As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

The midday sun was scorching, but for Moen, who was carrying two hundred kilograms of stones on his back, the heat was far less real than the weight on his shoulders.

Sweat streamed down his face, and his calves trembled slightly with every step he took.

"Does it feel heavy?" Gray asked, strolling leisurely to the side with a flask in his hand, even having the leisure to kick away pebbles on the roadside.

"Heavy," Moen answered truthfully, his breathing heavy as a bull's.

"Heaviness is just right."

Gray said calmly, "Power doesn't come from nowhere. If you think something is difficult to accomplish, you have to do it first before you have a chance of succeeding."

"Accumulating little by little, this is the simple yet best way to cultivate oneself."

Moen didn't argue back, but silently adjusted his center of gravity and continued walking.

He had always known that forging in the game could increase attributes, but the process was extremely long. Moen had never considered it before, but today Gray used it on him.

A few hours later, that familiar smell of sulfur once again filled my nostrils.

"arrive."

Moen unloaded the huge rock from his back and felt so light he was about to float away.

Gray glanced at the hidden cave entrance: "You managed to find this godforsaken place?"

"I really enjoy adventure," Moen smiled, offering no further explanation.

Upon entering the cave, a wave of heat hit us.

Several red salamanders, their bodies translucent and crimson, were lying on the rocks.

This time, Moen wasn't in a hurry.

He glanced at the unlit [Boiling Blood Red Salamander Statue] and made a plan in his mind.

[Unlock condition: Toxin tolerance test]

[Toxin Tolerance Test: Kill the target while having at least 5 stacks of "Heat Toxin" on yourself.]

"Come on." Moen drew his longsword and charged towards the red salamander.

During the battle, he deliberately created several openings, allowing the red salamander's venom to stick to his body.

[Affected by heat toxicity]

Number of floors: 1

The true damage of 10 points per second began to jump, and as the layers stacked, the burning sensation became more and more intense.

Gray leaned against the cave wall, watching Moen's suicidal fighting style. He didn't quite understand it, but he didn't say anything to stop him.

He could tell that the kid knew what he was doing; perhaps he was using the poison to train his body.

When the number of layers reaches 5, the system will display the following message:

[The heat poison has reached level 5 and is about to cause 300 points of explosive damage.]

It's now!

Moen stepped forward, his longsword flashing with cold light, and a second before the explosion, he precisely pierced the heart of the red salamander.

[Team-up Kill: Boiling Blood Red Salamander Lv.15]

Experience points gained: 423

[Acquired Mortal Fragments: 3]

[Completion condition: "Toxin tolerance test"]

[Statue Unlocked: Boiling Blood Red Salamander]

As the monster fell, he quickly downed a bottle of recovery potion made by Grin, enduring the explosive damage.

Gray glanced at him: "You're ruthless enough, but your movements are too unsteady and your breathing too erratic. In this toxic environment, breathing like that is tantamount to suicide."

He glanced at the [Sulfur Crystal Self-Destructing Bat] perched above him deep in the cave and had a new idea.

Gray picked up a stone and threw it forcefully.

The rocks exploded against the cave wall, and the loud noise instantly startled the swarm of bats perched at the top.

Hundreds of bats with fiery red crystals on their tails swooped down on the two of them like a giant ball of flame, screaming as they attacked.

"Isn't this too much?!" Moen's scalp tingled, and he turned and ran.

"Stop running!" Gray's voice boomed, still clear amidst the cacophony of bat calls.

"If you want to survive the poison gas and bat attacks, you need to master your breathing and walking rhythm!"

Upon hearing Gray's description of the breathing rhythm, Moen forced himself to slow his breathing while trying to avoid him.

Inhale, pause, exhale.

A strange resonance arose in my chest, and my previously frantic heartbeat actually slowed down.

As the heart rate decreases, the fear caused by lack of oxygen and toxin accumulation also subsides.

"Legs going weak?!" Gray kicked away a bat that was trying to ambush Moen and shouted again, "A warrior's footwork is all about nails!"

"Every step you take should be like hammering a nail into the ground! Use the reaction force to propel yourself forward! I want to hear the explosion of your footsteps!"

Moen gritted his teeth, changed his nimble movement habits, and stomped hard on the rock.

"Thump!"

With a dull thud, the immense recoil propelled his body forward, doubling his usual speed, but also significantly increasing his stamina expenditure.

Unable to turn around, dozens of bats crashed into the ground, creating a series of loud explosions.

An hour later, Moen, covered in blood (mostly from bats), sat panting against a pile of rocks.

Sure enough, with Moen's knowledge of the Trial Church's skills and Gray's guidance, he was able to quickly learn the professor's skills.

Congratulations on learning the skill: Iron Law Breathing Technique (Passive)

[Description: The Judgment Knights believe that the noise of a racing heartbeat is an interference with divine pronouncements. This breathing technique requires the user to forcefully suppress their heart rate through a special chest resonance, so that the pent-up power will suddenly erupt at the moment of sword strike.]

【Effect】

[Closed Loop: Your stamina recovery rate is increased by 10%]

[Hidden One: Upon entering combat, your heart rate decreases, reducing your presence and increasing your fear resistance against enemies by 15%]

Congratulations on learning the skill: Iron Cudgel of Judgment (Passive)

[Description: This footwork does not aim for the lightness and silence of a thief, but rather emphasizes the explosive push-off from the ground in an instant. Each step should be as heavy as driving a nail into the ground, using the enormous reaction force to generate terrifying speed.]

【Effect】

[Judgment Approaching: Your combat movement speed is increased by 10%]

[Panic: Moving towards an enemy with their back to you (while they are running away) will increase the enemy's fear level.]

"Not bad." Gray nodded, looking at Moen's breathing and gait, which were starting to look more natural.

I was actually quite surprised by Moen's learning speed, but I couldn't praise him too much.

At this moment, a dozen or so fish that had slipped through the net were still circling overhead, attempting to launch one last dive.

Gray didn't even look, he just casually drew his greatsword from his waist, without any fancy skill effects, and delivered a simple upward slash.

A fan-shaped ripple, composed purely of wind pressure and sword energy, swept out, instantly severing more than a dozen bats in mid-air.

Gray sheathed his sword and glanced at the dumbfounded Moen: "You'll only be considered to have touched the threshold when you can master sword pressure."

The two continued deeper, and along the lava river ahead, several enormous [Molten Shell Turtles] were slowly crawling.

"That tough one's yours," Gray said, pointing to one of them.

Moen understood immediately and charged forward with his sword.

But he didn't rush to kill it. Instead, he kept changing angles and used the tip of his sword to stab the molten shell turtle's limbs, slowly whittling down its health.

It's not that Moen has any strange fetishes, but rather that the unlocking conditions for the turtle are rather complicated.

[Statue Unlock Condition: Absolute Violence]

[Absolute Violence: During its "Shell Defense" phase, use pure physical attacks to shatter its shell from the front and finish it off (the final hit must deal more than 20% of its remaining health)]

After dodging several pillars of fire released by the Molten Shell Turtle by connecting to the underground heat source with magic, Moen finally reduced the turtle's health to 10%.

The molten-shell turtle, thoroughly annoyed, retreated into its shell, its body radiating a yellow defensive glow.

Moen realized that he didn't have any powerful single-target damage skills, so he used [Mirror Warp] as a precaution.

After chanting for 3 seconds, three prisms formed on the top of the fusion turtle's head.

Then, Moen used the explosive stomping force of the [Iron Shoes of Judgment] and the displacement of [Shifting Position] to almost reach the top of the cave.

Using the momentum of his fall, Moen channeled all his strength into the tip of his sword and hurled it straight at one of the prisms.

The force of Moen's sword was completely absorbed by the prism. After the light refracted, three shadows appeared in the mirror and then stabbed at the Molten Shell Turtle together.

Before the turtle could even let out a scream, its shell was shattered by the sword, and it was pinned to the ground.

[Team-up kill: Molten Shell Turtle Lv.17]

Experience points gained: 826

[Acquired Mortal Fragments: 3]

[Completion condition: "Absolute brute force"]

[Statue Unlocked: Molten Shell Turtle]

"Tsk." Gray watched from the side, feeling that Moen was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"You little brat, you have to wait until it retracts before you make a move? What kind of hobby is that?"

Despite his complaints, he casually swung his sword and effortlessly struck the shell of another molten-shell turtle.

The turtle, along with its shell, was neatly cut in half.

Moen stared at the smooth cut, swallowed hard, and then gave an awkward laugh.

"Old man, I was just practicing to get a feel for it, hahaha."

After clearing out a few more small monsters, Moen received a brand new notification.

Passive skill "Silence Discipline" upgraded to level 2

[Gained new effect: Basic attack damage dealt with sword-type weapons increased by 10%]

Unexpectedly, the first skill I leveled up to level two was a passive skill that I had only recently learned, while the experience points for the other commonly used skills were not even halfway there yet.

This tip also explains why skill upgrades in Blood and Wine are difficult, because skill upgrades not only increase stats but also bring additional effects.

It can only be said that having a teacher by your side to guide you leads to rapid progress!

Finally, after farming about 50 more mortal fragments, the two arrived at the huge cave lake where Moen had previously encountered the Molten Throat.

But now, all that could be seen was a misty haze of water vapor and lava slowly flowing on the rock walls; the small island in the center of the lake was gone.

"Strange, did they really move away?" Moen scratched his head in confusion.

Gray walked to the shore, his pale gray eyes seeming to see through the boiling water.

After seemingly pinpointing the location, the old knight slowly drew his heavy sword from behind him.

This time, his aura changed, and a chilling aura continuously emanated from his body.

Gray held his sword with both hands and slashed down fiercely at the lava lake in front of him, which was a hundred meters wide!

To Moen's astonishment, the lava lake before him was actually cleaved in two by this single sword strike!

The scalding lake water churned to both sides, revealing the rocky lakebed.

In the center of the lake, a colossal beast, several times larger than the Molten Turtle and seemingly covered in dark red magma, slowly opened its eyes and glared at the two people on the shore.

[Warning: You have disturbed the slumber of the local overlord, "Lord of Boiling - Molten Throat"]