novelraw Chapter 237: Lin Mo's Psychological Trauma
Chapter 237: Lin Mo's Psychological Trauma
Night fell, and under the dim firelight, adventurers were still chatting around the campfire.
The people in the caravan had also gathered together at this time, eating while talking freely.
Beside several carriages in the center of the caravan, Glenn carefully observed his surroundings until confirming no one was around before handing the package in his hand to the carriage in front of him.
A hand immediately reached out from inside the carriage and took the package.
"How are things?"
"It should be fine... As you instructed, I chose adventurers close to but not quite at Elite Level. However, that young man who suddenly came with them..."
"No matter."
A calm voice came from inside the carriage: "His strength is indeed good, but currently, he hasn't reached the level of being troublesome."
"That's good."
Glenn breathed a sigh of relief: "I still hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow. As long as no accidents occur, everything can proceed naturally.""Based on the timing, the other side should have succeeded already... After arriving at the Royal Capital under cover of night, immediately take the Young Master to the guard unit and escort him into the Duke's residence."
"Understood!"
"Alright, go bring the Young Master his meal."
As the person finished speaking, he suddenly frowned: "Wait!"
"What's wrong?"
Glenn asked puzzledly.
"Are you sure those adventurers are all at their own camp?"
"Certain. I specifically arranged for someone to keep watch. If anyone is missing from there, a signal will be sent immediately."
Inside the carriage, a thin man frowned deeply. Could it be his misconception?
"Go confirm it yourself later. Ensure nothing goes wrong!"
"Yes!"
Interesting...
Lin Mo, who had used [Vanish] to enter a stealth state and swapped positions with his shadow split, canceled the skill and returned to the camp.
Inside the carriage at the center of this merchant caravan wasn't some precious treasure, but people!
And it seemed there was more than one person.
Besides the guy who just spoke, there should also be a so-called "Young Master."
Based on the information just obtained, it was still difficult to fully analyze the caravan's true purpose.
But from their criteria for selecting adventurers, some things could be inferred.
The so-called "Young Master" and what they were currently doing were most likely something shady.
This was easy to guess. Why did they specifically choose adventurers whose strength was close to Elite Level but not quite there to escort them?
The answer was simple: because such adventurers had sufficient strength to handle most unexpected situations, yet wouldn't exceed their control.
From this, it could be judged that the mysterious person in the carriage was probably at the initial stage of Elite Level strength.
If everything went smoothly and the caravan successfully reached the Royal Capital, then naturally everyone would be happy, everything would proceed normally, the adventurers would complete their mission, and they would achieve their desired goal.
But if some accident occurred along the way, such as encountering powerful monsters, leading to the exposure of the fact that the most important carriages contained not valuable goods but people, then they would have to eliminate those who witnessed the truth to prevent the matter from being exposed.
However, what exactly did the "other side" that the mysterious person mentioned had already succeeded refer to?
Which Duke did the Duke's residence refer to?
The Morin Family associated with the Jade Merchant Group, or one of the Kingdom's other Dukes?
Lin Mo shook his head helplessly. The information he currently possessed was still too little to know the full picture, and he wasn't really concerned about the truth behind it anyway.
After all, this matter had little to do with him. As long as everything went smoothly and they reached the Royal Capital, he couldn't be bothered with these nobles' schemes and intrigues.
After a short while, Glenn indeed came over to their side again, greeting them with a full smile.
Lin Mo responded politely: "Is there something?"
"No, no, I just wanted to tell everyone that you can rest well tonight. Leave the night watch to us. We'll be entering the Blackwater Swamp early tomorrow morning, and we'll be relying on everyone to deal with the monsters inside then."
"Of course, of course."
Luke nearby immediately patted his chest: "Just leave it to us."
Glenn nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone once more. After confirming no one was missing, he bid farewell and turned to leave.
He found the person he had arranged to keep watch.
"Master Glenn!"
"Are you sure these adventurers didn't leave just now?"
"No."
The man shook his head: "They were all here. Except for that young man named Lin Mo who went to the carriage to get something, no one went anywhere else. And he came back quickly;
the whole process took less than ten seconds..."
Went to the carriage to get something?
Glenn shook his head. This couldn't possibly be a problem.
It seemed the gentleman was indeed overthinking.
The night gradually deepened. Because they needed to get up early to travel tomorrow morning, except for the night watch personnel, everyone quickly fell asleep.
The camp quieted down, but Lin Mo's group didn't all sleep as Glenn suggested. Instead, they still arranged personnel for night watch - not guarding against the unlikely monster attacks, but against those people from the caravan.
But this meant they didn't need to go outside;
just having one person awake in the carriage was enough.
Sherfilia was the first person on night watch.
Her gaze swept over the carpet where bed sheets were spread, under which eight people now slept side by side.
Naturally, Lin Mo was in the middle, with Finnie on his right and Ellie on his left.
Miss Finnie, as always, cast aside her reserve after falling asleep. She started sleeping properly when she first fell asleep, but as she slept, she ended up snuggling into his arms.
Ellie on the other side was even less reserved, immediately putting her leg over Lin Mo.
The timing was about right. After this incident concludes, it's time for the Young Mistress and him to make some substantial progress.
After all...
This isn't just about emotional warmth;
it can also enhance strength.
Although she didn't know how this absurd ability came about, Sherfilia, having enjoyed its benefits for some time, knew well how significant the improvements Lin Mo brought were.
Although her level remained the same as before and her Agility attribute hadn't increased, both her Strength and Constitution had gained considerable growth.
Compared to before, her current combat power had improved by more than just a little.
Moreover, it solved the biggest problem of the Assassin profession having low error tolerance.
Now with significantly enhanced Constitution and Strength, even if she made a mistake and got counterattacked, she wouldn't immediately lose combat effectiveness. If this continues to improve, gaining Warrior-level Strength and Constitution comparable to a Knight...
In short, although Miss Finnie's natural talent was already very high, without this cheat-like enhancement, she would definitely gradually fall behind.
For example now, that Half-Orc with not particularly strong talent was already ahead in level.
Under these circumstances, she can't afford to be reserved anymore...
The night passed peacefully.
No accidents occurred - no monsters attacked, and the caravan people didn't try anything.
The next day, everyone got up before dawn.
Under the dim night sky, everyone began packing and organizing by the light of torches, while simply cooking breakfast.
Lin Mo simply made a few small "hamburgers." When time was relatively rushed, this had basically become the standard food for their Silver Radiance Team.
One hamburger each to briefly fill their stomachs, and the caravan side had also finished packing.
Lin Mo's side was more convenient because they had spent the night directly in the carriage, so they only needed to restore the carriage's original layout.
With Sherfilia, a professional maid, it only took two or three minutes to handle.
When the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon, the caravan set off again.
They were only a few kilometers away from entering the Blackwater Swamp, and having just woken up, Lin Mo didn't feel like resting in the carriage either, so he directly sat at the front of the carriage.
The autumn morning wind was slightly desolate, and the coolness in the air was refreshing.
Lin Mo watched the road ahead, while keeping an eye on the caravan with his peripheral vision.
In a way, his thoughts actually aligned somewhat with the caravan people's - the best scenario was to smoothly pass through the Blackwater Swamp, directly complete the mission, and avoid unnecessary troubles.
"We're almost there."
On the adjacent carriage, Dirk also came outside the compartment, sitting cross-legged at the front.
"Has Mr. Dirk been to the Blackwater Swamp before?"
"Of course."
Dirk nodded. As an adventurer who had been active within the Fargard City area since debut, he had naturally been to a place with many missions like the Blackwater Swamp more than once.
Lin Mo held a book in his hand, with the words "Blackwater Swamp Monster Encyclopedia Detailed Explanation" written on the cover.
As adventurers, preliminary understanding of adventure areas was naturally essential.
Therefore, there was a question that had been bothering Lin Mo.
"The most common monster in the Blackwater Swamp is really..."
Dirk immediately understood what he meant, nodded, with a somewhat strange expression: "Indeed it is."
Lin Mo rubbed his forehead and let out a long sigh.
To be honest, he really felt like just using magic to plow through the whole way.
But he couldn't...
On one hand, knowing the caravan had ulterior motives, he couldn't reveal all his strength and methods.
On the other hand, improving the proficiency of Warrior profession skills was crucial;
otherwise, the Mage profession would also be affected and stuck in progress.
He could only brace himself and fight.
Formally entering the Blackwater Swamp, the ground beneath their feet immediately became damp. Even sitting in the carriage, they could clearly feel the change in the road surface.
The air also carried a heavy moisture, everywhere was the smell of having just rained, with soil soaked through by rainwater.
"They've appeared!"
Amid Lin Mo's anxious waiting, shortly after entering the Blackwater Swamp, exclamations came from the caravan personnel ahead.
Lin Mo followed the sound and saw a black "mud lump" wriggling on the muddy ground, approaching the carriages.
Black Mud Monster, also called Ooze Monster, was the most common monster in the Blackwater Swamp.
Back when he was still in Roland Town during his novice period, considering safety and rewards, Lin Mo had taken on a mission to subdue Slimes.
That mission left an extremely deep impression on him.
Since then, he had developed a psychological shadow towards Slimes, these soft-bodied creatures composed of viscous bodily fluids.
And now, the Black Mud Monster appearing before him was practically a Slime plus version - as viscous as Slimes, wriggling the same way, but even more disgusting than Slimes, with a foul stench all over its body.
Lin Mo immediately abandoned the idea of practicing close-combat Warrior skills. There was no way he would fight this kind of monster with fists or a sword.
The next moment, he aligned his index and middle fingers, aimed at the Black Mud Monster, and quickly circulated Qi and Blood within his body.
[Meteor Thrust]!
The next moment, energy composed of Qi and Blood shot out, instantly piercing through the Black Mud Monster. Viscous black mud splattered several meters away.
It wasn't hard to imagine how much black mud would splatter on someone if they dealt with this kind of monster at close range.
Ellie, who had been eager to try just moments before, immediately froze.
Imagining herself covered in black mud, especially her tail, she immediately shuddered and retreated back into the carriage compartment.
If her tail became smelly, Lin Mo definitely wouldn't like it.
Even if washed clean, once a bad impression was formed in his heart, it could never be undone.
Seeing Lin Mo's troubled expression, Dirk beside him laughed heartily: "This kind of monster is like that. Not very strong in strength, but disgusting enough."
Finally seeing Lin Mo share similarities with his younger self as a novice made Dirk feel somewhat relieved. When looking at Lin Mo now, he no longer felt that indescribable sense of distance.
Although his talent was monstrously strong, he still had various emotions and psychological weaknesses.
This made him more human. If he were truly perfect and flawless, he would be no different from a cold machine.
Ordinary Black Mud Monsters, like Slimes and Goblins, were the lowest-tier monsters. For an Exceptional-Grade skill like [Meteor Thrust], killing one didn't even earn a single point of proficiency.
It was somewhat like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
But there was no other way - this was still better than being splattered with mud all over.
Moreover, compared to the two skills [Blood Qi Blade] and [Accumulated Sword Combo], [Meteor Thrust]'s consumption wasn't actually very high. Plus, with Lin Mo's balanced development in Strength, Agility, and Constitution attributes, his total Qi and Blood was quite ample - he could afford the consumption.
"Another one's coming!"
Lin Mo immediately "pointed" at it, piercing through the Black Mud Monster.
As they advanced deeper into the Blackwater Swamp, they encountered more and more Black Mud Monsters, and their strength increased as well.
At first, they were the weakest, most ordinary monsters about the size of Slimes. Later, Elite monsters around level 0.5 gradually appeared, followed by level 1 monsters with massive builds, as if more than ten Black Mud Monsters had merged together.
These large Black Mud Monsters were one to two meters tall. Their huge size made their wriggling movements clearer and more obvious. When killed, the black mud they splattered could spray over ten meters away...
But Lin Mo actually preferred more of these larger ones because their size made them detectable earlier, allowing for immediate kills, and the gains were relatively more substantial.
After killing many, seeing that black mud explosion scene multiple times, while not exactly getting used to it, wasn't as uncomfortable as initially.
As he kept killing, it even began to feel somewhat cathartic and satisfying.
The peripheral areas of the Blackwater Swamp were mostly filled with this type of monster.
Later on, when encountering those small Black Mud Monsters, Lin Mo simply used ordinary slashes to release Sword Energy, or directly used simple magic like Fireball to resolve them.
When encountering level 1 or above ones, he used [Meteor Thrust] to gain proficiency.
Along the way, the progress of the [Meteor Thrust] skill rapidly increased, soon completing an upgrade.
"Skill [Meteor Thrust] Lv4 (100/100) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Meteor Thrust] Lv5 (6/180)"
Exceptional-Grade skills reached their maximum at level 7, so there were still 2 more levels to go - a long road ahead.
But the rewards brought by upgrading such high-level skills were also greater.
Reaching max level would grant a wave of attributes, and learning the evolved new skill would provide another wave of attributes. Combined, that would directly be 10 points of Strength, equivalent to maxing out several ordinary or excellent-grade skills.
Of course, besides Lin Mo, the other adventurers, including the caravan personnel, also took action.
The personnel responsible for transporting goods in the caravan weren't particularly strong - after all, they were just employees of the Jade Merchant Group. But they could still handle the most ordinary Black Mud Monsters.
Just like a relatively brave adult with weapons could successfully kill Goblins.
As for Dirk's team, everyone were seasoned veterans who had been doing missions for years. They had experience dealing with these disgusting Black Mud Monsters and could complete kills with minimal cost (meaning getting splattered).
At times like these, the most comfortable profession was undoubtedly ranged ones like Rangers.
Hahn drew his bow and arrow, easily shooting through a Black Mud Monster.
The powerful energy on the arrow caused the Black Mud Monster to instantly explode, splattering Luke beside him all over.
"Hahn, you bastard!"
Luke's furious voice immediately rang out. Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere became quite relaxed for a moment.
After the battle concluded, Lin Mo used Cleansing Flow to clean the black mud off them.
Luke looked at his armor, now clean again, and immediately beamed with joy: "As expected, we need Mages! This is so convenient!"
[Cleansing Flow] proficiency +1
Lin Mo glanced at Cleansing Flow's proficiency. Fortunately, this functional skill wasn't used very frequently, and proficiency growth was relatively slow. It would still be a while before the next upgrade.
And even if it upgraded, it wasn't a big deal. Cleansing Flow was currently level 4, and the next upgrade would be level 5. As a green excellent-grade skill, it would only grant additional attributes again after reaching level 6 max.
Continuing deeper into the Blackwater Swamp, the caravan's speed didn't slow down due to encountering monsters, proceeding quickly along the way.
Soon, Lin Mo encountered another type of monster in this swamp area.
It was a giant frog standing over two meters tall, its skin covered with pustules and rotting marks, its tongue an eerie dark green.
"Careful, it's a Festering Giant Frog!"
Dirk nearby reminded with a serious expression: "The mucus on this thing's skin and tongue is poisonous."
Moreover, compared to the previous Black Mud Monsters, the Festering Giant Frog's level was much higher.
The one before them had reached level 3.
The Festering Giant Frog spotted "prey" and immediately shot out its several-meter-long tongue towards them.
Lin Mo, quick-eyed and swift-handed, immediately used [Meteor Thrust].
The powerful energy instantly left a bloody hole in the giant frog's body. The disgusting tongue subsequently lost strength and fell to the ground.
[Meteor Thrust] proficiency +20
Although it was still an easy instant kill, the opponents they encountered had clearly become stronger. The adventurers grew more serious, and the atmosphere was no longer as relaxed as before.
Gradually reaching the middle section of the Blackwater Swamp, the monsters they encountered now were generally levels 3-5, and Lord Level monsters had even begun to appear.
Like right now, the large yellowish monster before their eyes...
A Slime...
Yes, this swamp area not only had monsters similar to Slimes like Black Mud Monsters, but actual Slimes also appeared.
The Slime before them was nearly ten meters tall, looking like a small mountain blocking their path.
This was also what made Route 11 more troublesome compared to the other two routes.
The other two routes had more travelers, meaning monsters along the road were frequently cleared. Route 11 was rarely chosen, making maintenance difficult. Therefore, they might encounter monsters nesting along the path or large monsters blocking the way.
Dirk drew his sword, preparing to act.
This thing's strength was probably around levels 6-7. Luke and Hahn would likely have difficulty dealing with it quickly.
Looking at this giant Marsh Slime before him, Lin Mo also felt a headache.
For Warriors lacking large-area skills, dealing with Slime-type creatures generally required destroying or retrieving their core.
It seemed he had no choice but to use magic.
In this situation, the most useful was undoubtedly ice element magic.
In his palm, Ice elements quickly gathered, flying forward and transforming into falling snow.
[Blizzard]!
He didn't use the higher-tier [Frost Storm] - on one hand to preserve some strength, on the other hand it wasn't necessary.
Blizzard was already sufficient.
The blizzard carrying freezing temperatures froze the Marsh Slime before them in an extremely short time.
Dirk immediately arrived, quickly found the Slime's core.
With the Slime frozen, the core could no longer shift positions. Dirk directly attacked, releasing a massive Sword Energy that instantly cut the small mountain-like Slime in half.
A warrior approaching elite level was still quite strong.
Just a pity, wasted proficiency...
Lin Mo didn't choose to follow up with another skill because his Mana attribute was too high. When the Marsh Slime was frozen, it was actually already dead.
He had tested this before - stealing others' kills was possible, but he couldn't steal his own kills.
Meaning he couldn't use another skill to steal proficiency from a skill that had already secured a kill or inflicted fatal damage.
And the [Blizzard] skill was already max level, so he could only helplessly waste it.
If skills could continue improving after reaching max level, that would be great...
That way, he wouldn't have to worry about the awkward situation of rarely using max-level skills.
Unfortunately, at least currently, there was no such mechanism. It was unknown whether things would be different in the future.
Time reached noon. Because the caravan never reduced speed and kept traveling, they had already covered nearly half the distance through the Blackwater Swamp.
But the afternoon journey would undoubtedly be more arduous, with encounters of even stronger monsters.
In another three to four hours, they would reach the most critical and dangerous area of this mission.