Chapter 116: Chapter 116

Lin Mo hid in a concealed corner, activated the Vanish skill once more, and arrived at the largest wooden hut at the center of the goblin settlement.

At that moment, the robustly built goblin inside the hut was holding a thigh, tearing a piece of meat off it with its teeth.

On a pile of straw nearby, several green-skinned infants were wailing loudly. Their appearance was noticeably different from the Goblin Infants Lin Mo had seen before.

Clearly, these were all Mutated Goblins. If allowed to grow up, they would pose no small threat.

The killing intent in Lin Mo's eyes intensified. With the Black Sword in hand, he began charging his power.

Compared to last time, the power of his now Level 4 Accumulated Sword Combo was incomparable to when it was Level 2. Furthermore, upon reaching Level 4, it unlocked another evolution path.

One option was an enhanced version of Rapid Charge, reducing the required charging time by 50% – an improvement of 17% compared to before. The other option was Concentrated Charge, which he hadn't chosen previously, increasing the maximum number of Sword Energy provided by charging by one.

Generally, choosing the same evolution path for a skill twice yields diminishing returns, so for the second evolution, Lin Mo basically chose the other path.

The duration of [Vanish] was about to end, and the charging for [Charged Sword Slash] was complete. Lin Mo didn't hesitate any longer, directly slashing out with all seven Sword Energies simultaneously, aiming straight for the head of the Quasi-Bronze Goblin before him.

The physical damage bonus provided by Vanish took effect, coupled with the 2 points of Strength and 10% bonus to slashing damage provided by the Black Sword, making this move terrifyingly powerful.

Furthermore, the Black Sword also increased the release speed of Charged Sword Slash by 10%. Lin Mo initially thought this referred to the charging speed, but that wasn't the case...

From the actual result, it was his sword-swinging speed and the flight speed of the Sword Energy!

The goblin had no time to react. The seven Sword Energies almost simultaneously sliced across its neck. That ugly green head instantly flew off, the thigh it was holding dropped to the ground, and its body slumped powerlessly onto the crude lounge chair.

[Vanish] Proficiency +14

[Accumulated Sword Combo] Proficiency +14

A Quasi-Bronze Goblin with a threat level of at least 1.8 or higher was instantly killed by him in one move!

Lin Mo's face showed delight. This new weapon was really great.

And it could continue...

Because the kill was so fast, the opponent didn't even have time to make a sound. The slight noise from the head hitting the ground was negligible amidst the clamor of the goblins outside.

Lin Mo activated [Vanish] again, left this hut, and headed towards another hut nearby.

[Accumulated Sword Combo]!

This time, he didn't even need to charge. Just an instant-cast [Accumulated Sword Combo], not even using all three Sword Energies – only two were needed to kill the adult Mutated Goblin in the hut.

[Vanish] Proficiency +8

[Accumulated Sword Combo] Proficiency +8

This proficiency farming feels amazing!

Lin Mo grew even more pleased and hurried non-stop to the next hut, like the Grim Reaper wielding a scythe, clearing room after room...

Two or three minutes later, while the onlookers in the distance were still curious why Lin Mo hadn't made a move, he suddenly appeared openly in front of the goblins who were eating breakfast.

The goblins were startled, frantically grabbing their weapons nearby and pointing them at Lin Mo.

Because they had formed a settlement and had sufficient numbers, these goblins were quite bold. Over ten goblins immediately charged at Lin Mo, brandishing wooden clubs.

Lin Mo remained expressionless, holding the Black Sword, and thrust forward one sword at a time, unhurriedly, like playing whack-a-mole.

With each thrust, a goblin wailed and fell, and the proficiency of his [Thrust] skill rose accordingly.

Goblin archers at the back drew their bowstrings, preparing to shoot arrows. Lin Mo countered with a backhanded Ice Spike, instantly piercing through one's head.

At the rear, the members of the Raging Bull Team saw him engage and charged forward together.

Ellie took the lead, charging directly into the goblin crowd to fight freely. The remaining members maintained their formation, advancing steadily and fighting methodically.

Rick and Alden stood at the front of the team like a city wall, protecting Finnie and Solan behind them.

Carson waited on the flank for assassination opportunities, retreating immediately after a successful strike.

This was the combat handling of a mature adventurer team. These ordinary goblins posed no threat to them at all unless they reached a certain quantity.

And clearly, the number of goblins in this small settlement alone was far from enough to cause any qualitative change.

What puzzled Alden was, why hadn't those Mutated Goblins come out yet? Official source ıs novｅlfire.net

This was also the question the ordinary goblins, who were being beaten one-sidedly and gradually losing their will to fight, were curious about.

Where are the big brothers... why aren't they coming out to back us up?

Alden's brain was, of course, much smarter than a goblin's. He quickly realized something and looked towards Lin Mo, who looked completely at ease surrounded by the attacking goblins.

Were all those Mutated Goblins taken out?

Sure enough, just two or three days after the last mission, he had become much stronger again.

Shaking his head somewhat helplessly, Alden stopped thinking about these things he couldn't envy and focused on dealing with the goblins in front of him.

Soon, the goblins, having suffered heavy casualties, began to flee and scatter in all directions. The Raging Bull Team pursued them, and ultimately, less than one in ten successfully escaped.

This could be considered a quite successful extermination operation.

Normally, it's easy for adventurers to destroy a goblin settlement, but the kill rate against the goblins in the settlement often isn't very high.

Generally, around 60% is considered acceptable. Mature teams can achieve over 70%. Last time they were in the eighties. This time reaching 90% was purely because Lin Mo had killed those Mutated Goblins, and the ordinary goblins didn't know, still fantasizing that the big brothers would come to save them.

By the time they realized the situation was wrong and tried to run, it was already too late.

Everyone began cleaning up the battlefield. Of course, Lin Mo didn't forget to go back and kill all the juvenile goblins in the settlement, especially those Mutated Goblin infants in the largest hut. Each one had to be dismembered to ensure none were missed.

After that, it was the rather tedious process of collecting loot...

They worked until a little past 9 AM. Alden sealed the bag containing the goblin ears, signifying the end of this mission.

Now, the final mission for this Raging Bull Team was successfully completed.

The group set off on their return journey, sinking into an eerie silence.

Lin Mo opened his proficiency panel to check.

During the previous battle, he had specifically focused on increasing the proficiency of [Ice Spike]. The progress was now at Lv2 (17/20), just 3 proficiency points away from gaining another point of Magic Power.

Similarly, the [Thrust] skill had also gained substantial proficiency and was almost reaching Level 4.

For the higher-tier skills, since there wasn't much direct impact, the proficiency for [Fortitude] had barely increased.

[Accumulated Sword Combo] and [Vanish], however, thanks to those few Mutated Goblins, both gained 45 proficiency points.

Currently, [Accumulated Sword Combo] progress is Lv4 (49/100), while [Vanish] had just accumulated enough proficiency to reach Level 5.

"Skill [Vanish] Lv4 (100/100) Level Up!"

"Current Skill [Vanish] Lv5 (0/180)"

[Vanish] Lv5: Accustomed to hiding in the shadows, you begin to comprehend the true essence of "shadow". Consume Qi and Blood to briefly vanish from sight, and grant your next attack a 25% physical damage bonus!

Vanish at Level 5 could now provide a 25% physical damage bonus!

However, based on the previous pattern, there was probably still a long way to go before mastering this skill fully and elevating it to the higher tier of an [Epic Level] skill.

The cap for Common-grade skills is Level 5, for Excellent-grade it's Level 6. So, for the Superior-grade [Vanish] skill, Lin Mo guessed there should be a Level 7 above Level 6.

The proficiency required for each level increases significantly, and Superior-grade skills require killing elite monsters to gain substantial proficiency. The road to mastering this skill was long and arduous...

The current focus should still be on improving the lower-tier skills, where results could be seen relatively quickly.

They hurried all the way back towards Silverstream City. Because this mission didn't go too deep into the forest, they managed to return to the city just as darkness fell.

This time, Finnie wasn't in a hurry to go home. Everyone seemed to share the same idea, heading straight for the Association.

Lena was tidying up the counter, preparing to get off work, when the group suddenly pushed open the Association door and walked straight towards her.

"Sorry, Lena, you'll have to work some overtime."

Lin Mo said with a smile.

Lena nodded, taking the cloth bag from Alden's hands cheerfully.

"Mission numbers are E5519, and E6032."

"Okay, please wait a moment... Mission E5519, Hunt the Swiftwind Snake, confirmation received for fang, gallbladder, and venom sac. Mission reward 25 gold."

An Association staff member helped count the number of goblin ears.

After Lena confirmed, she continued: "Mission E6032, Clear Settlement No. 81, total elimination: 188 ordinary goblins, 6 Mutated Goblins. So the total is..."

She calculated for a moment: "The total is 28 gold, 64 silver."

Finally, the total earnings from this mission were 53 gold, 64 silver. Finnie directly took out 60 gold from her personal funds as an extra reward.

Following the previous distribution method, Lin Mo received a little over 34 gold, bringing his total savings to 283 gold – getting closer to the 300 mark again.

After the mission settlement, Alden smiled and looked at everyone: "Let's go, time for a big feast, my treat!"

A short while later, a private room in Silverstream City's Richard Grand Hotel was filled with the clinking of glasses and cheerful laughter...

Alden, who usually rarely drank, got completely drunk. So did Rick, Solan, and the others, including Lin Mo and Ellie who also drank quite a bit. Even Finnie, who had never drunk alcohol before, had a few cups of fruit wine, immediately turned bright red, slumped onto the table, and started talking in her sleep.