Chapter 157: Chapter 157

The long downhill path finally came to an end, revealing before everyone a massive bunker constructed from piled rubble.

Though called a bunker, goblins didn't possess particularly strong construction capabilities, so it was essentially just a huge temporary makeshift dwelling that appeared irregular and quite chaotic.

In front of the bunker, a group of neatly arranged goblins awaited them.

Different from the goblins they had encountered before, these goblins clearly wielded weapons of much better quality, wore protective equipment on their bodies, and their mental state was completely different from those outside.

The experienced adventurers recognized these creatures at a glance and immediately educated the younger members of the team: "Be careful, these guys are also variants, possibly even stronger than regular Mutated Goblins!"

Because of the recent severe goblin infestation, Lin Mo had specifically purchased a copy of "The Complete Goblin Atlas," which mentioned various common goblin variants, including Goblin Guards.

These goblins, in a sense, could be considered the ordinary goblins among Mutated Goblins.

Goblin Guards were precisely the product of this process. These creatures looked somewhat similar to ordinary goblins, but without exception, their parents were all powerful Mutated Goblins or even Bronze Goblins!

Goblins were a magical race - Mutated Goblins might give birth to either Mutated Goblins or ordinary goblins. If they continued breeding with other higher races like humans, there was a small chance of producing Bronze Goblins.

When Mutated Goblins born from Mutated Goblins continued breeding with second-generation Mutated Goblins like themselves, although the offspring could still be either Mutated Goblins or ordinary goblins, both variants and ordinary ones would be slightly stronger than the previous generation...

After several generations of such evolution, eventually powerful bloodlines would be continuously purified. In the end, even "ordinary" goblins would be much stronger than truly ordinary goblins.

These goblins were stronger, smarter, and even developed concepts of discipline, thus behaving like well-trained soldiers in combat.

That's why they were named "Goblin Guards."

Using the professional terminology of the Magical Creature Research Association, they could also be called "Type II Goblins," indicating that they and ordinary goblins were practically different species.

And since there were "Goblin Guards," naturally there would be even more powerful variants above them - "Giant Goblins." These Giant Goblins roughly corresponded to "Mutated Goblins" among ordinary goblins, but their size was much larger than Mutated Goblins, they were stronger, possessed terrifying strength, and had robust constitutions, making them quite difficult opponents to handle.

Correspondingly, the "Type II Goblins" equivalent to Bronze Goblins that were stronger than Mutated Goblins were Lord Level magical creatures - Silver Goblins.

This was like the evolutionary path of goblins. Ordinary goblins were almost the weakest magical creatures in the world, but "Type II Goblins" and those above them were completely different.

"Be careful, don't get careless, maintain formation!"

Torren promptly reminded everyone. Meanwhile, the Goblin Guards ahead had already begun charging toward them.

Unlike ordinary goblins, those green-skinned shorties would charge recklessly no matter how many there were, but these Goblin Guards before them moved like a real army - very fast with their formation barely affected.

Moreover, behind them, there was a group of "Goblin Archers" holding bows, shooting arrows in perfect unison.

The knights raised their shields, blocking the first wave of arrows. Meanwhile, those Goblin Guards had rushed forward and begun close combat with the frontline knights and warriors.

Fortunately, those present weren't novices either - all were experienced veteran adventurers who quickly reacted and coordinated against the enemy.

Rangers drew their crossbows, elements gathered on the mages' staffs, and warriors swung their weapons, hacking at the goblins before them.

Lin Mo also sprang into action quickly, targeting the Goblin Archers in the rear.

These creatures were quite troublesome - if left unchecked to keep shooting arrows, the frontline adventurers could easily get injured.

After all, these guys weren't weak either, all possessing Professional-level strength that couldn't be underestimated.

So he directly activated [Vanish], swiftly passing along the edge of the battlefield straight to the rear. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novęlfire.net

Just then, an assassin who had arrived before Lin Mo quickly struck, cleanly piercing a Goblin Archer's throat with his short sword.

However, before he could celebrate, a dagger flew out from the shadows where the firelight couldn't reach, directly striking his chest.

His companion behind him quickly stepped forward, blocking the follow-up strike for him.

The assassin, having narrowly escaped death, endured the chest pain and looked ahead, discovering an exceptionally short goblin quickly retreating back into the shadows.

"Be careful... they have assassins too!"

He shouted while retreating.

As Lin Mo passed by, he skillfully pulled the dagger from the assassin's chest and cast a healing spell.

The assassin was momentarily stunned, not even having time to thank him before Lin Mo's figure disappeared again.

[Healing Art] proficiency +1

Use it whenever there's an opportunity - skill proficiency is built up slowly .

Although he knew the enemy had assassins, Lin Mo didn't care, still directly using [Vanish] to stealthily approach those Goblin Archers, then quickly forming frost in his hand...

For ordinary assassins, even if they reached the enemy's backline, they could usually only take out one, or at most two targets - that was already quite difficult.

Backline professions, while relatively fragile, weren't lambs waiting for slaughter with necks outstretched. For example, archers or rangers - this profession had sharp insight and fast reaction speed. If slightly careless, getting counter-killed wasn't impossible.

But Lin Mo was different.

A mage with a tank's physique using an assassin's stealth skill to rush face-to-face, even able to draw his sword and become a warrior at any moment - tell me, isn't that terrifying?

As Lin Mo silently recited in his heart, ice crystals formed from ice elements fell like raindrops. The Goblin Archers within range had no time to react - in less than a second, they were all instantly killed.

This single move took out seven or eight Goblin Archers!

[Vanish] proficiency +8

[Ice Crystal Fall] proficiency +8

A series of proficiency increases floated up, but Lin Mo had no time to look because the next moment, several daggers flew out from the darkness toward Lin Mo.

Clearly, those goblin assassins were panicking.

Lin Mo sneered, [Rock Shield] instantly forming before him.

Those daggers struck the rock shield without even leaving a crack.

Through Lin Mo's long-term dedication, his total magic attribute had reached 35+8, totaling 43 points! This could be said to be second only to his warrior profession's main attributes.

Using this against these threat level 1 creatures was almost overkill.

Holding the completely undamaged [Rock Shield] in hand, wouldn't it be wasteful not to use it?

And so, Lin Mo directly activated [Great Shield Charge], crashing forward.

His agility attribute was also very high, so his charging speed was extremely fast. If normal knights using this move resembled clumsy tanks, then Lin Mo performed like a high-speed train on tracks.

The Goblin Archers did react, continuously shooting arrows at him, but it was completely useless.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Mo charged from one end to the other, smashing all those Goblin Archers into pieces.

That's right - under the tremendous impact force, upon contact, they directly shattered into pieces, not even leaving complete corpses.

Meanwhile, the frontline Goblin Guards, without archer support and being inferior in strength to the adventurers, were already steadily retreating.

But they clearly had no escape route.

Lin Mo chuckled happily, balancing an expanding fireball on his fingertip, then suddenly threw it forward.

[Explosive Fireball]!

Amid the roaring explosion, three or four Goblin Guards instantly fell silent, while several nearby Goblin Guards were also affected by the bursting flames, rolling on the ground screaming in agony.

Such powerful magic, such incredible combat style!

Torren looked at Lin Mo ahead with astonishment.

When Lin Mo stopped that half boulder earlier, he thought he was a warrior. But after the battle started, he stealthily moved to the rear like an assassin. Now it was even more remarkable - he was using magic.

How could such a person exist in this world?

Torren couldn't comprehend it for a moment.

[Rock Shield] proficiency +64

[Great Shield Charge] proficiency +64

[Explosive Fireball] proficiency +40

Looking at the proficiency increases floating before him, Lin Mo smiled with satisfaction.

How much proficiency had increased in this short time?

These "Type II Goblins" were incredibly satisfying to kill - not only were there many of them, but they also provided abundant proficiency!

After this wave, Lin Mo directly leveled up three skills.

"Skill [Rock Shield] Lv3 (40/40) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Rock Shield] Lv4 (41/100)"

"Skill [Great Shield Charge] Lv4 (100/100) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Great Shield Charge] Lv5 (26/180)"

"Skill [Ice Crystal Fall] Lv4 (100/100) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Ice Crystal Fall] Lv5 (7/180)"

Lin Mo planned to max out the [Great Shield Charge] skill during this trip.

First, it was easy to practice and could be trained together with [Rock Shield]. Second, his basic constitution attribute had already reached 27 points, not far from level 3 knight.

Compared to warrior and mage, the assassin and knight professions had somewhat fallen behind in progress. Especially constitution - this very important attribute was not only useful in combat but also in daily life, making it particularly crucial.

Of course, warrior and mage would still be the main focus for development. Lin Mo's basic strength and magic were 38 and 35 respectively, not far from promotion. It would be best if they could all advance during this operation!

He had a premonition that something major was about to happen in this border region of the Doria Kingdom.

Before everything arrived, he needed to enhance his strength as much as possible...