Chapter 77: Tragedy, Rest and Reorganization

Two of these waves were very similar to what Xia Duo and his group encountered; they had no will to fight at all. However, in another wave of four Orcs, although their overall fighting spirit wasn't strong, one Orc was exceptionally ferocious!

It fought Sami and his group with an almost suicidal mindset, and its tenacity stimulated its companions, causing quite a bit of trouble for Sami and his group.

After ending the Sending, Xia Duo immediately relayed this situation to everyone in the squad, especially Dien; the last wave of Orcs had made him feel a bit overconfident.

……

Three days later, Xia Duo and the others returned to the Military Camp from the Green Pearl Forest for rest and reorganization for the first time. After three days of frequent killing, all the team members carried a daunting murderous aura.

Although Xia Duo looked disheveled, his eyes were exceptionally bright and spirited. The so-called practical training from before was still different from real combat.

In these three days, Xia Duo had a deep realization: combat was no longer something they could carefully control, whether it was the beginning or the end. The most dangerous moment for the group was when they were dealing with a pack of Orcs, and suddenly two more arrived.

Even with Aiwa and Mafeier, the two Rogues, keeping watch on the outside, when the Orcs were meant to come, no one could avoid it.

If Xia Duo hadn't decisively activated a Magic Scroll to buff several team members with strength and stamina, they might have suffered casualties this time.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo couldn't help but look at Yidimu behind him. At this moment, Yidimu had an Orc head hanging from his waist and was carrying a piece of rough-styled, crudely made Metal Armor on his back.

This was one of the spoils of that battle. Even in the human world, Metal Armor wasn't something everyone could afford; buying it was one thing, and the subsequent maintenance was another.

Judging from the standard equipment of the Territory soldiers, which was still Leather Armor, Metal Armor was clearly the choice of only a few.

But they had captured a piece of Metal Armor from the Orcs, which showed that the Orc's status was not ordinary. However, no matter how extraordinary, it had now become a corpse, and its head had even been cut off as a trophy.

After coming out of the forest, Xia Duo met Sami and the others. They had lost two members in these three days, but the remaining people, having been tested by life and death, had grown extremely rapidly.

Sami pointed to the armor Yidimu was carrying and said, "Xia Duo, is that the Orc armor you mentioned before? It looks very fierce!"

"Yeah, the Orc wearing the armor was too strong; we almost had casualties in that fight." Xia Duo didn't talk much about the armor, instead discussing the rest period with Sami.

As soon as this was mentioned, Sami couldn't help but complain, "What are the higher-ups thinking? How is half a day enough! Our squad lost two people; if there's no time to coordinate, taking them out is just a burden."

"Then don't add any new people."

Xia Duo didn't really approve of adding new people midway. If it were a recruited Adventurer, it would be fine, but if it were an untrained Commoner, that would simply be sending them to their deaths.

Sami was silent for a moment, seemingly considering Xia Duo's words.

Soon, the group approached a village.

Seven or eight young people were gathering on the road where Xia Duo and his group were returning, seemingly arguing about something. When Xia Duo and the others passed by, a young man suddenly blocked the front of the team and shouted—

"My lords, I want to join you!"

This action immediately made Xia Duo and the others, who had just returned from the forest, act as if facing a great enemy. The team members almost subconsciously drew their weapons and aimed them at the young man.

"Ah!"

The young man seemed terrified, instantly retreating several steps and collapsing to the ground.

"Stay alert! Captain Jibu, please go and see what's going on."

Xia Duo stopped the team members from attacking further and let Jibu go ask clearly.

Soon, Jibu returned expressionlessly, "Mage Xia Duo, they are poor people suffering under the Orc Tide."

"What happened?"

"The people in their village didn't go to the town but chose to stay in the village. Just a short while ago, an Orc somehow ran out of the forest and went on a rampage in their village."

Jibu took a deep breath, seemingly suppressing his emotions, "Although they eventually killed that Orc, they are the only ones left in their entire village."

"Then what is the meaning of them blocking us?"

"They saw that we all had Orc heads and want to follow us to kill Orcs."

Xia Duo sighed, feeling sympathy for the ordinary people of this world for the first time.

Previously, he had lived in the town, and those he came into contact with were either Adventurers or Mage Apprentices; he had almost no understanding of the ordinary people at the very bottom.

Even if he did understand, it was only through the fragmented words of others. However, letting those young people join them was still impossible; a team that had already coordinated wasn't meant to be a babysitter.

"Captain Jibu, take them back to the Military Camp."

Although Xia Duo didn't know the specific situation on the front-line battlefield, it was certain that reinforcements would be needed after the battle. Taking these young people along was just a matter of convenience.

On the rest of the road, Sami no longer complained about the short rest time. Everyone was a bit silent. Although Xia Duo found it difficult to fully empathize with the feelings of these Netherese,

as fellow humans, he still felt a sense of sorrow for their kind when facing the Orcs.

……

After returning to the camp, Xia Duo went to the quartermaster to register the spoils: twenty-six Orc heads, two Wolf Tooth Amulets with faint Magic Aura, and that piece of Metal Armor.

The heads were 5 Gold Coins each, the amulets 100 Gold Coins each, and the armor 200 Gold Coins.

Of these 530 Gold Coins, the twenty team members split half, and the other half belonged to Xia Duo and Dien, with Xia Duo taking the lion's share of 180, and Dien getting 85.

With money, Xia Duo immediately went to a merchant firm in town to buy a 1st Circle 【Summon Mount】 Scroll. Because of the war, the price of these scrolls for running away and saving one's life had more than doubled.

Xia Duo spent nearly 70 Gold Coins to get it; it had to be said that war profiteering was too easy.

After that was the rest. For three consecutive days, everyone had been on edge, and they couldn't even sleep well at night. By the third day, Xia Duo clearly felt his Spellcasting state being affected.

This made him afraid to use any spells other than the 【Sending】 used to keep in touch with Sami, fearing that he would run out of power when he needed to contact support at a critical moment.

Only after returning to the camp did he feel at ease and able to sleep soundly, which made him particularly envious of spells that could hide one in a different dimension or summon a hidden residence.

……

Just as Xia Duo was sleeping peacefully in the camp, at the Lao Nier Inn, Lao Nier had no sleepiness at all. In the evening, he received news that made him toss and turn—

Xia Duo had returned, bringing back more than twenty Orc heads, and even a piece of Metal Armor. Among all the Apprentices, this wasn't the best, but it could still rank near the top.

This wasn't the most critical part; Lao Nier learned through secret channels that Xia Duo had gained the appreciation of several Official Mages of the Mage Tower, including Mage Leonard, a student of the Lord.

This news made him very uneasy, even fearful.