Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 238 The Brown-Robed Wizard

After a close call, the others arrived at the scene.

Looking at the corpses of ogres scattered all over the ground, Gandalf's expression was solemn, but he also showed surprise at Wayne's fighting prowess.

Compared to ordinary orcs, trolls are significantly stronger in combat. They have rough skin and a tough outer skin, possessing a petrifying ability that makes them difficult to seriously injure with ordinary swords. It takes many warriors working together to defeat this monster.

Unexpectedly, Wayne killed them all so easily, and one of them was blown to pieces, emitting a burnt smell, clearly not killed by ordinary means.

"They are mountain ogres. They are the minions of darkness and often act with orcs. I didn't expect the power of darkness to spread here so quickly."

With that, Gandalf took out the map he always carried with him, and by the light of the campfire, he, Thorin, and Wayne began to look at it.

They were still several days' journey from the valley. Gandalf pointed to the valley and said to Thorin:

"Thorin, regarding the cryptic message left by your father, perhaps we can travel to the Valley and seek the help of Elrond, the Elvenking."

"He is the most learned and wisest scholar in Middle-earth, and should be able to answer this question for us."

However, Thorin immediately objected upon hearing the word "elf," as the prince still harbored resentment over the elves' refusal to come to Smaug's aid when the Lonely Mountain was captured.

As creations of the Creator God, the Elves held a uniquely privileged position in Middle-earth. The relationship between the Dwarves and the Elves was extremely complex, marked by both cooperation and conflict, and their entanglement lasted for tens of thousands of years.

After listening to Gandalf's speech, Wayne tapped the map thoughtfully and said:

"Rivendell in the Valley?"

"I'm very interested in this place, and after such a long journey, we should go to town to buy some supplies."

"I'm sure this venerable Elvenking of Elrond will be willing to bestow some food and wine upon us warriors who are fighting against the evil dragon Smaug."

Gandalf nodded immediately upon hearing this. Among this group, as a wizard who had lived for tens of thousands of years, he was most familiar with the Elven King Elrond. He knew the king's character very well and knew that this half-elf king would definitely be willing to help anyone fighting against the forces of darkness.

The key information to dealing with Smaug lies on that map, and he won't let Thorin stick to his own opinion on this matter.

Seeing that Thorin and the other dwarves still looked reluctant, Wayne thought for a moment and then revealed, half-truthfully, that:

"Actually, I have another piece of news, which I'm planning to confirm before telling you."

"However, I happened to run into a troll today, so I guess this news is probably true."

Throughout their journey, Wayne's strength and magical abilities earned him everyone's respect, and no one dared to ignore his words.

Gandalf stroked his beard and asked:

"What did you find, Wayne?"

Wayne looked at everyone, and without hiding anything, spoke directly:

"As you may have noticed, I can talk to animals. This is my animal language ability. I often ask the birds in the vicinity to help us explore the road ahead and gather various kinds of information."

"Recently, some birds told me that many other people have appeared far behind us. They are wearing armor, look different from us, carry weapons, and have wolf-like mounts with them."

"It now appears that those things are orcs. These monsters have detected our presence and are trying to track us down, preparing to attack us."

Everyone was startled by Wayne's words. Gandalf's face darkened, and he immediately asked:

"Are you sure, Wayne? How far away are they?"

Thorin's expression also changed drastically. Among their group, Gandalf didn't seem to be very capable in combat. Although the other dwarves were physically strong, they only had weapons. The only ones with armor were him and Wayne. If they faced an attack by orcs, they probably wouldn't be able to hold out.

Actually, the orcs haven't come looking for us yet, but according to the original story, it should only be a matter of days.

Wayne then gave a vague reply:

"It's probably still a day or two away. Animals are clever, but they don't have that much intelligence, so they can't answer many questions."

Faced with such a dangerous situation, Thorin and the dwarves no longer insisted, since the ones with whom they had a grudge were the elves of the Misty Forest, not the elves of Rivendell.

Dwarves are naturally stubborn, but they are not madmen or fools. Although seeking the elves' help made them feel awkward and embarrassed, they had to do it even if it was difficult, for the sake of this mission on Lonely Mountain.

Unlike the concerns of others, Wayne was actually eager for the orcs to arrive before him so he could unleash his fury and slaughter them to his heart's content.

In his view, with Deathclaw Robin's assistance, even if the orcs sent an army of several hundred men, they would not be able to defeat him; they would only be worn down little by little by him through various means.

Of course, if it were truly an army, he probably wouldn't have the capacity to be distracted in battle to protect the rest of the expedition team; they would have to fend for themselves.

Soon, guided by Gandalf, the group traveled for another two days and arrived at a wide, rocky plain.

However, just as everyone arrived, an old man wearing a tattered brown robe, with his hair covered in bird droppings and smelling like a wild animal, drove a wooden trailer pulled by a giant wild rabbit.

He was small and incoherent, but upon seeing Gandalf, he became quite excited. He immediately pushed aside the dwarves around him, ran to the grey wizard's side, and opened his mouth as if to say something.

But when the words were about to come out, he forgot and only mumbled:

"Gandalf, I've come to tell you something, but strangely enough, I don't know what to say."

"Oh dear! What news was it? I completely forgot! This news is very important; I made sure I remembered it carefully!"

The old man was eccentric and looked very unkempt. His peculiar rabbit-drawn cart amazed the members of the expedition team.

When Gandalf saw him, he immediately explained to the rest of the group:

"This is the brown-robed wizard Radagast; he has been keeping an eye on the orcs' movements in the forest."

Upon hearing the brown-robed wizard's name, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief, while Wayne looked at the old man with great interest, finding it quite amusing.

There are currently five wizards in Middle-earth, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Gandalf, the most active wizard. In the original story, he always plays the role of strategist and wise man, guiding the people to work together against the forces of darkness.

Secondly, there's Saruman the White, who will betray us later. This wizard is much stronger than Gandalf, but despite his great power, he is weak-willed. As a Maiar, a minor god sent by the Creator to maintain order in Middle-earth, he actually betrayed us by joining Sauron out of fear.

Finally, there's the brown-robed wizard Radagast. He's more of a druid than a wizard, mainly because he can communicate with various other creatures. Later on, he even summons a bunch of tree people to help fight the orcs, making him a key figure.

As for the other two blue-robed wizards, neither the original work nor the movie mentions their specific circumstances. It is estimated that they are either long dead or have joined the dark side.

After introducing the brown-robed wizard, Gandalf went to his side and took a stick insect from Radagast's mouth.

It turns out that this senile old man swallowed an insect, which caused his strange behavior.

After taking out the insect, Radagast returned to normal and began to tell Gandalf and the others the news he had received.

First, just as Gandalf predicted, more and more dark forces began to spread out of Mordor, and many orcs had left their stronghold and started killing and plundering in various places.

Not only that, but more and more evil, evil spirits and all sorts of other evil forces are slowly awakening, such as spiders, undead, twisted creatures, and all sorts of other terrifying things.

Secondly, and most importantly, in the dark capital of Dorguldo, Radagast discovered the presence of an evil necromancer and obtained an evil magic sword from him. All signs indicate that the once-dead Dark Tyrant Sauron is quietly rising again, and with his awakening, the dark forces of Middle-earth will resurface.

Upon hearing this news, everyone was somewhat shocked, but Gandalf's expression was the most solemn. The Dark Tyrant Sauron was the greatest enemy of all races in Middle-earth.

Countless heroes and warriors sacrificed themselves to destroy this monster, and now it is about to awaken again, foreshadowing a new war between darkness and light that has begun to brew quietly.

Just then, everyone suddenly heard an extremely fierce roar, as if it were the roar of some ancient behemoth.

Just as they were somewhat at a loss and making wild guesses, Wayne's expression changed, and he took out the massive Excalibur from his spatial bracelet, saying to everyone:

"It was Robin who sent the message; she's spotted the orcs."

"You all stay here for now and don't wander off."

"You can come out after I've killed those orcs."

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, he threw out the magic flying carpet and flew towards the direction from which the huge roar came, much to everyone's surprise.

Shortly after he left, Thorin and the others, unwilling to let their ally fight alone, immediately set off with the other two wizards, all the dwarves, and Bilbo in the direction Wayne had gone.

However, before they could even get close, they were immediately stunned by the scene before them.

On a wide-open plain, dozens of dire wolves were not attacking an enemy, but simply fleeing for their lives.

Behind them, Deathclaw Robin, a massive creature with bulging muscles and sharp claws, was swiftly slaughtering these beasts like a tiger dealing with a herd of rabbits.

(End of this chapter)