Chapter 56: Chapter 56

Once she finished filling out the quest info, an option popped up for the quest’s posting range.

To her surprise, Mu Ying discovered that quests could be posted not just in this branch, but also synced to Mercenary Guilds in other territories, for a small additional fee.

She didn’t hesitate to choose the sync option. After all, her quest was really just a thinly veiled information sale—there was no need for any item exchange, and the extra fee was negligible.

She scanned her Monster Compendium into the quest platform. Anyone who accepted the quest could pay to view monster information; all she had to do was come by the guild periodically to collect her earnings.

Although there weren’t any real safeguards to prevent players from sharing the info privately, she could still make a tidy profit.

To Mu Ying, this money was as easy as picking it up off the ground—and she got a free Monster Compendium out of it, too. Thinking about the income she’d be getting, the frustration from being chased by goblins earlier faded quite a bit.

Since the monster incursion, going out had become much riskier, which affected her a lot. After all, she needed to go outside to plant trees or commune with plants for cultivation, and the land in her plantation was nowhere near enough for her needs.

Looks like she’d have to build the sub-camp as soon as possible. Judging by the territory’s daily income, she’d have enough money in at most ninety days. Before that, she’d have to wipe out the goblin gang by the river.

After grabbing a quick bite at a diner, Mu Ying returned to the treehouse to reflect.

She carefully reviewed today’s battle and realized there were plenty of things she could have done better.

She’d dawdled while collecting loot and hadn’t been alert enough to spot the goblin squad in advance.

Later, when escaping, she hadn’t cast Swiftstride on herself ahead of time. She tried to cast it while fleeing, but her nerves got the better of her and she failed, which was why she couldn’t shake off the goblins for so long.

This showed that her grasp of some of the 1st-level spells she’d learned wasn’t solid enough, and she still had issues applying them in practice.

Her druid class features and high Perception talent made her progress in training smoother than most, which was great, but it also meant she had fewer real combat opportunities and lacked battle experience.

Having identified her weaknesses, she carefully reviewed all the spells she’d learned so far.

The next morning, she set out again, this time casting both Swiftstride and Barkskin on herself right from the start.

Both spells had long durations, giving her a buffer for both defense and escape.

Maybe because of yesterday’s ambush, the goblins had changed locations for their logging today, and their numbers had doubled—six chopping and breaking down trees, six hauling logs—but their work pace was about the same as before.

The tools they used were even shabbier than those from yesterday, and they didn’t seem focused on their work at all, glancing nervously around four or five times in just ten minutes, clearly jumpy and suspicious.

Looks like well-equipped goblins were a minority—these ones were even poorer than she’d thought.

Mu Ying even asked the sparrow family to help keep watch. Once she was sure there were no other goblins nearby, she made her move.

As before, she started with Thunderwave, followed by Fog Cloud and Entangle. But this time, with six goblins spread farther apart, she only managed to restrain four.

This time, though, she used Jump to leap straight in front of the restrained goblins. The two that weren’t caught were still reeling from Thunderwave’s shock when three of their companions were already dead.

She’d expected them to bravely charge in, and was ready to use Jump to retreat at any moment, but to her surprise, the two goblins didn’t even try to check on their companions in the fog. The moment they regained their senses, they screamed and ran for their lives.

“…”

So there really are differences between goblins!

These goblins were clearly the rabble, compared to the elite squad that chased her yesterday.

Mu Ying couldn’t help but comment inwardly, then quickly finished off the last restrained goblin, stuffed the bodies into her storage pouch, and ran back to the territory without looking back.

She left the sparrow family and their bird friends to keep an eye on goblin movements in the area.

Facing so many goblins, she planned to stick to guerrilla tactics, slowly whittling down their numbers.

Over the next few days, she spent a few hours each day ambushing goblins who ventured out, always targeting the weakest ones.

A rumor began to spread among the goblins.

They said there was a kind of mist in this forest that ate goblins, making them dizzy and lost, with bodies vanishing without a trace. The mist especially loved loggers.

Fewer and fewer goblins were willing to go out and chop trees. The defensive works they’d just started were left unfinished. They’d rather go hunting or ambush humans in the forest than risk being eaten by the mist.

If Mu Ying could understand goblin-speak, she’d definitely mock their overactive imaginations for not matching their cowardice.

Of course, the reason the bodies disappeared was because she took them. She was saving up money, after all, and goblin corpses could at least be converted into a bit of energy—and it made cleaning up the battlefield quick and easy.

So when she couldn’t find any goblins out logging after searching for a long time one day, she just assumed they’d been scared off.

After so many encounters, she’d come to understand goblin cowardice deeply.

As long as you gained the upper hand and dealt some real damage at the start, goblins would never fight you head-on—they’d just curse themselves for not running faster.

“Forget it, help me find that goblin hunting party,” Mu Ying instructed Mama Sparrow.

Her combat ability had improved greatly. Even without control spells, she could now hold her own against two or three goblins with just a spear enchanted with Shillelagh.

She’d also mastered Flame Blade and recently learned a new 2nd-level spell, Enhance Attribute. Back when she’d run from the elite goblin squad, now she’d actually have a fighting chance.

Enhance Attribute was the hardest spell she’d learned so far, but also the most powerful—it could temporarily boost a chosen attribute.

It had six forms: Bear’s Endurance for Constitution, Bull’s Strength for Strength, Cat’s Grace for Dexterity, Fox’s Cunning for Intelligence, Owl’s Wisdom for Perception, and Eagle’s Splendor for Charisma.

The boosts to Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity were straightforward physical enhancements, while the boosts to Intelligence, Perception, and Charisma didn’t increase mana, but did significantly improve spellcasting.

Currently, Mu Ying could use Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, and Owl’s Wisdom.

Like Barkskin and Swiftstride, this spell lasted one hour per caster level.

In other words, a single casting would last her three hours."

"Mù Yíng stood at the camp gate, waiting for the scout sparrow to return with news. Once it did, she promptly cast six spells on herself in a row.

Strength, constitution, agility, and perception buffs; Barkskin for extra defense; and Swiftstride for easier travel and escape—all told, she used up 55 mana points.

“Nice, now I’m really starting to feel like a hexagonal druid warrior!”

She shot into the forest like a blur, vanishing in a matter of breaths.

In less than half an hour, she found traces of the goblin squad.

The green-skinned, short-statured goblins crouched in the bushes, blending in far better than her own grass-green robes.

If not for the bird’s message, she probably would’ve missed them—just like that other hunting party lying in wait for the brown bear. She wouldn’t have had the chance to be the “yellow sparrow” waiting to swoop in.

The hunters ahead were old acquaintances—poor Huo Shaobo and his team, about to face a second goblin ambush.

Around the territory, all sorts of creatures had appeared: some were native beasts from Azure Star, others were mysterious monsters with unknown origins. Most, however, tended to roam alone or in pairs deep in the forest, rarely hunting humans.

Compared to them, goblins felt more like the game’s designated villains: numerous, organized, and deeply hostile to humans—or, more accurately, to any creature they thought they could overpower.

Of course, after Mù Yíng’s relentless raids, their numbers had dropped significantly.