CHAPTER 176: RING OF SPACE!

Why was it that only the scroll had disappeared, while everything else on his person remained intact?

Lin Mo pondered this question. He refused to believe it was merely a coincidence;

perhaps it was related to the trial before him.

Scroll, space magic...

And this vast, seemingly boundless white space stretching before him.

Lin Mo seemed to grasp something. He calmed his mind, closed his eyes to rest and recuperate, emptying his thoughts to enter a state similar to meditation. Only then did he pick up the knowledge about space magic from his memory again, reading it word by word once more.

Gradually, that faint, elusive feeling from before resurfaced. Perhaps due to the unique nature of this space, it felt significantly clearer this time.

He seemed on the verge of that breakthrough sensation.

Time trickled by. In this endless white expanse, Lin Mo had no idea how much time had passed.

He only knew that after extensive attempts, finally, like a flash of inspiration, he grasped something.

His fluctuating mana finally captured the traces of spatial flow. It was an incredibly profound sensation, immersing his consciousness completely into the subtle changes of mana, as if his entire being was sinking into the continuous flow and overlapping of space itself.

Space seemed to solidify before his eyes, presenting itself as segments of undulating frequencies.

Lin Mo attempted to use his mana to interfere with the space before him. This time, he succeeded!

Riding this momentum, Lin Mo began attempting to use the [Flash] skill.

After successfully breaking through the basics of space magic, these tasks seemed to become straightforward. With almost no significant effort, Lin Mo more or less mastered the knack of this skill.

He opened his eyes, looked at the white space, and suddenly, his figure vanished from its original spot, reappearing several meters away.

"Comprehended skill [Flash]. Gained attribute points: Mana +2, Spirit +1."

Three attribute points. It seemed Flash was likely an Exceptional-grade skill.

Lin Mo opened his panel to check this newly acquired skill.

Sure enough, on the skill panel, this skill appeared in blue, the color denoting Exceptional-grade skills.

[Flash]: Utilize mana fluctuations to influence space, instantly teleporting oneself to any location within 5 meters.

The skill description was concise and to the point, leaving little need for further elaboration.

Lin Mo attempted to use the skill again. Conventionally, each use of space magic was like gambling, carrying a certain degree of instability.

Or rather, the sensation of using space magic felt completely different every single time.

Lin Mo indeed experienced this feeling, but his skill usage didn't have the slightest hint of stiffness or lag.

Lin Mo used Flash several more times, and it remained the same—smooth as if lubricated, incredibly fluid.

From this perspective, perhaps his space skills weren't affected by spatial fluctuations?

However, a few attempts weren't enough to be certain, and it might also be related to the relative stability of this current space. He would continue experiments later after leaving the secret realm.

Of course, the Flash skill wasn't without its limitations.

Firstly, the skill's consumption wasn't low. Both the drain on mana and the mental pressure were higher than typical Exceptional-grade magic.

Furthermore, because space possesses a very strong self-repair capability, continuously spamming Flash wasn't feasible.

There needed to be at least a 10-second interval between two consecutive Flashes.

But this didn't mean the skill's upper limit was waiting 10 seconds. It was because Lin Mo wasn't proficient enough yet, so the time required to use mana to alter space again after each spatial repair was relatively long.

This should continuously improve as the skill level increased.

And as an Exceptional-grade skill, similar to previous Exceptional-grade skills, the [Flash] skill also had different evolution paths.

Please choose evolution direction—

Evolution Path 1: Distance I: Increases Flash distance. Maximum distance becomes 10 meters.

Evolution Path 2: Carry Along I: Flash can carry one additional target.

Two evolution directions: one increased the Flash distance, the other allowed Flash to bring another person along.

If considering only combat aspects, Evolution Path 1 was undoubtedly more suitable.

But Evolution Path 2 could also be used to save someone or for offense in critical moments.

For example, encountering danger during battle, Lin Mo could Flash away with a teammate, or he could bring Sherfilia directly into the enemy's face as a means of aggressive engagement.

Both were useful, but after careful consideration, Lin Mo still chose the first one.

In idealized scenarios, Evolution Path 2 indeed offered higher operational potential, but those were considerations for special circumstances. Most of the time, Lin Mo fought alone, so Evolution Path 1's wider applicability was stronger.

And there was no need to rush. After all, once the skill reached level 4, he could choose another evolution direction.

He could just select number 2 at that time.

Having learned the [Flash] skill, returning to the present, this vast white space still had no visible exit.

However, Lin Mo had a clue. While testing the Flash skill's effects earlier, he had a subtle feeling, akin to a high-speed train about to derail, rushing off its designated track.

But each attempt fell just short...

After choosing the evolution path and increasing the Flash distance to 10 meters, perhaps something would change?

Lin Mo decided to try. He looked ahead, silently reciting in his mind.

[Flash]!

He controlled the Flash distance to the maximum ten meters. The next moment, his vision blurred momentarily. When his sight restored, Lin Mo had returned to the original secret realm.

Beside him was Sherfilia, her brow furrowed tightly, face full of worry.

"What exactly happened?"

Seeing him finally emerge, Sherfilia let out a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Lin Mo pondered briefly, then turned the question back on her: "Sherfilia, you didn't enter that space?"

"What space?"

As expected, Sherfilia looked completely bewildered, having no idea what he was talking about.

"After we entered the secret realm entrance together, I seemed to see a flash of white, then returned directly here, but you vanished."

Exactly!

Lin Mo immediately understood. Only he had entered that space earlier. Even though Sherfilia had grabbed his clothes, she still couldn't follow him in.

Because that now-dim blank scroll was the entrance to the trial ground, or perhaps it was the space itself, sealed within a scroll by some means!

Lin Mo felt his chest. Sure enough, that scroll was indeed gone.

And the Trial Gate before them had also disappeared.

In its place was a small box floating in the air.

Although the box was small and its material wasn't gold or silver but wood, it looked extremely exquisite and emitted a faint, subtle fragrance.

"Purple Rosewood!"

Sherfilia's face showed shock. This type of wood was very expensive. Loved by many nobles for its durability, resistance to decay, and fragrant properties.

Just this small piece before them was worth a fortune.

That expensive?

Hearing Sherfilia's explanation, Lin Mo was also startled. But upon reflection, it made sense. Various signs in this secret realm indicated that its creator was clearly no ordinary figure, and their strength in life was likely immense.

Such a powerful expert who mastered space magic having wealth was normal.

Moreover, this secret realm master's proficiency in space magic might be even greater than Lin Mo imagined. Like the blank space he was just in—judging from the final solution, the actual size of that space was far smaller than he thought, less than 10 meters from the edge.

Before mastering Flash, he had walked for so long in that space yet couldn't find an exit. This indicated that blank space had undergone continuous compression and folding to achieve that effect.

After mastering space magic, Lin Mo clearly understood how difficult achieving this was. And it wasn't just that blank space;

even the secret realm they were in now had undergone much spatial folding and spatial transfer processing.

Compared to this expert's capabilities, this secret realm seemed somewhat mismatched.

Building this secret realm was probably infinitely more difficult than clearing it.

So, according to Sherfilia's earlier words, this small box made of Purple Rosewood was the reward or gift for completing the trial?

What kind of gift would a master of this level leave? With excited anticipation, Lin Mo slowly opened the small box. Inside was a ring shimmering with silvery light.

Could it be equipment? But Lin Mo already had two accessory-type equipment items on him, and the maximum limit for accessory equipment effects was two. If this ring was also equipment, he'd have to make a choice and remove one.

Holding this slightly conflicted feeling, Lin Mo tried appraising it, and his eyes immediately lit up.

It turned out this wasn't equipment, but exactly what he wanted most right now—a magic storage device.

[Spatial Ring]: Utilizes space magic to fold a large volume of space, sealing it within the ring for storage purposes.

Lin Mo tried channeling mana into the ring and discovered that the space inside this Spatial Ring was astonishingly large. Standard magic storage bags sold on the market were expensive, and their capacity was usually around one to two cubic meters. The magic storage bag Finnie previously carried had 5 cubic meters, which was already quite impressive, valued at over 3000 gold coins, possibly even more.

But now, the Spatial Ring in Lin Mo's hand had a full 100 cubic meters of space—a full 20 times larger than Finnie's magic storage bag! Regardless of anything else, the value of such a Spatial Ring was probably tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of gold coins!

Of course, even so, Lin Mo wouldn't sell it. Because storage space of this size was extremely rare. If he sold it, even if he had money later, it would likely be very difficult to buy another with comparable capacity.

This gift was indeed powerful and impressive. Lin Mo chuckled happily, put the Spatial Ring on his finger, and then stored all his luggage inside the ring.

Now he was truly unburdened. Moreover, Lin Mo discovered that items placed inside this ring effectively lost their weight, or more accurately, the weight was transferred to another dimension.

Undoubtedly, this technology was vastly superior to ordinary magic storage bags.

This made Lin Mo even more puzzled. Such a powerful senior expert, and he built such a simple secret realm?

Perhaps he was just being considerate towards newcomers. Lin Mo didn't ponder it further. They had probably been in the secret realm for some time;

it was time to leave.

After the Trial Gate disappeared, a small path suddenly opened in the previously sealed wall ahead.

Lin Mo and Sherfilia followed this path forward and soon saw the familiar secret realm exit.

Clearly, this counted as clearing the secret realm.

Lin Mo checked the vicinity, ensuring no treasures were left behind, then entered the secret realm exit with Sherfilia.

It's worth mentioning that this time, Sherfilia didn't grab his clothes again, but directly held Lin Mo's hand.

It happened so suddenly that Lin Mo only processed it after they returned outside the secret realm.

Sherfilia's hand was small, appearing slender, but surprisingly felt soft to the touch, with a slightly cool temperature.

Logically, as a professional who had trained since childhood, her palms should be rough. But this world clearly had special methods to deal with that. Combined with Sherfilia likely not lacking funds as a maid in the City Lord's household, her hands were well-maintained.

Lin Mo looked at Sherfilia, who had only taken his hand voluntarily at the moment they left the secret realm.

The little maid seemed unfazed, her expression as calm as ever, explaining very composedly, "To avoid any accidents."

After all, grabbing his clothes hadn't worked when entering the trial space earlier.

Though Lin Mo estimated that given the uniqueness of that trial space, even holding hands or hugging probably wouldn't have worked. Ultimately, only he would have entered that space.

The current time was just dawn. He didn't know how many days had passed since they entered the secret realm.

To prevent Ellie and the others from worrying, Lin Mo and Sherfilia hurried towards Silverstream City.

Originally, they had rested well to prepare for the trial, never expecting the trial content wasn't about fighting monsters or such, but required the trial-taker to comprehend space magic and learn Flash to leave.

But this also meant they were in good condition now, allowing them to travel at their fastest speed.

Both Lin Mo and Sherfilia had high Agility attributes. With just the two of them traveling, their speed was naturally much faster than during usual adventures. That said, whenever they encountered monsters on the road, they still stopped to conveniently grind some proficiency.

The gains in this secret realm were substantial. Not only did he obtain a bottle of Intermediate Flame Reagent, but he also learned space magic and acquired the Spatial Ring.

However, it had to be said, the increase in proficiency wasn't as much as Lin Mo had anticipated, so he took every opportunity on the road to grind a bit.

The skills Lin Mo primarily practiced were, naturally, fire magic.

After drinking that Intermediate Flame Reagent in the secret realm, Lin Mo's fire element affinity now far surpassed his affinity for other elements. Logically, the power of his fire element magic should be the greatest.

But the levels of Lin Mo's fire element skills were somewhat awkward.

He didn't have a single Exceptional-grade fire spell, only two Excellent-grade skills: Flame Arrow for single targets and Explosive Fireball for groups. Their levels weren't very high either.

So Lin Mo planned to prioritize practicing these two skills, at least raising them to Exceptional-grade, so fire element skills could become one of his main combat strengths.

Because [Flame Arrow] itself was a relatively low-level skill, it was quite easy to train.

After killing several monsters along the way, [Flame Arrow] directly reached level three.

"Skill [Flame Arrow] Lv2 (20/20) upgraded!"

"Current skill [Flame Arrow] Lv3 (4/40)"

"Gained attribute point Mana +2!"

Two Mana points acquired. Lin Mo's base Mana attribute had now reached 46 points, more than halfway to the progress for a Level 5 Mage.

During the subsequent journey, Lin Mo continued using Flame Arrow to kill encountered monsters. Being an Excellent-grade skill, even killing the most ordinary monsters didn't result in proficiency decay. Furthermore, there were quite a few monsters on the road, including many goblins practically delivering proficiency in groups, so the skill improvement speed was unexpectedly fast.

By the time they reached the outskirts of Roland Forest, Lin Mo's [Flame Arrow] skill had already reached level 5!

"Skill [Flame Arrow] Lv4 (100/100) upgraded!"

"Current skill [Flame Arrow] Lv5 (1/180)"

Just one more level, and this skill could evolve.

[Flame Arrow] was a single-target skill, so the skill it evolved into would likely also lean towards single-target nature, helping to fill the gap in Lin Mo's single-target offensive spells.

In the outskirts, they encountered adventurers coming to hunt goblins every stretch of the journey. It seemed Silverstream City's recent promotions were very effective, attracting many new adventurers.

These adventurers might not make a huge difference, but they could help reduce the goblin numbers somewhat. Moreover, adventurers grow. Even if only half, or even a third, of these adventurers chose to stay and develop in Silverstream City, it would be a great boon for the city's lord and the Adventurers' Association.

Returning to the city, Lin Mo first went to the manor they currently resided in.

Approaching the manor, he could hear the voices of Ellie and Lena. It seemed the cat-eared girl had the day off today and wasn't working at the Association, so she was at home researching planting.

The manor had ready-made, primary magical soil infused with mana. Combined with the seeds Lin Mo had previously procured for her, it was enough for Lena, a beginner, to practice.

Ellie was accompanying her good friend, squatting on the ground with her chin propped in her hands, looking distracted.

"Worrying about Mr. Lin Mo again?"

Lena planted a seed, tended to it carefully, then turned to see the melancholy expression on Ellie's face, comforting her, "It's alright. Mr. Lin Mo is so capable, nothing will happen to him. Besides, didn't the City Lord say that Miss Sherfilia is with him now? Maybe in a couple of days... no, maybe he'll return today."

Although her words were meant to comfort, Lena's own expression and tone clearly didn't sound truly reassured.

Of course she would worry! If something happened to Mr. Lin Mo, perhaps she would never find someone in this world who could truly accept her, not dislike her, or even like her.

Even though Lena currently held little hope for a closer relationship with Lin Mo, she still harbored some longing in her heart.

What if?

"Mmm..."

Facing her good friend's comfort, Ellie nodded but clearly wasn't really taking it in.

How could she not worry?

Lin Mo had been away for a full three days!

Since they met, she had almost never gone three whole days without seeing Lin Mo.

From the second day onward, she even felt distracted while practicing her skills. Yet, Ellie forced herself to keep studying and practicing diligently.

Lin Mo's growth speed was simply too fast. She had to seize every opportunity to improve to avoid being left too far behind.

Ellie wanted to become his asset, his true teammate, not his burden.

So, mustering her spirits again, she prepared to get up and continue practicing her skills.

"What are you thinking about?"

However, at that moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Ellie froze for a moment, then a look of delight spread across her face. She turned around and directly hugged Lin Mo.

The girl's hands around his waist were very tight. Her furry head rested against his chest. Although she didn't say anything, Lin Mo could sense her feelings. So he also reached out and encircled her slender waist, whispering softly, "Sorry for making you worry."

Ellie shook her head. "It's fine as long as you're okay."

Lena watched them with full of envy. Indeed, Ellie's relationship with Mr. Lin Mo was much closer than hers.

She also wanted to be hugged by Mr. Lin Mo. That would surely feel blissful and satisfying.

Lena took two steps forward. Seeing Lin Mo look at her, she suddenly felt timid again and said softly, "Welcome back, Mr. Lin Mo."

Lin Mo smiled without saying much, simply extending his other free arm.

Lena was stunned for a good while, pursed her lips, and ultimately couldn't resist the temptation. She cautiously stepped forward.

Lin Mo directly embraced the cat-eared girl's slender body.

A warm feeling washed over her. The scent of sunshine on Lin Mo made Lena's face instantly flush red. A shy, whimpering sound escaped her nose.

That adorable whimper made Lin Mo unable to resist reaching out and grabbing her tail.

"Mmguh!"

Lena's body immediately stiffened, trembling slightly. Her face turned red as if about to bleed. But clearly, she showed no intention of refusal. Instead, her whole body went rigid and leaned straight into Lin Mo's chest.

Lin Mo gently stroked the cat-eared girl's tail up and down. The soft, fluffy texture was irresistible.

Compared to Ellie's, Lena's tail clearly had a different feel—more slender, easier to hold.

Probably more convenient to use too.

Ellie's tail, when gripped firmly, offered a stronger visual impact.

Overall, each had its pros and cons...

Lin Mo released the cat-eared girl's tail. Lena went completely limp in his embrace, taking a good while to stand up again, her head lowered, not daring to look at him.

Compared to Ellie, who was also a demi-human, she was much more reserved.

To draw an analogy, one was an action-oriented type like Sherfilia, while the other was gentle, soft, and somewhat shy, similar to Finnie.

Of course, this was just an analogy;

their specific personalities differed greatly.

For one, Ellie and Sherfilia were like fire and ice—complete opposites...

Lin Mo simply couldn't imagine someone like Sherfilia being as passionate and fiery as Ellie.