Territory Damaged

On the Saint Nor Continent, why were mages also called Mage Lords? The current scene was one of countless reasons.

Roland was also only Level 5, but the destruction caused by his attacks was several times greater than Artur's.

Of course, that was also because the Armor Crab Leader was a Water-element Magical Beast, and Fire-elemental Magic inherently dealt increased damage to it.

But no matter what, Roland's attack had still delivered the decisive blow, an outcome far beyond what warriors, rogues, or knights could achieve.

Even with the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group and Artur's team risking their lives to hold it back, it still could not obscure a mage's role on the battlefield. If anything, it was far from enough to do so.

Under the shocked gazes of those around him, Roland coolly put away his staff and retreated from the battlefield once more. He valued his own life above anything else.

However, even with Roland withdrawing, the battle's outcome had already been decided. After the Armor Crab Leader was heavily wounded by Roland, the remaining members of Artur's team swiftly surrounded and killed it.

After losing their leader, the remaining twenty or thirty Armor Crabs immediately lost all will to fight and fled toward the sea. In the blink of an eye, peace returned to Rising Light Island's eastern shore.

Only dozens of Armor Crab and human corpses remained on the ground, telling of the brutality of war between humans and other races.

"Captain O'Neal, take your Class Holders and stand guard. Everyone else, clean up the battlefield." As soon as the battle ended, Roland immediately gave the order.

After this lesson, Roland had gained a new understanding of the dangers within the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands. He no longer dared to let slaves and mercenaries, who were still ordinary people, work so openly by the shore without any precautions.

With everyone's efforts, the chaotic battlefield was cleaned up in no time.

Of the more than one hundred Armor Crabs that had attacked, over seventy had been slain by the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group and Artur's team. Even their leader had been left behind on Rising Light Island forever.

But Roland's carelessness had come at a terrible price. Ten slaves, seven mercenaries, and three Intermediate Warriors from Artur's team had died in the sudden battle.

That death toll had nearly reduced Roland's current territory's population by one-tenth, making it a devastating loss.

In truth, given Rising Light Island's current strength, Armor Crabs—Level 2 Magical Beasts on average—should never have inflicted such severe casualties on Roland. But in his haste to speed up construction of the docks, Roland had sent every warrior from the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group to cut down trees, neglecting the docks' defenses.

As a result, when the Armor Crabs attacked, the slaves and mercenaries, who were ordinary people, had been completely powerless to resist. They could only flee for their lives.

Looking at the row of corpses on the ground, Roland had lost all of his earlier composure. His expression shifted uncertainly.

He did not have much emotional attachment to them, but the gold coins were real enough.

The mercenaries and three Intermediate Warriors were not too bad. Even if they died, Roland did not need to pay compensation.

But all ten slaves had been Roland's property, worth more than two hundred gold coins. That made his heart ache terribly.

Still, what had happened had happened, and Roland had no power to change it. He could only slowly compose himself while silently reminding himself that this must never happen again.

"Captain O'Neal, Steward James, handle the remaining work." Roland waved weakly, then turned and left.

That night, at Rising Light Island's small residential area.

Inside a two-story wooden house was a simply furnished meeting room. Roland sat at the head of the table, quietly listening to James's report.

"Reporting to Apothecary Roland, after counting them, we extracted a total of thirty-six Water-element Magic Cores from the Armor Crab corpses. There were twenty-six Level 2 Magic Cores, eight Level 3 Magic Cores, one Level 4 Magic Core, and one Level 5 Magic Core."

"Based on Highland City's latest Magic Core market prices, this batch of Magic Cores is worth around sixty gold coins in total."

Roland showed no particular reaction upon hearing that. As an apothecary, many potion formulas required Magical Beast Magic Cores, so he was very familiar with their prices.

Generally speaking, lower-level Magic Cores were not worth much. Especially the cores of common Water-element Magical Beasts like Armor Crabs—they had no additional effects and could only be used to extract the water element within them to create Elemental Water. They had few other uses.

When Roland did not respond, James cautiously considered his words before continuing. "Other than these Magic Cores, there was basically no further gain. Whether it is their armor or shells, Armor Crabs are too hard and lack toughness, so they cannot be made into much equipment. The profits from this battle are far from enough to make up for your losses."

Seeing James's nervous expression, Roland could not help but smile. He waved casually and said, "Steward James, there is no need to be nervous. The greatest gain from this battle was not the Magic Cores. It was that it taught us that this is the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands. The consequence of carelessness is death."

At that point, Roland's smile slowly faded. His serious gaze swept across the other three people.

"Captain O'Neal, Captain Artur, put aside your other work from today onward. For the foreseeable future, your responsibility will be the territory's safety. Even if we are attacked by sea Magical Beasts again, you must protect the territory's slaves. What happened today must never happen again."

Faced with Roland's serious expression, O'Neal and Artur did not dare be negligent. They hurriedly answered in unison.

Seeing this, Roland's expression improved considerably. Although Rising Light Island had lost ten slaves in this Magical Beast attack, its foundations had not been harmed.

In fact, Roland was still quite relieved. Fortunately, the attackers today had been Armor Crabs. If they had been higher-level Magical Beasts, then given Rising Light Island's defensive state today, perhaps not a single slave or mercenary at the docks would have escaped.

After comforting himself, Roland's attitude became even gentler. He did not become dispirited because of this sudden setback.

He then slowly turned his gaze toward Artur. Although Artur had been overly rash and aggressive in today's battle, otherwise his team would not have suffered such heavy losses, losing one-third of its members outright.

Yet during the battle, he had carried out Roland's orders without the slightest discount. Without his interception, Roland would not have been able to heavily wound the Armor Crab Leader so easily.

Thus, after this battle, Roland's opinion of Artur had changed considerably.

"Captain Artur, how are your injuries? Do you need to rest for a few days?"

Perhaps sensing Roland's friendly attitude as well, Artur perked up.

"Thank you for your concern, Apothecary Roland. My injuries are not serious. I will recover in a few days, so there is no need for rest."

"Good. I will still need you to put more effort into the territory's defenses in the days ahead." Roland appropriately showed how highly he regarded him.

"I will obey your command and defend your territory to the death." Artur's tone was unwavering.

A faint smile appeared on Roland's face.

Over the following days, thanks to the abundant supplies Leslie had delivered, all of the territory's construction projects could begin at once. Roland therefore rearranged the current allocation of manpower.

However, after losing O'Neal and the other Class Holder warriors, the various construction projects on Rising Light Island would definitely be affected. But after today's lesson, even if construction slowed, Roland still assigned half of the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group as territorial guards responsible solely for the territory's safety.

After the meeting ended, Roland returned directly to his wooden house.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Roland opened his current status panel.

Strength 1.2
Constitution 1.1
Agility 1.3
Mental Power 4.552/9.015
Mana 4.5/8.8
Level 5 Mage

In a month's time, Roland's Mental Power had only increased by 0.5. That was after taking two Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potions, which had added 0.37. In other words, over that month, he had consumed six or seven Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions just to gain 0.13.

Roland had never expected the decline to be so severe. After Nuwa's analysis, it seemed that because Roland had taken the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion, his resistance to the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion had greatly increased, severely affecting its effectiveness.

Although Roland felt helpless about the result, he could only accept it.

However, after Roland successfully brewed Level 4 and Level 5 Fire Element Resonance Potions, his Mana had gradually caught up to his Mental Power, which made him feel much better.

Roland then took another Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, slowly closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state.

Although taking Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions now could barely increase his Mental Power and was indeed somewhat wasteful, to Roland, even a mosquito's leg was still meat. Besides, he did not lack a few Level 4 Potions.

The next day, after a night's rest, Roland was once again in peak condition.

He still did not immediately begin brewing potions, because after a month of Alice's instruction, the twelve half-grown children had finally barely mastered some basic Common Tongue and Elemental Language. They could now begin preliminary meditation.

Upon learning this, Roland immediately summoned them all.

After a month apart, the twelve half-grown children had not only become somewhat stronger thanks to sufficient nutrition, but were also full of spirit. Moreover, under Alice's teaching, their eyes held a trace of intelligence. They were no longer as dull as before.