novelraw Chapter 288: Level 10 Knight, Lin Mo's Sustainability?
Chapter 288: Level 10 Knight, Lin Mo's Sustainability?
Silent Forest's Area 13.
Just like the previous Area 5, this also belongs to the more peripheral regions of the Silent Forest.
Although the layout of the Silent Forest is different from Roland Forest, with each area being equivalent to a small "ecosystem," it still generally follows the principle of stronger inside and weaker outside. The further in you go, the higher the upper and lower limits of the monsters in that area compared to the outer regions.
The main monster group residing in Area 13 is called the Vine Treant.
This is a relatively rare type of plant monster. These monsters are often immobile and can only hunt by camouflaging themselves, waiting for prey to approach before attacking.
"That means... the seemingly ordinary trees in this area could all be disguises for Vine Treants. If you're careless, you could be ensnared by highly toxic vines, paralyzed, then buried under the tree to become fertilizer, with your body's nutrients slowly drained..."
If it were a novice adventurer hearing this, they might already be trembling in fear.
Well, even if not a novice, they might still react that way...
Lin Mo rubbed Finnie's hair, comforting the timid, adorable girl.
As for the others, Lin Mo didn't need to say anything; Ellie and Sherfilia's personalities didn't seem like the type to be afraid of such things.Finnie took the opportunity to lean closer, almost throwing her whole body into Lin Mo's embrace.
Ellie only then realized something was off, but now it seemed too late to pretend, so she could only pout helplessly.
She knew it! These seemingly well-behaved, cute, and innocent-looking kids were actually the most scheming!
"They're here."
After walking a bit further, Lin Mo suddenly spoke. The next moment, flames surged in his hand, and a series of fireballs flew out, incinerating the vines that had been quietly approaching.
A low, mournful sound faintly came from among the trees. Immediately after, more vines attacked the group.
From the ancient trees several meters thick, countless vines shot out at extreme speed.
Sherfilia held daggers in both hands, attacking left and right with an expressionless face as she severed these vines.
Ellie's movements were wide and sweeping, seemingly clumsy but actually very fast, handling the situation with ease as well.
Finnie lacked some lethal means, but that was fine. She cast a 【Holy Light Protection】 shield on herself. The vines smashed against the magic shield with loud *thuds* but couldn't breach her defense at all.
These treants were, after all, just low-level monsters not even reaching Lord Level.
Lin Mo felt somewhat disinterested. With a gale in his left hand and ice in his right, he directly performed a Dual Casting.
The Epic-level skill 【Frost Storm】, enhanced by the equally Epic-level skill 【Gale Domain】, became even more terrifying, instantly freezing those thick trees into "ice sculptures."
Lin Mo rarely used the 【Gale Domain】 skill, but its effects were actually quite good.
First, it possessed inherent damaging capability. Additionally, it had the effect of amplifying the power of elemental skills like ice, fire, and lightning.
Combined with the Dual Casting technique, it maximized the skill's effect completely, allowing one person to achieve the results that would normally require two mages cooperating.
How could the Vine Treants before them withstand such terrifying magical bombardment? Both the vines and the trees themselves were quickly completely frozen.
"Job's done."
Ellie dashingly brushed the dust off her clothes, and then...
And then she started miserably collecting materials.
These monsters were different from goblins; their materials were quite valuable.
Some contestants might not care about this, focusing solely on points and rankings, but Lin Mo didn't have that luxury.
Money still had to be earned.
At times like this, the disadvantage of having few people became apparent again. The fight lasted only 2-3 minutes in total, but collecting materials alone took nearly 20 minutes.
Lin Mo began to miss the hired hands... ahem, teammates from his previous party.
It seemed they needed to recruit more people for the team later. The current Silver Radiance Team still had too few members, causing inconveniences in many aspects during adventures.
Currently, the team already had a strength-type warrior Ellie, an assassin Sherfilia, and a priest Finnie. Logically, they still lacked a mage and a ranger.
Of course, a party's composition doesn't need to include every profession, nor is it limited to one person per profession.
After all, most adventurer teams don't have the means to recruit mages and priests. Many teams are composed of two or three warriors, plus a ranger and an assassin.
Lin Mo didn't have any specific requirements for the team's professional composition either. In short, he'd let fate decide. If he encountered suitable people, he could consider recruiting them.
Actually, if possible, Lin Mo would quite like to poach Instructor Flora. However, considering she was an academy instructor, the academy definitely wouldn't be happy if he really did that, so it was a bit troublesome...
Moreover, it also depended on her own willingness.
Time to continue grinding monsters...
On the other side, in Area 21 of the Silent Forest, Eve's team was still diligently killing monsters.
"These people are all so strong... we can't open up any gap in points like this!"
Just after finishing a battle, this was naturally the time to rest and also check their gains.
However, after opening the points ranking list and taking a look, that warrior sighed helplessly. "When it comes down to it, we shouldn't compare ourselves to these people from other kingdoms. It's simply unfair!"
"There's nothing fair or unfair about it."
Eve said calmly, "No matter who the opponent is, it's not a reason for failure."
She looked at the name at the top of the points leaderboard, her gaze blazing.
Just like him, no matter what kind of opponent he encountered, he would never lose.
This was the kind of strength she aspired to, the direction she strove for.
Now, there was a very clear benchmark on her path—as long as she could surpass him, she wouldn't have to worry about losing to anyone.
"Rest for a bit, then continue grinding monsters."
Milan said, "If this continues, we won't even be able to hold onto third place soon..."
Area 18, Satt looked at his score, which had dropped to 9th place, his face extremely gloomy.
Not long ago, he had come to participate in this competition with the thought of winning the championship. But now, he couldn't even hold onto a spot in the top ten.
Not just those people from other kingdoms... Eve, and Lin Mo?
Satt looked at those two names belonging to the Doria Kingdom, his eyes filled with rage.
Good, you all... have earned your death!
"Boss, are we still continuing? The brothers are all tired..."
Beside him, his underling cautiously asked.
To compete for ranking, Satt hadn't allowed them to rest earlier, almost constantly on the move and fighting.
Satt glanced at him, the gloomy look in his eyes making the man tremble all over.
"Boss, I'll tell them to set off right now..."
"Stop."
Satt snorted coldly. His father's plan still needed some preparation time. Before that, he at least had to ensure his own ranking wasn't too low. He couldn't disappoint his father, otherwise...
Satt seemed to think of something terrifying, shuddering all over. He immediately stood up and led his group of underlings to continue searching for prey.
This Hunting Competition was becoming increasingly fierce.
......
A burning crimson Sword Energy slashed across a massive body. The towering giant tree before him fell. Lin Mo looked at the message appearing before his eyes.
【Blood Moon Sky Charge】 proficiency +80
"Skill 【Blood Moon Sky Charge】 Lv4 (200/200) leveled up!"
"Current skill 【Blood Moon Sky Charge】 Lv5 (20/360)"
This skill had already reached Level 5. It was just 1 level away from gaining basic attributes again and choosing an evolution route.
【Blazing Sky Fire Spear】 proficiency +80
Back when Lin Mo released 【Flame Moon Sky Charge】, having just become a Spellsword and being unfamiliar with the technique of combining magic and swordsmanship, he chose the more conservative 【Blood Moon Sky Charge】 combined with the already max-level 【Blazing Fire Spear】.
But now, with continuous use and refinement, Lin Mo had become very proficient in the technique of combining spell and warrior skills. So, he used 【Blazing Sky Fire Spear】, which was one tier higher than 【Blazing Fire Spear】, to once again enhance the power of this combined skill.
This wave of proficiency gain also raised the 【Blazing Sky Fire Spear】 skill to Level 4.
Judging from the proficiency gained, the strongest monster he just killed in Area 13 should have been Level 10.
One step further, and it would be a Mid-Level Lord-Level monster.
After killing this monster, in terms of the points leaderboard, no one should be able to challenge him for the time being.
The points obtained from a Level 10 monster received a significant boost compared to a Level 9 monster, directly giving 10,000 points at once!
Lin Mo's total points had now reached 23,732, far surpassing the 2nd place's 11,451.
As for the 3rd place, Eve, her point count had also exceeded 10,000, reaching 11,092, a very small gap from 2nd place.
But simultaneously, the 4th place's points seemed to have caught up as well, also exceeding 10,000, currently at 10,334, with a similarly small gap.
It seemed these few people's strengths were relatively close?
Lin Mo didn't have a definite answer either. After all, he only knew Eve's strength and hadn't seen the others fight.
Moreover, the current results didn't necessarily represent the final outcome. After all, so far, apart from him, basically the vast majority of contestants were still adopting relatively conservative strategies. When this Hunting Competition was about to end and everyone started sprinting, successfully killing one high-level monster could directly turn the tables.
Lin Mo's gaze then fell on Satt, who was ranked 9th.
This guy was Duke Morin's son, right?
Doesn't seem that strong either...
But based on Lin Mo's understanding of Duke Morin, this guy would definitely not let things go. He was bound to use some despicable means to help his son cheat.
The question was, what specific method would the other party use?
Also, did Benerod have any definite news on this...
Lin Mo remained very vigilant about this. After all, if the other party could previously bribe an instructor from the Royal National Academy, then it was highly possible they could bribe a second one.
Of course, it was also possible these people were originally cultivated by him and then sent into the academy.
In short, this situation had to be guarded against.
To ensure the safety of the participants as much as possible, there were now many powerful individuals constantly patrolling and inspecting this forest. Lin Mo had encountered them more than once on the way, even running into an acquaintance once—that somewhat off-putting Instructor Amy from the Water Element class of the Saint Antonian Magic Academy.
Of course, her view of Lin Mo now was somewhat different from before. Although there was still a faint trace of "greed" and "desire," it was clearly much more restrained.
After all, the experience of being Lin Mo's sparring partner back then had left a deep impression on her.
With his points far in the lead, Lin Mo could also calm down more to find monsters that weren't so powerful, to practice his Knight profession skills. Simultaneously, monsters of this strength were also more friendly to Ellie and Sherfilia, allowing them to gain experience and practice, and genuinely feel involved.
Time passed bit by bit like this.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
This afternoon, Lin Mo, having just finished lunch, leisurely lay on the grass, using Sherfilia's lap as a pillow.
Although very slender, Sherfilia's thighs were surprisingly soft, quite comfortable to rest on.
He checked the gains from the past few days.
Because the focus had been on practicing Knight and Priest profession skills, the level growth of these skills was extremely fast.
Currently, the 【Taunt】 skill had reached Level 4. 【Shield Riposte】 had directly reached max level, completed evolution, and turned into the blue Exceptional-Grade skill 【Heavy Shield Counter】.
The 【Heavy-Shield Spiral】 skill had also reached Level 4. 【Charging Shield】 was directly max level, evolving into the blue Exceptional-Grade skill 【Assault Shield】.
Overall, these skills were upgraded versions of the original skills, enhancing power and effects without any special changes.
The results of these few days of effort had brought Lin Mo a total of 18 basic Constitution attribute points.
His Constitution attribute directly changed from the original 88 to 106.
"Promotion conditions met. Profession Knight (lv8) promoted—Current profession Knight (lv9)"
"Gained profession attribute enhancement: Strength+3, Constitution+6, Agility+1!"
"Promotion conditions met. Profession Knight (lv9) promoted—Current profession Knight (lv10)"
"Gained profession attribute enhancement: Strength+3, Constitution+6, Agility+2, Spirit+1!"
Thus, Lin Mo was now only 14 basic Constitution attribute points away from becoming an Elite-level Knight.
In addition, the improvement in Priest skills was also quite considerable.
The 【Light's Inspiration】 skill, through continuous use, completed evolution and became a blue Exceptional-Grade skill.
However, the skill's name didn't change; only its grade and effects were enhanced, with a stronger stamina recovery effect.
Now, Lin Mo already held nine Priest profession skills. With just one more, he could fulfill the conditions needed for promotion to Elite-level Priest.
The day of becoming a Paladin was getting closer and closer.
However, because the focus had been on increasing skill proficiency, the efficiency of killing monsters had actually decreased significantly. Therefore, Lin Mo's current points lead no longer had the more-than-double gap from three days ago, which was so exaggerated.
Currently, his total points had reached 49,507. The 2nd place's points had also reached 44,426. The 3rd place was still Eve, with a current point count of 44,203, almost no gap from 2nd place.
However, the 4th place had been pulled away somewhat, still not breaking 40,000, only at 39,740 points.
And Lin Mo's gradually narrowing lead seemed to confirm some people's earlier speculation about him—this guy was about to run out of steam soon.
He liked to rashly challenge powerful monsters at the beginning of the competition, which would definitely result in injuries and consume precious supplies. The competition also had certain restrictions in this regard, not allowing wealthy contestants to use health and mana potions without limit. Even if he made preparations according to the highest specifications allowed, he probably had already used them up by now, right?