Chapter 130: Grind

Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Grind

The Racial Talent of the Stone Shell River Crab had been successfully extracted.

Therefore, there was no need to waste any more time grinding for further progress with them.

As for the Goblins, the Level 3 Research Progress was also nearly complete.

[Illustrated Guide: Demon·Goblin]

[Current Research Progress: Level 3 (63/100)]

He only needed to slay another thirty-something of the little green-skins to get his reward.

Lance reached for the *Copper Creek Forest Monster Manual* on the desk beside him.

He had chosen the Stone Shell River Crabs as his hunting targets before by carefully searching through this thick book.

The forest’s ecosystem was actually very complex.

The different seasons and climates directly affected the proliferation and activity of various Demons.

It was now heading into summer.

The Manual clearly recorded that the hot, humid environment meant it was the prime season for a soft-bodied Demon like the Slime to begin rapidly reproducing.

Although Slimes didn’t have high attack power, the consequences of them running rampant were unimaginable.

These gooey monsters would swarm into water sources in droves, directly polluting the clear streams.

Their mildly acidic bodies would corrode crops in the farmlands and even devour metal around people’s homes.

Thus, every year around this time in summer.

In addition to the standard cleanup missions for Copper Creek Forest issued by the Adventurer’s Guild, many small villages around Gray Rock Town would also send all sorts of urgent requests for help to the Guild.

Those village requests, which weren’t for tasks in the core of the forest, were generally posted by impoverished villagers who had pooled their money together.

As a result, they didn’t offer much of a monetary reward to Adventurers.

However, for this type of village quest, the Merit awarded by the Adventurer’s Guild was often a bit more than what was given for daily commissions.

’And I can also try accepting these quests to see if my own quest panel changes.’

’I’ll have to try it out.’

Slimes didn’t breed in large numbers in the shallows on the outskirts of Copper Creek Forest, so he could conveniently take on these village quests.

Thinking of this, Lance used a quill to write down the name "Slime" on a piece of rough paper.

He officially added the classic Low Level Demon, the Slime, to his upcoming Talent grinding plan.

After all, the Slime’s regeneration Talent was well-known among Low Tier Demons.

’If I stack it on myself, perhaps I’ll become even harder to kill.’

’Stack the thickest shields, take the hardest hits.’

Lance flipped through the heavy Monster Manual.

A map of the western region of Copper Creek Forest came into view.

The joint cleanup operation organized by the Adventurer’s Guild a while back had indeed eliminated many large Demon strongholds.

But according to the Manual, a large number of small Jackal Wolfman Tribes had still survived by relying on the dense terrain.

He wrote the name "Gnoll" on the parchment.

Lance stroked his chin.

Unfortunately, there were no traces of Kobolds in the Demon ecosystem around Gray Rock Town.

Although Kobolds and Gnolls sounded similar, the two belonged to completely different species branches.

Rumor had it that Kobolds contained a diluted Giant Dragon bloodline within them.

This special bloodline trait was a perfect match for the Second Source Material he had just unlocked.

He could only sigh.

’When I get the chance to leave Gray Rock Town in the future, I must find a Kobold camp and properly grind their Talents.’

He reined in his wandering thoughts and continued searching the book’s pages.

Soon, he discovered something.

On the map, at the edge of the Gnoll settlements, there was a region where Giant Wolves were active.

These pack-dwelling Low Level Demons had no fixed camps, so they had fortunately avoided the last cleanup operation.

Not only were they numerous, but their Constitution and Perception Attributes were also outstanding.

This would perfectly shore up the deficiencies in the Attributes he urgently needed.

Lance put down his quill.

He looked at the long list of hunting targets written on the paper.

’As long as I grind through all these targets, I’ll be able to fully satisfy the hard requirements for a class advancement.’

With his current terrifying strength, there was very little in the outer forest that could pose a substantial threat to him.

Normally, this rocket-like growth in power should have been reassuring.

But sitting in this quiet room, Lance felt a wave of agitation.

’The thought of an unseen puppet master secretly spying on my life makes this speed feel far too slow.’

’What if that manipulator is one of the long-lived species?’

’What if they’ve already lived for hundreds of years?’

’No, I have to work even harder.’

He had originally planned to take advantage of Cecilia’s day off to stay in town and rest for a day himself.

But now, he decisively dismissed the idea.

’Tomorrow, I’ll go into the forest alone and hunt like a madman. First, I’ll finish off the remaining progress for the Goblins, then I’ll clear out a batch of Giant Wolves or Gnolls along the way.’

’Time is just too tight. I have to achieve a class leap before the enemy makes a move.’

He picked up the parchment, preparing to stuff it into his desk drawer.

The moment he pulled open the wooden drawer, a brass object caught his eye.

It was the Guiding Compass he had taken from Buck’s corpse yesterday.

A flash of inspiration struck Lance.

He took out the crack-covered Fire-Stealing Marvel, recalling the activation method recorded in Buck’s secrets.

He brought the Compass to his lips.

"Please help me find a person..."

"The puppet master who, for the past dozen or so years, has treated this body of mine as a marionette and woven for me a life script full of falsehoods and lies."

After speaking these detailed qualifiers, he held his breath and stared intently at the dial.

The only sound in the quiet room was his own heartbeat.

More than ten seconds passed.

The dark red needle was completely still, as if it had been welded in place, not even trembling in the slightest.

Lance let out a long breath.

’This proves the puppet master themself isn’t within the Compass’s one-kilometer perception range.’

’They aren’t hiding in town, monitoring me at all times.’

This was a rare piece of good news.

But Lance had no intention of giving up the test just yet.

He had already thought of a way to expose the hidden culprit.

Lance changed his line of questioning and spoke to the Compass again.

"Please help me find an object..."

"An object related to and left behind by the person or organization that treated the first half of my life as a puppet show, weaving a script for me from countless falsehoods and lies."

The moment he finished speaking.

A grating, mechanical grinding sound came from within the Compass.

The dark red needle began to spin wildly.

Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

’It’s exactly as I deduced. If that puppet master could fabricate the first half of my life out of thin air, it would be impossible for them to leave no physical trace behind.’

"Got you now."

He held the Compass and slowly began to walk, following the direction the needle pointed.

He had only taken two steps when he froze in place.