Chapter 89: Chapter 85: Rescue Order
[Knight’s Heart]: After countless battles, you have become a qualified Knight. Protection is your life’s creed. May you become the firmest bulwark, fearless against any sharp edge!
Skill Effect: Reduces physical damage taken in combat by 10%.
’This strong?!’
Lin Mo was stunned. While Warrior’s Heart had two effects and Knight’s Heart only had one, the sheer quality of this single effect was in no way inferior to the other two.
The Knight Profession traded weaker offense for the ultimate defense.
With Knight’s Heart, combined with his already Full Level [Tenacity] and his current Constitution of 21, Lin Mo couldn’t even imagine how high his Defense Power would be.
’An ordinary Professional probably couldn’t even put a scratch on me!’
If he had Alton’s friends spar with him now, Lin Mo could probably stand still and let them whale on him for a full day and walk away with nothing more than minor injuries.
’Oh, right. There’s something even bigger coming up!’
Full of anticipation, Lin Mo turned his attention to his first Excellent Level Skill.
However, when Lin Mo’s gaze fell upon this New Skill, he froze.
[Resilience] Level 1 (0/10): Bolsters your defense, reducing the next three instances of physical damage taken by 20%.
So far, so good. Compared to [Tenacity], [Resilience] worked three times instead of two, and its effect was boosted to 20% from [Tenacity]’s Full Level bonus of 15%.
But...
Please select an Evolutionary Direction—
’What in the world is this?’
Lin Mo read on with curiosity.
Evolutionary Path 1: Rebound I: Reflect 40% of the damage mitigated by [Resilience] back to the attacker.
Evolutionary Path 2: Guardian I: The [Resilience] skill can be used on other targets. This consumes your own Qi and Blood, and the effect is 40% as strong as the original.
’I can actually choose an additional effect for the skill?’
This reminded Lin Mo of some of the roguelike games he had played in his past life. The freedom to choose a branch gave him a similar feeling.
’So, which one should I pick?’
Simply put, the first effect reflected the opponent’s attack. It would rebound 40% of the mitigated damage, which amounted to reflecting 8% of the original damage back at the attacker.
The second effect, on the other hand, would allow him to cast [Resilience] on his teammates. However, while it consumed the same amount of Qi and Blood, the effect was only 40% as potent, providing a mere 8% physical damage reduction.
The first focused on his personal Combat Power, while the second was more team-oriented.
Comparatively, Lin Mo felt that consuming the same amount of Qi and Blood for only 40% of the effect was a bad deal. If he chose the first option, Rebound, it was essentially a free bonus effect.
And so, in the end, he chose Evolutionary Path 1.
Once he made his choice, a line of small text appeared beneath the [Resilience] skill, indicating his selected effect.
’My strength has increased significantly. Now, it’s time for a new adventure...’
Around two in the afternoon at the Adventurer’s Association, Lin Mo pushed open the door to find the rest of his party already gathered around a tipsy Alton, discussing their next quest.
He might have had a little to drink, but as an Adventurer, it wasn’t enough to cloud his judgment. Alton gazed at the quest board, carefully reading through the listings one by one.
Most of the quests were doable, but the rewards weren’t particularly high.
Before Lin Mo joined, these might have been fine as routine quests. But now, with a powerhouse like him on the team, taking on such tasks felt like a bit of a waste.
Besides, with one more person to split the pay—and a person who took a relatively large share at that—everyone’s individual earnings would decrease.
As for the quests with higher rewards...
Alton scanned the D Level Tasks, but after looking at just two or three, he shook his head again and again.
They were still a long way from being able to take on D Level Tasks.
The options were to either do as they had before—carefully study the quests and see if they could find several convenient ones on the same route to tackle together.
Or...
Alton’s eyes fell on a special quest the Association had posted not long ago.
[Rescue Order]: As the Goblin Race’s numbers continue to swell, villages near Roland Town are suffering repeated Goblin attacks. To date, two villages have been completely overrun. The Association thus calls upon all Adventurers to aid in the rescue efforts and help the villagers fend off the Goblin invasion.
Available Areas: Falling Leaves Village, Mire Village, Cyan Orchid Village...
Current Emergency Area: Falling Leaves Village
There were six or seven villages in need of aid. Given the number of Adventurers in Roland Town, it was unlikely they could save every village, even with the Association issuing a Rescue Order.
Still, they had to try. Every village saved counted. At the very least, they could buy time for the villagers to evacuate safely.
However, they were Adventurers, not philanthropists. The decision to go or not ultimately depended on the rewards offered by the Association.
Lin Mo was also looking at this special quest.
The rewards section at the bottom of the quest posting was written out clearly.
1. All Adventurers who respond to the Rescue Order, regardless of strength, will receive a base pay of 15 Silver Coins per day. Professionals will receive a base pay of 1 Gold Coin per day.
2. A bonus of 1.5 Silver Coins will be awarded for each Goblin killed. This increases to 2 Silver Coins per Goblin if the total exceeds 50, 3 Silver Coins per Goblin if it exceeds 100, and 5 Silver Coins per Goblin if it exceeds 300! (This is calculated per party. Combining kills with other parties to claim higher bonuses is strictly forbidden. Violators will be severely punished!)
The bonus for a sub-adult Mutated Goblin is 1.5 gold coins, and an adult is 5 gold coins!
3. Helping villagers evacuate will count as completing one Black Iron Level (E Level) task for all participating Adventurers. Successfully defending a village and repelling the Goblins will count as two Black Iron Level tasks. Adventurers with outstanding contributions will be credited with completing one Bronze Level (D Level) task!
It was clear the Association genuinely wanted to get something done, as the rewards were extremely generous.
First off, the base pay alone wasn’t low. For the true bottom-tier Adventurers, those who couldn’t even complete E Level or F Level tasks, their income mostly came from killing Goblins for bounties and taking on the occasional F Level task they could handle.
To them, a base pay of 15 Silver Coins was already incredibly tempting.
Professionals, meanwhile, got a base pay of 1 Gold Coin.
While that wasn’t a huge amount for a Professional, it was a show of respect.
As for the kill bonuses, the base price for a Goblin was increased by 50%. Kill more, and the rate would increase further, up to a maximum of five times the current price!
That was already 25 times the price during non-emergency periods.
The Association had also taken into account the needs of Adventurers looking to get promoted, which was why they specifically added the third point about task credit.
Lin Mo, for one, was quite pleased with this.
He currently had a total of five Black Iron Level tasks under his belt. To advance to a Bronze Level Adventurer, he still needed two Bronze Level tasks and thirteen Black Iron Level tasks.
If this rescue operation went smoothly, he might be able to add two Black Iron tasks and one Bronze task to his record in one go.
As for income, as long as they killed enough Goblins, the payout would be quite handsome.
Lin Mo and Alton exchanged a look and nodded at almost the exact same time.
’This is the one!’
