The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 646: First Night

“General, they’re gone!” Luke Leopold said to Renault in a deep voice.

"Let's send a dragon rider to keep an eye on things. He's a smart man; he knows what to do!" Renault said nonchalantly. After all, a self-aware person who knows when to advance and retreat wouldn't be so brain-dead as to court disaster!

“Okay!” Luke Leopold nodded. He was just Renault’s assistant anyway, so he did whatever Renault said.

……

"My lord, how do we cross the river?" The crowd gazed at the raging torrent, their eyes filled with helplessness. After all, the wide, swift river had not only nurtured the Lagrange people but also swallowed countless lives! The turbulent river didn't care whether you were its offspring or not…

"Whoosh!" Ismir was clearly prepared, clapping his hands to unleash the "What You Think, You Get" technique! Wood Release... cough cough! Wrong channel! Natural Power - Wood Vine Entanglement!
"Crack!" A sound of twisting wood came, and countless vines surged from the ground, quickly intertwining and contracting. In no time, a wooden vine boat more than ten meters long and four or five meters wide was ready!

"Will this work?" Everyone looked at it with questioning eyes, wondering if it would sink in water.
“Of course, the power of wood magic is no joke!” Ismir shook his head and explained. After all, they were just a bunch of Muggles, how could they understand the wonders of magic?

"Then how are we going to paddle across?" The crowd looked on with doubt. After all, this thing had no sail or oars. Did they expect it to float across on its own?
It really was true! Ismir controlled the magical vines to lift the wooden boat and send it into the water. Sure enough, the boat floated slowly on the water without leaking at all.

"Don't worry, this thing is enhanced by magic, it won't fall apart for at least a day!" Ismir shrugged and explained, seeing that everyone still looked a little uneasy.

“Sir, we can’t go all at once. It seems we’ll have to take our time and go in batches!” said the apprentice swordsman, Haro.

“Well, it will take more than ten trips to get across. I plan to let you go first, and we’ll take one warhorse and one wagon at a time!” Ismir looked at the fully loaded wagon wagon lane.

"Won't this thing be heavy? The carriage probably can't support it..."

“No…” Ismir shook his head firmly. Natural magic naturally includes the control of water magic, and using water to lift the boat was the only solution he could think of.

"That's good!" Everyone nodded repeatedly, after all, those things were their future livelihoods! Come on! We're going to explore new frontiers, not to survive in the wilderness like Bear Grylls!

"...By the Dragon God! I swear I will build a great ship for the territory!" The group said, their legs trembling. The feeling of being about to fall into the water made these complete landlubbers feel cold all over. When they crossed the river, they had been staring intently at Ismir's face, fearing that he might run out of magic and they would all end up raising fish in the swift current...

"Alright, everyone, let's get ashore and find a safe place to gather some firewood and make a campfire!" Ismir ordered directly.

"Be careful with your reconnaissance! Don't act rashly! You only have one life!" Ismir said gravely. (Roland: Oh?)
"Don't worry, sir, we know what we're doing!" the pioneers immediately replied. They were working for themselves! The risk could be their own lives, so naturally no one was taking it lightly.

"Alright, I'll go fetch the wagons!" Ismir left Haro alone on the other side of the river to watch over the wagons; now he was going to fetch the supplies and the wagons!
……

"Crack!"

The warm campfire flickered with an orange-red light. They set up camp at the junction of the riverbank and the woodland, a place where they wouldn't be easily attacked by aquatic monsters from the river or monsters from the woodland, so at least the safety was pretty good.

"The soup is ready, sir!" The pioneers hastily prepared dinner and handed Ismir a clay bowl filled with food. The food was simple: a meat porridge made with some dried salted meat, mushrooms, and rice. Because it was dried salted meat, no salt was even needed. Although the ingredients were simple and the taste was average, the thick meat porridge was incredibly filling, a true delicacy for everyone who had worked all day!
"You've worked hard!" Ismir was very approachable. He took the bowl and tentatively slurped a mouthful. The piping hot meat porridge swept away his fatigue from the day, and his tense mind instantly relaxed.

"Set up sentries tonight! We can't be careless; there's no kingdom army here to guard us through the night!" Ismir said solemnly. He didn't want to wake up to find himself standing before the Dragon God. (He hadn't even woken up yet...)
"Mmm-hmm-hmm!" Everyone nodded frantically like chickens pecking at rice. To be honest, they were still very scared to come out this time. After all, venturing deep into the wilderness to explore, without a large army to clear the way, they instantly felt a suffocating sense of loneliness. If it weren't for the support of their families, they probably would have already started to back down! (This is where Lance's brilliance shines. People with families and attachments are often the easiest to control. For the sake of their families' well-being, they will push themselves to move forward!)
"Something's not right... this power and aura..." A shadow fell over Ismir's heart. With the Breath of Nature, he could clearly feel his senses had become sharper, as if the entire world were his eyes and ears. Being in the wilderness, he naturally wouldn't hold back his mental energy. After desperately spreading his mental energy to investigate, he felt a pressure emanating from the depths of his soul! This thing... it seems only beings of a sufficiently high level of life can affect lower-level life forms...

“Looks like I won’t be able to sleep tonight… I need to get everyone settled first!” Ismir patted his face, forcibly dispelling the weariness in his eyes. He told the Night Watchman and then lay down on the grass alone, gazing at the sky.

He appeared to be idly spacing out, but in reality, he was using his magic and mental power to construct a vast network of magical perception through every blade of grass and tree. He continuously released and set up basic perception spells, and soon his head began to ache as if pricked by needles.

"Damn it! My mental energy is almost depleted!" Ismir cried out in despair. The late emperor's sea of ​​consciousness collapsed before he had even finished weaving the net?
Before Ismir could recover, the natural energy in his chest slowly released gentle natural energy, like a mother's hand brushing across Ismir's sea of ​​consciousness, instantly replenishing his previously depleted spiritual power.

"Whoosh!" With the help of the Breath of Nature, Ismir successfully constructed a vast network of mental perception, sensing every rustle of grass within a radius of several miles. Fortunately, the owner of that terrifying aura was not within Ismir's perception.

"I'm going to take a nap first," Ismir said to the Night Watchman after finishing his work. He no longer needed to keep a close watch. The magic perception array had been deployed, and any magical beast or professional entering the range would automatically trigger the perception magic inscription in his mind. He didn't need to worry about those trashy wandering orcs and wild beasts, and he could handle the pioneers himself!

After all, Ismir had already distributed shields, spears, longswords, armor and other equipment to the Nature Guardians. These heavily armed quasi-professionals, while not necessarily the most powerful, could easily take down those small Karami.