Evening.
A temporary campsite: a rugged patch of wilderness strewn with rocks.
The members of the Expedition Team were busy at work.
Today, Morgan and Kili had caught four spotted deer—a truly bountiful haul.
Spotted deer were no small animals.
One deer, along with assorted dried vegetables and wild greens gathered nearby, would make a hearty meal for the entire Expedition Team.
Of course, that was if they boiled it.
If they wanted to roast it, they would need two deer.
After a month of traveling in the wilderness, everyone in the party had become a big eater.
"Crackle, crackle."
Flames popped on the crude stove made from a pile of stones.
Above the fire, the large pot hanging from a tripod boiled and bubbled.
White, fresh meat broth, red dried carrots, green wild greens, purple wild onions...
The spotted-deer stew looked appetizing, and smelled just as delicious.
After a full day of tedious travel through the barren mountains, this was undoubtedly the moment every member of the party looked forward to most—the time they could finally relax.
Of course, that was only in the physical sense.
In truth, the farther the Expedition Team traveled from the Shire, and once they reached the East Road, the journey had become far more dangerous than before.
They had entered the territory where one of the most evil monsters in the world roamed: the Orcs.
At that moment, on a boulder not far from the temporary campsite, Morgan was lying back, enjoying the cool early-autumn breeze.
[Time Traveler: Morgan] [Race: Human] [Biological Level: Tier One] [Soul Power: 0] [Attributes: Strength +; Constitution +; Agility +; Spirit +] [Abilities: Common Tongue; Muay Thai LV2; White Crow Swordsmanship LV1; Archery LV2] [Talent: Intimacy (Special Skill)] [Current World Exploration Progress: 0.31%] [.]
"An entire month already..."
"I haven't gained a single bit of Soul Power. Still a complete zero."
"Even the World Exploration Progress has been increasing painfully slowly."
"It was 0.3% before we set off, and now it's 0.31%. An entire month of travel, and it's only gone up by 0.01%."
"And that's with me traveling alongside the main cast. If I were on my own, I probably wouldn't even have gained 0.01% progress."
Looking at the data before him, Morgan opened his eyes and sighed helplessly.
Over the past month, thanks to his excellent Archery, he had taken on nearly all the hunting for the party.
Partly, he wanted to hone his Archery. More importantly, he wanted to gain Soul Power by killing prey.
Unfortunately, aside from the one point of Soul Power he had gained from killing the ferocious bear on the day he met Gandalf a month ago, he hadn't gained any more.
He had hunted countless wild boars, wild goats, and spotted deer, and even a ferocious leopard.
But none of it had done a thing. He still couldn't find a second point of Soul Power anywhere.
If not for the 0.01% increase in his World Exploration Progress, he would have thought the damn system had frozen.
Of course, although he had gained little from the Time System over the past month, his strength had improved considerably. His Archery in particular had advanced at an astonishing rate.
In other areas, thanks to his own strength and his role in teaching the Dwarf Kili, Morgan's standing in the Expedition Team had risen quite a bit.
If the members of the Expedition Team were ranked from lowest to highest, it would probably go like this: Thorin Oakenshield ≥ Gandalf > Balin = Morgan = Dwalin > the other Dwarves > Bilbo.
Overall, aside from the meager gains from the system, he had gained plenty in other respects.
After spending so many idle days puzzling over the system inside him, Morgan had developed some new ideas about Soul Power.
But he would have to test them before he could know if they were right.
"It seems killing ordinary creatures can no longer earn me Soul Power. Now I'll just have to see if Orcs can give me a surprise."
Morgan waved away the data before him and gazed up at the darkening sky, thinking to himself.
"Morgan."
A call came from not far away.
Morgan turned his head. Dinner was ready.
He jumped down from the boulder, more than three meters high, and headed for the campsite.
At the fire, he accepted a full bowl of fresh venison soup from his Dwarf "student," Kili.
Morgan had just sat down when the Dwarf Gloin, holding a steaming bowl of meat soup, boomed, "Come on, let's toast Morgan and Kili for giving us such a feast!"
"Hey, this isn't ale. Have you had too much to drink?"
"Haha, poor Gloin."
"It may not be ale, but you can pretend it is. Maybe you'll even taste the ale!"
"Come on, let's raise our bowls!"
"That's a fine idea. Maybe the two of you can even get drunk."
"Hahahaha!"
The Dwarves bantered and teased one another as usual, making everyone laugh.
They had been traveling through the wilderness for over a month.
The route was all barren mountains, with no villages or towns along the way.
The ale the Dwarves had brought at the start had long since run out.
They still had plenty of easy-to-carry, long-lasting provisions like dried vegetables, potato flour, and jerky.
As for ale, they could only dream about it.
After dinner, night fell completely.
In the cool early-autumn breeze, Morgan and Gandalf sat side by side beneath a boulder, smoking.
More precisely, Morgan was smoking, using Gandalf's pipe.
"Phew."
He lit the small bowl packed with tobacco and took a deep drag.
He smacked his lips.
As he felt the sharp smoke fill his lungs, Morgan somehow felt his whole body relax.
In his previous life, Morgan had been a fighter and didn't smoke. He rarely drank, either.
But in this world, on a dull, monotonous adventure, with no women, no ale, and no fighting, smoking was the only thing that kept him from getting too bored.
"Not bad, is it? Tobacco's good stuff."
"Hard to believe you never smoked before."
Ignoring Gandalf's muttering beside him, Morgan saw Bilbo approaching and held out the pipe. "Want a puff?"
"No, thanks. I've got mine."
Bilbo smiled and declined, holding up his own pipe before sitting beside Gandalf.
"Wasn't I right?"
Gandalf continued, but Morgan took a long drag to finish off the remaining tobacco, tapped out the ashes, and handed the pipe back to him. "All right, you can shut up now."
"Haha."
Gandalf laughed and immediately took the pipe, filling it with tobacco.
The night deepened.
At some point, the crescent moon disappeared behind the clouds.
Only the bonfire still burned in the temporary campsite.
In front of it, the Dwarf Bofur was the only one on watch, nodding off like a pecking chicken. The other Dwarves lay sprawled in every direction, already fast asleep.
When the surroundings had fallen utterly silent, as though the whole world had drifted off, Morgan—who had fallen asleep with the Cross Longsword in his arms and his back against a boulder—suddenly felt an intense, perilous pang of alarm.
He jerked his eyes open and saw a dozen or more Orcs, clad in armor and hideously misshapen, sneaking into the temporary campsite with weapons in hand.
Morgan's face went pale with shock. He snatched up the longbow beside him and shouted, "We're under attack!"
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