novelraw Chapter 240: Proficiency +300
Chapter 240: Proficiency +300
For how to kill this monster, Lin Mo had a very clear idea in mind.
For such a large-sized magical creature, trying to kill it by simply pouring on damage would be quite difficult.
The reasoning was simple;
for example, the same ten-centimeter deep wound would be nothing but a scratch on an elephant, but on small animals like cats or dogs, it would be fatal.
So to take down this Corrupted Swamp Stalker, the only option was to attack its vital points and destroy its core.
That's right, this monster, much like a Slime, had a core area.
The Corrupted Swamp Stalker, formed from the fusion of countless Black Mud Monsters, initially required a relatively powerful individual capable of acting as a connecting hub to serve as the carrier.
This carrier was the higher-tier evolved magical creature of the Black Mud Monster—the Rotten Devourer.
This was a lower Lord Level magical creature, an evolved form of the Black Mud Monster, possessing the ability to continuously devour its own kind to strengthen itself.
They would instinctively engulf any Black Mud Monsters they encountered, and after devouring and fusing with enough of their kin, they could evolve into a Corrupted Swamp Stalker like the one before them.
However, a Corrupted Swamp Stalker that had managed to "eat" itself to this size was quite a rare occurrence.One could only say their luck was really terrible.
"To kill it, we first need to find this monster's core..."
Lin Mo looked at the huge creature before him: "I'll handle finding it. Sufficient damage should make it instinctively transfer its core to the other side. At the same time, I'll locate the core's position, and then we'll act together to destroy this core."
He gave a meaningful glance towards the Black-robed Figure nearby.
Because the previous reconnaissance had yielded much information, he wasn't surprised by the Black-robed Figure's appearance, and could even roughly guess their strength was probably just at the Elite Level.
Their profession was also easy to guess;
considering the need to eliminate witnesses, the Assassin profession was undoubtedly the best choice.
An Elite Level Assassin, with Dirk's assistance, should make destroying the core and killing it quite simple, as long as they could locate the core's position.
They could deal with matters later;
for now, at least, both Lin Mo and the other party shared the goal of killing the magical creature before them and reclaiming the carriages.
"We need to hurry! Any slower and those horses will be completely swallowed!"
Dirk looked upwards;
the horses were already half-submerged, and time was running out.
If the carriage-pulling horses all died, the significance of reclaiming the carriages would be greatly diminished.
"Let's move!"
Lin Mo quickly stepped forward, a chilling cold gathering in his hand as Frost Storm was unleashed once more, a blizzard of snow pouring down.
Although without the Breath of the Frost Dragon enhancement, its power was certainly weaker than before, it was still nothing to scoff at.
Moreover, this was only the beginning.
The next moment, a dazzling fiery light materialized in Lin Mo's hand.
[Extinguishing Flame Lotus Stars]!
A series of huge fireballs formed a straight line, successively crashing into the magical creature's body.
Each collision was accompanied by an explosion.
[Blazing Fire Spear]!
Immediately following, a spear constructed of flames once again struck the monster's body.
"Boom—!"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, a crater over ten meters deep appeared on the Corrupted Swamp Stalker's body.
Not only did he possess both Warrior and Mage professions, but he also mastered magic of multiple elements?
On the other side, the black-robed assassin waiting for an opportunity was simultaneously watching Lin Mo's battle. The more he watched, the more cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Damn Glenn, he didn't properly investigate beforehand—what kind of monster did they recruit!?
And yet such an accident had occurred;
they had no way back now...
Dirk watched Lin Mo's performance, momentarily stunned speechless.
Not enough, still not enough...
Lin Mo looked at the increasingly deep crater on the Corrupted Swamp Stalker before him and frowned.
Such a wound was still far from sufficient to threaten the creature enough to transfer its core.
Then continue!
Electric light flickered in Lin Mo's hand, transforming into a bolt of lightning that suddenly struck the Corrupted Swamp Stalker.
[Thunderfall]!
Following closely was another flame spear.
The Corrupted Swamp Stalker finally halted its forward movement. The next moment, countless black mud projectiles shot towards Lin Mo like bullets.
This proved Lin Mo had inflicted damage threatening enough to its survival, prompting this creature that acted on basic instincts to retaliate.
[Frost Guard]!
The overwhelming black mud was difficult to dodge, so Lin Mo immediately activated this defensive skill. The black mud landed on the crystal-blue shield of Frost Guard, leaving behind ink-like spots.
But with just this kind of scattered attack, breaking Lin Mo's Frost Guard wasn't so easy.
The Corrupted Swamp Stalker clearly realized this too, as the overwhelming black mud assault soon ceased. After a brief silence, a massive blob of black mud was spat out, hurtling towards Lin Mo.
However, simultaneously with starting the fight, Lin Mo had already activated the [Swiftness] skill. Combined with his already considerable speed, dodging this clumsy attack was effortless.
Moreover, he didn't dodge backwards or sideways, but instead charged straight forward, closing the distance to the Corrupted Swamp Stalker.
The next moment, he used the recently acquired Priest profession skill [Strength Increase]. Lin Mo tightly gripped the Frost Dragon Scale Sword in his hand and shouted loudly.
[Phantom Sword Dance]!
Brilliant Sword Energy flew out at extreme speed, again landing on the huge gap he had created.
The Corrupted Swamp Stalker actually had self-repair capabilities, constantly slowly healing the damage Lin Mo inflicted.
But Lin Mo's damage output frequency was simply too high;
the opponent's healing speed was clearly far inferior to the rate at which he dealt damage.
"Whoosh—!"
The whistling sound of Sword Energy cutting through the air continuously rang out, and the wound was expanded deeper and deeper by each wave of Sword Energy.
Finally, an exceptionally massive Sword Energy flew out. Simultaneously, a sharp glint flashed in Lin Mo's eyes as he closely followed, charging forward.
Every preceding Sword Energy that hit would add extra power to this final one. And facing such a large magical creature, Lin Mo didn't even know how his Sword Energy could possibly miss.
The fully-powered final strike, with overwhelming force, continuously penetrated deep into the Corrupted Swamp Stalker's body.
And Lin Mo himself, following right behind, entered the creature's body!
Almost there!
Lin Mo estimated the distance. The moment the Sword Energy was exhausted, a strong light suddenly flashed in his hand.
Abundant Mana continuously surged into his palm, the blinding light actually making the Corrupted Swamp Stalker's pitch-black body appear "transparent."
"Found it!"
Enhanced by [Eagle Eye], Lin Mo precisely locked onto the core's location.
[Meteor Thrust]!
The next moment, a swift thrust carrying powerful energy shot towards the core's direction.
The Corrupted Swamp Stalker sensed this and could only continue transferring its core further to this side.
"Now!"
Simultaneously, the Black-robed Figure, who had already positioned themselves on this side earlier, suddenly exerted force. Their figure shot out like a cannonball, powerful Qi and Blood swirling around their dagger. Like cutting through tofu, they easily sliced through the magical creature's body, plunging deep inside.
"Hah!"
At the same time, Dirk, who had been building momentum, leaped high and closely followed behind the Black-robed Figure, entering through the path they had cut.
The moment the black-robed assassin's skill exhausted its remaining force, Dirk's sword arrived precisely, landing accurately on the faintly visible core location.
Sword Energy tore through the Rotten Devourer's body, and simultaneously, Lin Mo's another [Meteor Thrust] also arrived.
"Crack—!"
With this shattering sound, the Rotten Devourer's body was instantly split into several pieces.
The next moment, the Corrupted Swamp Stalker's massive form suddenly began to violently tremble.
The black body continuously squirmed and twisted, as if being torn apart by some monstrous force.
Finally, with a loud "boom—!", the enormous body exploded violently. Black mud fell from the sky like a waterfall, covering everything.
"Whew—!"
Only after a full ten seconds did Lin Mo finally let out a long sigh.
Fortunately, with [Frost Guard] blocking, that black mud wouldn't stick to him.
But the other two weren't so lucky.
Dirk struggled out of the black mud, his entire body coated in it, looking quite disheveled.
The other black-robed assassin wasn't much better off. Although he retreated immediately, he still couldn't escape the falling black mud's range and was drenched head to toe.
Lin Mo raised his hand and cast two [Cleansing Flow] spells to help remove the black mud stuck to them.
The scene before them was a mess. After the giant monster disintegrated, the massive amount of black mud had turned the surrounding ground into a "swamp," nearly one person deep.
However, a swamp of this depth could still be managed, though the area was much larger than before, likely requiring considerable effort.
The carriages fell from the sky. Fortunately, the thick black mud cushioned their fall, and they were sturdy enough themselves. So although they sustained considerable damage, they didn't completely fall apart.
The horses were even less of a concern. Although not comparable to Gale Steeds, the horses used were also magical creatures, not ordinary horses, so this height wasn't much of an issue.
It's just that the subsequent reorganization would probably take a long time.
And right now, they were still in a very dangerous area.
While vigilantly watching his surroundings, Lin Mo kept his eyes on that black-robed assassin.
The merchant group's secret had been exposed. Bringing that young man hiding in the middle carriage into the Royal Capital was likely the true objective of this merchant group's operation.
Although it wasn't yet clear why he needed to remain hidden, since the secret was out, they had to be wary of the possibility of the other party taking action.
Furthermore, even if the other party didn't act and they reached the Royal Capital... or if he did act and Lin Mo killed this assassin, it would still be very troublesome.
Either way, the forces behind the Jade Merchant Group wouldn't let them off easily.
Lin Mo shook his head somewhat helplessly. In the past, he might have been very worried, but now, he was actually getting somewhat used to it.
How did that saying go? When you have too many lice, you don't feel the itch.
The Jade Merchant Group had close ties with the Morin Family, and he already had conflicts with the Morin Family anyway, so one more didn't matter much.
For now, they should first continue the mission and secure the rewards...
It took an hour, with Lin Mo using magic and the many adventurers contributing their efforts, to finally pull all the horses and carriages out of the black mud's range.
Lin Mo used Cleansing Flow to clean all the carriages, including all the adventurers and merchant group personnel, giving each a treatment and earning quite a bit of proficiency.
[Cleansing Flow] proficiency +1
......
This skill was an excellent-grade skill, currently at Level 4, not far from Level 5, but still some distance from the max Level 6, so no need to worry about the Mana increase upon leveling up.
After a quick inventory of the situation, three carriages were damaged, and there were some losses of goods.
Two of the carriage-pulling horses had also suffocated and died, but overall, the impact wasn't significant. They could redistribute the goods into the other carriages;
they could barely fit. Each carriage originally had two horses, but one could still pull it, just at a slower speed.
After reorganizing, everyone hurriedly continued their journey.
They needed to leave this area as quickly as possible...
Lin Mo sat in the carriage, looking at the black pearl in his hand.
It wasn't very large, about half the size of a palm, and had a semi-transparent appearance overall.
This thing was the core of that Corrupted Swamp Stalker, taken from inside the Rotten Devourer.
In other words, the loot.
Now, after his Spirit attribute had grown, Lin Mo's appraisal ability included such materials, so he could directly see its information.
[Black Mud Radiance]: The energy core of a Corrupted Swamp Stalker, containing powerful energy. Can be used to craft Earth Element Magic Stones or as an alchemical material.
Earth Element Magic Stones... to be honest, Lin Mo didn't really need them;
at least currently, they weren't cost-effective for him.
But this thing should be worth quite a bit of money;
he could sell it later as extra income from the mission.
Additionally, there were the proficiency rewards from just killing that big guy, which he hadn't had time to check earlier.
[Meteor Thrust] proficiency +120 (+180)
Holy crap!
Lin Mo was instantly shocked.
Judging by the previously understood proficiency rules, this huge monster was indeed extraordinary, having reached Level 14.
So the base proficiency alone was 120 points, plus the extra 150% proficiency reward for killing something 4 levels higher.
So the total added up to a full 300 points of proficiency!
The Meteor Thrust skill subsequently leveled up again.
"Skill [Meteor Thrust] Lv5 (180/180) leveled up!"
"Current skill [Meteor Thrust] Lv6 (166/300)"
Only less than half a level remained before this Exceptional-Grade skill would complete its evolution!
As a later acquisition, its progress was actually faster than that of Blood Qi Blade.
After all, this skill was really useful—fast, decent power, and usable even without a sword. Most importantly, it looked cool.
Besides this skill, some status and buff-type skills also gained some proficiency, showing certain growth.
Lin Mo remained seated at the front of the carriage, constantly monitoring the merchant group's situation.
Because they were already exposed, the assassin stopped pretending and simply sat on top of one carriage roof, vigilantly watching the surroundings.
They hadn't yet left the dangerous area, so he probably wouldn't consider taking action now.
But once they left this region, it was hard to say...
Of course, although an Elite Level Assassin did pose a certain threat to Lin Mo, he was far from afraid of him.
He had plenty of methods, many of which he hadn't even revealed yet.
Seeming to sense something, the black-robed assassin turned his head, his gaze meeting Lin Mo's briefly before quickly looking away.
In fact, he was currently deeply conflicted.
He clearly understood that facing Lin Mo, his chances of success were very low, but...