Orc Attack

"The Lonely Mountain Expedition: Joined. Reward: 10 Bannaria Archers. Available for recruitment at any time."

"Pfft!" Roland nearly choked on his own saliva. What had he just seen? Bannaria Bows, hailed as the strongest archers in Mount & Blade... This was way too damn modified.

After summoning the ten archers, Roland could not help but sigh in admiration. Ah! This was truly awesome!

First of all, their class level was ridiculously high. Archer classes were divided into: Trainee Archer, Archer, Master Archer, Eagle Eye Archer, Sniper, and the highest rank, Star Hunter.

Then Roland looked at their equipment and could not help feeling envious. It was absurdly luxurious... Mithril Inner Armor beneath Silver Chainmail, Mithril Purplewood Bows in their hands, fifty Star Silver Steel Armor-Piercing Arrows on their backs, Mithril Combat Swords at their waists, Fine Steel Arm Shields on their left arms—and most outrageous of all, they each carried a one-meter-long Fine Steel Armor-Piercing Hammer... Good thing they wore chainmail. If they changed into plate armor, they could damn well be used as heavy infantry... Roland really wanted to grab them and ask whether they had forgotten their actual job. Doing things like this was deeply hurtful to melee heavy-armored classes...

Perhaps the group saw Roland's confusion. Without saying anything, they raised their bows and each fired an arrow into the night. Then they brought Roland eleven startled birds as an extra meal. As for why there were eleven birds, one arrow had gone through two of them... Roland shut up after that. From then on, he never again wondered whether they had forgotten their real profession.

Early the next morning, Roland led his men to wait outside the woods of Hobbiton. The hundred Novice Knights under his command stood in a neat formation, while the ten Badenia Archers had mounted fully equipped Shire Warhorses produced by the system. They looked even more like heavy knights now... Roland had decided not to care anymore. Ignoring the conspicuous longbows, just looking at their attire would make anyone think they were melee units...

"Hey! Guys! I've been waiting for you for a long time!" At last, Roland saw the belated figures of the Expedition.

"1, 2, 3... 14. Good, Bilbo still hasn't come." Roland counted their numbers and nodded. Just like in the movie, Master Baggins had not decided to join last night, but he should be on his way now, right?

"Is everyone here? Aren't we waiting for Master Baggins?" Roland asked.

"No, everyone is here. He won't be coming!" Thorin said decisively.

"Hey, Mr. Roland, the army under your command is truly magnificent!" the dwarves praised, while even Gandalf cast him an astonished look.

"Thank you for the praise. But I think Bilbo will still come!" The latter half was directed at Thorin.

"But it's fine. He'll catch up with us." Roland glanced toward Hobbiton and muttered to himself. After all, Hobbits were famous for being good at running.

"Oh! By the God of Forging! That's mithril, adamantine, and Star Silver Steel!" Fili suddenly cried out.

"Oh, my friends, I spent a great deal of money on their equipment. Otherwise, I wouldn't be as poor as I am now..." Roland said casually.

Everyone chose to believe him. After all, how could they possibly know about something as unreliable as a system?

"Hey! Wait! Wait!" A voice suddenly came closer, and there was Bilbo Baggins, sprinting toward them.

The Badenia Archers immediately raised their longbows, while several rear-guard knights leveled their lances, ready to nail the fast-running little dwarf to the ground.

"Oh! Master Baggins! All right, lower your weapons. He's one of us." Roland revealed a look of realization when he saw Bilbo appear.

"Oh! Hello, Mr. Roland. Mr. Thorin, I signed it!" After greeting Roland, Bilbo hurriedly held up the contract.

"Mm, everything is in order!" Several dwarves crowded around to inspect it. After finding no problems, they announced it to everyone.

"Then welcome, you are the fourteenth member of the Expedition!" Thorin spread his arms.

"The fourteenth? Wait, then they..." Bilbo pointed at Roland and his men in disbelief.

"We're mercenaries, Master Baggins!" Roland explained.

"They receive a separate payment," Gandalf said.

"Wizard, which way are we going?" Roland asked.

"Take the Great East Road, then cross the Misty Mountains. Finally, take the Old Forest Road north along the Swift River to Erebor."

"Sounds good, but this journey definitely won't be peaceful..." Roland gazed into the distance.

This journey is destined to be full of danger... Roland thought. Knowing the plot, he knew there would be quite a few Orcs ahead, and even a battle of five armies.

"Sir, your army has surprised me! I don't think I've ever seen armor like theirs..." Thorin, walking beside Roland, asked.

"Mm, I'm a human from the East. This is the plate armor unique to our homeland. We were defeated in battle against the Eastern Yi Tribes, and our people began wandering in the north." Roland hurriedly came up with an excuse. The system's plate armor was far too different from the armor of Middle-earth. Everyone wearing it looked like an iron can. Only the chainmail worn by the Badenia Archers looked normal; the knights' plate armor resembled Milanese Plate Armor from Roland's previous life.

"My lord! Enemies are approaching us! Orcs!" A Badenia Archer responsible for scouting galloped over, bringing the group this bad news.

"Did you get a clear look? How many are there?" Roland hurriedly asked.

"Around three hundred!"

"My lord, I think we should gather the knights now. The Knight Order's strength mainly comes from a mass charge. Get the knights moving. Otherwise, scattered as we are, we're simply perfect targets." Caslo rode up beside Roland and advised him. He understood that Roland did not want him to reveal his identity as a Wyvern Knight.

"Gather the knights! Crush them beneath our Iron Hooves!" Roland said viciously. With troops in hand, he felt no fear.

Sure enough, before long, several hundred Orcs charged out of the forest in a chaotic mass. They waved all sorts of broken weapons as they rushed at the group. Roland even spotted manure forks among them...

"Hoo—" Gandalf let out a long breath. "Fortunately, they aren't an Orc army from the Misty Mountains."

"Don't celebrate too early. Perhaps our whereabouts and objective have already been exposed." Roland poured cold water on him.

"Charge! Crush them!" Roland drew the Dragon-slaying Sword and rushed out first!

Battle Qi Flames of various colors covered the warhorses, armor, and weapons as the Novice Knights activated them. During the charge, the knights gradually merged their momentum into a single whole. Nearly half a meter of Battle Qi edge extended from every weapon. This was the difference between knights and cavalry: during a charge, knights released Battle Qi and linked themselves with the other knights into one entity. So long as their Battle Qi was not exhausted, they would share the damage and receive the Battle Qi enhancement of the Knight Order! At this moment, they were the Knight Order known as the king of land warfare!

Bang— Amid dull collisions and the tearing sound of lances piercing flesh, the Knight Order crashed into the Orc vanguard. Roland and the knights under his command swung their weapons and drove their warhorses forward, cleanly tearing apart more than a dozen Orcs in front of them. Behind them, the ten Badenia Archers raised their Purplewood Longbows. With every lift of their hands, an Orc would be struck in the eye socket or throat and fall. Every Orc that slipped past the Knight Order's charge was shot down by those ten men.

"So, you don't plan on helping?" A Badenia Archer looked at the dumbfounded group and asked.

"Uh! Kill!" The startled dwarves came to their senses and hurriedly grabbed axes, greatswords, hammers, and other weapons as they charged forward. Only Bilbo remained where he was, at a loss. Gandalf, meanwhile, raised his staff and began chanting. The next second, a fireball the size of a human head flew over everyone's heads and smashed into the Orc rear ranks.

Beautiful! He's finally not the battle mage from the movie. Roland shot Gandalf a surprised look and thought to himself.