Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 259: What Do You Mean, You Tried It Once and Succeeded?

"This... well..."

Lin Mo thought for a moment. There wasn't really any need to hide it, mainly because it was impossible to hide. He had already used it just now, and he would use it frequently in the future. Continuing to be secretive about it would actually seem rather cheap.

"Have you all heard of Special Class Advancement?"

"Special Class Advancement?!"

Dirk's voice immediately rose in volume.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on him.

"Boss, you've heard of it?"

Luke asked with a face full of anticipation.

"No."

However, Dirk shook his head, indicating he didn't know."I only know about Class Advancement... It's said to be a special event that has a small chance of triggering for Professionals who are very powerful and have a strong, distinct corresponding style when they are promoted to Elite Level, Transcendent Level, or above. After undergoing Class Advancement, an originally ordinary profession, like Warrior, can transform into a more specialized, more distinct profession, such as Berserker, Swordsman, and so on."

"Professionals who have undergone Class Advancement will also see their skills shift towards the corresponding direction. The difficulty of learning skills that align with their profession's direction will be greatly reduced, and the speed of both learning and improving them will increase significantly. However, conversely, if a skill has low compatibility with the post-advancement profession, the speed of learning and improving it will be somewhat slower than before."

"Additionally, Professionals who have undergone Class Advancement also have a higher probability of comprehending their own unique skills and will receive one very powerful attribute enhancement boost. Its magnitude is at least comparable to, or even higher than, the boost received when being promoted to Elite Level... Exactly how much one can obtain should be related to the profession they advance into. Rarer and more powerful professions yield more, while relatively common ones yield less."

Lin Mo listened with great interest from the side.

Although he had heard about Class Advancement and Special Class Advancement from the Church Bishop in Silverstream City before, he really didn't know much about the specific details.

From Dirk's description, his Special Class Advancement seemed to have a certain degree of similarity with ordinary Class Advancement.

But it lacked some restrictions. For example, Lin Mo's speed of learning any skill wouldn't slow down.

For ordinary Class Advancees, their future development indeed becomes very clear-cut, but it also means the number of skills they can learn decreases. If they can't find enough skills suitable for their own profession, or skills developed and left behind by predecessors of the same profession, then they can only rely on their own comprehension.

Either that, or they learn unsuitable skills while suffering from the debuff, which would be worse than not advancing at all.

But Lin Mo had no such restrictions. Not only were there no restrictions, but his freedom was greatly expanded.

He could combine any skills to form new skill forms, which is very suitable for someone like Lin Mo, who already has a relatively broad skill reserve... He already had quite a few ideas he wanted to try in his mind.

Apart from matters related to skills, the point Dirk mentioned about receiving a large, one-time attribute enhancement boost also matched Lin Mo's personal experience just now.

"However, I don't know much about this Special Class Advancement thing."

Dirk concluded his remarks.

Eve, who was nearby, unusually picked up the thread: "Special Class Advancement is something that only those who already practice two professions simultaneously and have raised both to an equal level have a chance of achieving... Its essence is the fusion of two professions, such as Warrior and Knight, Warrior and Assassin, and the like. It integrates the originally independent professions, allowing the skills of both professions to coordinate better, even combine, and comprehend new skill forms..."

Milun immediately added: "And for magic practitioners, those who cultivate two attribute magics simultaneously also have a chance to undergo Special Class Advancement, fusing the powers of the two attributes, thereby achieving the simultaneous operation of two attribute Mana Circuits within the body. This also means..."

"Dual Casting?!"

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. He wanted that so badly.

Milun gave him a somewhat strange look and nodded: "Correct. The academy's archives indeed mention that some dual-attribute Mages who have undergone Special Class Advancement can simultaneously cast spells of two elements. Furthermore, in the current Empire and some powerful Kingdoms, such individuals do indeed exist."

Milun gave him a somewhat strange look and nodded: "Correct. The academy's **archives** indeed mention that some dual-attribute Mages who have undergone Special Class Advancement can simultaneously cast spells of two elements. Furthermore, in the current Empire and some powerful Kingdoms, such individuals do indeed exist."

Eve's gaze remained fixed on Lin Mo as she said slowly, "All the situations described above are limited to combinations within Qi and Blood and Qi and Blood, or Mana and Mana."

"And what Lin Mo just accomplished is clearly not within the scope of their understanding.

"That's right."

Milun's heart was also clearly filled with many doubts: "Mr. Lin Mo, how did you manage to combine Qi and Blood with Mana?"

Spellsword, a profession that only existed in the conjectures proposed by scholars, could it really become reality?

If it were in the past, whether it was Eve, Milun, or the other students present, they would all say no.

Because the knowledge taught by the academy said so. It was like how most people on Blue Star know Blue Star is round, and that ghosts don't exist on Blue Star.

But the fact happening before their eyes now had clearly overturned their past understanding.

"Well..."

Lin Mo scratched his head: "Actually, I'm not too sure either. I had heard rumors about Spellswords before and made many attempts, but I never succeeded. However, during the promotion just now, I suddenly had a strange feeling, so I followed it and tried once, and then..."

Everyone present fell into silence.

Those who didn't understand were completely bewildered, while those who did understand were even more shocked.

Tried?

Just these two words alone left the students who studied at the academy feeling at a loss.

Is this something you can just *try*?

You have to understand, for thousands of years, no one had ever discovered any possibility related to Spellswords. The exploration on this path was truly zero progress. That's why in academic circles, this matter was considered an impractical conjecture.

But this person said he had already made attempts before?

Do you even hear what you're saying?

It's like a Blue Star high school student suddenly saying they've discovered a material that can achieve room-temperature superconductivity, even more exaggerated than that.

After all, room-temperature superconductivity at least has *some* progress...

As for the following words, they were even more outrageous.

What do you mean, you suddenly had a strange feeling? What do you mean, you tried it once and succeeded?

Is this what talent is...

Eve suddenly felt that all the doubts and cold looks she had suffered in the past seemed insignificant.

This world is indeed a world for geniuses. So-called hard work is indeed worthless in the face of talent.

Perhaps she just hadn't been willing to admit this point.

The students fell into silence. This kind of pure, genuine talent was completely beyond envy.

Even if he publicly disclosed the method of combining Qi and Blood with Mana, the "strange feeling" he mentioned was probably something no one else could feel except himself.

Mediocre people, no matter how many military texts they read, cannot truly grow into top-tier commanders.

Only giants can stand on the shoulders of giants. As for the masses, they are merely apprentices at the feet of giants, unable to see past their shoulders.

On the other hand, Luke and the other self-taught adventurers, because they didn't know much, didn't feel much about it.

At most, they'd just say, "Lin Mo is awesome," and that was it.

After all, they were already accustomed to the shocks brought by this young man.

As for Lin Mo, he was pondering what Milun had just said.

Dual Casting!

Lin Mo dreamed of having this special technique.

In previous battles, he could often only use one attribute of Mana at the same time. Once he tried to operate Mana of another attribute, it would interfere with the original Mana Circuits, causing both spells to fail.

This not only meant he could only cast one spell at a time, but also that Lin Mo couldn't combine two types of Mana. The elemental combinations or even mutual reactions he had previously conceived were thus impossible to pursue.

But now, from the mouth of a professional student like Milun, the existence of Dual Casting had been confirmed. This meant that as long as Lin Mo could master this technique, the elemental combinations or more complex and specific elemental skill combinations he had imagined long ago were also potentially achievable.

So Lin Mo directly asked: "Since Dual Casting exists, is it possible to combine these two elements? For example, combining Fire Element and Wind Element to form a dual-element skill?"

"How is that possible?"

Milun immediately shook her head: "Once elements get close to each other, they collide, consuming each other's energy, or even forming intense conflicts that cause explosions... Even with Dual Casting, it's only about operating two non-interfering circuits and, through precise and powerful Mana control, splitting the Mana flow to resonate with two elements simultaneously."

"The combination of elements is simply not prac... tical..."

Milun's words trailed off, suddenly freezing.

"Really? I think it's quite easy."

Lin Mo brought his two hands together, looking at the flame and water ball merging in his palms, smiling very innocently.

In fact, the principle was very similar to the combination of Qi and Blood with Mana. When Lin Mo heard Milun mention Dual Casting earlier, he was already thinking about whether the "spiral combination" method used for Qi and Blood and Mana could be applied to Mana of different attributes.

It seems it can.

As they say, master one principle and you master ten thousand. The combination of two types of Mana is certainly very difficult, but compared to the combination of Qi and Blood with Mana, it actually seems much simpler.

Lin Mo also tried many other combinations, like Water and Lightning, Fire and Wind, etc. He was unskilled at first, but he could basically quickly identify the uncoordinated parts and solve the problem.

Milun was speechless.

The girl hugged her knees tightly, holding her weak and helpless self.

Teacher Flora, I can't continue studying magic like this!

While everyone in the cave was chatting leisurely, at the same time, outside the cave Lin Mo had created, in the distant darkness, the Earth Element Mage dispatched here by Duke Morin to cause trouble was currently in a state of utter frustration.

He originally thought that those Stone Golems plus the Deep Rock Colossus would be enough to clean up these students and adventurers.

Who would have thought, not only were they not cleaned up, not a single person had been killed.

If the academy's response was fast enough, support could arrive here in just over a day. And he needed a long time to lure a new batch of monsters. If things continued like this, the mission would be impossible to complete.

Moreover, what level of monster would be needed to eliminate these people?

After witnessing Lin Mo kill that Deep Rock Colossus with one move, he had completely lost his confidence.

If one move could kill a level 11 monster, then level 12 or even level 13 monsters would probably also find it difficult to push him into a corner.

But if the level was any higher, such monsters couldn't be found in Area 7;

he would have to go deeper, to Area 8 of the Boulder Mine.

But that place... even he couldn't guarantee his own safety...

Seth frowned tightly. If the mission failed, Duke Morin would definitely not let him off, and even his family would suffer... He had no choice but to gamble!

Gritting his teeth, he turned and continued deeper into the Boulder Mine.

......

Unconsciously, two or three hours passed.

Perhaps because their location was relatively close to the edge of Area 7, the number of monsters appearing in this area wasn't very high. In these two or three hours, not a single monster came to attack them.

The consumption from the previous battle had long since been mostly recovered. Lin Mo meditated for a while, adjusted his condition to its best, and instead felt a bit bored.

So he simply used the [Shadow Split] skill and sent a clone to scout the nearby area.

However, since the previous scouting expedition yielded no results, Lin Mo didn't hold out much hope this time either.

"Skill [Eagle Eye] Lv3 (40/40) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Eagle Eye] Lv4 (0/100)"

Every time Lin Mo used the clone, he basically synchronized it by activating the [Eagle Eye] skill to enhance the clone's vision. The prolonged use had leveled the Eagle Eye skill up to 4.

However, as an excellent-grade skill, it had already received attribute points when it reached level 3 previously. To receive attribute points again, it needed to reach the full level 6.

Additionally, the progress of the [Swiftness] skill was also quite pleasing, having reached Lv4 (83/100), not far from leveling up to 5.

In comparison, the skills of the Knight profession had been seriously neglected, so Lin Mo's Constitution attribute was much lower compared to his other professions.

According to Lin Mo's plan, after both the Warrior and Mage professions were promoted to Elite Level or above, successfully awakening the Spellsword special profession, the next step was to simultaneously promote the Priest and Knight professions to Elite Level and attempt to obtain the "Paladin" profession.

Of course, there were also the Assassin and Ranger professions.

What made Lin Mo curious was that in the past, the "Paladin" profession in this world was achieved by relying on so-called Holy Light power. So, if he simultaneously promoted these two professions, would he also receive the blessing of Holy Light power?

Anyway, he should properly train the Knight profession skills next.

Improving the Constitution attribute could also bring many benefits. With the improvement of Ellie and Sherfilia's attributes, although Lin Mo couldn't say he was overwhelmed recently, he was feeling a bit strained.

"Huh?"

While Lin Mo was thinking about these things, the clone actually encountered a monster that was foraging.

This was somewhat unexpected. After a moment of surprise, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on Lin Mo's face.

The [Shadow Split] skill hadn't seen its proficiency increase for a while either.

Mainly because during this period, Lin Mo's main focus had been on Warrior skills and Mage skills, single-mindedly thinking about promoting to Elite Level and obtaining the Spellsword profession, so the skills of other professions had basically been put on hold.

The monster before him was a lizard-type monster.

Lin Mo thought for a moment and quickly found information about it in his mind.

This should be an Acid Lizard, also known as an "Acid Spitter," a monster capable of spewing highly acidic liquid.

The level of this monster was generally between 7~9, making it a relatively powerful Lord-Level monster.

Seeing Lin Mo before it, the Acid Lizard immediately flicked its meter-long, dark green tongue, becoming excited.

But from its appearance, it seemed very sluggish, moving its body slowly, with a dull gaze, appearing to pose no threat.

But Lin Mo knew this was precisely one of this monster's hunting techniques, commonly known as playing dumb. It pretends to be no threat, but in reality, once an enemy gets within its attack range, it will launch a frenzied attack without reservation, instantly killing the opponent.

Unfortunately, such a technique, when facing humans, would only fool some inexperienced adventurers who also didn't recognize this monster.

But such potentially fooled novice adventivers almost never came to the dangerous lower levels of the Boulder Mine.

Lin Mo's current total Strength attribute was 244, and his Agility attribute was 190. So, according to the level 4 Shadow Split inheriting 65% of attributes, his clone had about 158 Strength and 123 Agility.

With these values, forget 7-9 level monsters, even a level 10 monster would be easily handled.

It's just that against level 11 and above Mid-Level Lord-Level monsters, it might not be a match. After all, the clone couldn't use skills. Even if its attributes weren't inferior to a level 11 monster, it lacked some means of finishing the kill.

The Acid Lizard clearly hadn't hunted humans much and still followed its usual method of pretending to pass by, moving in a direction different from "Lin Mo's" path but still able to get close to him.

"Lin Mo" also cooperated with its performance, continuing forward as if nothing was wrong.

And just as the distance between them shortened to only about 20 meters... the Acid Lizard suddenly erupted, charging towards "Lin Mo" at an extremely fast speed. At the same time, it extended its dark green long tongue, and a glob of green acid, carrying a nauseating smell, flew towards "Lin Mo."

Lin Mo immediately blocked the clone's olfactory sharing and very easily dodged the opponent's long-planned ambush. The dark green tongue immediately pursued. "Lin Mo" casually swung his sword down, effortlessly severing its tongue.

The Acid Lizard immediately let out a pained cry, finally understanding this was an opponent it simply couldn't contend with. Losing all will to fight, it hurriedly fled into the distance.

The remaining duration of the clone wasn't long. "Lin Mo" quickly stepped forward, easily caught up with it, and pierced its head with one sword thrust.

[Shadow Split] Proficiency +60

Not bad, level 8.

Lin Mo checked the proficiency progress of this skill.

[Shadow Split] Lv4 (171/200)

Not far from level 5.

As an Epic Level skill, Shadow Split should receive its second basic attribute point boost and be able to choose an evolution direction when it reaches level 6.

Lin Mo really wanted to level this skill to 6. That way, he could choose an evolution route and gain one more opportunity to swap positions with the clone.

One swap opportunity was a one-way replacement;

once you went over, you couldn't come back. But with two swap opportunities, you could go back and forth, undoubtedly increasing operability significantly.

Anyway, right now in this dangerous area, it was impossible for his main body to actively go out and explore. Before the new batch of monsters arrived, he might as well use the [Shadow Split] skill to relieve boredom and grind some proficiency...