The passage at the entrance was longer than expected.

Without any clocks, it was difficult to determine the exact time, but based on physical sensation, at least over ten minutes had passed without seeing the end.

This was certainly due to the numerous traps along the way and their cautious approach, but even disregarding these factors, the journey itself was quite lengthy.

Fortunately, aside from some insignificant traps, there were no other obstacles, and the journey proceeded relatively smoothly.

The previously overly tense atmosphere seemed to have faded somewhat.

"Look ahead..."

Bern suddenly stopped walking, and everyone followed his gaze. The narrow passage finally widened, revealing a dark gray door ahead.

They exchanged glances and temporarily stepped back. Bern positioned his shield in front and slowly approached the door.

The other side of the door was completely silent, at least from where they stood, no sound could be heard.

Bern tentatively tapped the door with his shield. The iron shield made a clear ringing sound upon contact with the door.

Beyond that, there was still no reaction.

Bern wasn't impatient. He carefully used his shield to probe every corner of the door, including the adjacent walls. After confirming there were no hidden mechanisms, he suddenly pushed the door open and immediately retreated several steps to create distance.

The interior was pitch black, making it impossible to see what was inside.

The next moment, several rats as long as a person's forearm scurried out.

Evan was startled and hastily swung his sword. Only after seeing what they were did he spit in disgust: "Just rats."

Miriam remained expressionless, kicking away a rat that had scurried to her feet.

During her years wandering outside, she had long grown accustomed to these filthy creatures. Far from being afraid, back then she would have been delighted to see rats if she could.

"Don't let your guard down!"

After a false alarm, people often instinctively relax. Fortunately, Bern's reminder made the slightly careless youngsters regain their vigilance.

Just then, accompanied by a series of whooshing sounds, something suddenly flew out from the dark room.

Bern had maintained his vigilance throughout and immediately raised his shield to protect everyone.

"Bang—Thump—!"

After a series of impact sounds, Bern looked at the thrown objects that had fallen to the ground.

There were stones of various shapes and sizes, broken bricks and tiles, snapped arrows, shattered blade fragments...

"Gaaah—!"

A familiar sound came from within the room.

Immediately after, over a dozen green, short creatures emerged one after another.

Bern actually breathed a sigh of relief, never before feeling that Goblins could seem so friendly.

No reminder was needed. The moment the Goblins appeared, everyone had already prepared themselves.

Evan adjusted his stance and delivered a standard sword slash. Although blocked by the Goblin in front of him, as an adult human, overpowering a Goblin in strength wasn't a problem.

The Goblin's companion nearby tried to help, but had barely taken a step when a sharp arrow precisely pierced through its chest.

Bern remained at the front, single-handedly blocking attacks from four or five Goblins with ease.

Cody remained still until he moved, then it was a killing blow. His figure moved like a swimming snake, darting out rapidly. The short sword in his hand moved as if it were an extension of his arm, flashing past the Goblins' faces in the blink of an eye, effortlessly taking the heads of two Goblins.

This strike was clean and efficient, perfectly demonstrating an assassin's methods.

But there was someone who wasn't an assassin, yet was faster and more sinister than him!

Two consecutive sword flashes swept through, the whistling sword wind drawing a cross shape in mid-air. The Goblins had no idea when Lin Mo had circled behind them, not even having time to turn around before the blade struck them.

No sensation at all, like cutting through soft tofu—several Goblins were effortlessly sliced in half at the waist!

The unluckiest one was in the middle, receiving not only a horizontal slash but also a vertical one, directly cut into four pieces.

[Cross Slash] proficiency +6

With this single move, he directly eliminated 6 Goblins.

How to put it... The power was indeed as the skill description stated—equivalent to using two [Slash] attacks consecutively, with considerable burst damage, but the stamina consumption was also roughly double that of [Slash].

When facing not particularly powerful monsters, it might seem somewhat wasteful.

For example, those Goblins just now could have been easily dealt with using [Slash] or even without any skills. Aside from delivering an extra strike to already dead bodies, [Cross Slash] didn't serve much purpose.

But... gotta grind that proficiency.

With [Warrior's Heart] reducing skill stamina consumption, as long as he didn't use it too many times, he could barely manage.

The Goblins in front were quickly eliminated. Following conventional practice, everyone cut off the left ears of the Goblins they killed, but Bern sat on the spot, spacing out for a long time.

Back when they entered this secret realm, he had sensed that something seemed different about Lin Mo and had mentally prepared for him being stronger again.

But actually witnessing him in action, he still couldn't suppress his inner astonishment.

Bern had certainly seen job class holders before, had fought alongside them numerous times, and had even witnessed a warrior successfully obtaining a job class during an adventure, displaying power completely different from before advancement.

That adventure left an extremely deep impression on the then still young Bern.

And now, in Lin Mo, he once again found that familiar feeling...

"Captain?"

Cody asked with concern.

It wasn't because he was particularly warm-hearted or had developed a sense of belonging to this team, but because escaping this secret realm depended crucially on Bern, the team's knight and captain.

If something happened to him, it wouldn't be a minor matter.

Bern shook his head, indicating he was fine, then looked at Lin Mo, hesitating to speak.

"You... advanced?"

Finally, unable to contain his curiosity, he asked the question.

Advanced?

The other three were momentarily stunned, not immediately understanding what Bern meant.

"You could tell that too?"

Lin Mo spread his hands. Since the other had already guessed, there was no need to hide it: "It's exactly what you're thinking, Uncle Bern."

"Huu—"

Bern let out a long exhale before calming down: "Congratulations!"

Only then did the three spectators finally realize something.

The meaning of advancement couldn't be...

Cody's short sword dropped to the ground as he recalled what Bern had said about half an hour earlier.

—Maybe in a few days, he'll become a job class holder.

At the time, Cody had been quite skeptical about this. As it turned out, his skepticism was somewhat justified.

It indeed wasn't in a few days—he became one that very day...