Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 217: Slaying the Commander, 150 Proficiency Points!

The Silver-level Goblin before him was likely the apparent supreme commander of the goblin army.

Previously, Chairman Vic from the Silverstream City Adventurers' Association had briefly clashed with it twice. Judging from the combat process and outcome, despite Chairman Vic's nearly level 12 strength, he could only barely hold it off against this opponent. This meant this creature was most likely a level 12 monster.

A few days ago, on the Silverstream City battlefield, Lin Mo was completely incapable of confronting such an opponent.

But now, he had become a level 10 Mage. Although he hadn't yet reached the threshold for the Elite Level, his Mana was already not far behind that of an elite mage.

Coupled with the boosts from Elemental Affinity and equipment like the mithril gloves, he was fully capable of competing with this opponent, even potentially killing it.

[Blood Qi Blade]

Through the counter-trap he set using the opponent's sneak attack moments earlier, Lin Mo had already Flashed behind this Silver Goblin, catching it completely off guard. At such a moment, naturally, he would use the fastest-casting, relatively high-power skill for a surprise attack.

The Blood Qi Blade skill was quite powerful, clean and decisive, perfectly suited for this situation.

Moreover, this move's power was not low. Although Lin Mo's Warrior level was currently only level 6, due to the stacking effect of boosts from multiple professions, his Strength attribute had reached 98 points. Not to mention, he was also holding an Epic-tier weapon—the Frost Dragon Scale Sword.

Blood Qi Blade was unquestionably a Sword Energy type skill.So when Lin Mo released this move, it was equivalent to temporarily reaching 143 points in Strength, almost on par with his Mana attribute.

Furthermore, the Frost Dragon Scale Sword could also increase Lin Mo's Qi and Blood intensity by 35% during combat, further boosting the skill's power!

This was the charm of Epic-tier weapons, especially in these low-tier battles ranging from Veteran to Elite Level—they were simply unreasonable overpowered weapons.

The Silver Goblin before him seemed to realize something. It quickly raised the simple mithril staff in its hand, and a crimson barrier enveloped it.

The next moment, the blood-colored Sword Energy struck the flame barrier. Almost instantly, cracks appeared all over the flame barrier.

But an elite mage was still an elite mage. After Blood Qi Blade completely shattered its flame barrier, it also dissipated.

The Silver Goblin let out a strange cry, hastily retreating while numerous surrounding goblins swarmed in to attack Lin Mo.

As expected, it wasn't that simple...

Lin Mo narrowed his eyes slightly, completely disregarding the surrounding goblins. His eyes were fixed only on that goblin leader.

[Flash]

Using the Flash skill once again, he quickly closed the distance before the opponent could get far. Simultaneously, blue light flickered in Lin Mo's hand.

[Falling Thunder]!

This was the Exceptional-Grade magic skill Lin Mo had recently learned, also a single-target type magic skill.

Compared to area-of-effect type magic, single-target magic skills generally cast faster. While their total power might be lower, their single-target burst damage was exceptionally outstanding.

It hurriedly raised its hand, casting another flame barrier on itself, only then letting out a slight sigh of relief.

Just as it was preparing to gather magic for a counterattack, Lin Mo had already used Flash again to appear at its side.

[Phantom Sword Dance]!

Brilliant Sword Energy strikes were unleashed consecutively, landing on the flame barrier at extremely high speed.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes...

By the time the Silver Goblin finished gathering its magic, the Sword Energy had already completely shattered the flame barrier, mercilessly striking the opponent's body.

The Mage profession was undoubtedly powerful, but it also had its awkward aspects.

If a powerful close-combat profession truly got close, a mage's physical durability was quite vulnerable.

Of course, ordinary close-combat professions were far from as overpowered as Lin Mo.

Because releasing one powerful skill required mobilizing and using considerable Qi and Blood and stamina. After using it, it was basically impossible to immediately launch another attack of equal strength;

there would be a brief stiffness period—essentially the awkward moment when old strength had just departed and new strength hadn't yet been born. This brief interval was enough for the opponent to create distance or recast the flame barrier.

But Lin Mo was completely unreasonable. After using sword skills, he used magic;

after using magic, he used sword skills again. The two alternated with almost no interval. Plus, with bug-level gap-closing skills like Flash, even though this Silver Goblin's strength wasn't weak, it was completely suppressed by Lin Mo for the moment, without any chance to fight back.

Of course, another reason was that the opponent's current strength was somewhat weakened.

This was also an effect of the Frost Dragon Scale Sword. When facing enemies below Epic-tier, the Frost Dragon Scale Sword could reduce the opponent's attributes by 10% through the residual dragon might within the dragon scales.

So when facing Lin Mo, its speed slowed, reaction time decreased, and its Mana was also affected by the dragon might, only able to exert 90% of its power. This further caused the flame barrier's effectiveness to decrease.

All these factors stacked together made this elite mage seem like a helpless chick, easily handled by Lin Mo.

But even so, Phantom Sword Dance's power was no joke. The first few Sword Energy strikes only left not-so-deep wounds on its body, but the final decisive Sword Energy strike, after accumulating power through all the previous strikes, had become terrifyingly powerful. The brilliant Sword Energy swept across the opponent's waist and abdomen, directly cutting it in half!

Just as he expected, being unable to dodge or cast a flame barrier in time actually made this Silver Goblin resolve to fight desperately, gathering powerful magic.

Suddenly, the surrounding ground cracked, and fiery magma erupted from underground.

Lin Mo's Flash couldn't completely create distance;

the ground fissures continued to spread, and the magma quickly chased after him.

So fast! Might not have time to dodge...

Fortunately, he still had a backup plan.

Lin Mo focused his will, and the next moment, his figure was swapped to another location on the battlefield, while what remained in the original spot was the clone created by the [Shadow Split] skill.

Since obtaining the [Shadow Split] skill, when facing relatively difficult battles, Lin Mo had developed the habit of maintaining a clone in a safe position at all times whenever possible for easy retreat.

Now it indeed came in handy.

Comparing this Silver-level Goblin to Flora, both being elite mages, there was indeed quite a gap.

Not that it wasn't strong—in fact, this magic was even more fierce than Lin Mo's [Frost Storm]. It was just that Flora was too powerful. Compared to the small-scale "nuclear explosion" she had previously displayed, this terrifying scene of magma eruption seemed rather pale in comparison.

Lin Mo shook his head: "Encountered the commander of this goblin batch, but it's fine, should be resolved already."

Flora followed his gaze and saw the lower half of a Silver Goblin's body.

As for the other half... it was already lying on the ground now.

Flora gave him a deep look. Although she didn't know the specific details, judging from the power of that magic just now, this Silver Goblin's strength had definitely reached the Middle-tier Lord level, equivalent to an Elite Level Professional.

And it was probably even stronger than ordinary Elite Level Professionals.

But even a monster of such strength was eliminated by Lin Mo in such a short time.

He didn't even get injured after the battle ended, at most just slightly dirty clothes.

This guy, not only does he level up so quickly, but his strength also far exceeds ordinary Professionals... Well, he is a monster with multiple professions simultaneously, so having more methods is normal.

While Flora was marveling, Lin Mo opened his status panel to check the rewards from killing this Silver Goblin.

[Phantom Sword Dance] Proficiency +100 (+50)

Holy crap!

Lin Mo almost shouted out loud.

This much?!

Just the base kill proficiency gave a full 100 points, plus an extra 50% for killing something two levels higher, which was 50 points proficiency. This also confirmed that the Silver Goblin's level wasn't just level 11, having just reached Middle-tier Lord level, but level 12. That's why Chairman Vic was clearly at a disadvantage when facing it before, only barely able to hold it off.

Such a massive proficiency increase immediately leveled up both of Lin Mo's skills.

"Skill [Flash] Lv4 (100/100) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Flash] Lv5 (90/180)"

After leveling up, it added another 90 points proficiency, making Flash reach level 5 with half the progress already filled.

Phantom Sword Dance even leveled up twice in a row, directly jumping from level 2 to level 4.

"Skill [Phantom Sword Dance] Lv2 (40/40) leveled up!"

"Skill [Phantom Sword Dance] Lv3 (80/80) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Phantom Sword Dance] Lv4 (45/200)"

"Gained attribute points: Strength +3, Agility +2"

As an Epic-tier skill, Phantom Sword Dance granted attribute points after reaching level 3—3 points in Strength plus 2 points in Agility... At this moment, Lin Mo actually wished this skill was purely Strength-based, since his current primary goal was to increase his Warrior profession level.

After reaching level 3, Phantom Sword Dance also unlocked the second opportunity to choose an evolution route.

Please select evolution direction—

Evolution Route 1: Sword Dance III: Maximum Sword Energy count changed to 8 + Agility/12

Evolution Route 2: Target Lock I: Number of "Guaranteed Hit" Sword Energy adjusted to the final 3

This time, Evolution Route 1's Sword Dance effect changed from the original increase of 6 + Agility/14 maximum Sword Energy to 8 + Agility/12, which was a decent improvement.

With Lin Mo's current Agility attribute of 124 points, this meant going from 6+8 to 8+10, instantly gaining 4 additional Sword Energy strikes!

And each additional Sword Energy strike could increase the damage of the final Guaranteed Hit Sword Energy, so the actual improvement was greater than what was described on paper.

As for Evolution Route 2's effect of increasing Guaranteed Hit Sword Energy, this effect would be more useful against relatively agile enemies, improving this skill's minimum effectiveness when facing such opponents.

But based on Lin Mo's current experience using this skill, most of the time he used it against Warriors, Knights, or Mage-type Professionals. If the opponent was truly an Assassin or Ranger, he wouldn't use this relatively cumbersome skill anyway—he'd simply switch to [Blood Qi Blade] or skills from other professions... like Assassin or Mage skills.

Therefore, Lin Mo chose Evolution Route 1, continuing to strengthen this skill's power.

After making his choice, Lin Mo finally raised his head to look at the battlefield before him.

Based on previous experience fighting the goblin army, after the goblin side lost their supreme commander, they would often clearly begin to fall into chaos. According to this logic, then they had already won half of this battle.

Lin Mo observed for a while and soon frowned.

These goblins before him didn't really seem like a group without a leader.

He immediately recalled the information he had obtained earlier: the birth of the "Golden Egg" required at least a Quasi-Gold-level Goblin.

According to general reasoning, if a Quasi-Gold-level Goblin existed, then there would usually be more than just three Silver Goblins in the goblin tribe. However, considering that these goblins in Roland Forest were originally "cultivated" through various means by the Lawrence Family, and there might still be hidden Silver Goblins that hadn't appeared, this relatively special situation was completely understandable.

If the Quasi-Gold-level Goblin was truly here as well, then the situation would be quite tricky...

The lowest-level Silver Goblins were only level 6, while the highest were only level 14. The starting point for Gold-level Goblins was level 16.

A Quasi-Gold-level Goblin meant its level was level 15.

This level was definitely beyond what Lin Mo could handle. Even Flora might not necessarily be able to steadily win against such an opponent.

But the good news was, judging from the fact that it hadn't shown its face so far, not even leaving traces of its appearance, that guy was extremely cautious and might not necessarily choose to personally intervene and fight them to the death.

For safety's sake, Lin Mo directly chose to retreat, no longer staying deep within the goblin army's territory, but returning to near the front lines.

After all, his remaining Mana wasn't much, and he couldn't easily use large-area magic anymore. He might as well stay in a relatively safe place and practice Warrior profession skills in a steady manner...

[Jumping Slash]!

[Whip Kick]!

Thus, Lin Mo very happily began grinding proficiency again.

The proficiency for several Warrior profession skills rose steadily, while simultaneously, the battle situation seemed to be progressing in a somewhat eerie direction...

Lin Mo couldn't pinpoint exactly what was strange, but he felt the offensive wasn't as intense, almost as if they were going through the motions?

Most maintained a position that was neither close nor far—neither retreating nor advancing.

It seemed more and more like they were putting on a show.

But, for what purpose?

Lin Mo frowned deeply, unable to figure it out for the moment.

Meanwhile, on the walls of Lania City, Viscountess Caroline Lawrence watched the gradually easing battle situation, her expression softening considerably.

It seemed the main city could likely be defended.

"Excellent, this way Madam won't need to worry about bearing the blame for the main city being breached by goblins..."

Lady Caroline was momentarily stunned, then quickly turned her head, her face becoming angry: "You bastard, how dare you come back!"

Cress bowed very elegantly: "For an elegant lady like yourself, showing a wrinkled face isn't very becoming."

Caroline gritted her teeth tightly, ultimately not daring to make a move.

On one hand, she wasn't skilled in combat and was no match for this Necromancer. On the other hand, if she was discovered conversing with a Necromancer, or if this guy deliberately revealed certain things, the consequences would be several times more severe than the main city being breached.

So she could only question with a dark face: "So what are you, a traitor who abandoned our cooperation, doing back here?"

Cress smiled: "No, no, no... I've always been someone who honors cooperation. It's just that sometimes, I follow cooperation not with you."

"No need for evasive words, be direct, Cress!"

Cress sighed helplessly, then said: "The reason I came, of course, is to 'save' you."

"Save me?"

Caroline sneered: "With just you?"

Cress's expression remained unchanged: "If not me, then could it be Duke Side who has already abandoned you?"

Hearing this, Caroline's expression drastically changed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just the literal meaning..."

Cress spread his hands: "I came here with good intentions to remind you. The Oxivis Family has exerted pressure, and Duke Side was forced to abandon the Lawrence Family. The capital has already passed judgment on the Lawrence Family. These people who came to help you now will immediately become your executioners once this war ends."

Caroline's face turned pale then flushed repeatedly.

"How can I believe what you're saying?"

"Whether to believe or not is, of course, entirely up to you, Madam. I'm merely conveying this information out of consideration for our previous cooperation."

As Cress spoke, he turned around preparing to leave.

"Wait!"

Cress quickly called out to him: "Fine, I believe you."

She wasn't exactly stupid. After all, to climb to this position, besides sacrificing certain things, some experience and ability were also required.

After Cress pointed things out, Caroline quickly thought of the deeper level game.

These all seemed to point toward a consensus reached in some game.

And she and the Lawrence Family were the sacrificial pieces in this game.

"Mr. Cress."

Her tone immediately became polite: "Apologies for my rudeness earlier. Thank you for the reminder. Additionally, if possible... I wonder if you could take us away?"

Cress turned around, smiling slightly.

"Of course, respected Lady Caroline. I can take you and your daughter away at any time."

"You?"

Before Cress or Caroline could speak, his nominal fiancée Yunis said with full of disgust: "Do you really think you still deserve to accompany the Lawrence Family? Trash, stay here and await judgment!"

"You..."

Baron Rahl clenched his fists tightly. All along... all along he had endured humiliation and burden, even turning a blind eye to the constant cuckolding he endured, all for his own future, to climb up by attaching himself to the Lawrence Family!

He wasn't willing!

Baron Rahl took a deep breath, preparing to shout out loud, but saw Cress snap his fingers. A faint black mist enveloped his throat, and no matter how hard Baron Rahl tried to shout, he couldn't make a sound.

"Goodbye, trash!"

Yunis, as if shaking off some burden, kicked him again, then turned and left with light steps.

Baron Rahl picked up his staff, sending a Fireball toward the three people ahead.

But it was quickly blocked by a black barrier, unable to create even a ripple.

"Daring to attack?!"

Yunis was about to turn back and teach him another lesson, but Cress grabbed her wrist: "Miss Yunis, now is not the time for you to indulge your temper."

"O-okay..."

The previously arrogant and domineering Yunis immediately softened, stammering in response, obediently following behind him, not daring to make another sound.