Chapter 371: The Serious Knight Princess |
Time passed bit by bit. Lin Mo continuously analyzed the contents of the scroll based on his previous experience with space magic, slowly understanding and digesting the complex mana circuits inscribed upon it.
Logically, this process should have been extremely lengthy, because the mana circuits for teleportation magic were incredibly complex, complex to a degree that was incomprehensible for ordinary mages.
Even with Lin Mo's comprehension and talent, he spent a considerable amount of time on it.
After fully understanding the mana circuits within this scroll, Lin Mo still had to mobilize the mana within his own body for continuous trial and error, attempting to run the circuits. Normally, this was also a very lengthy process. It was like how often a person's eyes might understand something, but their hands don't. There was still a significant gap between being able to comprehend something and truly being able to cast it.
Even for Lin Mo, it required considerable effort.
Finally, after spending nearly two hours, Lin Mo finally mastered this skill, and a prompt floated before his eyes.
"Successfully learned Epic-Level skill [Teleport]. Gained +3 base attribute points to Mana, +2 to Spirit!"
From the base attribute points provided by this skill, one could see that the Teleport skill, besides being extremely difficult and having high mana consumption, also placed high demands on the caster's spiritual strength.
Lin Mo checked the detailed information of this skill.
Note: Performing [Teleport] requires determining the spatial location information and precise coordinates of the target location!
The introduction was very simple, but it still provided some important information.
For example, the farther the teleportation distance, the longer the "charging" time required, but the specific time was also related to skill proficiency and one's own Mana and Spirit strength.
The maximum teleportation distance was also noted.
Currently, Lin Mo's maximum teleportation distance was 10 kilometers, which obviously wasn't very far. However, this was mainly because his skill level was still relatively low. Once the skill level increased, the distance would naturally become greater.
However...
Lin Mo frowned. It was clear this skill had no offensive power whatsoever, meaning it couldn't be used to increase its proficiency by killing magical creatures. It could only be slowly leveled up through repeated use. For Lin Mo, this was obviously not good news.
This was the downside of purely functional skills.
The [Spatial Creation] skill was the same. The speed of increasing proficiency was relatively fast at the beginning, but later on, the proficiency required for leveling up was simply too much, making it difficult to level up quickly.
Moreover, to perform a teleport, one must accurately understand the spatial location information of the target destination. This wasn't something that could be grasped just by looking at a map or a description. One had to personally go there and analyze and record the spatial information of that location using spatial mana.
Therefore, it was impossible to teleport to places one hadn't been to or hadn't marked and recorded with mana.
Lin Mo gave it a try. First, he marked his current location. It went smoothly. However, this mark was probably useless because, according to Lin Mo's guess, once he cleared this secret realm, the secret realm itself would likely disappear. At that time, the information he marked would naturally vanish as well.
But...
Lin Mo suddenly thought of something. The next moment, he directly swapped positions with the Shadow Split currently inside the secret realm. He then left his own mana mark outside before swapping his main body back.
Feeling the very clear mana mark information in his mind, Lin Mo smiled slightly.
This way, there was no need to maintain that Shadow Split outside anymore.
However, that was only in theory. Practically speaking, since the consumption wasn't that great anyway, for safety's sake, Lin Mo still chose not to let that Shadow Split disappear.
After understanding these basic pieces of information, the next step was to choose the skill's evolution route.
Please select evolution direction.
Evolution Route 1: Long-Distance Teleport I: Teleportation distance increased by 30%!
Evolution Route 2: Rapid Teleport I: Teleportation speed increased by 30%!
The evolution routes for functional skills were also functional. One increased the maximum teleportation distance, while the other increased the teleportation speed, i.e., shortened the cast time.
How to put it... Teleportation, after all, wasn't like Flash. Even if the cast time was shortened, the required charging time was still relatively long, making it difficult to use as a combat skill.
Therefore, increasing teleportation speed wasn't very useful. So, Lin Mo directly chose Evolution Route 1, increasing his maximum teleportation distance to 13 kilometers.
Having finally fully mastered this skill, the others were also well-rested and couldn't wait to continue advancing.
The magical creatures encountered after the 40th floor were, in theory, all at the Transcendent Level or above.
For Lin Mo and the others, this was good news. Magical creatures of this level were perfect sparring partners for their current selves.
While one's own attributes and skill values were important, if one lacked practical combat experience, it was difficult to fully utilize one's strength. Therefore, a certain amount of practical combat training was still very important.
After confirming there was nothing else in the lounge, Lin Mo pushed open the door ahead and continued forward.
Speaking of which, he wondered just how many floors this secret realm had?
According to the current pattern, floors 41 to 50 should have level 21 to 25 magical creatures. For him, that posed absolutely no pressure.
Continuing downward, the magical creatures on floors 51 to 60 would be level 26 to 30. Although Lin Mo could still handle them, for Ellie and the others, that would already be very dangerous. It would be best for them to enter the Portable Space to prevent any accidents.
After the 60th floor, if the secret realm still hadn't been cleared, what they would face would be genuine Epic-Level magical creatures.
Epic-Level magical creatures were completely different from Lord Level ones... it wasn't just a simple matter of the level increase.
On this continent, the strength of magical creatures was basically fixed, growing according to their race and bloodline.
Lord Level magical creatures, unless under extremely special circumstances, could not become Epic-Level magical creatures. Therefore, Epic-Level magical creatures were inherently very powerful beings, flowing with potent bloodlines within them. This often gave them attributes that were more than just a bit higher than human professionals without bloodlines.
Human professionals often tried to compensate for these gaps with high-quality equipment. But even so, unless the equipment quality was truly very high, it was difficult to catch up.
Magical creatures were generally stronger than humans. The definition of threat level was never based on a one-on-one fight, but on a professional of the corresponding level leading a complete adventurer team to complete the subjugation relatively safely.
At the Epic Level, this gap would become even larger. Even two human Heroic Realm experts of the same level working together would find it difficult to defeat a single Epic-Level magical creature.
This was the power of bloodlines...
A very simple example was like the Ice Dragon King Bloodline on Lin Mo's body, which could directly increase his Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Mana attributes by 30%.
And that was just the attribute increase. Besides that, there were also Elemental Affinity, Elemental Resistance, and innate skills, etc.
Coupled with the fact that magical creatures' attributes were often more well-rounded than those of human professionals, the final result was a pattern where humans were completely no match for magical creatures in a one-on-one situation.
With Lin Mo's current strength, he was very confident about taking on a level 31 Epic-Level magical creature solo. It might take some effort, but he would most likely win relatively easily in the end without suffering any serious injuries.
But this only applied to level 31. If it were one level higher, reaching level 32, it would become much more troublesome...
Continuing upward, levels 33, 34, or even 35, that would completely exceed what he could handle.
Therefore, if they reached the 60th floor and this secret realm still hadn't ended, then this time, he also wouldn't be able to clear this secret realm.
Shaking his head, he pushed these distracting thoughts aside. For now, it was better not to think too much and just continue advancing first.
Pushing open the door, the number of branching paths appearing before them had now reached an extremely ridiculous level, a full dozen or more.
But everyone was already used to this and turned their gazes to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo didn't waste words either, directly choosing a path based on his intuition.
Walking forward, they soon encountered magical creatures.
As per the previous pattern, what appeared before them was a level 21 magical creature that had just reached the upper Lord Level range.
As previously agreed, neither Lin Mo nor Lily made a move.
Ellie and the others had long since arranged their formation. The moment the magical creatures appeared, they entered a combat state.
Lin Mo glanced over. What appeared were indeed level 21 magical creatures, and three of them appeared at once.
This intensity was just right...
Eve, Ellie, Sherfilia, Flora, plus Finnie, a total of five people, dealing with three magical creatures equivalent to the Transcendent Level. There wouldn't be any danger, and the intensity was just right to serve as good training.
Thus, he stood by to watch with peace of mind.
"Finnie."
Even before Ellie's reminder, Finnie had already started using magic to apply buffs to everyone.
Simultaneously, the three Transcendent-Level magical creatures ahead also launched their attack.
"Ha!"
Ellie roared angrily, charging forward to meet them head-on, her sword clashing with the magical creature.
Among these few, Ellie was the only Strength-type warrior, so naturally, she had to bear the frontal pressure.
At the same time, Sherfilia and Eve launched flanking assaults from the sides, preventing the other two magical creatures from ganging up on Ellie.
Immediately after, the magic in Flora's hands was also ready. She seized the moment, the moment Ellie retreated, and a surge of flames smashed directly into that magical creature's face.
They had tried this kind of coordination many times before and were now quite proficient at it.
The earlier clash also allowed Ellie to confirm the strength of the magical creature before her. Although there was a gap in level, and it was a whole tier difference, Ellie wasn't some ordinary professional either. She had the power of a bloodline flowing within her and had previously been enhanced by the Ice Mist Flower. So, the gap between her and the opponent was very small. Even in a head-on collision, she wouldn't be at a disadvantage.
After Flora's magic squarely hit the magical creature, she immediately followed up with another assault.
Meanwhile, Eve and Sherfilia on the flanks were also entangled with the magical creatures. They too appeared completely at ease. Although they couldn't defeat their opponents in a short time, they weren't at a disadvantage in the slightest. If the battle continued, the final victors would definitely be them, and it wouldn't take too long.
After all, their attributes were very comprehensive.
Generally speaking, the attributes of magical creatures were more well-rounded compared to humans. Even Strength-type magical creatures wouldn't have too low Speed or Constitution attributes. This was one of the biggest advantages of magical creatures.
But now, facing Eve and Sherfilia, who had been enhanced by Lin Mo, the situation was completely different.
Apart from not having corresponding skills, through Dual Cultivation, Eve and the others had essentially gained base attributes equivalent to multi-profession development.
Lin Mo watched for a while, confirming there were no problems. Having nothing else to do, he started chatting with Lily.
"Has she not woken up yet?"
"You mean Sister Joan? Not yet..."
Compared to the other girls, Lily was noticeably more reserved. Facing Lin Mo's question, she answered meticulously.
Lin Mo didn't really like this overly respectful feeling, especially during daily interactions. It gave a sense of distance.
But he could understand. After all, for Lily, everything that had happened before was far too shocking and sudden.
Moreover, she originally seemed to be that kind of more serious personality, handling things meticulously, which occasionally made her seem a bit rigid, a bit dull.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with this kind of personality. That kind of seriously earnest, somewhat clueless cuteness could be quite adorable sometimes. Lin Mo quite liked it.
"Speaking of which, why did you come out alone?"
Lin Mo was a bit curious.
Logically, someone of Lily's status should have several powerful bodyguards with her, right?
Lily still answered very seriously, "Because the Dark Tide can corrupt people's hearts. If I brought others, they would be affected."
Lin Mo thought about it and realized it made sense. Lily possessed Holy Light and had firm willpower, so naturally, she wasn't afraid. But others might not be.
Previously, in the Abyss of the Ice Cavern within the Millennium Cold Cavern Secret Realm of the snowy mountains, even a Heroic Realm expert had absolutely no resistance against the Dark Tide. Just wandering at the periphery caused them to fall into madness, nearly unable to escape.
And Lily's purpose for going out was to purify the Dark Tide. If she brought bodyguards, who knows if they would end up being helpers or not...
Thinking about it this way, she had it quite tough.
Lin Mo patted her shoulder. "You've worked hard."
"Not hard at all."
Lily's tone remained calm, but her voice was noticeably slightly higher. Even through the armor, Lin Mo could feel her body stiffen a bit.
A serious, proper knight maiden always made people think of some strange, weird things...
Unfortunately, Lin Mo wasn't a villain, so he couldn't experience the plot of bullying a "gusha knight."