Chapter 1064: 508: Eccentric Expert
Chapter 1064: Chapter 508: Eccentric Expert
“Gauss, do you want to visit my tribe?” You asked that night, just as Gauss entered the Earth Elemental Plane to begin his usual exploration.
A look of surprise crossed Gauss’s face at her words. You hadn’t mentioned a single thing about her tribe over the past few days, leading him to assume her silence was intentional. Consequently, he had never pried into the matter during their time together.
He certainly hadn’t expected her to bring it up tonight, let alone extend such a friendly invitation to visit.
“Not worried about us anymore?” Gauss teased.
“Mhm. You’re good people.” You nodded, a flicker of apology in her eyes.
It had genuinely taken her several days of being around them to finally confirm this. The time it took for her to reach this conclusion might have seemed a bit excessive, but she knew she wasn’t particularly clever; she simply needed more time to observe and gauge their intentions.
Gauss and his companions were simply too strong. Vicious beasts that would have required her entire tribe’s Warriors to hunt down were as fragile as newborn cubs in his presence. If Gauss harbored malicious intent, it would spell total annihilation for her tribe. That was why she had chosen to tag along with Gauss rather than return home before she could make a reassuring judgment. She hadn’t wanted to risk inadvertently leading enemies right to her people’s doorstep.
“If you’d like, I can escort you back,” Gauss said with a shrug. Escorting You back to her tribe wouldn’t delay him at all, as he could simply hunt monsters along the way.
With You guiding the way, Gauss’s squad quickly set off. Although he had explored for several nights already, his footprints covered only a minuscule fraction of this world; he was still far from truly understanding it. In truth, he could tell that You was equally unfamiliar with their surroundings. She was merely relying on her memory of the divergent directions of various sand streams and certain environmental landmarks to trace her way back upstream.
“THUD THUD THUD!”
Gauss commanded Bigby’s Hand to hover protectively over everyone’s heads.
“Is it raining stones?”
Rocks plummeted continuously from the sky. The smaller pebbles were no larger than a fingernail, while the larger boulders were the size of human heads or even water buckets.
It was the first time Gauss and his companions had ever witnessed a rock shower. You, however, treated the phenomenon as a common occurrence. Still, as she looked up at the reassuring silver giant hand hovering above, a flash of envy crept into her eyes.
“Usually, once we realize rocks are about to fall, we look for a cave ahead of time to take shelter,” she explained.
From her memory, failing to take shelter in time meant risking severe, bloody head injuries. Even a fingernail-sized pebble carried immense destructive force when plummeting from such heights.
Mixed in with the rain of rocks were several Little Stone Spirits. They were the most common native species in this Elemental World. Boasting a quasi-biological form while brimming with elemental energy, they were a truly unique form of life. Given the abundant Earth Element Natural Magic in this particular realm, they naturally manifested with rock Attributes. In a Water Element world, they would manifest as Little Water Spirits, and in a Fire Element world, they would take on life forms corresponding to that environment.
Upon landing, the Little Stone Spirits quickly swarmed and encircled the group. The way they glared at everyone—especially at Gauss—was as if they were staring at some repulsive heresy. Raging fury surged within their elemental eyes. Numbering in the hundreds, they came in all shapes and sizes. Some were tall, some short, others elongated, and a few perfectly round like spheres—it was a bizarre, eclectic assortment.
“CLACK CLACK! CLACK CLACK!”
The Little Stone Spirits emitted sharp, furious shrieks and rapidly arranged themselves into a neat battle formation. A moment later, a barrage of short stone arrows—each roughly ten to twenty centimeters long—was fired at the group from all directions.
These Little Stone Spirits were born from the essence of heaven and earth, capable of instantly converting the ambient energy in the air and the ley lines into lethal attacks. Almost every single one of these unassuming creatures could wield basic Earth Elemental Magic.
Gauss was entirely unfazed by their sudden, frenzied assault. This seemed to be a shared trait among the native species of this world: an acute hypersensitivity to the presence of any Magic Power that did not belong to the Earth Element. The vast majority of these creatures would fly into a rabid attacking frenzy the moment they sensed Gauss’s powerful, utterly alien Magic Power.
Naturally, Gauss flipped this principle on its head, utilizing it as the perfect bait. By deploying clay constructs or specific Elemental Magic as lures, he could effortlessly fish out native monsters lurking deep underground or beneath the rivers of sand, saving himself a great deal of effort.
“The local wildlife really is terribly unfriendly.
“Bigby’s Hand.”
Just before the volley of arrows rained down upon them, Gauss summoned a second giant silver hand. The two massive hands clasped together, safely encapsulating the group within their palms.
“CLANG CLANG CLANG!!!”
The stone arrows hammered against the giant silver palms and were deflected effortlessly.
“CLACK CLACK CLACK!”
The shrieks of the Little Stone Spirits grew more frantic, as though they were communicating with the very heavens and earth.
Under their collective chanting, the surrounding ground rapidly softened. Gauss and his companions began to sink, the muck quickly rising past their ankles. In the distance, an earthen “tidal wave” surged upward, swelling in size as it crested and crashed toward Gauss’s position.
“Interesting. They can actually cast through collective chanting?” Gauss remarked, an intrigued expression crossing his face as he sensed the shifting Natural Magic around him.
He wasn’t entirely sure if this truly qualified as group magic. Regardless, these little creatures had undeniably tapped into the Earth Element Natural Magic, allowing them to completely alter the terrain through their own unique methods.