Cat Demon Quest

"Miss Eunice Lawrence?"

At the mention of that name, quite a few adventurers nearby immediately turned their attention over.

Lawrence was undoubtedly a renowned surname throughout Rania City. Almost everyone knew of that noble family name.

Because it belonged to Rania City's lord—Viscountess Caroline Lawrence.

Unlike those merely wealthy merchants and minor nobles, she was a true member of the ruling class, a viscountess formally ennobled by the kingdom!

And Eunice Lawrence was Viscountess Lawrence's most beloved youngest daughter.

News and gossip concerning such important figures naturally became popular stories among commoners and adventurers.

Most talked about of all was the engagement between the viscountess's daughter and Roland Town's lord, Baron Lar.

"Miss Eunice must be here to see the lord, right?"

"Most likely... In a while, those two should be getting married. Maybe she came this time to discuss the wedding arrangements."

"A wedding between nobles like them is sure to be grander than anything before it. When that day comes, even beggars watching from the sidelines might get black bread bestowed by the baron..."

Lin Mo listened to the gossip with great interest, treating it like a side dish with his meal. It also gave him a better understanding of Roland Town and Rania City.

"Come to think of it, Miss Eunice seems to be an Alchemist too!"

"She's a noble, after all. Of course she wouldn't take up an ordinary profession like Warrior or Ranger. Being an Alchemist suits her perfectly with our lord."

"I'm so jealous of the lord. Born with the talent to learn magic, backed by a wealthy family, and not long after officially completing his profession advancement, he was received by Viscountess Lawrence, became the lord of this town, and got engaged to Miss Eunice... Sigh, now that's what you call a life!"

"Maybe I have the talent to become a mage too... I just don't have the money to study at a Magic Academy."

"Where did this Goblin crawl out from? Stop dreaming!"

"Hahaha..."

Amid the laughter, Lin Mo finished dinner and got up to leave the restaurant.

The gossip was entertaining, but it concerned upper-class nobles and had nothing to do with a bottom-rung adventurer like him. Listening to it now and then was enough for a laugh.

He should get back and rest early. He still had to head out tomorrow to look for Slimes.

"Skill Stealth Lv2 (20/20) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: Stealth Lv3 (0/40)"

"Stat Points gained: Agility +2!"

Stealth Lv3 (0/40): Having become proficient at slacking off, you have begun to learn how to reduce your presence in any situation. After remaining out of an enemy's sight for a period of time, you may enter Stealth. While in Stealth, you will not be treated as the enemy's primary target, reducing the risk of being discovered. Attacking while in Stealth will break Stealth and grant your next attack a 7% Physical Damage bonus.

Awesome!

Picking up the intact Slime Essence from the ground and looking at the messages before him, Lin Mo's eyes lit up and his whole body seemed to wake up.

For a Green Excellent Grade skill, the level at which it granted an additional stat was also level 3—and it had actually given him 2 stat points at once!

This brought his Agility straight to 8, leaving him only 2 points away from what Lin Mo suspected was the standard for a profession holder.

He had already fulfilled the other condition for becoming a profession holder—fully mastering one skill—right after arriving in this world. As long as he raised his Agility by another 2 points, he should be able to officially become an Assassin.

And after raising Slash to its level 5 cap and bringing his Strength to 10, he could become a Warrior as well...

The rapid skill growth brought by the Proficiency System gave him the potential to surpass nearly every genius on this continent, allowing him to develop not merely two professions, but several!

The more he thought about it, the more motivated he became. Lin Mo took a deep breath, his gaze growing firmer as he set off to search for Slimes.

After gaining 2 points of Agility, Lin Mo's speed underwent another tremendous leap, and his efficiency at finding Slimes was far higher than yesterday.

In a single day, he actually killed 19 Slimes and obtained 18 portions of Slime Essence!

At the same time, Slash's proficiency had reached 28/40.

If nothing unexpected happened, Slash would reach level 4 tomorrow.

After returning to town and storing his quest items, he went to the same restaurant as yesterday. This time, he ordered steak and corn chowder. When he returned to the inn after eating, he happened to run into Uncle Bern and Evan at his room door, along with a young man dressed in fitted Leather Armor.

"This is...?"

Lin Mo asked curiously.

"This is Cody, the newest member of our team."

After speaking, Evan turned to introduce Lin Mo to Cody. "This brother is Lin Mo. He worked with our team once before, and he's really strong!"

"Hello."

Lin Mo smiled, nodded, and greeted him first.

Cody merely glanced at him, gave a quiet "Mm," and walked straight into his room.

Bern looked somewhat embarrassed and hurriedly explained, "Our new member has a rather cold personality, but he's not a bad person. And his strength is reliable. He once helped complete a Bronze rank quest, but later, his team captain planned to develop in Rania City. He didn't want to go, so he chose to leave the team."

"It's fine."

Lin Mo waved his hand, naturally unconcerned with such a trivial matter.

"By the way, did you just get back from a quest?"

Bern glanced at Lin Mo's slightly dirty Leather Armor and asked curiously.

"Yeah. It's a small quest. I should be able to finish it tomorrow."

"Then this works out... Actually, while I was recruiting at the Association today, I also looked over the upcoming quests. There's one that seems suitable, and the reward isn't bad either. Want to consider it?"

"What quest?"

Lin Mo thought about it. Exploring the forest alone was indeed quite inconvenient in many ways. If the quest was truly suitable, he could consider it.

"It's a Material Collection quest: gather the claws of Tattooed Cat Demons. Since Cat Demons are found somewhat deep in the outer regions of Lorraine Forest, we might have to stay in the forest for several days."

Lin Mo rubbed his chin. "A one-star quest?"

"Yeah. The reward is pretty good—12 Gold Coins."

For a one-star quest, that was nearly the highest possible reward.

"There's another easier one, also one-star: collect 30 Common Cat Demon claws for 10 Gold Coins. If you're not joining us, we'll just take that one instead."

"I can consider it. A quest completed through cooperation should count toward quest records too, right?"

"It does."

"As for the reward..."

"How about a seventy-thirty split?"

Bern scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. "Our team has a new member now, so we have to consider how he feels too."

"Fine."

A seventy-thirty split was a fairly reasonable arrangement to begin with. With both quests combined, the earnings would be quite substantial—at least a little more than doing quests alone.

Most importantly, he could gain the quest records for two Black Iron rank quests at once, speeding up his progress toward becoming a Bronze rank Adventurer.

Once he became a Bronze rank Adventurer, he would no longer need to stay at an outside inn. There were VIP rooms on the Association's third floor.