"May I ask who you are?" Levi called out.
"Just a wandering Ranger."
A Ranger?
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness. He could only hear the voice but not footsteps.
If he hadn't voluntarily appeared, Levi would probably never have discovered someone lurking nearby.
He resisted the urge to take out a torch and examined carefully by moonlight. He saw the newcomer was tall, wearing a cloak, with a dagger at his waist and a simple wooden bow on his back.
His face was buried in darkness, hidden by a hood, completely invisible.
"Thank you."
Although he could have handled these orcs himself, the man had come to help after all... such good intentions shouldn't be wasted.
While recovering arrows and looting the orcs he had killed, the Ranger said, "Don't mention it. These orcs were my hunting targets anyway. I've been tracking them for a long time... you helped me too."
After speaking, he looked at Levi again and said, "But if you ask me, it's better not to create light in such high places at night."
Levi rubbed his hands together somewhat embarrassedly.
"Are you a Dúnadan?" he changed the subject.
The Ranger looked at him with slight surprise.
"Yes."
In the time it took for a few words, the corpses with arrows in their heads had been looted, while the orc bodies Levi had killed remained untouched.
"I heard that some Rangers secretly guard this wilderness. So it's true."
"People really say that?" The Ranger chuckled. "That's quite rare."
These northern remnants wandering in the wilderness, due to their unpredictable movements and mysterious nature, were always viewed with suspicion and often classified as rogues and bandits by some people.
"You've killed those things from the Barrow-downs?"
The Ranger suddenly looked up. In the darkness, a pair of gray eyes gleamed, staring directly at Levi.
"Yes. May I ask how you could tell?" He was somewhat curious.
"Intuition. I dealt with those creatures frequently for a while."
Well, magical intuition.
Levi reluctantly accepted this explanation.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly took out the decayed ancient barrow sword dropped by the wight and tossed it to the Ranger.
The Ranger caught it and examined it carefully for a few seconds, appearing quite surprised.
"It looks like you recognize this type of sword?"
The Ranger nodded. "Very familiar. This is a weapon we used long ago. Its forging method has been lost, but this one might still be usable after some repair."
"Then it's yours."
"Oh? You really want to give it to me? You should know this sword has quite some history... it's an antique that could fetch a very good price from someone who knows its value."
"Is that so? I think rather than selling it to someone who wants it, it's better to give it to someone who needs it. Besides, this thing has special meaning for you, doesn't it?"
"Good, my heartfelt thanks."
The Ranger nodded heavily and stopped refusing. He just felt around left and right, pulling out a coin from his pocket and handing it to Levi.
"Take this as a token. If there's anything you need me to do, you can wait for me at the Forsaken Inn... that's my regular stopping place. I'll definitely appear there within half a month at most."
He nodded and pocketed the coin.
"I'm Levi Stonecraft, but you can call me Levi. How should I address you?"
"Faradon."
The Ranger left a name, and the two parted ways.
The Ranger vanished into the darkness.
Levi gazed out over the wilderness and suddenly had some ideas.
This place seemed quite good too.
...
Half a month later, Levi emerged from the extensive underground tunnels, his face showing joy. His backpack contained some raw iron ore and over a dozen stacks of cobblestone that wouldn't fit.
Hard work pays off.
After half a month of exploration and deep excavation, he had finally discovered an iron ore vein deep underground. Although he didn't know how large it was yet, it was definitely enough to mine for some time.
And there wasn't just iron... while digging tunnels in all directions, he occasionally found other scattered minerals like copper, sulfur, and saltpeter.
Actually, Levi didn't recognize these things at all, but when they were mined and fell into his backpack, the system would thoughtfully label them with item IDs.
After having sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal in his backpack simultaneously, the crafting table suddenly unlocked a recipe.
Gunpowder.
And... TNT!
From then on, he paid special attention to collecting these materials while digging.
After confirming this area was relatively rich in minerals, Levi finally made his decision.
This was it!
The first base location.
He opened the map and marked a point on it.
This place was roughly between Weathertop and the Trollshaws, some distance from the main road, surrounded by woods, with lakes and water sources, plus a relatively broad plain.
If it weren't for the frequent appearance of orcs and wargs in this area, it would truly be a livable place.
But Levi wasn't afraid of these things.
A month later, a stone and wood fortress rose from the plain out of nowhere, surrounded by walls seven to eight meters high that enclosed a large area of land.
An inexhaustible water source seemed to flow from within the castle, nourishing a large wheat field that suddenly appeared and grew golden in just a few days.
From a distance, it was quite beautiful, though it seemed somewhat quiet, as if uninhabited.
However, the smoke that occasionally rose from within the walls told those eyes hidden in the darkness that someone indeed lived here.
This day, Levi carried his pickaxe and returned home as usual with a backpack full of ore and cobblestone. When he reached the entrance, he suddenly felt alert. Looking up, he saw someone sitting on the wall watching him... he had no idea how they'd climbed up there.
A Ranger?
The figure looked somewhat familiar.
"Faradon?" he asked.
The Ranger on the wall waved his hand in acknowledgment.
Seeing Levi return, he stopped sitting and jumped down from the height in a few steps, making him marvel at his agility... truly first-class nimbleness.
"How did you find this place?"
"I heard about it from my companions... a wizard with strange powers built a fortress here out of thin air and planted fields that grew incredibly fast. When they described your appearance, I knew it was you."
"Besides, this place is really too conspicuous. Smoke rises every day... it's hard not to notice."
This time, Faradon didn't conceal his features. Under the daylight, this tall Dúnadan had black hair, gray eyes, and quite handsome features.
Don't let his appearance of being only in his thirties or forties fool you... he might actually be over a hundred years old.
"That's true enough." Levi didn't deny it. He hadn't thought of hiding at all.
Orcs and such... let them come if they want. This great Minecraft player isn't a pushover either. Even if a great army besieges us, do they think my dig-three-fill-one strategy is just for show?
"Want to come in and sit? I just finished renovating the kitchen. How about trying my cooking?"
Faradon shook his head. "No, time is urgent. I came here to tell you that an orc cavalry squad has set their sights on this place. There are dozens of warg riders alone, and counting the other troops, this squad probably has about a hundred members total."
Hiss...
A squad of a hundred orcs, including dozens of warg riders.
Just relying on his small fortress might really be quite difficult to defend. You had to know that wargs had terrifyingly powerful jumping ability... they could leap several meters high, easily jumping onto roofs and tearing off tiles.
If they could only jump high, that would be one thing, but their climbing ability wasn't bad either... they could scale trees over ten meters tall without hesitation.
His seven-to-eight-meter-high walls...
Considering the smoothness of cobblestone and the lack of handholds, they probably couldn't climb up... right?
"They still need some time to get here. You can still leave now if you want," Faradon advised.
"No, I'm not leaving. I just built this base... am I supposed to take this lying down?"
If any random squad could drive him away, wouldn't that make him a laborer for the orcs?
At worst, he'd just wear them down.
Seeing Levi's firm attitude and knowing he couldn't be persuaded, Faradon examined the castle. "If you won't leave, stopping that orc squad with this place will be very difficult. From what I know, the leader of that squad is an orc whose height is somewhat abnormal, and he's extremely strong."
Faradon glanced at the wooden palisade gate in front of the castle.
Could this thing really be called a gate?
"With this gate, you probably can't stop him."
"It's fine, I have a way."
Levi was completely unconcerned.
Looking him up and down, then at the castle that had been built almost overnight, Faradon looked thoughtful.
"Alright, I believe you'll have some miraculous methods."
"But are you sure you don't want to make more preparations? Actually, when I discovered that squad, they were already marching this way. If nothing unexpected happens, they'll arrive tonight."
"What? Tonight!"
So soon?
His heart immediately jumped to his throat.
Although he said he wasn't afraid, he was ultimately a newcomer who hadn't experienced any great storms. The biggest scene he'd encountered was being robbed by eight bandits, but that scale could at most be considered a village dispute.
Being suddenly told he'd face a small-scale battle tonight... honestly, Levi was still breaking out in a cold sweat.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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