Are You Really a Wizard?

Boom—!

By the light of the explosion, Li Wei lay at the edge of the platform and looked down.

Two rounds of TNT bombardment had gone down one after another. It would be fair to say those two Orc squads had not emerged completely unscathed—because not a single one of them remained.

The entire area was now a complete mess. Everywhere the TNT had struck, only enormous craters remained, faintly exposing the rock layers beneath. As for the trees and weeds that had once grown there, they had long since been blasted away.

The power of over twenty TNT blocks was terrifying. They had forcibly carved out a vacuum zone in the woodland, while nearby trees caught in the blast ignited after the shockwaves passed, sending thick smoke billowing into the air.

Looking at the scene before him, Li Wei could not help but sigh. What a vivid display of worldly fireworks.

Set the mountains ablaze, and you would spend the rest of your life behind bars.

After observing by the firelight for a while and confirming that nothing on the ground was still moving, Li Wei pulled out a water bucket and placed it at his feet.

Splash—water streamed down from high above, forming a small waterfall. Only after it reached the ground and extinguished the nearby flames did Li Wei take a deep breath and swim down along the current.

Do not ask why he did not simply take a leap of faith. The answer was that he was afraid of heights.

So far, Li Wei had never tested whether water could negate fall damage. If MLG Water Bucket failed and he died on the spot, that would be rather awkward.

The moment he came down, Li Wei began searching the area. First, to see whether any enemies had been missed; second, to see whether there was any loot worth collecting.

Perhaps the Orcs truly were too poor, or perhaps the TNT had simply been too powerful. Li Wei searched for quite a while before picking up several damaged pieces of armor and weapons from the debris, along with a handful of scattered silver coins. They were blackened by the blast, and even after Li Wei took out a torch and studied them for ages, he could not tell where they had come from.

Still, no matter where they had been minted, silver was silver. It could be used anywhere.

At least Li Wei now had some small change. He would not have to pull out gems to reserve an entire place every time.

"Hah—"

Huh?!

Just as Li Wei had nearly finished looting the battlefield, a ragged gasp suddenly came from beside him, startling him so badly that he nearly jumped.

But when he turned around, he found only a tall, muscular Orc missing limbs and covered in blood, leaning against a tree. The little armor he had possessed had clearly been blasted to pieces by the TNT, and a massive blackened wooden mallet lay at his side.

In such a state, who else could he be but the Orc leader?

The leader glared at him viciously, his chest rising and falling without pause, yet he looked as though he could barely catch his breath. He was clearly down to his last gasp.

Who would have thought that not long ago, this leader had been standing proudly before the castle, shouting about going in to butcher Li Wei?

"You... stinking maggot... all you know is sneak attacks...!"

The Orc leader's eyes brimmed with hatred.

From beginning to end, he had never known what method Li Wei had used. Even until he saw Li Wei himself, he had not known that Li Wei was the one fighting them.

The one who had defeated him was not a dragon, but a human. Those exploding things were probably some kind of magic.

"You damned wizard!"

"You're noisy."

Li Wei drew his longsword and drove it into the leader's chest.

-

6.

0/40

The powerful Orc fell silent on the spot.

Looking at the leader's health bar empty before him, Li Wei could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Good lord, he actually had a maximum of forty health. Among Orcs with an average of only a dozen or so health points, this guy was absolutely elite among elites. No wonder he had survived the explosion.

With such a high health limit and armor on top of that, he really could have survived as long as he had not suffered repeated impacts at the center of the blast.

Rustle.

The instant the leader breathed his last, the bushes nearby suddenly moved. Li Wei immediately gave chase and saw an Orc fleeing into the distance in terror, as though a dragon were pursuing him.

But he was doomed to be slower than Li Wei.

After cutting down that straggler, Li Wei spent some more time searching the area, taking care of several isolated Orcs. Only after confirming that he truly could not find any more enemies for the time being did he return to continue clearing the battlefield.

First came the scrap metal the Orcs wore, all of which Li Wei took away to throw into the Anti-Smelter when he returned.

Then there were the Wargs. Although the Wargs carried no equipment, they were resources in themselves.

After being broken down at the Crafting Table, these Warg corpses could provide three materials: Warg meat, Warg fur, and bones.

The meat went without saying; it could serve as stored food. The fur could be crafted into fur equipment, and the bones could be made into Bone Meal.

One Warg, three uses.

Under the moonlight, Li Wei swaggered back to the castle with a backpack full of loot.

On the way back, he also rebuilt the castle gate and removed all the stones blocking the path behind it.

"You're back, Li Wei."

Falrodan had already been waiting at the gate for a long time.

"How did it go? I heard some strange noises just now, and I saw flashes of light... Was that your doing?"

As he spoke, Falrodan could no longer hide the astonishment in his eyes.

At first, he had been worried about Li Wei. After all, he did not know what Li Wei's plan was or whether it was truly reliable, so he could only choose to trust him blindly.

Yet Falrodan had watched from the city wall for a long time without seeing any sign that the Orcs had stopped building. Just as he had begun considering whether to go out and investigate himself, a deafening boom suddenly rang out, followed by flames soaring into the sky. After that, water seemed to fall from the heavens, extinguishing the fire burning in the forest.

"That Orc squad has been completely dealt with. No need to worry."

"Huh?" Falrodan froze.

"You mean you alone knocked back an infantry squad made up of over a hundred Orcs, along with dozens of Warg riders?"

And that was not even counting the squad leader. That huge fellow had not been easy to deal with, as the ruined gate beside them clearly proved.

"Correction."

Li Wei raised one finger and explained, "They were wiped out, not knocked back. I searched the area. There were no survivors."

Hiss—

Falrodan sucked in a sharp breath, utterly stunned.

"How on earth did you do it...?"

Falrodan found it hard to believe, but soon, the Ranger seemed to think of something. He muttered, "I once read in ancient books that wizards—some powerful wizards command lightning and fire, summoning and dismissing wind and rain at will. I heard that the White Wizard of Isengard possesses such abilities."

Once he thought of that, every anomaly had a reasonable explanation.

That firelight had to be fireballs ignited in Li Wei's hands, while the explosions and flashes were lightning he had summoned.

It was magic. Li Wei had definitely used magic of fire and lightning to defeat the Orcs!

"Are you one of those wizards, Li Wei?" Falrodan asked.

"If you mean someone like a certain Gray Wizard, then no."

"I don't believe you." Falrodan wore an expression of complete understanding.

"If you could use such powerful magic, why hadn't you used it before?"

"That was explosives."

"Explosives? What are those?"

"A weapon packed with a great deal of gunpowder. It explodes when ignited with fire."

"Gunpowder? I've only seen it in Dwarven firearms and fireworks. Its power can really be that great?"

The Ranger reluctantly accepted the explanation.

"Then what about the water that fell from the sky?"

"That was... a bucket of water I carried with me."

Falrodan immediately looked at him as though he had to be treating him like an idiot.

What kind of bucket of water could put out an entire forest fire?

"Of course. Gunpowder is merely the medium for your spellcasting. You can use it to unleash powerful attacks, right?"

Hiss—

Li Wei paused. Come to think of it, that really could be considered the case.

After all, TNT was crafted through the Crafting Table. He truly could not explain the exact principle behind it, but calling it magic did not seem wrong either.

"Sure, let's go with that."

After hearing Li Wei say so, Falrodan wore an expression that said, Just as I thought.