Chapter 118: Chapter 118

In the dense forest, an ice spike swiftly shot out, striking the head of the goblin ahead with perfect accuracy.

[Ice Spike] Proficiency +1

"Skill [Ice Spike] Lv2 (20/20) has leveled up!"

"Current skill [Ice Spike] Lv3 (0/40)" The rıghtful source is novel✦fire.net

Gained attribute Magic Power +1!

Lin Mo looked at his magic power, which had increased by another point to reach 4 points, deeply feeling the hardships of being a mage.

No matter what other professions might be, they all had some basic foundation. As long as family conditions were slightly better and nutrition wasn't lacking, the strength, agility, and constitution values of adult males could basically reach or approach 5 points.

But magic power was different. Before walking the path of a mage, magic power was 0, and one had to accumulate it from scratch.

No wonder they had to complete their studies at the Magic Academy and only officially went out for practical experience when nearing graduation.

Ellie quickly stepped forward, efficiently cutting off the goblin's ear and storing it in her cloth bag.

Because the investigation about the undead creatures appearing in Roland Forest was still ongoing, and Lin Mo wanted to focus on practicing his low-level skills first, they hadn't taken any formal missions for this outing.

Coincidentally, due to the increasing number of goblins, the Adventurers' Association had additionally created a daily mission - Goblin Subjugation.

The mission requirements were simple: just kill goblins.

It was divided into several tiers, with the lowest tier being 10 goblins, then 25, 50, and 100 going upward.

Different tiers had different rewards, and Lin Mo had taken the highest tier, with each goblin counting for 4 silver coins.

This reward was actually quite exaggerated compared to the usual price for goblins, thus attracting many adventurers to enthusiastically participate.

Although this money wasn't much for Lin Mo, the advantage of such missions was their simplicity and convenience, without requiring extensive time for long journeys, as they could be done in the outer areas of Roland Forest.

Most importantly, it allowed him to grind skill proficiency, and it was safe enough to let Finnie, who was still a novice, adapt further.

During the previous two missions, Finnie had clearly been quite nervous, and aside from applying buffs and healing during battles, she couldn't really contribute much. But with simple missions like goblin subjugation, she was noticeably more active.

Since Healing and Light's Assistance weren't needed, she simply started practicing [Light Orb].

This was also a relatively basic skill for the priest profession, only serving as illumination when magic power was insufficient. However, for someone like Finnie who had reached professional-level magic power and had some proficiency, it could also be used as an offensive spell.

Its power naturally couldn't compare to proper mages, but at least it was an offensive method. With Finnie's ability, dealing with ordinary goblins was more than sufficient.

"Let's continue. Hopefully, the next group of goblins we encounter will be more numerous..."

Lin Mo still had plenty of magic power left, and he could recover a bit while searching. Since [Ice Spike] had reached level 3, he could now focus on [Fireball] again.

Let's set a small goal: reach max level with Fireball within 3 days!

The goblin infestation in Roland Forest had become much more severe compared to when Lin Mo first transmigrated, so the number of goblins in the forest had increased significantly. Although this wasn't a good thing, it did make finding goblins much easier for them.

In just a short while, Ellie smelled the familiar foul stench of goblins again.

"Ahead, this direction, about a few hundred meters away."

The three followed the direction Ellie pointed, and sure enough, they soon saw the familiar green-skinned figures.

They seemed to have arrived a bit late.

Several adventurers had surrounded a group of goblins and were preparing to attack.

"Boss, someone's coming."

One sharp-eyed adventurer spotted them and immediately alerted the others.

The one called "boss" was a burly man with a broad back and thick waist, holding a large machete. His demeanor didn't seem like a boss at all, but more like a thug.

Hearing his subordinate's alert, he immediately looked over. When he saw Lin Mo's equipment, his pupils contracted sharply, then he broke into a wide smile: "Big shot, these goblins were just discovered by us. But when we're out and about, we're all friends. If you want them, we'll yield them to you."

Since the other party had this attitude, Lin Mo naturally couldn't just steal their targets. He was about to refuse, but the words reached his lips when he remembered something and swallowed them back.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

After speaking, he quickly stepped forward under Ellie and Finnie's somewhat puzzled gazes, drew his Black Sword, and killed one goblin with each strike. In less than a minute, he had completely wiped out those dozen or so goblins.

Lin Mo shook the blood off his sword, then returned to the two women's side, waving his hand: "Let's go."

Ellie blinked, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

Finnie tilted her head slightly, her expression dazed, similarly stuck in a frozen state.

What kind of operation was this?

But seeing Lin Mo walking away, they quickly followed after him.

Leaving only the utterly confused adventurers behind.

"Boss, he didn't seem to take the ears."

The subordinate who had first alerted him spoke up again.

"I'm not blind." The boss scratched his head, retorting at him, then looked at the trio's retreating backs, completely baffled.

"So he helped us kill the monsters, then just left..."

This... what a good person!

They were just a low-level adventurer team. Although they had surrounded the goblins, if they really fought, they would definitely get some injuries while trying to eliminate these goblins.

Then suddenly a big shot jumped out from the bushes, equipped with excellent gear that clearly indicated impressive strength - which indeed proved true, as those goblins were like little chicks before him, with no resistance at all.

They had thought they would need to find new targets, but then this big shot just finished killing the monsters, dusted himself off, and left directly...

"Maybe he doesn't care about such meager spoils."

That was the only explanation he could think of.

"I'd always heard that Silverstream City had good public security and harmonious relations among adventurers, but I never believed it before. Now I do... If Silverstream City didn't have good security, could there be such 'living angels'?"

These adventurers felt they had gained, but actually Lin Mo hadn't lost anything either.

Stealing monsters was certainly immoral, but if you only helped kill the monsters, that was just being helpful.

He didn't care about gaining or losing a few goblins' bounties; what mattered was the skill proficiency.

That operation just now had directly increased his [Thrust] skill by 11 proficiency points - absolutely a huge gain.

"Speaking of which, those adventurers just now didn't seem to be locals..."

People from each place had their own characteristics, and it was easy to tell whether someone was an outsider.

"Recently, Mother has issued many policies related to goblins, which seem to have attracted adventurers from nearby towns."

Being attracted by goblin-related reward policies indicated that these adventers weren't particularly strong, but this was still a good thing. After all, dealing with goblins didn't require much strength - any moderately experienced adventurer team could handle ordinary goblins without trouble.

The core problem was simply lack of personnel.

If they could attract enough people, Silverstream City's pressure would definitely lessen considerably.

As for the additional financial expenditure because of this... for Silverstream City, which had excellent management, good operational conditions, and a large population, this wasn't really significant.

Ellie and Finnie didn't dwell too much on Lin Mo's strange behavior just now, simply assuming he was being kind. The three continued searching for goblin traces in the forest.

However, it seemed that the number of adventurers attracted recently was indeed high. Finding goblins wasn't difficult, but they often encountered other adventurers.

Lin Mo continued using the same method - regardless of whether the other party had already started fighting or were preparing to fight, he would directly move in to kill the monsters, then turn around and leave immediately.

When encountering "unclaimed" goblins, he would stop and practice magic at a leisurely pace.

The day passed quickly. Although they hadn't completed the 100-goblin mission, Lin Mo's proficiency had increased significantly.

First was [Fireball] - after reaching level 3, since he had prioritized improving [Ice Spike], it hadn't been leveled much. Throughout this day, it went directly from (1/40) to (34/40), gaining 33 proficiency points.

As for [Thrust], it gained even more. When "helping" others clear monsters, since efficiency was key to avoid giving the other side time for misunderstandings, he basically used [Thrust] to kill goblins, directly leveling this skill to level 4.

"Skill [Thrust] Lv3 (40/40) has leveled up!"

"Current skill [Thrust] Lv4 (29/100)"

With just 71 more proficiency points, this skill would reach max level, then he would gain another 2 points of strength and obtain a new skill.

As time was about right, everyone returned to Silverstream City. As for the uncompleted mission, they could just continue it tomorrow.

Although it was called a "Daily Mission" when introduced, considering practical circumstances including the time needed for travel and other factors, the Association's Goblin Subjugation mission actually had a 2-day time limit, so they could complete it tomorrow as well.

Moreover, completing the 100-goblin tier mission would directly count as completing one E-rank mission.

Lin Mo's E-rank mission completion count had now reached 13, with 1 D-rank mission, leaving only 5 more E-rank and 1 more D-rank missions needed to advance to Bronze-rank adventurer.

He planned to follow this rhythm and first complete the E-rank missions through goblin subjugation.

However, plans ultimately couldn't keep up with changes. When they returned to the Association, they received major news.

The investigation about the undead creatures appearing in the Deep Forest Area of Roland Forest had finally yielded preliminary results.

Vic, the Head of the Adventurers' Association, personally appeared during this peak period when adventurers were returning to the city to explain the relevant situation...