn't sure to what extent Hephaestus could currently learn.

This was also the first ti Gauss was truly acting as a magic teacher for a Dragon.