Preparing to go towards the smoke in the distance Lucius looked at the status panel:
[Status Panel]
[Name: Lucius Maxwell]
[Age 36/200]
[Level 3 Exp 50/300]
[HP 60/150]
[MP 100/100]
[Free Attributes 0]
[Strength 16]
[Health 15]
[Agility 13]
[Intelligence 10]
[Mana 10]
Skills 'Empowered Luster'
Gold 35
The bear had given him 40 Exp, 4 Gold, and he felt his Health had recovered a bit, allowing him to move without pain.
With Talon scouting ahead this time, Lucius stayed at the back of the party, keeping an eye out for signs of any ambush that could endanger them.
Entering the forest area where the smoke was, Lucius stopped the group and pointed at some broken trees.
''Look at this," he said, bending down to touch the cuts of a log. ''It was done by an axe.''
''What do you think did this?'' Kevin asked, examining the cut log.
''Beings capable of wielding tools," Lucius confirmed
''Talon, slow down the scouting; they might have guards," he mentioned, and they continued cautiously.
As they proceeded further, Talon kept a watchful eye ahead, looking for any signs of goblins or potential danger. After a while, they could see the smoke more clearly, along with the sound of something hitting trees.
"Stop," Talon, who was a few meters ahead, made the signal to halt.
Gesturing for them to crouch down, he pointed in the distance where the sound was coming from. They spotted a goblin hitting a tree with a two-handed axe, slowly chopping it down, accompanied by some deeper sounds in the forest. The group focused on the goblin that Talon had noticed.
Lucius received a system prompt with information about the goblin: [Goblin LvL2], a basic worker probably following orders.
Seeing Talon take out the bow, ready to shoot it, Lucius lowered his hand, shaking his head and indicating they should not rush. The goblin finished cutting the tree and carried the log on its back using a makeshift bag made of ropes.
Lucius took the lead and gestured for the others to follow as they trailed the goblin worker from a distance. They carefully observed as it passed by other goblins who were busy cutting wood. They stopped when it passed the others so they wouldn't get observed.
Looking at the sun still high in the sky, they began to think about their next action. These goblins were organized; the one that was carrying the log had returned without it to continue cutting.
The sound continued for a while, and they sat for one hour, just spectating, trying to figure out the number of goblin workers. So far, they counted six goblins working and heard another two that were out of their vision.
Suddenly, the two goblins near them stopped working and carried their axes with them, leaving. Lucius wondered what was going on as he didn't hear any orders for them to return. Then, more and more goblins stopped working and followed behind the first two. Even the goblin that was still hitting the tree eventually picked up its axe and left.
''This reminds me of Earth's factory workers, are they having lunch?'' Kevin muttered, recalling similar behaviour he had seen in the past.
''The two that left early must be the early birds trying to skip as much work as possible, while the one that stayed a bit longer also left because it didn't want to overwork while the others were having fun,'' Kevin explained, sounding like an expert in goblin behaviour.
Everyone turned their heads to look at him, and he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. ''That last worker has the same character as me, definitely,'' he nodded to himself, but no one believed him.
''Let's follow them,'' Lucius said, throwing a glance at Kevin, and the group trailed behind the goblin workers.
The workers had stopped at a hut-like structure, forming a messy line. Each goblin grabbed a dirty old plate, and then a goblin in the hut, using a soup spoon, dived it into a wooden bowl, filling their plates with raw meat and fruit soup.
He sent a look at the 'chef' goblin, but the system prompt came up as [Goblin LvL3].
As they sat around on logs eating with their hands, feasting on the raw meat and fruits, the group turned to Kevin, the goblin expert, speechless. He couldn't believe they worked and ate in such a manner, and he could only scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed look.
Lucius focused on the goblins eating, realizing there were more of them in this area than they had seen before. He estimated there were around 20 of them altogether.
Looking around, Lucius asked, ''Kevin, what do the workers do next?'' trying to find a pattern.
Speechless, Kevin replied, ''This is probably a break, and then they will continue working for maybe 4 hours?'' He was not sure of the exact time.
Nodding, Lucius tried to find the place where they store the logs. It turned out to be behind the cooking hut, but sadly going there would take them out of the forest as the cooking station and the storage area were in the plains.
They decided to watch and see what the goblins did until they finished their shift. Soon, some of the goblins dropped their plates on the floor and picked up their axes, walking back to the forest to cut more trees.
Seeing them approach, Lucius ordered the group to return to their original spot slowly and silently.
Just then, a loud shriek was heard, and they thought they had been spotted. Turning with their weapons ready, they saw a scene unfold before them.
A goblin, standing at 1.7 meters in height, was green and covered in battle scars, worn like prizes of its past triumphs. It had one arm, giving it a menacing and intimidating appearance.
As the system prompt displayed [Goblin Fighter LvL6] for the formidable goblin, Lucius observed its interaction with the smaller goblin. The larger goblin seemed to be furious at the smaller one, shrieking angrily and pointing its axe at the ground.
The smaller goblin's face showed fear as it desperately shrieked back, gesturing with its hands as if trying to explain or make excuses. However, its attempts were futile against the fury of the Fighter goblin.
In a fit of rage, the level 6 goblin swung its axe with one arm, attacking the smaller goblin.
''SHRIEK'' The goblin cried, and then they heard the dull sound of a body dropping.
A green head rolled next to the others that were still sitting, and the rest of the goblins quickly picked up their axes, rushing back to work. It seemed the supervisor wanted to teach them all a small lesson.
This scene left them speechless and feeling sorry for the smaller goblin. In this world, the workers were treated badly, and they all agreed upon this.