Half-orc Slayer

"If I were you, sir, I'd hand over all the money on you. Save yourself from losing your head later."

With that said.

Shhk—

The sound of three or four daggers being drawn rang out.

A group of burly men in ragged clothes, their faces covered, slowly emerged from the roadside. Without blinking, they stared fixedly at Li Wei, wary that he might suddenly make a run for it.

They all had 20 HP, and none of them wore armor.

That was the information Li Wei received at first glance.

"You think you've got me cornered?"

"Don't we?"

Another five people stepped out from behind the trees by the roadside.

Eight in total.

Tsk—

Could a single town really have so many thugs?

No, this group was no longer made up of ordinary small-town hooligans.

Bandits.

That was a more fitting name for them.

He needed to hit hard.

"You can give it a try."

The bandits only saw a blur before a longsword appeared out of thin air in Li Wei's hand. That move alone frightened several of them into taking a step back.

"What are you scared of, you cowards!" the leader snapped. "He's just a street magician. It's not like we haven't killed one before!"

"Get him!"

Clang!

A crisp parry rang out as the bandit leader skillfully blocked the longsword with his dagger. At the same time, three lackeys rushed in from the side, stabbing at different parts of Li Wei's body.

If those strikes landed, they would surely be fatal.

Yet the next second, a suit of silver-white Iron Armor suddenly appeared over Li Wei's body, blocking all three attacks.

"What?!" Several bandits jumped in fright.

Pulling out a weapon like some magic trick had already been unsettling enough. But now, just as the fight began, he had put on a full suit of Iron Armor?

Several of them immediately began considering running away.

How the hell were they supposed to fight this?

"What are you standing around for? Get him!" a minor leader behind them urged, though he himself had already quietly backed away several steps.

Still, that shout really did send several fearless men charging forward.

Shhk—

Seeing that their shabby little daggers could not do much damage, and that there was no need to guard against every attack, Li Wei directly endured the group assault and slashed at the leader, who was trying to flee first. Then he thrust another strike into the man's chest, pulled his sword free while stepping on the leader's corpse.

Then he spun around and slashed once, then again, ignoring the daggers stabbing at him from all sorts of tricky angles from behind as he attacked wildly.

Like an invincible god of war, no matter how they attacked him, whoever he set his sights on would die.

In terms of combat skill and experience, any random bandit or thug could surpass him. Yet even so, Li Wei still managed to suppress several of them at once.

At this level of combat, technique was not yet necessary. He could simply trade blows head-on.

Even all eight bandits together were far less dangerous than a single Barrow-wight.

Of course—that was only because Li Wei had armor now.

Finally, after another man fell, one of the bandits saw that even his desperate stabs could not inflict any meaningful damage. His resolve instantly shattered, and he shouted, "It's witchcraft! A wizard! He's an unkillable wizard! Run!"

He then threw down his weapon, ignored his companions, and darted into the forest in a flash.

The remaining men seemed to snap awake as well. They immediately turned and fled. Li Wei quickly chased after them, cutting down several more bandits.

But when he looked up again, two bandits were already little more than distant silhouettes.

He could definitely catch them if he gave chase. After all, those two bandits would certainly collapse from exhaustion before he did.

But it would take too much time. It was not worth it.

The battle came to an end.

After searching the bodies for valuables, digging a pit on the spot to bury them, and smelting the captured weapons back into raw materials, Li Wei continued on his journey.

Perhaps the smell of blood was too strong, or perhaps this stretch of road truly was desolate. For the next several days, Li Wei did not see another person, nor did he find any trace of bandits or robbers.

Only the traces by the roadside told him that while this region was desolate, it was far from peaceful.

He continued onward at an unhurried pace for another three days.

Using the last remnants of dusk's light, Li Wei looked into the distance and spotted the shadow of some ruins. As he drew closer and searched through the images in his mind, he finally recalled its name:

Windcloud Peak.

The scenes from his memories gradually overlapped with reality, and Li Wei grew a little excited. After such a tedious journey, he had finally encountered something different. He immediately placed blocks beneath his feet and quickly climbed to the summit, looking around and touching things here and there like a tourist.

After a while, Li Wei could not help sighing. Even though the place was now nothing but ruins, one could still glimpse a fraction of its former splendor from these remnants.

When he reached corners that had not yet been completely destroyed, Li Wei even took out a torch, using its firelight to inspect the place closely as he turned over several broken stone bricks.

He was so absorbed in looking around that he accidentally tripped. Only then did Li Wei realize that the sky had long since gone completely dark.

Something was wrong!

Li Wei hurriedly put away his torch, and the surroundings instantly darkened.

On the peak rising above the vast black wilderness, that flickering flame atop the summit suddenly vanished.

Cold sweat streamed down Li Wei's back, and unease stirred in his heart.

He had lived peacefully for too long. His lack of common sense had led him to make such a mistake.

Fortunately, night had not fallen long ago. It had only been a short while—surely nothing unclean would find him this quickly... right?

Whoosh—

A gust of wind suddenly swept past his cheek. Li Wei instinctively turned his head and saw something collapse behind a broken wall.

An arrow was lodged in its head.

With that rough, savage face, what else could it be if not a half-orc?

Cold sweat instantly broke out all over him. Even with armor on, Li Wei still felt a lingering chill.

If that arrow had been aimed at him, wouldn't his head have been blown apart?

That one shot would have cost him several points of health.

Luckily, its target had been that half-orc hiding nearby. Still, this was Li Wei's first time seeing a half-orc.

Li Wei was not given much time to react. From the moment the first half-orc failed in its ambush and fell, something in the darkness seemed to boil over. A large swarm of ugly monsters rushed out from places beyond the naked eye's reach, shouting savagely as they charged.

"HAHAHAHA! Tonight's dinner is taken care of!"

"Human flesh! Fresh human flesh!"

"Chop him up! Strip off his armor and use it as a cooking pot!"

"I'm going to use his skull as a wine cup!"

Even Li Wei was startled by such a scene. With a quick glance, he counted around a dozen half-orcs. It did not sound like many, but visually, they formed a dense crowd that was already closing in around him.

An ordinary person would likely have been too terrified by these vicious-looking creatures to move.

But Li Wei had killed Barrow-wights and fought bandits. He was no longer some battlefield rookie who had never seen combat or bloodshed. Once he calmed down amid the cries of battle, he took a closer look. These half-orcs had an average of only sixteen or seventeen health points, and their equipment was incomplete—some had a piece or two, others had nothing at all. They looked utterly destitute.

They were clearly just a ragtag band of wandering half-orcs, the sort that an ordinary person could fight two at once if they worked up the courage.

Seeing the situation clearly in an instant, Li Wei showed no fear. He struck first, charging forward with his sword and cutting down two half-orcs in a single sweep. The half-orcs, stirred by the scent of blood, were no pushovers either. They might have been cowardly, evil, and prone to infighting, but they were masters at ganging up on enemies and launching sneak attacks from behind. While Li Wei was cutting down their companions, two of them moved in to stab him in the kidneys.

Li Wei had no intention of splitting his attention to defend himself. Yet the next second, two sharp whistles cut through the air. The two half-orcs attempting the sneak attack immediately collapsed, arrows embedded in their foreheads.

"You filthy rat, get out here!" A half-orc who seemed to be a minor leader roared helplessly toward the direction the arrows had come from.

The next second, an arrow from another direction ended his life, and he dropped to the ground with a thud.

Over here, Li Wei's slaughter was also drawing to a close.

There were only a dozen or so half-orcs with low health and flimsy defenses. Once he found his rhythm, he cut them all down in just a few moves, barely losing any Hunger Bar at all.

Not to mention that someone had been helping him from the shadows.

Achievement Unlocked / Title Obtained: Half-orc Slayer

Another title acquired.

Li Wei shook the blood from his sword and put it back into his inventory to show that he meant no harm, then looked toward the direction the arrows had come from.

It was completely dark there.