Starting a fire

As Lucius made his way back to the meeting place, he decided not to take any more risks. However, on his journey back, he heard a faint noise in the distance. Suddenly, a goblin rushed out of a nearby hut, curious about the sound.

As he approached, Lucius saw Lily struggling beneath the body of a level 4 goblin she had killed earlier. Another level 1 goblin spotted her from the doorway of the hut, and it looked ready to call reinforcements.

Reacting swiftly, Lucius attacked the goblin from behind, freezing it in place. Lily sighed with relief, knowing that if it had shrieked, they would have been in trouble

But Lucius had a frown as he noticed the system message: "LvL too low to gain exp." This meant that he could no longer just hunt the LvL1 he would gain no experience or gold. He wasn't sure about the level 2 ones, but he would soon find out.

"Did you meet Talon and Kevin?" Lucius asked as they entered a hut and leaned against the wall to avoid being seen.

"No," Lily shook her head.

"Let's go. Did you reach level 4?" he asked her.

She nodded, indicating, "I reached it just before this one, but a lot of them are dead. It won't be long before they scream, waking up everyone," she mentioned, having also seen the goblins Lucius and possibly Kevin had killed in the huts she visited.

"Let's go. I've got a plan to kill a strong one," Lucius declared as they rushed back to the meeting spot, where they found Kevin and Talon waiting.

Taking a small break, Lucius initiated the conversation. "I am now level 5. With Lily being at level 4, how about you guys?" Kevin and Talon exchanged glances.

"You're level 5? Kevin and I are both at level 3," Talon spoke on behalf of Kevin, who nodded in agreement.

Frowning a bit, Lucius then relaxed. "Okay, not that bad." He had expected slightly better results.

"I plan to save some humans and kill that one-handed goblin we saw," Lucius continued, pausing to gather his thoughts.

"That goblin should be staying near that big well, wooden house right? The wooden house?" Kevin asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yes, but it's guarding the prison area, so we can ambush it," Lucius explained.

"It's level 6, are you sure?" Lily asked, even though she knew her limits. The level 4 goblin she killed alone was an ambush, and it still wasn't easy.

"If it goes according to plan, yes. That goblin has one hand," Lucius nodded confidently.

"Okay, what do we do?" asked Talon.

"Simple. We will gather flammable stuff here, store it in this hut, and set it on fire from a distance, making the goblins come out to put the fire out," Lucius pointed at the hut they were in.

"Are you sure they will come for a small fire?" Kevin asked skeptically.

"Who said it would be small?" Lucius smirked.

They rushed into action, scavenging the area and picking up any clothes, wood, or flammable materials they found. The area around the hut was silent as they had killed every goblin near it, but how long that would last, even he didn't know. Using the inventory to store stuff and drop them was also helpful. The inventory had increased to 5 cubic meters as he gained 1 cubic meter per level.

Soon, they filled three huts next to each other and started placing the stuff, creating a small pyramid in the middle.

Seeing the stuff and trash they found, it would generate loads of smoke for sure. Lucius dropped three goblin bodies on the pile, hoping it might make it more flammable, but he wasn't sure. However, what did he have to lose? Before leaving, he went into the hut and put a cloth in the fireplace, creating a candle-like lane towards the flammable items.

They started heading towards the prison, stopping midway. "Talon, can you hit it from here?" Lucius asked as they looked at the small hut roofs in the distance.

"I think so. Is it that one, right?" Talon pointed at a hut in the distance.

Looking at the roofs, he felt the plan might go bad. He hadn't marked it, and they weren't sure which one to aim at. But he had a backup plan anyway. A small moment of silence as they looked at the roofs, and Kevin nodded with a sure face.

"You sure?" Talon asked, knowing Kevin was not the best in situations like this.

"Yeah, just shoot your flame arrow on that roof," Kevin pointed at one in the distance while muttering, "If it does not work, you can shoot another one next to it, right?" Lily looked at him with a speechless face.

Talon, without listening to the second part, ignited the arrow from the goblin fireplace and shot it towards the roof that Kevin pointed out, but they didn't see it catch fire.

At that moment, a goblin was having a sweet dream when it heard a click-like sound on the roof, causing it to jump in fear.

Confused, it looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. As it settled back down, it caught the scent of smoke in the air.

Slowly, more smoke gathered, and then, it seemed that Lucius's candle-like rope had done the job, as the flammable stuff ignited, creating a big bonfire that grew larger, burning the huts.

Shrieks of goblins ran out of their houses, looking at the fire with surprised faces. Suddenly feeling something dangerous, Lucius motioned to the others to hide in the hut and not move. From the crack in the wall, he saw a [Goblin Mage LvL7], having a strong aura.

It was not as tall as the level 6 fighter, standing around 1.5 meters with greenish-blue skin and weird tattoos on the face. Once he saw it, he knew it was the leader of this place and was sure they couldn't beat it.

It seemed to bark orders and make the goblins get water from a well, instructing others to dig around the fire to prevent it from spreading.

Seeing it, he knew they had to leave and rushed to the Goblin Fighter that was still at the prison. Hiding in the same place he saw the girl, she noticed him and upon seeing he had a group, she was more assured. She asked with a glare, "What am I supposed to do?" while looking at the guard.

Lucius simply pointed at the chains and made a pulling gesture. She understood and started whispering to whoever still had energy. Seeing humans in the distance, they started to grow excited, but she calmed them down, saying they only had one chance.