Eric the Goblin
Since Xiao Yu had no intention of playing the same character all the way through, he made his choice rather casually and picked the goblin race. The game had a character customization system, but goblins all looked equally pathetic, so Xiao Yu randomly generated one, named him Eric, and entered the game.
He chose a goblin because goblins were the most widespread monsters in Sky World, found almost everywhere, so there were a great many starting locations to choose from.
Goblins also leveled up quickly. The game was designed so that the stronger a starting character was, the slower it leveled. Powerful wild monsters such as dragonkin, ogres, and young dragons had a hard time leveling up.
Weak wild monsters like goblins and kobolds, on the other hand, leveled up very quickly. This was also designed for game balance.
Xiao Yu naturally chose not to pick a map that was too difficult. Instead, he selected a remote goblin tribe near a night elf newbie village in the Alliance faction as his starting location. New players were all relatively low-level, making them convenient practice.
When Xiao Yu entered the game, his viewpoint was in the sky, rotating 360 degrees around his starting location. The starting location was a goblin camp that looked like an earthen enclosure. Quite a few goblins could be seen walking around inside, and a tent stood in the very center.
A lush forest surrounded the camp. This was Night Whisper Forest, the territory of the night elves. Deep among the trees, tall tree towers were faintly visible. That was Nightwhisper Village, one of the night elves' hundreds of newbie villages.
The viewpoint quickly descended, passing through the roof of the tent before settling on a newborn goblin. Then it merged with the goblin's viewpoint.
The newborn goblin was less than a meter tall, short and stocky, with grass-green skin, five short, thick fingers on each hand, and a rather stupid look. Xiao Yu moved his body around and quickly got the hang of controlling the goblin's body.
"Ahem!" A goblin chief leaning on a skull staff coughed in front of him. "Welcome to this world, young goblin. From now on, you are a member of our Mud Hole Tribe. As a member of the tribe, you must fight for our tribe. Do you understand?"
Xiao Yu examined the portrait above the goblin chief's head. Krigen Big Stick (Mud Hole Tribe Chief) was only a level 9 elite monster. It looked like the Mud Hole Tribe wasn't very strong. Its leader was only that powerful. But it was hardly surprising; this was a monster camp near a newbie village, after all, so it couldn't have monsters at too high a level.
Eric: "Elder, do you have any quests for me?"
The goblin chief nodded. "Quite a few greedy adventurers have recently come to the area outside the tribe and killed many of our tribesmen."
Xiao Yu immediately cut in. "So you want me to go out and kill some adventurers to take the pressure off the tribe? No problem. Tell me, how many adventurers do you want me to kill?"
The goblin chief bristled and glared. "Bastard! With your puny strength, how could you possibly stand a chance against those terrifying adventurers? Hurry up and find the goblin trainer for an assessment. Only after passing it can you take part in battle. And even then, you can't go in alone. You'll have to move with the main force to have a chance of winning. Understand?"
Xiao Yu shrugged and left the tent. Of course he understood. Monsters never made a habit of fighting adventurers one-on-one; they usually swarmed them in groups—and even then, they usually got beaten up. Nothing could be done about it. They were monsters, after all.
Thinking this, Xiao Yu first looked around. Many goblins stood in twos and threes around the tent. There were level 5-7 goblin warriors wearing ragged leather armor and carrying a rusty iron sword or a small axe, with at most a small wooden shield. There were level 4-6 goblin scouts armed with daggers or small curved bows, and level 3-5 goblin peons who didn't even have weapons, carrying small wooden sticks instead. Besides them, there were many level 1 young goblins, stark naked and without any weapons.
These level 1 young goblins weren't even ordinary monsters. They belonged to the weakest category, minion monsters, and even their names were gray.
(So-called minion monsters were extras among wild monsters. For example, a level 6 she-wolf might have three level 1 wolf pups with her. The level 6 she-wolf was an ordinary monster, while the three pups were minion monsters. Similarly, if a level 9 imp summoner had a level 5 imp with it, the imp was a minion monster.)
All right, looks like I'm just a level 1 young goblin.
Carrying his little wooden stick, he found the goblin trainer, Shrek (Goblin Trainer), a level 8 goblin champion. He wore old leather armor and carried a large cleaver. Although he looked just as pathetic, he was already the fiercest-looking goblin in the camp.
"Hello, Shrek. The elder sent me to you for recruit training."
Shrek (Goblin Trainer): "Very good. Then follow me. I'll explain the rules of recruit training. See that mud hole up ahead? That's our tribe's sacred ground. We keep many frogs inside, and they're a source of food for our tribe. I want you to kill as many frogs as you can within half an hour and bring out the frog meat you collect. I'll assign you a different position according to your results."
The positions must be goblin warrior, goblin scout, goblin peon, and goblin champion, Xiao Yu thought. But there seems to be only one goblin champion, so that class should be an elite class. Good, then my goal is to become a goblin champion.
He glanced into the dark, damp cave. Sure enough, there were many frogs jumping around from time to time in its pitch-black depths. Strangely, though, these frogs were displayed as yellow neutral units. Xiao Yu took a closer look and discovered that they didn't even count as monsters; they were merely small animals.
No wonder they're sending a level 1 monster like me to deal with them. Xiao Yu sighed. Still, having the trashiest monster fight even trashier small animals was making the best use of what they had.
He walked into the mud hole and punched a frog. A number, -3, appeared above its head.
A frog had 15 health points, so it took five punches to kill one. After only two punches, the frog actually lunged headfirst at him, knocking off one of Xiao Yu's health points. Damn it, you actually dare fight back? Do you think I can't even beat a small animal? Xiao Yu didn't even have time to complain. He swung his fists desperately.
He killed the frog with two or three more blows.
System notification: Killed frog (small animal). Gained 3 experience.
Watching the experience bar rise a tiny bit, Xiao Yu thought that at least he had gained something.
After killing more than a dozen frogs and collecting more than a dozen pieces of frog meat, he leveled up to level 2 in a flash. His health rose from 30 to 45, and he also gained 1 strength and 1 stamina.
Judging by the two attribute points gained from leveling up alone, goblins were a trash race. Adventurers got 5 attribute points per level, while the hero template got 10 attribute points plus 5 free attribute points. He only got two attribute points per level; at higher levels, he would be even less able to win.
Still, you got what you paid for. Since he wanted to play a free game, he shouldn't complain so much. After killing two more frogs, Xiao Yu grew a little impatient. Killing them like this was too slow. Was there a faster way?