Chapter 9: The First Threat

I checked the base's resources. There were enough gold coins, and wood was still being chopped, slowly increasing. Fortunately, it was enough to build the Altar of Kings.

An Altar of Kings was placed on the other side of the Town Hall, with the altar and the barracks guarding the Town Hall on the left and right.

Seeing that there was still some wood left, Galen gave orders and completed all twelve training queues of the barracks in one go, including eight infantry and four musketeers.

The summoned hero mentioned in the introduction of the Altar of Kings is what Galen is eagerly waiting for. He needs someone to lead the base's combat units, and he also needs high-level combat forces stationed at the base.

Just as Galen was looking forward to a bright future, Omar approached hurriedly and said, "Your Highness, we found a group of trolls not far to the north."

Galen was surprised to hear this. The base had just begun training combat units and had no ability to protect itself. The appearance of the trolls at this time was not good news.

"What's going on?" Galen asked Omar hurriedly. Omar stood in front of Galen and said hastily, "A soldier named Mog who went hunting with Varokar just returned to report that he found a group of hunting trolls in the northern mountains. There are about twenty trolls."

A hunting team of twenty trolls. Fortunately, as long as it's not a large-scale troll army, I can always find a way to destroy them.

Quickly gathering several soldiers in the camp, Galen and Omar followed Mog, who had returned with the news, and quickly headed to the forest where Varokar was hiding.

As they approached the forest, another soldier following Varokar emerged from a bush and led them closer to Varokar's position.

This is a shaded spot on a small hill at the edge of the forest. Galen carefully concealed himself, slowly walked towards Varokar, and asked in a low voice, "What's the situation with the trolls?"

"Your Highness, right in front of us there are a total of twenty trolls. They arrived in this area about an hour ago. A small group of trolls is camping, and some are looking for water at the foot of the mountain." Varokar leaned close to Galen's ear and whispered the information he had discovered.

Galen crouched down and looked in the direction Varokar pointed. It was an open space by the river, about three hundred meters away from them. The trolls in the camp were busy. Several tents had been set up. There were four supply carts outside the camp, with two Highland horses pulling the carts, and several velociraptor mounts on wooden stakes. The body shape of the Witherbark Trolls is not suitable for using Highland Horses as a means of transportation, so most of them will tame velociraptors and use Highland Horses only as animal power.

"Do you know why they are here?" Galen was most worried that large-scale troll activities would occur and that they would discover the existence of the base in advance, which would be dangerous.

"This group of trolls hunts and collects food and leather, just like us. I used my dwarven telescope to see that their luggage includes velociraptor cubs and fresh velociraptor hides made of simple nitrate. They should be one of the hunting teams from Deadwood Village. This is not the best hunting season, and the trolls will not send many hunting teams to store food for the winter. However, the trolls of the Deadwood Clan also have a gathering point in the Hinterlands, and they will also hunt leather for trade."

This means that there may be more than one group of trolls entering this area, but Galen knows that most hunting teams will be limited to a certain area and will not enter the hunting areas of other teams.

These trolls were also careless and did not send scouts to check the nearby situation, otherwise it would have been difficult for Galen and his team to observe the troll camp at such a close distance.

However, since Stromgarde abandoned the mines in the southeast, the army's defense line is still far to the north, and human caravans only operate on the main road west of the river. Galen and his group also crossed the river from the direction of the Sardor Bridge. There were no signs of their activities in the north, so the trolls did not conduct any reconnaissance.

This is an opportunity. The enemy is in the open, and we are in the dark. Damn it.

Galen decided to confront this wave of trolls, so he asked the experienced Varokar, "Val, how strong is this group of trolls? Can we wipe them out?"

Varokar looked at his own prince and knew that he was a rational man with firm opinions. The prince must have made a decision when he said this.

Varokar thought for a moment and said to Galen, "Your Highness, this group of trolls is only slightly stronger than our ordinary caravans. Among the twenty trolls, there are eight service personnel, twelve fully equipped fighters, and one troll witch doctor."

Galen closed his eyes and called up the map in his mind. The distance was too great at this time for the base to scan it, and he himself had not been there, so he had no view of the troll camp. He carefully explored the troll camp, counted them, and said, "There are currently eight troll civilians in the camp, two level-three troll headhunters, two level-four axe-throwers, and one level-seven witch doctor. The witch doctor should be their leader."

Omar looked at Galen in surprise, not understanding how his own prince knew so much about the strength of the troll camp, but he continued, "Your Highness, axe-throwers are the frontline combat units of the Deadwood Clan. They are good at using one-handed axes and use throwing axes for ranged attacks. Headhunters can throw spears for long-range attacks, but their close combat ability is greatly reduced. If we sneak into their camp at night and launch a surprise attack, with two veteran warriors like Varokar and me, we have a good chance of winning. The only thing we need to be cautious about is the witch doctor. The trolls' voodoo spells are very strange and require special attention."

Galen saw Omar's bewilderment. He was a man with a map, so how could he talk nonsense? After listening to the opinions of his two guard captains, he had a rough idea in his mind. Although the trolls had more people than them, they only had twelve fighters. On his side, Omar, Varokar, and himself were all high-level combatants, and the five guards were also elites, all level-five elites. Their overall strength was greater than that of the trolls.

"Then we will wait until dark to launch a surprise attack and seize their camp. When the time comes, leave the witch doctor to me, and the two of you will lead five guards to help me hold back the other trolls."

"No, Your Highness." After hearing Galen's plan, Omar and Varokar immediately spoke up to stop him. Omar then advised, "The witch doctor looks quite strong. As a spellcaster profession in the troll tribe, they possess various very tricky and strange abilities. Your Highness, you have no experience fighting trolls, so why don't you let me deal with the witch doctor? You and Varokar can quickly take care of the other trolls and come to help me."

"Alright. You hold back the witch doctor while Varokar and I deal with the other soldiers as quickly as possible."

Galen also suddenly felt interested and curious about the witch doctor profession. He had heard that they could communicate with the power of the elements to attack and use voodoo spells to heal the wounded. He wanted to get close and see their abilities.

However, he would not put his own life on the line. Such things are not advisable, and advice should still be listened to when the time comes. Omar is the strongest in the current group, so it is only right for him to fight the troll witch doctor.

Everyone decided to launch a surprise attack under the cover of darkness. After a few people made a plan, they began to gather their strength and prepare for the night action.