Goblin Forest

"Thanks for the meal."

After sweeping all the food before her into her stomach, Bai Jin clasped her hands in thanks. It had been a very, very long time since she had eaten and drunk her fill like this.

She could only repay this kindness through hard work.

Yang Yu was merely a rookie adventurer, while she had stumbled through this line of work for two years already and had plenty of experience. Even with illness plaguing her, taking a newcomer on a few jobs would not be a problem.

"Cough, cough." A stab of pain came from her chest. Taking advantage of no one looking, Bai Jin coughed softly. "He's been gone for so long. Why isn't he back yet?"

After waiting a while longer, Bai Jin gradually became restless.

It was not as though she had never heard bad rumors about the warrior instructor. Bai Jin only hoped Yang Yu had not gotten tangled up in anything, or slipped away through the back door.

They had not even paid for this meal yet. If he slipped away through the back door, she would have no choice but to wash dishes for the Adventurers' Guild to pay it off. When that happened, she swore she would truly curse that heartless man.

Picking up her staff, Bai Jin was about to investigate when Yang Yu pushed open the VIP room door and emerged, his face gleaming with oil.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What could possibly happen? Actually, things went great."

At first, Yang Yu had thought there would be some unspeakable development straight out of some creepy game involving a loli island. In the end, he had worried for nothing.

Andeno was simply a warrior obsessed with working out. Not only did he love fitness himself, but he also loved promoting it everywhere, hoping everyone would become a muscle-bound man like him, immune to every poison and ailment.

Thus, his assessment consisted of listening to one of his fitness lessons and mastering its key points, teaching people how to exercise every muscle properly, fall in love with fitness, and shed their excess fat.

Yang Yu had directly asked what the hell he was teaching. Other than push-ups and strange dances, could this even be called fitness?

It was not as if he had never played fitness simulators before. They were far more effective than Andeno's ancient workout methods. He had even learned how to flirt from fitness simulators.

After chatting for a while, Andeno marveled at Yang Yu's fitness knowledge. Thoroughly stunned, he gave him two thumbs up and willingly conceded defeat.

Not only had Yang Yu passed the assessment smoothly and spent skill points to learn [Cleave], [Intercept], [Sudden Killing Intent], and [Shield Block], but through his own efforts, he had also earned Andeno's recognition and gotten [Heroic Vigor] for free.

Even when his luck failed him at the end and he drew the utterly useless universal passive skill [Block] upon completing the quest, it no longer mattered much.

It was just a pity he had not learned [Shield Counter] or [Taunt].

The former required 100 skill points, while Andeno said he had never heard of a skill that could make others attack you voluntarily.

Yang Yu was stunned.

The most practical skill had not been widely developed?

When you people played warriors, did you all just go berserk and charge in with your weapons? No wonder most learnable skills were combat skills. The defensive skills he could learn were either outrageously expensive or completely useless.

What now? [Taunt] was an extremely important skill for a defensive warrior. At critical moments, it could save a squishy teammate's life and let her attack without worry.

Yang Yu had to find a way to get that skill.

Skills did not necessarily need to be learned. Yang Yu had gained [Four-Leaf Clover Cultivation] only after cultivating four-leaf clovers countless times. Perhaps if he kept taunting people, he could comprehend [Taunt] from it.

It did not cost anything, so it was worth a try. If he could master the trick to comprehending skills, his skill point consumption would decrease greatly.

Having made up his mind, Yang Yu planned to find a way to obtain [Shield Counter] first. One hundred skill points was no small sum; he needed to level up.

"I'm full. Time to get moving!"

After having Bai Jin follow him to settle the bill, Yang Yu walked over to the quest board plastered with jobs of all sizes.

One glance was all it took for him to spot a quest he liked.

[Hunt Goblins (D-Rank): Recently, the Goblins in Goblin Forest have been quite restless, and many nearby villages have come under attack.

Quest Requirements: Clear out the Goblins around the outskirts of Goblin Forest. 50G per Goblin.

Note: The depths of Goblin Forest are dangerous. D-Rank adventurers should not approach carelessly. Leave it to the professionals.]

An unlimited hunting quest was perfect for grinding levels.

Alongside this quest, Yang Yu also accepted quite a few side quests. Taking care of jobs he could complete along the way was one of the fastest ways to level up.

After accepting the quests, Yang Yu upgraded his equipment.

As someone with terrible luck, Yang Yu never expected monsters to drop anything good. The items he normally used for clearing content could either be bought from stores or farmed through relentless effort.

A small handheld shield significantly increased defense without affecting speed. It was highly cost-effective and the perfect choice for adventuring. Yang Yu liked it very much.

Besides himself, Yang Yu also bought equipment for Bai Jin.

"Is it really okay to give this to me?"

Bai Jin looked at the pure white pendant in her hand, uncertain whether she should accept the gift.

This item was called the Heart of White Dew and cost 1100G. Equipment like this required killing at least twenty-two Goblins to afford, yet Yang Yu had casually given it to her.

"This will help you fight. Don't let me down when it matters."

The Heart of White Dew was the best MP regeneration equipment Yang Yu could find. It increased maximum MP by 100 and restored two MP every five seconds—twenty-four MP per minute, which rounded up to one hundred million.

Though 1100G was not cheap, Bai Jin was the party's main damage dealer for grinding monsters and leveling in the early game. This small investment was necessary.

After spending some time getting used to the feel of her new equipment, Yang Yu led Bai Jin toward Goblin Forest.

Priests were scarce to begin with, and with a rookie Demonic Beast Tamer and a Curse Mage who looked deeply unwell in the party, recruiting one was even harder.

Fully aware of this, Yang Yu had not wasted time posting a recruitment request for a priest on the recruitment board. Besides, early-game monsters did not deal much damage, and priests often had nothing to do but watch. He might as well wait until the mid-to-late game, when his reputation and charm had risen, and recruit a high-level priest.

There was another reason Yang Yu had not recruited a priest early on: he had used his extensive fitness knowledge to conquer the fitness coach—ah, no, the rookie warrior instructor Andeno—and gotten [Heroic Vigor] for free.

Once activated, this skill restored health equal to three percent of the damage dealt by allies within a three-meter radius centered on him. There was no need to worry about losing too much health in the early game. No matter what, early monsters like Goblins could not possibly kite him to death forever, right?

After walking for a while, Yang Yu found traces of a used campfire in the forest. There were no signs of anyone camping nearby. Upon closer inspection, there were only charred branches, animal bones, and traces of spices.

Quite a few branches in the area were missing, as though someone had gotten hungry and gathered materials on the spot to barbecue.

Yang Yu's instincts told him this was not simple. The gnawed animal bones bore obvious marks from sharp fangs, and the surroundings were deathly quiet, as though this place were a trap.

Leaves rustled. Suddenly, countless stone axes tore through the air.

"Get behind me!" Yang Yu gave the command, raising his shield and stepping in front of Bai Jin. "[Intercept]!"

A streak of light extended from Yang Yu's shield, forming a barrier of light that enveloped him and blocked every stone axe.

"Come out!"

Yang Yu looked toward the canopy. Leaves rustled as ugly green-skinned creatures with long noses and pointed ears leaped down from the treetops. They picked up their fallen stone axes, stared at the pale-skinned humans before them, and let out piercing laughter.

That was right. They were laughing.

Twenty against two—an absolute numerical advantage. With a flying dragon in their faces, how could they lose?

Everything was just as that great one had said. The arrogant humans had failed to understand the greatness of Goblins. At first, they only sent several parties, each entering separately and fighting on their own. As long as the Goblins joined forces, they could capture them with ease.

Despair! Wail! A party of only two could do nothing!

That was how it should have been, yet Yang Yu showed no panic whatsoever in the Goblins' eyes. He slowly drew his sword and grinned.