Mercenary Wars

Chapter 163 Warriors of Nordanron
The battle for Labzat Fortress was over, and the Mosa army won as expected. The only downside was that the casualties were higher than anticipated, mainly due to the attack that occurred midway through the battle.

The battle could have been even more brutal, because when the Mosas entered Labzat Fortress, they were surprised to find that the "teleportation base" inside the fortress had been expanded and turned into a temporary teleportation portal.

However, it is clear that due to the internal turmoil in Dibto, the portal did not provide sufficient assistance to the Labuzat fortress, but only facilitated the escape of some of the defenders.

With the capture of Labzat Fortress, the portal naturally became the property of the Mossat.

However, Mossati did not use it, but instead dismantled it into a base.

After all, they don't have a need for it at the moment, and the maintenance cost of a portal is extremely high. Therefore, in peacetime, fortresses only have a teleportation base, and only when a major war breaks out will they be expanded into a portal, and even then, it's a temporary portal that will collapse once the teleportation capacity is used up.

Permanent portals are even rarer, a luxury even for a medium-sized nation. For example, in the Duchy of Nordanron, only the capital city of Nordanron has a permanent portal, and there is only one—leading to Lidman, the capital of the Kingdom of Liberland.

If a Nordan wants to travel to a distant place via a portal, they must first travel through the portal in Nordan to reach the city of Lidman, and then use the portal in Lidman to approach their destination.

While the process can save a lot of time, the money spent is far beyond what ordinary people can afford.

This prevents the vast majority of people from using the portal; even if they go to a faraway place, they can only travel by ordinary means of transportation such as boats or horse-drawn carriages.

Fortunately, Gaucanor was not among the "vast majority" of people; he had already amassed considerable wealth and was also known as the "Warrior of Nordanron".

As a reward for winning three consecutive duels, Gorgano received the honorary title of "Champion of Nordanron," one of the privileges of which was the right to use a portal at a low price.

If he wants to use the Nordanron portal, he will have to pay a much lower price than the average person.

In addition to these stated privileges, there are many intangible benefits.

For example, during the rest period after capturing Labzat Fortress, most of the Mossatists could only continue to live in military tents, while Gaugano could have a room to himself in the fortress.

With a private space, Gaucano was finally able to take stock of the spoils he had acquired over the past period.

War always makes the victors rich.

Among Gaogano's recent loot, there are nearly ten storage rings, worth hundreds of gold coins.

Most of these storage rings were obtained from battles, especially from the mage Joan. Some were Joan's own storage rings, while others were spoils of war that Joan hadn't even had a chance to enjoy.

Aside from the storage ring, the most eye-catching loot is undoubtedly Joan's staff.

A level 6 magic staff.

At the very top of the staff is a beautiful level 6 fire element crystal core, resembling a huge ruby. You can feel its attraction to fire elements just by getting close. Below the fire element crystal core are three low-level crystal cores and a mana crystal.

The staff also bears the staff's name, engraved in Blood Elf script.

This is not surprising. As the most glorious magical empire in the world of Farallo, the Blood Elf Empire has countless magical legacies, and the Blood Elf script is quite fashionable among mages.

Gaucano also recognized the writing, so the moment he received the staff, he knew its name—the Firestone Staff.

Holding a staff and striking a pose like a mage, Gao Jiano nodded in satisfaction.

To become an alchemist, one must also be a mage, and a fine staff is essential for him.

Putting away his flint staff, Gaucano continued to inventory Joan's treasures, quickly noticing several books. "The Sorcerer's Self-Cultivation," "How to Curse Your Friend," "Introduction to Black Magic," "Pukert's Illustrated Guide to Demonology," "Ghost Taxonomy"... Gaucano frowned slightly as he looked at the dazzling array of books, most of which were forbidden.

From this perspective, Joan is clearly a sorcerer, not a mage!
This is not surprising, of course.

Normal mages shouldn't be good at curses, but Yoan has mastered many powerful curses, leading many to speculate that he is actually a warlock.

However, no warlock would openly admit to being a warlock; they would only claim to be a "magician with personality."

After thinking for a moment, Gao Jiano branded the forbidden books with his own blood before putting them away.

Pastor Yemen's storage ring also contained many forbidden books.

Judging from their titles, most of Pastor Yemen's books are very righteous and noble, such as "The Great Saints of Yemen", "Light Guides You and Me", "Justice Will Prevail", "The Marquis Says: This is Dibto", "The Complete Theology of Yemen"... But for the Mosa Church, these books are even more taboo than books of black magic.

Gaucano didn't intend to keep them either, since most of them were just ordinary religious texts, full of repetitive ramblings, and it would be better to hand them over to the church in exchange for a certificate.

Only one copy of the "Yemen Hymn Score" has any value; it might be worth a few gold coins on the black market.

The pastor also had a large number of Yemen indulgences.

To help the Marquis de Dubto raise funds for his army, Cyril XIV issued a large number of indulgences, which were practically worthless and were burned by Gaugano.

Compared to priests and mages, the other people's items have much lower cultural content, with very few books and mainly various daily necessities and equipment.

For example, Makar's door-panel greatsword and Silas's mithril dagger.

For example, a ring.

[Item: Ring of Pain Suppression]

[Level: 5]

[Equipment Effect: Constitution +2, allows the use of the skill "Pain Suppression" to suppress pain sensations]

[Magic Rune Burden: 10]

Unlike rage potions, which can only suppress physical pain, pain suppression can also suppress spiritual pain, such as the pain caused by the Pain Curse and the Disarm Curse.

Having experienced the Disarm Curse once, Gaugano found the ring very useful. In a one-on-one fight, the Disarm Curse might not have much effect on him, but in a group battle, losing one's weapon is obviously very dangerous.

With this ring, he shouldn't have to worry too much about disarming curses up to the third ring. If he were to get a sword tattoo and wield the Blood Summoning Sword, resisting the disarming curse of the fourth ring wouldn't be difficult either.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Jiano put the ring on his right hand.

At this time, he had three rings on his hands.

He had a storage ring on his left hand, and on his right hand, in addition to the Pain Suppression Ring, he also had the Fabion Emblem Ring.

Wearing three rings was somewhat uncomfortable. Considering the low probability of encountering "evil creatures" in daily life, Gaugano simply took off the Fabian Emblem Ring.

(End of this chapter)