Around the Magic Frog Lord's lair, aside from a portion of the armed combat personnel standing watch in full gear, everyone else had already taken off their armor and weapons and changed into lighter clothes so they could move around more freely.
One blond young man held a specialized harvesting knife for dissection. After finding the right spot, he drove it into the relatively soft belly of a magic frog. Then, with his other hand clad in a thick leather glove, he reached into the still-warm corpse, felt around until he found the right organ, and gave it a firm tug, tearing out the mana gland.
He examined it for a moment to make sure the material hadn't been damaged, then wrapped it in cloth and dropped it into the basket on his back. He repeated the process over and over until the basket was full of glands.
Most of the Red Dragon Company's members were ranked professionals, but they were all extremely skilled at this kind of routine collection work.
That was just how adventurers were. Back when they first started down this road as low-level adventurers, there were no logistics crews to gather spoils for them. After every battle, they had to collect everything themselves.
Now they were just going back to the old trade.
Compared to the members of other adventuring companies, they were lucky.
Even if they couldn't understand how their commander had such terrifying stamina—like some kind of machine that never stopped running—they had to admit that with him there, the survival rate of ordinary members had increased drastically. That was why they dared to throw themselves into battle against enemies that outnumbered them by hundreds of times.
Many of the Red Dragon Company members still able to move after the battle had, at one point or another, received help from their commander.
He always managed to flash in front of a member right before a fatal blow landed, then kill the enemy with overwhelming magic.
"Shh, lower your voice over there. Don't disturb the commander."
"Sorry, sorry."
Many of the Red Dragon Company members had even consciously started speaking more softly, afraid that their conversation might interrupt the figure seated in meditation.
Only a few of the core members knew that Gauss was actually in the middle of a breakthrough.
Even then, they didn't explain that to the others. Some things were better left vague.
If everyone else knew Gauss was leveling up, they would probably feel even more pressure. For most adventurers, breakthroughs like this only happened a handful of times in an entire lifetime.
Alberna stood not far from Gauss with her arms folded across her chest, guarding him like a statue at the gate.
The other core members all looked like they were busy with their own tasks, but if you paid close attention, you'd notice that their positions formed a loose ring around him, and that their peripheral vision never left him for long.
In a very real sense, every movement Gauss made affected the whole company.
Luna and Alia sat together on a large rock, speaking in voices barely above a whisper.
"Are you sure he'll be all right?"
Even though Gauss had told her before entering seclusion to relax and not worry too much about him, Luna still couldn't help feeling anxious about his breakthrough.
Spellcasters, of all professional paths, were especially delicate during advancement. The slightest disturbance from the outside world could have unpredictable consequences.
That was why most spellcasters always chose an isolated, silent room for breakthroughs, minimizing outside influence so they could focus entirely on the changes within themselves.
And yet Gauss had sat down right out in the open, next to the corpse of the Magic Frog Lord, and simply started breaking through.
Was that really okay?
Luna couldn't help muttering internally.
Still, given that they were inside a labyrinth, there wasn't exactly a better location available, so she hadn't argued at the time.
"Relax. Gauss knows what he's doing."
Unlike Luna, Alia looked much more at ease. She even had the spare attention to idly rub Ulfen's wolf head where he sat beside her.
She knew Gauss wasn't careless. If he had chosen to do it like this, then he must have been confident that outside interference wouldn't affect him.
While the two of them were talking quietly, the Level 7 Rogue Ethan appeared in front of them.
"Captain Luna, members of other adventuring companies have shown up. They want to speak with Commander Gauss."
Luna frowned at once.
She wasn't surprised that members of other adventuring companies had tracked them down.
This place had been the center of a storm. It would naturally draw attention from nearby adventurers.
If anything, she thought they had come later than expected.
"Tell them to come back tomorrow… no, forget that. I'll go myself."
As soon as she said it, she realized that might not be ideal. She glanced sideways at Gauss, still sitting there in the middle of his breakthrough, thought it over for a moment, then rose to her feet anyway.
She had to know exactly what those other companies wanted.
Especially now, with Gauss in the middle of a breakthrough, they had to handle any visit much more carefully. No matter what, they couldn't let anyone disturb him.
"Want me to come with you?" Alia asked, looking up.
"No. You stay here and watch over the commander."
Luna shook her head.
As the former second-in-command of the Fang of the Gray Wolf, she had plenty of experience dealing with other adventuring companies.
Whether someone had come in good faith, to probe for weakness, or for some other hidden reason, she was confident she could tell almost at a glance.
With Ethan leading the way, Luna called over a few of her own people and headed toward the forest.
After walking a short distance, they found the group that Red Dragon members had stopped outside the perimeter.
Two men and one woman.
Luna took one look at their equipment and formation and immediately formed a judgment.
This was a classic reconnaissance squad from a large adventuring company, the kind specifically tasked with gathering intelligence. Their horses were tied off to nearby trees.
According to Ethan, they had shown themselves openly, which at least meant they were behaving properly. They hadn't tried to scout the Red Dragon Company's camp without permission.
Meanwhile, the three on the other side stiffened the moment they saw Luna.
This wasn't just because she was a stranger. Any scout worth their salt could sense the powerful mana rolling off her.
She was obviously a formidable spellcaster.
Realizing that, the middle-aged rogue at the front stepped forward half a pace, bowed, and introduced himself.
"I'm Colin, captain of the third scout squad from Wildfire Company.
These two are my teammates."
Wildfire Company?
Luna thought for a moment, then quickly matched the name to something in her memory. It was a Barry-based adventuring company whose leader was a Level 10 sorcerer specializing in fire magic.
Much like their leader, the company's spellcasters were mostly fire mages as well.
That kind of company structure wasn't unusual. Many members joined a company precisely because they wanted guidance from the commander in a specific field of cultivation, so over time a very distinct style would naturally form.
Of course, that didn't mean the company consisted entirely of mages. Even in a specialized company like that, mages were still a minority. Fighters, rangers, rogues, priests, and the rest were still indispensable.
Luna wasn't someone who liked unnecessary small talk. After a brief introduction, she immediately asked them why they had come.
As she spoke, her gaze stayed fixed on them, making sure no one lied.
It didn't take long before she understood their purpose.
In fact, members of other companies had already noticed the commotion here during the battle.
However, because the ones nearby had all been scout squads, they had only watched from a distance, too afraid of being caught in the aftermath to come closer.
After the battle ended, most of those scouts had already returned to their respective companies.
Wildfire Company's senior leadership had been one of the first to make a decision.
To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, they had only sent this three-man squad over, since they had already been observing the battle anyway. Their job was to ask about the situation—whether the fourth-floor lord had been killed, when the fifth floor would open, and so on.
As Luna listened, she could clearly feel how cautious the three were.
And that caution wasn't just because she was a level 9 sorcerer. They were just as careful and respectful toward the ordinary Red Dragon members.
But when she noticed the way they swallowed nervously whenever Gauss was mentioned, and the fleeting respect on their faces, she quickly understood the real reason.
They must have witnessed Gauss personally slaughtering monsters on the battlefield and had been completely shaken by the destruction he displayed.
So they didn't dare act arrogantly in front of Red Dragon.
And that was exactly what had happened. During the fight, all three of them had been scared witless by the sheer level of power he displayed. After reporting back, they hadn't dared hold anything back, describing in full detail the absurd battle power Gauss had shown.
And when they later reviewed the footage captured by their recording orb, they realized another detail they had missed at the time.
At one point, Gauss had looked directly in their direction.
That meant he had already noticed them long ago. If he had wanted to, he could have killed them then and there, and none of them would have made it back alive.
After carefully analyzing the recording, Wildfire Company had come to the conclusion that this was a terrifying enemy they absolutely could not afford to provoke.
In the current Timber Labyrinth, Gauss effectively possessed transcendent battle power. In certain aspects, it even seemed to surpass that of an ordinary transcendent professional.
In the outside world, that kind of strength would still mean he had rivals. But inside the labyrinth, he was like a tiger in a sheepfold—no one here could match him.
Being senior adventurers, Wildfire's leaders weren't fools. Once they realized the overwhelming disparity in strength, they decisively abandoned any unrealistic ideas.
The rewards for killing a floor lord and the advantage of entering the fifth floor first were certainly tempting, but only if you stayed alive to enjoy them.
This scout team hadn't just come to ask questions. Their main purpose was to familiarize themselves with Red Dragon.
When Luna gave them her answer, she didn't say too much, but she also didn't shut them out completely. She only told them to wait. Red Dragon needed to recover the first batch of high-value spoils first before discussing anything with the other companies.
The three didn't overthink it, nor did they dare show any dissatisfaction.
In their eyes, Red Dragon's behavior was perfectly normal.
If Wildfire Company had the power to solo the floor lord and wipe out most of the fourth floor's monster army, they would absolutely make sure their own people got the lion's share first before deciding whether to share any leftovers.
After getting their answer, the three quickly took their leave and vanished back into the trees.
Over the following half-day, other adventuring companies sent people as well.
Just like Wildfire's scouts, they all behaved with remarkable tact.
In the world of adventurers, power was the best business card of all.
Before this, many companies in Barry hadn't known anything about Red Dragon, or about Gauss.
But after witnessing that battle, word would spread fast throughout Barry's adventuring circles.
By the time Luna returned to Gauss, his outward aura was still calm and even. If he hadn't warned them beforehand, most people would never have guessed he was in the middle of a breakthrough. They would have assumed he was simply meditating to recover mana.
Feeling his steady, lake-like state, Luna finally relaxed a little.
What she didn't know was that inside his seemingly calm body, mana was raging like a flood.
The magical pressure rolling through him would have burst any ordinary master spellcaster apart in moments.
But Gauss's body was simply too durable.
It was like a container forged from the hardest imaginable material—no matter how violently the mana surged through it, he remained completely stable.
And this time, his accumulated "experience" was so abundant that the entire breakthrough had the feeling of water naturally flowing downhill.
His mana kept circulating through his body. With every completed cycle, it grew stronger at a visible rate.
If he weren't worried about startling other people, he probably could have stood up and walked around freely during the process.
Then, at a certain moment, the mana circling through him finally reached its peak.
Crack.
A clear, crisp sound rang out inside Gauss's body.
The bottleneck that would have been maddeningly stubborn for an ordinary professional shattered instantly. The rampaging mana in his body formed a perfectly stable cycle.
Inside the mana cup, every drop of golden mana had become highly condensed, and each one now contained an enormous amount of power.
Gauss opened his eyes.
This had been the easiest breakthrough he had ever experienced. It had felt like taking a nap. He felt refreshed from head to toe.
But when he sensed his body more carefully, he immediately recognized the tremendous power surging within.
"Primary Class, Spell Caster, Advanced to Level 8."