“Thank you for the meal.”
Having devoured all the food before her, Bai Jin clasped her hands in gratitude. It had been a long time since she had such a satisfying meal.
She felt indebted and determined to repay this kindness through hard work.
Yang Yu was just a rookie adventurer, while she had been stumbling through this line of work for two years. Despite her illness, she had enough experience to help a newcomer complete a few tasks.
“Cough, cough.” A pain radiated from her chest. She discreetly coughed while wondering, “Why has he been gone so long?”
As time passed, Bai Jin became increasingly uneasy.
She had heard unpleasant rumors about the warrior mentor. She hoped Yang Yu hadn’t gotten into trouble or sneaked out the back door.
The meal bill was still unpaid… If he ran off, she’d have to wash dishes at the Adventurers’ Guild to pay it off. If that happened, she vowed to curse that ungrateful scoundrel.
Just as she was about to grab her staff and check on the situation, Yang Yu, his face glowing with satisfaction, emerged from the VIP room.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“No problem at all. In fact, things went great.”
Initially, Yang Yu feared an unspeakable turn of events, similar to a dark game involving a certain island, but his worries were unfounded.
Andeno was simply a fitness-obsessed warrior who loved promoting fitness, wanting everyone to become muscle-bound and invincible.
His test involved attending a fitness class, mastering its points, and falling in love with exercise. Yang Yu had scoffed at his methods, considering them outdated compared to more effective techniques from fitness simulators he had played, which even taught him some smooth talking.
After discussing for a while, Andeno was impressed by Yang Yu’s fitness knowledge and praised him highly, conceding his expertise.
Not only did Yang Yu pass the test and learn [Cleave], [Intercept], [Killing Intent], and [Shield Block], but he also earned Andeno’s recognition and got [Battle Spirit] for free.
Even though he was unlucky and drew a useless passive skill [Block] as a random reward, it didn’t bother him much.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t learn [Shield Counter] or [Taunt].
The former required 100 skill points, and the latter… Andeno claimed he had never heard of a skill that could make enemies attack willingly.
Yang Yu was shocked.
Was such a crucial skill not common knowledge?
Did warriors just charge into battle with weapons? No wonder most of the skills he could learn were combat-focused, with defensive ones either being extremely expensive or useless.
Now what? [Taunt] was a vital skill for a defensive warrior, crucial for protecting fragile teammates and ensuring their safety.
Yang Yu needed to find a way to acquire this skill.
Skills didn’t always need to be learned directly. He had gained the [Clover Cultivation] skill from repeatedly cultivating clovers. Perhaps constantly taunting others might lead him to comprehend [Taunt].
It was worth a try since it didn’t cost anything. If he could grasp the knack for learning skills, he could save a lot of skill points.
With that in mind, Yang Yu planned to focus on acquiring [Shield Counter] first. He needed 100 skill points, which meant he had to level up.
“Now that we’re full, let’s get moving!”
He called Bai Jin to follow him as he settled the bill and walked to the task board covered with missions of various sizes.
Scanning through, he immediately picked one.
[Goblin Hunt (D-Rank): Goblins in Goblin Forest have been causing trouble, attacking nearby villages.
Task: Clear the goblins on the outskirts of Goblin Forest. 50G per goblin.
Note: The deeper parts of Goblin Forest are dangerous. D-Rank adventurers should not approach. Leave it to the professionals.]
An unlimited hunting mission, perfect for leveling up.
He took several side quests that could be completed along the way, a quick way to gain experience.
After accepting the missions, Yang Yu upgraded his gear.
Being unlucky, he never expected good drops from monsters. The items he used were either bought from stores or obtained through grinding.
A small hand-held shield that boosted defense without sacrificing speed was his preferred choice, ideal for adventuring.
He also got equipment for Bai Jin.
“Is this really for me?” Bai Jin hesitated, holding a white pendant.
The item, named “Heart of White Dew,” cost 1100G, equivalent to killing 22 goblins. Yet, Yang Yu handed it to her without a second thought.
“This will help you in battle. Don’t mess up at crucial moments.”
The “Heart of White Dew” was the best mana recovery item Yang Yu could find, increasing maximum MP by 100 and restoring 2 MP every five seconds. It rounded up to 24 MP per minute, practically infinite.
Though 1100G wasn’t cheap, Bai Jin was crucial for early-stage grinding and leveling up. This small investment was necessary.
After spending some time getting used to the new gear, Yang Yu led Bai Jin to Goblin Forest.
Priests were scarce, and with a rookie beastmaster and a dubious curse mage in the team, recruiting a priest was even harder.
Aware of this, Yang Yu didn’t waste time posting a recruitment notice. Early on, monster damage was low, and priests often idled, better to recruit a high-level priest later when his reputation and charisma were higher.
Another reason for not recruiting a priest early was that Yang Yu had impressed the fitness coach—uh, warrior mentor Andeno—and earned [Battle Spirit].
This skill restored 3% of the damage dealt by allies within a three-meter radius, reducing the need for early-stage healing. Besides, goblins were low-level monsters unlikely to kite them to death.
After a while, Yang Yu noticed signs of a campfire in the forest. There were no signs of a campsite, just burnt branches and animal bones with traces of seasoning.
Instinctively, he felt something was off. The gnawed bones had distinct marks from sharp teeth, and the surroundings were eerily quiet, as if it were a trap.
Leaves rustled, and suddenly, countless stone axes flew through the air.
“Stay behind me!” Yang Yu ordered, raising his shield and standing in front of Bai Jin. “[Intercept]!”
A light extended from Yang Yu’s shield, forming a protective barrier that deflected the stone axes.
“Show yourselves!”
Yang Yu glared at the treetops, where goblins with long noses and sharp ears leaped down, picking up their fallen axes and laughing sinisterly at the humans.
Yes, they were laughing.
Outnumbering them twenty to two, they believed victory was certain.
Everything had gone as their master predicted. Arrogant humans failed to grasp the greatness of goblins. Initially, small teams entered separately, making it easy to ambush them by uniting.
Despair! Scream! A two-person team couldn’t do much!
But Yang Yu, unfazed, slowly drew his sword and smirked.