Seeing this, Alia and Gauss both nodded.
Gauss waited a moment.
Casting Entangle at range takes Alia a bit of prep time.
Fortunately, the seeds Echo had dropped were already infused with her druidic power.
Even at a distance, she could still sense the nature energy within them.
Only after confirming Alia was ready did the two exchange a look, and Gauss drew a long breath.
Not from nerves—anticipation.
Alia tapped her oak staff lightly to the ground.
Life-rich natural power rippled through the soil like waves.
In moments it reached the earth where the seeds lay.
"Vmm, vmm!"
Like a little miracle, the unremarkable seeds flared with lush green vitality, sent roots questing into the dirt, and greedily drew on the ley-nature beneath. The next instant, arm-thick vines burst from the husks!
"Whoosh!"
Like awakened pythons, the vines whipped over the snow, coiling at lightning speed. In a blink they wrapped the dozen or so ravenfolk gathered around the fire.
Some of the more wary ravenfolk had already stood, scanning the area uneasily.
Others had been dozing; they blinked blearily at their companions, unsure what was happening.
There wasn't much time to figure it out—the vines gave them none. Fresh tendrils kept lashing on, binding bodies tight.
"Caw! Caw!" Unease spread through the flock.
Claws raked at the vines again and again, but were met each time by more growth curling in to snare them.
That was when Gauss burst from the snowline.
"Thump!"
His boot stamped down, kicking up spray.
His speed was a little hampered by the drifts—but with Alia's Entangle holding them, the ravenfolk weren't going anywhere.
He closed the distance.
"Splash!"
With a flick of his arm, the lamp oil he'd prepared splattered across the struggling flock.
He yanked his bone staff from the bag.
Mana rose within him and gathered at the staff's polished tip.
A searing red glow flared, heating the very air.
He stepped a few paces closer, confirmed he was in range—
Then gripped the staff with both hands, pushed forward, thumb tucked, the other four fingers splayed.
"Burning Hands!"
Blazing fire fanned out from his palms, a cone of flame swelling in an instant to swallow a five- or six-meter swath ahead.
"Boom!!!"
The flames kissed the oil—fuel on the fire—and the blaze roared up into a surging sea, igniting the vines and the bound ravenfolk in one rush.
"Caw—caw—caaaw!"
They shrieked in the firestorm, torsos writhing as feathers ignited—one by one they became "firebirds" flailing and wailing in the flames.
The air filled with the acrid reek of singed feathers and searing flesh.
Perched on Alia's shoulder, Echo the raven hunched his neck without meaning to.
His round eyes fixed on the shapes thrashing in the fire, then flicked uneasily toward Gauss. "Caw—" he croaked, low.
Alia soothed him with a gentle stroke of his feathers and a quiet whisper.
"Ravenfolk Slain ×15."
Moments later, the prompt flashed before Gauss's eyes.
The ravenfolk couldn't withstand the combo of a Level 1 Entangle plus lamp oil plus the Level 1 Burning Hands.
Honestly, it was a bit like using a sledgehammer on a chicken—but the point today was to practice the sequence in live combat.
And as a wide-area spell, Burning Hands delivered exactly the kind of efficiency Gauss wanted.
"Total Monster Kills: 1326."
[New Title Earned: 'Ravenfolk Hunter.' This title will upgrade as kills increase..]
[Current Title Effect: Menace – Against ravenfolk and related evolutions, you project a certain intimidation; enemies are more prone to fear, with slight debuffs to their states.]
Gauss skimmed the fluff.
Finally—the line he'd been waiting for popped up.
"Common Monster Index Entries reached 20 species: Goblin, Slime, Common Skeleton … Frost Snake, Dire Wolf, Assassin Vine, Ravenfolk."
"Randomly drawing a Racial Trait; adapting it to physique."
Maybe because the pool was bigger this time, the draw took longer than before.
"Boom."
Gauss felt as if a low rumble came from the leaden sky above, though when he looked up there was only the heavy gray.
He lowered his gaze.
After that brief distraction, the text finally resolved.
…
"Draw result: one trait from the Goblin Race, [Recessive Gene]."
"Converting to Racial Trait [Reptilian Strain], White Quality (upgradable)."
Reptilian Strain (Basic): Without diluting your own bloodline, you gain certain advantageous traits of reptilian creatures.
– Slight increase to bodily activity and mana activity.
– Tougher skin, granting extra physical protection.
– Can actively spend stamina to accelerate wound healing and tissue regeneration.
– Greatly increased tolerance to extremes such as high heat, high humidity, and severe cold.
– Improved motor coordination.
Note 1: [Reptilian Strain] levels up as you slay more goblins (the original host species). Higher levels unlock further abilities.
Note 2: This trait's quality can evolve. Current: white. By progressing the Elite Path and collecting more elite monster index entries, it can advance to blue, then purple; gold quality will be unlocked later.
…
"Next racial-trait draw at 50 common monster index entries."
Goblins again?
When "Goblin" popped up, Gauss startled himself.
Was that really random?
Or was there weighting—he'd killed far more goblins than anything else among common monsters.
Or something deeper he didn't yet understand? A hidden rule?
If it were purely by species count, hitting the same category twice—1/5 then 1/20—wasn't exactly likely.
He couldn't figure it out.
Still—having goblins as the source again was great for him.
It meant every goblin kill would feed two traits at once.
He read on.
"Recessive Gene"—that he could parse easily enough. Given how "free" goblin mothers are,
it's hard to say how much of a goblin's genome comes from the maternal side—unexpressed recessives abound.
In theory, anything could be a mother: gray hare, lizard, cattle, sheep, human, orc—even drake or dragon.
Rationally speaking, the last category is… rare.
But as a species, goblins carry a broad, messy bloodline library beneath the surface.
So this [Reptilian Strain] he'd received—was it one of those hidden crosses with lizards and the like?
Whatever the case, the boosts were no joke. The key lines:
"Slight increase to bodily and mana activity."
"Can actively spend stamina to accelerate wound healing and tissue regeneration."
He'd envied lizardfolk regeneration back in that mini-dungeon.
He hadn't pulled that, but he'd gotten a slice of the effect.
And it can evolve? Blue, purple, gold…
To reach blue, he'd need more elite monster entries?
What would [Reptilian Strain] look like once it evolved?
"Integrating trait [Reptilian Strain]…"
The prompt cut off his musing.
A scorching heat surged from deep within, flooding his limbs and bones, as if invisible scalpels were reshaping flesh and sinew in a deep, comprehensive optimization.