The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

After beginning his life of taking potions, he, an Elite Earth Knight, had been feeling his blood surge with enthusiasm these past few days, almost desperate to charge into battle and demonstrate his formidable strength.

It was as if someone had suddenly struck it rich.

While reason dictated that he should keep a low profile, emotionally, he definitely wanted to show off a bit.

“Once I delve into the Dou Qi Manuscript a bit more, I must challenge Marcus to a fight—armed with the Crimson Blood Sword and my Li Dragon Horse, even if my experience falls short, and my Dou Qi circulation techniques are inferior to Marcus, I can still fight and win!” Confident in his equipment to compensate for what he lacked in strength, his confidence was boundless.

Of course, any such duel had to be carried out in private.

If Liszt happened to lose by a mischance, as long as the parties involved kept silent, it would naturally not affect his image.

Thinking this way, his emotions in his training intensified even further. Placing his hand on the bowstring, he shot out two sharp arrows side by side. Guided by his Dou Qi, they collided in midair, altering their flight path slightly, and shot straight toward two targets a hundred meters away, ten meters apart from each other.

Bang Bang!

Two crisp sounds.

Liszt looked up to see that the arrows had hit dead center in the thick targets a hundred meters away, one arrow in each target, with uncanny precision.

His vision had greatly improved thanks to his long-term use of the Eye of Magic.

Combined with “Multi-Arrow”, he could effortlessly hit any target he aimed at; not to mention piercing a leaf at a hundred paces, even a thousand paces was not too difficult. The only issue was that at such a distance, the Dou Qi infused into the arrows would dissipate in midair, and the arrows would have to rely solely on their kinetic energy to fly.

Both their attacking power and their trajectory would be greatly diminished.

“Many Earth Knights practice the”Multi-Arrow”, but few have the talent of a Divine Archer. Marcus is one, but I have even more talent.” In Fresh Flower Town, Liszt enjoyed comparing himself to Marcus to gauge his own strength. “With my proficiency in the Double Arrow alone, I’ve definitely surpassed Marcus!”

Sweating with exertion, he continued to practice “Multi-Arrow”.

He had not yet mastered the Ultimate Mystery Multi-Shadow Arrow, but he had achieved a transcendent mastery of the most basic Double Arrow.

Drip Drip.

The sound of the merchant caravan’s wagons approached from afar, transporting the newly purchased wheat past the castle and straight to the granary. Officials had already gathered a large group of serfs waiting for work to start transferring the wheat into the storage.

Every face bore a smile.

Although the food stored in the castle was Lord Landlord’s private stock, when the castle had food, the serfs naturally benefited—at the very least, the Lord would not levy the serfs’ meager winter reserves.

In previous years, the knights who collected taxes in Fresh Flower Town were like vampires at the end of fall, almost wishing to drain the serfs of all their grain.

The caravan transferred all the wheat into the storehouse.

“There must be a hundred tons of wheat, right?”

Liszt had just finished practicing the”Multi-Arrow”and watched as the caravan began its return journey. A thought crossed his mind, and he summoned the Smoke Mission on horseback.

“Mission completed, reward: the goodwill of Serf Maggie.”

The goodwill of Serf Maggie?

That sounded like a female serf.

Befuddled, Liszt turned to Servant Thomas riding behind him and instructed, “Go find out if there’s a serf named Maggie… Don’t make a big deal out of it, just inquire about her situation.”

Thomas immediately set off to make inquiries.

Liszt walked towards the castle, all the while continuing to speculate about the content of the mission reward, “What exactly does the goodwill of a serf mean? Could it be that there is something amiss with this serf, or perhaps she has some talent that I’m supposed to unearth… The name is feminine, so it’s a female serf, or perhaps…”

A thought suddenly struck him.

In an excited moment, he considered, “Is it possible that the Smoke Mission noticed how attentive I have been to my secretary these past few days and is now telling me that there is a beautiful female serf in Fresh Flower Town who I could take on as a secretary?”

That idea seemed far-fetched.

But what if it were true?

Luckily, he still had some sense about him and reined in his thoughts when he saw the new mission.

“Mission: The sailors have been thoroughly trained, and the captain is full of ambition. The Calming Sea Pearl is about to be completed, and the only large ship in Fresh Flower Town, the Fresh Flower Vessel, is gearing up for its maiden voyage across the vast ocean towards the stars. Please personally complete the Fresh Flower Vessel’s first voyage. Reward: Li Dragon Horse Herd.”

The mission reward was not unexpected.

Black Horse Island had already been assessed to be home to the Li Dragon Horse Herd.

But the content of the mission made Liszt somewhat irritably surprised, “To personally undertake the maiden voyage? Even with the help of the Calming Sea Pearl, it’s dangerous for Kostor and his crew to take to the sea. How irresponsible of the Smoke Mission to ask me to risk myself like this!”

His original intention was to have Marcus and the others make a trip to Black Horse Island first to scout the danger.

He would set off only after ensuring safe sailing and landing on the island.

Upon further consideration, he relented, “Actually, I don’t have to go. My subordinates could discover the Li Dragon Horse Herd and claim the reward in advance, and the mission would change regardless… But I’ll make the trip anyway. If I prepare properly before sailing and minimize the risk, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

The group of refugees from Little Papa Island had managed to drift to Coral Island, a thousand miles away, under Kostor’s command. The Taiwan Strait, which only separated Coral Island from Black Horse Island, should not be difficult to navigate with a trained crew.

Having made up his mind,

Liszt no longer hesitated and quickly found Kostor, “Captain Kostor, I am prepared to accompany the journey to Black Horse Island. During this time, make sure you and my Retainer Knights coordinate well.”

“Please rest assured, Lord Landlord, I will definitely ensure your safety!” After expressing his stance, Kostor asked, “Lord, may I know when the Calming Sea Pearl will be completed?”

“No later than three days.”

“Then, please have your Retainer Knights spend as much of the next three days as possible training on the Fresh Flower Vessel, to ensure they can protect you at the first sign of danger.”

“That’s settled,” Liszt suddenly thought, “How about I take Douson on the voyage as well? What do you think?”

Kostor pondered carefully before responding, “Douson is a land-based Magical Beast. On its first voyage at sea, it’s certain to get seasick. Even with three days of continuous training, it might not overcome seasickness.”

“Let’s try it out first and see if Douson gets seasick.”

He had never before considered embarking on the maiden voyage to Black Horse Island himself, let alone taking Douson along. But Douson was definitely meant to follow him into battle in the future as the most suitable bodyguard. So, regular sea voyages were essential, and it was only right to start training early to prevent seasickness.

Not being one to be indecisive, the very next day, Liszt led Douson onto the Fresh Flower Vessel.

Once aboard, Douson’s curiosity was apparent as it clattered about on the deck, jumping here and there, each leap making the Fresh Flower Vessel tremble on the sea surface.

A creature weighing over a ton had such formidable power.

However, Douson was afraid of water and would not dare get close to the ship’s side. Whenever Liszt pulled it closer to the rail, Douson refused to move, its eyes not daring to look down at the sea from the ship’s side.

Especially when the Fresh Flower Vessel left the makeshift dock made from a few planks of wood tied together.

Out at sea, with the ship riding the wind and waves, Douson’s normally lively nature deflated, lying morosely on the deck, not daring to budge.

It also kept whining intermittently with, “Woo woo… woof woof… woo woo…”