Havenfall

The frightened Orc silently revealed the location of their base and even gave details of their numbers and strength.

"I told you everything, human." The Orc looked at her, half scared and half hopeful. " Give me an honorable death and let me join my ancestors."

Freya, satisfied with the information, nodded in reply. She pulled out her sword from his hand and with a powerful slash, cut off his head in a single clean motion.

[You have killed a level 32 Orc, R'unda. +6920 Exp.]

[You have levelled up to Level 24. +10 Distributable Stat points.]

Maria came forward and pulled out her dagger from the corpse before speaking, "Well done Freya, thanks to you, we know where their camp is but I honestly didn't expect you to be so dominant and... cruel."

"I was only bluffing." The mage replied as she cleaned her sword with a piece of cloth, "Did you really think I was going to do all that?"

"I thought you were." Alex spoke in a nervous stutter. "You completely ruined your innocent pretty girl image for me."

"I'm just glad, you got to know me so well." Freya looked at him with a cold smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Let's get going, then we have to deliver this info to Captain Morris as soon as possible."

The three left the two corpses after searching for any valuable loot. They didn't have any coin and their weapons were completely trash according to Freya, so they left the bodies to be devoured by beasts.

The three adventurers quickly reached their horses and then raced the sturdy to horses towards Havenfall under Alex's lead. It took them almost an hour to finally reach the small mining town.

Havenfall was a small town with a population of barely over a thousand citizens. The town was located in the lap of huge rocky mountain and a small river of blue water flew into the town from the mountains. The town was surrounded on three sides by a six-meter tall wall and protected on one side by a vertical slope.

There was barely any vegetation across the town, so the main source of food was livestock and the occasional fish from the river. The three adventurers reached the large wooden gate of the town, where a few guards let them in after confirming their identity. Apparently, Captain Morris had left them a message to find him in the town square.

The three of them entered the town and began to slowly ride the horses towards the square on the paved stone path. Most of the houses on the streets were also made of stone and high quality wood, which was extremely rare for such a small town.

The people of town were quite well off due to the export of Orichalcum. So much so that Freya saw a well every few blocks and lots of shops selling high quality clothes. Even the guards were better equipped than those of other such towns.

As they rode towards their destination, they even crossed the river using a sturdy stone bridge in the middle of the town. The miners that were returning after a full day of work, each wore a bight green uniform and each wore a strong torch-helmet. The mining equipment in their hands was also quite high quality stuff.

Freya had been very surprised with beautiful and clean roads and houses. The image in her mind of the mining town was completely different. She had expected a dusty dirt road and old wooden houses.

"The town is quite different than I imagined."

"Yes, it is very different from most mining towns." The archer replied after hearing the comment, "It's mostly due to its Mayor, who is a retired soldier. That old bastard has no heirs so he invests the income from mines back into the town. It's the reason why this town is almost on par with most of the large cities in the kingdom."

"I've even heard that the Mayor paid hefty coin to a Runemage to place an array on the mines so that it will not pollute the nearby river." Maria added to the conversation. She was also quite fond of the beautiful town. Although the town had almost no trees, its architectural beauty was a rare treat. In fact, some even compared it to Imperial Capital.

The three finally reached the town square, where Morris had gathered the city guards. The city guard stood in square formations in three groups surrounding the Captain. From a single look, Freya could tell there were about fifty to sixty soldiers.

A quick analysis with her trait told her that most of the average guard was about level 8, which was quite better than the usual level 5 guards that she usually observed. Their discipline was also better than others, as Freya noticed that most of them showed a fearful expression, and yet they were still standing straight without so much as a shiver.

"Stand Strong, Men." Captain Morris shouted from the front, "You all have been given an opportunity to protect your town, to protect your homes and to protect your loved ones."

"Sir, Yes, Sir." The raging sound of the city guard echoed across the street.

"We will not forfeit a single gram of dust without a fight. No barbaric Orc will take that which is ours." Morris shouted once more with an aura of nobility. "They want our blood, then they better be ready to give up theirs. Or are you going to give up your blood without a fight?"

"Hell No! Sir." The soldiers roared once more.

"They want our lives, we shall give them death."

"Death! Death!" The soldiers thundered in a united roar.

"They want our metal, then they shall taste our steel."

"Steel! Blood! Death!"

The shouting soldiers lost any hint of fear as adrenaline filled their body. The shouted and raged. They cursed the Orcs and praised their Captains. The captain's speech had smothered their fear and replaced it with courage.

As the three of them reached the middle, Morris turned towards them. He was happy to that they were mostly fine, if a little ruffled. "I'm glad you have returned safely. I hope you have brought some good news."

"The Orc hideout, where they are keeping the prisoners, along with their numbers and strength." Maria answered the heavy warrior. "It was Freya that managed to extract this information from the Orc scouts."