Chapter 300 - 179: Petty Thief of the Secret Silver Mine?
「One day earlier...」
Chairman Vick had been searching the Core Area of Loran Forest for several days.
But just as with their previous investigations, he hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary after several full days of searching.
The only thing of note was the sheer number of Goblins. They had become a common sight even in the Core Area, where they were once sparse.
However, he found no sign of a Lord Level Goblin, nor any trace of the Lawrence Clan’s potential conspiracy.
This was very strange.
After all, with a Goblin population of this scale, it was impossible for a Lord Level Goblin not to have emerged. It would surely be accompanied by a massive Goblin Army, filled with numerous Bronze Goblins and Giant Goblins.
’But where on earth did all those Goblins go?’
Loran Forest was vast. While it would be an exaggeration to say they’d searched the entire forest, his team from the Adventurer’s Association had indeed conducted extremely thorough investigations over the past few days. By all rights, if a Lord Level Goblin existed, it would be impossible for them to find absolutely nothing.
’Are they hiding somewhere no one knows about?’
’Like an undiscovered, massive underground cavern, or maybe even an Alternate Space?’
As he was lost in thought, Vick suddenly sensed a bizarre spatial fluctuation.
Although Vick couldn’t use Space Magic—he wasn’t even a Mage—as the chairman of the local branch of the Adventurer’s Association, he was exceptionally knowledgeable. He had encountered related phenomena in his youth, making him quite familiar with this subtle fluctuation. In truth, this was no normal spatial ripple; otherwise, as a non-Space Mage, he would have been unable to sense it at all.
Vick sprinted toward the source of the bizarre sensation, and he soon came upon a shocking sight.
There in the forest, in a spot he had passed countless times over the past few days, innumerable fine cracks appeared in midair, as if a giant mirror concealing the entire space had been shattered.
"This is..."
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[Cultivator Companion] Level 4 (29/100)
Early in the morning, Lin Mo gazed at his skill’s progress on the status panel, an "I knew it" expression on his face.
He had actually suspected it for a while, but after the events of the last few days, especially yesterday’s test, he could finally confirm it. As Ali’s strength increased, the growth rate of his [Cultivator Companion] Skill Level also became faster.
’In other words, the growth of the Skill Level is also related to the other person’s Level?’
This was a rather significant conclusion. It meant that if Lin Mo could find a partner with a higher Level than his own for Cultivator Companion, not only would he gain Attribute boosts, but the Skill Level would also increase very rapidly.
The only problem was, as always, he couldn’t find anyone...
The image of Shefilya’s cool, aloof face involuntarily surfaced in Lin Mo’s mind, but he quickly shook his head.
’Even if her attitude toward me has improved a lot recently, I’d definitely get beaten up if I proposed something like that.’
Pushing these unrealistic thoughts aside, Lin Mo got up and washed his face. He then patted Ali, who was still lazing in bed. "Time to get up. We need to take on a new quest today."
After spending several days in the Secret Realm, Landon and the others were finally well-rested. However, Lin Mo was still hesitant about whether to accept High Level quests with them.
The main reason was the recent instability in Loran Forest. Safety was a secondary concern—with Shefilya around, nothing truly disastrous was likely to happen. The most important thing for Lin Mo was to level up his Low Level Skills first. From that standpoint, the cost-effectiveness of fighting powerful Demons was far lower than just looking for trouble with Goblins.
Therefore, Lin Mo planned to discuss it with them in a bit and then accept quests like clearing out Goblin Settlements.
Such quests weren’t difficult, were relatively safe, and would allow him to grind Skill Level.
Although the financial reward wouldn’t be great, these were special times. Stability was what mattered most.
Besides, Landon and his Cyan Orchid Squad probably weren’t short on money anyway.
Alternatively, they could just split up for a while and do their own thing. They were only partners, after all.
’I’ll figure out the specifics once we get to the Association.’
Ali climbed out of bed. Compared to Lin Mo with his higher Constitution, she didn’t look nearly as well-rested.
Still, she had gained some points in her Constitution Attribute thanks to [Cultivator Companion], so she wasn’t doing too poorly. Splashing some water on her face would be enough to perk her up.
Downstairs in the main hall, Shefilya had already prepared breakfast.
She herself was already gone, however, presumably having left for the City Lord’s Mansion.
Lena came downstairs just then. After the three of them ate breakfast, they headed toward the Adventurer’s Association together.
On the way, Lin Mo and Ali took a detour toward the City Lord’s Mansion, while Lena went on to the Association by herself. After spending her rest day yesterday at home researching agriculture, it was time for her to go to work.
Unlike her old mindset of simply working to make ends meet, her front-desk job at the Adventurer’s Association had become less of a duty and more a part of her life.
There, she could interact with all sorts of people. And while many Adventurers still kept their distance, as long as she had that small group of kind friends, Lena was very happy.
She loved this job, because it was through her work at the Adventurer’s Association’s front desk that she had met her best friend and the most important person in her life.