Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"The Forest Doesn't Keep Idle Goblins" is currently being serialized and is not to be missed!

"Come on, continue." Charles handed over a stone that looked like a rugby ball, and then he watched as the troll hurled the stone into the air.

In the sky, a straw man was being pulled by a strange blue sphere and floated in the air.

"Secure it," Charles said, turning to the lame man behind him. He was instructing his men to control the arcane servant so that the troll grass could be thrown more easily.

The scarecrow's current height is roughly the same as Broken Tooth described before. With just a dozen or so more attempts, Sharl believes the trolls should be able to gradually master this height. Meanwhile, Evita is leading the centaurs in practicing shooting aerial targets.

After yesterday's conversation with the Naga prince, the latter went straight to sleep in the underground river. There were still some alliance matters that Xiaer hadn't discussed further, but after talking about them this morning, it was difficult to make any substantial progress. After all, Pazzani was just a prince, and the Naga clan was currently being managed by several elders. Only if he successfully completed the trial could he exercise the power of the Naga king.

So, Sharl offered his terms, which included jointly resisting the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, exchanging goods, finding magical materials for each other and sharing the results. Pazzani had already returned to the Daren River with his message and believed that he would bring back the Naga's answer in a few days, since he still needed to fight alongside him to complete the adulthood trial.

"Not bad, just a little short." Charles shouted, pumping his fist. The stone he had just hastily thrown had almost hit the mannequin in mid-air. "Good job, sir."

The troll grinned loudly. Yesterday, when the chieftain found him, he told him that someone else wanted to destroy the fortress and disrupt the tribe's comfortable life.

"Cao Cao won't agree," the troll immediately shook his head, while his waving fist caused the small nuts in his hand to fall everywhere.

While smiling and helping him pick up the nuts from the ground, Sharl explained to the troll that special training would begin tomorrow, as the tribe would need his powerful strength.

"Looking back now, saving Cao Cao was a wise choice," Charles said, bending down to pick up another stone from the ground. "Those goblins flying in the sky don't seem to pose much of a threat anymore."

"I wonder how many goblins have come this time," he pondered, considering how to deal with them. "There aren't many that can fly, so the real trouble is those petrified lizards. Broken Tooth didn't bring back any detailed data either. If there are a lot of lizards, they'll be very difficult to deal with if they charge straight at us."

Shire really wants to educate the goblin tribe. He thinks it would be great if they could learn some basic reading and writing, plus addition and subtraction within 100.

Like a broken tooth, a scout walking in the shadows couldn't do addition or subtraction beyond ten. If asked too many questions, he would sit on the ground, take off his shoes, and start cracking his toes. The thought of the hundreds of such subordinates in his tribe gave Xia Er a headache.

"Take it slow, no rush," he breathed a few times. "After all, we're just a race that has just escaped the brink of death. We've only had enough to eat for a little over two months. We can't expect too much."

Broken Tooth went north again early this morning, probably to scout. "It just goes to show that these men are still willing to work, unlike before when they would find something to eat and then lie down in the haystacks or caves to sleep."

"Petrifying Lizard, Petrifying Gaze." Sharl squatted on the ground, thinking of a way to deal with it. When the troll next to him saw that the leader was no longer handing him stones, he also sat down on the ground, took out a few dried fish from the pocket hanging on his chest, and began to chew them with relish. He even gave a dried fish to the lame man next to him.

"Use petrification-preventing potion?" Charles picked up a small twig from the ground and drew numbers on it. "We need to prepare some, but it probably won't be very effective. After all, those lizards are quite big. Once they charge over, they'll be easily crushed by their followers after being petrified."

"Use a protective magic barrier?" He traced lines on the ground again. "We don't have many left. We used them all up in the previous battles. If we want to get more now, we'll have to urgently send someone to Black Lion City to buy them from magic merchants at a high price. But Little John hasn't returned yet, and Mary can't leave Goat Horn Town at will."

"This is a bit difficult."

Charles flicked the small twig in his hand, making a soft "snap" sound. He knew there was another way to deal with the lizards: to find some of his men and have them drink the "Wrath Potion." If the number of them was large enough, it would still kill the petrified lizards. But he would never make that choice.

Yesterday, he even looked up a book and found a record of petrified lizards. These creatures usually live in underground caves and sometimes roam in forests, but most adventurers encounter them in underground ruins, such as haunted mines.

This creature can be tamed. There are records of raising young lizards in cages from a young age. Those tamers would also train the petrified lizards to obey simple commands and avoid eye contact with other creatures. A mature, tamed petrified lizard is a fearsome beast guard. Xia Er had heard before that in the City of Golden Flower, a petrified lizard tamer was sought after by various nobles, and such employment was usually long-term.

"They look just like the elephant trainers from my past life," Charles said, tapping on a small twig. This is why the petrified lizard's eggs are so valuable.

The book also records that these lizards don't like to move around much. When they are in underground burrows, they prefer to wait for their prey to come to them. Once the prey appears in front of them, it is generally impossible for them to escape. Thus, these petrifying lizards don't have to work hard to hunt. They use their amazing staring ability to quickly turn their prey into loose stones, and then use their strong jaws to chew the stones. These stones will then be transformed back into their original form and digested in the petrifying lizard's stomach.

Alchemists extract secretions from the stomach fluids of petrified lizards to create potions that help petrified creatures return to their original state. However, if the body is damaged during petrification, the potions can only restore the undamaged parts of the body, not the lost life or limbs.

"But these guys are now domesticated beasts tamed by the Feathered Serpent Kingdom," Sharl said, throwing away the small wooden stick in his hand. "If they were mine, I could control them much more easily with the runeword Mind. Unfortunately, they are enemies now."

He rubbed his cheek, feeling that this opponent seemed a bit troublesome. "Whether defending or charging, I have to face the staring gaze of a group of lizards unless I can freeze them in place."

"But how could that be?"

Chapter update reminder: Chapter 213 is a bit difficult. Read it here.