Two green humanoid monsters the size of young children stood guard in what seems to be a random spot amongst the sea of trees. They were ill equipped as they held only a wooden club as a weapon and wore rags that barely covered their bodies.

  Why did these monsters guard such a random spot?

  Rowan knew the answer as he had observed the goblins for days already.

  What seemed to be an empty spot was actually an entrance, that led underground. It was carefully camouflaged so that no passing monster would pay any attention to the spot at a glance. The two goblins that were on guard also carefully hid themselves amongst the shrubbery as their green skin helped the monsters become part of the forest. Had Rowan not used his mana pulse for detection, he would have also missed the two goblin guards.

  Goblins were creatures renowned for their stupidity. That was the reason why they were the benchmark for beginners. They could be killed without the usage of mana and it was said ordinary farmers could chase away goblins with simple farm tools. If you wanted to start off a career as an adventurer, mage, soldier, etc, then killing the goblin was the way to start.

  That did not mean goblins were not a threat. Far from it, as no matter how many were killed, the goblin population never dwindled. Rowan had even heard stories of how people fell prey to goblins due to underestimating these monsters. There were even tales of goblin hordes wiping out armies if their population grew too large.

  It was said that out of a hundred goblins, one would show hints of intelligence from time to time.

  The word Intelligence was debatable of course, as a slightly smarter goblin did not mean the creature would be able to perform complex actions such as solving math problems. It definitely did not mean that there was an instant increase in strength for the monster. This only meant that the goblin had a better chance of survivability. Of course, the increase in intelligence varies as much as the survivability of the goblin. Luck also played a factor. No matter how smart a goblin was, it would not be able to survive if it encountered a monster that outclassed it. It definitely would be unable to survive if the goblin found itself in front of a rock launched by a catapult.

  The tunnel that was hidden away led to an underground space where dozens of similar mana signatures that bear a resemblance to the goblin guards. This meant that there was a large number of goblins hiding underground.

  At least a village worth of goblins.

  That was what Rowan saw through his mana detection as he was unable to grasp at how large the underground space was, nor how deep. He was only able to capture the numerous mana signatures in his senses.

  A single goblin was no threat to Rowan, but the large quantity hidden away was most definitely a threat. However large numbers was not why Rowan had second thoughts about attacking this goblin menace.

  Given time, Rowan was sure he could dwindle down the goblin population if he used hit and run tactics. It was not necessary for him to wipe out the goblins all at once as that was not his goal. He didn’t even need to do it personally as the numerous monsters and plants in the Forest of Death would be enough for the job itself.

  As demonstrated by the first group of goblins that Rowan met, they were not the smartest of creatures. Rowan was sure he could duplicate a similar event of getting the monsters to roam and perform suicidal acts.

  In the end, it was not the large number of goblins that caught Rowan attention. It was the mana signature that exceeded those of a standard goblin.

  And there was more than one mixed into the numerous goblin mana signatures.

  If a typical goblin mana signature could be compared to a trickle, then this new monster had mana comparable to a stream. It was larger and most likely smarter.

  To be fair though, it did not take much for a monster to be smarter than a goblin. However if said monster led and commanded a troop of goblins on their own, then that would be a different story.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Fortunately for Rowan, the mana signature of these new monsters did not leave the burrow. The teenage boy observed that the mana signatures of these monsters tended to move around the village, but never actually leaving it.

  Hence the reason why Rowan thought it was a leader type monster amongst the goblins as he noticed goblin mana signatures interacting with the monster, acting as if they were underlings. Probably bringing food as the teenage boy realized the larger mana signature never actually moved far from its place.

  This was undoubtedly good news for Rowan as this meant he did not need to face this new threat. As long as Rowan didn’t provoke the village unnecessarily, the new monsters would stay in the goblin village.

  While he had observed this place through the Mother Tree, coming and investigating in person worked better for Rowan as he was able to see the actual location and environment.

  Now the question was what should he do to ‘ ask for cooperation’ for the next place he planned to investigate.

  While he could ‘ask for cooperation’ from the two goblin guards, Rowan was hesitant in doing so. One wrong move and it could notify the whole goblin village to come down on him. That was a situation that Rowan desperately wished to avoid. Should he wait for a group to leave and attack them? That would buy him some time as the patrol group would not return quickly. The only question was when would the next goblin group leave? Not to mention, he didn’t know how many goblins would appear. Ideally a small group of goblins would be best for Rowan as he could easily take care of them. If only one goblin came out on its own, that would be even better, but that asking for a miracle. If the next group numbered more than ten, then that would be a problem for him. With no better options, Rowan decided to wait it out and see.

  Fortunately luck was on his side as he didn't need to wait long. Ten minutes had passed since Rowan made his decision when a group of four goblins set out. This was an amount that he could handle.

  Rowan had considered a number of ways to kill the goblin as he observed the group. His target was the last goblin of the group as it was the smallest and also lagged behind the rest. Shooting it with an arrow was his first thought, but he quickly decided against it as the arrow would cause blood to spill which could attract the attention of unwanted monsters. Not to mention that the sound of the arrow would be noticed by the group. Rowan was confident that he could kill the remaining three goblins, but the current location was too close to the goblin guards and he didn’t want to attract the attention of the goblin village. If he stabbed the goblin by sharpening his hand with mana, the problem of the blood spilling still remained. In the end, Rowan decided sneaking up and crushing the throat as quickly as possible would be the best option.

  As he watched the four child-like monsters make their way out, he sneaked behind them and grabbed the rear goblin. With one hand covering the monster’s mouth, the other hand had crushed its throat. The creature died before uttering a single noise. Surprised at how easily the goblin died, Rowan didn't waste time as he quickly moved away from the group. The rest of the group hadn’t realized one of their members was killed and kept on walking.

  When Rowan had walked about thirty feet away, he finally heard the commotion of the goblin group when they finally discovered that one of their members were missing.Their language made absolutely no sense to the human boy, but the urgency and worry could be understood from it. He made no further attempt to understand as of this point, the goblins were no longer Rowan’s business and he moved on to his next target.

  The flower field.

  It had taken Rowan an hour of walking with the goblin in his hand. Surprisingly he barely felt the weight of the dead monster which he could only attribute to the mana infused wooden arms. Had they been regular flesh, Rowan was sure his arms would have tired now.

  Myriad of colorful flowers greeted Rowan sight as he grew closer to his goal. Gold, silver, crimson, emerald, blue, and many more different colors that Rowan did not know the name of spread out on the flower field. It was as if an artist decided to use as many different colors as possible for these flowers. If the colors existed, then there was a flower for it. Rowan forgot to breathe for a moment as he marveled at the flower field. There was no specific pattern, but the colors of the flowers were mixed so beautifully that it made Rowan want to see it up close and personally.

  So that's what he did. Rowan took one step closer to the flower field.

  And then the next step.

  Slowly at first and then he picked up speed.

  Rowan didn’t stop until he was on the edge of the flower field and then he still kept on moving.

  The goblin in his hand was forgotten as his mind was focused on these flowers. How could such beautiful things exist? All he wanted to do was get closer and observe these flowers. Let his mind take in all the richness of colors and glorious display. Rowan had never appreciated art before, but the flowers before him were a dazzling natural masterpiece that he could not take his eyes off of.

  The only thing Rowan wanted to do now was stare at the stunning sight of the vast flower field before him.

  Forever.