"It's snowing—so sudden."
Over breakfast, the two of them talked about the unexpected early snowfall.
"It usually doesn't come this early, does it?"
"True," Gauss nodded. In truth, he didn't feel much about it. He had the original body's memories, but they weren't the same as lived experience. For Alia, who was often out on the road, the seasons left stronger marks.
"Feels like this year's Winter Hunt will probably be moved up," Alia went on. "We should get ready fast."
The fine flakes drifted for an hour or two and then stopped.
Once the snow let up, more people appeared on the streets—Bronze adventurers especially stood out. Clearly, Gauss and Alia weren't the only ones who read the early snow as a sign the Hunt might start ahead of schedule.
In the days that followed, a notice from the Adventurer's Guild came through, and the two stopped taking out-of-town jobs. They used the time to train hard and push their strength another step before the Hunt.
Gauss poured everything into Magic Missile.
He'd been just a few points of experience shy of the next level. Past Lv3, proficiency gains had slowed, but with heavy repetition—casting and fine-tuning over and over—he finally forced the bar full.
Level 1 Spell: Magic Missile Lv4 (1/100)
The biggest change after the jump from Lv3 to Lv4 was faster target lock. Before, he had to steady himself and lock the enemy in before he could cast smoothly; now it was much easier—focus for a moment and the anchor snapped on. Locking moving targets had improved a lot too.
It was a crucial upgrade. Compared to raw power or projectile speed it looked unflashy, but lock-on is the prerequisite. Without that first step, you don't land the spell—let alone injure or kill anything. The highest-damage spell is useless if it doesn't hit.
And the higher the proficiency, the more room he had to rework the spell through training. The poison resistance he wanted to graft onto the Omni-Armor, and his future plan to increase how many missiles could fire simultaneously—both would rest on high enough proficiency. The more proficient he became, the deeper his grasp of the spell's essence, and the more malleable it was. That's why so many powerful mages—and other classes—end up with a signature style to their magic.
While Gauss ground away at his drills, Alia wasn't idle either, and she reaped her own harvest. First, she finally mastered Goodberry. She'd been working on the divine spell for a while but had been stuck on a key step; with Gauss's help recently, her progress surged. Second, she bonded a new avian partner—a raven.
Why a raven instead of a hawk? Several reasons.
Grayrock's "pet market" wasn't like a big city's—you couldn't just buy any animal on demand. Ravens, compared to raptors, were a step up in smarts and communication.
With training, they could learn simple human words; even someone like Gauss, who couldn't understand animal speech, could still receive clear reports. They also outperformed common birds of prey at recognizing map marks, alarms, and anomalies in the forest.
On top of that, ravens blended in better—less conspicuous in town. Once bonded, a raven could melt into the wild flocks you saw everywhere, or assemble a little group of its own, sharing and aggregating information with its fellows. As a reconnaissance scout, it was ideal.
Meeting on an open patch of ground, Gauss and Alia compared results.
Gauss took the Goodberry she handed him—a faintly glowing, pale-red berry about the size of a fingertip.
"Want to try it?"
He nodded and popped it into his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, it dissolved, a clean, sweet juice sliding down his throat. Because of the magic, the calories it provided spread through him almost instantly—pure energy that was easy to absorb.
His Energy Glands perked up at once and seized on it. One was born to be absorbed; the other was born to speed absorption—the two together were a perfect match. Very quickly, the mana he'd burned testing Magic Missile started to come back as the glands converted the berry.
Eating a Goodberry skipped normal digestion and went straight to absorption.
"Excellent," Gauss said, eyes brightening. He'd guessed the spell's fruit would suit him, but hadn't expected it to fit this well—it was like the spell had been tailor-made for him. It meant that in battle, as long as he had berries in reserve, he could refuel on the spot.
"Alia, how many can you make right now?"
"Short bursts, eight," she said. "I can prep some in advance, but they don't keep—after two or three hours the magic bleeds off and they spoil."
Gauss nodded. Ten or so on hand was enough in an emergency. They weren't a meal replacement anyway; he still had the frog jerky. Used together, his endurance would be formidable. And he couldn't treat Alia like a walking Goodberry machine—she needed to hold natural power in reserve for her other spells and miracles.
After sampling the berry, he glanced over at the raven playing in the air with the gray wolf, Ulfen.
Ravens were larger than common crows. Alia's raven was probably still in its youth, but already around fifty centimeters long; with normal growth it would reach sixty to seventy centimeters, with a wingspan of roughly 1.2 meters. With special breeding, it could get even bigger. So while its primary role was recon, it wasn't weak in a fight either.
Gauss studied the bird, a little tempted. From a distance it looked all black, but up close it wasn't a flat black—the wing edges flashed layered blue-black iridescence, like quenched steel.
Its eyes were sharp, bright with intelligence. Most striking were its talons and beak: an obsidian-thick beak, and hook-scythe talons sheathed in coarse, scale-like skin, the tips keen enough to tear tough hide.
Could they have the bonded raven recruit wild ravens and crows, expanding its own colony?
Then, wherever Gauss's team operated, there'd be an invisible network of birds circling overhead, feeding them a steady stream of intel.
The thought flickered through his mind.
Alia called the raven over and introduced Gauss to her partner. Ravens are clever; with Alia's cue, it politely showed warmth to its mistress's teammate, rubbing its head against Gauss's arm.
Of course, his Charisma didn't hurt. That stat doesn't just work on humans—neutral creatures sometimes respond to it too.