You really are a wizard, aren't you

Boom—!

Taking advantage of the explosion's light, Li Wei lay at the platform's edge, peering downward.

Two rounds of TNT bombardment had gone down one after the other. As for these two Orc squads, you couldn't exactly call them unscathed—more like not a single one left standing.

The entire area was now a complete mess. Everywhere the TNT had blasted, only a massive crater remained, faintly revealing the rock layer beneath. As for the trees and weeds that had grown there before, they'd long been blown to smithereens.

The power of over twenty TNTs was terrifying to behold, carving out a vacuum zone in this woodland. The nearby trees, caught in the blast radius, had caught fire in the explosion's aftermath, billowing thick smoke.

Gazing at the scene before him, Li Wei couldn't help but sigh: what a fine display of mortal fireworks.

Set the mountain ablaze, and you'll rot in jail for life.

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

Splash—a stream of water cascaded down from the heights, forming a small waterfall until it touched the ground, dousing the nearby flames. Only then did Li Wei take a deep breath and swim down along the current.

Don't ask why he didn't just go for a leap of faith—the answer was fear of heights.

So far, Li Wei had never tested whether water could negate fall damage. If the MLG water bucket didn't work and he died on the spot, that would be bad.

Once down, Li Wei began scanning and searching everywhere—first, to see if any had been missed, and second, to check for worthwhile loot to recover.

But perhaps these Orcs were just too poor, or maybe the TNT was too powerful. Li Wei searched for a good while before picking up a few pieces of battered armor and weapons from the scattered debris, along with some loose silver coins blackened by the blast. He pulled out a torch and squinted at them for ages without identifying which currency they were from.

Still, regardless of the currency, the material was silver, usable anywhere.

Now Li Wei had some pocket change, no longer needing to pull out gems to buy out the place every time.

"Hah—"

Huh?!

Just as Li Wei was finishing his scavenge of the battlefield, a heavy gasp sounded beside him, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

But when he turned to look, he found only a tall, sturdy Orc missing an arm and a leg, covered in blood, leaning against a tree. His already sparse armor had clearly been blown to shreds by the TNT, and beside him lay a charred giant wooden mallet.

With that appearance, who else could it be but the Orc chieftain?

At this moment, the chieftain glared viciously at him, his chest heaving, but it gave the impression of breathlessness—clearly on his last gasp.

Who would have thought that not long ago, this chieftain had been arrogantly shouting outside the castle, vowing to go in and kill Li Wei?

"You... sneaky maggot...!" the Orc chieftain spat, his eyes full of hatred.

From start to finish, he had no idea what methods Li Wei had used. Even until he saw Li Wei, he didn't know it was Li Wei who had been dealing with them.

It wasn't a dragon that had defeated them, but a man. Those exploding things were probably some kind of magic.

"You damned warlock!"

"Annoying."

Li Wei drew his longsword and plunged it into the chieftain's chest.

-

6.

[0/40]

The sturdy Orc fell silent on the spot.

Looking at the chieftain's health bar, now zeroed out, Li Wei couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.

Good grief—a health cap of forty. Among Orcs averaging a dozen or so HP, this guy was definitely an elite among elites. No wonder he'd survived the explosion.

With such a high health cap plus armor, as long as he wasn't continuously hit at the blast's epicenter, he did have a chance to survive.

Swoosh.

The moment the chieftain breathed his last, the nearby bushes suddenly rustled. Li Wei dashed over and spotted an Orc fleeing into the distance in terror, as if a dragon were chasing him.

But he was destined not to outrun Li Wei.

After cutting down this straggler, Li Wei spent some more time searching the vicinity, taking out a few lone Orcs. Once he was sure he couldn't find any more enemies for now, he went back to continue cleaning up the battlefield.

First, the scrap metal the Orcs had been wearing—Li Wei took it all, planning to toss it into the Anti-Smelter back home.

Then came the Wargs. Though the Wargs had no gear, they themselves were a resource.

Through the Crafting Table, these Warg corpses could yield three materials: Warg meat, Warg hide, and bones.

The meat went without saying—it could serve as emergency rations. The hide could be used to craft fur-series equipment, and the bones could be processed into Bone Meal.

One Warg, three uses.

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

On the way back, he also rebuilt the city gate and dismantled the stones blocking the path.

"You're back, Li Wei."

Falrodan had long been waiting at the city gate.

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

As he spoke, the amazement in Falrodan's eyes could no longer be concealed.

At first, he had been somewhat worried about Li Wei—after all, he had no idea what Li Wei's plan was or if it was truly reliable; he could only choose to trust blindly.

Yet after watching from the city wall for a long time, seeing no sign of the Orcs stopping their construction, just as he had begun to consider whether he should go out and check the situation himself, he suddenly heard a tremendous roar, followed by a blaze of fire shooting into the sky, and then what seemed like water falling from the heavens, dousing the flames burning in the forest.

"That Orc squad has been completely eliminated by me. No need to worry."

"Huh?" Falrodan was stunned.

"You're saying you, alone, repelled an infantry squad of over a hundred Orcs, plus several dozen Warg riders?"

That wasn't even counting the squad's leader—that big fellow was no easy opponent, and the ruined city gate beside them was the best proof.

"Correction."

Li Wei raised a finger to clarify: "It was annihilation, not repelling. I searched the area—no survivors."

Hiss—

Falrodan sucked in a sharp breath, exclaiming that it was terrifyingly formidable.

"How exactly did you manage..."

Falrodan was somewhat incredulous, but soon, this Ranger seemed to think of something and muttered to himself: "I've read in some ancient books that wizards—some powerful wizards wield lightning and flame, summoning wind and rain at will. I've heard that the White Wizard of Isengard has such an ability."

At that thought, all the anomalies found a reasonable explanation.

That blaze must have been a fireball ignited from Li Wei's hand, and the explosions and flashes were the lightning he summoned.

It was magic—Li Wei must have used fire and lightning magic to repel the Orcs!

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

"If you're talking about something like a certain Grey Wizard, then no."

"I don't believe you." Falrodan wore a knowing expression.

"If you have such powerful magic, why didn't you use it before?"

"That was explosives."

"Explosives? What are those?"

"It's a weapon packed with a lot of gunpowder. When ignited by fire, it explodes."

"Gunpowder? I've only seen it in Dwarven firearms and fireworks. Can its power really be this great?"

The Ranger reluctantly accepted this explanation.

"And the water that fell from the sky?"

"That was... a bucket of water I had on me."

Falrodan immediately wore an expression that said, "You must think I'm an idiot."

Since when does a bucket of water from your home put out a forest fire?

"Exactly—gunpowder is just your medium for casting spells. You can use them to unleash powerful attacks, right?"

Hiss—

Li Wei paused. Well, now that he mentioned it, it could actually be seen that way.

After all, TNT was crafted using a Crafting Table; he couldn't really explain the specific principle, but treating it as magic seemed fine.

"Then consider it that way."

Hearing Li Wei say this, Falrodan wore an expression that said, "I knew it."