CHAPTER 168: A SOLITARY JOURNEY TO IMPROVE PROFICIENCY

Level 4 Joint Cultivation was indeed more effective than Level 3.

This once again accelerated Ellie's growth rate.

But constantly helping others become stronger made Lin Mo feel this skill wasn't being utilized to its full potential.

If there was someone stronger than him, then his attributes could be improved in return...

But where could he find someone both stronger than him and willing to practice Joint Cultivation?

After a night of exertion, Lin Mo still felt quite energetic when he woke up the next day.

This was the benefit of his increasingly strong Constitution;

he only needed a short rest to ensure his condition wasn't too bad the next day, as long as it wasn't too many consecutive days.

"What are your plans for today, Lin Mo?"

Ellie also woke up groggily, leaning against his chest, rubbing against him coquettishly as she asked.

"Since it's just the two of us, maybe we should skip taking missions?"

Lin Mo voiced his thoughts: "How about we go bully some goblins in the peripheral areas of Roland Forest to relieve some pressure on Silverstream City."

It wouldn't actually relieve much pressure, but killing one was still one less goblin.

"..."

Ellie acknowledged, then suddenly fell silent for a moment: "Lin Mo, I want to properly practice my skills."

Recently, following Lin Mo on high-intensity adventures had rapidly improved her strength, including significant growth in skill proficiency. But not everyone was a genius like Lin Mo;

skills would reach a bottleneck at a certain point. At such times, merely fighting continuously made breakthroughs difficult. She needed to step back and focus on studying and refining them.

Although Ellie's physical attributes had been continuously improving, combat wasn't just about attribute comparisons—skills were equally important. If her skills stagnated, her actual combat power would seem artificially low.

"Is that so?"

Lin Mo nodded: "That's fine too, then I'll go alone."

Ellie looked at him with a somewhat apologetic expression: "Would you think I'm not accompanying you...? Maybe I should still go with you?"

"What nonsense are you thinking."

Lin Mo very naturally slapped the familiar spot: "It's good that you're properly practicing your skills, don't worry about me."

What could possibly happen just bullying goblins in the periphery of Roland Forest?

"Oh..."

Ellie rubbed the spot that was hit and immediately became obedient.

It was still early;

the two hurriedly got up. As expected, both Sherfilia and Lena had already left.

Lena went to work, and Sherfilia probably returned to the City Lord's Mansion.

However, Sherfilia had left breakfast for them. It was clearly made somewhat hastily, not as exquisite-looking as last night's, but the taste was still quite good. ꞦАℕố𝔟Εs̈

After breakfast, they walked out of the villa.

The manor's courtyard had plenty of space, enough for Ellie to practice and refine her skills.

If she needed to study and ponder, there was also a small pavilion nearby where she could sit and rest.

As for Lin Mo, he left the manor and first went to the Adventurers' Association.

There was no need to take small missions, but daily missions like goblin subjugation should still be accepted.

It was just a matter of convenience, and he could earn a bit more money.

He could also grind his mission count.

Lin Mo wasn't satisfied with just reaching Bronze-rank adventurer;

of course he wanted to continue climbing higher.

The difficulty for a Bronze-rank adventurer to advance to Silver-rank was naturally greater than advancing to Bronze.

First, the hard power requirement was becoming Veteran Level, meaning reaching professional level 6 or above. Then, they needed to cumulatively complete 50 missions of E-rank or higher, including at least ten D-rank missions and at least one C-rank mission.

Generally speaking, many Veteran Level Professionals found it difficult to meet these conditions.

Just the C-rank mission requirement stumped many people.

C-rank missions were significantly more difficult than D-rank missions. For example, the [Heart of the Crimson Flame] mission Lin Mo saw early on in Roland Town was C-rank, with the objective of hunting the Lord Level magical creature Crimson Flame Tiger King in the Core Area of Roland Forest!

This wasn't something ordinary Veteran Level Professionals could accomplish;

it required at least level 8 or 9, plus a team of Veteran Level adventurers.

Such missions posted in Roland Town were basically just for show;

no one could complete them.

Even in Silverstream City, C-rank missions were already the ceiling, extremely rarely completed.

Even Flora, who had reached Elite Level, was only Silver-rank as an adventurer.

Shaking his head, he shouldn't aim too high for now;

he should first grind through those 50 missions.

Coincidentally, these two days no one was accompanying him out, he could use these daily goblin subjugation missions to make up the numbers.

After accepting a mission to kill 100 goblins, Lin Mo headed straight for Roland Forest.

After his strength had increased to a certain level, he actually rarely stayed long in the peripheral areas of Roland Forest.

Therefore, seeing those ordinary goblins made him somewhat sentimental.

There was a time when these creatures were, if not formidable enemies, at least posed some threat to him.

But now, they were as easy as crushing ants.

[Rushing Punch]!

Lin Mo quickly stepped forward, throwing a punch that directly blasted the lead goblin's head off.

Then he pulled a dagger from his waist, not even needing to look back, executing a reverse-handed [Backstab] that precisely pierced another goblin's neck.

[Rushing Punch] proficiency +1

[Backstab] proficiency +1

Just like this, ensuring every goblin contributed to skill proficiency, with absolutely no waste.

The skills Lin Mo planned to focus on practicing included [Rushing Punch] and [Consecutive Thrusts] for warrior types, [Backstab] and [Shadow Strike] for assassin types, and additionally [Flame Arrow] and [Wind Blade] for mage types.

These six skills were all Common or Excellent grade;

killing these lowest-level goblins didn't incur decay, and they were relatively easier to improve.

It had to be said that when grinding these low-level monsters, Lin Mo's efficiency alone was the highest.

The ranger skill [Lightness] was constantly active, making his already fast speed even quicker.

High agility and his now considerable Spirit-brought reaction speed and insight allowed him to always locate those green-skinned shorties first, then leisurely send them to rebirth one by one using skills.

Of course, occasionally he would encounter situations where he accidentally "stole kills," just like before.

"Boss, the total number of goblins is seven. Should we make a move?"

"Seven?"

The person called boss frowned upon hearing this: "That's slightly too many, isn't it?"

He looked back at his temporarily assembled companions;

there were only five people total. Four were just ordinary people who had trained for a while, with poor-quality weapons. Only he had proper skills and a fairly decent saber.

Even so, he only felt confident about taking down two goblins;

any more would be challenging.

The remaining four fighting five goblins was probably...

"Maybe we should forget it?"

"But if we kill these guys, our mission will be complete. Boss, you're not scared, are you?"

Inexperienced youths sometimes didn't understand the principle of seeking stability in all matters, their minds full of completing missions, earning more money, and getting new, better weapons.

The so-called "boss" wasn't an experienced adventurer either. Provoked like this, he got carried away by hot-blooded excitement.

If he didn't perform well, how could he maintain his position as boss?

So...

If nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected was about to occur.

The "boss" wanted to deal with two goblins, but the goblins weren't stupid either. They only sent one to entangle him, and he couldn't resolve it quickly. Meanwhile, on the other side, the four versus six situation quickly went wrong;

within less than two minutes, one was dead and one injured.

"We're done for, we can't hold on! Boss, save us!"

I'd like to save you too!

The boss was quite speechless;

he knew they shouldn't have provoked these seven goblins.

The goblin in front of him was already beaten bruised and battered, but just refused to die. On the other side, another teammate had been injured...

Just as he felt hopeless and helpless, a throwing knife suddenly flew over, precisely piercing the heart of the goblin in front of him.

[Backstab] proficiency +1

Indeed, even ranged attacks could trigger [Backstab].

Lin Mo's face still carried a thoughtful expression. The next moment, his figure flashed, already appearing on the other battlefield.

[Shadow Strike]!

The "boss" only saw a black shadow flash, and the next moment, three goblins suddenly collapsed simultaneously.

[Shadow Strike] proficiency +3

The remaining goblins were also dealt with by Lin Mo, one [Rushing Punch] each, completely smashed.

"Skill [Rushing Punch] Lv3 (40/40) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Rushing Punch] Lv4 (1/100)"

[Rushing Punch] was a Common grade skill. After reaching level 4, it only needed one more level to evolve.

Additionally, [Shadow Strike] was also close to reaching level 4...

Thinking about these matters, Lin Mo didn't have time to greet these novice adventurers, immediately rushing off to find the next group of goblins.

The "boss" stared blankly at the messy battlefield before him;

the ears of those goblins were all intact.

He suddenly remembered a rumor he heard when he first arrived in Silverstream City: apparently, there was a rather peculiar adventurer in the city who liked to suddenly pop out and "steal kills," but never took the materials, essentially helping people kill monsters, thus earning the nickname "Living Angel."

At the time, he didn't really believe it;

where would such a person exist in this world?

Even if powerful adventurers might not care about that little money, those big shots all had their own things to do;

who would be that idle...

Now it seemed the rumor was actually true?

Thanks to the "Living Angel," otherwise their team might have been wiped out.

.....

Lin Mo didn't know that his actions had once again accumulated reputation and achievements for the "Living Angel." He just continuously searched, killed, absolutely not letting go of any goblin that appeared in his sight.

The proficiency of those several skills rose accordingly.

Finally, in the afternoon, Lin Mo used a [Rushing Punch] to kill the Mutated Goblin in front of him, then stopped to check today's gains.

"Skill [Shadow Strike] Lv3 (40/40) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Shadow Strike] Lv4 (12/100)"

[Shadow Strike] smoothly leveled up to level 4, but this was an Excellent grade skill, still some distance from evolution.

[Rushing Punch] was his main practice skill, currently at Lv4 (58/100), not far from leveling up.

Then [Backstab], currently at Lv4 (39/100), had also improved significantly.

For magic, he only practiced [Wind Blade], currently at Lv3 (31/40).

That's enough for today.

Although it was still early, Lin Mo had other things to do with the remaining time.

Quickly returning to Silverstream City, after submitting the mission to kill one hundred goblins, Lin Mo casually put the few gold coins he received into his pocket and headed straight for the City Lord's Mansion.

Greeting the guard brothers, he went directly to the familiar small courtyard, sitting in the pavilion and waiting for a moment.

It didn't take long;

after about five minutes, Sherfilia appeared before him.

"Is this small courtyard your residence in the City Lord's Mansion?"

Lin Mo put down the teacup in his hand, looking at the maid lady before him.

"You could say so..."

Sherfilia nodded: "What do you need from me?"

"Same as before, I'd like to request you as a sparring partner."

"Okay."

Sherfilia nodded without hesitation, which actually made Lin Mo somewhat embarrassed.

"Won't this be too much trouble for you?"

Sherfilia met his gaze and shook her head: "It's fine."

Then let's begin.

......

Approximately an hour later, Lin Mo cast two [Healing Art]s on himself and let out a long breath.

Sure enough, just like before, because the agility gap was too large, the sparring process was almost entirely him being suppressed and beaten.

But Lin Mo hadn't failed to grow either, and his growth speed was extremely fast.

Now he could often consciously perceive the direction and angle of Sherfilia's attacks and respond, but the speed difference meant his movements couldn't keep up.

From this perspective, Lin Mo's combat awareness and experience had made significant progress.

Although Sherfilia wouldn't say it outwardly, inwardly she was also quite amazed.

No matter how many times she witnessed it, she was still astonished by the talent Lin Mo displayed.

Such talent and comprehension, even those so-called Imperial Nobles were far inferior!

No wonder the Madam valued him so highly, even to the extent...

Shaking her head, Sherfilia seemed to think of something, her expression appearing somewhat strange.

Lin Mo didn't notice this;

he was busy checking his gains from the earlier sparring session.

Besides accumulating combat experience, the growth in skill proficiency was, of course, also very important.

[Fortitude] proficiency +18

[Lightness] proficiency +12

Currently, [Fortitude] proficiency had reached Lv5 (87/180), getting closer to level 6.

And [Lightness], as a Common grade skill, had reached Lv4 (53/100), needing only 47 more proficiency points to level up and evolve.

This feeling of steadily improving strength was truly satisfying.

Lin Mo didn't forget to cast [Cleansing Flow] on himself and Sherfilia, grinding a wave of this skill's proficiency.

Summarizing, the gains for this day were quite substantial. Continue tomorrow!

The time happened to be evening. Lin Mo looked at Sherfilia: "Are you staying at the City Lord's Mansion today, or coming back together?"

Sherfilia didn't speak, just silently stood behind him.

Not sure if it was Lin Mo's illusion, he felt this silent, sharp-tongued maid's attitude towards him seemed to be getting better and better recently...