Chapter 195: Probing

“Charge forward!” The leading Orc commander, seeing the dense volleys of arrows from the shore, directly ordered the charge. Before the battle began, they had already anticipated this. At such times, they could only raise their shields and continue charging. The army on the other side of the river seemed to have few troops. As long as they charged across, he was confident they could first defeat this army in front of them.

“Archers, three volleys!” By the White Water River, watching the charging Orcs, a flash of excitement appeared in the eyes of the half-elf captain Luo En. At his command, all the Archers quickly formed three rows. The first row shot the arrows in their hands and quickly retreated, followed immediately by the second and third rows taking turns shooting. Then the first row, ready again, resumed shooting.

Compared to human armies which often used Archers for saturation fire, not requiring precision but emphasizing coverage, the Archers of Zhenbei City focused more on accuracy. The presence of many Half-Elf Archers made the accuracy of Zhenbei City’s Archers terrifyingly high, especially with this three-stage shooting method.

The Elf War Bow and the Centaur Longbow had long range and extremely strong power. The White Water River channel was less than a hundred meters wide. At such close range, the arrows could easily penetrate the wooden shields made by the Orcs and then continue to pierce their bodies.

The Orc army continuously fell under the relentless rain of arrows. Many plunged headfirst into the nearby river water, and soon the river was stained red. The Orcs also began to fight back. Constantly, Orcs picked up bows and engaged in archery duels with Zhenbei City’s army. However, because they stood on rafts, their footing was unsteady, greatly reducing the force and accuracy of their arrows.

Furthermore, these Orcs using bows quickly became the priority targets for the Archers. Before long, they were shot full of arrows like hedgehogs. On the numerous wooden rafts, Orcs were constantly hit by arrows and fell into the water. Yet, these Orcs, led by their commander, still surged forward with an unstoppable momentum towards this side.

The endless rain of arrows was like an invisible blockade line. The Orcs fearlessly crashed head-on into that impenetrable line of death. The tide-like Orc army bravely charged into the range of the blockade line, instantly blooming into clusters of blood-red splashes. Icy arrows descended from the sky, piercing through the bodies of the charging Orcs.

The wooden shields had completely lost their defensive effect. Whether it was the Centaur Longbow or the Elf War Bow, they could easily penetrate them. Even if they wore Iron Armor, the arrows could find gaps to enter. Blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the river surface crimson. Lives were harvested like grass at this moment.

After suffering heavy casualties, some Orcs finally reached a distance of twenty meters from the shore. These Orcs leaped, crossing five or six meters of river surface, landing in the water, and continued swimming towards the shore. By now, the water was only waist-deep. A distance of over ten meters would only take a breath on land, but in the water, their speed was greatly limited.

Many Orcs were shot dead before they could even reach the shore. Meanwhile, the Orcs behind began throwing Throwing Spears. At a distance of less than thirty meters, although their footing was unsteady, these spears still possessed powerful lethality. The Longbowmen withdrew one after another. The Elite Spearmen, who had been standing ready nearby, quickly stepped forward.

The Orcs who had just reached the shore angrily charged forward. Their sharp blades struck the shields of the Spearmen. The iron-clad wooden shield was deeply gouged. To his surprise, that human Soldier only retreated half a step before steadying himself, and the spear in his hand instantly shot out like a venomous snake.

The Orc Warrior had no time to dodge. The spear instantly pierced the Leather Armor and penetrated his abdomen. On the battlefield, there weren’t many complex changes. Usually, the moves were lethal in one strike. Life and death were often decided in the moment of contact.

During their usual training, the Spearman had only one offensive move: the thrust. Over years of practice, they had perfected this move to a high degree. The Orc felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, then his body involuntarily took two steps back. Blood continuously gushed from the wound. But before he could react, another spear from the side instantly pierced his throat.

By now, on the banks of the White Water River, the Elite Spearmen, armed with shields and spears, had formed combat teams of three. They continuously fought and killed the Orc soldiers who had managed to reach the shore. These Orcs were horrified to discover that the humans, who in their impression were thin and seemingly malnourished, were not being cut down easily like vegetables. Instead, the Orcs were being pushed back step by step under their attacks.

Relying on their equipment advantage and mutual coordination, these human Soldiers quickly harvested the lives of the Orc Warriors. Even if a few Orcs fought desperately regardless of the cost, they could only seriously wound their opponents. When they tried to press further, Soldiers nearby seized the opportunity to kill them.

There weren’t many Orc soldiers who had initially reached the shore to begin with, and in this short time, more than half were already dead or wounded. Seeing this situation, the Orc commander standing on the opposite bank did not continue the attack. After a few loud roars, those Orc rafts began to retreat. Observing the Orcs’ movement, Su Lun gently waved his hand. The Longbowmen all began volley fire.

Volley fire was the archery method with the longest range. Instantly, the entire river surface became the coverage area for the arrows. Those Orc soldiers who hadn’t made it ashore in time were shot dead by the arrows falling from the sky.

The Orc soldiers on the shore had no reinforcements. Their retreat was cut off. Knowing they were doomed, the Orc Warriors launched a frenzied counterattack against the human soldiers. Seeing this, the Elite Spearmen, who did not want to fight the Orcs to the death, formed shield walls. Then, by converging from several sides, they systematically eliminated these Orcs one by one.

Soon, the fight by the river ended. The Orcs on the river surface, after paying a heavy price, finally retreated back to their shore. Only the corpses of Orcs littering the riverbank and the rafts drifting on the water told of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

After this initial probing battle, this group of Orcs had set aside their underestimation. Although these humans in front of them were not large in number, with the advantage of terrain, it would not be easy for the Orc Army to cross the river.

“We’re going back.” The Orcs on the opposite bank took a deep look at Su Lun, then led the Orcs back to their camp.

“Ding, congratulations, host. Under your command, the Zhenbei City army achieved a great victory.”

“The battle is over. You gained 8,360 Experience Points.”

“Battle victory. You obtained one Golden Treasure Chest. You obtained Tungsten Steel Ingot 2”

Su Lun first went to cast Body Healing Art on the wounded for treatment. Those who unfortunately died were also collected. He left a portion of people to clean the battlefield and monitor the opposing Orc Army. Su Lun led the others back to the camp.

He opened the Strategic Map. After leaving the Territory, the Strategic Map’s field of view was centered on Su Lun, covering an area of twenty kilometers in radius. On the map, the most prominent feature was the large cluster of red dots on the other side of the White Water River.

The Centaurs’ force was not close by. Su Lun only saw a few yellow dots representing allies at the edge of the map. According to their agreement, the Centaurs’ force would suddenly appear during the decisive battle to attack the Orc Army. For now, they needed to remain hidden.

With the Strategic Map, the battlefield was essentially transparent to Su Lun alone. Every move of those Orcs was under his surveillance.

Besides the Orc Army in front of him, Su Lun also discovered that in the nearby forest, the Orcs had hidden another force. Judging by its scale, it numbered about two thousand. Clearly, the Orcs had not revealed their full strength.

After setting the System to maintain alert status, Su Lun opened his Storage Space to check the gains from this battle.

In this battle, Zhenbei City had two dead and over a dozen seriously wounded. One had his heart pierced directly by a Throwing Spear, the other had his neck severed by an Orc, though that Orc also had his heart pierced. More than thirty had minor injuries. Approximately three hundred Orcs were killed, the vast majority shot by the Archers.

The Experience Points were not enough to level up. Su Lun opened the chest in his Storage Space.

A flash of spiritual light occurred, and the System’s prompt sounded in his ear.

“Congratulations, host. You obtained the talent [Iron Bone].”

[Iron Bone: Through brutal training, your resistance to damage has improved. All attacks deal 10% less damage to you. Ordinary weapons are ineffective against you.]

The Iron Bone talent was quite good. It could reduce damage. With this talent, Su Lun’s defense was once again enhanced. Ordinary attacks were now ineffective against him.

He stretched his body a bit. Su Lun took out the newly acquired Tungsten Steel. This type of ingot felt cool to the touch, wasn’t very heavy, had a color close to silver-white, and had many naturally formed patterns on it. In the game, this was considered relatively high-end material, and wearing it could increase attributes.

[Tungsten Steel: A metal with magical power. Advanced forging material. When worn, it increases Spirit by 3 points (effect disappears if Spirit exceeds 30), and grants a mana regeneration effect, restoring 1% of energy value per minute.]

This item was absolutely great for mages. It not only increased spirit but also restored energy. It was important to know that this world had no Arcane Web. Spellcasting relied entirely on one’s own mana, making becoming a mage very difficult.

Therefore, mana recovery was a crucial issue. Although this Tungsten Steel only restored 1% of energy per minute, which wasn’t much, in just an hour and a half, it could restore 90% of energy.

Su Lun kept one piece of Tungsten Steel for himself. He planned to give the other one to Heatherway. As the Territory’s only mage, this item would have the best effect on her.

After putting the items away, Su Lun went to Heatherway’s tent and gave her one of the Tungsten Steel ingots.

“What kind of metal is this? I feel my spirit increased significantly, and my mana recovery also sped up.” Feeling the benefits brought by the Tungsten Steel, Heatherway asked in surprise.

“This is Tungsten Steel, a type of advanced metal material,” Su Lun said with a smile. “This piece is for you. Of course, you can also try to research the properties of this metal and see if you can create some magic equipment with it.”

“I’ll try my best. I haven’t seen this metal before either. I won’t attempt anything with it unless I’m completely confident.” Heatherway looked at the Tungsten Steel in her hand with shining eyes.