Mercenary Wars

Chapter 219 Dwarf Metamorphosis Mask
Gaucano and his party left the water cellar ruins.

However, they returned once in between.

Because without Xiao Hei, closing the stone door became extremely difficult. Gao Jiano had to call Xiao Hei back, and the two bears, one inside and one outside, worked together to close the stone door.

After closing the stone door, Gaucano buried it back in sand.

This step was much easier.

All he had to do was open the Desert Bottle, and hundreds of tons of sand would pour out, quickly burying the entrance completely. Watching the golden sand cascade down like a waterfall, Gaucano felt a strange sense of relief.

Looking at the ruins of the water cellar, now buried again by the yellow sand, Darlis couldn't help but ask, "Boss, how do we open the stone door next time we come back?"

Gaucano: "Next time I come, I should have at least seven holy names. I can open the stone gate without anyone else's help."

“Most importantly, we can’t let anyone else know there are spirits inside. Ideally, people should remain uninterested in this dilapidated cistern, just like before… otherwise, when we come back next time, Pierce and the others might already be ashes and sold on the black market,” he added. This was clearly a real concern, so he had to seal the cistern entrance as much as possible.

As he spoke, he smoothed out the nearby yellow sand, making its piled-up shape look more natural.

Daryls thought for a moment: "Are you planning to sell that ancient gold coin to Aidan?"

Gaucano continued leveling the yellow sand: "If he offers a high enough price."

Daryls: "If he asks where the gold coins came from, shall we say we found them in the desert?"

“That’s right.” Gao Jiano nodded. “Let’s say we found a corpse in the desert along the way and looted ancient gold coins from it. As for the Fourth Water Cellar ruins, they’ve already been ransacked by ancient adventurers, and there’s nothing there… That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?”

After a while, the yellow sand completely buried the entrance to the water cellar ruins, making it look no different from the surrounding desert landscape. A gentle breeze swept across the surface of the dunes, carrying fine sand grains, making the place appear even more natural.

Those passing by would never have imagined that beneath this seemingly ordinary yellow sand lurked several intelligent undead.

Gaucano then went to another possible entrance to the water cellar site and, in the same manner, sealed it off as much as possible.

During a brief moment of rest amidst his busy work, as Gao Jiano glanced into the distance, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

He squinted, gazing at the undulating sand dunes in the distance, wondering: what about the other water cellar ruins?
There are countless water cellar ruins in Asur, including several large ones.

Moreover, most of them were similar to the Fourth Water Cellar, having been destroyed by invaders during their construction, burying many corpses.

Therefore, it is not difficult to expect that there may be other water cellar ruins with similar conditions—the possibility that spontaneously awakened spirits, like the Desert Bishop, are secretly plotting ambitious plans is probably not small.

Thinking about this, Gao Jiano couldn't help but have a slight urge to meddle.

However, he quickly dismissed the idea.

After all, there are hundreds of small cisterns and large cisterns scattered throughout Asur; he couldn't possibly manage all of them. Let alone manage them, just imagining himself inspecting each of these long-sealed sites, whose doors were difficult to even open, was enough to give him a headache.

If there truly is an undead spirit harboring resentment, the various deities would likely not stand idly by. They would probably guide their followers to intervene, just as Sindragosa guided Dalys. The gods will hold up the sky if it falls; ordinary people shouldn't worry unnecessarily.

"Open the Oracle Chest," said Gao Jiano, having finished his work.

Daryls had been eagerly anticipating it for a long time, and immediately began rubbing her hands together, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

She then took out Sindragosa's Oracle Chest from her storage ring and placed it on the sand in front of her.

She didn't open it immediately, but closed her eyes and prayed for a while before opening them again, reaching out her hand with an expectant yet nervous expression.

When Darius's fingertips touched the Oracle Chest, both she and the chest emitted a faint blue light.

The blue light flickered, like breathing.

Daryls took a deep breath, then gently lifted the lid of the box. She moved very carefully, as if afraid of breaking something.

With this gentle push, the once solid and indestructible Oracle Chest was opened without any resistance.

The blue light flashed and disappeared in an instant.

A mask appeared inside the box.

The mask reveals the color and texture of the skin—the skin of a dwarf, with delicate and lifelike features. Upon closer inspection, one can even see the fine textures on the skin, just like the face of a real dwarf.

"This is the Dwarf Transformation Mask!" Darius exclaimed softly, her voice filled with surprise, as she reached out and picked up the mask.

She pinched the mask.

The changes in the shape of the mask clearly show that it is indeed very soft, just like human skin.

In fact, according to the Blood Magic Notes, one of the key materials for the shape-shifting mask is human skin and flesh.

The deformed mask is made from the skin and flesh of the race that makes up that race.

The material of the dwarf deformity mask is the skin and flesh of a dwarf.

If it's a human or minotaur transformation mask, it uses human or minotaur skin and flesh.

Daryls put the mask on her face and infused it with magic.

Then a burst of light appeared, and within seconds, accompanied by Darius's exclamation, her appearance completely changed—from a human girl to a dwarf girl.

Her hair is still blue.

Their facial features also bear a slight resemblance.

She's gained a little weight and isn't as thin as before; she looks healthier.

The biggest difference is that he has become shorter.

Looking at her, Gao Gano estimated that Dariss's current height only reached his waist. As a result, when the two approached, Dariss had to raise her head somewhat exaggeratedly, which looked a little comical.

The change in appearance is secondary.

If it's just about changing appearance, magic like illusions and disguises can easily achieve that.

The true power of a shapeshifting mask lies in its ability to give the wearer real flesh and blood.

This feeling is something outsiders cannot understand, but Daryls, as the wearer, immediately became excited.

"This feeling!" Her face flushed with excitement, and she spun around a few times, as if she had been reborn. "It's a feeling in my body!"

She immediately ran up to Gao Jiano and pinched her cheek: "Boss, look!"

With a pinch, the shape of her face changed naturally, indistinguishable from that of a living person.

Gao Jiano also reached out and pinched it.

It really feels exactly like a living person – soft, elastic, warm, and sweaty.

Furthermore, the prompts on the panel have also changed.

[Race: Faralo Dwarf]

【Level: 6】

[Status: normal]

……

It's almost fair to say that a person wearing a dwarf mask is a genuine dwarf.

It has no chance of detecting conventional magic, such as magic detection and illusion-breaking.

Perhaps "divine vision" can reveal the truth.

But the power of divine vision is so profound that only a handful of people in the entire world of Farallo have mastered it.

Moreover, clairvoyance is not easy to perform. Those who have mastered clairvoyance—such as the Pope—would never use it indiscriminately like James randomly throws out magical detection.

At this moment, Darlis suddenly showed an expectant expression: "Boss, give me some food!" "Huh?" Gao Jiano was stunned.

Daryls swallowed hard. "I feel like I can eat now!"

Gao Jiano took out a pastry from his storage ring.

Daryls took the dessert, ate it, and then showed a satisfied expression: "So delicious! By Sindragosa, I can finally eat again!"

She then gestured to Gaucano, clearly wanting more.

Gaucano simply took out a large amount of food and had a desert picnic.

During a break from his meal, he asked, "Besides this shapeshifting mask, what else did Sindragosa give you?"

With her mouth full of food, Darius chewed as she said, "Hmm... I'm now a Level 6 Named One, and a Chosen One of Sindragosa."

Gaugano was slightly taken aback: "You've become a favored one of Sindragosa?"

"Mm." Daryls nodded and wiped her mouth.

"What blessing has Sindragosa bestowed upon you?"

“Extreme cold blizzard…the kind that’s much colder than a regular blizzard spell,” Dariss said, while showing off a big bite of food.

Seeing her wolfing down her food, Gao Jiano couldn't help but say, "You don't have to eat so fast."

“I haven’t eaten in decades!” Daryls said matter-of-factly.

"..." Gao Jiano was speechless.

After a while, he pondered and said, "Now that you have the identity of a dwarf, would you like to take the entrance test for the Ax Magic Academy with me?"

"Is this okay?" Darius asked, taken aback.

Gaucano: "I think it should be fine, at least it's worth a try, since almost no one can figure out your true identity anyway."

“Okay.” Daryls nodded and continued eating.

Seeing that she was engrossed in eating, Gao Jiano didn't say anything more.

After a while, Darlis finally finished eating and drinking, rubbed her stomach, and made a satisfied sound: "Phew."

But soon her expression turned strange again, her face showing a mixture of surprise and embarrassment.

She looked around, her face slightly flushed: "Boss, could you turn around?"

"what happened?"

"I...I need to pee."

Gao Jiano paused for a moment, then turned around.

Daryls quickly ran to a nearby spot.

Immediately afterward, Gao Jiano heard the sound of flowing water.

This made him even more surprised by the effect of the transforming mask.

It seems that the effect of the transforming mask is simply to give a person a new physical body.

It can provide everything you need for eating, drinking, relieving yourself, and sleeping!
After a while.

Daryls finished relieving herself and ran back: "Boss, let's continue on our way."

Gaugano put the items back into his storage ring, while noticing the Sindragosa Oracle Chest next to him.

He stepped forward and reached out to touch it.

Item: Wood

【Level: 0】

……

The Oracle Chest once possessed many magical properties due to the influence of divine power; it was indestructible and had an indescribably strange feel.

But after the contents were taken out, it became just an ordinary box, with an item level of zero, and no longer had any value.

Without retrieving the box, Gaucano immediately embarked on his return journey.

A few days later.

They returned to Sentry Rock and found Aidan at the inn.

Of course, before that, Daryls needs to return to her original form.

"You're back." Aidan said, looking at Gaugano and Dariss as they entered. "How was the harvest in the fourth water cellar?"

“To be honest, we didn’t find anything.” Gao Jiano sat down. “The water cellar was empty, except for some corpses that had already been looted.”

Upon hearing this, Aidan frowned slightly.

Just then, Gao Jiano took out a slightly damaged gold coin from his storage ring: "Although there was nothing in the water cellar ruins, we found this in the desert. Take a look."

Aidan initially frowned slightly.

But when he picked up the gold coin and looked at it, his expression first froze, then he showed incredible excitement and ecstasy, and his face quickly flushed: "This is... a gold coin minted by Roland II, and the Mosa Triangle!"

As he spoke, he examined every detail of the gold coin repeatedly, his excitement growing more and more evident, and his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Daryls smiled. "It seems you know what the pattern on this means."

In fact, without a deep knowledge of history, no one could possibly determine the significance of this gold coin; neither Daryls nor Gaucano could. An ordinary person might even regard it as a piece of gold, judging its value to be only one or two gold coins based on its weight.

Fortunately, Pierce had already explained it to them.

They knew that this seemingly unremarkable ancient Asur gold coin was actually an important historical and theological artifact, and exactly what Aidan had been dreaming of.

"Can you sell it to me?" Aidan asked, his eyes burning with desire as he stared at the two of them.

“You name the price!” he quickly added.

Gao Jiano stroked his chin and pondered for a moment: "Two thousand gold coins, I can sell it to you."

Despite his boastful statement, Aidan's face stiffened slightly upon hearing the number: "Two thousand gold coins..."

"What, you don't think it's worth the price?" Gaucano's expression remained unchanged. He believed that for a devout Mosaic and historian, this irreplaceable gold coin was definitely worth two thousand gold coins; the only uncertainty was whether Aidan could afford it.

Aidan didn't answer, but pondered for a while. In between his thoughts, he also occasionally observed the expressions of Gaugano and Dariss, but unfortunately, both of them remained calm, clearly aware of his desire for the gold coin.

After a moment, he sighed softly, "I admit, this gold coin is crucial to me, and there's no price reference. Two thousand gold coins it is, but..."

After pausing for two seconds, he continued, "But I don't have that much money on hand."

"How much money do you have?"

"About six hundred gold coins."

Gaucano and Daris looked at each other and said in unison, "That's too little."

“In addition, I have a bottle of Lesser Enlightenment Potion,” Aidan said.

(End of this chapter)