novelraw Chapter 250: What Do You Mean You Accidentally Killed the Boss on the Side?
Chapter 250: What Do You Mean You Accidentally Killed the Boss on the Side?
[Demonic Light Piercing Kill] Proficiency +25
"Skill [Demonic Light Piercing Kill] Lv1 (20/20) has leveled up!"
"Current skill [Demonic Light Piercing Kill] Lv2 (5/40)"
Lin Mo was quite satisfied with the effect of [Demonic Light Piercing Kill].
It's just that there wasn't a suitable opportunity at the moment for this skill to showcase its true upper limit, and Lin Mo didn't really hope to encounter a situation that required it to do so either.
Because that would also mean he had encountered an opponent that even his current strength would have difficulty defeating.
After testing the skill's effect, Lin Mo quickly caught up with the carriage.
The magical creatures that needed to be killed for this mission, the Crystal-Eating Grubs, were rather troublesome fellows.
It wasn't that their strength was particularly formidable, but rather that these kinds of magical creatures were quite difficult to find.
Crystal-Eating Grubs, as the name suggests, are grub-like magical creatures that survive by devouring crystal ores. These creatures possess extremely powerful burrowing abilities, often hiding in their nests beneath the ground during the day, only coming out to move around and gnaw on crystal ores at night.So, how to find them was the biggest problem with this task.
Of course, since Dirk had accepted this mission, he naturally had a way.
"According to the information provided by the camp, we've already been able to pinpoint the location of these worms' nests to within this area."
On the carriage, Dirk held a map of the Boulder Mine and used a charcoal pencil in his hand to draw a circle on a spot in the middle section of Boulder Mine Area 3.
"This saves us a lot of trouble. We should be able to complete this mission within today."
As he spoke, Dirk took out a small package from his backpack.
"What's inside this?"
Lin Mo, who had come over to Dirk's carriage, asked curiously.
"Magic crystal powder bought from an alchemy shop in the Royal Capital."
Magic crystals are a type of magic ore that contains elemental energy, and they are also the main mineral produced by this Boulder Mine.
This type of crystal can be widely used in magic equipment forging, alchemical potion making, and as the main ingredient for consumables that can store magic—magic crystal stones.
This ore is also the Crystal-Eating Grubs' favorite food.
"Magic crystal stones are quite valuable;
even those of not-so-great quality can be sold for hundreds of gold coins after refining, but the residue left after use isn't worth much... you can buy a pack this big for just 5 gold coins."
Lin Mo immediately understood his meaning. "You want to use this magic crystal powder to lure those Crystal-Eating Grubs out?"
"Yes, and no."
Dirk shook his head. "This magic crystal powder can indeed attract Crystal-Eating Grubs, but the prerequisite is during their active period at night..."
But obviously, no one wanted to fight magical creatures at night.
Even though this was an underground mine that was pitch black both day and night.
"In fact, the soil around a Crystal-Eating Grub nest will often retain some saliva and mucus due to their digging and living processes. The bodily fluids of Crystal-Eating Grubs are highly acidic, especially towards ore-like substances such as magic crystals, and their corrosive properties are quite potent."
Lin Mo understood immediately. "I see... Using that characteristic, you can use magic crystal powder to test and locate the nests of these magical creatures."
"Exactly."
Dirk nodded, a confident smile appearing on his face.
It was rare for him to be able to show off in front of Lin Mo.
Only in terms of these adventure experiences did he have a chance to outdo Lin Mo.
"We're almost at the place... Brothers, let's get to work!"
The surrounding adventurers immediately responded, jumping off the carriage and starting to dig.
Testing naturally couldn't be done on the surface;
they had to dig at least two or three meters deep for the testing efficiency to be high enough.
Soil too close to the surface, even if it contained Crystal-Eating Grub bodily fluids, would have a very low concentration, making the test inaccurate or slower.
Fortunately, digging was a simple task and hardly considered difficult for these strong adventurers.
Lin Mo was even more so;
he didn't need to do it himself at all. He only needed to use his mana to resonate with the earth elements in the ground, and he could turn over the soil using mana, which was both fast and saved effort.
With Lin Mo's help, in just over ten minutes, many pits were dug in a large area nearby.
These pits should be enough.
"That's good, let's start the test."
As Dirk spoke, the adventurers grabbed handfuls of magic crystal powder and scattered it into the dug pits.
Lin Mo also stepped forward to join in the fun, grabbing a handful of magic crystal powder and scattering it into a few pits he had dug with his mana.
"Next, we just need to patiently wait for the results..."
About five minutes later, Dirk began calling everyone to check the test results.
"No situation on my side..."
Adventurers from slightly farther away soon waved their hands towards this side, reporting the situation.
"Everything's normal here too."
"I seem to have a bit of a situation on my side... Come take a look, has this magic crystal powder darkened a little?"
"It really has, but it's a bit slow. It should just be the edge area of a nest. Everyone, search nearby, it's probably not far from here!"
Hearing this from the side, Lin Mo walked a few steps over to a pit where he had just scattered powder and looked down.
He then raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.
The shiny magic crystal powder he had just scattered in the pit had now lost its luster and turned pitch black.
"Should be over here."
Dirk hurried over at the sound and took a careful look. "It really is!"
"Everyone, come over, we've found the entrance to the nest!"
The adventurers quickly gathered upon hearing this.
"Next is to dig this place open. Probably to about seven or eight meters underground, at most to around twelve or thirteen meters, and we should be able to see the worm tunnels left by the Crystal-Eating Grubs."
"Twelve or thirteen meters?"
Lin Mo stroked his chin. "Digging is too slow. I'll do it."
As the words fell, he brought his index and middle fingers together. Powerful qi and blood quickly gathered at his fingertips.
However, this time, considering the need to open up a passageway, too narrow wouldn't do. So, Lin Mo directly chose to charge up the attack. The already formidable qi and blood instantly became even more condensed and terrifying...
He had just been thinking about not wanting to encounter a situation that required using a fully charged [Demonic Light Piercing Kill], but not long after, he was using it.
And using it for this kind of purpose... to dig.
Although it felt a bit wasteful, to save time, this was the best method.
Although Lin Mo didn't speak, the powerful aura made the surrounding adventurers wisely step back.
Finally, after 5 seconds, the skill's charge reached its maximum.
"Ha!"
The next moment, Lin Mo let out a sharp shout, his fingertips pointing underground.
A pillar-like sword energy, noticeably thicker than during the previous test, shot out. An additional strand of sword energy spiraled around it, wrapping it up.
The ground before them was like soft cotton, instantly pierced through by this powerful sword energy.
The sword energy disappeared from sight. Looking down the previously dug pit, there was a hole about one meter wide, bottomless.
"Hiss——!"
Seeing this shocking scene, Dirk couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
What a terrifying skill!
Just how many unknown methods was this young man still hiding?
Now, it wasn't a question of whether their team leader had lost unfairly or not... In a while, not too long, by the time of the Hunting Competition, the fact that he could once fight this guy to a draw might actually become his honor.
While the surrounding people were still stunned by the power and effect of this move, Lin Mo, the instigator, was now frozen.
Because...
[Demonic Light Piercing Kill] Proficiency +60
What was this situation? Could it be that while he was digging, this skill had also incidentally hit a magical creature?
But ordinary magical creatures wouldn't give that much proficiency, and the proficiency was given in one lump sum, not in parts, meaning it indeed only killed one magical creature, not two.
A single magical creature giving 60 points of proficiency, according to the experience Lin Mo had summarized before, meant the opponent's threat level should have reached level 8.
And if Lin Mo remembered correctly, the mission they were currently doing, called [Eradicate the Crystal-Eating Grubs], the magical creature with the greatest threat and strongest power, which was the mother body of these Crystal-Eating Grubs, the Crystal-Eating Grub King, its level seemed to be level 8, right?
Did he, in order to open a path, kill the boss with one skill?
That... that would be too much of a coincidence...
"Next, we just need to force those Crystal-Eating Grubs out and kill them."
Dirk said as he took out another cloth bag. "This contains Purge Worm Grass. Burning it produces a smoke that is highly irritating and somewhat toxic to insect-type magical creatures. As long as we light enough of this grass and throw it into the hole, before long, those grubs will come out on their own."
Lin Mo wasn't listening to Dirk. He was thinking about a problem: how to retrieve the materials from that Crystal-Eating Grub King?
That thing was who knows how deep underground. Rashly going down would be somewhat troublesome to get back up.
The position swap of the shadow split could only be used once, so having the split go down to get it and then swapping positions wasn't very practical either.
Lin Mo's mouth twitched. What a mess this was...
However, it wasn't without a solution.
Lin Mo suddenly thought of something.
So he hurriedly stopped Dirk, who was preparing to light the smoke.
"Wait a moment first."
"What's wrong?"
Dirk asked, puzzled.
"Uh... there's something."
As Lin Mo spoke, he used the [Shadow Split] skill to summon a clone.
Immediately, the clone leaped forward, jumping straight down the hole.
After about seven or eight seconds, "Lin Mo" thrust the "Frost Dragon Scale Sword" in his hand horizontally into the soil on the side, stopping his descent.
It was pitch black underground. Even with night vision, it was hard to see the surroundings.
"Lin Mo" took out a small portable mana lamp that his main body had given him earlier and turned it on.
Sure enough, in his field of vision, he saw the tunnels dug by those grubs.
Looking down, the bottom of the pit wasn't far either.
And near the bottom of the pit, "Lin Mo" indeed saw a massive grub lying motionless there. There was a very neat hole in its body, green blood and mucus splattered everywhere, looking utterly disgusting.
Even as a clone, "Lin Mo" felt his scalp go numb. He could only force himself to endure the disgusting feeling and leaped down.
Soon, he found the most precious material from this grub's corpse—a green sac-like object about the size of a washbasin.
This thing was the Crystal-Eating Grub's poison sac.
Normally, of course, such a thing shouldn't be touched casually. However, as adventurers, since they were here to do this kind of mission, it was impossible not to be prepared. "Lin Mo" took out a pair of acid-resistant gloves and put them on before lifting out this poison sac.
Although he was just a clone now and, in theory, didn't need to worry about poisoning or not... but the sensations were shared, and Lin Mo really didn't want to experience the feeling of directly touching this thing covered in mucus with his bare hands.
"Lin Mo" lifted the poison sac. At the same time, the surrounding grubs were attracted by the commotion and came over to check on the mother body's condition.
A grub arrived first. Seeing the mother body was already dead, and beside its corpse, a human was holding the "spoils of war."
The instinct of such creatures to guard the mother body was instantly triggered, and it charged towards "Lin Mo."
"Perfect timing!"
"Lin Mo's" eyes lit up, and he actively moved towards the opponent as well, easily dodging its attack and jumping onto its back.
However, "Lin Mo" didn't kill it. Instead, he used the "Frost Dragon Scale Sword" to carve out a hole of just the right size in its body and placed the poison sac inside.
This way, it shouldn't fall out so easily, right?
Thinking this, "Lin Mo" leaped up and began climbing up the hole.
The grub immediately gave chase, following closely behind.
"Lin Mo" climbed upward for about seventy or eighty meters. Seeing it was about right, he directly canceled the skill.
As expected, the grub chased right up.
"It's coming!"
At this moment, outside, Lin Mo suddenly said something that left everyone confused.
Coming? What's coming?
The next moment, a series of faint, rustling noises came from the deep hole. Two or three seconds later, a huge grub suddenly burst out of the hole, appearing before everyone.
"Holy crap!"
Luke exclaimed in shock, hurriedly drawing his sword to attack the grub.
After all, he was a level 5 warrior. One sword strike left a deep wound on the grub's body.
Lin Mo immediately grew anxious. Setting aside the proficiency issue, he really didn't want that poison sac to get punctured. So he quickly stopped everyone who wanted to continue attacking. With one [Thunder Spear Technique], he pierced through the grub.
The grub immediately fell to the ground, motionless.
Lin Mo put on acid-resistant gloves, walked forward, took out the large poison sac, then cut open the grub's body and retrieved a smaller poison sac from inside.
The people beside him were dumbfounded. Dirk walked closer, looking at the two poison sacs Lin Mo had placed on the ground. "This is... the mother body's poison sac?"
Lin Mo nodded. "Actually, I accidentally killed it just now too."
"???"
What do you mean you accidentally killed the boss on the side?
Dirk was full of question marks.
This wasn't a matter of strength. Given the power of Lin Mo's move, instantly killing a level 8 magical creature was normal. In comparison, what was more outrageous about this was actually the luck.
Just a casual sword energy meant for digging a hole directly and precisely took out the opponent's mother body?
That's just ridiculous!
"Boss, should we light the smoke now?"
Hahn on the side inquired.
"I think... it's probably not needed anymore..."
Lin Mo said.
"Indeed."
Lin Mo also nodded, looking towards the hole. "For magical creatures like Crystal-Eating Grubs, the mother body is their core. Without the mother body, the colony cannot continue to reproduce. So if something happens to the mother body, the remaining individuals will enter a frenzied combat state to avenge her."
As his words fell, movement came from the hole again.
No, not just from the hole...
The ground beneath their feet faintly sensed something moving through it.
"Prepare for battle!"
Dirk loudly reminded everyone.
The next moment, a grub drilled out from underground. It was a full meter in diameter, with sharp teeth, its entire body covered in yellowish-green mucus, looking utterly disgusting.
Even though the clone had already seen them underground earlier, Lin Mo still couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his eye, silently adding this type of magical creature to his blacklist alongside "Slime" and "Black Mud Monster."
This was the perfect time to use magic.
Lin Mo hadn't used magic much for a while either and had been itching to do so. He immediately threw out a [Blazing Fire Spear], instantly piercing through the body of a Crystal-Eating Grub. The blazing fire burned, instantly evaporating its mucus and roasting its body to a charred black.
A strange smell of cooked protein wafted out.
[Blazing Fire Spear] Proficiency +30
These grubs' levels weren't low either. For example, the one Lin Mo killed should be level 5.
The rest of the group also entered the battle.
Ellie swung her sword, an ice-blue sword energy instantly freezing the area it struck.
However, Ellie's strength clearly wasn't enough to directly sever this type of magical creature.
Ellie stepped forward and struck several more times before finally killing it.
Hahn drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting one arrow that hit a grub's head. The powerful force instantly blew its head apart.
A level 7 ranger's strength was indeed extraordinary.
Finnie had already buffed everyone long ago. Her level was now close to 4, and her mana was no longer as scarce as before.
In just a few minutes, the battle was over.
These magical creatures were clearly not formidable enemies for Dirk's team.
"Nine in total? That's fewer than expected..."
But compared to the battle itself, the more troublesome part of this mission for them was obviously the cleanup work after the fight.
"So disgusting..."
Luke, wearing gloves, complained while searching for poison sacs inside the grub bodies.
"You better talk less. Be careful mucus splashes into your mouth."
Luke immediately shut up.
Half an hour later, everyone had moved away from that area, and that disgusting smell finally began to fade.
Lin Mo checked his status panel. He had killed four more grubs just now, all using the [Blazing Fire Spear] skill.
This skill's original level only went to 3, so it was still quite easy to level up.
"Skill [Blazing Fire Spear] Lv3 (40/40) has leveled up!"
"Current skill [Blazing Fire Spear] Lv4 (20/100)"
"Gained base attribute Mana +2, base attribute Spirit +1."
"Skill [Blazing Fire Spear] Lv4 (100/100) has leveled up!"
"Current skill [Blazing Fire Spear] Lv5 (10/180)"
It went directly from level 3 to level 5. And as a blue Exceptional-Grade skill, it also unlocked another increase in base attribute points when going from 3 to 4.
Of course, there was also the choice of evolution route.
Please select evolution direction 1
Evolution Route 1: Incinerate I: The "Burn" effect attached after [Blazing Fire Spear] hits is increased by 30%!
Evolution Route 2: Sharpness III: The piercing characteristic of [Blazing Fire Spear] is additionally enhanced by 45%.
Last time, Lin Mo had chosen Evolution Route 2's "Sharpness." This time, Sharpness level 2 was only 15% higher than the level 1's 30%, making its cost-effectiveness clearly inferior to "Incinerate."
So...
Lin Mo still chose "Sharpness."
The reason was simple. The advantage of the [Blazing Fire Spear] skill lay in its single-target damage and armor-piercing capability. That bit of DOT damage from "Burn" was purely incidental and not worth strengthening.
Choosing an evolution route wasn't just about looking at the numbers;
you also had to consider the mechanics and how well it matched the skill.
"That's it for today. However, resting here on the spot would be too poor an environment, so I think we should head to the camp in the middle layer first... That way, it'll be more convenient to do the last mission tomorrow morning."
Dirk suggested.
Lin Mo nodded, also thinking this was best.
Since their mission process was much faster than expected, they still had plenty of time and could definitely make it over.
"The end of Area 3 is the passage leading to the middle layer of the Boulder Mine."
Everyone boarded the carriage and traveled forward along the mine tunnel.
After about an hour, they arrived at the end of Area 3.
What appeared before them was a very peculiar terrain.
The terrain ahead showed a downward slope, and at the end of the path was a turn of roughly 150 degrees.
Stopping at the end of the path, Lin Mo looked down. Because of the mana lamp's illumination, he could see that the distance from here to below, which was the "ground" of the Boulder Mine's middle layer, was at least five or six hundred meters.
"How do we get down?"
Lin Mo asked, puzzled.
Dirk smiled. "Of course, by jumping straight down."
"Huh?"
While Ellie was still stunned, Lin Mo hadn't yet urged the reins, spurring the carriage to charge forward.
The carriage plummeted down without a doubt. Then, a miraculous scene occurred.
After falling only about three or four meters, a magic array suddenly appeared before them, "catching" the carriage.
Then, it logically turned, heading towards the middle layer of the Boulder Mine.
So that's how it was.
Lin Mo followed suit, driving the carriage forward and landing on the magic array.
He carefully observed the array below. It seemed to be an array composed of earth elements, functioning similarly to solid ground.
This type of array wasn't particularly complex;
it was essentially simple elemental stacking. However, an array of this scale required an immense amount of mana.
"It's said that when the Boulder Mine was first developed, a Transcendent-Level earth element mage specially came over from the Royal Capital to construct this array. Since this place happened to be rich in magic crystals, they directly used magic crystals to provide continuous energy to this array."
That's quite interesting...