ebookpocket.com Chapter 387: New Mechanisms for Adventure Teams
Chapter 387: New Mechanisms for Adventure Teams
Grom wasn't entirely clear on the true extent of Gauss's strength, but looking at the confidence on the man's face before him, he subconsciously chose to believe.Perhaps he was the very embodiment of a miracle, the legendary Chosen One.
Otherwise, how could one explain that just two years ago he was a hunter scrambling to make ends meet, yet now he was already the esteemed Guild Leader of an adventuring guild?
At least in Grom's understanding, achieving such a goal could not be accomplished in a mere two short years.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
The commission was thus confirmed.
Next, under Gauss's orders, the entire Red Dragon Guild went into full motion.
The Second and Third Action Teams mounted swift horses, escorted the pack animal carts, and, amidst the farewells of many townsfolk, departed from Grayrock Town.
Not far away, several members of the Fang of the Pale Wolf adventuring guild witnessed this scene and exchanged bewildered glances.
"We're also an adventuring guild, so why don't we get this kind of welcome?"
"I have no idea!"
Not only did they not receive such treatment, but on the contrary, their movements within the town were restricted.
All because, a few days ago, several members from other groups of theirs had clashed with other adventurers in the bustling market district, accidentally injuring a few ordinary civilians.
It was said that afterwards, even their Guild Leader was invited by the head of the local guild for a 'chat'.
Only after their leader promised to better discipline his subordinates and paid a hefty sum in compensation to the injured did that page temporarily turn.
Yet, weren't they, the Fang of the Pale Wolf, the established, veteran adventuring guild from Falim, while the Red Dragon Guild was just a group of green recruits?
It was truly baffling.
After leaving Grayrock Town, the road became clear and unobstructed.
This time, Gauss didn't break away from the group to travel alone to the areas surrounding Blackwater Town ahead of time.
Unlike the journey here, the road to Blackwater Town this time truly held dangers, and the probability was not low.
There really was no need to rush for a lead of just two or three days.
Inside the carriage.
Gauss and the others were all occupied with their own studies to pass the time.
Ivan, however, was panting heavily, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Are you alright?"
Although the voice was very soft, Gauss's hearing was unfortunately too sharp, so he heard it clearly nonetheless.
He had to put down the book in his hands, turn his head, and look at him with concern as he asked.
"Me? Guild Leader, sir, I'm fine."
Ivan, sitting beside Gauss, had blood rushing faster through his veins, appearing very excited.
The number of times he had shared a carriage with Gauss was already few, let alone this time when they were heading into battle together.
He felt his own strength finally had a place to be used.
"Is that so. Serlandul, could you check on Ivan for me?"
Ivan was just about to say it wasn't necessary, but Serlandul had already laid a hand on him to perform a physical examination.
Feeling the unusual agitation within Ivan's bloodline, a flash of understanding crossed Serlandul's face.
"Gauss, it's fine. Ivan is just too excited."
He gave Ivan a knowing look.
He understood Ivan's feeling.
As a Dragonblood Warlock, the influence Ivan felt in Gauss's presence was certainly greater than what he himself experienced.
After all, Serlandul remembered that when he first made contact with Gauss, he too had suffered from that bloodline-level influence. That influence still existed even now, but having lasted so long, he had simply grown accustomed and adapted to it.
Time passed swiftly.
The closer they got to the Blackwater Town region, the more desolate and remote the surrounding environment became.
On the road, apart from Gauss's convoy, no other humans could be seen.
After encountering who knows how many waves of monster attacks, Gauss's group finally arrived at the border of Blackwater Town.
"People! There are people!"
The raven Eck brought back news.
Following its guidance, the Red Dragon Guild arrived at an adventurer camp.
"Brother, how much for the health potions?"
"1 gold coin each."
"Are you a bandit?"
"Take it or leave it. This is top-quality medicine."
"Flower Sword Trading Company accepts all types of equipment for recycling and repair work! Inquire within if interested!"
"..."
Entering the camp left the Red Dragon Guild members, who hadn't had contact with other humans for days, feeling somewhat disoriented.
It was as if this place wasn't a frontline in the wilderness, but an early human town.
There were differences, however. Mainly, there were almost no civilians here. Everyone in sight was either an adventurer or a merchant providing services to adventurers.
No wonder they said, where there are people, there is business.
But, this was also the last supply point before entering the Blackwater Town region proper.
Merchants, though profit-driven, would not venture further in.
That would be no different from seeking death.
Even here, they had to bear significant risks to life and property.
If a monster attack occurred, adventurers might have a chance to survive, but the survival probability for ordinary people was certainly not high.
Calling it a camp was generous; it was essentially a patch of wasteland where a bunch of people had gathered. There weren't too many formalities or rules.
The scale of Gauss's several dozen men, plus the Red Dragon banner hanging on the side of the convoy, all indicated that this was an adventuring guild.
Ordinary freelance adventurers and small adventurer squads didn't dare provoke such a "behemoth" and very consciously gave them a wide berth.
Gauss found an empty spot and claimed it as the Red Dragon Guild's temporary encampment.
Faced with this "landlord-like" behavior, neither the ordinary adventurers nor the trading companies seemed to take notice. Some shrewd ones even proactively sent welcoming gifts.
Adventuring guilds naturally possessed a kind of privilege over ordinary adventurers in the wild.
"I didn't expect there to be an adventurer camp here."
"Perhaps we could call over the people from Grayrock Town as well." Ivan, seeing the scene at the camp, suggested.
"Let's get settled first." Gauss neither agreed nor disagreed, not rushing to give a reply.
He looked at Grom, who had been unusually quiet and reticent throughout the journey.
Knowing he was worried about the child trapped in Blackwater Town, Gauss spoke up to comfort him.
"Don't worry, the child should be fine."
Mainly, one or two more days wouldn't make much difference.
After all, several months had already passed since the war broke out in Blackwater Town.
The next day.
After some rest and recuperation, Gauss's group, refreshed and spirited, set off once more.
Some people remained at the camp first; Tebben and the other two dwarves also stayed there.
In truth, even without leaving too many people, generally no one dared to provoke an adventuring guild. The weak couldn't afford to, and those with some background, unless confident they could slaughter everyone in the entire camp, would inevitably face retaliation from an entire guild afterward.
Furthermore, what Gauss left behind were mostly heavy supplies that were inconvenient to carry—bulky and not worth too much money. Robbing them was an act where the risk and reward were completely disproportionate.
Crossing the border, Gauss sensed something different in the air.
He subconsciously flexed his body a little.
Coming here gave him a feeling similar to entering the Emerald Forest, an odd discomfort all over.
A faint, yet omnipresent, oppressive force settled upon him.
"As expected, this is already the territory of monsters."
He sighed.
Unless most of the monsters on this land could be killed, it would be difficult to reverse this nearly rule-like power.
The others also sensed the different atmosphere.
They subconsciously moved closer to where Gauss was.
It was as if there was an aura around him that could somewhat offset that uncomfortable feeling.
"Whoosh!"
Ahead, from the woods, a group of goblins clad in rags came swarming out with guttural cries.
Having just stepped into monster territory, Gauss's group received a warm welcome.
Gauss glanced at the several dozen goblins before him. There were infantry, wolf riders—the configuration seemed quite reasonable—but he didn't feel much desire to fight.
This number was too small for him now. It was better to let his subordinates use it for training.
He couldn't be the team's nanny forever.
Gauss was also doing this for the good of the Red Dragon Guild members. In this chaotic era, only by mastering one's own strength could one control one's own destiny.
"Third Action Team, all of you, kill these goblins!"
He gave the order.
The members of the Third Action Team, who had been somewhat flustered by the sudden situation, somehow felt their emotions settle upon hearing his voice.
They quickly urged their horses forward, and the two forces officially collided.
Under Gauss's deliberate arrangement, not only did Aria and the others not take action, but even the team leaders and deputy team leaders under Ivan's two action groups only played a slight command role, not unleashing their full power.
He himself also intentionally distanced himself from the battlefield.
The main force of the battle consisted of the low-level adventurers the guild had recruited.
"Kill them all!"
"Let's go!"
"For the Guild Leader!"
Blades sliced through flesh, horses and wolf riders charged at each other.
A bloody battle instantly erupted!
However, the battle came quickly and ended just as swiftly.
In less than ten minutes, it had formally concluded.
The Red Dragon Guild members sat on their horses, panting heavily.
Some wounded were receiving treatment from the team medics and Serlandul.
"We survived!"
"We actually killed this many goblins!?"
Unlike the excited ordinary members of the action groups, their boss Ivan was currently looking at Gauss's expressionless face with a worried gaze.
He didn't know if the performance of the action group members under his command had met the Guild Leader's requirements.
After all, although the main responsibility for training lay with the team leaders and deputies, he, as the captain of the Third Action Team, had also been involved in part of the training tasks.
If the action group members performed poorly, it meant his work was inadequate.
"Not bad."
Gauss nodded.
He wasn't being insincere with this comment.
The professionals of the Red Dragon Guild hadn't taken action; the main combatants were the ordinary members.
Over twenty men facing nearly 60 goblins.
Even though these twenty-odd were veteran adventurers equipped with fine iron armor, weapons, and mounts, achieving a result of only 5 injured, zero deaths, while completely annihilating the goblin force, could indeed be considered a great victory.
Not every adventurer was like him, able to slaughter goblins far exceeding their own numbers before even advancing to a professional.
Hearing Gauss's evaluation, Ivan and the action group team leaders breathed sighs of relief.
In a place they couldn't see, Gauss looked at the prompt that popped up on his Adventurer's Manual, a slow smile spreading across his face.
"Goblins killed*12"
This prompt pleasantly surprised Gauss.
After all, neither he, nor the companions who could share kill counts, had personally killed a single goblin in that fight.
Did that mean his kills came from these ordinary members of the Red Dragon Guild?
This discovery made Gauss quite happy.
Although, judging by the numbers, the kill synchronization from the guild's ordinary members couldn't achieve the 100% sync rate of Aria and the others; currently it was only a fraction.
But he was already very satisfied.
He didn't need to personally take action. Moreover, as the guild grew, the assistance it provided would surely increase bit by bit.
If there were hundreds or thousands of people, even if only a portion of the kills were shared, that would be a terrifying number.
While the team members were killing, he himself could also go seek out monsters to kill.
Currently, this sync rate was about 1/5?
Gauss stroked his chin.
However, he hadn't completely confirmed this ratio, as the sample size was too small.
But why hadn't this guild sharing mechanism taken effect before?
Gauss pondered silently in his heart.
He analyzed that it might be related to this operation being the Red Dragon Guild's first official large-scale action.
Previous adventures were essentially just his small team fighting, with Toga's team assisting at most, not using the entire guild as a combat unit.
"Rest for twenty minutes, then we continue advancing."
Gauss gave the order.
He felt he might need to put more effort into managing his adventuring guild.
In this world, while individual might was terrifying, the power of a team should not be underestimated either.
For example, the difference between 1 spellcaster and 10 spellcasters of similar strength might not be a simple tenfold. With the proper application of specific combination tactics, the difference in combat power could be dozens of times.
Ten well-trained, coordinated team members were fully capable of defeating dozens of lone wolves.
"Pass the order, recover stamina as quickly as possible." Ivan hurriedly relayed Gauss's command.
For the next two days, the Red Dragon Guild advanced deeper into Blackwater Town, killing their way forward.
Through frequent testing, Gauss also came to understand the relevant sharing mechanisms of the adventuring guild.
First, the sync rate was indeed approximately one-fifth. Of course, if the one taking action was Aria, Shadow, or Hephaestus, it was 100%.
The sync rates for Serlandul and Albenia were around 50%.
"Total monsters killed: 28611"
Gauss felt that perhaps activating the "adventuring guild" mode sharing was the greatest gain from this operation.
"Ivan, take the men and rest here in this cleared-out abandoned village."
"Don't venture out casually before I return."
Gauss looked at the village before him and instructed.
This place had originally been occupied by a pack of gnolls, but now it served as the Red Dragon Guild's temporary foothold.
The entire Blackwater Town region had completely fallen into monster territory, with monsters occupying patches of land in the form of large and small clans.
For a short while, no other monsters should come to this village that originally belonged to the gnolls.
"Guild Leader, please go with peace of mind." Ivan knew Gauss and the others were about to embark on the special rescue commission.
Worried that ordinary members might panic, Gauss's departure this time, apart from the core members, wasn't known to many others.
Only Grom, Aria, and Shadow followed Gauss.
Their current location was less than fifty kilometers in a straight line from the town of Blackwater itself.
If they could ride Hephaestus, it would be about the time it takes to eat a meal.
Unfortunately, in this monster territory, recklessly becoming a conspicuous flying unit was suicidal behavior.
Even though Gauss had great confidence in his own strength, he didn't want to attract too much aggro prematurely.
Moreover, in Coldjade Province and even the surrounding regions, adventurers possessing a Red Drake should be virtually nonexistent.
A Red Drake flying in the sky would be openly announcing to the monsters that he had arrived in the Blackwater Town region, wouldn't it?
Gauss hadn't forgotten the threat of the Dragon Worshipers.
Compared to human territory, the domain of monsters was the stage where the Dragon Worshipers were active. They had intricate connections with many monster factions, and he, as a supernova among human adventurers, had certainly already become known to some monster leaders.
It was entirely possible they were already plotting schemes against him.
After all, the number of monsters he had killed had already reached nearly thirty thousand!
That was a full thirty thousand!
Even if these monsters were all malnourished ordinary goblins, that was nearly a thousand tons of flesh and blood, piled together into a mountain of meat.
Putting himself in their shoes, Gauss felt that if he were an intelligent monster, he would likely have already listed himself as a primary target for elimination.
A hero to his own people, a sworn enemy to the foe.
The more he was beloved within human factions, the more detestable he appeared from the monsters' perspective.
Just like when he normally encountered goblins head-on, the way they looked at him was already no different from seeing a demon god.