Chapter 64: Trial Mission, Mermaid's Tear
A giant tower shadow appeared in the sky.
The tower stretched from heaven to earth.
"It's the Divine Summer Tower!" Ning Yiyi said softly.
Lin Moyu was also shocked.
He hadn't seen the Divine Summer Tower since entering Summer Capital University.
He didn't expect it to suddenly appear in the sky.
The tower's peak shot out brilliant light, enveloping Hidden Dragon Academy.
The academy students were simultaneously teleported to the trial location.
The teleportation lasted over 10 seconds, indicating the trial site was very far from the university.
The sound of ocean waves reached their ears.
Coming from West Sea City near the coast, Lin Moyu was too familiar with the sound of waves to mistake it.
The trial site was by the sea.
Their feet touched the ground again.
Vision quickly recovered as dazzling sunlight shone down.
Lin Moyu felt like he was back at the beach in West Sea City.
Ning Yiyi's face was pale, her small hand tightly gripping Lin Moyu's arm.
Pouting unhappily, she said, "My head is spinning. Long-distance teleportation is really uncomfortable."
Jiang Taotao said, "You'll get used to it after a few times. Everyone's like this at first."
She looked at Lin Moyu with slight surprise, as he showed no signs of discomfort.
"Could it be he often uses teleportation arrays?" she wondered, her disdain for him lessening somewhat.
Lin Moyu observed their surroundings.
They were on an island.
The coastline was not far behind them.
They stood on a sandy beach.
Waves rolled in one after another.
A light barrier appeared not far ahead.
The barrier almost covered the entire island.
They were outside the barrier.
Through it, many monsters could be seen inside the island.
A glowing stone floated in front of each person.
"It's a mission stone," said Jiang Taotao, immediately grabbing hers.
Lin Moyu also took hold of his mission stone.
The moment he touched it, he understood their trial mission.
The island was called Mermaid Island.
It was filled with many sea creature monsters.
At the center of the island was a dungeon.
The Mermaid's Tear dungeon.
Their trial mission was to enter Mermaid Island, fight to the center, enter the Mermaid dungeon,
Kill the final boss, and obtain the Mermaid's Tear from it.
The trial mission had three key points:
1. The average level of teams entering Mermaid Island could not exceed 20.
This was average level, not individual level.
Teams could have a maximum of 6 people.
Since they needed to face a boss, it was better for the knight to be higher level.
This meant they needed to bring a lower level person to balance the average.
Lin Moyu replacing Ling Zhen's brother's spot was why Ling Zhen resented him.
2. The Mermaid's Tear would only drop in Nightmare difficulty.
So the team's overall strength couldn't be too weak, or they couldn't clear it.
3. Only 3 Mermaid's Tears would drop.
Only the first 3 teams to clear the dungeon could obtain a Mermaid's Tear.
Lin Moyu didn't understand the need for secrecy, thinking "It's just clearing a dungeon after all."
"Could the Mermaid's Tear have some special properties?"
Jiang Taotao finished reading the mission and said solemnly, "I didn't expect this trial mission to be Mermaid Island."
Having experienced many trial missions, she knew more than them.
"The Mermaid dungeon only drops 3 Mermaid's Tears each year."
"Mermaid's Tears can be used to craft a very special equipment with great effects."
"Mermaid Island is not in Divine Summer Empire territory."
"So besides our Divine Summer Empire, other countries come to Mermaid Island each year."
"This time our entire Hidden Dragon Academy is mobilized, with 10 teams total. We're Team 2."
"We're not only competing with our academy classmates, but also with career professionals from other countries."
Jiang Taotao explained the whole situation.
Ning Yiyi asked, "What do we do then? If we encounter them, do we have to kill?"
As she spoke, she unconsciously looked at Lin Moyu, who had actually killed people before.
Hearing about killing, everyone became visibly tense except Lin Moyu, who remained unmoved.
Jiang Taotao shook her head, "It usually doesn't come to that. Similar things have happened before, mostly just guarding the dungeon entrance to prevent entry. Actual killing is rare."
Hearing this, everyone relaxed.
Jiang Taotao continued, "But we can't be careless. Deaths have occurred before."
"Alright, let's prepare to enter Mermaid Island."
"Duan Gao, apply buffs!"
Duan Gao responded and began casting skills.
Auras appeared on everyone instantly.
Strength Enhancement! Agility Enhancement! Defense Enhancement!
Mana Activation!
With these buffs, everyone's attributes increased greatly.
Lin Moyu felt the effects of these buffs.
Strength, agility, constitution and spirit all increased by 30%.
Mage skill power increased by 20%.
All buffs would last for an hour.
With the Prophet's buffs, everyone's combat power increased significantly.
Prophet was indeed a powerful support career, indispensable especially in high-difficulty dungeons.
With a Prophet, a team's combat power could increase several times.
However, compared to Lin Moyu's godly talent, the Prophet's enhancements were too weak.
"What effect would the Prophet's buffs have on skeleton warriors?" Lin Moyu wondered.
With a thought, a skeleton warrior appeared beside him.
A cold wind arose from nowhere, dropping the temperature by a few degrees.
The skeleton warrior's sudden appearance startled everyone.
Surrounded by cold wind, with flickering soul fire and a frost-glinting blade,
It made chilling scraping sounds.
Duan Gao, who was buffing everyone, was so startled his hand shook and he stopped casting.
Miao Yu let out a scream and hid behind Jiang Taotao.
"Holy crap."
"An undead summon."
Jiang Taotao wasn't calm either, "Lin Moyu, is this your summon?"
Lin Moyu looked at Duan Gao, "Please buff it too."
"O-okay," Duan Gao stuttered, taking two seconds to recover before trying to calm himself and continue buffing everyone.
Light flashed constantly on the beach as each team applied buffs.
Looking around, rare careers were everywhere.
Careers rarely seen in other cities were common here.
Lin Moyu now understood what the White God meant by "internal members" of Summer Capital University.
These people showed talent early, studied and grew up in the university from childhood, then underwent career transition there.
They were essentially career professionals cultivated by Summer Capital University.
Almost everyone had a rare career and received the best education and resources.
Far surpassing career professionals from other cities.
Like Ning Yiyi, the same age as Lin Moyu but already level 19.
And she knew more than Lin Moyu too.
Jiang Taotao was only a year older than them but already level 23.
"Huh?" Duan Gao looked surprised, "My skills won't apply to it."
The buff auras dissipated as soon as they touched the skeleton warrior.
He tried several times with the same result.
Lin Moyu wasn't disappointed.
Perhaps his talent was too strong, directly overriding low-level skills like Duan Gao's.
"Can't even apply buffs, how useless," Ling Zhen snorted disdainfully.
Lin Moyu turned to look at him, his gaze cold.
Provoked multiple times, even Lin Moyu had his limits.
The skeleton warrior's eyes glowed red as it also turned to Ling Zhen, its soul fire flickering wildly as cold wind gusted.
Ling Zhen felt chills down his spine, involuntarily stepping back as his staff burst into flames.
Jiang Taotao reacted quickly, immediately stepping between them, "Save the fighting for later, let's complete the trial first."
Lin Moyu nodded and withdrew his gaze.
Ling Zhen took a deep breath, trying to control himself.
When the skeleton warrior looked at him just now, he truly felt mortal danger.
A boom sounded from the sky, signaling the start of the trial.
Jiang Taotao immediately said, "Enter the island."
The group formed a team, treated as one unit by the light barrier.
Their average level was exactly 20, meeting the rules.
Everyone felt like passing through a water curtain as they entered Mermaid Island.