Hearthglen Defense Battle, Tirion's Son Taelan

Rod successfully reached level 3 and gained another point of random attribute. He put this random attribute point into Knowledge, raising his mana to 40.

Aside from that came the skill upgrade. This time, Basic Eagle Eye upgraded to Intermediate Eagle Eye.

There was also Basic First Aid. Basic First Aid allowed one to freely control the Medical Tent, and the undead Blacksmith sold Medical Certificates, but this skill was utter trash to Rod.

Without any hesitation, Rod gave up the First Aid skill and chose to upgrade Intermediate Eagle Eye.

Intermediate Eagle Eye had a 50% chance of learning a level 1–3 spell cast by an enemy. Combined with the bonus from his Eagle Eye specialty—

—and the artifact, the Orb of the Firmament, Rod now had over a 65% chance of successfully learning a spell.

After destroying over a thousand undead, Necromancy had converted 150 of them into Skeleton Soldiers. Added to the Skeleton Soldiers Rod had accumulated earlier, their numbers had now surpassed 320.

This wave had been an absolute windfall. Yet another major battle awaited Rod. There were vast numbers of undead creatures nearby, and what came next would be a grueling defensive battle.

After clearing out the undead forces, Hearthglen's soldiers sank into grief, because those they had killed had once been family and friends.

But there was no time for them to mourn, grieve, or even bury the bodies.

"Your Highness! Report from the watchtower! The undead army! They're here!" A scout drenched in blood staggered over, shouting hoarsely as he shattered the heavy silence.

Arthas abruptly raised his head, the pain in his eyes instantly replaced by resolute killing intent. "Everyone! Prepare for battle! To the walls! For Lordaeron!"

The young prince raised his warhammer high, and Holy Light suddenly burst forth, dispelling some of the gloom and igniting the fighting spirit of the surviving soldiers.

Rod followed close behind and rushed up Hearthglen's walls. Looking out, even after witnessing grand scenes in the game, the sight before him still made his heart tighten.

Under the gloomy twilight, a gray, decaying tide surged in from every direction. It was not an organized army, but a torrent of death formed from rotting corpses, twisted skeletons, and grotesque monsters.

Gargoyles wheeled through the sky. Skeleton Soldiers, zombies, and ghouls ran across the ground. Behind them lumbered massive abominations and meat wagons. The undead forces stretched in a black mass as far as the eye could see.

They advanced in silence. Only the nauseating scrape of bones and the drag of rotten flesh across the ground merged into an oppressive whisper of death. Their numbers far exceeded the remaining defenders within Hearthglen.

"Archers! Fire at will! Focus on the flying monsters in the sky. Don't waste arrows on the other creatures." Arthas's voice was calm and powerful as he commanded with steady composure.

Among all the undead monsters, two were the most difficult to handle. The first were the giant abominations, three and a half meters tall and comparable to land-based tanks.

The second were the gargoyles flying through the sky. Flying units could effectively break through their defenses.

Ordinary militia arrows could never harm creatures like abominations, so Rod's magic would have to deal with them.

The militia's main target would be the gargoyles flying overhead.

Some hastily recruited militiamen and Hearthglen's defenders climbed the arrow towers under Arthas's command, drawing their bows inside.

Scattered arrows flew from the walls and landed amid the undead tide, kicking up a few insignificant splashes of rotten flesh before being instantly swallowed by the undead surging in behind them.

Although Arthas had ordered them to attack the flying gargoyles in the sky, aside from some regular defenders—

—how could ordinary farmers possess that kind of discernment? They could not even see the monsters wheeling through the sky clearly.

The militiamen were pale, and the hands clutching their crude weapons trembled. Seeing this, Arthas hurriedly raised his warhammer and led the elite soldiers to the front. Then he struck his shield alongside the soldiers, bolstering their morale.

"Sir Rod!" Arthas turned his gaze toward Rod. "I need your strength to suppress their charge! Destroy as many of them as possible!" He pointed toward the direction where the undead were surging most densely.

"Understood!" Rod took a deep breath and immediately opened two bottles of Purification Potion. This potion could slowly restore mana.

Rod's primary targets were the abomination units. If these huge monsters broke through, the elite Lordaeron soldiers might manage, but the militia would definitely lose their nerve and flee.

Forty mana was enough for him to spend freely. Since he had upgraded Basic Earth Magic, Magic Arrow's cost had decreased by one point. It now required only 4 mana to cast.

A bolt of blue lightning-like energy gathered in Rod's hand before shooting toward an abomination dozens of meters away. With a thunderous boom, the abomination was blown apart, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Several low-level undead around it were caught in the blast and blown to pieces as well. Rod immediately fired a second, third, and fourth Magic Arrow.

Every Magic Arrow killed a giant abomination amid the undead horde while blasting away several low-level undead nearby.

Rod's powerful spells instantly raised the morale of the surrounding militiamen. Having a powerful mage around always made people feel safer.

With a full ten Magic Arrows, Rod killed ten abominations along with several hundred low-level undead. His mana was depleted once again.

The undead army had already reached Hearthglen's gates. Arthas and the elite Lordaeron soldiers stepped forward and engaged the low-level undead in fierce close combat.

"Prince Arthas, let me lend you a hand." A boy who looked only fourteen or fifteen rushed out, carrying a sword taller than himself, with several servants following behind him.

He was Taelan Fordring, son of Tirion Fordring, the former High Lord of Hearthglen. Ever since his father Tirion Fordring had been stripped of his paladin status—

—as the heir, he had remained in Hearthglen. However, Barthilas now controlled all authority. Seeing the fierce battle outside, he too wanted to take up a weapon and fight.

Arthas turned and looked at the boy before shaking his head.

"Go back, boy. It isn't time for you to take up arms yet. You haven't joined the Knights of the Silver Hand, and you aren't a formal paladin," Arthas said.

Perhaps in a few years, this kid would become a qualified paladin, but not now.

Taelan Fordring, who had rushed out with a weapon in hand, was dragged back by his servants.

Standing atop the wall, Rod glanced at the boy. A first-generation paladin, the son of Fordring—the old man of the famed raid leader Black Invincible.

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