Nightwhisper Village

Five minutes later, a flash of white light appeared, and Xiao Yu found himself inside a room.

Akado Nightwhisper's room? Heh, the system really was thoughtful. It had even prepared a house for him.

That was one advantage of the civilian template: he could have a home of his own. Of course, each village had a fixed number of civilian template slots. If all the houses were occupied, civilian templates could no longer spawn there. The houses were only the most basic kind, of course. Anyone who wanted a better one could simply spend points to buy it.

Fortunately, Nightwhisper Village wasn't a particularly famous beginner village, and it didn't have many adventurers or civilians.

As he thought, Xiao Yu stood up and stretched. He had to admit, a night elf's body was much better than a goblin's. He was tall and solidly built, with none of the feeling of having to look up at everything that came with being a goblin.

Xiao Yu studied his appearance in the mirror. Since it had been scanned directly from his real-life appearance, he looked ordinary, if a little weathered. It couldn't be helped; male night elves always had the air of middle-aged men.

The civilian template actually had its own way to play: experiencing life, sampling the daily lives of different races, and admiring the scenery and wonders of the game world. Supposedly, many casual players chose the civilian template to relax and make friends in the game. Compared with combat-oriented players, civilian players could be said to be playing an entirely different game.

But that didn't mean players with civilian templates had nothing to spend money on. In fact, they spent quite a lot too.

Take the house in front of Xiao Yu, for instance. It was bare as could be. Anyone who played regularly would need to buy some furniture, wouldn't they? They'd need clothes to go out and stroll around in, and they'd need food to eat.

And if they got a girlfriend in the game, they'd have to give her flowers, jewelry, and things like that, wouldn't they? If they and their girlfriend got carried away chatting and wanted to hold hands, they could even pay to unlock the OO×× system. That was right: players in Sky World could unlock the OO×× system, but only civilian players, and it cost a lot of money.

Xiao Yu wasn't interested in that, though. If he wanted to hold hands, he would just go play adult games. What kind of beautiful woman couldn't he find there?

Xiao Yu examined what he was wearing. He had on the simplest jacket and leather pants, looking just like an ordinary night elf civilian. He walked out of his home and onto the streets of Nightwhisper Village.

Looking at the scenery around him, Xiao Yu couldn't help marveling inwardly. The places where night elves lived really were picturesque. Though he had seen them more than once, he still couldn't help being amazed. Nightwhisper Village had no houses in the strict sense. Instead, it had all kinds of tree towers and treehouses. Druid spells could control the growth of plants, so they had made them grow into houses and towers. With the addition of some distinctly night elf decorations, they formed these unusual homes. The village had a peaceful atmosphere. People walked along the streets, sat reading on benches in the shade, or cuddled in pairs. It was a relaxed, leisurely atmosphere, a feeling that couldn't be found in real life. No wonder so many people came here to unwind.

In the shops lining the streets, he could see plenty of clothing and accessories made from Mageweave Cloth and Mooncloth, as well as gemstone jewelry of every color for sale. Night elf clothing was naturally elegant, and their jewelry was naturally gorgeous. Both were highly sought after by civilian players and cost a pretty penny. Xiao Yu couldn't understand why anyone would spend hundreds of points on a piece of clothing or jewelry with no stats, but that didn't stop this place from becoming a gathering spot for casual players.

But Xiao Yu hadn't come to admire the scenery. He was here to scout the terrain.

He walked back and forth along the village streets several times and soon became familiar with Nightwhisper Village. It wasn't very large. Apart from the irrelevant buildings that weren't worth noting, the treehouses where the civilians lived, Xiao Yu focused mainly on the defenses and the village temple.

Nightwhisper Village had no watchtowers or fortresses, or even a wall. But a complete ring of thorn grass had been planted around its outskirts, forming a defensive barrier of thorns. Anyone charging through it would inevitably pay a heavy price.

Nightwhisper Village didn't have a gate in the strict sense either. Two thorn trees stood on either side of the village exit, and every night they grew thorns to block it.

As for the main defensive forces, there was an ancient of war and two ancient guardians. These enormous treants, seven or eight meters tall, looked truly intimidating. Fortunately, this world was a game, so size didn't entirely reflect strength. Xiao Yu figured that as long as he had a chance to deal damage, taking one on alone wouldn't be a problem. After all, fire dealt bonus damage to treants.

Most of the night elves in the village were civilians with little fighting strength. There were around thirty or forty guards, all night elf warriors and archers of around level ten. Although they were slightly stronger than monsters of the same level, the overwhelming advantage in numbers gave Xiao Yu confidence that he could wipe them out in one go. The night elf village chief, however, posed something of a problem for him. The chief was a level 17 elite, Archdruid Manster Moonwalker. He had a full 1,500 health, more than twice as much as Hogger. Clearly, an elite night elf and an elite wild monster were entirely different things.

Still, if that was all, Xiao Yu wouldn't be concerned. He had hundreds of troops from a five-party alliance. He could bury the chief in sheer numbers.

The adventurers worried him most. Those guys could resurrect indefinitely. Although repeated resurrections increased the time it took to revive, they were still a considerable nuisance. But if he made his move at night, it should be fine.

Thinking it over, Xiao Yu arrived at the Nightwhisper Village tavern, the final stop on his scouting trip. Besides the village guards, adventurers, mayor, and ancient of war, there were also the mercenaries in the tavern. Although mercenaries usually only fought when paid, who knew whether the mayor might throw down a large sum to hire them all in a crisis?

A tavern in a small village like this usually had only three or five mercenaries, not many.

He walked in and looked around, immediately breathing a sigh of relief. Just as he had guessed, there were only three mercenaries: a ranger, a druid, and a warrior. All were ordinary mercenaries below level ten. They were far weaker in combat than adventurers of the same level and nothing to worry about.

(Mercenaries also had ranks, distinguished by the color of their names: white for ordinary, green for excellent, blue for elite, silver for elite, gold for legendary, and orange for legend.)

As Xiao Yu thought this, he turned to leave, but the tavern door suddenly opened. A female night elf rogue walked in with soundless steps. Xiao Yu's eyelid twitched. The female night elf rogue's name was silver-Moonmark Shadowstalker. She was the level 47 mercenary who had wiped out the entire goblin family that day. No, she was level 48 now.