25 Goblin Springs

It took three hours for Nie Fan, Xue Yu, and Lin Suyue to reach the very heart of the Blazing Goblins' settlement, and untold numbers of slain Blazing Goblins.

At the same time, Nie Fan's had reached 21% in Level 19, as compared to his initial Level 18.

That was an acceptable rate, and actually quicker than his estimation.

The trio had also obtained many items, including several Level 25 White-grade items along with herbs and leather. Be that as it may, those items were not quite valuable and would not even compensate for Nie Fan's mana consumption when sold.

"I didn't think that his settlement would be so wide. Where are we now, actually?" Xue Yu asked as he stared at the map.

"We should be almost at the center zone," Nie Fan replied. "We would find the Goblin Firewalker further ahead—level thirty Miniboss, over five thousand HP, strengthened armor, and AOE fire spells."

It was also the most powerful Boss at their current location, and every party of elite players were still ants they could crush with a single blow at the moment.

Both Xue Yu and Lin Suyue could mostly guess how powerful that monster was from Nie Fan's description: They basically had no chance against at their current level.

"Are we going, then?" Xue Yu asked, unsure why Nie Fan led them here since looking for a Level 30 Miniboss now was no different from going to die.

"Not at the moment. After leveling up twice more." Nie Fan said as he checked out the topography around them.

It was not as if increasing two levels would allow them to take down a Level 30 Miniboss. Xue Yu and Lin Suyue refrained from asking, however, since Nie Fan might have another plan in mind.

The sixty-odd straw huts around them were arranged circularly and closely to each other, and it was quite the hassle searching through all of them.

After some mental calculation, Nie Fan then turned to his friends and said, "Xue Yu, search the sixth hut from here while Su Yue search the thirteenth. Hide if you run into any Blazing Goblins, I'll head over to get rid of them for you."

"Got it." The pair hence dashed towards their respective objectives. Even if they didn't know how Nie Fan told them to do that, they were already used to not doubting him.

At the same time, Nie Fan would slowly clear up any Blazing Goblins nearby. He could handle two at the same time, although he could only evade places where there were too many of them.

Around three minutes later.

"Nie Fan, I've got nothing." Xue Yu said in the party chat."

Nie Fan thought about it. "Take the twenty-third, then."

Soon, Lin Suyue exclaimed in delight into the party chat as well, "I found a Warrior-class Copper Greatsword, level twenty-five!"

A single Copper Greatsword would sell for over a thousand bronze coins even with weak stats—this one in particular would fetch two thousand with its good stats of +5 Attack and +2 Strength.

"Nie Fan, I found something here too: it's a Copper Hammer, Holy Knight-class."

"Got it," Nie Fan said. "You two could go look through more straw huts, but you don't have to look too carefully since there's probably nothing now." He should just let Xue Yu have that Hammer, while earning some money by selling the Level 25 Greatsword, which would be enough for their potions in the future.

In reality, Nie Fan had anticipated that they would find those items. Those were rewards for frontline explorers, and most players had to search carefully to find them inside the huts.

If they searched each of those sixty-odd straw huts, it would take at least an hour.

***

While Xue Yu and Lin Suyue were combing through the straw huts, Nie Fan ran towards an elevated slope to the west. It was probably as tall as one of those straw huts, and he could see everything nearby when he stood over it.

As he looked ahead at the top, he found Blazing Goblins crowding the nearby clearing, and most of them should be Elites. At the center of the clearing was a spot enclosed with boulders, with over twenty Blazing Goblins within.

One of them was wearing a fiery red steel armor, and was quite distinct in the midst of the other normal Blazing Goblins.

That's the Goblin Firewalker, the Level 30 Miniboss!

Nie Fan's heart thumped at the sight of so many Blazing Goblins too. There probably wouldn't be many could compose themselves when they come across such a scene either, much less make their way past them.

Then, as Nie Fan looked north, he found a cyan spring flowing over the grayed land.

It's the Goblin Springs!

That place was a living sustenance for goblins. According to ancient legends, a traveler had fallen short due in his attempted journey across desert due to thirst, encountering a sorcerer as death loomed. The sorcerer told the traveler that he must drink from a cursed spring to survive, and henceforth become extraordinarily ugly. The traveler drank it to see the wife waiting for him in their faraway homeland, from then on becoming a grotesque goblin, only to be mocked by his wife in every way possible because she was unable to accept his goblin appearance when he returned. He eventually broke, and stabbed his wife to death with a dagger.

Such was the storied origins of goblins. Therefore, in the bible of the Holy Temple, the goblins were described as ugly creatures, coming to this world bearing curses and original sins.

Players who drink sparingly from the Goblin Springs would become a goblin for some time, reverting to their original look after some time. However, drinking too much of the toxin would kill them immediately.

That was another one of his father's discoveries: Most players were aware of the legend of goblin origins and would therefore avoid it, since it would be trouble if they could not revert from goblins. However, his father who was especially sharp about quests completions promptly realized that it was the key to obtaining the Ring of Fate after stumbling on the Goblin Springs, and he left those clues as well as the entire procurement process with Nie Fan.

In fact, his father died three times and tried countless methods before finally figuring out the way to claim the Ring of Fate.

Nonetheless, Nie Fan collected his thoughts that were in disarray. Anything could wait until they were Level 21, and he could feel that the Ring of Fate was within reach.

Meanwhile, Xue Yu and Lin Suyue found nothing other than one bottle of Intermediate Mana Potion after searching the other straw huts.

"Let's keep leveling up, and try to get up to level twenty-one within five hours." Nie Fan declared confidently.

Time passed quietly as he continued culling Blazing Goblins, even by luck securing a Cleric's Minor Healing Skill Tome. It was perhaps two hours later when the crisp ringing of the system notification sounded, and Nie Fan looked down to find that he was now Level 20!

He could learn Cheetahmorph!

Nie Fan took out the Cheetahmorph Skill Tome from his bag, and it turn into a streak of white light with a move from his right hand, becoming his fourth combat skill! He activated it with a quiet roar, his form rapidly turning into a strong cheetah's, with black spots all over its white-and-yellow fur along with sharp eyes, sharp teeth, and sharp class.

He had an intimidating presence.

In that form, he ran a few paces to adapt himself to his brand-new body. His speed had indeed become much quicker, the only drawback being his lowered defense which made him a weak melee combatant.

The outline of his body slowly faded as he Lurked.

His speed reduced considerably in Lurk, although his movement remained unimpeded.

Nonetheless, Nie Fan was very excited about the feeling of Morphing. It was a skill that sets him on a completely different path from his father's, since his father only learned Cheetahmorph at Level 26. Moreover, it was a normal skill and not a strengthened version of it, not to mention that his father was more adept at Lycanthropy.

Even if someone has arranged everything and set a target for you, everyone ultimately experiences different encounters, just as the eventual outcome would be distinctly different.