Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 243 Setting Off Again with the Orcs of the Misty Mountains

Time flies, and another ten days have passed in the blink of an eye. The expedition team has been in Rivendell for about two weeks.

During this time, Wayne managed to learn the basic level of Sindarin, and could read some simple books written in Sindarin. He even gained a new skill called Otherworldly Language Talent, which was upgraded to level two.

Otherworldly Language Talent LV2: Otherworldly language learning speed +20%.

However, what Princess Arwen and King Elrond did not know was that during the process of learning Sindarin, Wayne had unknowingly copied many books from the library. These were not particularly valuable books; they were all within King Elrond's permitted scope and were those that were open to him.

Wayne also treated his newly taken-in apprentice Aragorn with utmost care and dedication.

Not only did he spend two hours every day carefully guiding him, but he also arranged various after-school training for him. He even built a training ground for him in a remote forest for witcher apprentices to train.

Under the careful instruction of this sword master, the ten-year-old boy grew rapidly at a visible pace, quickly adapting to the physical pain and mental torment of training. His skills became increasingly clean and efficient, and his swordsmanship improved significantly.

This feeling of rapidly becoming stronger filled the boy's eyes with a burning passion, and his gaze toward Wayne became increasingly respectful.

However, all good things must come to an end. Although Aragorn was very reluctant to leave Wayne, his good teacher, the time for parting soon arrived.

This future human emperor possessed a maturity beyond his years. Unlike other children, he didn't cry or act like a brat. He sincerely offered his blessings to Wayne and presented him with a gift he had made himself.

He then expressed his hope that Wayne would continue to serve as his swordsmanship instructor after his successful hunt for Smaug.

When the little boy learned that Wayne's purpose for this journey was to hunt down Smaug, the world-famous dragon, his bright eyes were filled with admiration and longing. Clearly, for children of that age, becoming a hero who hunts dragons was their lifelong dream.

Wayne neither refused nor immediately agreed. He discovered that after finishing his course in Rivendell, the task of teaching Aragorn was not yet complete. It was an untimed task that he could choose when to finish, which gave him the idea of ​​continuing to teach Aragorn.

Not only because Aragorn held a prominent position in the future Middle-earth, but also because the little boy was indeed very obedient and sensible, with exceptional talent and potential, which made him feel a natural affinity for him.

Moreover, Wayne could clearly sense that King Elrond's attitude towards him had changed drastically, as if he was intentionally trying to win him over. This wasn't just about Princess Arwen; the two had also made a deal during this period that wasn't exactly a secret.

Wayne traded a large number of intermediate-level healing potions, several magical items, and master-level crossbow blueprints for a batch of warhorses from the Sindar elves, totaling more than one hundred.

These are all tall warhorses unique to the Sindar elves, possessing special bloodlines, high speed, strong endurance, and astonishing strength. In terms of physical performance, they are several levels above the elite warhorses of the Wizarding World. It is estimated that each one would be a rare warhorse that could sell for more than two thousand Orens in the Wizarding World.

He planned to take these warhorses with him when he left Middle-earth after the Lonely Mountain mission was over, along with Deathclaw. He could not only give them to his witcher brothers, but also use them as bargaining chips to trade with the elves of Francesca.

Warhorses are valuable strategic equipment that will be in high demand and short supply during the upcoming Civil War.

Moreover, once he establishes friendly relations with the dwarves, elves, or other races in Middle-earth, many of Middle-earth's specialties will become best-selling products in his future business, generating substantial profits for him.

Therefore, even at the cost of some short-term gains, he would do his best to establish friendly relations with other powerful races in Middle-earth, which would be a great asset to the Witcher Order in the future.

In Rivendell, Princess Arwen is probably the one who will miss Wayne the most. Perhaps it's the Witcher's handsome appearance, his humorous wit, or even the delicious and sweet cakes he would occasionally bring out.

Although the two spent little time together, it was quite pleasant. The princess rarely encountered a member of her own race with whom she could communicate on an equal footing. So, on the day they parted, she made an unprecedented move by gently stepping forward in front of the expeditionary force and King Elrond, standing on tiptoe to embrace Wayne, and placing a blessing kiss on his cheek, wishing him victory in his battle against the dragon Smaug. She then presented him with a beautifully woven wreath and placed it on his head.

After the embrace, facing the various meaningful glances from the dwarves, elves, hobbits, and wizards around him, Wayne suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He tried to maintain a gentle smile and avoid looking at King Elrond's expression.

Then, he softly thanked Arwen, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, and took out the exquisite elven dagger that he had found along with the two ancient elven swords and which was later named the Dingdang Sword from his spatial bracelet, and presented it to the elven princess as a gift.

Then, along with the other members of the expedition team, they left Rivendell as if fleeing.

………………

Because this time, with the wizard Gandalf and Wayne leaving together, Thorin and the other dwarves did not suffer as miserably as in the original story, where they were tied up and taken to an orc town, only to be rescued by Gandalf as if by divine intervention.

However, it seems that Wayne's killing of too many orcs and dire wolves last time has alerted the orc clans of Azog and the Misty Mountains.

This time, as soon as they entered the orc territory, they immediately attracted the attention of the orc scouts, and the expedition team's whereabouts were exposed, leading to an attack by the orc clan.

Large groups of orcs, riding numerous dire wolves, began to attack the expeditionary force frequently, using every possible means—poisoning, traps, arrows, night raids—and any despicable tactic imaginable.

However, this situation was exactly what Wayne had in mind.

Ignoring Gandalf's advice to keep a low profile, he slowed the group's pace and obtained an expert-level quest to hunt orcs from the dwarf prince Thorin every day, embarking on a hunting expedition where he killed wherever he went.

Perhaps these foolish orcs believe that the Misty Mountains are their home turf, and that they can harm the expeditionary force through traps, ambushes, or sieges.

However, their impoverished minds could not fathom what kind of destructive power Deathclaw Robin, this terrifying top-tier killer in the apocalypse, could unleash in such complex terrain.

Any arrows from the orcs that struck Deathclaw were merely tickling him, and the boulders falling from the sky were like soft fists, unable to cause any real harm to Robin.

With this terrifying behemoth as their vanguard, the orcs' methods became utterly useless, serving no purpose whatsoever.

Even in a forced siege, as long as Gandalf and Thorin find a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack before the battle begins, and then use Robin as a meat shield to guard the canyon below.

No matter how many orcs participated in the attack, they would all be reduced to piles of minced meat by Deathclaw's sharp claws and teeth.

At this moment, Wayne is a powerful killing machine. He can ride a magical flying carpet, fly in mid-air, unleash his full power, use signs, alchemical bombs, and archery to slaughter the orcs below at will, without being threatened in any way.

Faced with Wayne's bomber-like destructive power, these inexperienced orcs were quickly terrified and fled in panic, leaving behind hundreds of corpses in less than ten minutes.

If Azog, the cunning orc king, hadn't failed to appear during the attack, Wayne might have been able to complete one of Prince Thorin's master-level quests directly.

That night, Wayne and his companions found a mountaintop and an easily defensible cave as their lodging. Deadclaw Robin guarded the cave entrance, effectively preventing any possible attacks from the outside.

As the team's chef, Wayne simply cooked a pot of mushroom and dried meat soup, some roast meat and bread for everyone. The simple meal immediately won everyone's praise.

After a long period of getting along and being tempered by various battles, as the strongest among them, his status in the team has risen to a level that is on par with the leader, Thorin.

If he weren't the dwarf prince, he might have been the leader of this group.

He sipped a bottle of fruit liqueur he had traded from Rivendell, leaned against a clean rock wall, and said to Gandalf and Thorin:

"Thorin, Gandalf, I have found an entrance to an orc town in the Misty Mountains."

"We plan to launch a surprise attack on their stronghold before they are ready for their second encirclement and suppression campaign."

Upon hearing this, Gandalf took a puff of his pipe, stroked his snow-white beard, and said:

"So you're planning to go out alone again, Wayne?"

"I still think that such an action is too risky."

"Although you are very powerful, the fact that orcs have survived until now is not so easy to deal with."

"As for the Orc Town, it is the Orcs' stronghold in the Misty Mountains, and no one knows how many dangers are lurking within."

"With your strength, once we reach Lonely Mountain and unite the warriors who have suffered persecution from orcs for many years, we will surely be able to defeat these orcs."

Wayne understood Gandalf's good intentions in advising him, but whether it was out of confidence in his own strength or because of the master-level task of severely damaging the orcs of the Misty Mountains, he was clearly unwilling to remain on the defensive.

Thorin's thoughts were similar to Wayne's. As he sharpened his longsword, which had become somewhat dull from slaying orcs, on a whetstone, he nodded to Wayne and said:

"I agree with you, Wayne. We should definitely take the initiative."

"I think the reason why these orc scum failed to achieve anything in our first siege was because they underestimated us."

"If we wait until they are ready a second time, even with your Deathclaw's help, we might suffer casualties and our brothers might die."

"While they're not ready, let's launch a surprise attack together. This will not only disrupt their plans but also inflict heavy damage on them."

"Let these filthy orcs no longer block our path to Lonely Mountain."

(End of this chapter)