Half a month has passed since Charity Gala.
In the past half month, life seems to be peaceful, but in fact Xia Lin's team is making final preparations for Mage Tower's strategy.
Xia Lin made a choice between Monk and Magic Warrior, and decided to continue exploring in depth along the path of Monk.
Tranquil Palm Monastery, back mountain.
The wind howled and the bamboo leaves rustled.
Xia Lin was naked from the waist up, sweat dripping down his strong muscle lines.
His eyes were slightly closed, and his steps were staggering and strange, like a drunkard walking a tightrope.
"Hiccup - the left side! No, it's the right side!"
Master Qi Feng was lying on a large bluestone, with half a gourd of low-quality soju in his hand, shouting indiscriminately. The moment he finished speaking, the empty wine bowl in the old guy's hand suddenly flew out, and hit Xia Lin's temple with a cracking sound.
Xia Lin did not open his eyes.
At the moment when the wine bowl was about to hit, his body seemed to have lost all bones, and his whole body spun half a circle like catkins in the wind.
"Pah."
The wine bowl was gently pushed with the back of his hand, and the force was completely removed, and it landed firmly on his other hand.
Congratulations, through high-intensity targeted training, your expertise [Mobility] has been mastered.
[Effect: Your AC bonus to dodge while moving is increased to +4.]
It is detected that the professional compatibility is extremely high, and the proficiency conversion overflows.
Your occupation: Monk (Drunken Fist Master) level increased to Lv.2
Obtain core ability: [Evasion] (You will not take any damage if you succeed in avoiding range attacks).
Xia Lin took a long breath, opened his eyes, and threw the wine bowl back to Qi Feng.
"Thank you, Master."
"Hey, you kid, your understanding is higher than I thought." Qi Feng caught the bowl and took another sip of wine, "This is the beginning. But you have to remember that you are really drunk when you are drunk but not drunk."
But what followed was that troublesome number.
[Current total level: 10]
[Magic Warrior Lv.8:39325/120000]
[Drunken Fist Master Lv.2:0/120000]
To upgrade from level 10 to level 11, the required proficiency jumps directly from 90,000 to 120,000.
Xia Lin also considered continuing to work part-time in other professions, such as rogue or bard, to acquire more skills.
But he quickly gave up the idea.
(Will there be a level cap in this world?)
Although this world currently does not seem to have a clear upper level limit, the top powerhouses he has seen, such as Anlin and Oberon, who are above level 20, almost all rely on the race Hit Dice or the mythical class to get there.
There seems to be some kind of invisible bottleneck in the professional level of ordinary humans.
At least he saw that Kade's mother and that Platinum rank paladin were both level 20.
(Forget it, let's focus on training Magic Warrior to an advanced level.)
Xia Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead and bowed to Qi Feng.
"Thank you, Master, for your guidance."
"Go ahead, go ahead." Qi Feng waved his hand and lay back on the hemp rope, "Remember to bring some wine next time."
After that, Xia Lin went to Blacksmith store of Sli·Klin, thinking that he could buy something more, but the Blacksmith store was closed.
The sign reads "Ants need to dig holes, please don't disturb them."
Fermi Antfolk's strange habits, Xia Lin didn't know, so he had to give up.
Back at the mansion, as soon as I entered the door, I saw Kade polishing a brand new armor in the living room.
The entire armor showed a strange silver-blue color, with natural lines on the surface that looked like water waves.
Xia Lin Just tapped it lightly, and the nail plate emitted a sweet and clear echo like wind chimes, which lasted for a long time.
"Singing Steel?" Xia Lin raised his eyebrows, "This is a rare thing. Is your mother back?"
"Well, I came back at midnight yesterday."
Kade smiled helplessly, "She threw this thing at the door, left a note saying it was for my mental damages, and then she disappeared."
"I guess she thinks our room is too stuffy for her to have a party." Xia Lin shrugged, "But this apology is substantial enough. With this full-body plate armor, your Defense can at least reach a higher level."
In the backyard, Celia is undergoing a special training.
Sometimes she transforms into Succubus with wings on her back, gliding dexterously at low altitude, and sometimes she changes back to Priest form and quickly performs Divine Art.
She practices Succubus form skills every day.
Xia Lin told her before that there may be various magic traps in Mage Tower, and she needs to use certain characteristics of the demon form, such as fire resistance, flying ability, or [Charm gaze], to deal with them.
"You have to get used to switching between the two forms." Xia Lin said, "You can't wait for an emergency to panic."
So, Celia started "hell training".
Pray in the morning, transform at noon, and transform back again at night.
She even began to try to switch forms instantly during battle, although several embarrassing things happened in the process.
For example, halfway through the transformation, the clothes tore before they could be fixed with magic, but the progress was obvious.
Now, she can complete a complete transformation within three seconds while maintaining a clear mind.
As for Sky, Xia Lin has not heard from her for half a month.
Since Charity Gala that night, when she left angrily, she has never taken the initiative to contact him again.
Xia Lin can only get some fragmentary information from newspapers.
The Empire Morning Post published a small piece of news one day:
[Inquisition Fourth-level interrogator Mina·Tongling successfully cracked a smuggling case involving nobles and seized more than three hundred bottles of banned alchemical potions, with the amount involved exceeding five hundred Gold Coins.]
Also attached below is a photo of Mina receiving the award.
The green Twin-Tails girl smiled happily. Although her expression was a little stiff, she at least looked energetic.
It seems that her behind-the-scenes manipulation plan is going smoothly.
As for the doctor, Xia Lin has no intention of contacting him.
But Ruiwen came once.
To be precise, I came to "connect" once.
That night, Xia Lin was tidying up Space Bag in the room when he suddenly felt the familiar cold breath.
He raised his head.
A figure in black robes stood at the door.
Ruiwen.
"You..." her hoarse voice sounded, "Are you free?"
"Uh... yes." Xia Lin was stunned for a moment.
Then he noticed a detail.
In the past, Ruiwen always appeared next to him silently.
But this time, she stood at the door.
Although she still didn't knock on the door, at least she was waiting outside the door instead of coming in directly.
(Progress has been made...)
Xia Lin felt a little emotional.
There is no need to go into detail about what happened next.
Anyway, when Ruiwen left early the next morning, her swirling eyes were obviously a little more angry.
She even said with that expressionless face before leaving, "Next time... I want to try... that... Velociraptor form you mentioned."
66
But no matter what, Ruiwen is indeed more cheerful than before.
At least, she began to understand the concept of "knocking". Although she still didn't knock, she at least knew that someone would appear at the door.
Even after it was over, he said "Thank you for the hospitality" in an extremely stiff manner.
Of course, this word is still used very strangely.
This is progress, right?
Just like that, a peaceful half month passed.
Until one day at dinner.
Sera showed a rare smile.
"What?" Xia Lin noticed it keenly, "Have you finally made a breakthrough in your Mystery Lock research?"
"No, but I found the key that might solve the problem."
She put down her knife and fork and looked around at everyone. "Do you still remember that at the dinner party that day, I chatted with a few Tiefling for a long time?"
"Remember," Celia nodded, "You seemed quite involved at the time."
"On the surface they are members of a mutual aid association like Broken Horn Alliance, which sounds miserable, but in fact——" Sera lowered his voice, "They are all members of Thieves' Descendants."
"This organization again?" Xia Lin couldn't help complaining, "Why do I feel that anyone Tiefling who has some ability is a member of this underground organization?"
"That's because Thieves' Descendants's influence is really great." Sera shrugged, "As long as you are Tiefling, basically everyone has more or less contact with them."
"The point is, a few days ago I went to the Adventurers Guild to check information, and happened to meet one of the same people. I helped her solve a problem smoothly."
"Then what?
"Then while chatting, I complained about cracking Mage Tower Mystery Lock." Sera's eyes lit up, "As a result, the same race told me that Thieves' Descendants has a stronghold in Lower City."
Sera's body leaned forward slightly, his eyes flashing. "There is a manager named Old Ink there who collects an encyclopedia."
"It contains countless forgotten or taboo knowledge, including the detailed deconstruction of Ancient Mythal."
"Is it that exaggerated?" Celia blinked doubtfully, "If there really was such a thing, wouldn't Old Ink have been captured and studied by Royal Mage Tower long ago?"
"That's right!" Kade also echoed, "If it were so powerful, this Thieves' Descendants organization would have become world-famous long ago, why bother hiding in the sewers."
"Thieves' Descendants brothers and sisters will not deceive their own kind!" Sera slapped the table with some annoyance, but then softened, "Okay, I admit, the description may have gone through some artistic processing."
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "But the fellow member who told me the information is also a Bronze-level adventurer and is not an ignorant gangster. Since she admires it so much, it means that it is definitely valuable."
"The most important thing is----" Sera's expression became a little broken, "I'm really tired of dreaming about those damn runes and calculations every night! Even if there is only 1% hope, I have to try. I just want to sleep well!"
Xia Lin looked at the dark circles under her eyes and suddenly felt a little distressed.
In the past half month, Sera has really been working hard on Mystery Lock.
Her room was filled with scraps of paper, and the walls were covered with rune patterns. Even while eating, she was mumbling terms like "energy circuits" and "trigger conditions."
Xia Lin made a decision.
"I think it's worth a try."
He stood up, walked to Sera, and patted her shoulder. "We are almost ready for the hardware now, and we are just missing this most critical step."
He paused and added, "It's like those Warriors with full level and full equipment, but were asked at the entrance of the dungeon how much 1+1 equals, and then they were stuck for three days and couldn't get in."
"Pfft." Celia couldn't help laughing.
Kade also nodded. "Indeed. Although the monocle given by Master Laura can analyze the structure of Mystery Lock, it lacks core data. If this encyclopedia really records the universal solution to Mystery Lock, that is the key."
"Then it's settled."
Sera breathed a sigh of relief, and the fatigue on his face seemed to lighten a bit.
"I have asked that fellow member to help contact him. We will go to Lower City tomorrow morning."
"Then it's settled."
"Tomorrow morning, the whole team will be ready to go."