Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

The night was filled with sparse stars, and a crescent moon, seemingly within reach, cast vast swathes of silver silk, illuminating the wilderness in a pristine white.

The Highcliff Hold team, having dealt with the goblin and kobold tribes, returned bathed in the moonlight from the horizon, like warriors from ancient times.

In Li Wei's eyes, goblins and kobolds were utterly unremarkable opponents, barely reaching the waists of the orc barbarians in height, lacking weapons and military training, their equipment consisting of mere wooden sticks and iron scraps.

Li Wei had only brought ten orc barbarians, and they annihilated them all.

What slightly surprised Li Wei was Hogg, the gnoll cub. At its request, Li Wei brought it along for this battle.

Unexpectedly, this wolf cub was exceptionally fierce, single-handedly killing a dozen kobolds, either by tearing out their hearts or biting their necks, it was exceptionally bloody.

And its personal stats also leveled up three times in a row.

"Hogg"

"Race: Gnoll"

"Level: 4"

"Experience: 84/1000"

"Strength: 4"

"Agility: 4"

"Intelligence: 7"

"Charisma: 7"

"Available Attribute Points: 3"

"Skills: Iron Bone 1, Power Strike 1, Strong Throw 1, Weapon Mastery 2, Shield Defense 1, Running 2, Riding 3 [Note: Max level 15]"

"Available Skill Points: 3"

"Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 115, Two-Handed Weapons 74, Polearms 30, Archery 0, Throwing 1, Crossbow 0" [Note: Max level 720]

"Available Weapon Points: 150"

Glancing at the stats, although Hogg's current attributes were practically a blank slate, only comparable to an average adult.

Being at a low level, it was easy to level up; it just needed to experience a few more battles to grow.

What Li Wei didn't expect was that its intelligence was actually seven points, proving that this gnoll wasn't a simpleton like Zart.

It was suitable to be developed in the direction of strength and intelligence, enough to lead an army in the future.

Li Wei temporarily didn't allocate the points, planning to add them at a suitable opportunity.

……

Kobolds and goblins never disappointed Li Wei in terms of poverty.

The two tribes only yielded some grass roots and dried meat strips. Li Wei naturally didn't dare to eat these foods of unknown origin, so they were given to the kobold slaves of Highcliff Hold.

Bonfires were lit in Highcliff Hold at night, and the orc barbarians began roasting wild bull meat on the racks.

Strands of meaty aroma lingered and swirled between Highcliff Hold, arousing the cravings in countless bellies.

Wild bulls were herbivores living in the grasslands, with an adult bull weighing over a thousand pounds.

The three wild bulls hunted by the gnolls today naturally all belonged to Highcliff Hold.

Several thousand pounds of meat, even if the barbarians were all gluttons, would be enough for them to eat for several days.

However, with the addition of a hundred or so gnoll women and children, the food supply of Highcliff Hold began to become strained.

Li Wei couldn't possibly fool this group of gnolls with grass roots and rotten fruit like he did with the goblins and kobolds.

To have a skilled scout light cavalry, plenty of meat was essential.

After thinking for a while, Li Wei had an idea.

The barbarians' cooking skills might be described as barely edible, but the art of roasting meat was definitely mastered by all orcs.

Growing up in the wilderness, roasting meat could be said to be an indispensable part of their growth.

The wild bull's trotters were all chopped off at the roots and placed on the fire rack to roast. Under the precise control of the orc barbarians, they were soon roasted until the outside was crispy and the inside was tender, oozing oil with sizzling sounds.

"Boss, try this."

Zart handed over the best-roasted hind leg. Li Wei didn't stand on ceremony, took it, and tore off large chunks to eat, his mouth full of oil.

The barbarians' roasting skills were indeed excellent.

Hogg next to him watched, drooling, but he steeled his mind and decided not to look anymore.

"Here, wolf cub, this is for you."

Just then, Zart suddenly threw over a hind leg that was half its size.

Hogg caught it clumsily, with a puzzled expression.

"Look at your skinny arms and legs, if you don't eat more and grow stronger, how will you work for the boss?"

Zart curled his lip, saying with some disdain.

Hearing this, Hogg grinned foolishly. It knew that Highcliff Hold had accepted it.

Under the firelight, Hogg's smile, coupled with that cataract-like eye, looked terrifying.

Fortunately, everyone present except Li Wei was not human, otherwise this smile would have caused a chorus of screams.

"Huh, who knew you big oaf were quite the tsundere."

Li Wei glanced at Zart in surprise.

"Hehe, although this wolf cub is scrawny and rough, I didn't expect it to be quite fierce. If it's well-fed for a while, it will definitely be a qualified warrior."

Zart didn't understand what Li Wei meant by "tsundere," he only thought Li Wei was praising him, and he grinned foolishly, touching his bald head.

Li Wei nodded. Hogg was obviously malnourished in its previous tribe, resulting in a thin physique.

As long as it was fed with plenty of meat for a few months, it would become strong.

Plus, gnolls had a very short growth cycle. Cubs could walk upright in a few months, and were considered adults at four or five years old.

So Hogg would fully grow into an adult gnoll in just a year or two.

With the help of the system, it was estimated that it would reach the level of the previous gnoll leader in a few months.

"B… Boss, can I share the food with my companions?"

Just then, Hogg cautiously asked Zart.

"Just call me Zart. As for the food, it's yours anyway. You can give it to whoever you want, why ask me?" Zart said with some dissatisfaction.

Hogg nodded with joy, carrying the roasted bull leg towards the gnoll camp, and shared the food with two other gnolls.

Li Wei's eyesight was excellent, and the moonlight in the wilderness was extremely bright, so he could easily see the two gnolls.

Both were as thin as Hogg. One had a deep, bone-deep scar on its face, running from the brow to the corner of the mouth.

The other had a limp, obviously, the three were bullied brothers in arms.

Not seeing any names above the two gnolls' heads, Li Wei stopped paying attention.

He took special care of Hogg because it was a hero unit, worth cultivating.

The others were not enough for him to waste a lot of energy on.

As for the gnoll tribe, Li Wei had already told Hogg that no matter what method it used, as long as it could control the gnoll tribe for his use, that was fine.

Li Wei also intended to test how much ability Hogg had, so he left everything to it to handle, and he wouldn't interfere.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Wei returned to his room to think about the future path.

Besides needing a large population for development, what was urgently needed in Highcliff Hold was a stable food source.

The ways to obtain food in the wilderness were nothing more than hunting and raiding other tribes.

But these were not long-term solutions. To completely gain a foothold, planting and herding were essential.

Thinking and thinking, Li Wei gradually fell asleep, with a few miserable wolf howls occasionally coming from his ears, he just scratched his butt, turned over, and continued to sleep.