"Do you hear that?"
"Aye. Wargs, and some noisy orcs."
A gentle breeze carried the clamor echoing across the open plain. But within the stronghold walls, all was silent. To be honest, even though he had made extensive preparations, Garrett was still somewhat nervous.
Unlike the Ranger beside him, he hadn't seen much real combat before. The thought that an orc war-band was charging straight at them made him feel distinctly uneasy.
A hundred orcs, several dozen mounted, it didn't sound overwhelming, but if they surrounded the stronghold, it would be more than enough to trap just the two of them completely.
Looking at the five stacks of iron blocks in his inventory, he felt a pang of regret. If he had known this would happen, he would have acquired some pumpkins back in Bree. Perhaps he could have attempted to craft an iron golem.
Roar!
A bestial howl rang out, startling him into raising his head.
"They're here," Halbarad said.
The two of them crouched behind the wall's battlements, eyes fixed on the direction of the sound.
Clatter.
"Attack!"
The noise drew closer, and dark shapes burst from the woods into the moonlight, dozens of wargs charged forward in a ragged line, with orcs wielding crude weapons on their backs, rushing straight at the stronghold wall, fierce and swift, no slower than horses.
As the enemy approached within bowshot, Halbarad raised his bow and nocked an arrow.
Whoosh.
One shot, a direct hit to the lead warg. It collapsed instantly, the orc on its back flying off and striking the ground hard. Another arrow pierced through an orc's skull, dropping it lifeless to the earth.
Thanks to Halbarad's precise marksmanship, by the time the cavalry reached the wall, three wargs had already lost their riders, and two had been slain outright. But the remaining riders showed no fear. The scent of blood only made them more savage. And upon seeing that only two defenders stood atop the wall, they became even more aggressive.
Some orcs even laughed.
Of course, even with just two defenders, a smooth stone wall over thirteen meters tall wasn't something they could simply leap over. The leading warg-riders quickly found themselves stymied, no matter how many times they attempted it, they couldn't scale the height, and had to fall back to regroup.
"The intelligence was wrong! Who said wargs could jump over this?!"
"The last time I saw this wall, it was half this height!" A scout orc in the group quickly tried to explain.
"You worthless maggot!"
With their assault stalling before the wall, the orc war-band swiftly shifted into their traditional behavior: internal bickering.
Halbarad continued his shooting, but the orcs had grown wary and posted lookouts. Several orc archers targeted his position, forcing him to withdraw behind the wall, using prepared arrow loops to continue sniping at them. But after several more orcs fell, those firing positions were also spotted, rendering them useless.
Garrett cautiously peered over the battlements and saw that the entire war-band had now gathered at the base of the wall. At this point, both attack and defense had reached an impasse. The attackers couldn't breach the wall, and the defenders lacked sufficient firepower to drive them off, it was a stalemate.
The frustrated orcs below began hurling insults, but these taunts had no effect on him whatsoever. In fact, after hearing so many, he began to think the orcs were surprisingly inventive. Their curses possessed a certain crude eloquence, line after line of invective, employing various rhetorical flourishes and colorful metaphors.
In short, not safe for work, so don't ask, just accept.
Still, compared to the devastatingly witty insults Garrett remembered from online gaming, the orcs' vocabulary was clearly limited.
"You worthless scum!"
In the middle of the shouting, a sudden roar erupted from the rear.
A massive orc over three meters tall, wielding a great axe, arrived with reinforcements. With a casual shove, he knocked aside the mounted orcs blocking his path, his strength so immense that he toppled both warg and rider with one hand.
"Ha! Look what I found, little insects hiding behind a wall! Pathetic cowards!"
And yet, the first thing this orc chieftain did upon arrival was bellow insults at the stronghold wall.
"Cowards! Spineless worms!"
"Cowards! Spineless worms!" the other orcs behind him echoed in unison.
In a normal siege, if there was no counter-response at this point, morale would certainly begin to waver.
But on Garrett's side, there were only two of them total.
You're sending a hundred warriors to fight two people, and you're calling them cowards...? Why don't you try a one-on-one if you're so bold!
He couldn't help but think sarcastically.
However, the orc chieftain didn't care what they thought. After casually deflecting a well-aimed arrow with his axe, he turned and bellowed to the rear, "Bring it forward!"
Thud!
Amid all the commotion, several orcs struggled to carry forth a massive battering ram, thicker than their own torsos, but the three-meter-tall orc chieftain easily lifted it with one hand alone.
Then, he slammed it viciously against the stronghold gate.
Boom!
The first blow cracked the wooden gate.
Boom!
The second blow warped the gate completely, it looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Outside the wall, cheers were already beginning, the orcs preparing to storm in, kill, plunder, and claim the stronghold.
But Garrett remained calm.
Boom!
With the third strike, the simple gate made of wooden planks and posts shattered completely. Just as the orcs prepared to rush through, they stopped in bewilderment. Behind the broken wooden gate stood a solid, three-meter-thick stone wall.
The orc chieftain's nostrils flared with fury as he glared up at the two figures atop the wall.
"Want to get in? Not a chance!" Garrett popped his head up and shouted. Immediately, seven or eight arrows whistled his way, forcing him to duck back down hastily.
With faulty intelligence, a failed assault, and several warg-riders already slain, the orc chieftain cursed bitterly, then suddenly waved a hand and barked, "We withdraw!"
Just like that, he led the hundred-strong orc force back into the woods.
"They're retreating already?" Garrett was surprised. That was quick. Had they simply realized they couldn't breach the defenses and given up? He hadn't even made his move yet.
"No... they haven't departed," Halbarad said, joining him and gesturing for Garrett to look in a particular direction.
Thud!
A loud crash, and a tree toppled to the ground, then was slowly dragged away. Soon after, another tremor, and several more trees fell in rapid succession.
Even someone as inexperienced as Garrett now realized that the orcs... were constructing something on-site?
From deep within the forest, the sounds of hammering and sawing began to ring out.
"Siege ladders," Halbarad said. "They're building scaling ladders."
Garrett looked genuinely surprised.
On-site construction?
Halbarad, however, appeared completely unsurprised.
Garrett suddenly realized he might be lacking some fundamental military knowledge.
Sensing Garrett's confusion, Halbarad explained, "Don't underestimate orcs. Even though they're brutal and evil, their craftsmanship in arms and armor rivals that of Men. Whatever a typical army can accomplish, they can do as well."
After all, their master was none other than the Dark Lord, Sauron, who had forged the Rings of Power themselves. He was a master of all crafts.
"I see," Garrett nodded, understanding now. "I've got to stop them."
"You're planning to venture out there?"
Garrett nodded. "Well, I can't just sit here and watch them finish building."
"It's far too dangerous. I truly don't think it's wise."
Garrett gave a small smile.
You have no idea what a Minecraft veteran is capable of, Ranger.
"Don't worry."
He climbed down from the wall, entered the stronghold, and opened a mineral storage chest. He retrieved all the sulfur and saltpeter, then combined them with charcoal at a crafting table.
1 Sulfur + 1 Saltpeter + 1 Charcoal = 3 Gunpowder.
5 Gunpowder + 4 Sand = TNT.
After using all his available materials, he had a total of twenty blocks of TNT in his inventory.
"Have you ever witnessed... aerial bombardment?"