Why are all your skill bars full of weird moves?

The Yinjing team walked about two miles eastward from the town and chose a sheltered, low slope to set up camp.

It was less like setting up camp and more like simply laying out a layer of moisture-proof felt and taking a quick rest.

The campfire crackled, with a small iron pot on top containing dried fish and wild vegetable roots that Mia had brought, along with some coarse salt, bubbling and steaming.

This is what the food is like on an adventure—simple and unpretentious.

Only when they return to town will they go to the tavern to eat and drink to their hearts' content, and boast to strangers about their adventure.

Gauss leaned against the earthen wall of the low slope, took off his short bow and placed it on his lap.

Whispers of the Forgotten

【Type: Short Bow (Purple/Epic)】

[Special Effect: Never Wears Out]

[Special Effect: Protective Power Lv1: 35% chance to grant yourself a shield upon using a basic attack, granting immunity to any subsequent damage. After being broken, it goes on cooldown for 30 minutes.]

[Special Skill: Elemental Arrow (24/100) Lv1.]

[Advanced Requirements: Defeat 30 elite monsters (0/30)]

The new feature made Gauss's heart beat a little faster.

For rangers who need to maintain distance, this is practically a tailor-made survival tactic.

After all, in high-level combat, a mage's tracking spell or an assassin's backstab is often the most deadly.

I wonder what surprises await me after reaching the orange legendary level?

Speaking of this, Gauss remembered all the known equipment tiers.

White corresponds to Common, followed by Green/Fine, Blue/Rare, Purple/Epic, Orange/Legendary, and Red/Mythical.

So far, I've only seen orange-tier equipment on Tilia; I haven't encountered any red-tier mythic gear.

That said, what truly concerned Gauss was the elemental arrows.

When crossing the river, he used arrows to activate the Light spell; in the underground palace, he used earth element to increase his weight; and when eliminating the Darkin, he used fire element.

What effects would elements like water, wind, wood, strong acid, freezing, lightning, thunder, light, erosion, force field, toxin, and mind have?

Gauss decided to find an opportunity to study these skills properly.

After all, the next step to advancement requires 2 purple and 3 legendary items.

Gauss closed his bow and brought up the experience points panel.

Current Level: Lv1

Experience points: 77/100

Today we killed 4 regular goblins, 1 elite monster, and 68 regular darkin.

A total of 73 kills earned 77 experience points.

Gaussian calculation.

If each normal monster gives 1 experience point, that's 72 points. The remaining 5 points correspond exactly to that elite monster.

How many more leaders, lords, and legends will follow?

Gauss put away the panel, and as his gaze moved upward, he saw Balk doing something extremely serious.

He removed his armor, revealing his furry belly. His two paws rummaged through the fur on his sides, occasionally picking up something, throwing it into his mouth, and then smacking his lips in satisfaction.

"Balk, are you eating fleas?"

Balk stopped what he was doing, turned to look at Gauss, his expression extremely serious.

"We kobolds need to recover our strength quickly after battle, and fleas are rich in..."

"Stop, I don't want to hear it."

"Gauss, you're a racist!" Balk accused, raising a claw. "Why don't you say anything about Mia licking her hands? Cats licking their hands is cute, but kobolds eating fleas is disgusting. Is that reasonable? Is that fair?"

"I didn't lick it!" Mia poked her head out from behind the soup pot, her ears perked up.

"You were just licking it!"

"That's a wound! A wound!"

Gauss ignored the argument between the two and glanced at Ula sitting in the distance.

She was hugging her knees, her staff resting at her feet, her face half-lit and half-shadowed by the firelight, as if she had something on her mind.

That's not right.

A normal Ura would have said something like, "Can you two shut up?"

At this moment, Mia squatted down next to Gauss, gestured towards the sky with her lips, and lowered her voice.

"Gauss, why don't you... let that young lady come down?"

Gauss looked up.

In the night sky, dozens of bats were chirping and circling above the camp, buzzing endlessly like flies.

Gauss rubbed his temples, somewhat helplessly. He had chosen to camp at a high place precisely to get away from this vampire.

I never expected this...

"Miss Tilia, you really don't need to do this."

As soon as the words were spoken, the swarm of bats suddenly closed in. The largest one swooped down, its black wing membrane bursting open three feet off the ground. A woman with black hair and red eyes sat cross-legged by the campfire, her hands supporting her chin, tilting her head as she stared at Gauss.

"Is there something you need?"

Mia shrank back. Compared to the fear she felt in the square before, Tilia now looked like... a weirdo who wouldn't leave.

Gauss rested the bow on his knees, his tone as flat as could be.

"Miss Tilia, the squad is already full. Bringing one more person will increase the cost of food and loot and put pressure on the distribution of spoils."

"I don't want spoils."

"Accommodation costs money too."

"I don't sleep." Tilia blinked. "To be precise, I don't know what it feels like to sleep."

Gauss felt that this person was being unreasonable, so he changed his approach.

"You say you're an adventurer, but you don't want any reward. So what are you after if you're following us?"

"I'm planning..."

Tilia opened her mouth, her crimson pupils darting around twice.

She can't exactly say, "I'm after your blood," can she?

But she couldn't come up with a more plausible excuse.

The silence lasted for five seconds.

Tilia came up with a plan and decided to play dumb to trick Gauss.

Then her body exploded on the spot into more than a dozen bats, which fluttered into the sky and flew wildly over the camp.

Balk held the soup bowl, his neck tilted back at a ninety-degree angle.

"What's wrong with her?"

"We cannot use normal human thinking to speculate about vampires."

Gauss was quite helpless. How could a vampire who had lived for three hundred years act like a child who hadn't been weaned?

Ula seemed oblivious to the commotion, her fingers unconsciously stroking the gems on her staff.

Everything that happened today was replaying in her mind like a slideshow.

As the mage on whom the Loz family placed their hopes, she was recognized as a genius by her mentor.

From beginning to end, nothing was accomplished.

When she was a child, at family banquets, the elders regarded her as a rising star.

In the college, her classmates would automatically make way for her.

The pride and ambition accumulated over many years were crushed by Gauss today.

He was even interrupted by Tilia in an instant...

Since leaving the town, she has been constantly thinking about one question.

Am I really ready to be an adventurer?

Thinking this through, Ula bit her lip, feeling a mix of panic and resentment.

But for the sake of her future, she had to make a choice.

"Let her join."

Everyone looked at Ula.

Silence reigned all around, and the night wind whispered through the air, making the crackling of the campfire even louder.

This statement conveyed to everyone a vague implication that he wanted to leave the team.

So Mia spoke up in a flustered and anxious tone, not wanting to lose this teammate.

"Hula, you don't actually need to..."

"I want Miss Tilia to be my mentor."

Mia's mouth remained open, the second half of her sentence stuck in her throat.

Balk had just finished drinking the vegetable soup when he heard this, and immediately spat it out. He then wiped his mouth and looked at Ula in confusion, asking, "Wait... what did she say?"

Gauss did not stop it.

Ula always looks down on everyone, speaks harshly, and is incredibly arrogant. Yet, when it comes to true knowledge and power, she is willing to humble herself and seek guidance. This sincerity and dedication to magic is what makes her even more impressive.

The problem is... what can Tilia teach?

Ula is going for an arcane build, primarily offensive with some control abilities. Having a necromancer teach an arcane mage sounds absurd.

It's like asking a blacksmith to teach a carpenter how to plan wood; they're not even using the same tools.

But Gauss didn't intend to stop him.

Ula must have made this decision after careful consideration. As for whether her judgment was right or wrong... that's Ula's business.

Suddenly, dozens of bats gathered, compressed, and reformed. After the black mist dissipated, Tilia stood in front of the campfire.

"What did you just say?"

Tilia tilted her head, her black hair slipping down her shoulders, her expression somewhat confused, perhaps due to her unfamiliarity with the concept of a mentor.

Ula stood up, took a deep breath in front of Tilia, and stepped her staff forward half a step.

"Miss Tilia, I hope you will take me as your apprentice and teach me magic."

Tilia blinked twice.

"What does this mean?"

Gauss noticed the incredulous look on Ura's face. She probably never imagined that her courageous step would be blocked by the fact that "the other party doesn't know what it means to become an apprentice."

"Ura wishes to become your student," Gauss explained. "You impart knowledge and magic to her, and she follows you as an apprentice."

Tilia's crimson pupils shifted from Gauss to Ura, and then back again.

"Teach..." She touched her lips with her finger, as if digesting this unfamiliar concept.

"Does that mean she has to stay by my side forever?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Tilia's lips curled up slightly. She glanced at Ura, then looked at Gauss, probably thinking of some trick.

"If I take her in... then wouldn't I be considered part of your team?"

Gauss's lips twitched a few times, finally understanding what the woman was thinking; her goal was always to join the team.

"You can understand it that way."

Tilia immediately turned to Ura, her attitude completely different.

"Okay, I'll accept you."

"That's...that's it?" Balk was also somewhat surprised.

"If I say it's good, then it's good." Tilia straightened her skirt and sat down next to Gauss.

"From now on, I will be her mentor, and she will be my..." Tilia paused for a moment, thinking about the word Gauss had just used, "apprentice."

Ula gripped the staff, her lips trembling slightly.

She truly hadn't expected things to go so smoothly; she had prepared a whole host of reasons and excuses, but didn't use a single one.

"Thanks……"

"You're welcome," Tilia interrupted her, her fangs gleaming in the firelight.

"I'd rather hear you call me mentor than thank me."

Ula's cheeks flushed, he gripped his staff tightly, and swallowed hard.

"Mentor...Advisor"