"Ouch," Nee Chen cried in pain. "What was that about?" He rubbed his hurt cheek and gave the little bunny a remorseful look.

"Kyu-yu! Kyu!"

"What!? An army of goblins was heading on our way?"

"Eh?" Xiang Ya was confused. "You understood... that?"

The fact that Nee Chen understood bunny talk did not really matter.

Moreover, the more alarming thing was that an army of goblins was heading on their way. This came as a shocker for Xiang Ya. If it was an army, then that must mean they have a sizable force of more than just a couple of weak little goblins.

"How many?" Xiang Ya asked.

"Kyu."

Xiang Ya looked at Nee Chen asking for the translation.

"She said she did not know how to count. She only knew that there were many of them."

Exactly at that moment, a familiar ping resounded from their system interface.

Ping!

EVENT QUEST!

[Quest: The goblins had sent a subjugation force to punish you. 

Quest Completion Requirements: (1) Survive for a week, or (2) kill the subjugation force. 

Reward 1: Ressurection Token x1

Reward 2: Ressurection Token x10]

Nee Chen gulped at the sight of the rewards. Honestly, he felt abandoned since the patch update. It was selfish and greedy for him to feel like this, but the convenience of the resurrection was so significant that he could not help but rely on it. In fact, more than on one occasion, he used the resurrection perk as if it were the 'Fast Travel' button.

No wonder the Game Master had enough of them abusing it and putting restrictions on this kind of power.

The Game Master had promised them power, and he had abided by this promise through the power of the system and the resurrection. It made Nee Chen feel more guilty for repeatedly disobeying the Game Master's wishes for them to be less suicidal.

"What were you thinking?" Xiang Ya asked while smiling.

Nee Chen ferociously smiled back. "Let us get that Reward 2. It was too good to pass up."

Bi Yuan felt pissed a second time for being ignored again. She pierced her fork at Nee Chen's leg to get his attention. It was a friendly jab, that took 0.01% of Nee Chen's vitality. "Kyu! Kyu!"

"She said, we should defend the Game Master." Nee Chen translated Bi Yuan's chirping.

Xiang Ya frowned. "The Game Master could take care of himself, moreover the best way to protect this place was to get rid of the source. Moreover, there was not really anything to defend except the supply depot..." Her words were brutal and honest.

The little bunny reluctantly nodded her head, finding no argument in Xiang Ya's words. "KYU!"

"..."

"What did she say?" Xiang Ya urged Nee Chen to translate.

"She said she liked your thinking that you were like a barbaric and bloodthirsty tiger who knew how to solve things with force."

"..."

Xiang Ya didn't even know if she felt flattered. As a fair lady, she felt half-insulted by the remark, but since it was Bi Yuan who said it, she took it more as being half-praised.

The new party was formed. The trio: Nee Chen, Xiang Ya, and Bi Yuan headed for the Butterberry Forest to engage in a life-and-death battle.

~~~

Under the thick shrubbery, the party of three was crouching low while waiting in anticipation of the arrival of the goblin army.

"Kyu, kyu..."

"She said that the goblins should be heading on this path."

Though Xiang Ya already knew way before this that Nee Chen and Bi Yuan could communicate, she still felt awe at how fluid the two's understanding of each other was. It was to the point that Xiang Ya was feeling jealous. If not for the little bunny being their acquaintance and favor, she might have murdered the little white furball already. 'No. Focus, Xiang Ya! Away with the evil thoughts!'

Xiang Ya admonished herself for thinking something so vile as to murder a friend. Lately, she had been having these obsessive thoughts about Nee Chen which was making her feel uncomfortable, yet... so free.

"So what was the plan?" She asked.

Nee Chen offered two strategies. "The first strategy I could think of is that we kill the weaker ones first and work our way up. Since we could see their levels, we should be able to do this systematically... and second..." He paused, thinking how to phrase it more 'honorably' but Bi Yuan was getting impatient.

"Kyu, kyu!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Nee Chen awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"What was she saying?" Xiang Ya asked out of curiosity.

"She was making a speech. She said because the goblins were targeting us, our home, and the Game Master, they deserved to die. It was along the lines of if a person wanted to kill then he or she must be prepared to be killed. Simply put, she wanted to just go in there and start killing... just like what happened in the crocodile."

"..."

How could this little bunny even make a speech? Xiang Ya was troubled by how sophisticated Bi Yuan was.

Suddenly, humanoid silhouettes started appearing from the thick vegetation of the forest. They were goblins. A lot of them were the usual low-level goblins that made up the front followed by the more elite goblins like the Goblin Archer, Goblin Soldier, etc. In the middle of the elite goblins was a tall imposing monster, unlike its brethren, it was built differently and its muscles were clearly refined and were made for combat.

Bi Yuan restrained herself from attacking at the first instance the goblins entered her eyes. Xiang Ya saw this and was curious.

"I was impressed though... What was stopping her from attacking now?" Xiang Ya said in confusion as she found Bi Yuan's actions to be new and weird.

Nee Chen simply shook his head. "Perhaps a change of heart... Anyway, the second strategy I thought of is that we assassinate their strongest goblin, their leader first, and then we work our way up from the low-level goblins." He dangerously eyed the Level 32 HobGoblin Spearman.

Even a peasant like Nee Chen knew that assassination was a dishonorable thing to do. 

Xiang Ya voiced her support for the second strategy. "Let's do it. Let's get rid of the big guy."

Nee Chen did not hesitate anymore as he drew his steel. This was going to be a difficult battle. He estimated that there were more than fifty of the enemies. He planned to carve a way to the leader of the enemy goblins and take the head of the Level 32 HobGoblin Spearman.

Xiang Ya offered a more accurate number of the enemies as she did quick mental calculations of their numbers. "There were roughly a hundred of them more or less." As expected of the educated lady, the granddaughter of Xiao Fu, may that old village chief rest in peace. 

The thought was out of the blue, but Xiang was suddenly reminded by her grandfather for no reason at all. She eyed Nee Chen. "Chen, if I end up dying, and reincarnate, will I still be the same me?"

It was melodramatic and took Nee Chen off-guard. "I would not know... But was not that the same for every resurrection?"

"Fair point," Xiang Ya snickered.

"Kyu, kyu! KYU!" 

"She complained that we were being noisy..." Nee Chen laughed. "And that she had an idea."

Nee Chen raised his sword, elder Fu's sword, and placed it on his shoulder. 'Hooo~' He adjusted his breathing as his grip around the sword became tighter.

"What was it?" Xiang Ya felt tense at the sudden change in the atmosphere of Nee Chen.

"Our senior wanted the glory of taking the head of the enemy leader by herself."

Bi Yuan raised her Fork of Perforation parallel to the ground, and then with one swift motion, she jumped into the air while casting Divine Fortitude on herself.

Nee Chen's aim was true. He struck with the blunt side of his sword and hit the little bunny with force sending her flying in a straight line. It was a home run. "Prepare, Ya! We would be wiping out the weaker goblins! Let's trust that Senior Bi Yuan to deal with the HobGoblin."

The Warrior, Nee Chen of Humble Blade spearheaded the charge.

"Yes!" Xiang Ya answered back spiritedly. 

As a Cleric in the 2nd stage Mind Enlightenment realm, she possessed three skills. The starter skills were Heal and Barrier. From her skill tree, there were many choices she could pick up. She could choose to focus on the skill branch of Heal and Barrier or try a hand at new skill branches.

In Nee Chen's case, he had spent all of his Skill Points to learn the 'Execute' skill, a high-end Ultimate Skill from the Warrior Class.

Xiang Ya had thought long and hard about what to do with her Skill Points. Now in the face of an imminent battle, she had decided to spend all of her Skill Points. In the end, she decided to dip her hands into a different Skill branch: Pain Nullification.

"Hah~!" With fearless eyes, she threw herself into battle and ran just beside Nee Chen like a guardian angel.