"Primary Class, Caster, has advanced to Level 8."
"Dexterity +1"
"Intelligence +1"
"Charisma +1"
Going from Level 7 to Level 8 as a Caster boosted his Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma.
After the increase, his latest stats now stood at:
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 16 → 17
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 19 → 20
Perception: 16
Charisma: 16 → 17
It felt as if a current had run through his entire body. After a faint prickling sensation inside and out, it was as though every capillary and nerve in him had been cleared out. The feeling was indescribably refreshing.
His body felt lighter too, as if some invisible set of shackles had finally been removed.
The aura around him softened, though his outward appearance didn't change much anymore. At this point, increases to Charisma worked less by altering his looks and more by refining the presence he radiated from within.
The biggest change, however, came from his Intelligence reaching 20.
That increase wrapped his mind in a constant cool clarity.
Past memories were suddenly organized like books on library shelves, sorted cleanly into place.
He even had the distinct feeling that reaching 20 Intelligence represented some kind of completion—like a bottle filled to the brim, so full it was on the verge of overflowing.
A thought surfaced in his mind.
Maybe 20 points in an attribute was the theoretical upper limit of what a human body could bear.
And once that limit was broken, perhaps something extraordinary would happen.
The idea made him unexpectedly eager for the next time his Intelligence increased.
When the others in the Red Dragon Company noticed him rising, their eyes naturally turned toward him.
Alia, Albena, and the others openly stared at his face for a few extra seconds. There was no need to sneak glances anymore—they'd been together too long for that.
The afternoon light fell across Gauss's face, making his already flawless features seem even more perfectly balanced. His eyes in particular looked like deep, radiant gemstones.
As he stood there with the faintest curve on his lips, showing just a hint of white teeth, the smile carried a strange kind of magic. Just seeing it made people feel lighter.
It's honestly unfair…
After a few seconds, even Alia had to look away.
Sometimes, she genuinely suspected Gauss had elven blood too. In terms of appearance alone, he was even more striking than she was, despite her own bloodline gradually returning to a purer elven form. And beyond that, there was just something especially captivating about him.
"Gauss, congratulations on breaking through!"
Albena strode over and bent down, opening her arms wide. With her huge build hunched forward, the pressure she gave off only became stronger.
"What are you doing?" Gauss instinctively took half a step back.
"Gauss, would you like a loving hug to celebrate?"
Before he could answer, Albena lunged forward as if to sweep him into a crushing embrace.
But in the next instant, blue light flashed, and Gauss disappeared from where he stood, reappearing a few meters away on open ground.
"Whew…"
After landing, he let out a long breath.
The way Albena had moved just now was no different from a tiger pouncing on prey. Luckily, even though he'd only just finished his breakthrough, his physical stats were so absurd that his body had instinctively triggered Any Door to dodge.
Seeing him escape, Albena's expression immediately turned regretful.
She'd joined the Red Dragon Company for Gauss in the first place, and though she'd grown used to life in the company since then, her original motive had never changed. After all, a face that handsome never got old no matter how many times you looked at it.
And the attraction he gave off was only getting stronger. He was starting to feel like some kind of humanoid succubus.
She sniffed lightly, as if she could still catch a trace of his scent in the air, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks.
The more she thought about it, the more regretful she felt.
If she'd actually managed to catch him in a proper bear hug just now, she didn't even dare imagine how blissful that would have been.
Sigh…
At that moment, she found herself wishing her commander were just a little weaker. At the very least, he didn't need reflexes that fast.
"Gauss, when you're out on your own, you really need to be careful," Alia said, half teasing and half serious. "Especially around epic or legendary powerhouses. Don't get dragged off to become somebody's live-in husband."
"Come on, it's not that exaggerated." Gauss broke out in a cold sweat.
Alia had skipped right past transcendent-level professionals. Not to mention that epic- and legendary-tier figures were incredibly rare across the entire human continent, the odds of someone like Gauss even meeting one in ordinary circumstances were vanishingly small.
And on top of that, people at that level were all major figures in their own right. Even if one of them happened to be as visually fixated as Albena, they probably wouldn't resort to outright force.
That would've been far too beneath them.
Still, after that absurd little episode, the awkward atmosphere from before disappeared entirely.
Truthfully, Gauss had done some private analysis on his own "ridiculous charm."
His conclusion was that it had something to do with his Charisma stat—but not entirely.
After all, this was a fantasy world. Plenty of professions used Charisma as a primary attribute, and the stronger those professionals became, the higher their Charisma would naturally rise.
But a high Charisma score didn't mean every charismatic powerhouse turned into a walking succubus. Charisma definitely refined one's appearance, but once it reached a certain point, the changes stopped being obvious physical improvements. Its greater effect was the subtle influence it exerted on others.
The reason it stood out so much in him was, first, because his natural base was already exceptionally good, and second, because every one of his attributes was absurdly high.
The kind of attractiveness universally recognized by people wasn't just about facial beauty. It also involved posture, physical bearing, mental state, and more. And if you followed that logic far enough, all those outward expressions were rooted in Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Perception as well.
Without Strength and Constitution, there was no way to have a healthy, flawless physique.
Without sufficient Intelligence, the mind couldn't stay clear and vibrant all the time.
As for Perception, it sharpened the senses and let one remain fully aware of everything around them, naturally making a person more poised and self-assured.
Those were things very hard to fake through mere performance.
On top of that, he suspected his unusual attractiveness was also connected to Leader's Proof, the divinity factor, and perhaps even the Adventurer's Manual itself.
The Manual standardized his condition, keeping him in a near-perfect state at all times.
And he strongly suspected the monster bestiary had also contributed to his charm.
The countless killings recorded there made him appear like a born demon in the eyes of most monsters. Before long, once he grew even stronger and more famous, he'd probably be the kind of figure monsters used to scare their young into silence.
And yet, under some subtle rule-like influence, that same terrifying aura, so dreadful to monsters, translated into a peculiar kind of magnetism for humans.
Thinking back, he had first started displaying that unusual pull only after he began slaughtering large numbers of monsters.
"If any of you are close to breaking through, now's a good time to go do it."
"I can hold things down here by myself."
Gauss knew his teammates had all been suppressing the feeling of imminent breakthrough in order to guard him.
Now that he was done, they could finally stop holding back and make their own advances.
"Then we'll leave this side to you."
Alia had absolute confidence in Gauss's strength.
His emergence meant the Red Dragon Company's brief period of danger was over.
"Yeah, go on. Holding it in too long isn't good for the body either."
Gauss planned to rest here for a while.
First, several members of the company needed to break through. Second, there was still a mountain of spoils to collect, and he also needed time to absorb the many gains he'd just made in a single day.
Of course, the speed of his growth didn't come with any of the usual issues—no "shaky foundation," no "unstable power."
Growth was growth. It was real. And with the Adventurer's Manual standardizing his condition, there was even less room for distortion.
What he needed now was time to adapt to the changes in his physical stats, and to practice the two new Level 5 spells he'd just acquired. Threefold Source Power also needed testing and refinement.
As for the key to the fifth floor, it was already in his hand. He could crush the opening stone whenever he wanted and unlock the gate below.
Whether the other adventurers currently on the fourth floor had any complaints about that…
He figured they were willing to wait.
After all, if they didn't want to wait, there wasn't much they could do about it unless they could beat him.
And that possibility looked real only in theory.
After getting stronger again—now a Level 8 Caster, with Intelligence at the 20-point limit, his final weakness erased by the powerful class specialty Threefold Source Power, and two new Level 5 spells, Bigby's Hand and Dawn—he genuinely couldn't think of any human adventurer in a place like Timber who could trouble him.
Or rather, even if people with that kind of overwhelming combat power really did exist, they had to be extraordinarily rare across the Seven Kingdoms and the Empire. Why would someone like that come all the way to a backwater like Coldemerald Province to compete with him?
Gauss was the very definition of cautious.
Looking back over his entire adventurer career, one thing stood out clearly: he always advanced step by step and almost never ventured too deep into high-level territory before he was ready.
Even now, what he did most often was still to head out and quietly kill insignificant mobs in the wilderness—creatures that had no hope of threatening him.
If you looked at it from the monsters' point of view, that made him downright sinister.
He showed none of the "bearing of a true powerhouse." He always picked targets far weaker than himself—usually vastly weaker—and hunted them down with relentless dedication.
Even if some strong monster somewhere had heard of him, they would still have a hard time getting at him as long as he never exposed himself voluntarily.
Outside wartime, entering human territory was dangerous for powerful monsters too. One wrong step and they could be ambushed and killed by human elites.
And even within human lands, Gauss always moved progressively—from Grayrock to nearby villages, then only after becoming a professional did he enter the first phase of the Timber Labyrinth, and later travel near Sena City for "field training." The first time he went to Falrim, he was already a master-tier professional.
He only ever appeared where his strength justified him being.
It was the best way to minimize the risk of uncontrollable accidents.
His mind was always clear. For him, the top priority was always growth driven by the Adventurer's Manual.
The resources of great cities, the treasures of powerful monsters—even the legendary holy sword that countless adventurers dreamed of being chosen by—none of those really tempted him that much.
As long as he stayed on the right path, whether or not he obtained the holy sword didn't matter. He could still climb to the top without it.
Heroes were celebrated because they defeated the Demon King, not because they pulled out a sword.
Only the strength you actually controlled would never betray you.
This time, more people were close to breakthrough than even he had expected.
All four of his teammates from the original squad left to cultivate on their own: Serandur, Shadow, Albena, and Alia.
Among them, Serandur and Alia were both crossing the particularly important threshold from Level 5 to Level 6.
After realizing that, Gauss personally swept the surrounding area near the places they'd chosen for seclusion. Then he left a number of tiny clay spiders around as sentries. If anything happened nearby, he would know immediately and could use Any Door to arrive on the spot in an instant.
And it wasn't just his original team.
Quite a few of the Red Dragon Company members had gained enough from this battle to break through as well.
Rick, the Level 3 dwarf warrior. Ivan, the grand steward. And several other adventurers.
These people had all been stuck at their respective levels for a while. This battle had finally pushed both body and mind to their limit, letting them cross the threshold naturally.
"Congratulations. Go on."
When Ivan still hesitated, reluctant to leave because he was worried too many people were stepping away at once, Gauss immediately cut that thought off.
To Gauss, a breakthrough from level 3 to 4 might seem like a completely ordinary step in a long career. But he knew how difficult something like that was for Ivan.
Even though Ivan was trying to act composed, Gauss could sense his racing heartbeat clearly. Excitement was practically spilling out of him.
"Then I'll be off, Commander."
"Go on already. Don't waste the chance."
Once so many people had gone off into seclusion, the area became noticeably quieter.
The members who weren't breaking through looked at those heading into closed cultivation with obvious envy, but beneath it there was also a growing heat in their eyes.
If those teammates could break through this time, then maybe next time it would be their turn.
All at once, the energy with which they cleaned the battlefield and collected materials seemed to rise again.
Life in the Red Dragon Company really did feel like it had a future.
Gauss himself chose a patch of open ground not too far away and began practicing his new Level 5 spells, Bigby's Hand and Dawn.
The disturbance caused by those two spells, at least during practice, wasn't too severe. He wouldn't disrupt other people's work or breakthroughs.
~~~
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