Chapter 151: New Racial Talent

Seeing this scene.

Arya and Gauss both nodded.

Gauss waited for a moment.

Arya needed some preparation time to cast Entangling Spell from a long distance.

Fortunately, the seeds that Raven Ike had delivered earlier had already been infused in advance by her with Nature’s Bind.

Even at this distance, the Nature’s Bind inside the seeds could still be sensed.

Until confirming Arya had finished preparing, the two exchanged a glance, and Gauss finally took a deep breath.

It was not nervousness, but anticipation.

Arya’s oak staff tapped the ground lightly.

The life-filled Nature’s Bind spread quickly through the soil like ripples.

Before long, it had flowed across the ground where the seeds lay.

“Buzz!”

Like a miracle of life, the previously inconspicuous seeds immediately radiated a rich green vitality, then extended roots that burrowed into the soil, greedily absorbing the natural energy from the leylines. The next moment, arm-thick vines burst forth!

“Whoosh!!!”

The vines slithered like awakened pythons over the snow, swiftly ensnaring. In the blink of an eye, they had wrapped up more than a dozen Corvimen around the bonfire.

Some of the wary Corvimen had already stood up, scanning their surroundings uneasily.

But some who had been dozing by the fire, still unclear of the situation, opened their eyes and looked at their companions in confusion.

What was going on?

The encircling vines gave them no time to react, quickly coiling around their bodies.

“Caw caw!” Unease spread among the Corvimen.

The claws in their hands scratched at the vines binding them, but more vines continuously wrapped them tighter.

At that moment, Gauss’s figure charged out from the snow.

Thud!

His snow boots stomped heavily, scattering snowflakes.

His speed was slightly affected, but with Arya’s Entangling Spell restraining them, the Corvimen had no chance to break free in the short term.

He rushed in close.

Splash!

With a swing of his arm, the prepared fire oil splashed precisely over the struggling Corvimen.

Then he quickly pulled out the Bone Wand from his storage bag.

His internal magical energy surged, gathering at the wand’s smooth tip.

A scorching red glow rose, even heating the surrounding air.

Stepping forward a few paces, confirming he was within range—

He gripped the wand with both hands, thrust it forward, and spread his fingers apart, keeping only the thumbs in place.

“Burning Hands!”

Fiery flames gushed from between his palms, the fan-shaped blaze instantly expanding and engulfing an area of five or six meters ahead.

Boom!!!

The flames touched the flammable fire oil, exploding into a surging sea of fire, igniting the vines along with the tightly bound Corvimen.

“Caw caw caw caw!”

The Corvimen screamed in agony, writhing in the blaze. Feathers burned, turning them into flailing, wailing “firebirds.”

The stench of scorched feathers and burning flesh quickly filled the air.

In the distance, Raven Ike, perched on Arya’s shoulder, instinctively hunched his neck.

His round eyes stared intently at the struggling Corvimen in the fire, then glanced uneasily at Gauss’s direction, letting out a low, “Caw—”

Arya gently stroked his feathers, softly soothing him.

“Corviman killed ×15”

Not long after—

A prompt flashed before Gauss’s eyes.

The Corvimen had failed to withstand the Tier 1 Entangling Spell, combined with fire oil, and the Tier 1 Burning Hands combo.

Strictly speaking, this combo was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but the two were more focused on honing the tactic in real combat.

In this fight, Burning Hands’ efficiency as an area-of-effect spell left Gauss very satisfied.

“Total Monsters Killed: 1326.”

“First Corviman kill. Title acquired: [Corviman Hunter]. This title will improve as you kill more of this race.”

“Current title effect: Intimidation. You possess a certain intimidating presence toward Corvimen and their advanced races. Enemies will be more prone to fear, with all stats slightly reduced.”

Gauss quickly skimmed over these minor prompts.

Finally!

Soon after, a long-awaited message appeared.

“Number of ordinary monster types in the Monster Encyclopedia has reached 20: Goblin, Slime, Common Skeleton... Frost Serpent, Dire Wolf, Assassin Vine, Corviman.”

“Randomly drawing a racial talent ability and adapting it to your constitution.”

Perhaps because the list was longer this time—

The draw seemed to take longer than the first time.

Boom!

Gauss felt as if a dull rumble came from the faraway grey clouds above, but when he looked up, there was only the heavy leaden sky.

He lowered his gaze.

After a brief distraction—

The results finally appeared before him.

“Drawn ability from the monster race Goblin: [Recessive Gene].”

“Adapting into racial talent [Reptilian Strain], white quality (Upgradeable).”

Reptilian Strain (Initial Level): Without affecting the purity of your own bloodline, you gain certain advantageous traits from reptilian creatures.

Slightly enhanced bodily activity and magical energy activity.

Increased skin toughness, granting extra physical defense.

Can actively expend stamina to accelerate wound healing and tissue regeneration.

Greatly increased resistance to extreme environments such as high temperature, high humidity, and severe cold.

Improved limb coordination.

Tip 1: [Reptilian Strain]’s level can be increased as you kill more Goblins, unlocking more abilities.

Tip 2: This talent’s quality can evolve. Currently white quality, it can later be upgraded through the Path of Elites by collecting more elite monster entries—advancing to blue, purple, and gold qualities (future upgrades to be unlocked).

“Next racial talent draw will occur when the number of ordinary monster types reaches 50.”

Another Goblin?

When Gauss saw Goblin pop up again, even he was startled.

Was this truly random?

Or was the number weighted? His Goblin kill count was undoubtedly the highest among ordinary monsters, far more than any other.

Or perhaps, there was some deeper unknown reason? An unseen hand?

If calculating pure probability by type, the chance of two repeats—1/5 × 1/20—was only 1%. Not that high.

Gauss couldn’t figure it out.

But—

Having a Goblin as the source of his new talent was certainly good for him.

It meant killing a single Goblin would give experience toward upgrading two talents at once.

Reading on.

[Recessive Gene]—he understood this. Goblins, thanks to their mothers’ rather “free” tendencies—

It was hard to say how much of a Goblin’s genes truly came from the mother, with many unexpressed recessive genes.

Theoretically, the maternal source could range from gray rabbits, lizards, cattle, sheep, humans, beastmen, even up to sub-dragons or dragons.

Though rationally speaking, the last case was much rarer.

Overall though, the Goblin race’s hidden bloodline map was vast and diverse.

So—was his [Reptilian Strain] a hidden bloodline from Goblins crossbreeding with lizards or similar creatures?

Judging by its effects, the boost was considerable. The key two were: slightly enhanced bodily and magical energy activity, and the ability to actively consume stamina to speed up healing and regeneration.

He had previously admired the regenerative ability of the Lizardman he’d seen in the Micro Dungeon.

Although he hadn’t drawn that exact trait this time, he’d gained a similar regeneration effect.

And it could evolve in quality? Blue, purple, gold...

To advance to blue quality, he’d need to kill more varieties of elite monsters?

What would [Reptilian Strain] look like after evolving?

“Loading adapted talent: [Reptilian Strain]—”

The prompt interrupted Gauss’s thoughts.

Then, a scorching heat surged from deep within his body, flooding into his limbs and bones!

Like invisible scalpels, it began optimizing and transforming his flesh, muscles, and bones at the deepest level.

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