But before Thorin could speak, the young and energetic Fili and Kili stood up and asked:

"Mr. Wayne, you seem to be very confident in your own strength and look down on Smaug, the dragon who defeated the dwarves. Why don't we have a competition to see if anyone is bragging."

Wayne was not angry when he heard this. He turned his head to look at Prince Thorin and Balin and saw that the two dwarves in charge did not stop them. The grey-robed wizard Gandalf also looked quite interested. Bilbo, on the other hand, was quite anxious and looked like he wanted to persuade them.

He laughed secretly in his heart. If that was the case, he might as well establish his authority first.

Wayne kept a calm expression on his face as he looked at Kili and Fili. The two young dwarves were less than a hundred years old. They were the birthplace of the dwarves after they fled the Lonely Mountain and came to the Blue Mountains. They had not participated in the Battle of Moria, nor had they seen the real Smaug. They had no real concept of the evil dragons their ancestors had talked about.

They are Thorin's nephews, children of Thorin's sister Dis, and the youngest dwarves of the House of Durin.

In the original book, in order to protect Thorin, these two young dwarves, along with their uncle, all died in the subsequent Battle of Five Armies. This also led to the death of all the Durin clan, including Thorin's line. The title of King under the Mountain was inherited by Thorin's cousin Dain Ironfoot.

Wayne thought about it and did not accept Qili and Fili's challenge. Instead, he clapped his hands, making a crisp sound, and then said to everyone who was looking at him, "Since everyone has doubts about my strength, then I will prove myself with practical actions."

"It just so happens that everyone is full, let's do some after-meal exercise."

Having said that, regardless of whether everyone was willing or not, he took the lead in standing up from his seat, then left the banquet hall and came to an indoor training room on the first floor.

As a warrior who values ​​the use of force, of course his manor must have such a well-equipped training ground. Unfortunately, even when he was in Middle-earth in the past, he mostly trained in the wild and seldom used this place.

But old Ford managed it very well. Even though it was not used often, it was still clean and tidy, and was equipped with all the equipment for training.

Wayne reached out and took a wooden sword from the weapon rack, then said to the dwarves behind him:

"Come on, dwarves, let's fight."

"Although swordsmanship is only the least impressive part of my strength, if I fail to defeat you thirteen dwarves within five minutes, then I will accompany you to Lonely Mountain without any reward. How about that?"

As a dwarf prince and heir of the Durin clan, Thorin Oakenshield is respected by the dwarves. Thorin has always been proud.

Now, hearing that Wayne, a human, was actually challenging the thirteen dwarves and even boasting that he would defeat them all within five minutes, even with his self-restraint as a prince, he felt quite angry.

After exchanging a glance with the dwarves behind him, Thorin stepped forward first, selected a wooden sword from the weapon rack beside him, and said, "No, Wayne, we will defeat you."

"If you lose, the contract will remain the same, and we will still give you one-fifteenth of the gold."

"But you must stop being so arrogant and looking down on dwarves!"

Wayne smiled and nodded. Seeing that only Thorin, Kilifili and three dwarves had picked up weapons, he decided to show his strength first to prevent the other dwarves from continuing to wait and see.

So, he waited until Thorin and the other two stood in the center of the training ground and stood opposite him. Then he instantly burst out with all his strength. His body turned into a shadow and he instantly appeared in front of Thorin in a charging posture.

The speed of this instant stunned everyone present. Sony only had time to cross his hands and block them in front of his chest, while Qilifili behind him didn't even have time to make any moves.

Wayne did not swing the wooden sword. Instead, in front of Thorin's shocked gaze, he directly hit Thorin's chest with his shoulder. The powerful force knocked the dwarf prince flying. He let out a cry of pain, and then knocked down his two nephews behind him like a rolling gourd.

The three dwarves all fell to the ground in a mess, huddled together, no longer as calm as they were at the beginning.

Wayne did not continue to pursue, but turned his head to look outside the training ground at the stunned spectators. He continued to speak without blushing or beating his heart, "Gentlemen, I am not speaking arrogantly or being disrespectful."

"But with my strength, if there are only one or two enemies, they will basically be knocked down instantly by me, so you can't see my strength clearly."

While Wayne was speaking, Thorin, who had just been knocked away, supported himself with his wooden sword and got up from the ground. He stared at Wayne in amazement, and after thinking for a few seconds, he turned his head seriously to look at his fellow dwarves and shouted, "Wayne is right. We underestimated him."

"Now, dwarves, take up your weapons and fight him side by side with me. He is an unprecedentedly powerful enemy and a worthy opponent. Don't let Wayne underestimate the strength of us dwarves."

After receiving the prince's order, the other dwarves no longer hesitated. They chose their weapons from the weapon racks, including shields, wooden hammers, spears, wooden swords, and wooden knives. They walked to Thorin's side and quickly formed a defensive formation that could be used on the battlefield.

Then, the dwarves clapped their weapons, roared battle, and surrounded Wayne.

Facing the encirclement of these dwarves, Wayne's expression did not change, he remained calm. He smiled at Gandalf and Bilbo who were still watching the battle outside, then held the wooden sword, and without dodging, he attacked the dwarves directly.

Although the physical fitness of the dwarves in Middle-earth is much stronger than that of humans in the wizarding world, they are at least twice as strong and fast as Wayne, who has a cheat. Even in terms of combat skills, the dwarves' aggressive fighting style is a world apart from the demon hunter's superb swordsmanship.

Therefore, the following battle was not as exciting or evenly matched as everyone had imagined.

Crushing with technology and strength, even if Wayne faced him head-on, every dwarf would be defeated in one move when facing him, and their attacks were either accurately blocked by Wayne or nimbly dodged by him, and could not cause any effective blow at all.

Even if the dwarves wanted to hug Wayne with their bodies and make him lose the ability to dodge, Wayne could rely on his powerful jumping ability to jump lightly and jump directly over the dwarves' heads and jump behind them, leaving these short and strong men empty-handed.

Soon, in less than five minutes, the dwarf team, which was originally high-spirited, united and confident of victory, was all knocked to the ground and lost the power to resist.

Wayne, who was fighting against them, was still standing in the center of the training ground, holding a wooden sword in his hand. He was not even sweating, and he looked at the fallen dwarves calmly. To be more precise, he looked at Prince Thorin among the dwarves and asked politely, "Prince Thorin, I should have won this duel, right?"

Upon hearing this, Thorin looked at his dwarf companions with some difficulty, and finally exchanged a glance with Balin. Each of them was beaten black and blue, and four or five were knocked unconscious, while the witcher on the opposite side had no injuries on his body and had not been hit once.

If the time had not been almost up and the opponent had not suddenly attacked more forcefully, knocking several dwarves unconscious, perhaps this competition would not have looked so tragic as it does now.

Faced with such an ironclad fact, Thorin would not quibble. He sighed and said to Wayne, "You won, Wayne. You are stronger than we thought."

"You beat us all."

"We dwarves value promises. I agree to the condition you proposed."

"If you can kill Smaug, one third of the gold on the Lonely Mountain will be yours, and you will become the best friend of all the Dwarves of the Udin clan."

Although it was a little difficult to say such words of surrender at first, after saying it, Thorin's heart suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

In fact, this expedition to Lonely Mountain was more of a life-and-death gamble than an adventure.

When Gandalf proposed this expedition, everyone had no hope of success and were even prepared to make sacrifices.

Therefore, there were only a dozen dwarves participating in the expedition this time. Otherwise, with Prince Thorin's prestige, he would have been able to easily gather dozens or even hundreds of dwarves.

But now, with a powerful partner who could defeat all the dwarves on his own, Thorin suddenly felt that the success rate of this operation had increased a lot.

Although strong swordsmanship does not represent a person's full strength.

But if Wayne in front of him was not lying, and swordsmanship was just his most inconspicuous fighting method, then in future actions, this human would definitely bring them more surprises.

After receiving Thorin's promise, Wayne's smile became even brighter. He stretched out his hand to Thorin, pulled the dwarf prince up from the ground, and said, "You are a magnanimous prince, Your Highness Thorin."

"Tonight, everyone should rest well in my manor. After the new contract is signed tomorrow, we will set off."

"Please believe me, inviting me to join this expedition to Lonely Mountain is definitely the right choice."

"This operation will go more smoothly than you think."

Perhaps infected by the confidence in Wayne's tone, Thorin, who had been under great pressure and tortured by revenge, honor, and the obsession of taking back the Lonely Mountain, also smiled, nodded to Wayne, and said:

"I hope so, Wayne."

"Reclaiming the Lonely Mountain has been our dwarven tribe's wish for hundreds of years. We are all willing to sacrifice our lives for it."

When the atmosphere between Wayne and Thorin became harmonious again, Gandalf came over with a smile on his face. He smoked his pipe and expressed his appreciation for Wayne's fighting skills and the dwarves' unity and courage. He also mediated the relationship between Wayne and the dwarves through his words.

As the initiator of the journey to Lonely Mountain, he certainly hoped that someone with strong power would join. For him, defeating Smaug and defeating the devil Sauron were his most important goals.

Although he didn't know Wayne and had doubts at the beginning, after the battle with the dwarves, Gandalf was the most enthusiastic about Wayne's joining.

That night, Wayne generously took out his treasured intermediate healing potion. Not only did heal the dwarves' injuries, he also gave a large bottle of this potion to every warrior participating in the expedition to the Lonely Mountain, even Gandalf and Bilbo were no exception.

As a battle wizard who only knows flash magic and swordsmanship, Gandalf is very interested in this magical potion. He even asks Wayne directly if he is willing to sell him the potion or the formula.

Of course, this request was naturally rejected. It was not because Wayne was stingy, but mainly because this potion came from the world of Azeroth and it was basically impossible to produce in Middle-earth.

The magic composition of the two worlds is very different, just like the herbs grown in Middle-earth. Wayne tried to use these herbs from the wizarding world to make witcher potions, but found that all the herbs grown in Middle-earth had lost their effects, which made him quite disappointed.

Time quickly came to the next day. After enjoying a hearty breakfast, old Ford redrafted a new contract for everyone.

Under the witness of Gandalf, the contract was signed again by everyone.

After the contract was signed, the expedition to Lonely Mountain officially began.

When Wayne appeared in front of the dwarves riding on the eight-meter-tall monster, Robin, Deathclaw, all the dwarves were shocked by the horrific monster, except Gandalf and Bilbo who had seen Deathclaw before.

Those sharp claws, strong muscles, scaly shell made of steel, and that bloody mouth full of fangs.

No one doubted that if Deathclaw Robin wanted to, he could kill the horses they were riding with just one bite.

Although they had not seen the Death Claw's combat power with their own eyes, just by seeing its appearance, the members of the Lonely Mountain Squad became more confident in the success rate of this operation and in Wayne's strength.

At the same time, a glimmer of hope rose in the hearts of these dwarves.

Could they really kill Smaug and take back the Lonely Mountain this time?

(End of this chapter)