Chapter 125: Chapter 125

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Lena opened her eyes, sat up, and as usual, quietly went to wash up.

But when she returned to the room, she discovered her roommate had disappeared at some unknown time.

However, she didn't think much of it, just muttering to herself in surprise, "Ellie got up this early today?"

She probably had something important to attend to.

Morning time wasn't plentiful, so without time to ponder further, Lena changed into her Association uniform, went downstairs for a quick bite, and hurried off to work.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent room, two people were snuggled together, sleeping like the dead.

To confirm the new skill's effects, Lin Mo had gone all out, exerting himself to the limit without holding anything back, so they only managed to rest when dawn was approaching.

They slept straight through until afternoon.

His back ached and his waist was sore...

Even though his current physique was beyond ordinary people's, excessive exertion was still too much to handle, especially since his partner wasn't an ordinary person either.

He glanced at the proficiency panel.

Joint Cultivation Lv1 (7/10)

He could only hope that such strenuous practice would yield results.

He patted the girl beside him, "Ellie, time to get up."

They had adventures to embark on tomorrow, and if they didn't get up now, they wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

A vague murmur came from Ellie's throat as she habitually arched her back higher.

Looking at the distinctly finger-marked curves, Lin Mo's mouth twitched, and he gave another slap.

This time, Ellie finally woke up, rubbing her sleepy eyes. Seeing Lin Mo, she hugged him again, giggling foolishly.

Lin Mo rubbed her ears somewhat helplessly, "Alright, time to get up. We have important things to do today."

Ellie nodded, got up, and headed straight for the bathroom.

They definitely needed to shower first.

Lin Mo thought about it but decided not to follow her—he needed to rest a bit more.

A short while later, both dressed and ready to go.

Before heading out, Lin Mo asked again, "Ellie, do you feel any changes now?"

Remembering last night's conversation, Ellie understood what he meant. She tried moving around, initially not paying much attention, but gradually her eyes widened in surprise.

"My strength seems to have increased?!"

Looks like they'd focused more on strength attributes yesterday.

"About how much stronger?"

This was what Lin Mo was most curious about.

Ellie carefully assessed the feeling, growing more delighted, "Probably close to one-tenth!"

As a recently promoted professional, Ellie's strength attribute was probably around 12 or 13 points. Close to one-tenth meant about 1 point?

Seven sessions could increase strength by 1 point?

Lin Mo felt he needed to reconsider the definition of "slight."

If he had a grand mage helping with corrections, could he gain several magic points in one night?

Of course, it might also be because the power gap between him and Ellie was relatively large, and the initial effects were better.

But regardless, with this skill, as long as they practiced diligently, he didn't need to worry too much about Ellie falling behind in strength.

"What's going on exactly?"

Since Lin Mo hadn't explained, Ellie remained astonished, but she knew Lin Mo must understand the reason—otherwise he wouldn't have asked her that way.

So she grabbed his arm and cooed, "Lin Mo, tell me please..."

"When did you learn to do this?"

Lin Mo looked at the flattering little wolf-girl with some surprise.

This wasn't her usual style.

Ellie was quite honest, speaking frankly, "I've been reading some books written by bards recently, learning a bit. Don't you like it, Lin Mo?"

No wonder her repertoire had suddenly expanded yesterday... Lin Mo had thought she was a natural.

As for disliking it—of course that wasn't the case.

Who wouldn't like their cute girlfriend acting coquettishly? As long as it wasn't during serious matters like adventures, he believed Ellie would know the appropriate limits.

Then, Lin Mo used the simplest language possible to briefly explain his newly comprehended skill to Ellie.

"So, as long as I'm with Lin Mo, I can improve my strength?"

Because it was stated directly enough, Ellie understood immediately, her eyes lighting up.

"Such an amazing skill!"

With this skill, it meant that as long as she "worked hard" enough, she could keep up with Lin Mo's pace, no longer worrying about having to leave because she wasn't strong enough.

If she fell too far behind, she just needed to "work hard" a few more times.

"What are you planning to do today, Lin Mo?" Dıscover more novels at novel~fire~net

Knowing this good news, Ellie's mood immediately improved, and she asked enthusiastically.

"Planning to buy some things... What about you? Don't you need to upgrade your equipment?"

Ellie had some savings before, plus she earned quite a few gold coins from this mission share, enough to get a decent set of equipment.

Ellie had naturally been thinking about this too—with better equipment, she could help Lin Mo more.

"Do you have enough money, Lin Mo? If not, you can have my money."

Since Lin Mo had been frequently mentioning mithril gloves recently, she knew what he wanted to buy.

That thing must be expensive, right?

"Don't worry, I have enough."

Afternoon was when Adventurer Commercial Street was least crowded.

Coming to shop at this time wasn't a bad choice—though somewhat deserted, the fewer people made it more convenient.

Lin Mo first took Ellie to Shop 27, the store owned by the irritable dwarf boss.

Though he had a sharp tongue, the items in his shop were fairly priced and of good quality.

Lin Mo helped Ellie select a set of equipment suitable for her, and incidentally traded in her old gear.

Since they chose relatively high-standard items, it cost nearly two hundred gold coins, but it was worth it—adventurers spending money on equipment were investing in the right place.

Ellie's new equipment set was now comparable to Lin Mo's.

She was clearly very satisfied too, mainly because Lin Mo had chosen everything for her, which felt different.

Next came the main focus of today's itinerary.

Lin Mo opened that "Silverstream City Adventurer Guide Complete Edition" to learn about local alchemy shops.

There were three well-known stores: Luoluolan Alchemy Cottage, Kalaiman Alchemy Shop, and Shachel Alchemy Workshop.

Among them, Luoluolan Alchemy Cottage was run by a relatively young alchemist, mainly selling mid-to-low-end alchemical goods at affordable prices, but they might not have what Lin Mo wanted.

Kalaiman Alchemy Shop was a chain store with branches in many cities across the kingdom, a relatively safe choice like the Association, though the downside was obvious—it was expensive.

As for the final Shachel Alchemy Workshop...

They had already met the owner, Mrs. Shachel, before. When they completed that Crimson Flame Tiger mission, because they knew Finnie, the reward had been quite generous.

Moreover, she had said then that if they needed anything, they could visit her shop and get discounted prices.

With that in mind, there was no reason to hesitate, so Lin Mo headed straight for Shachel Alchemy Workshop.

Slightly different from Roland Town's situation, Silverstream City had more capable adventurers, and quite a few people could afford alchemical goods. So even in the afternoon, the alchemy workshop wasn't completely without customers.

Lin Mo pushed the door open, and the wind chime hanging on the door rang with a crisp sound.

Lin Mo looked up and saw Mrs. Shachel, whom they'd met once before, leisurely sitting in a recliner with a cup of light tea in front of her, casually flipping through a book in her hands.

Seeing someone enter, she habitually glanced up, then after a second, her page-turning motion suddenly paused.

The words that had been on her lips were swallowed back, and she looked up again, putting on an enthusiastic smile.

"If it isn't little Finnie's teammate..."

She stood up from the recliner and came to the counter, "So, visiting my shop—what do you need?"

"Hello, Mrs. Shachel."

Lin Mo greeted her first, then got straight to the point, "I'd like to purchase a pair of mithril gloves. I wonder if you have them here."

Mrs. Shachel was clearly taken aback, looking him up and down, then glancing at Ellie beside him before saying slowly, "You might not be aware, but gloves and staffs, both being magic amplification devices, cannot take effect simultaneously. If you're planning to buy this as a gift for little Finnie..."

Lin Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You've misunderstood. I'm not planning to give it as a gift—it's for my own use. Though I look like a warrior, I actually know a bit of magic."

"I see, that's quite unusual..."

Mrs. Shachel breathed a sigh of relief, "I was just wondering whether to inform Lady Lavelle about this. After all, she might not be pleased with a son-in-law who's two-timing."

Lin Mo's mouth twitched—so she was planning to tattle?

Given Finnie's status, it was understandable that her elders worried about the innocent girl being sweet-talked away.

But this lady before him couldn't really be considered an elder, and saying this directly showed little consideration for his feelings.

Now, Lin Mo could somewhat understand why Finnie didn't much aunt.

But she herself probably didn't realize this, instead attributing it to other reasons.

He gave an awkward laugh without responding, steering the conversation back on track, "So, does Mrs. Shachel have mithril gloves for sale?"

She nodded, turned and went into the back room, returning over ten seconds later with an exquisitely decorated box containing a pair of silver gloves.

Lin Mo looked carefully—they were indeed made of the same material as Finnie's staff.

"How much for these gloves?"

"Normally, they sell for 850 gold, but since you're little Finnie's teammate, I'll only charge you cost and processing fee—650 gold coins."

As the words fell, Lin Mo immediately felt this aunt became amiable and kind again.