I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 405: The Uses of Psychic Force

Apart from the two people who came to greet them, there was no one else. Gauss and his party returned very discreetly.After returning to the base, he dismissed the Red Dragon Guild members who were already itching to get home, telling them to go their separate ways.

They had been away on this "business trip" for over a month. Furthermore, this "business trip" itself carried a certain degree of danger, which led to people subconsciously developing psychological pressure. Now that they were back in their "home," they naturally couldn't wait to reunite with their families.

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"If you can't find a place, you can stay at our base for a few days."

Gauss looked at Levin and the others from the Night Owl Squad and said.

Although the Night Owl Squad's fixed activity area was Grayrock Town, and this was their first time coming to the big city of Falim, they had still followed Gauss's team here.

After all, adventurers weren't ordinary professionals; they didn't need to be rooted in one fixed location.

"Thank you then, Gauss."

After arranging for someone to settle the Night Owl Squad members' lodging, Gauss left the Red Dragon Guild base.

As for bringing the Night Owl Squad into the Red Dragon Guild, he didn't have that thought for now, and Levin hadn't brought it up either.

Of course, this wasn't because Gauss lacked the authority. Due to the subtle influence of the [Proof of Leadership] professional feat, his say within the Red Dragon Guild was very significant, almost no different from having the final word.

It wasn't just about arranging a few Level 1 professionals; even if he added dozens of freeloaders, no one would raise an objection.

It was just that the Red Dragon Guild was currently gradually getting on the right track.

Unless someone was like Luna, who "brought resources into the group" and was personally powerful, anyone wanting to join the Red Dragon Guild needed to go through a process. Applicants would be evaluated on multiple dimensions like strength, age, potential, and family background. Only suitable candidates would be approved to join.

Gauss took a few people and hurriedly made his way to the Fang of the Pale Wolf's base.

After getting off the carriage, he arrived at an adventuring guild base somewhat similar to the Red Dragon Guild's. Quite a few people were already waiting for him at the main entrance.

He surveyed the grounds. The place had most likely been cleaned in advance, as the environment appeared very tidy.

"Welcome, Guild Leader!"

"..."

Although the vast majority of the former Fang of the Pale Wolf staff on the premises had never met Gauss before, they switched their address very quickly, immediately using the title "Guild Leader."

Compared to field personnel, these logistics staff who stayed behind at the base accepted the change of leadership more readily. Working for one boss or another was all the same; it was just a matter of switching employers.

Gauss waved his hand.

Led by Luna, Gauss quickly toured the entire premises.

The area here was considerably larger than the Red Dragon Guild base. Although in the eyes of truly established, veteran adventuring guilds, the Fang of the Pale Wolf was actually just an up-and-comer, it had, after all, been operating for over a decade. Compared to the Red Dragon Guild, the Fang of the Pale Wolf was undeniably senior.

Now, the grounds before him were about to become assets of the Red Dragon Guild.

However, before that could happen, quite a few procedures still needed to be followed.

Fortunately, Gauss had used Memory Stones back then to preserve plenty of evidence. Combined with Luna and the others filling in the details on the side, the Adventurers Guild personnel who came to register the situation quickly grasped the matter.

"This matter is most likely settled."

Watching the retreating backs of the staff members who had hurried off, Ivan, who had accompanied them, said with a sigh of relief.

Usually, most of the Red Dragon Guild's liaison work with the Adventurers Guild was handled by him, so he was quite familiar with their staff.

Ivan wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he always felt that the staff the Guild sent to handle Red Dragon Guild affairs were all quite easy to talk to.

"Once the approval comes down, Ivan, you and Luna will be responsible for the handover work with the others."

Merging the Fang of the Pale Wolf adventuring guild naturally wasn't a matter of a few words. Of course, he wouldn't follow this process from start to finish; he would leave it to his staff to handle.

After walking around a few more times, he returned to the Red Dragon Guild base.

Upon returning this time, he also needed to digest the gains from this period.

He closed his eyes, sensing the changes in his body.

If one looked solely at the numerical values, the distance between his current physical and mental state and that of a normal human was undoubtedly like heaven and earth.

Especially the Intelligence attribute. He had felt his mental power was exceptionally active during this time.

When he closed his eyes and focused his mind, he could feel that condensed, substantial mental force.

In the beginning, this power was still quite weak. But as Gauss's Intelligence attribute continuously increased, and he consciously and actively trained it himself, this psychic force grew stronger and stronger.

It now possessed a force of several dozen kilograms.

It might sound unimpressive, just an enhanced version of Mage Hand, one consuming mental power, the other consuming mana.

But in reality, these two powers were completely incomparable.

Even when used for the most basic purpose of manipulating objects, this psychic force was countless times more powerful than Mage Hand.

Psychic force was freer. Gauss could control it at will. He could choose to concentrate and erupt it at a single point, or he could choose to split it into dozens of scattered strands of force.

Mage Hand, on the other hand, was more like condensing a hand of mana, and its power was relatively weak. Its mode of operation was closer to the principle of a real arm.

Moreover, the biggest difference between psychic force and Mage Hand lay in their fundamental nature.

Mage Hand was a pre-written "program" that achieved a fixed magical effect by consuming mana. Even if upcast, it was only slightly enhanced on the original foundation.

While stable, it also limited malleability. Gauss couldn't arbitrarily modify it; otherwise, its model might collapse. Even if modification succeeded, it would require not only luck but also immense effort. And that would have nothing to do with the original spell anymore; at best, it would be considered creating a new magic from scratch.

As for psychic force, every strand of that power belonged to him.

Simultaneously, compared to Mage Hand which required mana, the effects of psychic force were more concealed, harder to detect. It wouldn't be affected by other magic like [Dispel Magic] or [Counterspell], nor would its effects be weakened by talents like "Spell Resistance."

Thinking this, the next moment, the previously calm air around Gauss suddenly stirred.

Numerous fine needles he had prepared simultaneously floated up.

Then, as if possessing some collective consciousness, they began rotating around Gauss's body.

"Whoosh!"

The speed of those fine needles was extremely fast, even faintly producing a sound of cutting through the air.

As Gauss concentrated his mind on a specific spot on the wall, suddenly, the needles all shot toward the target direction.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

A series of sounds rang out.

Dozens of barely perceptible tiny holes appeared on the wall behind Gauss.

One must know, the walls of his room were specially reinforced.

Ordinary swords and blades found it difficult to leave destructive marks on them.

If those fine needles had landed on a human body instead of the wall, even a single one could likely easily take the life of a professional.

"Not bad."

Gauss nodded.

The greatest advantage of this kind of attack was its concealment.

"Lord Gauss, the rabbits you requested have been delivered."

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

"Come in."

The speaker was the steward at his base. Behind him, a maid entered carrying two cages with gray rabbits.

"Sir, shall I notify the kitchen to prepare them?"

"No need, just put them down. And please close the door on your way out." Upon hearing Gauss's reply, the steward didn't ask further and soon bowed and withdrew.

Gauss then turned his gaze to the gray rabbits in the cages.

He had asked the steward to buy gray rabbits from the market, not to eat them, but for experiments.

Perhaps because he had experimented on sparrows too much lately, or maybe because those crows were driving them away, he found upon returning that it was already very difficult to find sparrows near the Red Dragon Guild base.

Fortunately, ordinary live animals weren't expensive to buy.

Gray rabbits, with their more tenacious vitality, were actually better experimental subjects than free sparrows.

He saw the invisible yet condensed, substantial mental force detach from his body and slowly envelop the gray rabbit.

As his powerful mental force approached the target, Gauss could clearly feel a cluster of soul-fire within its body. However, compared to humans and other monsters, the soul of this ordinary animal was quite weak.

When Gauss's mental force drew near, the gray rabbit's soul seemed to instinctively begin organizing a force of resistance.

But this resistance, in the face of the vast difference in mental strength, was almost as feeble as non-existent. In the end, Gauss's mental force very easily invaded its body.

Moreover, if Gauss's control over his mental force hadn't reached an extremely high level, the gray rabbit's loosely structured soul might have naturally dissipated before he even got close, instead of shrinking into a corner of the body as it was now.

Even so, that gray rabbit still began trembling violently all over, its body convulsing as if having a seizure.

Gauss paid no attention to its convulsions, only silently experiencing and sensing.

He felt that if he wished, he could erase the gray rabbit's soul at any time and briefly occupy this body, achieving an effect similar to a certain kind of "possession."

Of course, this held little meaning for him.

He could sense that even if he forced his way in, he couldn't occupy this gray rabbit body for long. It was more like using soul-force to manipulate a puppet.

"Interesting."

Gauss erased the gray rabbit's soul, controlled it to stop convulsing, and made it hop around casually in the cage a couple of times.

"Occupying a living creature's body and controlling it is actually less agile and convenient than manipulating the needles earlier."

Life truly was miraculous.

Clearly, from the dimension of his power, an ordinary gray rabbit was almost incapable of offering any resistance. Yet, when elevated to the essence of soul and flesh, this "resistance" was significantly enhanced.

There was a strong rejection reaction between his soul-force and the flesh of other creatures. He could control the gray rabbit only because the gap between them was too vast. But if it were another creature with a stronger soul, this rejection resistance would become much more powerful.

Even the soul of the most fragile life had countless intricate, tight connections with its flesh.

"However, that's fine."

Gauss wasn't disappointed; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Achieving an effect similar to "possession" seemed more difficult than he had imagined.

This was a good thing. At least he didn't need to worry about himself or his close friends and family encountering similar troubles.

He also had no desire to possess another body. Being able to erase another creature's soul or manipulate external objects to kill other creatures was sufficient. The original body was still the best.

Even if his mental power later grew strong enough to achieve possession of other lives, he wouldn't walk down that evil path.

Perhaps it could delay bodily aging, but he had an indistinct feeling that this method of continuation might harbor significant problems.

It was like the Brain Transferer Witch Gauss had encountered earlier in the forest.

Although she relied on surgical head transplantation to transfer her soul, indirectly achieving the effect of changing to a body with similar bloodline and extending her lifespan, when Gauss saw her, her personality and will had clearly shown signs of distortion.

If it were a direct soul replacement, the situation could only be worse.

After some contemplation, Gauss proceeded to test on the other gray rabbits.

Including using the object-manipulation method of psychic force to reverse the flow of the rabbit's blood, displace its organs, or directly destroy the small heart within its body to achieve the goal of killing it.

The test results showed it was feasible.

But, the "object-manipulation" effect was noticeably weakened when entering a living creature's body.

That rejection force still resisted his invasion, increasing the consumption of soul-force.

Therefore, in terms of results, using psychic force to directly damage a biological organism's tissues to attack a target might be less efficient than driving an external object to pierce the target's body.

After using up the gray rabbits, he began testing other functions of his mental power.

The God's-eye view he had named Divine Sense became clearer.

Sitting in his room, he could also sense the every move of people active throughout the entire base through the walls. Whether they were indoors or outdoors, nothing could hide from him.

And the entire process was extremely concealed.

Throughout the entire base, only three people vaguely sensed something.

They were Luna, Aria, and Shadow.

It was the first day back in the city, and everyone was resting.

Luna was discussing the post-merger work of the two bases with Ivan.

Aria was resting in the room next to Gauss's, currently relaxing, lying on her side on the soft bed, reading miscellaneous books while unconsciously scratching an itch.

Shadow was checking her personal equipment and various bottles and jars.

When Gauss's Divine Sense enveloped the entire base, they simultaneously raised their heads in puzzlement. Not noticing anything unusual, they shook their heads and continued with what they were doing before.

After testing the effect, Gauss withdrew his mental power.

He didn't have a voyeuristic fetish. Even though others couldn't detect it, he couldn't be bothered with such petty actions.

He could feel that once his Intelligence attribute broke through to a new stage, these abilities might undergo further enhancement.

In the central district of Falim, within an academy with neat rows of buildings, boys and girls around ten years old could be seen everywhere.

These children either came from wealthy or noble families, or were exceptionally talented, having displayed physical prowess superior to their peers from a young age. Otherwise, they couldn't enter this Falim-affiliated Primary Warrior Preparatory Academy.

At dusk, in a certain dormitory.

Xisero placed her wooden sword in her wardrobe, thinking about when her brother Gauss would return.

Last week, on the academy's day off, she had even asked her parents to take her to her brother's adventuring guild, but unfortunately, he hadn't returned that day.

Not having seen him for over a month, she missed him a bit.

As for the studies at this academy, she didn't find them particularly tiring.

The knowledge and exercises the teachers taught were very basic, reportedly to avoid affecting their physical development. It was just that some classmates were a bit annoying.

Fortunately, her personality wasn't one to endure bullying. While she wouldn't bully the weak, if others provoked her, she wouldn't swallow her anger.

At first, there were small groups that tried to ostracize her. But after she knocked them down one by one in practice class using the swordsmanship taught by her brother and Sister Albenia, no one dared to provoke her to her face anymore.

At most, they said a few nasty things behind her back, saying she was lucky to get into this academy.

After all, in this academy, the way to distinguish a child's family status was simple: children from ordinary families had no surnames.

"Una, hasn't she come back yet?" Xisero glanced at her friend on the opposite bed. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to go to the training ground to look for her.

Una was her roommate and a new friend she had made.

"Xisero, Una was beaten until she bled."

Just as she stepped out of the dormitory door, another child from a commoner family ran over quickly.

Hearing this, Xisero didn't hesitate any longer. She turned back, grabbed her wooden sword from the wardrobe, and followed her, breaking into a jog.

Whether it was her brother, Sister Albenia, or Sister Aria, they had all told her that the sword was for protecting companions.

When she ran to the empty space behind the teaching building and saw her roommate Una being held down underfoot by a girl wearing an exquisitely designed training uniform, along with several others, her anger immediately blazed.

"You, stop right there!"

The few who were still humiliating Una, hearing the voice, turned their heads and saw that famously wild girl of the academy charging over with a wooden sword.

Before they could say anything, the next moment, that solid wooden sword *thwacked* against one person's head.

"You..."

The blow made the girl see stars. She swayed a couple of times before collapsing to the ground.

Xisero had no intention of holding back. Running quickly, she continued swinging her sword, swiftly knocking down several more people.

"You! You dare hit people! This isn't combat class!"

"I'm hitting you exactly because of that!"

Xisero wasted no words, knocking the last person unconscious as well.

The commoner child who had tipped her off hadn't expected her to be so fierce, resorting to violence without a second thought. It wasn't until she noticed the face of one of the people Xisero had knocked down that her complexion instantly turned deathly pale.

"Xisero, someone seems to have seen what happened here."

"We should run too."

"If we get caught, there will be big trouble. That girl seems to be a child from the Xavier family."

She hadn't paid attention before, only seeing Una being cornered by a few kids behind the teaching building, so she went to ask Xisero, who was closest to Una, for help. But only now did she realize the leader was that famously prominent child from the Xavier family in the academy.

"You go back first. I'll take Una to the infirmary." Xisero, however, seemed not to have heard that surname, stubbornly shaking her head as she helped her friend up and walked toward the infirmary.

"You, you!" Looking at the stubborn Xisero, the girl, also from a commoner family, felt her mind go blank.

But after gritting her teeth, she quickly followed.

There were many children from powerful and influential families in this academy, but the Xavier family was different.

That evening, Gauss was having dinner with his adventuring guild teammates when someone leaned close to him and whispered a few words.

After listening, Gauss slightly furrowed his brows, then stood up.

"I have something to attend to. I need to leave for a bit."