Early the next morning after the statue of Gork and Mork was erected, Kurzadh was squatting by the mushroom field, counting the small mushrooms that had just sprouted—a small cluster of dusty, withered-looking things, but they filled his heart with joy.
These were the tribe's first self-produced edibles. Suddenly, a "Ding" sounded in his mind, and a system prompt popped up:
"Congratulations on completing the mission 'Build two buildings'!".
"Reward: Waaagh! Energy ×20".
"New building blueprints unlocked:".
"1. Lumber Yard: Increases wood production by 50%, stable daily output of wood ×4. Requires 15 goblin, 2 hobgoblins for maintenance. Construction materials: wood ×8, Stone ×3, Waaagh! Energy ×30.".
"2. Quarry: Increases Stone production by 30%, stable daily output of Stone ×2. Requires 20 goblin, 2 hobgoblins for maintenance. Construction materials: Stone ×10, wood ×5, Waaagh! Energy ×25.".
Kurzadh stared at the lines "wood production increased by 50%" and "Daily output of wood ×4", his eyes instantly lighting up.
Building shacks and carving statues over the past week had depleted most of the tribe's accumulated wood and stone.
The goblin were running into the forest every day, but the wood they brought back wasn't even enough to build two shacks. He was just worrying about the lack of materials, and these two buildings couldn't have come at a better time!
"Must build!" He slapped his thigh, tossing the mushrooms in his hand to the ground—what were small mushrooms compared to a Lumber Yard.
He had been thinking of building the "Boss's House" first, but now it seemed that would have to be postponed. A place to live was secondary; without materials, nothing could be done. He couldn't just let the greenskin tribe strip bark with their hands and gnaw on stones with their teeth, could he?
He turned and ran towards the center of the valley. As he passed the statue of Gork and Mork, he patted the stone statue's "arm" (which was actually just a protruding rock), as if greeting Gork and Mork: "See? Our tribe is about to undertake a big project!".
The greenskin tribe in the valley had just finished breakfast and were squatting on the ground, slacking off, when Kurzadh's shout roused them: "Stop standing around! New mission! Dragu! Wreelx! Get ova here!".
Dragu and Wreelx quickly trotted over. The two hobgoblins now had clear divisions of labor: Dragu handled "technical work"—building shacks, repairing palisades, and such, while Wreelx handled "heavy labor"—moving stones, transporting wood. They hadn't had any conflicts.
"Boss, what's up?" Dragu asked, rubbing his hands, his eyes gleaming—he loved new projects, it made him feel useful.
"Build a Lumber Yard and a quarry." Kurzadh pointed to the forest to the east. "Move the Lumber Yard into the forest, closer to the trees; the quarry will be by the river, on that rocky beach where there are lots of stones." He paused, then added, "Build the quarry first, it's simpler; the Lumber Yard is more trouble, Dragu, you oversee it.".
Wreelx immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he heard "quarry is simple"—he was afraid of intricate work; moving stones was his specialty.
Dragu also agreed readily: "No problem, boss! I'll make sure it's done right!".
They got to work immediately.
Wreelx led twenty goblin to the rocky beach by the river. The quarry was indeed simple; the system blueprint just showed a circle, meaning "just pile the stones here.".
Wreelx was efficient. He had the goblin build two goblin shacks by the rocky beach—for the greenskin tribe guarding the site—and then built a low wall with stones, piling the collected stones inside. This was the framework of the "quarry.".
Kurzadh went to take a look, thought it was acceptable, and confirmed the construction with the system. With a flash of green light, the low wall became much sturdier, and there seemed to be a few more stones on the beach.
The system prompted, "quarry completed, daily output of stone ×2." Wreelx grinned from ear to ear, patting his chest and saying he would come every day to collect stones, promising to pile them higher than the statue of Gork and Mork.
On the other side, Dragu had a much harder time building the Lumber Yard.
The Lumber Yard had to be built in the forest, some distance from the tribe, so a clearing had to be made first. The most troublesome part was the "logging tools"—before, the goblin cut trees by poking them with stone spears and smashing them with stones, which was very inefficient. Building a Lumber Yard required proper tools.
Dragu squatted in the forest, worrying for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh: "I got it!" He dragged a few hobgoblins to the river, picked up some large, hard stones, and squatted on the ground to grind them with stone spear tips. After grinding for a long time, he actually managed to create a "axe." Although the axe blade was crooked and didn't look sharp, it was better than smashing with bare hands.
He ground out three axes in one go and distributed them to the three strongest goblin, teaching them how to chop trees: "Chop at the roots! Don't use brute force! Split along the grain!"
The goblin were slow learners; the first swing buried the axe in the mud, infuriating Dragu, who spanked them soundly. After two spankings, they finally learned how to use the axe to strip bark.
This busy period lasted two weeks.
Every day before dawn, the goblin from the quarry would run to the river, carrying stones to pile into the low wall. Wreelx would supervise with a wooden stick, hitting anyone who slowed down.
The greenskin tribe at the Lumber Yard were even busier; the goblin, carrying axes, would delve into the forest. Felled trees had to be carried back by two people, and Dragu would follow, picking up branches, constantly cursing: "Idiots! This tree is thin! Chop that one next to it!".
Life in the tribe, however, became more stable.
The mushroom field finally started "working," actually growing five small goblin each week—dusty, like little mice, squeaking when they first emerged from the soil. Dragu would carry them back to the shack to squeeze in with the older goblin.
At the same time, small mushrooms also grew, five each week. Although not large, they were quite fresh when cooked in fish soup, and the greenskin tribe loved them.
With mushrooms as food , the tribe no longer had to rely solely on fishing nets every day.
Previously, Scarface had led people to fish, and sometimes, with bad luck, there weren't enough fish to go around, and the greenskin tribe would squat by the river and cry. Now, it was better; mushrooms were available every day, a few added to fish soup. Even if there were fewer fish, it was enough to fill their stomachs halfway, and no one sighed over the fishing nets anymore.
But building construction was still difficult.
Kurzadh visited the Lumber Yard several times; the goblin were still slow at chopping trees. A axe would be blunted after two days of use, and Dragu had to squat by the river every day to grind axes. The quarry, however, could produce two pieces of stone every day, but building a decent structure often required ten or so pieces, and it took a long time to accumulate enough.
What bothered him most was the "manpower." The mushroom field did grow new goblin, but goblin were only thirty centimeters tall, not even as tall as a stone spear when standing, and their capabilities were very limited.
Letting them farm in the mushroom field was fine; they were quite agile squatting on the ground digging soil.
Letting them herd sheep (the tribe had no sheep, Kurzadh was just imagining) or herd Squigs (also none) was even more ridiculous. Chopping wood was already their limit; two goblin had to carry one thin branch, and anything slightly heavier was too much for them.
Before, when building palisades, he had the goblin move stones, and they had to roll them, but by the time they reached the destination, the stones were chipped. Now, building the Lumber Yard, when they handed over axes, they would point the blade at their own feet, scaring Dragu into constantly following behind them to pick up axes.
"It's really worrying." Kurzadh squatted by the Lumber Yard, watching the goblin struggle to lift branches, and sighed.
Most of the tribe were goblin; there were only ten hobgoblins in total. Forget about combat power; there weren't even enough people for manual labor.
They had relied on sneak attacks and traps to beat Wreelx's group of greenskin tribe. If they were to encounter a proper greenskin tribe, these goblin probably couldn't even lift a stone spear.
Dragu came over and handed him a freshly picked small mushroom: "Boss, don't worry. After the mushroom field grows a few more batches of goblin, maybe there will be some stronger ones.".
Kurzadh took the mushroom, didn't eat it, just held it.
He knew Dragu was comforting him. goblin were goblin; no matter how many grew, they wouldn't become orcs. If there was a real war, these little guys would probably be the first to scurry into the mushroom field out of fear.
"Let's get the Lumber Yard done first," Kurzadh stood up, patting the dirt off his clothes. "Grind a few more axes, and let the goblin practice chopping trees. Once they get skilled, they'll surely be faster.".
Dragu nodded and went back to grinding axes. The goblin were still lifting branches, shouting "Heave-ho, heave-ho" in voices as thin as mosquito buzzing.
Kurzadh looked at the crooked Lumber Yard in the forest—a small pile of wood, shacks built nearby, the stone Dragu used for grinding axes covered in scratches—and sighed in his heart.
Difficult as it was, it was still better than when they started with only twelve goblin.
At least now there was a quarry, a Lumber Yard, a mushroom field, a statue of Gork and Mork, and over fifty greenskin tribe in the valley.
Slowly but surely, right? The life of a greenskin tribe, wasn't it just beating people up, doing some infrastructure, and waiting for mushrooms to grow?
He turned and walked towards the tribe, needing to go back and see how Wreelx had piled the stones.
Passing the mushroom field, he saw a few small goblin squatting in the dirt, digging up mushrooms. As soon as they dug one out, they'd stuff it into their mouths, their faces covered in mud.
Kurzadh didn't hit them; he just watched.
When these little guys grew up a bit, maybe... they could help move a small stone too?