I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 420: Humanoid Succubus

"Main profession Magician level increased to: 8""Agility +1"

"Intelligence +1"

"Charisma +1"

His Magician level rising from 7 to 8 brought increases to his Agility, Intelligence, and Charisma.

After allocating the points, his latest status panel attributes reached the following stage.

Strength: 17

Agility: 16→17

Constitution: 17

Intelligence: 19→20

Perception: 16

Charisma: 16→17

He felt as if a current of electricity flowed through his entire body. After a faint, tingling sensation passed inside and out, all the capillaries and nerves throughout his body seemed to be unclogged, bringing an indescribable feeling of comfort.

His body even felt somewhat lighter, as if some invisible shackles that had existed before were removed.

The aura around him also became more gentle, though his outward appearance didn't change much. The Charisma points added seemed to work more on enhancing that inner-to-outer charisma.

The biggest change was his Intelligence reaching 20 points. This increase in Intelligence now kept his brain constantly enveloped in a cool, refreshing sensation.

Past memories were like books on library shelves, neatly sorted and organized into categories.

He even felt that reaching 20 points in Intelligence had a sense of completion, like a bottle filled with water to the point of almost overflowing.

A sudden realization dawned on him.

Perhaps 20 attribute points represented some theoretical upper limit a human body could contain.

And breaking through this limit might lead to some extraordinary phenomena.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a spark of anticipation for his next Intelligence increase.

The other members of the Red Dragon Guild quickly turned their gazes towards him after noticing he had stood up.

Aria, Albenia, and the others couldn't help but take a few more glances at his face, doing so openly and without pretense. After all, they were old teammates, so there was no need for secrecy.

The lingering afternoon sunlight fell on Gauss's face. His already fair, flawless features seemed to have become even more harmonious, especially those deep-set eyes, which resembled a pair of shimmering, iridescent gemstones.

Having just stood up, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, revealing a glimpse of his white teeth. That faint smile held a special kind of magic, inexplicably lifting the mood of anyone who saw it.

That's just unfair...

After looking for a few seconds, Aria still couldn't help but avert her gaze.

Sometimes, she truly believed that Gauss also possessed the Elf Bloodline, renowned for its handsome members.

Purely in terms of physical appearance, he was even superior to herself, who had a regressed Elf Bloodline, and he always had an indescribable, special attractiveness.

"Lord Gauss, congratulations on your successful breakthrough!"

Albenia stepped forward, bending down and spreading her arms. Her massive frame leaning over created an even stronger sense of pressure.

"What are you doing?" Gauss instinctively took half a step back.

"Lord Gauss, do you need a celebratory hug filled with love?"

Without waiting for Gauss's response, Albenia made a move to step forward for a bear hug.

However, in the next moment, with a flash of blue light, Gauss's figure instantly vanished from his original spot, reappearing on an empty patch of ground several meters away.

"Phew—"

Gauss let out a long sigh of relief after landing.

Albenia's posture just now was no different from a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Fortunately, even though he had just woken from his cultivation, his physical attributes were far too overpowered, allowing him to instinctively use Dimension Door to dodge.

Seeing Gauss dodge away, Albenia, knowing her "sneak attack" strategy had failed, showed a look of regret.

She had originally joined the Red Dragon Guild for Gauss's sake. Although she had grown accustomed to life in the guild by now, from beginning to end, her original intention remained unchanged. After all, that handsome face was something one could never tire of, no matter how many times one looked at it.

Not to mention, the attractiveness emanating from Gauss was growing stronger and stronger, already beginning to showcase the charisma of a human-shaped succubus.

She gently twitched her nostrils, as if she could still smell a pleasant scent in the air, a faint blush gradually rising to her cheeks.

She couldn't help but feel even more regretful in her heart.

If she had managed to grab him firmly just then, she didn't dare imagine how blissful it would have been.

... She couldn't help but sigh silently in her heart.

At this moment, she suddenly wished her Guild Leader was a bit weaker, at least his reactions didn't need to be so fast.

"Gauss, when you're out and about alone, you really need to be careful," Aria couldn't help but say, half-jokingly, half-admonishingly. "Especially those Epic and Legendary level powerhouses. Don't get captured by them to become a live-in son-in-law."

"It's not that exaggerated," Gauss broke out in a cold sweat.

Aria even skipped over Transcendent-level professionals. Never mind that Epic and Legendary level powerhouses were countable across the entire human continent; with Gauss's current strength, the chances of encountering them in daily life were truly not high.

Furthermore, powerhouses of that level were all prominent figures. Even if there were "appearance-obsessed" individuals like Albenia among them, most probably wouldn't resort to forceful actions.

After all, that would be too undignified.

However, after being interrupted by this little farce, the inexplicably awkward atmosphere from before was swept away.

Actually, regarding his own "super-strong charisma," Gauss had privately analyzed it himself.

The conclusion he reached was that it was related to the Charisma attribute itself, but it wasn't entirely its cause.

After all, this was a fantasy world. Many professions had Charisma as their main attribute. As professional levels increased, the Charisma attribute would only grow higher and higher.

But an increase in Charisma didn't mean that powerhouses with Charisma as their main attribute would, one by one, become human-shaped succubi. An increase in the Charisma attribute would indeed optimize one's looks, but after optimizing to a certain degree, there wouldn't be significant further changes in appearance. Its effects were more about subtle, influential power.

The reason it manifested so prominently on him was, on one hand, because his foundation was already extremely good, and on the other hand, it was also related to his exceptionally high values in all attributes.

A universally recognized charisma was certainly not just about having good or bad skin-deep looks. It was also related to physical posture, mental state, and many other factors. Delving deeper, all those other external manifestations were also inseparable from Strength, Constitution, Agility, Intelligence, and Perception.

Without sufficient Strength and Constitution, one wouldn't have a healthy, perfect physique.

If Intelligence was insufficient, it was hard to maintain a consistently full and vigorous mental state.

As for Perception, it allowed one to be sharp-eyed and keen-eared, having a thorough understanding of everything around them, naturally handling people and situations with greater confidence.

These were things very hard to "act" out convincingly.

Furthermore, he suspected the powerful attraction was related to Proof of Leadership, Divine Factor, and even the Adventurer’s Manual.

The Adventurer’s Manual could standardize his physical state. In his daily condition, he would constantly be in a perfect state.

And he reasonably suspected that the Monster Encyclopedia also contributed to his charisma.

That mountain of records of slain monsters made him appear like a natural-born "demon" in the eyes of the vast majority of monsters. Presumably, before long, when he became stronger and more famous, he could achieve the effect of "scaring children into silence at night" and "turning pale at the mere mention of his name" within monster society.

But under the influence of some obscure rule, this awe that was utterly terrifying to monsters was a special kind of charm to humans.

Thinking back carefully, he began to exhibit this special charm precisely after killing a large number of monsters.

"Those of you who need to break through can also find a place to start now."

"I'll keep watch here; that's enough."

Gauss knew his teammates had deliberately suppressed their feelings of breakthrough to "protect" him during his cultivation.

Now that he was out of seclusion, they could also seize the time to begin their own breakthroughs.

This battle was also a tremendous opportunity for many within the Red Dragon Guild.

"Then we'll leave this side to you."

Aria had great confidence in Gauss's strength.

Gauss emerging from seclusion meant the entire Red Dragon Guild was no longer in a brief state of vulnerability.

"Mm-hmm, you all go ahead. Holding it in for too long isn't good for the body either."

Gauss planned to rest on the spot for a while.

Firstly, some team members needed to undergo breakthroughs. Secondly, the numerous spoils of war on-site also required time to collect, and he needed time to digest the massive gains he had obtained within this single day.

Of course, there was no such thing as "unstable foundation" or "hollow strength" with his kind of rapid power increase.

A power increase was just that, an increase; it couldn't be faked. Especially since he had the aid of the Adventurer’s Manual, which could standardize strength, there was even less room for falsification.

However, he needed time to adapt to the changes brought by his physical attributes, practice and improve the proficiency of the two newly acquired 5th-circle spells, and also use and study the Three-Phase Source more often.

Anyway, the key to opening the fifth floor of the maze was in his hand. He could crush the opening stone and open the fifth-floor door anytime he wanted.

As for whether other adventurers currently on the fourth floor had any objections?

He imagined they would be willing to wait.

After all, even if they didn't wait, there didn't seem to be any other way, unless they could defeat him in a fight.

But while this possibility seemed to exist, in reality, it didn't.

After his power increase, his Magician level reached 8, his Intelligence attribute hit the limit of 20 points, he had acquired the extremely powerful professional feat Three-Phase Source to fill his final shortcoming, and he had mastered the new 5th-circle spells Bigby’s Hand and Dawnbreak.

In the special environment of Timberbell, where Transcendent-level beings didn't appear, he truly couldn't think of any human adventurer who could cause him trouble.

Or rather, even if such "geniuses" wielding superhuman combat power really existed, they would be extremely rare across the territories of the seven human kingdoms and one empire. Why would they come to such a "remote backwater" as Coldjade Province in the Kingdom of Carlos to compete with him for resources?

Gauss, this cautious oddball, was the shrewdest. Looking back at his adventuring career, one would find he always took things step by step, rarely venturing prematurely into high-level maps that didn't belong to him.

After all, even now, what he did most frequently was still venturing out into the wilderness from time to time to kill those completely non-threatening, inconspicuous small fry.

If one considered it from the monster faction's perspective, this guy was just too sneaky.

He simply had none of the demeanor befitting a powerhouse. The targets he actively chose were always those weaker than himself, and far weaker at that, and he tirelessly continued searching for them.

Even if some powerful individuals within the monster faction had heard intelligence about him, with him taking no initiative, it was difficult for them to take action against him.

Suddenly entering territory belonging to humans in a non-war state was a very dangerous act even for high-level monsters; they might get ambushed and killed by other human powerhouses.

And even when moving within human territory, Gauss progressed step by step: from Grayrock Town to surrounding villages, breaking through to become a professional before coming to explore the first floor of the Timberbell Maze, then going to villages around Sena City for "teaching support." His first trip to Falim happened only after he had already broken through to Master-level professional.

He appeared where his strength allowed, minimizing the possibility of encountering uncontrollable accidents to the greatest extent.

His mind was very clear. He knew that for him, the top priority was always developing based on the Adventurer’s Manual.

As for resources in other big cities, treasures of high-level monsters, even the legendary holy sword that countless adventurers dreamed of obtaining recognition for, he actually didn't feel much desire.

As long as he walked the correct path, whether he could obtain the holy sword was utterly unimportant to him. Even without that sword, he could still climb to the summit.

The reason the hero was admired was because he defeated the Demon King, not because he pulled out the holy sword.

In this world, only the strength one truly possessed would never betray oneself.

The number of people needing breakthroughs this time was more than Gauss had anticipated.

All four remaining members of Gauss's squad went: Serlandul, Shadow, Albenia, and Aria.

Among them, Serlandul and Aria were at the critical stage of breaking through from level 5 to level 6.

Realizing this, Gauss specifically cleared the area around the secluded spots they had chosen. He then left a few miniature clay spiders to observe any suspicious movements in the surroundings. If anything happened, he would be able to know immediately and cast Dimension Door to arrive on the scene instantly.

Aside from Gauss's squad, many other members of the Red Dragon Guild also needed breakthroughs.

The level 3 Warrior Rick from the Dwarf squad, Chief Steward Ivan, and a few other remaining adventurers.

These people had been stuck at their respective levels for some time. After this major battle, they finally pushed their physical and mental states to the peak, thus logically stepping over the threshold of breakthrough.

"Congratulations, go ahead quickly."

Seeing Ivan still worried about too many people leaving and planning to hold back a while longer, Gauss quickly dispelled his idea.

Breaking through from level 3 to level 4 might be an extremely ordinary breakthrough in Gauss's long professional career, but he knew how difficult this kind of breakthrough was for Ivan.

Even though he stood there now looking concerned, in Gauss's perception, his excitedly beating heart was already uncontrollable.

"Then I'll go, Guild Leader."

"Go ahead, don't delay."

After many people left for seclusion, the surroundings suddenly became much quieter.

Most members who didn't have level breakthroughs looked at those who entered the camp for seclusion with some envy in their eyes, but accompanied by a rising fervor.

Since those teammates could complete their power breakthroughs this time, perhaps next time it would be their turn.

For a moment, the arms they used to diligently harvest spoils and materials became even more forceful.

Life as an adventurer in the Red Dragon Guild truly held more promise.

And Gauss also selected a suitable empty spot, not too far and not too close, to begin practicing his two 5th-circle spells, Bigby’s Hand and Dawnbreak.

The commotion caused by practicing these two spells happened to be not too great and wouldn't affect the work or breakthroughs of others.