Hidden advancement

He emerged from the mud pit and glanced around. A fire in the corner of the camp caught Xiao Yu's attention; that was considered the goblins' "kitchen." Fire, right! He walked over to the fire and put his hand in it.

System: You took 3 fire damage.

A -3 appeared above his head. He did lose health, just as he had thought. Though the damage was low, a campfire could indeed damage creatures standing in it; it wasn't just decoration.

Beside the fire, an old goblin named Goblin Cook was roasting frog meat. Xiao Yu walked over to him.

"Hello, I'd like to learn the Campfire skill. Could you teach me?"

"You want to learn Campfire? It's not that easy. It takes years of experience and diligent study. I'm afraid you don't have the talent to master such an advanced technique," the Goblin Cook said primly.

Xiao Yu was a veteran at playing monster templates. How could he not recognize the routine?

"Here, a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it." With that, Xiao Yu handed over the dozen or so pieces of frog meat he had just obtained.

The Goblin Cook's eyes immediately lit up. "Hmm, I suddenly think you do have some talent after all. Very well, I'll make an exception and teach you."

System notification: Skill learned: Campfire.

Consume 1 unit of wood to build a campfire. It can be used to roast food and provide light at night. The campfire lasts 30 minutes.

Thirty minutes, exactly the time the quest calls for. Hehe, just as I thought, Xiao Yu thought. But before that, he needed to gather some wood. There was a woodpile right next to the campfire, and Xiao Yu loaded up more than a dozen pieces in one go, stopping only when he had reached his carrying limit.

It was communal property anyway, so he might as well use it. Xiao Yu returned to the mud pit and lit a campfire on the ground. When a frog passed over it, a -3 damage indicator appeared. Haha, it works!

Xiao Yu grew excited and lit more than a dozen campfires along the narrow passage through the mud pit. Then he watched the frogs passing over them continuously lose health, -3 and -4 at a time. In the blink of an eye, more than ten had burned to death. They soon respawned, only to burn to death again. After more than ten minutes of this, the floor of the mud pit was covered in frog corpses. Xiao Yu wasn't idle either, constantly picking up frog meat.

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu walked out of the mud pit. He had reached level 7, and his backpack was stuffed completely full.

Wahahaha, that was great. The time was up, and Xiao Yu reluctantly left the mud pit.

After checking Xiao Yu's spoils, Shrek's eyes nearly popped out. "Heavens, I've never seen a warrior as brave as you! You actually killed so many frogs. Wait here, I need to report this to the chief."

(Killing lots of frogs makes me brave? Just how pathetic are we goblins?) Xiao Yu grumbled inwardly.

Even the Goblin Chief was alerted and came out to look Xiao Yu up and down. His gaze made Xiao Yu feel uneasy.

The Goblin Chief then inspected the frog meat. When he saw the scorch marks on it, he clearly looked thoughtful.

"Very good. To accomplish such a great feat, your intelligence is sufficient for you to inherit my mantle," the Goblin Chief said excitedly.

Xiao Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I only killed some frogs. Do you have to make such a big deal of it? Still, it wasn't a bad thing.

The Goblin Chief nodded to Shrek, who walked over to Xiao Yu.

"All right, Eric, given your achievement, you may choose from the following positions. Please choose your class."

Goblin Laborer: An ordinary goblin with no particular combat specialties. Mainly responsible for camp construction and gathering food and various resources. On the battlefield, they can only serve as cannon fodder.

Goblin Scout: An agile goblin who attacks with a shortbow or dagger. Though not very powerful, they can pose some threat to enemies. Can learn Precision Strike after advancement.

Goblin Warrior: A warrior of the goblin tribe. Strongly built, they are the main fighting force in goblin society. Can learn Heavy Strike after advancement.

Goblin Diviner (hidden advancement): A spellcasting class rarely found in goblin tribes. Able to use simple spells, they belong to the priestly class of goblin society. Can learn Lesser Fireball after advancement.

The four class advancements available were evidently determined by the number of monsters the player killed. The more they killed, the more choices they got. If he hadn't killed a single frog, he probably would only have been able to choose Goblin Laborer. Goblin Diviner should be a hidden advancement that appeared because he had killed so many. Strangely, Goblin Champion hadn't appeared. Xiao Yu guessed it had something to do with how he had killed the frogs; if he had killed enough frogs with brute force, it would have appeared. But although Goblin Champion wasn't available, Goblin Diviner was even more ideal. As for which one he would choose now, he clearly didn't even have to think about it.

Goblin Diviner? A hidden advancement? Haha, I knew the mandate of heaven was mine. All right, you're the one.

Eric: "I hope to inherit the elder's mantle and become a Goblin Diviner."

Kerrigan Big Stick (Goblin Chief): "Very good, I finally have a successor. Come, I will teach you my closely guarded secret. This spell is immensely powerful, the strongest magic our tribe can master. You must make good use of it."

System notification: Congratulations, you have advanced to Goblin Diviner. New skill learned: Lesser Fireball.

Lesser Fireball: Launch a fireball at a target, dealing 11-14 fire damage. Range: 30 yards. Costs 3 mana.

Spell description: Similar to Fireball, but because goblins' intelligence is too low, some errors occurred in the process of learning the magic, reducing Fireball's power. It is therefore known as Lesser Fireball.

Damn it, I finally learned a spell, and it's a defective one. Is being a regular monster easy for me? Looks like this hidden advancement isn't all that great.

Still, the benefits of advancing were tangible. The way the goblins around him looked at him immediately changed, their gazes full of admiration and awe.

Kerrigan Big Stick: "Come, accept your equipment."

A tattered sheepskin robe and a crooked wooden staff.

Tattered sheepskin mage robe: Armor +1.

Old staff: Spell power +1.

Once he had equipped everything, Xiao Yu checked his current stats.

Eric (Goblin Diviner)-

Monster type: Humanoid (normal).

Faction: Mud Pit Camp (Goblin Wanderers).

Monster level: 7.

Monster talent: Cower (passive).

Health: 140.

Mana: 40.

Strength: 8.

Endurance: 9.

Agility: 6.

Intelligence: 4.

Spirit: 3.

Skills: Campfire, Lesser Fireball.

Huh, what's with this talent? It was the first time Xiao Yu had noticed the goblin talent, so he checked it.

Cower: Your presence is so inconspicuous that enemies have difficulty focusing their attention on you.

Effect: Reduces aggro generated against enemies by 30% when attacking.

All right, the name is a bit embarrassing, but the effect is pretty good. Wait, though. If every goblin has this talent, wouldn't that be the same as not having it?

Xiao Yu suddenly felt like he had been had.