Land of Shining Stars

"Dawn? Morning Star Flowers? Another out-of-season plant." Reno sighed helplessly at Roland's muttering, inwardly marveling at this place. What kind of place was this, growing nothing but strange out-of-season plants?

"Mm, the general area should be around here, but we'll have to rely on the Morning Star Flowers to tell us where the barrier's entrance is." Roland rubbed his chin.

Morning Star Flowers were plants that lived symbiotically with trees. Normally, they looked exactly like the tree branches, growing branches and leaves identical to those of their host trees. They could only be identified in autumn. Their buds bloomed at dawn, absorbing the last starlight of each autumn day. They were also a type of magical plant and could be used to brew many magical potions, but their blooming period was short. Though they bloomed at dawn every autumn day, each bloom lasted no more than half an hour.

"Let's wait. We don't have much time. Hopefully, we'll find them in one go, or we'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow." Roland rubbed his aching brow.

"Ah... Your Highness, forgive my disrespect." Reno yawned, rubbing his nose awkwardly.

"It's fine. I'm sleepy too... These Star Elves really had too much time on their hands." Roland complained.

System check-in! Roland silently said to himself. It was already past midnight, so he could check in now.

Check-in successful. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Dorwinian Heavy Swordsman ×100.

Roland, who had been completely out of ideas, froze. He got something? And it was even Professional Soldiers like swordsmen. Roland immediately broke into a carefree smile. After all, no matter how many reinforcements he had, they could not compare to troops under his own command.

The Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen were interesting. Dorwinian lay on the western shore of the inland sea of Rhûn. At this point, it should have been inhabited by the Chariot People, whose people were allied with Mordor and constantly clashed with Gondor. This situation only ended after the Lagrange Empire successfully occupied the Rhûn region, but this was only the Third Age, and the Lagrange Empire was nowhere in sight... Still, that did not stop Roland from singing the praises of the Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen.

Swordsmen were ranked as follows: Apprentice Swordsmen, Swordsmen, Elite Swordsmen, Skirmisher Swordsmen, Guard Swordsmen, and Heroes. Most fought with swords and shields, famed for their powerful positional warfare capabilities. Their mobility was relatively poor, but that changed after advancing to Skirmisher Swordsmen. At that point, swordsmen gained mobility comparable to Rangers.

Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen were also called Rhûn Swordsmen. They were the most cost-effective soldiers recruitable in the Rhûn region. Loyal, brave, and superbly equipped, they were practically masters of everything except ranged attacks. Naturally, the Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen produced by Dorwinian City were the best among them. They were one of the few armies in all of Middle-earth capable of directly stopping a Knight Order's charge. In the game, they were also the only professional soldier unit most players could obtain that countered Knight Orders.

Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen wore Monster Hide Armor beneath Mithril Chainmail, then Steel Infantry Plate Armor over that. Most outrageously, they were also covered in a layer of Linen Infantry Armor, along with broad cloaks draped over their backs... They were basically wrapped in five layers of armor. The Steel Tower Shields in their hands made their frontal defense even more absurd, while the enchanted runes attached to them gave them excellent magic resistance. Their 1.5-meter Star Silver Steel greatswords were their most trusted weapons, while the Mithril Daggers at their thighs were their final line of defense. Beyond that, they had no other weapons. By sacrificing ranged attacks and mobility, they made their close-combat defense ridiculously formidable.

A hundred-man unit of Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen could form a Dorwinian Round Formation: a circular Shield Wall made from Tower Shields, with the remaining Tower Shields raised overhead to block arrow volleys and magic descending from the sky. The gaps between overlapping shields allowed them to easily thrust out their Longswords. When they slammed their Tower Shields heavily into the earth, unless the attack came from someone vastly higher in level, even Knight Orders of the same level could not break through their defensive position.

"What was this? Was he planning to put the Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen into a shield formation and send them out to be sold off when they fought the Orcs? That actually seemed possible..." Roland silently pondered. Given the Dorwinian Heavy Swordsmen's ability to both attack and defend, Azog really did not seem to have any way to deal with them.

"Forget it. If Azog personally made a move, they'd be done for." Roland shook his head, driving those idiotic thoughts out of his mind. He should focus on how to properly fight the Orcs instead. That plan was far too unrealistic.

"Your Highness! Is this a Morning Star Flower?" Reno suddenly called out to Roland.

Roland raised his head. Before he knew it, a streak of rosy light had appeared in the sky. Dawn was approaching...

An icy blue flower quietly bloomed upon a branch, while starlight from the sky streamed down in fine threads among its petals.

"That's right! That's it!" Roland swiftly climbed the tree and hurriedly examined the Morning Star Flower.

"Did you find anything, Your Highness?" Reno stared at it for a long time but could not spot anything unusual.

"There really is something. Look, which way is the flower's pistil pointing?" Roland asked.

"West?" Reno said uncertainly.

"I think it's west too. Let's head west and see if there are any other Morning Star Flowers." Roland leaped down from the canopy.

"There's one here!"

"Go up and take a look!"

"West."

"Then we keep going west."

"Wait! There's one here!" Roland called Reno to a stop.

"My lord! The pistil is pointing east!" Reno said excitedly. They had finally found one pointing in a different direction.

"Quick! Search around and see if there's anything with a hexagram pattern." Roland grew excited as well. Despite having stayed awake all night, he was now completely alert.

"Alright!"

"There's no path here!" Reno said doubtfully. The forest ahead had suddenly become dense, with thorny bushes filling every gap between the trunks. Reno drew his Dragon Pattern Sword, capable of cutting through Dragon Scale, and viciously chopped at the tree before him.

Bang! A powerful force rebounded through Reno's sword, nearly making him lose his grip on the hilt.

"You've got to be kidding. My Dragon Pattern Sword can't cut through a tree? Wait! This is a barrier!" Reno had initially thought he had gotten too weak to wield his sword, only to realize that the hidden barrier had caught him off guard.

"Your Highness! There's a barrier here!" Reno shouted without caring whether he attracted anyone's attention.

"Where?" Roland hurried over upon hearing him.

"That's right! It should be here! Let's circle the barrier and see whether we can find a hexagram formation." Roland touched the transparent barrier in front of him and confirmed it.

"Alright."

Roland drew his sword and felled a nearby tree as a marker, then he and Reno began circling the barrier.

After walking for nearly half an hour, the two finally found a hexagram formation half-buried in the ground in an overgrown patch of weeds.

The entire hexagram formation had been carved into a single enormous stone slab. Roland remembered that the Star Elves had quite a few barrier exits. This should have been one of them, though he did not know whether it still worked. If it did not, they could only search for other stone slabs.

"Do you know Elvish?" Roland suddenly looked up and asked.

"Uh... I do." After all, how could the renowned Lord Reno possibly not know Elvish? He had commanded quite a few Elves, after all. In the game, at least.

"Good, then." Only then did Roland remember that this thing had to be activated in Elvish.

"The forest weeps amid flames, and the people tremble in darkness. The king who commands the might of the stars shall descend within the shadows. Dispel the mist of night, leave behind the loneliness of wandering. Bearing a sacred heart of salvation, to the Land of Shining Stars eternal!" Roland softly chanted.

"Say that again in Elvish," Roland said.

"What?" Reno looked completely bewildered. Was his king having some kind of episode here?

"Hurry up! It's the activation password!" Roland rolled his eyes helplessly, ignoring Reno's look as though he were an idiot.

"Oh, alright!" Reno quickly replied, then translated Roland's words into Elvish with great emotion.

The previously unlit hexagram suddenly shimmered with gentle starlight, as enchanting as a star-filled sky. The Land of Shining Stars opened its arms to the world...

Second update! Please vote with recommendation tickets. Readers are welcome to join the group chat and hang out; the group number is in the comments.