novelraw Chapter 280: The sudden attack of monsters, the secret realm of the Tranquil Forest?
Chapter 280: The sudden attack of monsters, the secret realm of the Tranquil Forest?
"Watch out!"
Milun shouted a warning while simultaneously casting a [Flame Impact] attack at the Frostwing Tiger.
Actually, her warning wasn't even necessary. After all, Eve had already experienced many adventures and had fairly rich practical combat experience. She obviously knew that the previous strike was far from enough to kill the Mid-Level Lord-Level magical creature before her. Therefore, the moment the Frostwing Tiger launched its counterattack, she had already reacted, her figure rapidly descending. The instant her toes touched the ground, she sprang upwards, darting out of the range of the opponent's attack.
The Frostwing Tiger's massive paw almost grazed the hem of Eve's clothes but ultimately struck empty air. Being wounded again sent it completely into a berserk rage. With a furious roar, it charged towards Eve like a mad beast.
Its speed was very fast. Although classified as a strength-type magical creature, its speed wasn't much slower than Eve's. However, the Frostwing Tiger in its enraged state clearly couldn't maintain calm thinking. Relying on her slightly superior speed, agile movements, and clear-headed strategy, Eve handled it with ease.
Not far ahead was a cliff. Eve adopted a circling tactic, leading the creature around in a loop.
The Frostwing Tiger pursued relentlessly, following behind Eve as it charged towards the group.
Lin Mo met Eve's gaze, nodded, and applied all his buff skills one by one.
Lin Mo circulated his mana, resonating with the earth element.
The next moment, right in the middle of the Frostwing Tiger's charge, an earth spike suddenly erupted from beneath the ground. With precise calculation of its position, it pierced through its abdomen.The Frostwing Tiger immediately let out a mournful cry. After the previous upgrade and evolution of [Lightning Strike], Lin Mo had gained another 6 points in his base mana attribute. His base mana attribute had now reached 145 points, reaching the level of a Level 12 Mage.
"Promotion conditions met. Profession Mage (lv11) promoted – Current Profession Mage (lv12)."
"Gained profession attribute enhancement: Constitution +2, Agility +2, Spirit +3, Mana +5!"
The level-up directly provided a total of 12 points in enhanced attributes. At this moment, Lin Mo's total mana attribute had reached an astonishing 274 points!
This value was already roughly equivalent to a Level 14 Mage!
Therefore, even though it was just a common-grade spell – Earth Spike – it still effortlessly pierced through the Frostwing Tiger's abdomen.
The Frostwing Tiger's forward charge also came to a halt. The next moment, Eve suddenly turned around. A golden light shone on the thin sword in her hand.
"Judgment Sword!"
Accompanied by her light shout, a massive golden sword shadow descended from the sky, landing on the Frostwing Tiger's body, instantly piercing through its form and pinning it to the ground.
By now, Lin Mo had also arrived. A burning blood-red sword energy directly cleaved the Frostwing Tiger from head to tail into two halves!
[Blazing Moon Sky Charge]!
This combined skill, one of the earliest Lin Mo used after becoming a Spellsword, was as powerful as ever. After cutting the Frostwing Tiger in half, it continued forward, leaving a sword mark several meters deep on the ground that stretched all the way to the edge of the hillside. The students watching from behind all grimaced, their faces turning into a collection of exaggerated expressions.
Eve sheathed her sword and stood still, her gaze somewhat dazed as she looked at the Frostwing Tiger split into two halves.
"Good cooperation."
Lin Mo walked up to her and proactively extended his hand.
Eve was stunned for a moment before shaking her head and saying slowly, "You didn't do much... Even without you, you could have easily killed it alone."
"But reality isn't like that, is it?"
Lin Mo smiled slightly. "No need to be so concerned. It's just like before, you would also feel you were fighting alongside those classmates."
These words entered Eve's ears like a sudden enlightenment, instantly making everything clear to her.
Perhaps because she was used to standing at the top, used to being the core of the team, used to being praised and expected by everyone... the demands she placed on herself, the pressure she gave herself, had also grown heavier and heavier.
— As if, if she couldn't be the strongest, if she couldn't make the greatest contribution, she was completely worthless.
But in fact, she never viewed her companions that way. So the Lin Mo before her was the same.
He wouldn't look down on her, nor would he resent her.
Just like her former self, he was a kind person.
Or rather, the people around her were all kind people...
Where there is darkness in the world, there is light; where there is evil, there is good.
It was just that she had once experienced darkness, had once been shrouded in gloom, that she mistakenly thought there was no light before her.
Finally, she extended her hand, grasped Lin Mo's palm, a barely perceptible curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.
Eve's hand was a bit cool, her palm somewhat rough—traces left by years of accumulated training.
However, if treated with high-quality alchemical products for recuperation, it should still be possible to restore it to its original soft and smooth state.
Eve quickly withdrew her hand. She rubbed her palm with her fingertips, a fleeting hint of gloom passing through her expression.
Lin Mo didn't notice this, because he had discovered a very serious problem—
Damn it, the flowers!
Lin Mo's previous [Blazing Moon Sky Charge] had directly extended to the edge of the cliff. And those Blue Moon Cherries required by the mission were growing right on the hillside!
Lin Mo hurriedly rushed over. Sure enough, he saw that some of the flowers had been accidentally damaged by his move and had already been burned to ashes.
Fortunately, the loss wasn't too great. The remaining flowers should still exceed forty, enough to complete the mission.
"So beautiful."
The others also rushed over. Looking at the flowers blooming with a radiant glow under the moonlight, for a moment, they were all reluctant to pick them.
"This kind of flower... seems to be a material for making Water Light Cream, right?"
A male student said somewhat uncertainly.
"Water Light Cream?"
Finnie's eyes immediately lit up. "Is that the stuff that can make skin become soft and smooth?"
"Yes, this plant itself has a certain restorative effect. After processing, it can restore skin that was originally burned or scarred. I remember there didn't seem to be this thing in the Royal Capital before. The newly opened Noren Trading Company has it for sale, but the quantity isn't much, and it sells out quickly."
No wonder they issued a mission for it.
Lin Mo plucked a Blue Moon Cherry and observed it carefully.
So this thing was used to make "beauty products."
"Mr. Lin Mo, please quickly seal them in the alchemy material bag mentioned in the mission! Otherwise, the medicinal efficacy will dissipate!"
Finnie reminded anxiously.
Hearing this, Lin Mo hurriedly took out the special material bag from his Spatial Ring and carefully placed the Blue Moon Cherry inside. Only then did he reach out and pinch Finnie's cheek. "Rarely see you so flustered. Is Finnie interested in this stuff?"
Finnie snapped back to reality, only then realizing how "rude" she had just spoken, and hurriedly offered a string of apologies.
As for Lin Mo's question, she skillfully avoided it.
But Lin Mo wasn't going to let her off. He continued, "I actually think Finnie doesn't need this kind of thing. Little Finnie's skin is already soft and smooth enough. Fragrant and soft, like a little cake, making people want to take a bite."
"Ugh~ Mr. Lin Mo~"
Finnie's face turned completely red. Sensing the gazes from those around, she lowered her head, wanting to shrink her head into her chest.
Unfortunately, although her assets were much more bountiful than Sherfilia's, she was still far from reaching the level needed to accomplish this feat.
Among the people Lin Mo knew, currently only Flora probably had the capability to do that.
Finnie also realized this, so she simply buried her head in Lin Mo's chest like an ostrich, which instead caused a burst of laughter from those around.
After fooling around for a while, they finally remembered they had serious business to attend to. They hurriedly collected all the Blue Moon Cherries in front of them, storing them in the material bags, including, of course, that single Purple Moon Cherry.
As a special variant of the Blue Moon Cherry, the Purple Moon Cherry was also a material for making Water Light Cream. However, the quality of the Water Light Cream made from this material was not on the same level as that made from Blue Moon Cherries. Both its effects and value were much higher.
"Speaking of which, why was that Frostwing Tiger injured earlier?"
Ellie remembered this matter and asked somewhat puzzled.
"Right, this matter feels a bit strange!"
Someone from the student side immediately chimed in.
Lin Mo was actually thinking about this problem as well.
You have to understand, this was Area 37, the territory of the Frostwing Tiger. Logically, there shouldn't be any magical creatures stronger than an adult Frostwing Tiger in this area. So why was this Frostwing Tiger injured here?
Was it a territorial dispute among its own kind... or the work of other adventurers?
Thinking of this, Lin Mo walked over to the Frostwing Tiger's corpse and examined the wounds on its body.
Many of them were sword wounds left during the previous battle. These were easy to identify. Apart from those, there were several very obvious wounds—penetrating injuries on its left arm, lower jaw, and heart area, as if pierced by some cylindrical object...
This clearly didn't seem like the handiwork of adventurers or its own kind.
"Strange..."
Lin Mo frowned. He really disliked this feeling of the unknown.
"Anyway, there might be some other magical creatures in this area now. We should hurry and leave—"
Lin Mo's words stopped abruptly here.
The next moment, he shouted loudly, "Everyone, dodge!"
"Boom!"
Just as his voice fell, accompanied by a loud noise, something suddenly burst out from underground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Lin Mo focused his gaze. Before him was a giant beetle, a full three to four meters tall.
Its carapace was pitch black, shimmering with a metallic luster. Its massive mouthparts contained a row of terrifyingly sharp teeth that made one's scalp tingle.
Its several slender legs were as thick as a person's waist. On its head was a horn over a meter long, incredibly sharp.
"Looks like the real culprit has shown itself..."
Lin Mo frowned as he observed the suddenly appearing magical creature. Was it attracted by the sounds of the previous battle?
After the beetle appeared, it didn't immediately attack the group. Instead, it went to the side of the Frostwing Tiger and began gnawing on its corpse.
Seizing this opportunity, everyone quickly retreated a distance.
"What the hell is that?"
Several students asked, hearts still pounding.
"Haven't seen it before... There shouldn't be this kind of magical creature in the Silent Forest, right?"
"Definitely not. I've looked through the Monster Encyclopedia of the Silent Forest many times. There are absolutely no beetle-type magical creatures like this!"
A warrior student said with certainty.
An invasion by an external magical creature? But this place belonged to the central region of the Silent Forest. Even if there were external magical creatures, it was unlikely they could pass through so many areas along the way to get here.
Moreover, there were no regions around the Silent Forest capable of spawning such a creature.
Lin Mo thought of one possibility.
A Secret Realm?
If the creature before him had escaped from a Secret Realm, then everything seemed to become reasonable.
So, did a Secret Realm exist within this forest?!
He had never heard of it before. He could ask Flora after returning to see if she knew anything.
As for now...
Lin Mo roughly assessed the situation. Without a doubt, the strength of this magical creature before him was certainly greater than that of the previous Frostwing Tiger. Otherwise, it couldn't have seriously injured it. However, it probably wasn't that much stronger either. Otherwise, the Frostwing Tiger wouldn't have fought it, let alone been able to escape after losing. From this point, it was estimated to be at most around Level 13?
However, judging by its appearance, this guy seemed to have pretty strong defensive capabilities.
That set of black insect armor was probably not just for show.
"For safety's sake, let's retreat first."
Lin Mo said.
Milun nodded. "Right, while it's eating, let's leave quickly."
Saying this, she led the students away quickly.
But Lin Mo didn't move.
Similarly unmoving were Sherfilia and the others, as well as Eve.
Lin Mo turned to look at Sherfilia. "Take Finnie and the others away first. Don't go too far."
Sherfilia nodded, then turned to leave.
But as she left, she secretly clenched her fist, clearly feeling unsettled.
Lin Mo's growth speed was too fast. Sherfilia, who once could serve as his safety net in adventures, could hardly help him much now.
Including Young Mistress Finnie, her growth speed was also astonishingly fast. Continuing like this, it wouldn't be long before her level might catch up.
This made Sherfilia very unwilling.
She had always been a very stubborn person. She wanted to do something for Young Mistress Finnie, for her Master. She wanted to become an important aid to them, to follow behind them, not to be a mere vase, only able to help with small things in daily life.
This was also a very important reason why she chose to secretly "eat" (advance/improve).
Sharing a similar sentiment was Ellie.
She turned her head to look at Finnie, who was adding BUFFs to Lin Mo, feeling somewhat envious.
Similarly unable to fight side by side with him, but at least Finnie could help him in some ways.
But she didn't make a fuss, just made up her mind to work even harder.
Finally, only Eve remained by Lin Mo's side.
"It's very dangerous."
Lin Mo looked at the "beetle" ahead. It seemed to have been starving for a long time, having already eaten nearly one-third of the massive Frostwing Tiger.
Eve didn't answer, just took half a step forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
Lin Mo smiled and didn't say anything more. "Then, let's take it down together!"
He applied [Unyielding Body] to Eve, finished applying all his own BUFFs, then stepped forward. Gripping the "Frost Dragon Scale Sword" tightly, he arrived before the magical creature in an instant.
"Screech—"
The beetle, disturbed during its meal, was clearly very angry. A sharp insect screech pierced their ears. However, its arrogant aura was extinguished the very next second.
A powerful pressure emanated from the "Frost Dragon Scale Sword," instantly causing a look of fear to appear in its eyes.
This was Dragon Might, an effect of the "Frost Dragon Scale Sword." It could enhance one's own Qi and Blood strength by 35% and intimidate magical creatures below Epic Level, reducing all their attributes by 10%.
The beetle before them was, at best, a Mid-Level Lord-Level creature, not much stronger than the Frostwing Tiger, so it naturally fell within the range.
Lin Mo actually didn't often use Dragon Might to intimidate opponents before.
Although this effect didn't consume much, only requiring channeling Qi and Blood into the sword to activate, it often wasn't necessary.
It wasn't like skills that could earn proficiency; using a "big move" every fight felt a bit weird.
Moreover, for most opponents Lin Mo encountered, whether their attributes were reduced or not didn't make much difference.
But this guy before him was different.
Lin Mo wasn't the kind of fool who would hide his abilities and not use them, especially when facing an opponent that could potentially threaten him. Naturally, he would use whatever he had, going all out.
The next moment, the [Shadow Split] skill was released. A clone appeared beside Lin Mo.
The two Lin Mos simultaneously launched an attack, charging towards the black beetle ahead.
Following closely behind him was Eve.
The beetle, disturbed during its meal, was also currently filled with rage. It didn't dodge or evade, lifting its thick insect leg to stab at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo didn't stop his movement. Just as the two were about to collide, his pupils suddenly contracted. His figure directly disappeared, performing a Flash to bypass the opponent's insect leg, arriving right in front of it.
The next moment, the Frost Dragon Scale Sword in his hand directly slashed onto the black carapace.
[Accumulated Sword Combo]!
This already max-level skill, unused for a while, was brought out again mainly to test just how strong the opponent's defensive capabilities were.
The facts proved that this set of black insect armor shimmering with a metallic luster was indeed not just for show.
The sharp blade struck the carapace and immediately encountered a very powerful resistance.
Although it soon successfully broke through the insect armor, leaving fine cracks on it, it also gave the opponent enough buffer time to quickly retreat, avoiding the follow-up damage.
"Tch..."
Lin Mo clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
A bit tough.
You have to understand, with the enhancement of the Frost Dragon Scale Sword, the strength he displayed was fully comparable to a Level 14 Warrior. Even so, he still couldn't immediately break through this creature's defense and inflict damage.
This showed just how high the hardness of this carapace was!
However, correspondingly, this insect's offensive capabilities weren't that strong.
Its means of attack were limited, and its movements weren't particularly fast, making them easy to read.
Lin Mo sidestepped a few times, easily dodging the opponent's successive counterattacks. The next moment, he once again slashed at an insect leg.
The powerful force immediately knocked the insect leg back, even causing it to briefly lose balance.
It seemed it was just a more durable "training dummy" after all.
Lin Mo shook his head, somewhat disappointed.
He then stopped wasting time and got serious.
The next moment, he suddenly swapped positions with the clone that had already taken the opportunity to reach above the beetle.
The blood-red sword energy shot out again. [Blazing Moon Sky Charge] instantly slashed downwards. Before the beetle could even react, the burning crimson sword energy had already landed on its head. The moment it made contact, it melted the hard insect armor and sliced through its body.
"Sizzle—"
This magical creature was truly tenacious. The sword energy had almost completely severed its head, the smell of protein being roasted by flames emanating from it, yet it still had the ability to move, turning around trying to flee.
However, by now, Eve's attack had also arrived.
A golden sword shadow descended from the sky. Its powerful force pressed the beetle, which had just started to move, flat against the ground.
However, on the black insect's back, only a small dent was left.
Clearly, this move hadn't broken through its defense, causing no substantial damage, only serving as a control effect.
But that was already enough...
Lin Mo Flashed to close the distance again. A flash of lightning erupted. An orange beam composed of Qi and Blood was entwined with surging lightning. The beam, nearly half a meter thick, shot upwards from below, piercing into the black beetle's head. Following the opening cut by the previous [Blazing Moon Sky Charge], it completely penetrated its skull.
"Boom—!"
The loud sound reached their ears afterwards. The beam shot skyward, disappearing into the heavens.
The black beetle's brain had already been completely destroyed by this terrifying move. Its massive body convulsed instinctively for a while before falling still.
At such a close distance, Eve felt Lin Mo's fearsomeness even more clearly. Her body trembled lightly as well, both from her body's instinctive fear of such destructive energy and also from the excitement and thrill of facing a powerful expert up close.
Those who pursue strength are, by nature, admirers of strength. The more obsessive the desire to become stronger, the harder it is to resist the admiration for the strong.
It's just that often, they don't encounter that dazzlingly talented person worthy of such admiration.
Eve's expression remained calm, but her heart was like churning rivers and seas, already stirred by towering waves.
Lin Mo, however, had no time to pay attention to this.
He immediately took out a copy of "Insect-Type Monster Encyclopedia Guide" that he had purchased earlier but hadn't had time to read, and started flipping through it.
Based on the creature's size and characteristics, he searched through the table of contents for quite a while before finally finding something.
"Unicorn Black Beetle, commonly known as 'Ironclad Fortress.' As the name suggests, it means its carapace is as sturdy as a fortress."
These introductions weren't the main point at the moment. The important part was...
"Contrary to common sense, the most precious material on the Unicorn Black Beetle is not its hard carapace—because its malleability is too weak, it actually doesn't possess very high value. The most valuable part of this magical creature is its heart and the meat nearby. It possesses extremely high energy. After special treatment by a Chef, it has the effect of boosting stamina, enhancing vigor, and can increase Constitution attribute!"
"Holy crap, a super nourishing item?"
Lin Mo's eyes immediately lit up, instantly dismissing the thought of selling it for money.
Such a good thing, of course, had to be kept for himself to eat!
He spent quite a bit of effort before finally collecting the "material" mentioned in the encyclopedia.
Because the creature was large, this "material" was quite substantial, about the size of a bucket.
After returning, he would research how to process it. If he couldn't figure it out, he'd spend money to hire someone to help prepare it...
In a place like the Royal Capital, he should still be able to find a skilled Chef.
Lin Mo, with Eve, found the group that had retreated earlier. After regrouping, they hurriedly left the area, even deliberately running an extra distance.
After all, who knew if some other magical creature might pop out from this place.
By now, it was already the middle of the night. Everyone was very tired. After hastily making some preparations, setting up tents, they each rested.
Because the carriage was left outside the forest, Lin Mo and the others could only stay in tents this time. However, at this point, there was no time to worry about sleeping comfortably. Apart from those on night watch duty, everyone basically fell asleep as soon as they hit the ground.
And Lin Mo happened to be one of those on night watch duty.
Originally, this task wouldn't fall to him. But today's situation was special. After being busy all day, having those students stand watch, apart from Knights with high Constitution attributes, probably wasn't very reliable.
This was, after all, the Silent Forest, and a magical creature that shouldn't exist had appeared. It was better to be cautious.
Coincidentally, during this time, Lin Mo could also check the gains from earlier.