Chapter 1068: 509: Evil Imp

Chapter 1068: Chapter 509: Evil Imp

Taking a step back, she reasoned that even if he really were a good person, why would he hide the source of his power? It was truly too evil! Noticing that Gauss frequently let his gaze linger on the Source of Magical Power in her abdomen, her eyes became even more vigilant.

“If you want to fight me, we can take this outside.”

Although she felt an absolute sense of oppression from Gauss, if he had come for her and the inherited Source of Magical Power, she was willing to sacrifice herself to keep her clan safe.

“I have no such intention. Let me introduce myself. I am Gauss, a human from the outside world. I don’t know what exactly you saw in me, but I am genuinely a real human.”

Faced with Gauss’s clarification, the old woman initially wanted to instinctively refute him, but her attention was quickly caught by a specific phrase.

“The outside world?”

Unlike the rest of her clan, having the generations-old inherited Source of Magical Power residing within her body meant she knew more secrets, and thus understood the concept of different worlds. In fact, within this realm, many biological species—such as their human ancestors—and various materials had migrated from other worlds. However, aside from some basic inherited knowledge, she actually knew nothing about what the world outside their own looked like.

Judging by his appearance, however, this information held some credibility. She had never seen humans who looked like him and his companions in this world before.

“It’s true! I’ve already been out there with Gauss and the others for several days!” You quickly chimed in as a witness, proving that Gauss was telling the truth. “It’s so lively outside. There are lots of people, the ground is covered in flowers and grass, there are really, really tall trees, and the sky is blue…”

Once You started talking, she babbled on endlessly. Despite having been outside for quite a few days, she was still filled with the excitement of experiencing new things.

The old woman didn’t interrupt her, simply listening silently to what she shared. Compared to Gauss, she trusted the words of her fellow clan member, You, much more.

After quite a while, You finally stopped, her mouth almost dry from sharing her experiences of the past few days. Although the old woman’s face remained impassive, a great storm had already been stirred up in her heart. Even just listening to You’s verbal account piece by piece, she gradually began to believe the authenticity of it all.

If it were truly as You described, then the creature before her might indeed be a good person. He also shouldn’t have any motive to attack her tribe; compared to the wealthy outside world, their tribe was simply too impoverished. But why was the aura around him so incredibly evil? She decided to have a proper talk with him.

“Evil… O powerful one from another world, please forgive my rudeness.”

Gauss also noticed the shift in the old woman’s eyes.

“It doesn’t matter, but could you answer a question for me, ma’am? What exactly did you see in me?”

Hearing this, the old woman didn’t answer immediately, but simply looked at the companions beside him.

“These are all partners worthy of my trust. You may speak freely,” Gauss assured her.

Seeing that Gauss had no objections, the old woman described the image of Gauss in her Perception. In her description, Gauss was an utterly evil monster, existing like a stitched-together Frankenstein’s monster. He had the body of a dragon, the head of a wolf, crow feathers, and ghost shadows, which were constantly shifting and flickering into the forms of many different monsters.

The others listened to the old woman’s description without changing their expressions, while only Gauss, the person in question, raised an eyebrow. This was because every single physical trait the old woman mentioned precisely matched the origins of the Racial Talent Abilities he possessed. Goblins, Kobolds, Crowmen, Wasteland Wolves…

He imagined his image in the old woman’s Perception and suddenly felt that her earlier behavior could be considered quite restrained. “But how can she sense it? Is it a special ability granted by that flesh tumor?” Gauss pondered silently.

At most, the aura on his body would only be perceived by others when he used a specific ability, such as releasing his dragon might. But that kind of recognition was clearly different from the old woman’s current situation.

“I see. However, I am indeed human. The situation you saw involves a certain bloodline ability of mine. But since it involves my privacy, I cannot share the specific details.”

He looked at the old woman’s abdomen, feeling more and more that the flesh tumor was far from simple. Being able to see through the origins of his numerous Talents no longer had any direct connection to sheer strength or weakness. Although he hadn’t yet encountered Epic Level experts or anyone even stronger, he had a premonition that even they wouldn’t be able to see through certain anomalies on his body. And the only special thing about this woman was that magical flesh tumor.

The old woman noticed Gauss take another look at her Source of Magical Power. She knew it couldn’t be hidden; after all, his very first glance upon entering had been directed there, so she chose to bring it up openly on her own initiative.

“O powerful one from another world, Gauss, you seem very interested in the Source of Magical Power on my body,” she said. “Actually, this is a sacred relic inherited by our clan. Without its existence, our people would have gone extinct long ago.”

Before Gauss could reply, she continued.

“Its origin is no longer verifiable. However, whenever a successor is about to die, they will cut it out of their abdomen and implant it into the body of a young heir. With just a little practice, they can then master the power of Magic.

“A powerful expert like you probably looks down on such unorthodox methods.”

“…”

Off to the side, You listened with great relish. It was her first time learning the source of her powerful clan leader’s special strength as well.

“There’s no need to belittle yourself, ma’am. This Source of Magical Power might be even more powerful than you imagine.” Gauss waved his hand, indicating that he did not underestimate their clan’s sacred relic. Worried about causing a misunderstanding, he added, “But please rest assured, I have no intention of fighting for it.”

Just like how he possessed the Adventurer’s Handbook, there were bound to be many special items in this world and across countless others. He didn’t harbor any strong greed toward it. His Adventurer’s Handbook was already a broad path leading to the heavens; why would he need to covet another person’s fortuitous encounter?

“Thank you,” the old woman nodded in gratitude. Gauss was far more powerful than an old, dying fogey like her; if he insisted on taking action, she truly wouldn’t have many options. This was also the reason why she had actively chosen to inform him instead of covering it up.

“Clan leader, is it okay for me to hear this secret?” You asked, pointing at herself.

The old woman turned to look at her and shook her head with a smile. “Just don’t tell anyone else.”

Seeing this, Gauss also understood that You was perhaps already one of the candidates selected by the other party. But since this involved the inheritance of her tribe, he didn’t run his mouth. Although his reaction to this inheritance was mediocre, for 99.9% of the people in the world, this was an extremely precious legacy.

Setting aside its upper limits and side effects for a moment, its lower limits were at least very high, capable of elevating a level 1 or 2 Professional up to level 10 or even stronger. Even if it required coexisting with that flesh tumor, it would still be a fate-changing blessing to many.

After this conversation, the relationship between everyone in the room became much more harmonious.

The old woman was named Lan Yan. “Yan” was a surname that only each successive clan leader could inherit. She asked about the purpose of Gauss and the others coming here. Upon learning that he had come to challenge monsters and collect minerals, she rummaged through a pile of personal belongings and brought out an ancient leather map.

“This has the locations of powerful monsters marked down by myself and previous clan leaders,” she explained. “Some have already died, while others remain in their respective habitats. Gauss, if you are interested, you can go check them out.”

“Thank you, this is a huge help,” Gauss said, taking the map. “I definitely have a use for it.”

Exploring this world wasn’t that easy, so having a map drawn by local experts would indeed save him a lot of time. In addition to filling out his bestiary with Ordinary Monsters and elite monsters, he also needed to challenge Commander Level monsters and Extraordinary Monsters to obtain precious Commander Points and Extraordinary Points for advancing his Talents.

Since entering this earth-element plane, he had killed quite a number of ordinary and elite monsters, but he hadn’t encountered many monsters of Commander Level strength or above. He reasoned that it might have something to do with the region he was in; the area he had been staying in previously was likely something akin to a “beginner’s map.” Powerful elemental monsters probably preferred to live in areas with denser Natural Magic.