CHAPTER 185: SHOCKING FIVE CONSECUTIVE RISE

"However, the goblins probably need to make some preparations before attacking the city, so we likely have a few days of buffer time."

"During these few days, Silverstream City needs to prepare well. The Adventurers' Association will also issue notices telling adventurers to avoid going outside. You all should stay in the city during this period too."

"Alright, I understand."

Lin Mo nodded, as this was basically what he had been thinking anyway. Going out when you know it's unsafe outside isn't about urgently improving strength—it's just foolish.

Anyway, in a few days, the goblins would come knocking on their own. There would be plenty of proficiency for him to grind at that time.

Of course, staying in the city these days didn't mean just lazing around. Besides necessary rest, Lin Mo still had other things he could do,

such as continuing to help Ellie improve her strength, or sparring with Sherfilia to gain combat experience, while also grinding proficiency for the Fortitude skill.

When leaving the room, he happened to see Sherfilia walking toward him, probably needing to discuss something with Lady Behira.

Lin Mo greeted her, but Sherfilia seemed distracted, taking two seconds to snap back to reality before nodding at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo felt there was something strange about the way she was looking at him.

This was clearly unusual for Sherfilia, who typically maintained an expressionless face most of the time. He had no idea what she was thinking about.

Lin Mo casually mentioned the sparring sessions later, and Sherfilia agreed without any hesitation.

.....

Lin Mo turned and left the City Lord's Mansion, planning to visit the church to see Finnie, while also taking the opportunity to moonlight as a priest again.

However, this time he wouldn't be as extravagant as last time—just normal healing assistance to earn a bit of proficiency.

Sherfilia watched his retreating back, feeling like she had something to say but couldn't find the words.

Turning around, she knocked on the study door, and Melissa—her mother—emerged from behind it.

"What's wrong?"

Melissa looked at her with a smile. "I rarely see you like this."

"Mother, I have something I want to tell you..."

Sherfilia lowered her head, her expression seeming somewhat awkward.

Due to her special identity and the various trainings she underwent since childhood, she matured mentally quite early and rarely acted like a child in front of her mother.

But now there were some things she genuinely couldn't figure out.

Melissa clearly understood her "troubles" quite well, gently closing the study door and beckoning to her: "Come on, let's talk in the courtyard."

They went to Melissa's small courtyard—the same one where Lin Mo had previously sparred with Sherfilia.

Melissa first went inside to busy herself for a while before coming out with a pot of hot tea and sitting at the stone table in the courtyard.

Sherfilia sat beside her, still looking down, lost in thought.

As Melissa poured her a cup of tea, she asked: "Tell me, what's troubling you?"

"Mother, back when he and the City Lord..."

Behira knew that the "City Lord" Sherfilia referred to wasn't the current Lady Behira, but the former City Lord—Lady Behira's husband.

Of course, he was also Sherfilia's father.

Melissa smiled, recalling those past events: "That was quite a happy time. Our master was a good person, deeply devoted to his lady, and never neglected to consider my feelings either." ȐαΝȫ𝐁ËŚ

"Sherfilia..."

Melissa looked at her daughter: "You and I are different. We're not in the empire anymore, and we're no longer part of the Oxivis family. Although you still inherited the family tradition by becoming Miss Finnie's personal maid and guard, that was your own choice."

Sherfilia nodded. Indeed, although she received extensive training as a child, once she understood things better, neither her father nor her mother forced her to become Finnie's subordinate like her mother had.

But she ultimately chose to inherit her mother's work because she genuinely wanted to protect that pure, kind, and lovely child.

"So it's the same now."

Melissa gently stroked her hair: "You have the right to choose what to do."

Sherfilia remained silent for a long time: "Has Madam already made a decision?"

"To be precise, this wasn't Madam's decision, was it?"

Yes, it wasn't Madam's decision, but Miss Finnie's decision....

Madam chose those approaches because of Miss Finnie's feelings and thoughts.

This was something Sherfilia, who had grown up with Miss Finnie, understood perfectly well.

Miss Finnie might seem to have a gentle personality, but she actually possessed a stubbornness that didn't show on the surface.

Once she decided on something, she would absolutely never give up.

Like becoming a priest to help others;

or becoming an adventurer...

"Miss Finnie's determination is quite firm."

Sherfilia said slowly: "Although she's quite shy and timid, she keeps working hard to move forward, taking each step."

Melissa looked at her daughter with loving eyes: "So, what are your own thoughts?"

This time, Sherfilia remained silent for a very, very long time.

Then she finally raised her head and stammered: "Mother, please teach me...."

"Teach you what?"

The smile on Melissa's face suddenly became subtle.

"That is... matters of service."

Even for someone with Sherfilia's reserved personality, saying such things to her mother was somewhat embarrassing.

As someone who had been through it, Melissa didn't feel embarrassed. Looking at Sherfilia's reaction, she became even more certain about some things.

Her daughter had indeed fallen for him, just like Miss Finnie had.

This was actually different from her own experience.

In the beginning, Melissa didn't have any particular feelings for her "master."

She simply did what she was supposed to do because her young mistress liked him.

Later, as time passed and she discovered that this master was truly good, she began to develop genuine feelings.

In comparison, Sherfilia's situation was actually more fortunate and happier.

Not to mention, both for Miss Finnie and Sherfilia, they had chosen a very suitable person.

"You can't be this shy, hesitant, and indecisive when you're in front of him."

Melissa said as she brought her daughter into the house: "Come, I'll explain the key points to you in detail..."

[Healing Art] proficiency +1

Meanwhile, Lin Mo's work moonlighting as a church priest was progressing quite smoothly.

The Healing Art proficiency gradually increased bit by bit, finally reaching the maximum value.

"Skill [Healing Art] Lv4 (100/100) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Healing Art] Lv5 (Max)"

"Gained attribute points: Mana +2!"

"Automatically evolved into new skill—Greater Healing Art!"

"Learned skill [Greater Healing Art]! Mana +1! Spirit +1"

[Greater Healing Art] Lv1 (0/10): Consumes more mana to resonate with light elements, soothing injuries and promoting wound healing, while possessing some ability to repair severed limbs. Healing effect depends on the amount of mana invested.

He finally maxed out this skill.

Lin Mo's heart was instantly filled with joy, even happier than when he maxed out an excellent-grade skill. After all, the Healing Art skill was extremely difficult to practice—it required effective healing to increase proficiency, unlike other skills where just killing monsters would make proficiency skyrocket.

Leveling Healing Art to max, including the evolved new skill, provided Lin Mo with a total of 3 Mana and 1 Spirit attribute.

As for the skill after Healing Art evolved... it could be described as quite concise.

Greater Healing Art, as the name suggests, was the upgraded version of Healing Art. Besides consuming more mana and resonating with more light elements for stronger effects, it also gained an ability that Healing Art didn't have: severed limb repair.

The original Healing Art could only treat wounds, but it was ineffective against injuries like fractures or even severed limbs. However, after obtaining Greater Healing Art, these injuries could also receive relatively effective treatment.

This was a quite significant improvement.

But besides this, there was something even more important.

That was profession promotion.

The promotion conditions for the Priest profession were the same as for the Mage—both required the Mana attribute, and Lin Mo's Mana had already reached the level of a Level 5 Mage.

So correspondingly, could the Priest profession also directly reach Level 5?

Lin Mo had actually been thinking about this question for a while, but since there were no precedents, thinking alone couldn't provide an answer—it could only be determined through practice.

And now, the truth was finally about to be revealed.

Lin Mo looked at the content displayed on the status panel before him.

"Promotion conditions met. Obtained profession Priest (lv1)"

"Gained profession attribute bonuses: Mana +4, Spirit +2!"

"Gained profession skill—Priest's Heart!"

Excellent, another 4 Mana attribute points and 2 Spirit attribute points as bonus effects.

With the goblin siege imminent, every bit of strength improvement counted.

Naturally, there was also the standard feature after profession promotion—the profession skill.

Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since Lin Mo obtained a new profession. He wondered what effect the Priest profession's skill would have?

[Priest's Heart]: Holy Light shines upon all things, bringing mercy and compassion. You have saved numerous lives, and the Holy Light takes pride in you. From this day forward, healing others is your lifelong mission and pursuit.

Skill effect: Healing/Purification effects increased by 10%

Well... it's decent, the kind of effect anyone could imagine.

Although there weren't any surprises, one had to admit that this profession skill's effect was quite powerful.

A 10% healing effect boost speaks for itself. Combined with Greater Healing Art, at Lin Mo's current level, one Greater Healing Art would be equivalent to at least two bottles of basic health potions.

As for the additional purification effect boost, it would likely come in handy later too.

After learning Purification Art, when encountering some negative effects in the future, he could deal with them better. Additionally, the purification effect boost would also enhance the power of purification when using Holy Light against undead creatures.

Lin Mo skimmed through this information. Compared to these, he was more concerned about whether the Priest profession could smoothly continue to advance.

"Holy crap, it actually works!"

Soon, he let out a surprised exclamation.

A series of notifications appeared before his eyes one after another.

"Promotion conditions met. Profession Priest (lv1) promoted—Current profession Priest (lv2)"

"Gained profession attribute bonuses: Spirit +1, Mana +2!"

....

"Promotion conditions met. Profession Priest (lv4) promoted—Current profession Priest (lv5)"

"Gained profession attribute bonuses: Spirit +3, Mana +3!"

An astonishing five consecutive level-ups! Lin Mo's Priest profession level directly jumped from the original Level 0 to Level 5.

At the same time, he gained a massive amount of bonus attributes.

From Level 1 to 2: 1 Spirit, 2 Mana;

Level 2 to 3: 2 Spirit, 2 Mana;

Level 3 to 4: 2 Spirit, 3 Mana;

and finally Level 4 to 5: 3 Spirit, 3 Mana.

Altogether, that was 8 Spirit and 10 Mana!

Instantly, Lin Mo's Mana and Spirit attributes skyrocketed.

He opened his status panel to check his current attributes:

[Name]: Lin Mo

[Professions]: Warrior Level 4, Knight Level 3, Assassin Level 4, Mage Level 5, Priest Level 5

[Attributes]:

Strength: 45(+16=61)

Agility: 43(+20=63)

Constitution: 37(+14=51)

Spirit: 16(+19=35)

Mana: 56(+28=84)

....

This is a bit ridiculous.

Although he's only a Level 4 Warrior and Level 4 Assassin, his total Strength and Agility attributes have both exceeded 60 points, reaching or even surpassing the level of ordinary Level 5 Warriors and Level 5 Assassins.

His Constitution is slightly weaker, but that's normal since he's only a Level 3 Knight right now.

Most importantly, his originally weak Spirit attribute, after such long efforts, has now reached 35 points.

Lin Mo basically doesn't need to worry too much about his spirit load being overwhelmed before his mana runs out anymore.

The most outrageous is definitely the Mana attribute, which has reached a terrifying 84 points!

A Level 5 Mage with 84 Mana—this is as exaggerated as it gets.

In terms of mana alone, Lin Mo is now completely approaching the level of a Level 7 Mage.

There's a reason for saying "approaching" though.

After Professionals break through Level 5 to reach Level 6, there's another significant change.

This is precisely why professional tiers are divided.

Going from entry-level Professionals to veteran-level Professionals is like going from non-Professionals to Professionals—there's a qualitative leap.

Lin Mo is already looking forward to this, since he's not far from that day. His base Mana attribute has reached 56 points, only 4 points short.

Additionally, based on this experience, he can also deduce that

if he maxes out the [Lightness] skill, then when he obtains the Ranger profession, his Ranger profession level can directly reach Level 4, the same as his Assassin level.

Lin Mo checked the current progress of the [Lightness] skill.

Lightness lv4(97/100)

Only the final 3 points left!

He just needs to activate this skill and spar with Sherfilia for a while in the afternoon, and it should level up directly.

After Healing Art leveled up, Lin Mo lost interest in continuing to moonlight as a priest in the church.

After all, Healing Art was already maxed out. He couldn't just start with a Greater Healing Art right away—that would cause another commotion.

With the goblin siege approaching, it's better not to create unnecessary trouble for Bishop Fletcher.

After leaving the church, Lin Mo went to the Adventurer Commercial Street.

Before the big battle begins, he needs to make some preparations too.

Of course, he needs to buy normal supplies like food, water, and such. Although theoretically, fighting in the city shouldn't lead to shortages in the short term, since he has the Spatial Ring now, and these things don't take up much space, there's no harm in stocking up.

Moreover, the main battlefield of the goblin siege isn't only at Silverstream City. Since the goblins are attacking, it must be a full-scale assault. Villages and towns outside the main city would also face threats, so he might need to provide support elsewhere.

Besides these basic supplies, he naturally needs to prepare some alchemical potions too.

However, Lin Mo doesn't have much money on him right now. He can't afford some expensive potions, and basic health potions are completely unnecessary, so he bought more basic mana potions instead.

Actually, these basic mana potions aren't that effective for Lin Mo now either.

Drinking a whole bottle only restores less than one-fifth of his mana.

But the advantage of this stuff is that it's cheap. The money needed to buy one intermediate mana potion is enough to buy eight basic mana potions.

Since Lin Mo's finances aren't very comfortable right now, it's better to buy more basic mana potions to use.

He bought 15 bottles in total, costing Lin Mo 375 gold coins. Thus, he now has less than 300 gold coins left.

He could only hope that those two skill scrolls would be auctioned off quickly, otherwise Lin Mo would truly be broke.

After completing all preparations, from now until the goblins officially begin their siege, Lin Mo only has two things left to do.

Helping Ellie improve her strength definitely isn't for now—that has to wait until evening.

So, it's time to find Sherfilia for sparring.

As it was approaching noon, Lin Mo first returned to the manor to pick up the little wolf-girl, then went to the City Lord's Mansion to get a free lunch.

Finnie doesn't come home for lunch—she eats at the church—and City Lord Behira is very busy with little time.

So in the small dining room, there were only Lin Mo and Ellie, though Sherfilia was also present.

This maid still dutifully maintained her posture as a maid, standing like a piece of wood slightly behind Lin Mo.

"Aunt Behira and Finnie aren't here, no need to be so formal, right?"

Lin Mo turned to look at her, tentatively asking.

Sherfilia didn't speak, only gently shaking her head. Clearly, her attitude was quite firm.

Alright...

Since that's the case, Lin Mo could only respect her wishes.

The main course today was grilled steak. Just as Lin Mo was about to start, Sherfilia beside him suddenly picked up the knife and fork, helping him cut the steak into small pieces.

So thoughtful?

Lin Mo was momentarily stunned. In the past, he never received such treatment—this kind of service was usually reserved for Finnie.

Indeed, this stern-faced little maid's attitude toward him had been getting better and better recently.

So much so that it was starting to feel a bit strange...