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"May I ask who you are?" Li Wei inquired.

"Just a wanderer."

A wanderer?

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness; only the sound of speech could be heard, but no footsteps.

If he hadn't chosen to reveal himself, Li Wei feared he would never have known someone was lurking nearby.

Li Wei suppressed the urge to pull out a torch, studying the newcomer by moonlight. The man was tall, cloaked, with a dagger at his waist and a plain wooden bow slung across his back.

His face was buried in shadow, hidden by the hood, revealing nothing.

"Thanks."

Though he could have taken down these Orcs himself, the man had come to help, and good intentions shouldn't be wasted.

The wanderer retrieved his arrows while looting the Orcs he'd killed, saying, "No need for thanks. These Orcs were my prey anyway—I've been tracking them for a long time. You helped me too."

Finished, he glanced at Li Wei and added, "But if you ask me, it's best not to make light in such high places at night."

Li Wei rubbed his hands together awkwardly.

"Are you a Dúnedain?" he asked, changing the subject.

The wanderer gave Li Wei a slightly surprised look.

"Yes."

In a few words' time, the corpse with an arrow in its head was thoroughly looted, while the Orcs Li Wei had killed were left untouched.

"I'd heard there were Rangers secretly guarding these wilds. So it's true."

"Someone really says that?" The wanderer chuckled. "That's rare."

These wandering remnants of the Northern Kingdom, elusive and mysterious, were often met with suspicion, sometimes dismissed as bandits or thugs.

"Have you killed those things from the barrows?"

The wanderer suddenly lifted his head; in the darkness, a pair of gray eyes gleamed sharply, fixed on Li Wei.

"Yes. May I ask how you could tell?" Li Wei was curious.

"Instinct. I dealt with those creatures often for a time."

Well, magical instinct.

Li Wei grudgingly accepted that explanation.

After a moment's thought, he suddenly pulled out the Barrow-blade dropped by the Barrow-wight and tossed it to the wanderer.

The wanderer caught it, studied it for a few seconds, and looked quite surprised.

"It seems you recognize this sword?"

The wanderer nodded. "Very familiar. It's a weapon we used long ago. Its forging method is lost, but this one... with some repairs, it might still be usable."

"Then it's yours."

"Oh? You're really giving it to me? You know, this sword is old—a relic. Sold to someone who knows its worth, it could fetch a good price."

"Is that so? I'd rather give it to someone who needs it than sell it to someone who wants it. Besides, this thing means something to you, doesn't it?"

"Alright. My heartfelt thanks."

The wanderer nodded firmly, no longer refusing. He rummaged through his pockets, found a coin, and handed it to Li Wei.

"Take this as a token. If you ever need something from me, wait for me at the Forgotten Inn—it's my regular haunt. I'll show up there within half a month at most."

Li Wei nodded and pocketed the coin.

"I'm Li Wei. What should I call you?"

"Falrodan."

The wanderer left a name, and the two parted ways.

The wanderer vanished into the darkness.

Li Wei gazed out over the wilds, a thought striking him.

This place wasn't bad either.

Half a month later, on a certain day, Li Wei crawled out of the labyrinthine tunnels beneath the earth, a look of delight on his face. His pack held some Raw Iron Ore and over a dozen stacks of Rough Stone that the fortress couldn't hold.

Persistence paid off.

After half a month of exploration and deep digging, Li Wei had finally discovered an Iron Vein deep underground. He didn't know its full extent yet, but it was certainly enough to mine for a while.

And it wasn't just iron—while digging tunnels around it, he occasionally struck other scattered minerals, like copper, sulfur, saltpeter, and such.

Truth be told, Li Wei didn't recognize any of these things, but when they were mined and fell into his pack, the system helpfully tagged them with item IDs.

And when sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal all sat together in his pack, the Synthesis Table suddenly unlocked a new recipe.

Gunpowder.

...and TNT!

From then on, Li Wei made a point of collecting these materials whenever he dug holes.

After confirming that this area was relatively rich in ore, Li Wei finally made his decision.

This is the spot.

The first base location.

Li Wei opened his map and marked a point on it.

This place was roughly midway between Windcloud Peak and the Ogre Forest, a fair distance from the main road, surrounded by woods, a lake for water, and a stretch of fairly open flatland.

If not for the frequent appearance of Orcs and Wargs and such in this area, it really could be called a livable place.

But Li Wei wasn't afraid of any of that.

A month later, a fortress of mixed stone and wood rose from the flatland out of nowhere, surrounded by a stretch of seven- or eight-meter-high walls, enclosing a large area of land.

From within the castle, an endless stream of water seemed to gush forth, nourishing a large patch of wheat fields that suddenly sprouted up, turning golden in just a few days.

From a distance, it looked quite picturesque, though it seemed a little quiet, as if no one lived there.

Yet the occasional smoke rising from within the walls told the eyes hidden in the shadows that someone did indeed live here.

That day, Li Wei shouldered his pickaxe and headed home as usual with a backpack full of ore and cobblestone. When he reached the gate, he suddenly felt a sense of alert. Looking up, he saw a person sitting on the city wall watching him, though he had no idea how they'd climbed up.

A Ranger?

Looks kind of familiar.

"Falrodan?" Li Wei asked.

The Ranger on the wall waved a hand in acknowledgment.

Seeing Li Wei return, he didn't stay seated. With a couple of steps, he used his momentum to leap down from the height, making Li Wei marvel—that agility was top-notch.

"How did you find this place?"

"I heard about it from my companions. A wizard with strange powers built a fortress here out of nowhere and planted crops that grew incredibly fast. As soon as they described your appearance, I knew it was you."

"Besides, this place of yours is way too conspicuous. Smoke rises every day—hard not to notice."

This time, Falrodan didn't hide his face. Under the sunlight, the tall Dúnedain had black hair, gray eyes, and a rather handsome face.

Don't let his appearance fool you—he looked maybe thirty or forty, but he could easily be over a hundred years old.

"That's true." Li Wei didn't deny it. He hadn't planned on hiding at all.

Orcs and whatnot—come if you want. I'm an MC player, and I'm no pushover. Even if an army shows up, what then? You think my "dig three, fill one" is just for show?

"Want to come in and sit? I just finished setting up the kitchen. How about trying my cooking?"

Falrodan shook his head. "No, time is short. I came to tell you that an Orc cavalry squad has its eyes on this place. There are dozens of Warg riders alone, and counting the rest of the rabble, the squad probably totals over a hundred."

Hiss—

A squad of over a hundred Orcs, with dozens of Warg riders.

Just relying on this little broken castle of mine might really be a stretch to defend. You know how terrifying a Warg's jumping ability is—one leap and it's several meters high, easily climbing onto roofs and tearing off tiles.

If it were just the jumping, that'd be one thing, but their climbing is no joke either. They can scale a ten-meter tree without breaking a sweat.

My seven- or eight-meter walls...

Considering how smooth cobblestone is, with no handholds, they probably can't get up... right?

"They'll need some time to get here. You can still leave now." Falrodan advised.

"No, I'm not leaving. I just built this base—am I supposed to take this lying down?"

If some random squad could chase me off, wouldn't that be like working for the Orcs?

Worst case, I'll just outlast them.

Seeing Li Wei's firm resolve, Falrodan knew he couldn't talk him out of it. He looked over the castle and said, "If you're staying, this place of yours will have a hard time stopping that Orc squad. From what I know, their leader is an unusually tall Orc with incredible strength."

Falrodan glanced at the wooden fence gate in front of the castle.

Could this really be called a gate?

"That door of yours won't hold him."

"No problem, I've got a plan."

Li Wei didn't care at all.

Falrodan looked him over, then at the castle that seemed to have risen overnight, and fell into thought.

"Alright, I believe you have some tricks up your sleeve."

"But are you sure you don't want to prepare more? When I spotted that squad, they were already heading this way. They'll probably arrive tonight if nothing changes."

"Huh? Tonight!?"

That soon.

Li Wei's heart jumped straight into his throat.

He'd talked tough, but in truth, he was a rookie who'd never been through any real storms. The biggest scene he'd ever faced was being robbed by eight bandits—which was basically a village scuffle at best.

Suddenly being told he'd have to face a small battle tonight, Li Wei had to admit he was sweating bullets.