The King Sent Me to Patrol the Mountain

Ignoring the innate skill that made Xiao Yu want to complain, he felt much more confident after gaining a hidden advancement. He was eager to go out and kill a couple of adventurers to test his skills, but he vaguely remembered how badly he had been killed when he played with a monster template before. After some thought, he decided to find a few companions to go with him.

Finding a goblin warrior who looked reasonably agreeable, Xiao Yu said, "Hey, let's go out and kill some adventurers together."

The goblin warrior hastily shook his head in fright. "Are you crazy? Those greedy adventurers are terrifying. We can't hide from them fast enough, so how would we dare go out?"

Xiao Yu found a goblin scout next. "Hey, want to come out and kill some adventurers together?"

The goblin scout shook his head too.

He asked five or six goblins in a row, and they all gave the same answer.

Damn, they really are a bunch of good-for-nothings, Xiao Yu thought. While he was still annoyed, the goblin chief came out of his tent. "A lot of adventurers have come to the area recently. I've decided to put together a patrol to keep watch nearby, so we can find out in advance if adventurers attack our camp. Does anyone want to join the patrol?"

It was just what he needed. Xiao Yu hurriedly stepped forward and volunteered.

Eric (goblin diviner): "Lord Priest, please leave this task to me. I'll make sure to carry it out."

Kerrigan Big Stick (goblin chief): "Good. You can choose ten goblins from the tribe to serve under you on this task. Remember, if you run into adventurers, don't act rashly. Just come back and report it."

Ha, I'm a leader again at last! But then he gave a self-deprecating laugh. He had once been a Balrog Lord with countless monster lackeys under him, yet now he was this excited over a few goblin lackeys. Is this really worth it, Xiao Yu?

At that thought, his enthusiasm faded somewhat.

Xiao Yu selected six goblin warriors and four goblin scouts, then marched out of the camp with his sizable party.

They had not gone far when they saw a wild boar gnawing on grass stems.

Wild boar (level 8 beast), health: 208.

Beasts really did have high stats. They were about the same level, but the boar had over two hundred health.

Xiao Yu stopped at once. "Everyone, prepare for battle. Wait for my command. As soon as I cast a fireball, you all shoot your arrows, understood?"

The goblin scouts nodded. Xiao Yu swung his staff sharply, sending a fireball flying.

Bang! The fireball exploded against the boar's head for 12 damage, and four arrows struck it at the same time. The foraging boar immediately charged at them in a rage.

What a stupid beast. Can't it see how many goblins are over here? It still dares to come and get itself killed.

The boar was extremely fast, however, and reached Xiao Yu in a single charge.

Xiao Yu really was not confident about fighting it one-on-one, since beast monsters naturally had much higher stats than humanoid monsters. Fortunately, he had his lackeys.

"Loose arrows, quickly! You warriors, get in there!"

Under Xiao Yu's command, the goblin warriors swarmed forward and hacked away with their blades, cutting the boar down in the blink of an eye.

Not bad, not bad. Even with the experience split evenly, I still got 19 points. That's much better than killing frogs and the like.

Although they were all monsters, monsters fought each other in Sky World too. Carnivores would pounce on herbivores to hunt them, for example, and different wild monster factions would fight over territory. Xiao Yu had brought a squad of goblins out, but he was in no hurry to patrol. Killing monsters and leveling up along the way was not bad either.

He had never enjoyed such treatment when he played with a monster template before. Every time he went out to level up and fight other monsters, he had narrowly escaped death. That was a far cry from leisurely harvesting experience as he was now. No wonder everyone wanted to be a leader. Being in charge felt great, even if he was only a minor goblin leader.

They continued onward, encountering plenty of monsters along the way, including wolves, wild boars, and giant spiders. Night Whisper Forest was located outside the elf beginner village, so the monsters in it were all low-level. Most of the beast-type monsters they encountered, such as wild wolves, wild boars, and deer, were only around level 5 to 9, just right for Xiao Yu to practice on.

After wandering around the camp like this for over an hour, Xiao Yu finally gained another level, reaching level 8. He was now the same level as Shrek, the goblin trainer, and lower only than the goblin chief.

They had not encountered a single adventurer, however. Suddenly, the corpse of a wild wolf on the ground caught Xiao Yu's attention.

He crouched down and examined it. The wild wolf had been skinned, but its meat had been left behind. Adventurers had clearly done it. Looking ahead, he saw more beast corpses, and his eyes lit up. It seemed adventurer players were leveling nearby. Adventurers gave much more experience than monsters. "Come on, let's follow them."

A short distance ahead in Night Whisper Forest-

"Little White, go bite it to death! Yes, that's it. Take my deadly arrow!" A female night elf hunter in emerald-green leather armor drew her bow and shot at a huge wild boar ahead.

Little White, whom she had called out to, was a small white wolf. Both the hunter and the wolf were only level 7, and they were locked in a close fight with the level 10 giant wild boar.

Beside her was a robed night elf mage, also only level 7, who was hurling fireballs at the boar.

The boar was a rare elite named Broken Tooth. It had over 400 health, and its jet-black hide was covered in wounds, yet it continued to fight fiercely.

There was also a night elf rogue clad in black leather armor, with long silver hair. She stood to the side, watching the hunter and mage fight while playing listlessly with her daggers.

The rogue was a level 47 player with a mercenary template. Judging by her fine equipment, she was clearly an expert; otherwise, she could not have raised a mercenary template to such a high level. The expert rogue watched from the side, however, and seemed to have no intention of helping.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" The night elf rogue named Moon Trace? Shadow Chaser seemed to want to step in, apparently because the two newbies were struggling.

"Absolutely, positively sure. With your strength, you'd kill the monster in one slash. What the hell would be left for us to play?"

The female mage was called Water Falls Without a Trace. She was pretty and delicate-looking, but when she spoke, she showed none of the reserve expected of a young woman. Instead, she was quite spirited.

"Sister Moon Trace, don't worry. We can do it," the elf hunter said gratefully. Her name was Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats. As she spoke, she fired another arrow.

Moon Trace? Shadow Chaser shrugged, folded her arms, and leaned against a large tree, listlessly playing with the pair of dragon fang daggers in her hands.

Suddenly, a sharp gleam flashed in Moon Trace? Shadow Chaser's eyes. She seemed to have noticed something. Her figure blurred, and she vanished into thin air.

"Phew, we finally did it!" As its last sliver of health was depleted, the giant boar finally crashed to the ground. Looking at its huge corpse, the two women exchanged glances and laughed. "Huh? Where did Moon Trace go?" the hunter asked in surprise.

"She probably went scouting. She's a mercenary we hired, so she can't go too far from us. Switch Track Beasts to Track Humanoids and see if you can find her," Water Falls Without a Trace suggested.

A hunter's tracking skills could track all kinds of creatures, but only one could be active at a time. Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats had activated Track Beasts because they were adventuring in the forest. Hearing the mage's suggestion, she immediately nodded. "Okay, sis." Then she switched skills.

The moment she switched, she got a fright. As soon as Track Humanoids activated, a dense cluster of red dots appeared on the minimap. "Whoa, there are so many monsters nearby!"

"What?" Water Falls Without a Trace exclaimed in surprise.

The next second, they heard a shout: "Comrades, charge!" A large group of goblins rushed out of the woods.