Chapter 10: Development
"Excuse me, who are you?" Levi asked aloud.
"Just a homeless person."
Homeless?
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness, and only voices could be heard, but no footsteps could be heard.
If he didn't show up on his own initiative, Levi would probably never find anyone else lurking nearby.
Levi resisted the urge to take out the torch and looked carefully in the moonlight. He saw that the person was tall, wearing a cloak, a dagger at his waist, and a simple wooden bow on his back.
A face was buried in the darkness, covered by a hood, and could not see anything clearly.
"Thank you."
Although he can also kill these orcs, they are here to help after all, and his good intentions should not be let down.
While recovering the arrows and searching for the Orcs he had killed, the homeless man said: "You're welcome, these Orcs are my hunting targets. I have been following them for a long time, and you also helped me. "
After saying that, he looked at Levi again and said, "But let me tell you, it's better not to use light at such a high place at night."
Levi rubbed his hands awkwardly.
"Are you a Dúnedain?" he asked, changing the subject.
The homeless man glanced at Levi with slight surprise.
"right."
Within a few words, the body with the arrow stuck in its head was searched, but the body of the orc hacked to death by Levi was left untouched.
"I heard that there are some homeless people secretly guarding this wilderness. It turns out it's true."
"Does anyone really say that?" The homeless man laughed and said, "This is really rare."
These remnants of the Northern Kingdom wandering in the wilderness are always under suspicion because of their unpredictable whereabouts and mystery. They are often classified as gangsters and bandits by some people.
"Have you killed those things in the ancient tombs?"
The homeless man suddenly raised his head, and in the darkness, a pair of bright gray eyes stared straight at Levi.
"Yes, can I ask how you saw it?" Levi was a little curious.
"Intuition, I was dealing with those guys a lot for a while."
Well, amazing intuition.
Levi reluctantly agreed to this statement.
After thinking about it, he suddenly took out the rotten ancient tomb broken sword dropped by the corpse demon and threw it to the homeless man.
The homeless man caught it and looked at it carefully for a few seconds, looking quite surprised.
"It seems like you know this kind of sword?"
The wanderer nodded and said: "It's very familiar. This is the weapon we used a long time ago. Its forging method has been lost, but this one may still be usable after some repair."
"Then I'll give it to you."
"Oh? Do you really want to give it to me? You must know that this sword is old and can be regarded as an antique. If you give it to someone who knows the goods, it can be sold for a very good price."
"Really, I think it's better to give it to those in need than to sell it to those who want it, and this thing is very meaningful to you, isn't it?"
"Okay, thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The homeless man nodded heavily and no longer shied away. He just searched left and right, took out a coin from his pocket and handed it to Levi.
"Take this as a token. If there is anything you need me to do, you can wait for me at the Forgotten Inn. That is my fixed place to stay. I will definitely appear there in half a month at most."
Levi nodded and put away the coins.
"My name is Levi, what do you call me?"
"Farodan."
The homeless man left a name and the two said goodbye.
The homeless man disappeared from the darkness.
Levi looked at the wilderness and suddenly had some ideas.
It seems pretty good here too.
…
One day half a month later, Levi emerged from the underground tunnels extending in all directions, his face beaming with joy. There was some raw iron ore in his backpack, as well as more than a dozen sets of rough stones that could not be removed from the fortress.
Hard work pays off.
After half a month of exploration and deep digging, Levi finally discovered a vein of iron ore deep underground. Although he didn't know how big it was, it was definitely enough to mine for a while.
And not only is there iron, but when digging around, you can occasionally find some other scattered minerals, such as copper, sulfur, saltpeter, etc.
In fact, Levi didn't recognize these things at all, but when they were dug out and dropped into the backpack, the system would always thoughtfully label them with item IDs.
After having sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal at the same time in the backpack, the synthesis table suddenly unlocked a formula.
gunpowder.
And – TNT!
From then on Levi paid special attention to collecting these materials when digging holes.
After confirming that this area was relatively rich in minerals, Levi finally made a decision.
That's it!
The first base site selection.
Levi opened the map and marked a point on it.
This place is roughly located between Fengyunding and the Troll Forest, some distance away from the main road. It is surrounded by trees, lakes and water sources, and a relatively broad flat land.
If it weren't for the fact that things like orcs and wargs often appeared in this area, it would really be a livable place.
But Levi is not afraid of this.
A month later, a fortress of mixed stone and wood was erected out of thin air on the flat ground, surrounded by a seven or eight-meter-high city wall, enclosing a large area of land.
There seemed to be an endless stream of water flowing out from the castle, nourishing a large wheat field that suddenly appeared, and it grew golden in a few days.
Looking from a distance, it is quite beautiful, but it seems a bit quiet and uninhabited.
However, the occasional fireworks rising from the city walls told those eyes hidden in the darkness that someone did live here.
That day, Levi was carrying a pickaxe and a backpack of ore and cobblestones back home as usual. When he walked to the door, he suddenly became alert. He looked up and saw a man sitting on the wall looking at him. He didn't know how he climbed up.
A vagrant?
He looked familiar.
"Farodan?" Levi asked.
The vagrant on the wall waved his hand, as if to agree.
Seeing Levi coming back, he stopped sitting and jumped down from a height in three or two steps. Levi was amazed at his agility. This skill was also considered to be one of the best.
"How did you find this place?"
"I heard from my companions that a wizard with strange powers built a fortress out of thin air here and planted a field, which grew very fast. As soon as they described your appearance, I knew it was you."
"Besides, your place is really too conspicuous. There are fireworks every day. It's hard not to notice it."
This time, Farodan did not cover his face. Under the sunlight, this tall Dunedain had black hair, gray eyes, and a handsome face.
Don't look at this guy who looks only thirty or forty years old. In fact, he may be hundreds of years old.
"That's true." Levi did not deny it. He never thought of hiding.
Orcs and the like, come if you want. I am a big MC player. Even if a large army is approaching, what does it matter? Do you think I am just a decoration?
"Come in and sit down? I just recently renovated the kitchen, why don't you try out my cooking skills."
Farodan shook his head and said, "No, time is urgent. I came here to tell you that a group of Orc cavalry has set their sights on this place. There are dozens of Wolf Riders alone. Including the other miscellaneous soldiers, this group is estimated to have hundreds of people in total."
Hiss——
A group of hundreds of Orcs, including dozens of Wolf Riders.
Relying on this small broken castle alone, it may be a bit difficult to defend it. You know, the jumping ability of Wolf is terrible. It can jump several meters high and climb up the roof easily.
If it's just jumping high, it's okay. The key is that their climbing ability is not bad. They can climb up a tree more than ten meters high.
This seven or eight meter high wall of my own...
Considering the smoothness of the cobblestones, there is no leverage point, so they should not be able to climb up...right?
"It will take some time for them to get here. You still have time to leave now." Farodan advised.
"No, I won't leave. I just built a base. How can I bear this injustice?"
If any team can drive me away, wouldn't I be working for the orcs?
At worst, I can just fight with them.
Seeing Levi's firm attitude, knowing that he couldn't persuade him, Farodan looked at the castle and said, "If you don't leave, it will be difficult for you to stop the orc team. As far as I know, the leader of the team is an orc who is abnormally tall and very strong."
Falodan looked at the gate made of wooden fences in front of the castle.
Can this thing really be considered a gate?
"It's hard to stop him with this gate."
"It's okay, I have a way."
Levi didn't care.
Looking up and down at Levi, and then looking at the castle that was built almost overnight, Farodan was thoughtful.
"Okay, I believe you will have some magical ideas."
"But are you sure you don't want to make more preparations? In fact, when I found that team, they were already heading this way. If nothing goes wrong, they will arrive tonight."
"Ah? Tonight!?"
So soon.
Levi's heart was lifted up.
Although he said he was not afraid, he was a newcomer who had not experienced any big storms. The biggest scene he had seen was being robbed by eight bandits, but this scale was at most a village dispute.
Suddenly being told that he would face a small battle tonight, to be honest, Levi was still sweating.