Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 270: Thunderous Sky-Shaking Fist

That's right, appearing before them were those outstanding students from the Royal National Academy, led by Eve.

They were currently fighting several Gale Tigers. The leader among them was clearly two sizes larger than the ones around it, not looking like an ordinary Gale Tiger.

"Gale Tiger King."

Sherfilia spoke the name of the opponent. This individual, with exceptionally superior bloodline among Gale Tigers, was much stronger than its ordinary kin. Once it reached adulthood, it could directly become a Lord-Level magical creature, and a formidable one among Lord-Level creatures at that, with its threat level often reaching level 10! However, it was still a bit inferior to the Crystallized Spider Queen they had encountered earlier in the deeper layers of the underground mine.

So, Eve, who was currently fighting it, was performing quite acceptably, not clearly falling into a disadvantage.

After all, her level was only 9. Being able to fight like this while being one level behind was already very impressive.

Meanwhile, her companions dealing with the other Gale Tigers around were obviously having a much easier time.

Especially Milun. As the most powerful student among those taught by Flora in her first year as a mentor, Milun's mastery of fire element magic bore quite a resemblance to her teacher's shadow. Her spellcasting was very skilled and astonishingly powerful.

[Fire Snake Assault]!

Two fire snakes struck the enemy from bizarre angles at high speed, showcasing the girl's extremely high proficiency with the skill's mana circuits and her impressive mana control ability.The Gale Tiger hit by the fire snakes was instantly entangled by the two agile flames, its fur catching fire. It let out a pained cry, and in no time, it collapsed to the ground, motionless.

At the same time, the other students had already taken down two more Gale Tigers. Only three Gale Tigers remained.

Lin Mo did not intervene.

Unlike the previous situation of "stealing" monsters from those adventurers, those adventurers only wanted to complete tasks and earn gold. They didn't care much about the fight with the magical creatures themselves. Someone helping them deal with opponents without taking the spoils was considered a great act of kindness.

But these students' needs were different from the adventurers'.

What they needed wasn't just the rewards obtainable after killing magical creatures; more importantly, it was the practical experience they could gain during the process.

People grow the fastest in battle... especially in difficult or even dangerous battles.

Even without an external cheat like Lin Mo, combat and adventure are very important ways to improve one's own strength.

Especially for these students with rich theoretical knowledge and relatively well-trained skills honed at the academy, what they often lack the most is practical combat experience.

Intervening to steal their monsters at such a time would truly be a bit unkind.

Therefore, Lin Mo chose to observe.

At the same time, he also activated the [Eagle Eye] skill, searching through the dense forest around them.

"Oh?"

As expected, he soon made a discovery.

However, what he discovered wasn't just what he had anticipated.

These students had just encountered such an accident not long ago. If he hadn't coincidentally been drawn into the incident, they would have long since died miserably at the hands of the magical creatures in the lower layer of the Boulder Mine.

Only a few days had passed since then, and they were out adventuring again... The academy wasn't stupid; they must have arranged for protection.

Probably because the other party didn't intend to hide from him, Lin Mo quickly discovered the personnel secretly providing protection.

She even waved over here, greeting Lin Mo.

That's right, it was Flora's friend, the excellent graduate of the Royal Assassin Academy whom he had met a few times before—Miss Shaya.

Her strength was even slightly stronger than Flora's. For a powerful expert of that level, time is precious. Being able to invite her to help "babysit" would mean Flora owed her a favor, no matter how good their relationship was.

It was clear she really cared about these students...

However, besides Shaya, Lin Mo discovered something else.

This was probably also the reason Shaya specifically greeted him.

As personnel secretly responsible for protection, just like Sherfilia back then, it's better to avoid being discovered by the protectees if possible.

Because knowing that a powerful person is following for protection inevitably dilutes the feeling of adventure and practical experience. When encountering difficulties, they would always think, "Anyway, someone as strong as Miss Shaya is backing us up," and their fighting spirit wouldn't be as intense.

This was different from Lin Mo's situation... because Lin Mo didn't need any sense of crisis to force out his potential.

He also had no "potential" to speak of; his talents were already overflowing, completely unnecessary to painstakingly discover.

In short, if possible, Shaya would prefer not to reveal herself and intervene.

But the guy rapidly approaching was a situation where she couldn't really avoid intervening.

Now that Lin Mo happened to appear, it was naturally even better.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the other thing Lin Mo had discovered had also arrived at the battlefield.

Seeing the bloodied corpses littering the ground, it roared.

A fierce tiger's roar erupted from its mouth, and the entire mountain forest seemed to tremble with it.

"What is... that?!"

The students were instantly startled, glancing sideways at the behemoth that had suddenly appeared before them.

It was more than a full size larger than the Gale Tiger King fighting Eve, standing a full six meters tall. Its massive body resembled a small hill, its body a greenish-white color with exceptionally dense patterns. Its gaping maw looked like it could swallow a person whole in one bite, its sharp teeth gleaming coldly like rows of meticulously forged daggers.

Another Gale Tiger King?!

And a male one, clearly more ferocious and robust than the previous one.

Eve's pupils contracted, her heart also panicking a little. Because of the incident they experienced not long ago, they had been very cautious during this practical trip, not recklessly venturing deep into Zone 15, only roaming the peripheral areas.

Who would have thought they could encounter a Gale Tiger King here too? This was already a very low-probability stroke of bad luck, and now there were actually two?

Could it be that she was truly so unlucky, not qualified to make a name for herself at the Hunting Competition?

Eve gritted her teeth, but could only react quickly, warning, "Retreat!"

Without another word, the students immediately abandoned their current opponents and began to withdraw.

The Gale Tiger King, of course, couldn't possibly let these humans who had harmed its children off so easily. It roared and charged towards the students.

Eve had anticipated this. She swung her sword, thrusting towards it, very accurately hitting its flank.

The sharp sword tip pierced the Gale Tiger King's fur, a hint of crimson faintly visible. However, it stopped there, unable to penetrate deeper.

Eve's expression changed, and she quickly withdrew. But Gale Tigers were also magical creatures known for their speed. Its counterattack was equally swift, still managing to slap Eve's thin sword.

Although it didn't hit Eve's body, the impact still struck her like a heavy blow, sending her flying backward, her sword nearly flying from her grasp.

Such formidable strength!

She looked at the magical creature before her with a grave expression. It was completely on a different level from the Gale Tiger King she had been tangling with just moments ago.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Eve's forehead. This Gale Tiger King before her was probably already level 11, having reached Mid-Level Lord-Level!

Troublesome.

Eve frowned tightly, her somewhat numb arm trembling as she gripped her sword firmly.

She was indeed a genius. Dealing with a level 10 magical creature at level 9 was entirely possible for her. But between level 10 and level 11, there existed a vast chasm. No matter how much of a genius, even someone of Flora's caliber, it was completely impossible.

Unless...

Unless it was that young man.

A figure suddenly flashed through her mind. Even though the time they spent together wasn't that long, and several days had already passed, that face remained deeply imprinted in her memory, incredibly clear.

The shock that person had given her was simply too great.

Eve had always looked down on those "fabricated" stories by bards, thinking people who believed them were childish and naive.

Until such a person really appeared in reality, even more exaggerated than depicted in stories!

Like most geniuses, Eve was a very proud person. She never thought she would lose to anyone. Even against a genius like Teacher Flora, or even those top geniuses from the Empire, as long as she had equal resources, she felt she might have hope of standing shoulder to shoulder with them, even surpassing them.

But only Lin Mo... that young man who looked amiable, like a good-natured person, without any of the arrogant airs belonging to a genius, had displayed terrifying talent that made Eve, and even every genius within her scope of knowledge, feel ashamed.

The distracting thoughts in her mind lasted only an instant, because the Gale Tiger King before her soon launched another attack.

Its fierce momentum made Eve feel a chill for a moment, but quickly, she gritted her teeth, rallied herself, and with all her might observed the opponent's movements. Finally, from the nearly blurred afterimage moving too fast, she discerned its action and avoided the strike at an extremely perilous angle.

Her speed was, of course, slower than the opponent's.

The reason she could dodge this attack was entirely due to her naturally exceptional eyesight, coupled with precise judgment and calculation of her own and the opponent's speed, predicting the trajectory of its movement in advance.

And all of this was completed in the brief moment she saw its action.

It must be said, she truly was a genius.

Both the observing Lin Mo and even Shaya were surprised by this.

The Gale Tiger King was even more completely unprepared for the opponent to dodge its attack. Caught off guard, it momentarily lost its rhythm and was immediately counterattacked by Eve, who stabbed its body again.

However, acting in haste, Eve didn't have time to use a powerful skill, and the damage inflicted on the opponent was also quite limited.

The fleeting moment passed in a flash, and Eve also withdrew from that adrenaline-fueled, mystical state. Her brain then realized that there was more than one Gale Tiger King on the scene.

But the other one she had been tangling with earlier was nowhere to be seen. Could it be that her classmates...

She anxiously looked towards the direction her classmates had retreated, only to find that the Gale Tiger King she had fought for so long earlier was now lying on the ground, its body still twitching but already silent.

And a familiar figure was currently standing on its back, watching her side with great interest.

It was him...

Eve never expected that the young man who had just flashed through her mind would appear before her again in the blink of an eye.

She quickly turned around, her thin sword blocking the furious Gale Tiger King's counterattack. Her body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, landing right beside Lin Mo.

"Thank you..."

She steadied her breathing, barely managing to utter thanks, then looked up again at the opponent before her.

"Need help?"

Lin Mo looked at the somewhat disheveled Eve.

She shook her head, a stubborn, unwilling-to-admit-defeat expression on her face.

There wasn't much time left before the Hunting Competition. Within this final deadline, she absolutely had to break through herself, reach level 10, to have a chance to make a name for herself in one battle, just like Teacher Flora once did!

And so, the next moment, she took the initiative, charging towards the Gale Tiger King in the distance.

Having cast aside all distracting thoughts, Eve threw herself wholeheartedly into the battle before her. Her movements were extremely precise and crisp, like a precision instrument, not wasting a single ounce of stamina.

Such superb technique allowed her to restrain an opponent with attributes clearly superior to her own. Although she still inevitably appeared somewhat disheveled, and there were often perilous moments, it was precisely because of this that Eve received the maximum degree of training.

Watching her fight, Lin Mo clearly understood just how difficult it normally was to improve one's strength.

Even for a genius of Eve's caliber, wanting to break through quickly required pushing herself to this extent...

No wonder many professionals struggled to increase their levels throughout their entire lives.

Unfortunately, Lin Mo couldn't empathize with this.

He couldn't even understand what a "bottleneck" or a "breakthrough" was. Everything was smooth sailing. Thinking about it this way, his cultivation journey lacked a very important stage compared to ordinary professionals, which could be considered a kind of deficiency.

Thinking these thoughts that would definitely get him beaten if spoken aloud, Lin Mo watched Eve's increasingly strenuous, increasingly difficult-to-hold-on fight and also drew his sword, ready to intervene at any moment.

After all, she was a Swift Warrior. Although not as fragile as an Assassin or Ranger, facing an opponent two levels higher and surpassing a major stage, Eve was undoubtedly walking a tightrope. If she were slightly careless, suffering serious injury or even a fatal wound was entirely possible.

Sure enough, willpower and spirit ultimately couldn't bridge the gap in strength. Gradually, Eve's stamina gave out, and she became more and more strained, increasingly approaching her limit.

Finally, after another unavoidable clash, her body was sent flying by the opponent once more. The Gale Tiger King followed closely, its sharp claws seemingly about to tear her open.

Lin Mo was just about to intervene when he suddenly paused, then instead cast [Unyielding Body] on her, also throwing in the Priest skill [Light's Inspiration] to help restore stamina, and even adding the [Strength Increase] buff.

Eve, who had originally reached her absolute limit, suddenly felt her body regain strength, and her power had also increased considerably.

Lin Mo's Mana attribute had reached an exaggerated 255 points. And due to previous frequent use, the [Strength Increase] skill had also reached level 2, able to increase Strength by 6% of the total Mana attribute, which was 15 points.

For Eve, a Swift Warrior whose Strength attribute wasn't inherently high, this was already a quite decent boost.

However, Lin Mo didn't heal her. After all, physical pain and injury could sometimes be the key to unlocking potential.

Eve, who had originally lost the ability to resist, rallied herself. Facing the Gale Tiger King's attack, she shouted angrily, her thin sword glowing with a golden light.

This was the skill she had used when they first met at the Boulder Mine. In Lin Mo's estimation, it was most likely an Epic-level skill.

Golden light shone brightly. A giant sword shadow descended from the sky, landing on the Gale Tiger King's body.

The sword shadow was more dazzling and more solid than any previous time!

Eve's comprehension of this move had clearly reached a new height.

And her attributes and level also increased accordingly, finally reaching level 10.

The sword shadow landed on the Gale Tiger King's body, instantly forcing it to crouch lower. The shadow penetrated its body, cutting open roughly one-third of it.

The Gale Tiger King let out a mournful cry and collapsed heavily to the ground.

A faint smile touched Eve's lips, then she felt her consciousness blur, her vision darkening.

In the instant before she fell, she felt as if she had fallen into a warm embrace.

Lin Mo held the slender waist of the girl in his arms, looking at the Gale Tiger King before him that was struggling to rise again.

Eve's strike had indeed caused it significant damage, one could say it had heavily wounded the opponent. But this damage was still far from fatal, so it still had the ability to counterattack, even more frenzied than before due to pain and rage.

However...

Lin Mo just leisurely raised his hand, tilting his head slightly as if contemplating which skill to use.

Only when the Gale Tiger King charged to close range did he finally make a decision.

The next moment, he threw out a seemingly casual punch. The space before him seemed to tremble and distort with it. Even within the force of this punch, there was dazzling lightning.

[Thunderclap Void-Shaking Fist]

A skill formed from Lin Mo's newly acquired Epic-level skill [Void-Shaking Fist] combined with [Lightning Strike].

Although it was a combination thought up on the spot, the effect seemed quite good.

With that one punch, the Gale Tiger King's body visibly twisted. Its massive head was brutally smashed into its chest cavity by the terrifying force.

An effortless instant kill.

Eve's consciousness happened to recover at this moment. From an extremely close first-person perspective, she witnessed all of this firsthand, her expression momentarily blank.

[Void-Shaking Fist] proficiency +90

[Lightning Strike] proficiency +90

Quite generous!

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. As expected, only these high-level magical creatures were truly satisfying.

With these 90 points of proficiency, [Void-Shaking Fist] directly leveled up to 3.

"Skill [Void-Shaking Fist] Lv1 (20/20) leveled up!"

...

"Current skill [Void-Shaking Fist] Lv3 (10/80)"

"Gained basic attribute point Strength +5!"

Lin Mo's basic Strength attribute directly reached 139 points, only 1 point away from the 140 points required for level 12.

The proficiency progress for [Lightning Strike], currently at level 5, also went straight up by half.