Although Serandur had calmed down somewhat, one question still lingered in his mind.
According to the records, those who awakened the royal bloodline among the serpentfolk were usually the most outstanding individuals in terms of strength and talent. That was also one of the key reasons why the royal bloodline had been able to bring about the collapse of serpentfolk civilization in such a short time.
Those awakeners had already been among the strongest of the serpentfolk to begin with. Once the royal bloodline awakened, their power increased even further, giving them an overwhelming advantage over their own kin.
If not for the fact that the royal bloodline's violently unstable power drastically shortened the host's lifespan, the chaos they caused might have grown even worse. It might not have stopped at the destruction of serpentfolk civilization, and could have spread into other civilizations as well.
But now, even after successfully breaking through to Level 6, Serandur still couldn't be called a powerhouse. Compared to Commander Gauss in particular, he felt even more like an ordinary person.
So why had this royal bloodline awakened within him?
Serandur felt that question would haunt him for a long time.
Still, it was precisely because of that difference that a trace of hope took root in his heart. Perhaps that very anomaly meant the royal serpentfolk bloodline in his body had become something slightly different.
As for Gauss, even though he had comforted Serandur by saying he'd punch him awake whenever necessary, that was really just something he said to reassure him.
Once Serandur had calmed down again, Gauss originally wanted him to withdraw from this Timber Labyrinth expedition and head to Forest Capital Barry early to find a powerful priest or church healer to examine him.
Even if Serandur insisted his condition wasn't an illness and couldn't be treated, times had changed.
Who was to say that something impossible in the past hadn't been solved by now?
But Serandur firmly refused Gauss's suggestion and was unwilling to leave the Red Dragon Company to go "seek treatment." Unlike Gauss, who was worrying himself sick, Serandur himself understood the nature of the power in his body all too clearly.
Rather than a disease or a curse, it was more like an evolution.
It was just that the road that evolution led down ended in destruction for the individual host, even if it had once been the sincere desire of the ancient serpentfolk ancestors who first brought about that calamity.
The reason he believed there was no cure was because that power was deeply rooted in his body. In a sense, it was part of what he fundamentally was.
After Serandur refused so decisively, Gauss thought it over in silence and finally let out a sigh, choosing not to force the issue.
On one hand, this expedition involved the entire Red Dragon Company—over a hundred people—and even affected a number of other adventuring groups. He couldn't just take Serandur and leave the labyrinth, nor could he make everyone else leave with them.
On the other hand, seeing how resolute Serandur was, Gauss also realized this might genuinely be the best option for him.
At the very least, with Gauss keeping an eye on him, things probably wouldn't reach the worst possible outcome.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Gauss had a feeling.
Alia's elven bloodline awakening, Alberna's giantification talent, Serandur's royal bloodline curse… all of it probably had something to do with him, the person standing at the center of it all.
If you really thought about it, Shadow's talent had also been growing stronger this whole time.
He seemed to possess some special quality, like a catalyst, one that continuously amplified certain powers in the companions around him.
It was just that when it came to Serandur, he'd gotten unlucky. The "gift" inside him seemed to have poison mixed into it.
Still, perhaps because all of this had begun through him, he also seemed able to exert some degree of influence over it. Otherwise, how could that "friendship-powered face-punch" from earlier have restored Serandur's reason?
With that thought, Gauss forced down his worry, let Serandur rest alone, then left the tent while pretending to be calm.
Putting Serandur's accident aside, the Red Dragon Company's overall strength had taken another huge step forward this time.
Most of all, he himself had grown significantly stronger again as commander.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
He took a small metal plate out of his storage pouch. The number on it had changed from the previous 4.89% to 10.22%.
A thought struck him, and he wanted to return to that mysterious space accessed with the key.
The labyrinth exploration rate had now surpassed 10%. Maybe that insectoid statue would offer some sort of reward now.
After briefly explaining his guess to the others, he gripped the metal plate and infused it with mana.
The plate absorbed his mana and began to grow warm.
A familiar pull, similar to the force that had drawn him out last time, burst from the plate.
This time, he didn't resist the teleportation force. In the next instant, ripples spread over his body under Alia and the others' gaze.
Then he vanished, as though swallowed into a whirlpool.
He landed steadily on the ground.
Compared to the first time he came here, it was still dark, but something felt different.
Gauss twitched his nose.
The air didn't feel as stale as last time. It carried a trace of liveliness now.
That wasn't to say this place had been dead before. In fact, the ruined remains here had already been overgrown with lush greenery.
It was just that the whole place had given off a sense of desolation before, like the remains of a city after civilization had faded away for ten thousand years.
Now, that feeling of ruin seemed to be slowly receding because of his arrival as a visitor.
Or maybe it had something to do with the increase in the labyrinth's exploration rate.
He came to stand before the nearly ten-meter-tall ancient stone insectoid statue. He hadn't truly studied it last time, so now he raised his head and examined it properly.
The insectoid form was tall and imposing. Even by human standards of beauty, it couldn't be called ugly. If anything, it possessed a strange and unique kind of beauty.
Its whole design was full of sleek, flowing lines. Armor-like plating encased its body, and the paired insectoid claws hanging at its sides curved like scythes. Even now, after who knew how many years, he could still faintly sense the terrifying force once carried by them.
The original owner of this statue must have been an incredibly powerful figure among the insectoid race.
Thinking that, Gauss suddenly felt a little dazed.
No matter how powerful an individual was, time seemed to reduce them to something so small.
Even those who had once shaken the world and stood at the top of the pyramid could, in the present age, leave behind not even the faintest trace of their stories.
Even the legendary sword saint, the hero who slew the Demon King and was known across the whole human continent—ten thousand years from now, twenty thousand years from now, would anyone still remember him?
More likely, he'd become like this statue: standing silently in some forgotten corner, only to be discovered by another visitor who'd look up in confusion and wonder who he had once been.
And what about him—Gauss?
If he one day stood at the pinnacle of humanity, how long would his own story endure?
Gauss smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Perhaps because he himself had once been made into a statue, he felt a strange sense of kinship with this insectoid one. He reached out and placed his palm against the statue's cold surface.
A voice echoed faintly in his ears.
Just as he had guessed, once the exploration rate surpassed 10%, the statue in this mysterious hidden layer of the labyrinth really did grant a special reward.
"Racial Trait [Proto–Hive Mind] has advanced."
"It is now the blue-rank Racial Trait [Weaver's Mark]."
A talent that Gauss had long ignored was finally upgraded.
He felt countless strands of power gathering within him, then condensing into a white pattern on his right arm, like a pair of wings spread wide.
The reason he had overlooked Proto–Hive Mind wasn't because he didn't care.
It was because, although the talent had been marked as capable of evolving from the very beginning, he'd found he couldn't advance it using elite points or commander points from the Adventurer's Manual.
That actually made sense. After all, this talent was obtained differently from his others. Strictly speaking, it hadn't come from the Manual at all.
Back then, after clearing the trial arena on the labyrinth's second floor and killing a certain monster, he had passed something called the Warrior's Trial. The labyrinth itself had granted him the reward.
In fact, not only he had been rewarded—Alia and Serandur, who fought beside him at the time, had also received rewards.
It was just that theirs hadn't been as good as his, probably because they had contributed less in that particular battle.
Alia had obtained a spirit companion, the Powderwing Butterfly, which later died protecting her in a fight against the Dragon Worship Cult.
Serandur had received the skill Swift Insect Wings, which greatly boosted his mobility. He still used that skill to this day, and it had made his movement in battle so slippery that Gauss used to joke that he had "snake-skin positioning."
He never expected that this white-rank talent would be the one to evolve now.
Weaver's Mark.
Gauss felt the heat of the power on the back of his hand.
After taking a moment to examine it, he understood its effects.
There were two main abilities.
The first was the original function of Proto–Hive Mind itself. His awareness of nearby insect life had become much stronger. He could now even command them to carry out simple orders of their own accord, something he hadn't been able to do before. Previously, all he could hear had been the fragmented muttering of insects.
And the ability extended from that was also enhanced—his mental link.
He had actually been using that link together with Clay Magic all along.
Otherwise, why would a simple second-circle spell produce such powerful results? It was because this seemingly insignificant talent had been supporting it in the background.
Using tiny spiders to scout and share vision, precisely controlling dozens of them at a time, and even keeping something as powerful as the goblin clay giant under total control like a puppet on strings—
all of that had depended on it.
Now that it had evolved into the blue-rank Weaver's Mark, those mental links had grown much stronger.
On top of that, after establishing the link with clay creatures, he would now receive a far richer sensory experience—hearing, smell, even taste. And the mental link itself had not only become stronger, but also more concealed.
That would enormously improve his ability to use Clay Magic for reconnaissance.
The second ability was entirely new, and it centered around weaving.
He discovered that he now had a special kind of control over magical energy.
It was like a master weaver handling thread at her fingertips. Mana in his hands could be shaped however he pleased—round, flat, twisted, anything.
He opened his palm and toyed with a bundle of mana.
That mana was like soft putty, wrapped in countless invisible strands, constantly changing shape beneath his fingers.
He immediately began imagining how to use that second ability in practice.
At the most basic level, finer control over magical energy was simply a good thing.
At the very least, spells like Control Water and Bigby's Hand would become even stronger in his hands.
And if his proficiency got high enough, he might even be able to use Weaver's Mark to start modifying certain evocation spells into something uniquely his own.
For example, Bigby's Hand currently only manifested with a partial forearm beneath the palm. Could he use Weaver's Mark to build more of it—forming a full forearm, then an upper arm?
A more complete limb would obviously better suit a human caster's instincts.
And going even further—could he stop being restricted by Bigby's Hand's original form entirely, and build a more complete spell from it?
Could he shape a torso, a head, massive legs… and ultimately create a hundred-meter-tall energy giant striding across the earth?
In theory, it seemed possible.
If he actually managed that, he would have created a spell of his own from scratch, one belonging to him alone—and it would probably be terrifyingly powerful.
Maybe it could even reach the level of a 6 or 7 spell.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
He realized Weaver's Mark might have enormous potential.
Even if its current blue-rank state wasn't enough for overly complex manipulation, what about if it rose to purple rank later? Or even gold?
If his guess was right, then the future upgrades of this talent would also come from the labyrinth. It would rise step by step along the same path.
And at present, his exploration rate had only just passed 10%. Advancing it further didn't feel all that difficult.
Gauss looked around.
Maybe it was his imagination, but the ruined structures around him seemed a little less ruined than before.
Even the insectoid statue seemed to be covered in a faint dim silver glow.
He couldn't help but lift his head and meet the statue's gaze.
For some reason, he had the strange sense that the statue itself was alive, watching him.
But then he shook his head. How could any living being possibly survive for so long?
Something like that would have to be a god.
That fleeting sense soon faded, and the trace of vitality vanished with it.
Since his instincts felt no danger, Gauss only shook his head again, gave the place one last look, then gripped the metal plate, infused it with mana, and left.