Gauss, as a "senior," felt genuinely pleased seeing the rookies he knew get on track and slowly grow stronger.
After chatting with the excited, tongue-tied Mira and the others for a while, everyone started heading toward Lakeside Town.
"So—anything interesting happen in town lately?" Gauss asked, probing for news.
Mira shook her head. "The festival a while back was the liveliest the town's been in years. But I have heard that in the last month or two, more monsters have been crawling out of Blue Lake."
For town residents, a quiet life was the norm. No news was the best news.
As they walked, Mira kept stealing glances at Gauss.
He felt… stronger than last time. More imposing.
And clothes mattered. Back then he'd worn a plain black robe, low-key and unremarkable. Now he was in a luxurious white mage's robe, and with the reputation he'd piled up, he carried himself with calm, steady confidence.
Gauss didn't bother hiding himself—this trip back was to "report" the Lake God commission anyway. There was no point pretending.
He walked right into Lakeside Town, and of course, a lot of residents recognized him immediately.
He'd stayed here a good while before. Many people had seen him. And even after he left, news about him kept arriving; the discussion around his name never really faded.
At the gate, the moment people recognized him, the crowd practically erupted.
"Sir Gauss, want some fruit? Homegrown!"
"Welcome back to Lakeside Town!"
To the locals, Gauss counted as half "one of them."
Whether he agreed or not didn't matter—they believed it.
Especially after word spread that the legendary lake spirit had "received" him.
The one regret, though: Gauss met the lake spirit in Fisher's Song Town, so most people here hadn't witnessed the apparition with their own eyes.
Gauss gave the crowd a few polite responses, but didn't stop. There were too many people. If he slowed down, he'd get stuck in the road.
…
The next day, the temperature dropped again.
Wagon after wagon—beast-drawn carts piled with supplies—rolled into town.
In weather like this, most common folk would rather stay home by a wood stove.
But for most, that was a luxury.
They still had to earn their living—and burning wood all day was its own expense. Once the stock ran out, you either went out to chop more yourself, or paid for it at the market, or bought from neighbors.
Luckily, Lakeside Town was resource-rich and fairly well-off. People in the streets were bundled tight, and that helped against the biting wind.
"Hah—"
Everyone exhaled thick, white clouds.
The work on the street was the usual work—harsh, repetitive, mastered until it became second nature. Trades passed down from grandfathers and great-grandfathers, then handed to children and grandchildren:
Chopping wood, gathering herbs, netting fish, clearing sewers, shoveling snow, weaving, hauling cargo…
This world wasn't made only of grand adventurers.
For most people, these ordinary routines were their entire life.
And yet—even on an ordinary day like this—the town quietly grew lively.
A rumor spread fast through the settlement:
"Did you hear? Gauss is back in town."
Someone murmured it to a coworker, as if sharing a secret.
"But why? Didn't he just leave?"
"Shh. Don't go spreading this."
"Relax. My mouth's sealed."
"I heard Gauss has a sweetheart in town…"
"…!"
"I was unloading at the gate yesterday and ran into him and his companions. He even smiled at me."
"He wore this beautiful outfit. Someone said that robe alone could buy half the town."
"No way."
"No way? That's just because you haven't seen the world. You know dragons? Dragons are his mount. Other bigshots ride horses—Sir Gauss rides a dragon."
"A dragon! Even great nobles can't ride beasts like that!"
"I'm telling you—Miles the 'rich man' who owns half a street? Compared to Gauss, he's dirt poor. No better than us!"
"Hey! Quit chatting over there!"
"Unload the goods!"
"Coming, coming!"
…
After breakfast, Gauss and his party stepped out of the inn.
Their goal this morning was Blue Lake.
He didn't know whether Moterra "hibernated" in winter, but he planned to go check.
The moment they left the inn, they became the street's focal point. People watched from the corners of their eyes—and soon realized they were heading for the lake.
Blue Lake… Gauss…
Put those together, and a guess formed in people's minds.
Some idle townsfolk immediately followed. If their suspicion was right, missing it would be the kind of regret that lasted for years.
Who would pass up the chance to witness a god—especially one tied to their own home?
"Move, move!"
"Get to Blue Lake—something big's happening!"
"Boss, my stomach hurts…"
"Stop yelling. Your boss already left."
…
By the time Gauss reached the shore, a crowd had already gathered behind him without anyone quite noticing when it happened.
A thin sheet of ice had formed at the edges, but the entire lake hadn't frozen over.
Gauss saw there was still no reaction.
So the lake spirit really was sleeping deeply.
He drew out the water-sword, pierced the thin ice, and plunged it into the lake.
Instantly, the surface around the blade began to glow with a beautiful, phosphorescent blue.
The sword—like a messenger—seemed to "speak" with the lake.
It released a thread of presence that slipped into the water and darted toward the lake's deep center.
…
"Mira, hurry up—"
"Move, move, Rode! We're late because of you—and George, you brats too!"
Mira—who'd met Gauss before—dragged her companions and a swarm of kids along behind her.
She refused to miss this.
They barreled to the shore and squeezed into a gap among the crowd, then snapped their eyes to the water.
Their timing was perfect.
After a short "conversation," the sleeping will in the lake's depths began to stir.
Crack crack crack—
The ice fractured, turned to mist, and vanished.
The familiar, vast blue surface appeared again.
Even the winter chill eased for a brief moment.
Everyone understood: because Gauss had come, the lake spirit had awakened again.
Above the water in front of Gauss, mist gathered, slowly forming a graceful human shape.
She was pure, beautiful—like the distilled essence of all water.
Her body was flowing water, draped in pale-blue haze; her hair fell like a waterfall.
The incarnation of Moterra, the Blue Lake's guardian, had descended.
The townsfolk—Mira and her friends included—were seeing a divine being for the first time. The beauty was beyond mortal measure, holy in a way that struck the soul. Many forgot themselves entirely, left only with awe and reverence.
Moterra's attention fell on Gauss first.
[Adventurer Gauss, I sense a familiar power upon you. It seems your journey north has brought you before the Snow-mountain Spirit.]
Maybe it was just Gauss's bias, but Moterra's voice felt… a touch drowsy, as if she'd only just woken up—despite the calm, springlike face that only he could clearly perceive, and the undeniable divine authority she radiated.
He hadn't noticed before.
After meeting Esvel, though, he couldn't help thinking this lake spirit might not be quite as imposing.
"Your trust was not misplaced, Lady Moterra," Gauss replied respectfully.
That thought flickered and vanished. Whatever her temperament, he'd received her favor—fact was fact.
"I reached Isthm, the source of the Talna River, and there I met your sister—the Snow-mountain Spirit, Lady Esvel."
Then Gauss told Moterra everything Esvel had told him, from start to finish.
[…So that is how it is. I understand…]
Moterra's waters rippled, as if digesting the news.
A moment later, she sighed softly.
[Esvel… So her burden has grown so heavy… The malice from below…]
Her gaze seemed to pass through Gauss toward the distant snow peaks.
After a long silence, her attention returned to him.
[Thank you, Gauss. The knowledge you bring is vital.]
[Now then—step forward. Accept the cleansing I promised you.]
Moterra smiled gently.
Before the crowd, water wrapped around Gauss and carried him toward the lake's center.
Then clear water enveloped him completely; the lake goddess's phantom embraced him and sank beneath the surface.
"He disappeared!"
Only Gauss could hear their conversation.
But everyone saw the lake goddess draw him under.
And then he didn't come back up.
"…He won't drown, right?"
"With the Goddess's Blessing, he'll be fine."
Even Alia and the others worried, watching from the shore.
They waited longer, but nothing happened.
In the end, they had to leave.
They could only reassure themselves: Moterra meant no harm.
Esvel was powerful enough that even an adult dragon obeyed her. Moterra might be "lesser" than her sister, but she was still a divine being. If she wanted Gauss dead, she wouldn't be doing this elaborate ritual.
Beneath the lake.
Gauss felt like he'd fallen into a warm, motherly embrace.
A soothing force wrapped him and drew him deeper.
Light faded.
Pale blue… deep blue… then black.
It became an eerily quiet world.
All noise was left behind—as if he'd returned to life's origin.
"Lady Moterra? Lady Moterra?"
He tried to speak with her. No answer.
He kept sinking.
After what felt like ages, his feet touched fine sand.
Above was inky darkness, but down here the water glimmered like a starfield.
[This is the Blue Lake's Heart—My Root.]
Moterra's voice sounded even more ethereal here—less sleepy, more solemn.
She lifted her hand without touching him, and the water around him began to spin in a slow, steady vortex.
The star-like light was pulled into the whirl, then poured into Gauss's body.
A wave of indescribable coolness swept through him.
Gentle, vast—washing, cleansing, scouring.
His skin and organs changed first.
He could feel himself become one with the water.
The current wasn't "outside" anymore—it felt like an extension of his own body.
Without concentrating, he sensed every tiny disturbance in the water within a hundred meters. He could almost "hear" the murmurs of fish and river-creatures.
His pores opened.
After a moment of discomfort, he realized he could breathe underwater.
Impurities were drawn from his blood.
His mind and magic were nourished too, like clear spring water feeding a pond—and expanding its borders.
Beside him, the holy water gift she'd given before moved like it was alive, shifting shapes.
At times it orbited him like a darting shuttle. At times it rebuilt itself into a flowing bow.
In that state, Gauss gradually fell asleep.
[Rest…]
[This will cost me. I must sleep again.]
Moterra looked at him through the water.
She could sense Esvel's hidden power resting within Gauss.
If Esvel had done that, she must have had her reasons.
Moterra was willing to "invest" some of her strength into this human she found… acceptable.
Her thoughts drifted to Esvel's warning—an approaching age of chaos. It would affect more than mortals; it would reshape the fates of spirits like them too.
And so on.
…
Time passed.
At last, a white-robed figure rose from the still water and surfaced.
When air and sunlight touched him, Gauss opened his eyes.
He stared at the morning sun in a daze.
After a long moment, his mind caught up.
He remembered.
He pushed himself upright and sat on the lake's surface as if it were solid ground.
"Lady Moterra?"
No response.
The lake spirit had returned to sleep.
But Gauss had received his reward.
He looked down—he was literally sitting on water.
His body had changed. Water now felt intimate, familiar.
If a fisherman had seen him at that moment, they might have sworn they were looking at the lake goddess herself—at least in that one, uncanny instant.
"Constitution +1"
"Charisma +1"
"Constitution: 13 → 14"
"Charisma: 14(13) → 14"
His Constitution rose by one. His Charisma's displayed value didn't change, but his true base attribute climbed—his robe's bonus no longer "hid" the growth.
But the stat bump was only the surface.
The deeper change was his affinity with water magic.
He suddenly felt he should collect more water spells.
Then he remembered: his storage pouch already held a Level 4 Water Spell book—Playaos's gift from Longflute City.
And—
He looked toward the water-weapon.
It had changed too: no longer pure blue, but a gold-edged sapphire, larger than before.
When he clenched his hand, the water surged toward him and shaped itself into a blue longsword rimmed with gold.
Shing—!
Cold light flashed.
The blade reflected half of his handsome face.
"A Sword of the —Moterra's sword."
He gave it a light flourish.
The lake answered—waves rose instantly.
Blue Lake's waters obeyed him.
Gauss felt a wild sense of ease and power.
Here, with the goddess's sword in hand, he could command far greater natural force.
He even thought: if his fight with Dragon Priestess Cecilia had happened here, he might have been able to kill her and her bone dragon.
This was the power of fighting on your own terrain.
He reined that feeling in.
Instinct warned him: this wasn't truly his power. It was borrowed—Moterra's might.
That was why the water spirit's "kills" didn't count for his Index.
A water ghoul surfaced a hundred meters away and died in the earlier waves, yet his monster log didn't update.
"Fine, fine."
He was satisfied.
He tightened his grip on the sword.
Near water—especially fresh water—it would strengthen. Its suppression against evil would also improve.
Not as much as within Blue Lake itself, of course. Here, he could borrow Moterra's domain. Elsewhere, the boost would be smaller.
Once he'd gotten used to it, Gauss opened his mental map and started walking toward Lakeside Town.
He'd drifted some distance from town.
Morning.
Fishermen were taking advantage of a rare window where the lake wasn't fully frozen, casting nets.
A man glanced toward the center of the lake—then sucked in a breath and slapped his partner's arm, pointing.
A white-robed figure was walking across the distant water.
For a moment, their vision blurred, like memory bleeding into the present.
Just like the last time.
Like a god walking the world.