Chapter 5: A Knight's Vow

"The Lonely Mountain Expedition: Joined. Bonus to 10 shooters. You can summon them at any time."

After summoning these ten shooters, Roland couldn't help but admire them. Ah! Really impressive!

First of all, let's talk about the people who have a high professional level. The archer profession is divided into apprentice shooter, archer, sharpshooter, eagle-eyed shooter, and sniper, with the highest level being star hunter.

After looking at the equipment, Roland couldn't help but admire it—it was too luxurious. Mithril inner armor jacket with silver chainmail, a mithril purple shirt, a bow in hand, and 50 star silver steel armor-piercing arrows on their backs. There was a mithril fighting sword at their waists, a pair of steel arm shields on their left hands, and a steel armor-piercing hammer that was one meter long. Fortunately, they were dressed in chainmail; if they wore plate armor, they could be mistaken for heavy infantry. Roland really wanted to ask them if they had forgotten their jobs, as their melee heavy armor profession seemed to overshadow their archery skills.

This group must have seen Roland's doubts, because without saying anything, they held their bows and fired into the dark night, bringing back startled birds for Roland. As for why there were two birds—it was because one arrow passed through both. Roland decided not to question their abilities again.

…

In the early morning, Roland led his troops to wait outside the woods in Hobbiton. One hundred apprentice knights formed a neat phalanx, and ten archers rode on fully armed warhorses produced by the system. This time, they looked more like heavy knights. Roland didn't care anymore; apart from the conspicuous longbows, their attire suggested melee units.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Roland finally saw the expedition team arriving late.

"One, two, three... fourteen. It's good that Bilbo Baggins isn't here yet," Roland counted the number of people and nodded. Just like in the movie, Mr. Bilbo hadn't decided to join last night, but he should be on his way now.

"Are we all here? Aren't we waiting for Mr. Baggins?" Roland asked.

"No, he won't come when everyone is together!" Thorin said.

"Hey, Sir Roland, the army under your command is really majestic!" The dwarves praised, and even Gandalf cast an amazed glance.

"Thank you for the compliment. But I've decided to wait for Bilbo," Roland said to Thorin.

"But it doesn't matter, he can catch up with us!" Roland glanced at Hobbiton and said to himself, after all, Hobbits are famous for being good at running.

"Oh! This level of forging is incredible! It's actually mithril, adamantine, and star silver steel!" Fili called out.

"Oh, man, I spent a lot of money on their equipment, otherwise I wouldn't be as poor as I am now..." Roland said easily.

Everyone chose to believe it. After all, how could they know about the unreliable system?

"Hey! Wait! Wait!" Suddenly a voice came from far away. It was Bilbo Baggins, running to join them.

The Batenian archer immediately raised his longbow, and several knights in the rear also raised their lances, ready to nail the fast-running Hobbit to the ground.

"Oh! Mr. Baggins! Alright, put down your weapons," Roland said, showing a sudden look.

"Oh! Hello, Sir Roland, Sir Thorin. I signed it!" After greeting Roland, Bilbo hurriedly raised the contract.

"Well, that's right!" Several dwarves gathered around to take a look, and after finding no problems, they announced to the crowd.

"Then welcome to be the 14th member of the expedition!" Thorin opened his arms.

"Number 14? Wait, then they..." Bilbo pointed at Roland in disbelief.

"We are mercenaries, Master Baggins!" Roland explained.

"They get paid," added Gandalf.

"Wizard, how do we go?" Roland asked.

"Take the Eastern Avenue, then cross the Misty Mountains, and finally take the Laolin Road along the Rapids North to the Lonely Mountain."

"Sounds good, but this road will never be peaceful..." Roland looked into the distance.

"Alas... this road is destined to be full of danger," Roland thought to himself. He was familiar with the plot and knew that there would be many orcs later, and even the Battle of the Five Armies.

"Sir Roland, your army amazed me! I don't think I've seen their armor before..." Thorin, walking side by side with Roland, asked.

"Well, I'm a human from the east. This is the plate armor unique to our homeland. We were defeated in battle, and our people began to wander in the north," Roland quickly made an excuse. After all, the system-produced plate armor was very different from the armor style of this world.

"My lord! An enemy is approaching us! It's a half-orc!" An archer in charge of reconnaissance galloped on his horse, bringing the bad news to everyone.

"Did you see clearly? How many people are there?" Roland asked hurriedly.

"There are about 300."

"My lord, I think we should gather the knights now. After all, the power of the knights mainly comes from the group charge. Let the knights move, otherwise we will be the best target," Carlos said, understanding that Roland didn't want him to show his identity as a dragon knight.

"Gather the knights! Crush them under our iron hooves!" Roland said viciously. After all, he had soldiers, so he didn't panic.

Sure enough, after a while, hundreds of orcs rushed out of the woods in a mess, charging at everyone with various broken weapons. Roland even saw a dung fork among them.

"Huh—" Gandalf let out a long sigh. "Fortunately, it's not the half-orc army from the Misty Mountains."

"Don't be too happy. Our whereabouts and purpose may have already been exposed," Roland said, pouring cold water over Gandalf's relief.

"Charge! Crush them!" Roland pulled out his Dragon Slaying Sword and rushed out first!

All kinds of war flames covered the war horses, armors, and weapons with the urging of the apprentice knights. The knights gradually integrated their momentum into a whole during the charge, each person's weapon showing a nearly half-meter-long fighting edge. This was the difference between knights and cavalry. The knights released their fighting spirit in the charge, connecting themselves with other knights as a whole. As long as the fighting spirit wasn't exhausted, they shared the damage and received the addition of the knights' fighting spirit. At this moment, they were the knights known as the King of Land Wars!

"Bang—" With dull crashing sounds and the tearing sound of spears penetrating bodies, the knights collided with the vanguard of the orcs. Roland and the knights under his command wielded their weapons, manipulating the war horses to tear apart more than a dozen orcs. The ten archers behind them also raised their longbows, and with each shot, an orc fell to the ground with an arrow in the eye socket or throat. All the orcs charging around the knights were knocked to the ground by these ten.

"So, aren't you going to help?" an archer asked, looking at the stunned group.

"Eh! Kill!" The dwarves, startled, quickly took up weapons like axes, swords, and hammers to meet the orcs. Only Bilbo stayed where he was, at a loss, while Gandalf picked up his staff and chanted a spell. The next second, a fireball the size of a human head passed over the heads of the crowd and hit the rear of the orcs.

"Beautiful! Finally, not the battle mage from the movie," Roland glanced at Gandalf in surprise and then said to himself.