The next morning, until the sun had already risen, Ian was woken up by the noise of people outside the house.

He got up and went outside the shack, and saw the neighbors gathered in twos and threes and whispered something, with a solemn expression.

Woodcutter Khajit happened to pass by him, and Ian immediately grabbed him and asked, "Did something happen?"

"The Hunters of the Eternal Night returned last night, and Parker was badly wounded. The woodcutter replied sadly.

After the continent of Tivak entered the Eternal Night Moon, everything faced a deathly silence and cold. Maybe you walk in the forest for most of the day and you won't meet a living creature. Food is scarce during the cold winter months, and the animals are hibernate and move less, making it extremely difficult to obtain meat.

The Night Hunter is a high-level hunter class that emerged in the village in order to obtain fresh meat ingredients during this period. They are usually highly skilled hunters, not only able to survive in the harsh environments of low temperatures and heavy snow, but also to find the subtle traces of their prey, so that they can complete the hunt and bring fresh food to the village.

Normally, they live like ordinary hunters, but whenever the cold winter comes, the continent enters the eternal night moon, and only the hunters of the eternal night can set out to hunt. They usually act as a team, cooperating with each other in cold environments and hunting in groups with maximum efficiency.

"Badly injured, bitten by some animal?"

"It's Warcraft. Khajitt's face was full of sorrow, and his brow furrowed.

"Monsters?!, near Breeze Village?" Ian could barely believe his ears.

The known high-risk level magical beasts on the Tivak continent are now generally hidden in the inaccessible underground or deep in caves, and rarely reveal their whereabouts. But ordinary magical beasts should not seriously injure the hunters of the eternal night, who are good at group hunting and always vigilant.

When Granny Su Mu heard the voices of Ian and Khajitt, she walked over from the side and said, "The Eternal Night Hunters in Light Wind Village are all experienced and senior hunters, and I still believe that they were injured by the Demonic Beast because of the weather, and that they were almost killed by the Demonic Beast...... Incomprehensible. ”

"yes, and Parker has been a veteran for many years, so I really don't know what kind of monsters they encountered. Khajit said, making a gesture of blessing, "May the god of the night bless." ”

At this moment, the bell tower in the center of the town rang three long bells of "bell, bell, bell". Ian, if I'm not mistaken, was a call for the villagers to rally. If there is a major matter, young people will be sent to go door-to-door to inform them again.

Sure enough, a few young people soon came to summon that the village chief had an important notice to ensure that each household could send at least one representative to the central square of the village to attend the rally. One after another, the residents in Ian's neighborhood put down their work and walked towards the square.

When Ian accompanied Granny Sumu to the square, there were already many people gathered here. In the crowd, he also saw Elise beside her father, smiling and waving quietly at Ian, but the smile was affected by the bad news and the atmosphere here, and also revealed obvious concern.

When the elders saw that the villagers were almost there, they stopped talking. The village chief stepped on the steps and walked up to the round platform in the center of the square. He cleared his throat and waved to everyone to be quiet. Then, in a somewhat hoarse and tired voice, he said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Parker, the Hunter of the Night, passed away in the early hours of this morning. He has returned to the bosom of Knox, the god of the night, may he have eternal peace and peace. The voice fell, and the silence was observed with everyone.

The sobbing of a woman in the crowd was heard, and the sound seemed to have magical power, and it soon spread to more people.

Someone asked the village chief aloud, "How did Parker die?"

"What the hell is going on?"

The village chief replied, "The hunters have brought us bad news, Parker and the other Eternal Night Hunters have encountered snow devils in the Talk Mountains. ”

"Snow Devil?!"

"How many years have they disappeared from the continent?"

"Wait a minute, even if they are still there, they should be near the summit of the Talk Mountains......"

The village chief continued, "The hunters of the eternal night can't be mistaken. They didn't try to climb over the mountains, let alone reach the top. Snow Goblins attack below the snow line - and that's exactly what I'm saying: their magic activity is already enough to sustain them out of the frozen mountains and into the environment below the snow line to attack humans...... This is a very dangerous signal! When the hunters retreated to the village, they also found unknown signs of demonic activity in the suburbs outside the village. ”

The village chief glanced at the elders beside him and continued, "We have sent a messenger to Split Rock Fort to explain the situation, and asked the lord to send troops to protect it, so you don't need to panic too much. But until the guards of Crackrock Fort arrive, we can't take it lightly. By the time we entered the Eternal Night Moon, we had sent all nine Hunters of the Eternal Night in the village, and in addition to Parker, four were seriously injured and three were lightly injured, so the fortifications needed everyone's help. ”

Seeing that the villagers nodded in agreement, the village chief scanned the crowd and found Ian: "But this time we have a blacksmith, so it will be a lot more convenient." Ian, you're going to have a heavier job, and we're going to need a lot of iron. ”

Ian replied, "I'll do my best." ”

"Very well," the village chief nodded, and said to the group, "From today onwards, we will activate and enforce the law of the night watchman, and arrange for adult men to be on duty. Before the guards of Crackrock Castle arrive, everyone will have to work hard. ”

Ian had heard of the Empire's Night's Watch rule, which was to allow villagers to be temporarily serviced in the event of a sudden threat to villages and towns in order to arrange for a rotating garrison. Suspend or partially suspend economic activity and prioritize the garrison needs of the night watch.

"I'll read the list of the first Night's Watch, and those who hear the names will gather in the guild hall. Locke, Madero, Ruby, Instein...... "The village chief pulled out a piece of paper and read out a string of names familiar or unfamiliar to Ian.

Ian didn't hear his name. Granny Su Mu tugged at his sleeve: "Go back, you have to get ready." ”

The people in the square dispersed one after another, and Ian took a deep breath, the atmosphere just now was too oppressive. As Elise and her father Browl passed by, Elise seemed to think of something, turned to Ian and said, "By the way, the order for the baking tray will be put on hold for the time being, that one is not in a hurry." ”

In the days since, Ian has been busy forging improvised armor and weapons for the villagers, metal guards to reinforce the village walls and houses, and numerous traps. The volume of orders is so high that he delivers quickly enough to arouse suspicion. Faced with the questioning of the do-gooders, Ian had to deduce that some of the items were stocked in advance in the past, and he barely got through.

Bad news always followed, and the man sent to deliver the letter to Split Rock reported in frustration that the Lord of Split Rock was not in Split Rock Castle, and had gone to Sir Leon's domain with his personal guards ten days earlier to participate in the sword fight of the nobles. The lord of the lord stated that he was only responsible for day-to-day administrative matters, and had no right to use military power, and that the discovery of snow devils under the Tark Mountains also threatened Rock Fracture Castle. He would send someone to inform the lord, but he didn't know when he would be able to get back, and he didn't know when reinforcements from Light Wind Village would arrive.

The village of Light Breeze is shrouded in gloom and tension. The hunters, who were still in good health, took turns going around the village every day to check for traces of the monster's activities, but no more clues were found. Ian's traps didn't seem to be enough, and the narrow terrain of Light Wind Village made it extremely difficult to defend.

On this day, Ian was in the basement of the workshop to make armor for the Night's Watch when Sid suddenly came to Breeze Village alone.

As soon as Ian opened the door for him, he went into the workshop and crouched down by the fire to warm himself.

"I'm freezing to death. He shuddered, and put his hands close to the fire.

"Why are you here?" Ian brought the door and locked the snow out of the house, "Where's your horse?"

"Sent to the stables," Sid turned slightly, "I don't think the stables are warmer than yours." ”

"It's freezing cold, you came all the way to come alone, didn't you laugh at my humble workshop, right?"

"I've heard about the Hunter of the Eternal Night discovering the beast," Sid rubbed his frozen face, "The lord is not here, and the chief refuses to send troops." ”

"We all know that. ”

"It's not the way to go on like this," said Sid, "God knows when that Bartord will come back......!

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Ian was a little irritated when he saw that he had been going around in circles without getting to the point, "If you're fine, just stay by yourself, there's hot tea on the table, and there's a lot of stuff waiting for me in the basement!"

"Wait," Sid hurriedly jumped up and grabbed Ian, "There's something going on, the young man is so anxious." He said as he turned to the trapdoor leading to the basement, "There's no one down there, right?"

"No, I'm alone. Ian turned to look at him.

"Okay, listen," Sid whispered, "There are a few guards in Split Rock Castle, who are from Breeze Village, and they are all very anxious when they hear about the Hunters of the Eternal Night and the discovery of the traces of demonic beasts near the village. So I'm going to get in touch with a few of them, and if something happens, we'll be able to help. So, just in case, I mean, the monster really attacks the village, you find a place to set it on fire. ”

"Set fire?"

"Yes, the bigger the burn, the better, you should be able to see smoke from the bell tower of Cracked Rock Castle, and maybe the light of the fire at night. ”

Ian realized that Sid was worried about their isolation. He also wanted to ask his superiors to transfer troops for support, but his official position was too small, and he was subordinate to the armory, so he had no real rights at all. Not to mention him, even his superior quartermaster, who can't help him.

"Have you seen Warcraft, Sid?" Ian suddenly asked after the important conversation.

"Some small spirits. The other replied, then smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, we are all trained, no matter who or anything, as long as it is an enemy, we will not hesitate." ”

On the morning of the fifth day after the Night's Watch rule was enforced, the hunters found a hole in the south wall of the village, larger than a mushroom thief, and the footprints of suspected monsters were found outside the wall.

This discovery made the already tense night watchmen even more nervous.