Once outside the beginner's village, Kiriya looked up to see green goblins wandering the vast, dense forest, not a single other player in sight. He glanced back, and the village was already swarming with players pouring out, all charging straight for the woods!
Kiriya picked up his pace at once and sprinted deep into the forest. He was just about to start slaying mobs when he spotted a girl in a rough burlap robe standing by a giant tree a short distance away, glancing anxiously around as if she was desperate for help.
"Huh? Must be a quest!"
As the first player to step out of the beginner's village, Kiriya didn't hesitate for a second. He wheeled around and raced straight to her side.
The moment he drew near, the girl turned to him, her eyes filled with urgency. "Grandpa went into the mountains to chop wood a few days ago and lost his axe. The villagers said those wretched little goblins stole it! Adventurer, can you get Grandpa's axe back for me?"
Ding!
System Notification: Accept quest [Collect Goblin Battle Axes]?
A quest falling right into his lap? There was no way he'd turn it down.
Kiriya accepted it on the spot, and the next second, the system's voice rang out in his head once more—
Ding—!
System Notification: You have accepted the quest [Collect Goblin Battle Axes]! (Novice Quest, Current Difficulty: 10)
Quest Objective: Help Anna retrieve her lost axe, which is in the possession of the goblins outside the village. Slay goblins and collect 10 Goblin Battle Axes from their bodies!
Kiriya blinked in surprise. Anna had clearly said Grandpa only lost one axe, yet the quest demanded ten. He chuckled to himself. This NPC was just like him, a classic case of getting something for nothing.
Their conversation ended, and Anna sat down under the big tree, seemingly no longer available for quests.
Kiriya tightened his grip on the wooden stick in his hand and turned to head for the goblin-infested area.
Just then, a small goblin a few steps away spotted him, raised its axe, and charged straight at him. Its short, stocky body was like a tiny winter melon, and it wore a ridiculous green helmet to boot!
Kiriya glanced at it, and the low-level mob's stats panel popped up in front of his eyes at once—
[Lesser Goblin] (Common Mob)
Level: 1
Attack: 1-3
Defense: 1
HP: 100
The Lesser Goblin's attack was only 1-3, and Kiriya had 2 Defense. This fight shouldn't be too hard.
In the blink of an eye, Kiriya stepped forward and swung the wooden stick hard, slamming it right into the goblin's forehead!
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out, and a bright red 12 flared above the goblin's head for damage!
Almost simultaneously, the goblin's axe slammed into his shoulder. A faint numb pain shot through him, and his HP bar dropped by 5 points at once.
Thankfully, his HP was roughly the same as the goblin's, so he could take the hits.
More importantly, his attack speed was far faster than the goblin's. As a novice mob, the goblin had no chance of one-shotting a player anyway!
He slammed the stick into the goblin's head a few more times in quick succession. The little creature let out a shrill cry and crumpled to the ground, a few copper coins clattering onto the dirt, glinting faintly in the sunlight.
Ding!
Combat Notification: You have slain a Lesser Goblin! Gained 10 EXP!
Kiriya immediately knelt to pick up the copper coins, 3 in total, and stashed them all in his inventory.
But after that fight, his HP had dropped to less than half. If he tried to take on another goblin head-on, he'd be putting himself in danger.
He quickly opened his character stats panel, and his eyes widened in shock. He'd completely forgotten to allocate the 5 free stat points the system had gifted him when he created his character and logged in!
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"Damn it! How dare I call myself a veteran gamer acting like this?!"
Kiriya cursed his own carelessness under his breath, and with a twinge of embarrassment, he poured all 5 free stat points into Strength.
There was no way to level up fast in the early game without attack power, and besides, he'd already made up his mind to pick a combat class later on.
With the 5 Strength points boosting him, his attack jumped from 0-3 to 0-8 in an instant. Taking on Lesser Goblins from now on would be a walk in the park.
His gaze swept the area, locking onto a lone Lesser Goblin sniffing around furtively a short distance away. He stepped forward and swung his stick hard; a bright red damage number flared above the goblin's head at once.
34!
Kiriya raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected such a huge boost in attack power.
He pressed his advantage, swinging the stick two more times. The goblin didn't even have time to finish its cry before it collapsed to the ground, a rusted axe clattering onto the dirt with a few copper coins.
[Goblin Battle Axe] (Quest Item)
Kiriya picked up the axe and checked it. It was a pure quest item with no stats at all. A flicker of disappointment crossed his mind, but he tossed it into his inventory all the same and kept slaying goblins.
The drop rate for the Goblin Battle Axes wasn't high; he had to kill an average of 5 goblins to get just one axe.
Worse still, players from the beginner's village were pouring into the forest nonstop, and the area was getting more crowded by the second.
By the time Kiriya had collected 9 axes, the woods were packed with players. The second a goblin spawned, it would be pummeled by dozens of wooden sticks at once, and the mob snatching only grew more fierce.
It was clear he couldn't keep leveling here anymore. If he lingered, he'd not only fail to collect the last axe but also get overtaken in level by other players.
Just then, a Lesser Goblin spawned right next to him, sniffing around furtively.
Kiriya struck first, swinging his stick hard at it. Almost at the same time, four other players reacted, yelling as they swung their wooden sticks at the goblin, too!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A flurry of sharp sounds rang out. The Lesser Goblin collapsed the second it spawned, and a Goblin Battle Axe clattered onto the forest grass with a few copper coins.
Kiriya was confident— he'd struck faster than lightning, so the killing blow on this goblin had to be his, which meant the loot was his by right.
He stepped forward quickly to pick up the axe, and the second he tossed it into his inventory, the system notified him that his axe count had hit 10; the quest objective was complete!
The four mob-snatching players froze in place, staring at Kiriya with chagrin, seemingly about to confront him. But Kiriya had no time for that. He turned and sprinted straight back toward the beginner's village, heading right for Anna's side.
He pulled the 10 Goblin Battle Axes out of his inventory and held them out to Anna. A bright, grateful smile spread across the girl's face. "Thank you so much, adventurer! You got Grandpa's axe back for me. This is your reward!"
Ding!
System Notification: Congratulations! You have completed the quest [Collect Goblin Battle Axes]! Gained 500 EXP, 2 Silver Coins, Reputation +1, and quest reward item [Crude Iron Sword]!
Ding!
System Notification: You have leveled up!
"An equipment drop! Nice!"
Kiriya's face lit up with joy. He immediately opened his inventory, and there, sitting in one of the slots, was an iron sword.
[Crude Iron Sword] (Crude)
Attack: 1-4
Level Requirement: 2
Hell yeah! A Level 2 weapon! It was still the lowest-tier Crude gear in the game, but its attack power was way better than the shoddy wooden stick the system had given him as a starter.
(In the lore of Eternal Art Online, equipment tiers from lowest to highest are: Crude, Common (White), Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Diamond, Legendary, Artifact. Rumor has it that above Artifact, there exists the fabled tier of Mythic.)
Kiriya equipped the Crude Iron Sword at once, instantly becoming the only player in the entire beginner's village to wield an iron sword. Dozens of passing players shot him envious glances— to them, Kiriya was already the strongest player in the beginner's village by a mile!
Kiriya was now Level 3, and the EXP from slaying Lesser Goblins was no longer enough to level up.
Besides, with the iron sword in hand and the 5 free stat points from leveling up all poured into Strength, his attack power had skyrocketed to a formidable 1-17. Wasting such devastating attack power slaying Lesser Goblins in the woods was a total waste!
Kiriya turned and headed back to the beginner's village, walking straight up to the potion shopkeeper's stall and buying 10 Minor Health Potions— each restored 100 HP, but they were ridiculously expensive, costing 20 Copper Coins a bottle. Thankfully, the system had rewarded him with 2 Silver Coins for completing the quest, more than enough to buy all the potions he needed.
High risk, high reward. Kiriya knew that lesson all too well.
He'd just bought the potions and stepped out of the beginner's village again when he noticed a soldier in armor standing at the village entrance, a steel sword in his hand, glancing around warily.
Kiriya stepped forward quickly, and as he'd suspected, this was the beginner's village's militia captain. The man sized him up and spoke in a deep voice. "Brave young man, you've honed quite a bit of strength already. Would you do me a favor?"
Kiriya nodded without hesitation.
Militia Captain Marcus raised his arm suddenly, pointing south of the village, his voice grave. "Lately, a horde of vile Fire Bats has taken up residence in the fallow fields south of the village. Their fangs are coated in a deadly venom, and several of my men have been bitten and infected with bat venom. I need you to slay those Fire Bats and bring me back 20 vials of Bat Blood!"
Kiriya's eyes widened in surprise, and he accepted the quest at once.
Ding!
System Notification: You have accepted the quest [Clear the Southern Fallow]! (Novice Quest, Current Difficulty: 50)
Quest Objective: Slay the Fire Bats south of the village and collect 20 vials of Bat Blood to deliver to Militia Captain Marcus!
A sinking feeling hit Kiriya's stomach. The goblin quest had only been Difficulty 10, and this one had jumped all the way to 50!
He looked up at Marcus, and there was a hint of final resolve in the man's eyes— the solemn resolve of a warrior marching to his fate, the kind that screamed there was no coming back.
A cold chill ran down Kiriya's spine. He didn't dare waste a second. He tightened his grip on his iron sword, turned, and sprinted straight for the southern fields of the village!
