Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 267: The Melancholy Little Wolf-Girl?

The day's training finally ended. By the time Lin Mo hurriedly rushed back from the Lion Adventuring Company to the Breeze Residence, the sky had already darkened completely.

Although it was quite late, everyone was still waiting for him to return to eat together. Since they were staying at the inn and it wasn't convenient to cook, they simply went to a nearby restaurant... not just any random roadside eatery, but a proper, decent restaurant.

After all, they now had sufficient means. Magical beast meat and special crops were things that needed to be consumed long-term to show their effects. With their current income, they didn't need to skimp on expenses for food and lodging.

That being said, spending over a dozen, even twenty gold coins on a single meal still made Lin Mo and Ellie, who had experienced poverty before, feel a bit emotional.

It's worth mentioning that compared to yesterday, the atmosphere at home today was noticeably more delicate.

The reason for this change was self-evident; almost everyone's gaze was focused on Finnie.

As the instigator, Sherfilia naturally knew what was going on. With Ellie's keen sense of smell, she had discovered the change in Finnie the moment she saw her after getting up this morning.

Even the somewhat simple-minded Lena, who was initially unclear about the situation, gradually realized something was up after noticing everyone acting a bit strange.

Although Lena had a rather innocent personality, she wasn't a complete fool who understood nothing. Especially since her good friend Ellie had been constantly feeding her related knowledge recently. Even if she didn't understand before, she should be fully aware by now.

Regarding this somewhat abrupt change, everyone had their own feelings.Sherfilia naturally felt relieved and proud, and a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She had finally fulfilled the task entrusted to her by her Madam without dishonor.

In fact, for someone of Sherfilia's character, teaching Finnie those things was somewhat difficult and embarrassing.

At the very least, certain words and phrases were definitely harder for her to say out loud than for the straightforward Ellie.

But in the end, they had achieved victory.

Ellie's feelings were naturally complex. She didn't really care about winning or losing and knew this was bound to happen eventually. However, thinking that she would have to share with one more person from now on, and the time she could spend with Lin Mo might decrease again, she couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.

As the only one left who hadn't made substantial progress, Lena's reaction was actually the calmest.

Although she occasionally fantasized about having more intimate contact with Mr. Lin Mo, the deep-seated inferiority born from her long, hardscrabble life since she could remember, combined with her reserved and introverted nature, made the cat-eared girl keep her expectations in this area very low.

Just being able to stay by Lin Mo's side and everyone else's side made her very happy...

This delicate atmosphere lasted throughout the dinner. Although it hadn't reached the level of a dangerous battlefield of love, it still made Lin Mo break out in a slight sweat.

Fortunately, the girls at home were all quite understanding and reasonable. There weren't any with particularly strong possessive tendencies or fiery tempers.

After finishing dinner and returning to the inn, everyone tacitly avoided excessive conversation and returned to their respective rooms.

Tonight belonged to Ellie.

The little wolf-girl didn't say much, just as proactive as always, but her gaze was like that of a child who had suddenly grown up, cherishing this time.

This actually made Lin Mo both amused and exasperated. "It's not like you won't get to eat this again in the future. Why are you acting like you're about to run out of food?"

Ellie lay on Lin Mo's chest, taking a brief rest. "I know... but I still can't help worrying."

"Worrying about what?"

Lin Mo said while gently stroking her hair.

"Of course I'm worried that you might not like me anymore in the future..."

Hearing this, Lin Mo was somewhat surprised. "I thought someone with your personality wouldn't be so insecure and sentimental."

"That was true before."

Ellie nodded. "But after meeting you, it became different."

Lin Mo tilted his head, waiting for her to continue.

"A person cannot help but feel insecure about the things they truly care about."

This sentence spoken by the little wolf-girl was unexpectedly different from her usual style, carrying a hint of seemingly profound "philosophical thought."

Lin Mo rubbed the wolf-girl's head, feeling both amused and exasperated. "Rather than worrying about that, you should worry about your own level. Who knows, in a few days, Finnie might catch up to or even surpass you."

Ellie immediately became anxious upon hearing this, no longer caring about any "gains" or "losses," and hurriedly got down to serious business.

...

The Level 3 [Shared Cultivation] skill was indeed a significant improvement over Level 2.

Moreover, the faster Lin Mo's strength increased and the greater the attribute gap between him and Ellie became, the higher the efficiency of the gains would be.

Coupled with Ellie's sufficient effort, judging by her own rough description, she actually gained a total of about 4 attribute points in one night!

Among them, 2 points in Strength, 1 point in Constitution, and 1 point in Agility.

This rate of improvement was truly astonishing.

Even Lin Mo felt a bit envious.

As usual, with Sherfilia's help to freshen up, Lin Mo bid farewell to everyone and headed straight for the Falcon Adventuring Company.

According to what Leonard said yesterday, after Lin Mo left last night, he should have contacted the Falcon Adventuring Company's captain, Grim, explaining that Lin Mo would come today for training.

This was indeed the case. When Lin Mo arrived at the Falcon Adventuring Company, the guards at the entrance seemed to know he was coming. They proactively greeted him and then led him to the company's training grounds.

Grim, the captain of the Falcon Adventuring Company whom Lin Mo had met twice before, was currently sitting cross-legged inside.

Grim's profession was Ranger, different from Leonard. This profession definitely couldn't engage in direct confrontation with Lin Mo.

The Ranger profession excelled in archery and agile footwork. While their damage output was high, their close-quarters combat ability couldn't compare to warrior or knight-type professions.

But that was okay. Being able to conduct direct combat drills like yesterday was undoubtedly best, but Lin Mo's main goal was to increase the proficiency of his [Fortitude] skill. So, if hard-hitting combat drills weren't possible, just letting the opponent attack him was also acceptable.

It would also help increase the proficiency of [Crystal Shield Technique] and [Frost Guard].

Especially Frost Guard. Although this skill hadn't been used infrequently since he obtained it, its proficiency gain had been relatively limited, and it was still only at Level 2.

Seeing Lin Mo walk in, Grim looked up and observed him carefully. "You've gotten stronger again."

Although that kid Leonard hadn't mentioned much about this aspect, just by observing the aura Lin Mo projected, one could detect some subtle differences.

Of course, this was just a general judgment. Exactly how much stronger Lin Mo had become compared to their last meeting, Grim had no real idea.

"Leonard told me about the sparring. So, how exactly do we do this?"

"Simple."

A pure, innocent smile appeared on Lin Mo's face. "Captain Grim just needs to keep shooting arrows at me, attacking continuously."

Grim was taken aback. "What kind of training method is this?"

"It's a bit of a shortcut method suitable for me personally..."

Lin Mo didn't explain in detail. "Anyway, Captain Grim, just go all out with your attacks."

"Alright."

Grim nodded. He wasn't a man of many words. Since the other party requested it, he would just do as asked.

So he picked up the practice bow and arrows beside him, drew the bowstring, and aimed at Lin Mo.

"Ready?"

"Anytime."

Lin Mo nodded. He didn't use [Crystal Shield Technique] or [Frost Guard] first. He wanted to test the effect of blocking directly with [Fortitude].

Grim hesitated for a moment, then used 50% of his strength to shoot an arrow.

Lin Mo directly raised his hand to block. The arrow landed on his vambrace. The impact wasn't strong, and he felt no pressure.

"Captain Grim, there's no need to hold back. Please use your full strength."

Seeing this, Grim also dismissed his concerns. He drew his bow and nocked another arrow, this time using 70% of his strength.

Lin Mo still used his vambrace to block the incoming arrow. The pressure he felt this time was indeed greater than before, but it was still completely within his control.

"Again."

Seeing his 70% strength shot still easily blocked by Lin Mo, Grim finally stopped holding back. He drew the bowstring to its full extent and shot an arrow with all his might.

After all, he was an Elite-level expert. Even without using a skill, an arrow shot with full force was still quite terrifying.

Lin Mo caught this arrow, taking half a step back.

His Knight profession level was relatively low after all. Although he had various profession attribute enhancements, his Constitution attribute was still not that high. A full-power shot from an Elite-level Ranger could still hurt him a bit.

However, this also meant the training would be effective.

[Fortitude] proficiency +1

"Just like that. You can use some skills."

Seeing Lin Mo's expression of still not being "satisfied," Grim's expression grew increasingly serious. Lin Mo's strength far exceeded his imagination.

Now he could understand why the other party had been able to kill a Corrupted Swamp Stalker back then.

Without a doubt, this young man who had still been somewhat immature when they first met in Silverstream City now completely surpassed him in strength.

So he stopped being polite and used skills as Lin Mo had suggested.

"Be careful, Spiral Arrow!"

Lin Mo didn't directly block this arrow. Instead, he used his [Frost Guard] skill to defend.

The Spiral Arrow struck the barrier of [Frost Guard], leaving only a small white dot on the ice-blue shield.

"Uh..."

Lin Mo scratched his head awkwardly. He suddenly remembered that his Mana attribute seemed a bit too high. If he used defensive skills like this, Grim simply couldn't break through his defense.

This way, the proficiency gain for the [Fortitude] skill would be greatly reduced.

But if he didn't use defensive magic and directly took a skill from an Elite-level Ranger, even with the damage reduction effect of [Fortitude], it would still cause significant wear and tear on his equipment.

And if he didn't wear equipment, he would get injured. Even though Lin Mo could heal himself, it would still hurt. He felt there was no need to seek out suffering...

Forget it, let it be. Although the progress would be slightly slower, it wasn't like proficiency wouldn't increase at all. And with two skills being improved together, overall, it was actually a small gain.

Let the fellow practitioner suffer, not this poor monk.

And so began a long period of continuous, uninterrupted "training."

At first, Grim was quite relaxed, even somewhat puzzled.

Yesterday, when that guy Leonard was communicating with him, although the other party tried hard to conceal it, Grim still detected a hint of schadenfreude in his words.

This seemed to indicate that today's sparring actually had a "pitfall."

But if it was just a one-sided output session, where exactly was the pitfall?

Grim couldn't figure it out for the moment.

However, as the training time stretched on, his mindset gradually changed.

He had already shot who knows how many arrows, completely failing to pierce the other party's magic shield, and the young man opposite him didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.

He had been shooting arrows continuously for over an hour!

How long was this training supposed to last?

Grim began to feel a trace of unease.

"Please continue, Captain Grim..."

"Continue, continue!"

"Should we stop for lunch, Captain Grim? I feel like you're running out of strength."

Although the other party said this, how could Grim possibly agree upon hearing such words?

So he could only grit his teeth, brace himself, and lift his sore, aching arm to continue shooting.

Two hours, three hours...

Before he knew it, four or five hours had passed.

By now, Grim was completely numb. Even though he was the one constantly attacking, he felt as if he was the one being beaten, his whole body aching and sore.

In fact, this was the damage reflection effect of [Fortitude] taking effect.

However, after being blocked by [Frost Guard], the damage Grim's skills inflicted on Lin Mo was already very limited, so the reflected damage naturally wasn't much either.

But even so, over several hours, little by little added up, making Grim miserable.

"Would you like to take a break, Captain Grim?"

This time, Lin Mo genuinely thought so.

Although Grim still wanted to be stubborn, the words "No need" reached his lips but he couldn't bring himself to say them.

He really needed to rest. If he didn't rest soon, his hand would be ruined...

His Qi and Blood had long been mostly depleted. Later on, he couldn't even use skills anymore and could only continue shooting ordinary arrows. His bow had long since changed from the practice one to his usual main equipment.

But what about Lin Mo opposite him?

After taking so many of his attacks, he still looked completely unfazed, as if he had consumed neither Mana nor stamina.

Was he even human?

Although this wasn't the first time such a question had arisen in Grim's mind when facing Lin Mo, he still couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Saying to take a break essentially meant today's training was over.

No matter how much he rested, his stamina and Qi and Blood wouldn't recover in a short while. Forcing himself to continue training wouldn't be very effective.

But today's harvest was already quite bountiful.

Lin Mo checked the proficiency progress of his [Fortitude] skill.

[Fortitude] Lv6 (289/300)

Only 11 more proficiency points were needed for this skill to reach max level.

Additionally, the improvement in [Frost Guard] was also very pleasing, directly increasing by 1 level to Level 3.

"Skill [Frost Guard] Lv2 (20/20) has leveled up!"

"Current skill [Frost Guard] Lv3 (11/40)"

"Gained +2 base attribute points in Mana!"

His Mana attribute had now reached 131 points, only 9 points away from leveling up.

It seemed like his promotion to Elite had just happened, yet in the blink of an eye, with Lin Mo focusing on his Knight profession skills, he had already gained another 11 base Mana attribute points.

Even he himself felt this leveling speed was somewhat heaven-defying.

"Thank you for your hard work, Captain Grim. Shall we continue tomorrow?"

Lin Mo said while drinking water, looking at the silent middle-aged man beside him.

"......"

Grim trembled all over, nearly dropping the water cup in his hand.

His lips twitched for a good while before he slowly spoke. "I'll pay you. Go find Leonard... hit him hard!"

Lin Mo seemed "hesitant." "Mr. Leonard has helped me a lot. We're like inseparable brothers."

"100 gold coins."

"It's not a matter of money. Our bond is unbreakable."

"1000 gold coins."

"But then again... Captain Grim, you've also helped me a lot!"

Lin Mo bumped fists with him and patted his own chest. "Don't worry, leave it to me. I'll definitely put in 120% effort!"

Of course, joking aside, Lin Mo couldn't possibly really accept the other's money.

Asking someone for help with training, how could he turn around and charge them money...

So, as Grim took out the gold, Lin Mo also pulled out something he had prepared before coming from his Spatial Ring: several bottles of alchemical reagents gifted by Madam Shachel when he left Silverstream City.

There were two high-grade life potions, one medium-grade anti-toxin reagent, and one stamina reagent.

They weren't particularly precious potions, but they were highly versatile and would definitely come in handy. Their total value was probably around twenty to thirty gold coins.

Grim was stunned for a moment but didn't refuse. He just looked at Lin Mo very seriously and accepted the reagents.

Of course, Lin Mo had prepared an extra set of the same things to give to Leonard after tomorrow's session.

Unlike back in Silverstream City, Grim and Leonard weren't elders like Lady Behira and Madam Shachel. These simple principles of interpersonal conduct still needed to be observed properly.

"Then I'll take my leave first."

Lin Mo waved and stood up to leave.

The day's training was over, but Lin Mo's day wasn't finished yet.

Speaking of which, after going from two people to three, he didn't know how the subsequent arrangements would be?

Lin Mo hadn't inquired about this matter. They didn't seem to have formally discussed it either.

But everyone seemed to maintain an unspoken, tacit understanding. In the end, the one who entered the room was the little maid who had been stood up the past two days.