Chapter 97: Departure and Dress Change

“Lord Lord!” “Baron!”
Although all present were somewhat unruly mercenaries and adventurers, they were still commoners. Seeing a noble lord like Donald, who was also a powerful mage, they couldn’t help but set aside their pride and bowed humbly to greet him.
Facing them, Donald spoke gently yet with the bearing of a strong leader: “Thank you, brave warriors, for coming to Dalaran to help me and my people deal with the threat of those ogre monsters! As the lord of Dalaran, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. Therefore, before we set off, I will distribute the rewards promised in the bounty as an advance reward.” With that, the administrator William ordered a group of servants to bring in crystal bottles on trays. Inside the bottles were the alchemical potions Donald had promised in the bounty.
Donald explained, “These three potions are the Purification Potion, the Life Potion, and the Recovery Potion!”
“The Purification Potion can remove curses and other negative status effects and restore mental energy. As for the Life Potion, everyone knows its effects. The Recovery Potion combines the effects of both the Life Potion and the Mana Potion, allowing for comprehensive restoration of life and mana—very useful for both warriors and mages.”
As an advance reward for these dozens of adventurers and two teams of mercenaries, Donald naturally wouldn’t give them any high-grade, precious potions. Instead, it was just the simplest ones from the Book of Truth, such as the Minor Purification Potion and Minor Recovery Potion. The cost of producing over two hundred of these potions was less than eight hundred gold sols.
Yet for these adventurers and mercenaries, who rarely came across alchemical potions, seeing so many expensive potions before them filled them with amazement at such generosity.
Truly a powerful bronze mage—potions that they usually hesitated to spend money on even when injured were being distributed as if they were plain water.
In the minds of most adventurers, having these three small potions already made the mission worth it.
“Since you are willing to fight for Dalaran, as its lord, I must show my gratitude. These potions are meant to prevent injuries. If you are hurt in battle, do not hesitate to use them. After we win the battle, I will sell these three potions and other alchemical products to all of you at cost price!”

Donald’s words filled these adventurers and mercenaries with even greater joy. For some of the older adventurers, being able to buy potions at cost and resell them could earn them a large sum of gold sols, enough to build a fortune and retire to a comfortable life, free from the perilous existence of risking their lives day after day.

As for the more disciplined mercenary squads, their first thought was to purchase more potions for their team. In critical missions, these potions might save the lives of many of their comrades.

With Donald’s pre-battle encouragement, the adventurers present were filled with fighting spirit, eager to rush out and battle the ogres immediately.

Unlike the easily influenced adventurers, the two mercenary teams remained relatively calm. Although they were essentially no different from those adventurers fighting for money, their training and experience taught them that staying calm in battle was crucial—survival was the ultimate victory. So they wouldn’t let short-term gains cloud their judgment.

“Lord Baron, could you tell us more about the enemy?” The two mercenary captains approached Donald at the same time. Though they were rivals, for the safety of their own men, they had to set aside their differences and ask Donald together.

Donald replied with an appreciative smile, “There are quite a number of ogres—at least fifty in this tribe, with thirty of them being adult males!”

Upon hearing this, the two captains’ expressions darkened immediately.

The captain of the North Wind Mercenaries said, “Lord Baron, your mission description didn’t mention such a large number of ogres. This is simply suicide!”

The captain of the Bloodstone Mercenaries also snapped angrily, “Indeed! I won’t let my brothers die needlessly. We refuse to take on this mission!”

Donald wasn’t upset by this. “With just these people, it’s impossible to confront an entire ogre tribe head-on. But I’ve never expected to uphold chivalry toward those monster eaters. Whatever the means, as long as we can eliminate them, that’s enough!”

Hearing this, the two captains’ expressions softened, and they apologized to Donald together.

“You needn’t worry. It’s my fault for not explaining beforehand. We’re still waiting for an ally. Once they arrive, we’ll set off right away!”

Just as they were talking, a cold voice came from above, saying, “There’s no need to wait. I’ve already arrived. You may announce that we set off!” Magician Chris, dressed in a gray mage robe, slowly descended from the sky and landed in the square.

In the eyes of adventurers, magicians who could use flight magic were at least at the bronze rank. Including Lord Donald and his men, there were now six magicians in the group, three of whom were powerful bronze-level magicians. This gave them great confidence in the mission ahead.

“Magician Chris, thank you so much for coming to help!” Donald rushed over to greet him.

“No need to thank me. I just want one or two orcs for research!”

Donald naturally didn’t take the magician’s words seriously. He had come to help out of loyalty to his teacher. Chris and the other two bronze-level magicians from the guild could be considered Donald’s half-elders. They had taken good care of him many times, and Donald remembered all these favors. He would surely repay them in the future.

Donald didn’t want to owe too much to the guild’s magicians. Otherwise, if he gathered twenty or thirty magicians, dealing with that orc tribe head-on wouldn’t be a problem. He accepted Chris’s help because of their special relationship—Chris had already helped him several times, so he didn’t mind owing more favors. He already had some ideas about how to repay his teacher Maelser and Chris for their help, but he just hadn’t had the time yet.

With everyone in place, Donald didn’t wait any longer and announced that the group would set off immediately.

The impatient adventurers rushed to the front, shouting excitedly as they headed toward the forest outside the town. Two groups of mercenaries followed closely behind, and last were Donald’s eight men: two bronze-level warriors, Uther and Kelsas, three magicians including Moray, and three infantry fighters—Clinton, George, and Bush. Magician Chris, who joined later, also walked with them. Additionally, there were two griffins circling above them.

These were the entire forces for this mission.

The monsters in the Moonlight Forest had long been eliminated by the hunters, and Donald had set up defensive forces along the borders. As a result, only some gentle beasts lived there now. So, the group crossed the Moonlight Forest without any obstacles and reached the depths of the Green Cloak Forest.

With Donald’s two griffins leading the way in the sky ahead, the group was not attacked by any magical beasts even in the dangerous Green Cloak Forest. The presence of these level-five griffin magical beasts was enough to make most lower-level monsters retreat far away. Even when entering the territory of higher-level magical beasts, seeing Donald and his large group, they would choose to back off temporarily to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

A few hours later, Donald and his group of dozens of people arrived at the valley where they had previously observed the orcs’ lair.

“Everyone, we’re here. That’s the orcs’ nest ahead!” Donald said loudly, pointing at the hidden valley.

Upon hearing this, everyone became alert, ready to engage in battle.

Donald’s original plan had been to release a few summoned creatures into the orcs’ lair to harass them, then lure them out of the valley. The group would block the exit to prevent any from escaping, eliminating the monsters in batches.

However, upon closer inspection, Donald discovered another hidden exit behind the valley. As a result, his original plan could no longer be carried out. His intention was to completely wipe out this orc tribe. If a few of them escaped and formed a new orc tribe in a few years, it would pose another threat to Dalaran!

So, Donald prepared to use his backup plan.

He stepped onto a rock and gave orders to the group.

“I’ll be responsible for luring the orcs out and using magic to render at least half of them unable to fight. You need to coordinate with my actions to eradicate this entire orc tribe. Once I’ve changed into my new clothes, we’ll launch the attack according to the plan!”

The first part of his speech made sense, but the latter part left everyone confused.

Change clothes? With a major battle imminent, how could this lord still bother changing? Was this some kind of nobleman’s quirk?

But when Donald reappeared before them in fresh clothes, everyone stopped thinking so and couldn’t help but marvel.

The young mage wore an exquisite silver circlet adorned with a turquoise gemstone on the front. His noble hunting attire had been replaced with a white mage robe, covered by a magical cloak that emitted deep green flames.

The accessories hanging on this lord of Dalaran, along with the two rings he wore, were all extremely precious magical items. His belt held a row of unknown potion bottles and two staffs shaped like eagles.

This is the set of equipment Donald prepared for his backup plan. The noble ring on his head enhances his perception and strength in all directions, while the energy pendants, magic pendants, and magic stones worn on his body are used to restore and increase his magic power. The guardian ring and white crystal ring were already with him, and the items at his waist are magic potions—great magic potions, restoration potions, as well as magic scrolls and recovery scrolls.

As for the flame cloak outside his body, it functions similarly to his Demon Hunter’s sacrifice ability. When worn, it surrounds the wearer in flames, granting immunity to ordinary fire attacks and causing continuous burning damage to enemy ground forces around them. However, this equipment cannot be used simultaneously with the sacrifice ability. While the sacrifice ability constantly drains one’s own magic power, the flame cloak requires no such consumption, as its internal magic array core converts external fire elements to provide a steady supply of energy.

Therefore, Donald spent a considerable amount of effort to obtain this legendary magic equipment at the beginner legendary level to enhance his protective capabilities.

Of course, although the effects of the flame cloak are lasting, they are not permanent. It cannot be used again within a day, nor can its effects last more than six hours.

But this time is sufficient. It’s not a war involving thousands or tens of thousands of people; most actual battles end in a very short time. Even to eliminate this orc tribe, Donald estimates it would take about an hour and a half, with the remaining time used to clean up the battlefield.