Chapter 251 - 163: [Shadow Splitting] Upgrade
Chapter 251: Chapter 163: [Shadow Splitting] Upgrade
He cut the marinated beef into large chunks, skewered them on sharpened tree branches, and roasted them over the fire.
Fat danced above the flames, and the sizzling sound made one’s mouth water.
"GULP~"
Ali’s gulp was completely unconcealed. She never cared about being ladylike, always having a carefree and straightforward personality.
"Lin Mo, when will it be ready?"
"Just a little longer."
"Oh..."
"Is it ready now?"
"You just asked less than five seconds ago."
Lin Mo helplessly rubbed the wolf’s head. "Be patient. This kind of Demon meat takes a while to cook."
Besides, even if it was cooked for a long time, you didn’t have to worry about it getting tough. The meat would still be exceptionally tender.
A moment later, under Ali’s pitiful gaze, Lin Mo finally nodded. "Alright, it should be ready to eat now."
"Yay!"
Ali immediately cheered, grabbing a skewer with her bare hands and stuffing it into her mouth.
The girl really wasn’t afraid of getting burned.
"Mmmph... sho good..."
Watching her decidedly ungraceful way of eating, Lin Mo lightly tapped her on the head. "Slow down. It’s not like anyone’s going to steal it from you. If it’s not enough, I’ll go cut another piece to roast."
’But it should actually be enough.’
Lin Mo had cut a very large piece, and Demon meat was very high in Energy, so it was easy to get full.
Feney was clearly looking forward to it as well, but she ate much more gracefully. She slowly brought it to her mouth, opened her cherry-like lips, and carefully took a bite.
The succulent juices instantly burst in her mouth. The aroma of the beef was incredibly rich, and the texture was surprisingly tender and springy.
Feney’s eyes filled with surprise. She quickly remembered to praise him, "Mr. Lin Mo, your cooking is amazing."
"I’m glad you like it."
Lin Mo smiled, then looked over to the base of a nearby tree. "Aren’t you going to have some?"
Shefilya turned her head and saw him waving at her. Her first instinct was to refuse.
However, she felt the dry, horribly salty jerky she had with her and suddenly hesitated.
The next thing she knew, she was already standing in front of the roasted meat.
"Sister Shefilya, this is delicious. You should try some too."
Feney picked up a skewer of roasted meat and held it out to her.
Shefilya opened her mouth, but then hesitated, at a loss for words.
’Anyway, we’re outside now, not at the manor. It doesn’t count as a breach of etiquette, right?’
So, her body acted honestly and accepted the skewer, taking small bites.
Lin Mo then noticed that Shefilya’s movements while eating were also very restrained, just like Feney’s.
Coupled with her petite frame—sitting down, she was more than a head shorter than him—she looked rather cute.
’Her figure is a bit of a shame, but I have to admit, she’s still a First Class beauty.’
Shefilya noticed his gaze and shot him a glare.
"It’s not bad..."
But she still gave the roasted meat a positive review.
After dinner, it was getting late. Lin Mo Meditated for a while and then prepared to rest.
Tonight, he didn’t need to get up for watch duty.
In a large group like this, Casters and those with stronger Combat Power were naturally given priority to rest and didn’t have to take on watch duty.
[Meditation] Skill Level +1
[Meditation] Skill Level +2
As he Meditated more often and for longer periods, Lin Mo became more and more proficient.
Because of this, the rate at which his Skill Level increased also seemed to have quickened a bit.
He slept until dawn, had a simple breakfast in the morning, and then they quickly set off on their return journey.
Because they had to look after the rescued young women, their pace wasn’t fast.
They encountered a good number of Demons along the way, which startled the girls every time.
Fortunately, with so many Adventurers around to protect them, they would quickly calm down after the initial shock.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo secretly tried out his [Shadow Splitting] Skill.
After using the Skill, his shadow did indeed vanish, which looked rather strange.
The Clone created by [Shadow Splitting] looked exactly like him, with almost no discernible difference.
Lin Mo could even perceive all of the Clone’s senses, including sight, hearing, and even touch, as if he were controlling another body.
Of course, this didn’t include negative effects like pain; or rather, he could choose to turn off the pain feedback.
The Clone’s Attributes were, just as the Skill description stated, half of his own. This meant it was roughly at the level of a Level 2 Warrior, a Level 2 Assassin, and a Level 2 Knight, as well as a Mage.
With this setup, even without using Skills, it could completely crush a typical Level 2 Demon.
If it could use Skills, it could even take on a Level 3.
Since he could perceive its vision, Lin Mo simply sent the Clone out to hunt.
Unfortunately, the duration was only 300 seconds, or 5 minutes, so it couldn’t go too far.
[Shadow Splitting] Skill Level +12
This was from taking out a Level 2 Demon. The fight was extremely simple; it just went at it with the Black Sword and finished the job in less than half a minute.
—That’s right, [Shadow Splitting] had another absurd aspect: it could even replicate his equipment.
The effects of the replicated equipment were scaled down to 50%, same as the inherited Attributes, but that was still incredibly powerful.
’Then again, Skills can be leveled up.’
Lin Mo continued to control the Clone to explore farther away. The feeling of controlling two bodies at once was very peculiar, a bit strange, almost like he had a split personality.
Of course, this also placed high demands on the user’s information processing ability and Spiritual Power.
Fortunately, Lin Mo’s Spiritual Attribute was now at 16 points, which wasn’t too low and was more than enough for now.
If it were an ordinary member of the Assassin Profession, it would likely take a long time to adapt, and it would also put a slight strain on their Spirit.
When the [Shadow Splitting] Skill ended, Lin Mo roughly gauged its consumption of Qi and Blood. It wasn’t a fixed amount but was related to what the Clone actually did.
For instance, when it spent most of its time just wandering around, the consumption wasn’t high. But during that half-minute of combat, the consumption was relatively high, even quite high.
’After all, it is an Epic Skill... You get what you pay for. The same applies to Skills; the more Qi and Blood or Magic Power you spend, the stronger the effect.’
However, Lin Mo was developing all his Attributes in a balanced way, so his Qi and Blood reserves were much more abundant than those of a typical member of the Physical Professions. An ordinary Warrior or Ranger couldn’t possibly keep using Skills as if they were free, right?
Most Warriors actually relied on basic attacks, occasionally weaving in Skills.
It wasn’t just Mages who ran out of "blue"; in truth, it was more or less the same for all Professions.
It’s just that for Physical Professions, if they didn’t have enough Qi and Blood, they could still rely on their physical conditioning to fight.
On the other hand, Magic Professions had stronger Skills, much stronger than the Warrior Profession, but if their Magic Power ran out, they would have virtually no Combat Power left.
This was why people had the impression that Mages ran out of "blue" more often. In reality, in terms of endurance, aside from the Warrior Profession’s consumption reduction from "Warrior’s Heart," everyone was pretty much the same.
’Gotta keep going...’
Lin Mo activated [Shadow Splitting] again, sending the Clone out to scout the vicinity.
At the same time, a Demon was spotted up ahead.
The reason it was "spotted" rather than "appeared" was, of course, because with a group of their size, no Demon in its right mind would ever actively approach them.
So this thing was just an unlucky bastard that happened to be passing by and got caught.
Of course, the Adventurers weren’t about to let it go just because of that.
Lin Mo, with his quick eyes and fast hands, was the first to act. A [Flaming Arrow] shot directly toward the Demon, effortlessly piercing it.
[Flaming Arrow] Skill Level +10
Speaking of which, the Flaming Arrow Skill had been rather unlucky. Since he’d gotten it, he’d only used it a few times, and those times were all to clash with an opponent’s Skill. Until now, it hadn’t gained a single point of Skill Level.
This one Demon was enough to level up the Skill.
"Skill [Flaming Arrow] Lv1 (0/10) has leveled up!"
"Current Skill: [Flaming Arrow] Lv2 (0/20)"
The Demon was killed instantly. Lin Mo collected the materials, and the group continued on their way.
As they were walking, Lin Mo’s eyes suddenly lit up. His Clone had encountered another Demon.
It was a Minotaur, but it was much stronger than a typical one. Its Threat Level looked to be at least Level 2 or higher.
’Perfect for testing the Clone’s Combat Power.’
Lin Mo controlled the Clone to stride forward, thrusting the Black Sword directly at the Minotaur’s heart.
The Minotaur also spotted "Lin Mo," but it never expected this bug-like human to dare initiate an attack.
"ROAR—!"
It let out a furious roar and swung its weapon at "Lin Mo."
The blow was powerful, but its speed was slow. "Lin Mo" easily sidestepped it. At the same time, the attack in its own hand didn’t stop, plunging with great precision into the opponent’s chest.
Fresh blood gushed out. The Minotaur roared in fury, swinging its Heavy Axe to strike again.
"Lin Mo" quickly withdrew the Sword. At the same time, it leaned back, its left foot, poised like a drawn bow, shot out and precisely struck the Minotaur’s Demon Pill.
In an instant, its face twisted in agony. The Heavy Axe slipped from its grasp, and it fell powerlessly.
"Lin Mo" stepped forward again and easily lopped off its head, ending its suffering.
[Shadow Splitting] Skill Level +14
The battle concluded, and Lin Mo withdrew his focus.
The [Shadow Splitting] Skill was even stronger than he had expected.
Controlling it was just like controlling his own body; there was almost no difference.
Moreover, after killing that Minotaur, he had accumulated enough Skill Level to level up.
"Skill [Shadow Splitting] Lv1 (20/20) has leveled up!"
"Current Skill: [Shadow Splitting] Lv2 (6/40)"
Just like at Level 1, to get Shadow Splitting from Level 2 to Level 3 also required double the previous amount of Skill Level, which was 40 Points.
But more important than that was the effect after leveling up.
[Shadow Splitting] Lv2 (0/40): Transform your shadow into a Clone to fight alongside you! The Shadow Clone will inherit 55% of the user’s Attributes but cannot use Skills. The Clone’s existence continuously consumes Qi and Blood, and its maximum duration is 350 seconds.
’Not bad at all!’
The Attributes inherited by the Shadow Clone increased by 5%, reaching 55%. The maximum duration also increased to 350 seconds, a full 50-second improvement!