Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

This battle yielded a significant amount of experience, and the Orc Barbarians, who had already accumulated a substantial amount of experience from previous battles, met the requirements for promotion.

A full twenty-one Orc Barbarians could advance from Tier 3 units, "Orc Warriors," to "Orc Champions," and Muto could even advance from a Tier 4 unit, "Orc Champion," to a Tier 5 "Great Axe Guard."

The people were the same, but the overall increase in tier elevated High Cliff Stronghold's military strength by a level.

Each level upgrade of system soldiers brings significant effects; forty Tier 3 "Orc Warriors" and forty "Orc Champions" are entirely different concepts.

The former can only be considered decent in the wilderness, while the latter is sufficient to gain a firm foothold.

However, Li Wei currently doesn't have enough money to upgrade them, so he can only put it on hold for now.

The attacking Gnolls were defeated, but the crisis was not over.

A group of Gnoll women and children watched everything that happened here with hatred in their eyes from within the tribal territory.

Compared to the strong, two-blades-tall male Gnolls, these women and children were relatively thin, with heights less than one blade and eight inches.

However, they could still cause considerable trouble if they picked up weapons.

Li Wei sent thirty Orcs to watch over these Gnoll women and children first, while the remaining ten began stripping equipment from the Gnolls' bodies.

Soon, a pile of tattered leather armor and metal weapons accumulated in front of Li Wei.

This equipment would be considered decent for the impoverished wilderness, but the Orc Barbarians, already equipped with fine steel weapons and fine steel throwing spears, couldn't even look at it now.

Li Wei wasn't one to use inferior goods, so he sold everything to the system store, ultimately obtaining fifty-one gold coins.

With money in hand, Li Wei immediately upgraded the Orc Barbarians one by one, ultimately spending nearly three gold coins.

To Li Wei's surprise, upgrading Muto from a Tier 4 unit to a Tier 5 unit actually required fifty silver coins!

Although it didn't seem like much individually, Li Wei knew that he would have more and more soldiers in the future.

When he reached thousands, each level up would be a huge expense, and this money had to be spent.

Li Wei couldn't help but sigh, feeling that the road ahead was still long and arduous.

As for the cavalry heavy armor from the Gnoll leader's body, he also stripped it off and put it into the system space.

This set of cavalry heavy armor was only slightly old, with no visible damage on the surface, and was even worth sixty gold coins in the system store's individual sales, making it a rather good piece of equipment.

When he arrived at the Gnoll tribe, more than a hundred women and children had already been driven by the Orc Barbarians into an open space.

Among them, there were about a hundred female Gnolls and thirty or so wolf cubs.

There wasn't a single elderly Gnoll, which precisely reflected the cruelty of the wilderness.

The elderly, who could not contribute to the tribe, were often driven out or killed by the Gnolls to avoid burdening the Gnoll tribe.

Li Wei pondered, stroking his chin, considering how to deal with this group of Gnoll women and children.

If he let them all go, they might create an enemy for High Cliff Stronghold in the future, although the probability was very low.

But killing them all seemed too cruel.

Forget it, kill them all.

Great achievers throughout history do not adhere to petty details, and kindness does not command troops; Li Wei understood these principles.

Just now, it was only the education from his previous life in China that gave him a little compassion.

"Huh?"

Just as he waved his hand, preparing to have the Orc Barbarians kill all these Gnolls, his gaze swept over one of the Gnoll cubs and he couldn't help but pause.

"Name: One-Eye"

This was a small Gnoll, less than one blade and three inches tall, with light gray skin covered in spots, and a sparse, short mane extending from the top of its head to its tailbone.

One of its eyes was white and without luster, obviously blind due to unknown reasons.

What surprised Li Wei was that its name actually appeared above its head.

He knew that Zart was a hero unit because this guy's name lit up.

Li Wei realized that people who were identified as hero units by the system would have their names lit up above their heads.

"You, come here."

He looked at this one-eyed Gnoll cub.

In an instant, all the Gnolls made way, and Li Wei actually saw gloating in the eyes of this group of Gnolls.

Obviously, this one-eyed Gnoll was not popular in the tribe.

"L… Lord."

It trembled as it came to Li Wei, speaking broken Common Tongue.

Although Gnolls seem cruel and murderous, their intelligence is not lower than that of humans, and it is not surprising that they know Common Tongue.

Being less than one blade and three inches tall, it looked like a harmless puppy in front of the one blade and eight inches tall Li Wei.

Not to mention the Orc Barbarians glaring menacingly beside him.

"Look up at me!"

The one-eyed Gnoll cub slowly raised its eyes, and Li Wei saw fear and even a trace of worship in its one eye.

There was no hatred at all, which was obviously abnormal.

Although there was no affection between Gnolls, Li Wei had killed all the prime adults of their tribe, so no matter what, it should harbor hatred for him, the murderer of its kin.

"Don't you hate me for killing your tribe?" Li Wei asked.

The result was beyond his expectations; this Gnoll cub trembled all over. This wasn't because its pain point was touched; it was a sign of excitement.

"Lord, I'm not a Gnoll from this tribe; I was captured by them. My mother was killed by them. After coming here, I was tortured day and night, and my eyes were blinded by them. I'm more than happy that you killed them."

Its Common Tongue became more fluent as it spoke, and its expression was excited.

Li Wei carefully observed this wolf cub. Its eyes were filled with deep gratitude, and its expression did not seem fake.

He was thinking about whether this Gnoll was an old fox who was so deep that he couldn't see through him, or whether everything was really as it said.

Ultimately, the former possibility was obviously higher.

"What's your name?"

"Lord, my name is One-Eye," it said.

Swish!

Li Wei drew his sword.

It was startled, trembling like a sieve, but still looked directly at Li Wei.

Earlier, it saw this human kill the powerful Gnoll leader, who was impossible to resist, with one sword.

It felt honored to die in the hands of such a strong person.

But the sword rested on its shoulder, and it didn't fall for a long time.

Just as it was puzzled, the solemn voice of the human in front of it sounded.

"I, the lord of High Cliff Stronghold, the pioneering Baron, the future King of the North, hereby grant you the name Hogg. Are you willing to fight for me?"

It was first unbelievable, and then it all turned into deep ecstasy.

"I am willing! I am willing!"

Because it liked to learn about human knowledge since childhood, it knew from a human captured by the tribe that this behavior was called ennoblement, which was a very noble ceremony.

"Gnoll Hogg requests to join the team. Do you agree?"

Li Wei, who received the team application, also showed a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

Brothers, Grandpa Hogg has already joined the team.

Begging for monthly tickets tomorrow!

Don't give them to me today, hehe…