The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Lightning was undeniably a stallion.

In order to find out how old it was, Liszt forcefully pried open its mouth, allowing Marcus to observe the teeth.

A normal stallion has 40 teeth, including 12 incisors, 4 canines, and 24 molars. Mares do not have canines and only have 36 teeth.

To determine a horse’s age, the main focus is on the incisors.

“Incisors are divided into corner teeth, intermediate teeth, and canines; corner teeth are the very central incisors, canines are the outermost incisors, and intermediate teeth are those between corner teeth and canines. The stages of incisors are divided into two, a milk teeth stage, also known as baby teeth, and a permanent teeth stage,”

While observing, Marcus also lectured Liszt and the Retainer Knights, not forgetting his duty as both a family tutor and a Knight Squad instructor.

Within the first year, a foal grows its milk corner teeth within 1-2 weeks, milk intermediate teeth within 3-6 weeks, and milk canines within 6-8 months, with the milk teeth not fitting together when closed.

At two and a half years, the milk corner teeth fall out, and permanent corner teeth grow in. By three years, the upper and lower permanent corner teeth make contact, or as the saying goes—they have evened out.

At three and a half years, the milk intermediate teeth fall out, and permanent intermediate teeth grow in. By four years, the permanent intermediate teeth have evened out. At four and a half years, the milk canines fall out, and permanent canines grow in. By the age of five, the permanent canines have evened out.

Pointing to Lightning’s neatly aligned incisors, he said, “Lightning’s incisors are in an orderly contact; these are all permanent teeth, so its age is over five years old. After five, we need to determine its age based on the black spots in the middle of the teeth.”

The black spots vary in depth and the time they take to wear away, which can determine the age of a horse from 6 to 11 years old. Once the black spots are completely gone, the changing shape, size, and location of the indentations on the incisors can indicate the age from 13 to 18 years old.

“If Lightning were an ordinary warhorse, its age would be around 8 years old,” Marcus concluded after his observation.

But he added, “However, many superior warhorses are mixed with the bloodlines of Magical Beasts or Dragon Breed Horses, so there might be some discrepancies when estimating age through teeth. Considering Lightning’s Magical Beast lineage to correct the error, it could be as old as 10 years, or even older.”

The development of Magical Beast and Dragon Breed Horses is not much different from that of ordinary horses, but the strengthening of their bloodlines improves the condition and wear resistance of their teeth.

The speed at which the black spots wear away and the indentations disappear correspondingly slows down.

Marcus didn’t know that the Li Dragon Horse carried the bloodline of a dragon and guessed it to be ten years old. Liszt silently adjusted this estimate according to his knowledge of Dragon Breed Horses, deducing that Lightning’s age must be twelve years old.

It was a horse in the prime of its youth and strength.

“I’ll get accustomed to riding Lightning, Teacher Marcus, and you should also select a group of Li Dragon Horses to tame,” Liszt smiled as he looked at the herd loitering not far away, reluctant to leave the king of horses.

Marcus took a deep breath, knelt on one knee, “Thank you, my lord!”

The value of a Li Dragon Horse, in his estimation, would probably exceed a hundred Gold Coins, which was an immense favor. He couldn’t help but treat the matter with solemnity—if he knew that these were Dragon Breed Horses, with breeding potential that could be valued in Dragon coins; even if gelded, they could still be worth a fortune.

He would probably have to prostrate himself in full gratitude.

After accepting Marcus’s gesture of kneeling, Liszt said indifferently, “The bloodline of the Li Dragon Horses is strong. Before they go into battle, they will be kept as breeding horses and continue to expand the herd.”

“It’s only right!” Marcus deeply concurred.

Then, with trembling legs, he walked towards the Li Dragon Horse Herd, ready to tame a Li Dragon Horse that would be his!

The Retainer Knights, meanwhile, looked on enviously at Marcus. They were not yet qualified to ride such prized steeds and could only ride nags.

A gentle breeze blew, and the sunlight was warm.

Riding on the steady back of the horse, Liszt let Lightning wander as it pleased.

His thoughts had already leapt to another matter: “Li Dragon was the name of my mount in the castle, and I thought there was only one, so I named it ‘Li’ according to its pure black color. Now that there are so many Li Dragon Horses, is Li Dragon supposed to be the name of one horse or a group of horses?”

Ultimately, his affection for Li Dragon prevailed.

“Let Li Dragon be the name of an individual horse, just like my Fire Dragon Horse… The herd now should have a new breed name… The Sapphire Duke has the Blue Blood Treasure Horse, so maybe I could have a herd of Black Blood Treasured Horses?”

All were Dragon Breed Horses, none nobler than the other.

“However, it seems that Blue Blood Treasure Horses aren’t actually blue… Nevermind, Black Blood Treasured Horse still sounds very good, just like Sweat Blood Treasure Horse, it immediately suggests the name of a top-tier horse.”

Thus, the pure black Dragon Breed Horses acquired an official name.

Li Dragon will still be Li Dragon, but it was foreseeable that in the future, Li Dragon’s status would greatly decline, giving way to Liszt’s new mount—King Lightning!

Strictly speaking, Lightning could no longer be considered pure black, as it had a small tuft of purplish-red hair on its forehead.

The size of a palm, shaped like the symbol of the Flash.

It added much prestige.

Whether it was because of Lightning’s high intelligence or not, after being tamed by Liszt, it seemed to realize the close relationship between Douson and Liszt. Hence, its fear of Douson quickly vanished. Even if Douson stood next to it with its mouth wide open, emitting a dull roar, it didn’t flee.

It even raised its head and snorted disdainfully at Douson.

Lightning stood at least four meters tall, while Douson was only one meter ninety, half the height, and had to look up to make eye contact with Lightning. This undoubtedly made Douson feel humiliated, and, coupled with the resentment of having its master “stolen,” Douson wished it could bite this black horse to death, but it could not.

Just like it wanted to bite the Li Dragon Horses, but dared not to.

“Woof woof!”

“Snort!”

A dog’s bark, a snorting noise, who knows what they were communicating.

The initial reconnaissance of Black Horse Island, after taming King Lightning, had already concluded.

Liszt and Marcus, each riding a Black Blood Treasured Horse, together with Retainer Knights and sailors, hurried back to Rock Pier. Unexpectedly, the herd also followed to the vicinity of the pier.

Still yearning for their King.

“The Black Blood Treasured Horse Herd has been found, and the voyage’s mission is complete. We will set sail for home tomorrow,” Liszt ordered. “Henceforth, the development of Black Horse Island will be put on the agenda, starting with the establishment of a temporary base here. While we still have some daylight, let’s clear the area around the pier first.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Once the temporary base was established, the sailors and their families would be relocated to Black Horse Island to prevent news of its existence from leaking out.

Once knowledge of the Black Blood Treasured Horses got out, it would likely draw the covetous glances of others.

Once they discovered the value of the Black Blood Treasured Horses, they would certainly spare no effort to seize them. Only after Liszt earned his military exploits and could obtain the title of Viscount and his own land, would Black Horse Island’s existence be appropriate. For the current stage, Black Horse Island would develop slowly under the secretive support of Fresh Flower Town.

Time, like a fleeting steed, passed by in a flash, and an evening went by.

The next morning, after galloping around the pier on Lightning, Liszt reluctantly let Lightning return to the herd—he did not plan to take the Black Blood Treasured Horses with him.

Marcus did the same, releasing the “Black Fiend” he had tamed.

Lightning and Black Fiend quickly integrated into the herd, but they would lift their heads, looking towards the sea, watching that sailing ship slowly turn around and eventually disappear on the horizon.