After a journey of more than two weeks and not a very arduous journey, the Doro caravan finally reached Fort Ford, a border fortress in southern Erathia.

Prior to this, the caravan had also passed through the Rheinberg, as was customary. However, Moriarty and White, who had been prepared for a long time, did not attract any attention from the Royanta family. And, because of Fox. Luo Yan Pagoda is broken, so the internal system of the Luo Yan Pagoda family has been undergoing fierce fluctuations and adjustments recently, and there is no intention to pay more attention to the external passing caravans for the time being.

Around noon, the long line of caravans of the Doro caravan finally arrived in front of Fort Ford.

Fort Ford, a tall bastion made of black stone rock, stands like a prostrated beast between the plains of the kingdom and the hurricane wasteland. The inner and outer walls of the inner and outer star-shaped structures are intertwined and intertwined, and the inner core of the castle is firmly guarded. A wide moat runs around the city under the fort, and there are several dark springs at the bottom of the moat that communicate with the turbulent underground river, so there is no danger of being cut off. On the moat, there is a suspension bridge about five meters wide, made of black pig iron, which is unusually strong. At the front of the bridge, a chain, with a thick bowl mouth, is connected to a huge winch inside the castle. If needed, the drawbridge could be pulled up by the winch in the fort and turned into an impassable iron gate in a matter of minutes. Behind the moat, at the main entrance of the fortress, there is an extremely heavy fortress gate. The outer layer of the fort door is clad in refined brass, while the door panel is made of cedar core. The gate thus built is both strong and resilient. It is enough to withstand the burning of a fire or the impact of a rushing car.

As you can imagine, if someone wanted to breach such a castle, they would have to pay a terrible price just to cross the moat. And even if you can get up to the castle, you can face the star-shaped walls that are intertwined with each other and can form multiple crossfires; Or facing the main gate of the fortress with an iron gate on the outside and a bronze gate on the inside, on the surface of the fortress that can only put in a few hundred troops at a time, I don't know how many corpses have to be piled up to finally successfully break into the inner fort.

Of course, the cost of building such a huge bastion is undoubtedly enormous. The material, financial, and human resources required for it can be said to be an astronomical amount. It is said that the royal family of Griffin was able to build it by uniting the nobles of the southern provinces of the kingdom and raising half of the country. Therefore, Fort Ford has always belonged to the common property of the royal family and the local aristocracy, and the garrison generals in it are usually stationed by the central and local factions to maintain a certain stability and balance.

"White, how does Fort Ford look compared to Fort Dawn?" Sitting in a wagon full of flour, Moriarty asked, looking at the huge castle in front of him.

"The Ford Fort looks a little bigger, and it's more... Exquisite. White, who did not take the car, but walked beside Moriarty without hurrying, thought for a moment and replied.

"Delicate? So, do you think Ford Fortress is not as good as 'Dawn'? Moriarty smiled and continued to ask.

"Not really. In fact, from the outside, the Ford is more sturdy than the Dawn. It's just—" Speaking of which, White didn't seem to think for a moment how to continue.

Moriarty didn't press, just continued to watch the majesty of the black bastion in the bright daylight.

"It's just, I don't know if it's my delusion, I always feel that this castle seems to be missing something, not like a war fortress that needs to eat human flesh and drink human blood." After a while, White slowly added.

"Oh, I think I see what you mean. Yes, without the test of iron and blood, without the dying chant of the soul, without the succession of generations, no majestic castle is just a flower room for a noble lady. Moriarty turned his head and smiled at White: "According to the classics, since the establishment of this fort of Ford, it has not encountered a heavy battle that can be recorded in history. This, I don't know if it's the luck or misfortune of the Ford Fortress"...,

"No wonder, I always felt that she didn't have the breathless oppression of 'Dawn'."

While Moriarty and White were casually tasting the fortress in front of them, the Doro caravan had also completed the formalities of entering the fort. After giving the Captain of the City Gate about a sack of fifty silver coins to buy the road money, the caravan drove into the fortress. Of course, before all the wagons entered the fort gates, the soldiers of the fortress had to search them one by one to prevent foreign spies or some contraband from being brought into the castle. However, the Dora caravan is also considered to be a regular customer in and out of this place, so under the supervision of Franklin's steward, this kind of inspection is just a formality.

"Mr. Morty, you and your retinue can wander around the fortress as you please, but you need to rush back to the caravan's station by noon tomorrow, when the caravan will officially depart for the kingdom of Erathia." When the caravan arrived at a large post house that the Chamber of Commerce had booked in the fortress, Franklin's steward addressed Moriarty.

"Yes, Mr. Steward, my companion and I will definitely return to the caravan on time, please rest assured."

Moriarty then left the inn with White and headed for the bazaar in the southern part of the fortress, where shops, taverns, and folk workshops of all kinds gathered, and where merchants loved to hang out.

"White, teach me how to use a crossbow." Leisurely walking along the not-so-wide roads of the castle, watching one hurried or sweaty pedestrian after another pass by him, Moriarty smiled and said to White.

"Why do you suddenly want to learn this? Aren't you going to Bracada to study magic? White asked, looking at Moriarty with some confusion.

"It's not a conflict, White." Moriarty shook his head and said, "You know, I wasn't very powerful before I became a full-fledged mage, and I was even vulnerable when I was face to face with an enemy. Although I tried my best to learn swordsmanship, I was barely able to reach the level of a first-class warrior so far. So, I need to master an additional combat skill that makes me more survivable, in addition to magic. ”

"However, your spells weren't very strong before, not only did you kill those four killers, but even killed me—" Speaking of this, White couldn't help but touch his chest, as if the wound caused by the magic arrow was still faintly painful.

"Hehe, I'm sorry, White." Moriarty patted the other party's shoulder apologetically: "Go, in order to apologize to you, I invite you to a drink." ”

With that, Moriarty led White into a tavern down the street.

I don't know if it's because of the day, there are not many people in this tavern called "Pumpkin Car", only an old man who looks like a drunk man sits alone in the corner with an empty wine glass, talking some drunken words that no one understands.

"Two large glasses of golden ale." Sitting down at the bar, Moriarty pulled out a gold coin from his sleeve and placed it in front of the owner, who was carefully wiping the tin wine glass, and smiled slightly.

"Okay." The boss glanced at the gold coin, put it in his pocket, then turned to a large wooden barrel that was old and blackened, opened a handle carved with a faint dragon pattern, and then streams of golden liquor gushed out of the dragon's mouth, filling the large tin cup with a delicate, charming foam.

"Your wine." After filling the two large glasses, the boss placed them in front of Moriarty and White, and then turned to himself to busy himself with the work at the bar.

"Try it, Franklin's special Golden Ale wine, which is said not to be a chance for anyone to taste." Moriarty picked up his glass and bumped it heavily with White.

"Wow, what a good ale. Ha ha. White tried to take a sip, and was immediately struck by the golden ale, which cost five silver coins for a cup: "For the sake of this wine, I have decided to forgive you, Moriarty." ”…,

Laughing, White took another big sip before he burped contentedly.

"Earlier you said that I relied on magic to kill four killers by myself, but that's not accurate." Seeing the tavern owner leave the bar and enter the inner room, Moriarty resumed the conversation.

"And who are?"

"Look at this." Moriarty put down his glass, took a lump of black items from his bosom, and placed them on the bar.

White immediately looked at it, only to see what appeared to be a few pieces of charcoal that had been burned to black charcoal, and could barely make out a half-cut five-star badge and a tattered pocket watch that had no hands and could not see the surface.

"What are these?" White looked at Moriarty quizzically.

"These are magic items. The invalid magical items that I obtained through a special channel in Guò were then simply spliced and modified, and re-injected with magic to form a new, one-time explosive device. Moriarty smiled, with a little pride and regret in his smile: "It's a pity that after killing the two killers, this device was completely scrapped." And, for the most part, magic devices like this don't help me much. ”

"You made your own magic weapon?" White stared at Moriarty in amazement, and was about to shout.

Although White was originally just a professional soldier of Dawn Fortress, he did not understand the world of magic. However, they also know that magic weapons and magic armor are the most expensive and rare equipment in the world. Even in the hands of those high-ranking officers in the Dawn Fortress, not everyone could have a magic sword. And White's biggest dream has always been to get a magic crossbow one day.

"Hehe, it's not manufacturing, it's just the most superficial transformation. I'm still far from making my own magic equipment. At least, it was almost impossible to achieve until you became a full-fledged mage. Moriarty shook his head as he retrieved the remains of the Fireball Burst Device from the bar.

"I don't understand that much. But, Moriarty, I promise to teach you archery, but you also promise me one thing. At this time, White didn't care about what Moriarty was talking about, but stared at the other party's eyes.

"You say." Moriarty nodded, waiting for the other party to "open conditions".

"If you have the ability in the future, you must make me a magic crossbow. That's my condition, can you accept it? White grabbed Moriarty's arm and said fiercely, "If you don't agree to me, I will turn my face."

"White, don't you know that arming one's followers is the duty of a mage?" Moriarty gently broke free of White's clutches, picked up the golden ale again, and took a pleasant sip before speaking lightly.

"Oh, you're so cunning, Moriarty, even if you're not a nobleman, you're still so cunning, haha!" Looking at Moriarty, White suddenly burst out laughing.