Actually, regarding the materials for Brewing Stands, Levi had always had an idea.
Balrogs.
Blazes caught fire, and Balrogs also caught fire, so perhaps the materials dropped by Balrogs could also...
Obsidian, diamonds, lava, Balrogs...
Where could he find all these things at once?
Dwarves.
Dwarven territories would definitely not lack these things.
Whether it was the dwarven settlements in the Blue Mountains, the great wonder of Moria in the Misty Mountains, or the Iron Hills, they were all built within great mountains, and mountains always contained many minerals.
With minerals, naturally there would be no shortage of exquisite smelting and forging techniques.
Even if there really was no lava, they could manually melt some using that equipment, thus solving the lava problem.
Then there were diamonds. Dwarves had been digging underground for years... they should have quite a few. As long as he paid a certain price, obtaining them wouldn't be difficult.
As for the final Balrog... in this current period, Moria should be full of orcs, with the Balrog lurking within.
Levi didn't really want to provoke that thing right now.
Although he had some countermeasures in mind, like trying infinite water, block manipulation, TNT, bow kiting tactics, and such, what if they didn't work and he got himself killed?
He still had too few countermeasures.
Levi suddenly thought of Smaug. This dragon could breathe fire... would the materials from its body be fireproof?
He was becoming increasingly interested in this dragon.
Whether it was Balrogs, evil dragons, or current development, everything came down to one word: dwarves.
It seemed that dwarven territories were a must-visit no matter what.
Opening the paper map, Levi looked toward dwarven lands.
The Iron Hills were too far, the Lonely Mountain had a dragon, and Moria was full of orcs.
So the best destination was... the Blue Mountains.
If he remembered correctly, at this time Thorin and the dwarves of Durin's line lived there.
It would be perfect to visit along the way.
Surely he wouldn't miss them this time, right?
He was quite curious to see what this fallen dwarf king looked like now.
Besides that, Levi was also quite envious of dwarven craftsmanship. If he could unlock dwarven item crafting recipes, that would mostly be a good thing, since dwarven forging skills were renowned throughout Middle-earth.
But all of this was for later.
Recently, he was still busy with territorial development.
During this time, Levi lived a busy and fulfilling life.
Every day he would frantically mine... half for iron, half for stone... replenishing iron ore and stone materials. When his backpack was full, he'd return home, store everything, then go out mining again in an endless cycle.
At night, he'd take out ore for mass smelting, while also repairing the previously shoddy walls. While repairing, he'd also take time to check on the animals and feed them, occasionally harvesting crops when the farm was ready.
This feeling of always having something to do, with resources visibly growing through his efforts every moment, was very addictive.
After the walls were repaired and seeing materials accumulating in storage again, Levi also built a smithy in the industrial area, moving work blocks like anvils and crafting tables inside.
This was the first building in his territory besides the main castle.
After finishing the smithy, with nothing else to do, he walked around the castle and suddenly looked into the distance, remembering the forest where he'd annihilated the orc squad.
That area was still pockmarked with craters from the explosions.
After thinking it over and finding it unsightly, Levi brought some dirt and stone to level the terrain.
As for the stone pillar he'd built to the sky earlier, he had torn it down long ago... that thing was an eyesore standing there.
But mentioning the stone pillar reminded him of something.
Water landing.
He still hadn't tried this.
No sooner said than done. Levi returned to his territory, built a high platform, and laid out a small pool below.
Then he directly dragged a wild boar up.
One kick down.
"Oink oink!"
The wild boar took a kick, lost one hit point, and squealed while kicking its little fat legs in mid-air.
Then, with a splash, it fell into the pool but didn't even bend its legs, getting up and running around lively.
Water landing... effective!
Levi spread his arms and took a leap of faith on the spot.
Air friction against his face made his clothes flutter loudly.
Splash!
Not a single hit point lost.
"Awesome!"
Standing up from the water pit, he felt quite exhilarated.
From that day on, Levi had a new activity: practicing water landing.
That is, releasing water from a bucket at the moment of landing to avoid fall damage.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
"Whoa, 14 speed!"
This day, Levi fed golden carrots to his two fastest horses as usual. This time his luck was quite good... two horses with maximum speeds of 13.5m/s produced a foal with a maximum speed of 14m/s.
Crossing this speed threshold barely qualified as entering the realm of good horses.
His movement speed had achieved another breakthrough.
After half a month of accumulation, the pasture now showed a vibrant scene, no longer the sparse few cattle and pigs of before.
Forget live chickens, cattle, and pigs... he'd almost filled a chest with meat.
But looking at the pasture, Levi always felt something was missing.
What was it... right, sheep!
"How did I forget about this?"
Although he had no sheep, Levi honestly felt he had no real need for them. He didn't lack meat, and wool was only useful for carpets and beds.
No demand, no production.
But due to some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, he decided to bring back two sheep on his next trip.
It was about time.
The territory was prosperous, with nothing more needing construction.
Time to embark on a new journey and find some new things.
But before that.
Levi opened the mineral chest, looked at the rows of iron blocks inside, and directly took out over a dozen stacks.
Then he placed them around the territory.
Thus, iron golems were born one by one.
Before long, over two hundred iron golems appeared in the territory. These iron giants, upon birth, patrolled along the territory's outer perimeter, on and below the walls.
Two hundred iron golems sounded like a lot, but spread across the entire territory's walls, they seemed sparse.
These iron golems each had their fixed active areas. Normally they wouldn't wander around interfering with territorial activities, only gathering when the territory faced danger.
With this army, even if the next attack was an orc force of thousands, Levi wouldn't fear for his territory's safety.
Security was now guaranteed.
After placing the iron golems, he turned his head and sharpened his blade toward the chicken coop.
A moment later, his backpack contained two stacks of feathers, while the chicken coop was half-empty, but quickly refilled with chicks hatched from eggs.
After so long, he'd collected several chests of eggs... no shortage at all.
After slaughtering chickens, Levi went to the warehouse to search around, barely scraping together a stack of flint... all byproducts of mining.
At this point, what he wanted to do was obvious.
Arrows.
Through previous battles, he had deeply realized the principle that longer reach meant greater strength. Whether he'd use them or not, carrying some military supplies was never wrong.
After crafting four stacks of arrows, Levi took out 16 gold ingots and made two golden apples.
Another life-saving trump card.
Eating golden apples together with lembas would make Levi ridiculously tough for ten seconds.
"Wonder if elves would like this stuff." Looking at the golden apples in his backpack, he decided that next time he visited Rivendell, he might bring one as a gift for Aglar.
Unfortunately, searching his entire territory could only produce two... most of his gold had gone to making golden carrots for the horses, leaving insufficient reserves.
Lacking, too lacking.
At this moment, Levi began eyeing trolls again, but constantly fishing like this wasn't sustainable.
If only there were gold mines.
Journeys always came suddenly.
Unknowingly, distant travel and exploration had become his norm.
Carrying a backpack full of supplies and strategic reserves, choosing a bright morning, Levi led out the fastest horse from the stables, fitted it with a saddle and horse armor, and officially began his next journey.
Westward, to the Blue Mountains!
[Chapter Complete]
***
Want more? Check out my Patreon for:
✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories
✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics
✓ Early access content www.patreon.com/meowthtl
💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!
Thanks for reading and supporting the story!