civilwarnovels Chapter 380: [Feast]
Chapter 380: [Feast]
Gauss looked over the gnoll camp and saw their morale in tatters, confirming that monsters really do bully the weak and fear the strong.Hephaestus only needed a single gout of dragonfire to turn the gnoll forces into chaos, scattering them in all directions, leaving them with not a shred of will to fight.
It was just as well he hadn’t ridden Hephaestus straight over the camp at the start. If he had, the gnolls would have scattered individually, and it would have been inconvenient for him to catch them all in one sweep.
Right now, his people were deployed in all directions.
The gnolls had nowhere to run.
Although his clay constructs had decreased in power because they were split into so many units, their combat strength still hovered around level 2.
For his Clay Constructs at level 2, slaughtering these common gnolls was nothing but a snack.
The fleeing gnolls soon ran headlong into those “monsters.”
At first, staring at the creatures blocking their path, they looked bewildered.
But when those “goblins” leapt forward, snatched the weapons from their hands in a flash, and swung them like farmers harvesting crops—reaping the lives of their kin—the gnolls finally snapped back to reality, faces contorted with panic and terror.
These were enemies too?!
Why were goblins fighting alongside human adventurers?
It was the first time in their lives they had seen such a thing.
“Argh!!!”
The gnolls died in continuous wails.
Their rough, rusted weapons became divine arms in the hands of the “goblins.”
Most of the gnolls in front of them didn’t even last a single round; only a few elite heads could stand and even win when matched.
Thud!
A gnoll warrior swung a massive axe, descending like a whirlwind from above.
With a thunderous crack, one goblin was “cleaved” easily, split in two.
But before the surrounding gnolls could breathe easy, they witnessed a strange sight.
The body sliced into two did not bleed. Instead, it turned into a writhing, muddy slime.
Isn’t that a goblin?
The mud slipped off the axe and soon, to the astonished and terrified gnoll warrior, quickly reassembled at the side.
In no time, a goblin warrior identical to the one before had rematerialized.
Undead monsters??
That single clay goblin’s battle was only a microcosm of what transpired across the forest.
Clay Spiders were weaker than the goblins, but far stealthier. In the forest they moved freely, becoming even more terrifying hunters.
Many gnolls ran, but before they could react, hidden enemies from above wrapped their heads with leg-like tendrils. The tips constricted at the neck, pierced the hide, and injected toxin into them; these once lively gnolls soon lost their breath.
As for Gauss’s teammates, killing gnolls was even easier.
Aria apparently wanted to practice the two third-circle spells she had just learned, Moonlight Vines and Regal Bloom, in actual combat.
Her figure flickered through the dense trees. Looking closely, five moonlight vine tendrils sprouted from below her lower back like tentacles, supporting her body as she darted through the forest like an assassin.
Gnolls encountered along the way were swiftly impaled into the ground by the silver vines, pierced through the heart.
With Moonlight Vines mastered, Aria’s combat capability had noticeably increased.
High above, sitting on the dragon’s back and unleashing a rain of Magic Missiles, Gauss watched the scene and couldn’t help shaking his head.
Does Aria still have any druid left in her?
You are a druid, not a rogue, and certainly not a warrior.
But since no enemies nearby posed a real threat to her life, Gauss let her be.
It’s normal to get excited when you gain a new offensive tool.
[Gnoll Slayer]
Current effect 1: Bane. In battles against gnolls and their advanced breeds, damage dealt is increased by an additional 26%.
Effect 2: Curse. Gnolls near you have a chance to suffer random negative effects.
As a common monster type, the gnoll’s title had long since upgraded to the Slayer rank.
However, compared to the title effects from goblins, the gnoll title was a bit meager—but it was enough.
.....
The process of killing the gnolls went fairly smoothly.
Apart from a single gnoll chieftain who held out for a few more rounds, the others caused almost no trouble.
“Total monsters killed: 23,988”
After adding over fourteen hundred kills, Gauss’s team successfully wiped out the gnoll camp.
Gauss used a flow of water to extinguish the burning flames on the ground.
Aria’s cheeks were flushed, and she looked thrilled.
She hadn’t been idle—she’d slain a fair number of gnolls herself.
Of the fourteen hundred kills Gauss gained, she contributed at least two hundred.
Hephaestus probably killed around four hundred, Shadow nearly two hundred, the clay construct legion likely 300–400, and Gauss himself actively struck maybe two to three hundred.
With teammates doing the heavy lifting, he could be casual, picking tougher targets to handle himself.
That’s the advantage of having a team.
Alone, he could undoubtedly handle these morale-broken gnolls, but killing so many alone would be impossible. The terrain was open; gnolls weren’t rooted to the ground.
When faced with an opponent they couldn’t beat, they ran.
No matter how strong Gauss was, a single person couldn’t intercept hundreds or thousands of fleeing escape routes.
“How do you feel?”
He turned to Toga not far away and asked with a smile.
“Much easier than I expected.”
This was Toga’s first time fighting side by side with Gauss and the others.
Before the operation she was confident in Gauss, but she hadn’t expected it to be this effortless once actual combat began.
She didn’t kill many monsters herself before her teammates swept the enemies up.
Although her visible level exceeded some of the leader’s teammates, she found her efficiency lagged behind.
Especially Aria and Shadow—their speed was incredible, moving through the jungle like wind.
And Gauss was on another level entirely.
Looking at the clan members next to her, hands on their waists, panting, she massaged her temples with a wry expression.
As expected, they hadn’t been led into battle often enough.
If the guild leader saw them, he might think the dwarves’ combat power was poor.
But she actually misunderstood Gauss.
Gauss didn’t think that way. In fact, the dwarves’ broad, all-out fighting style was ill-suited to complex jungle terrain.
Besides, not every adventurer can “steal kills” from Gauss’s team.
Killing small monsters relies more on speed, reaction, and spotting enemies earlier than sheer force.
In those areas, the dwarf warriors were at a disadvantage.
Still, at least they formed a containment ring with Gauss and the others, preventing the gnoll force from scattering, so their role was fulfilled.
“Start collecting the spoils.”
Because the camp was spread out, Gauss hadn’t brought the external Red Dragon Guild teams this time.
Fortunately, even without them, the two combat squads plus the clay constructs made for decent manpower.
Gauss’s team of five, two shadow clones, Toga’s squad of five, and forty-odd clay constructs totaled almost sixty action units.
“Get to work.”
Collecting loot took at least ten times longer than the battle itself.
While directing the clay constructs to gather spoils, he glanced at his status panel.
The Encountering Evil Hour had just unlocked a new skill.
[Hunt]: Mark an enemy target. While marked, your movement speed toward the enemy is slightly increased, you can sense the target’s presence more easily, your chance to hit the marked target increases, and the enemy’s chance to escape your pursuit decreases.
“Oh?”
Gauss raised an eyebrow after checking it.
A pretty good skill popped—does this count as triggering the pity guarantee?
Unlike those bite or swim skills, this Hunt seemed quite useful.
Judging by the effect, it lets him mark a target, boost movement toward that enemy, enhance sensory awareness of the target, and improve attack accuracy.
Of course, it’s useless for mowing down trash mobs, but versus opponents with similar strength and speed advantages, it could be significant.
He’d have to practice to raise proficiency.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
During that time Gauss organized a few more outdoor commissions.
“Total monsters killed: 26,655”
Unable to find a large nest commission, he chose tasks that contained commander monsters to accumulate Commander Points.
“Commander Points: 70”
Thanks to his efforts, after spending everything last time to advance Sturdy Scale Bloodline, he had replenished sixty-five points.
He now directed his focus toward the blue-quality racial talent Special Stomach.
He had decided earlier that after advancing Sturdy Scale Bloodline, the next target would be Special Stomach.
“I wonder if it’s enough.”
If he remembered correctly, advancing Sturdy Scale Bloodline to Dragon Breed cost ninety Commander Points in total.
But Gauss felt the cost for advancing might not be a fixed number.
As his thoughts concentrated on Special Stomach, the prompt appeared.
“Conditions required for advancing the talent grade have been met. Proceed to advance the blue-quality racial talent Special Stomach?”
It seemed sufficient.
Gauss breathed a sigh of relief.
After informing Aria and the others, he went down to the training room beneath his residence.
This basement had been built in the last half month. While not as good as the Adventurers Guild training rooms, as a private facility it was safer than a regular house. Materials and formations cost him close to three hundred gold coins to construct.
He closed the door, and the training room separated from the outside world, like stepping into another realm.
“All right.”
Looking at the food and water stored on the shelves along the walls, he chose to begin the advancement.
Commander Points: 70 - 10
After consuming sixty Commander Points, the Special Stomach entry began to change. The blue hue deepened while a wash of purple light slowly rose from the depths and, as time passed, grew more resplendent.
Gauss felt his body begin to transform.
His stomach and digestive organs started to churn inside his torso.
If it were an ordinary person, experiencing this level of “organ abnormality” would cause soul-rending pain, possibly killing them within seconds.
But Gauss acted like nothing had happened, his expression unchanged.
His robust physical attributes and the Dragon Breed enhancement had already given his body an almost inhuman resilience.
“Minor mortal wound.”
He watched those organs move violently as if they had their own will and exhaled.
It seemed this evolution carried risks—only dangerous for the weak.
If an ordinary person suddenly acquired such a racial talent, it might be a death sentence rather than an opportunity.
The outer tissues of his stomach ruptured, yet regenerated rapidly.
*Cough—*
Gauss spat the residual blood from his throat.
For most animals, visceral organs are the most fragile, himself included.
So when the organs in his body began to evolve, damage naturally occurred; his regenerative abilities healed the wounds as soon as they appeared.
As time passed, the internal evolution intensified.
The stomach’s muscular layers swelled and compressed, like a piece of metal under a blacksmith’s repeated hammering—each strike forging the muscle tighter and tougher.
To the eye, the outer muscular layer of the stomach had become as dense as fine scales, looking like some exquisite craftwork.
His throat, esophagus, liver, and intestines were changing too.
The entire digestive and absorptive system was upgrading.
Digestive juices began to secrete in concentrated abundance...
Time passed without his knowing.
The evolution finally stopped.
“Ting....”
Gauss opened his eyes and groaned softly.
On his status panel, a new talent entry was surfacing deep within his consciousness, emitting a stable, profound purple glow.
“The blue-quality talent Special Stomach has successfully advanced into the purple-quality talent Feast.”
[Feast] retains the original special effects of Special Stomach while greatly enhancing your ability to “extract” from food.
With the same intake, your extraordinary viscera can thoroughly digest it, releasing several times—or even more—energy. Simultaneously, the waste produced from eating is drastically reduced.
Your body’s normal energy storage capacity is greatly increased.
You may also transform excess food into Feast Power stored within your body, up to two units. Each unit of Feast Power is sufficient to restore your mana from zero to full.
Your ability for atypical consumption is strengthened; the reinforced stomach and esophagus greatly reduce the harm from ingesting unusual foods.
“Phew....”
Seeing Feast’s post-advancement effects, a smile appeared on Gauss’s face.
Feast had significantly amplified Special Stomach’s capabilities.
His digestion and absorption became much stronger.
Being able to extract more energy from the same food meant he no longer needed to worry about being literally starved, or forced like some monsters to keep eating under the pressure of hunger.
The blue bar from Energy Storage Gland evolved into the current Feast Power.
Although previously he could recover mana quickly in battle by consuming magic stones, that still required time and was impractical during intense fights when he couldn’t spare the moments to do so. Converting Feast Power for instant recovery was far faster.
With Special Stomach advanced to Feast, he now had four purple-quality talents in total.
[Encountering Evil Hour], [Second-Stage Ghostification], [Dragon Breed], [Feast].
Even he had to admit he looked ridiculously powerful.
However...
“So hungry!”
Maybe the evolution had consumed too much energy—Gauss felt utterly drained.
He had no time to ponder further and quickly used Mage Hand to pull nearby food toward him.