Time passed quickly, and ten days went by in the blink of an eye. The expedition team stayed in Rivendell for about two weeks in total.

During this period, Wayne barely learned the basic level of Sindarin and could read some simple books written in Sindarin. He even added a skill to his auxiliary skills, called Alien Language Talent, which was directly upgraded to level two.

Alien Language Talent LV2: Alien language learning speed +20%.

However, what Princess Arwen and King Elrond did not know was that in the process of learning Sindarin, some books in the library had been copied by Wayne unknowingly. These were not precious books, but only those that were open to him within the scope of King Elrond's permission.

As for the new apprentice Aragorn, Wayne can be said to be doing his best.

Not only did he spend two hours every day to guide him carefully, but he also arranged various after-school training for him and built a training ground for him as a witcher apprentice in a remote forest.

Under the careful teaching of this master swordsman, the boy, who had just turned ten years old, grew rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. He quickly adapted to the physical pain and mental torture caused by training. His skills became more and more neat and nimble, and his swordsmanship improved significantly.

This feeling of becoming stronger quickly always filled the boy's eyes with the flame of passion, and the look he showed towards Wayne became more and more respectful.

However, all good things must come to an end. Although Aragorn was very reluctant and did not want to leave his good teacher Wayne, the time for parting soon came.

The future emperor was mature beyond his age. He did not cry or act like a naughty kid like other kids. Instead, he expressed his blessings to Wayne with great care and gave him a gift he had made himself.

He also expressed the hope that Wayne would continue to be his swordsmanship teacher after he successfully hunted down Smaug.

When the little boy learned that the purpose of Wayne's journey was to hunt Smaug, the world-famous dragon, his shining eyes were full of admiration and yearning. Obviously, in the hearts of children of this age, being able to become a hero who hunts dragons is their lifelong wish.

Wayne neither chose to refuse nor agreed immediately. He found that after he finished the courses in Rivendell, the task of teaching Aragorn was not completed. This was an unlimited-time task and he could choose when to complete it. This made him want to continue teaching Aragorn.

It's not just because Aragorn will have a prominent position in the future Middle-earth, but also partly because the little boy is indeed very obedient and sensible, extremely talented, and a promising talent, which makes him involuntarily admire his talent.

And since some time ago, Wayne could clearly feel that King Elrond's attitude towards him had changed greatly, and it seemed that he was intentionally trying to win him over. It was not just about the issue of Princess Arwen, but the two of them also made a not-so-secret deal during this period.

Wayne used a large amount of intermediate healing potions, several magic items, and the design drawings of master-level crossbows to exchange for a batch of war horses from the Sindar elves, a total of more than one hundred horses.

They are all tall war horses unique to the Sindar elves, with special bloodlines, fast speed, great endurance, amazing strength, and their physical performance is several steps better than the elite war horses in the wizarding world. It is estimated that each one is a rare war horse that can be sold for more than two thousand orens in the wizarding world.

He planned to wait until the mission in Lonely Mountain was completed and leave Middle-earth with the Deathclaw, then take away this batch of war horses. Not only could he give them to his fellow witchers, but he could also use them as bargaining chips to trade with Francesca's elves.

War horses are a valuable strategic piece of equipment that will be in short supply in the upcoming Civil War.

Not only that, once he has established friendly relations with the dwarves, elves or other races in Middle-earth, many of Middle-earth's specialties will become best-selling products in his future chamber of commerce, earning him huge profits.

Therefore, even if it means sacrificing some short-term interests, he will try his best to establish friendly relations with other powerful races in Middle-earth, which will be a powerful help to the future of the Witcher Cult.

And in Rivendell, the person who was probably most reluctant to see Wayne leave was Princess Arwen. Perhaps it was the witcher's handsome looks, his humorous eloquence, or even the delicious and sweet cakes he took out from time to time.

Although the two of them did not spend a long time together, they had a very pleasant time together. It was rare for the princess to meet a fellow tribesman with whom she could communicate on an equal footing. So on the day of their separation, she did something unprecedented, walked up to the expedition team and King Elrond, stood on tiptoe to hug Wayne, and gave him a kiss of blessing on the cheek, wishing him victory in the battle with the dragon Smaug. She also presented him with a very beautiful woven wreath and put it on his head.

After the hug, Wayne suddenly felt a little numb facing the various meaningful looks from the dwarves, elves, hobbits and wizards around him. He tried his best to keep a gentle smile on his face and not look at King Elrond's expression.

Then he thanked Arwen softly, whose face was slightly flushed, and took out the exquisite elven dagger that he found together with the two ancient elven swords from the space bracelet. The dagger was later named Jingle Sword and gave it to the elven princess as a gift.

He and the rest of the expedition team left Rivendell as if they were fleeing.

………………

Because this time, with the wizard Gandalf and Wayne leaving together, the fate of Thorin and other dwarves was not as miserable as in the original book, where they were tied up and taken to the Orc town, and then rescued by Gandalf like a god.

However, it seemed that because Wayne killed too many orcs and wargs last time, he aroused the vigilance of Azog and the Orc Clan in the Misty Mountains.

This time, as soon as they entered the orc territory, they immediately attracted the attention of the orc scouts. The expedition team's whereabouts were exposed and they were attacked by the orc clan.

Large numbers of orcs, driving many wolves, soon attacked the expedition team every now and then, using poison, traps, archery, night raids, and all kinds of despicable means.

However, this situation just happened to fit Wayne's idea.

Perhaps these foolish orcs thought that the Misty Mountains were their home ground and could cause harm to the expedition team through traps, ambushes or sieges.

But their poor brains could not imagine what kind of killing power Deathclaw Robin, the terrifying top killer of the apocalypse, could unleash in such a complex terrain?

Any arrows shot by the Orcs would only tickle Deathclaw, and the huge rocks falling from the sky were just like soft fists and could not cause any substantial harm to Robin.

With this terrifying giant beast as the vanguard, all the orcs' methods became useless and had no effect at all.

Even if it was a forced siege, as long as Gandalf and Thorin found a terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack before the battle began, and then let Robin act as a meat shield to guard the gorge below.

No matter how many orcs participated in the attack, they would all be turned into piles of minced meat under the sharp claws and teeth of the Deathclaw.

At this time, Wayne is a powerful killing machine. He can ride on a magic carpet, fly in the air, use full firepower, magic signs, alchemical bombs, archery, and slaughter the orcs below at will without any threat himself.

Faced with Wayne's bomber-like killing power, these inexperienced orcs were quickly frightened and fled, leaving behind hundreds of corpses in less than ten minutes.

If the cunning Orc King Azog had not appeared during the attack, Wayne might have been able to complete Prince Thorin's master-level mission directly.

That night, Wayne and his companions found a mountaintop and an easily defensible cave as their accommodation. Robin, the Death Claw, was guarding the entrance of the cave, directly isolating them from any possible attack from outside.

As the chef of the team, Wayne casually cooked a pot of mushroom and dried meat soup, some barbecue and bread for everyone. This simple meal immediately won everyone's praise.

After a long period of getting along and being baptized by various battles, as the strongest one, his status in the entire team has risen to the level that is on par with the leader Thorin.

If he were not the dwarf prince, perhaps he would have been the leader of this team.

He drank a bottle of fruit mead that he had traded from Rivendell, sat against a clean rock wall, and said to Gandalf and Thorin:

"Thorin, Gandalf, I have found an entrance to the orc town in the Misty Mountains."

"We should prepare to launch a surprise attack on their lair before their second encirclement and suppression is completed."

Gandalf took a puff of his pipe, stroked his snow-white beard, and said:

"You ready to go alone again, Wayne?"

"I still think that such an action is too risky."

"Although you are very powerful, the orcs have survived until now. It is not so easy to deal with them."

"As the Orcs' lair in the Misty Mountains, no one knows how many dangers are hidden in Orc Town."

"With your strength, as long as we reach Lonely Mountain and unite those warriors who have been persecuted by the orcs for many years, we will definitely be able to defeat these orcs."

Wayne knew Gandalf's good intentions in his advice, but whether out of confidence in his own strength or the master-level task of severely damaging the orcs in the Misty Mountains, he was obviously unwilling to remain on the defensive.

Thorin's idea was similar to Wayne's. While sharpening his sword, which had become a little dull from killing orcs, he nodded to Wayne and said, "I agree with you, Wayne. We should indeed take the initiative to attack."

"These orc scums didn't achieve any results in our first siege. I think they underestimated the enemy."

"If we wait until they are ready for the second time, even with the help of your deathclaws, we may suffer casualties and our brothers may die."

"While they are still unprepared, let's launch an unexpected surprise attack together. This will not only disrupt their plans, but will also definitely inflict heavy damage on them."

"Let these filthy orcs no longer block our way to the Lonely Mountain."

(End of this chapter)