Chapter 157: The Wyvern Hatches

Crack!

A piece of eggshell fell off. From the broken opening, a bird-like beak poked out, followed by a small head. Then, the eggshell continued to break, and soon, a Frost Wyven dozens of times smaller crawled out from the eggshell.

The little wyvern had pink skin and a layer of mucus on its body. The newly hatched little creature was still unsteady on its feet and fell to the ground with a splat. However, it quickly stood up again, its long, sharp beak-like mouth pecking at the nearby eggshell.

As the first little wyvern was born, cracks began to appear in the other eggshells as well. The sound of cracking echoed continuously. Soon, one little wyvern after another crawled out from their eggshells.

Su Lun took out the strips of raw meat he had prepared earlier and began feeding the little creatures. A group of newly hatched wyverns flapped their wings and scrambled for the meat strips.

“Heatherway, Chris, pick whichever ones you like to adopt,” Su Lun said with a smile.

Chris and Heatherway immediately took the raw meat strips and started choosing their wyverns.

“Carina, I need you to provide a group of knights. I plan to form a Wyvern Knight squad,” Su Lun said, looking at the alluring Drow Elf matron before him.

“As you wish,” Carina replied respectfully, bowing. The female elf was wearing an exquisitely crafted robe today. As soon as she bowed, Su Lun caught a glimpse of smooth skin peeking out from her collar, its dark pearl-like glow dazzling his eyes.

“Bitch,” Heatherway muttered under her breath, casting a glance before tossing a strip of raw meat to the little wyvern in front of her.

Carina pretended not to notice Su Lun’s gaze. She brushed a strand of silver hair behind her ear with her slender fingers and continued, “How many do you need?”

“Eight,” Su Lun nodded. “Out of these eleven wyverns, I will keep one. Heatherway and Chris will each raise one. The rest will all join the Wyvern Knight squad.”

“Aydin, I am entrusting my wyvern to you to raise.”

“As you command, Lord!” the Drow Elf beside him replied solemnly.

Su Lun had carefully considered choosing Drow Elves as Wyvern Knights. Frost Wyverns were not Dragons. Although they had excellent flying abilities, their carrying capacity still had to be taken into account. Barbarians were large and prone to going Berserk, making them completely unsuitable as Wyvern Knights.

The humans in the Territory were far too weak and equally unfit for the role. The Drow Elves, with their decent strength, light bodies, high agility, and outstanding coordination, were the best choice. Moreover, these Drow Elves were skilled with bows, making them very suitable to serve as Frost Wyvern Knights.

“Ouch! Let go, let go!” Suddenly, the voice of the Halfling Frodo came from nearby. Su Lun turned to look and saw a little wyvern’s long, sharp beak biting his finger. Frodo’s face turned pale from the pain. He wanted to pry the wyvern’s mouth open but didn’t know how to do it.

Su Lun couldn’t help but laugh, and the others around also struggled to hold back their laughter. With this Halfling around, Northguard Keep gained a lot more amusement every day.

After helping him remove the little wyvern, Su Lun tossed him a piece of meat and then began checking the wyverns’ attributes.

“Frost Wyvern

Owner: Su Lun; Race: Cold-type Lesser Dragon;

Status: Hatchling; Level: Lv1/Lv17 (Adult)

Strength: 2

Agility: 3

Spirit: 2

Constitution: 3

Charm: 2

Abilities: Strong (upgrades to Advanced upon adulthood), Tough (upgrades to Advanced upon adulthood), Dragon Skin, Cold Resistance, Flight, Poison Resistance

Skills: Dive Attack (not learned), Dragon Bite, Frost Breath, Dragon Wing Strike (not learned)”

To Su Lun’s surprise, he discovered that one of the Frost Wyverns had triggered the one percent mutation chance, transforming from a Frost Wyvern into a Frost Wyvern.

The Frost Wyvern was very similar to the Frost Wyvern; both were cold-type Lesser Dragons. The Frost Wyvern was known as the Lesser Dragon closest to a true Dragon. An adult Frost Wyvern had peak fourth-tier strength, with a creature level as high as 19. The biggest difference between them and Frost Wyverns was that Frost Wyverns had Dragon Scales. Although their Dragon Scales couldn’t compare to those of a Dragon, they were sufficient to defend against ordinary swords and weapons.

The Frost Wyvern before him had no other distinctions apart from a layer of soft scales on its body. Su Lun checked its attributes and found that, in terms of abilities, this Frost Wyvern had an additional Dragon Scale ability.

Looking at this unique little wyvern, Su Lun decided to raise it as his own pet. Frost Wyverns would consume large amounts of food after hatching, and the next month would be a period of rapid growth for them.

No one in Northguard Keep knew how to raise dragons. Only Heatherway’s school had a book titled “The Taming and Habits of Lesser Dragons,” but Heatherway was busy every day crafting various Magical Artifacts and had no time to care for these Lesser Dragons.

Su Lun had no choice but to ask Chris to help look after them. Fortunately, dragon-like creatures were easy to raise. However, to address the future issue of wyvern breeding, Su Lun decided to form a dragon-taming team. That book, “The Taming and Habits of Lesser Dragons,” could serve as a textbook. It was also to provide logistical support for the Wyvern Knight troops in a few years.

Selecting Wyvern Knights from among the Drow Elves meant their equipment needed to be replaced as well. To reduce weight, heavy metal armor like Plate Armor could not be worn. To lower the burden without hindering their movement, the Wyvern Knights’ armor would be made from Dragonhide Armor.

The six Frost Wyverns killed last time had yielded a considerable amount of Dragon Hide. If all this Dragon Hide was made into Leather Armor, over thirty sets could be produced. In addition to Leather Armor, to increase defense, all Wyvern Knights would also wear a layer of chainmail. With two sets of armor, they could basically ignore most ordinary attacks, except for some heavy weapon strikes.

…

The weather in Northguard Keep grew colder. It had snowed again yesterday, and even the Red Sand River and White Water River outside the city had begun to freeze. Fortunately, both rivers had rapid currents, but at most, in another half month, they would freeze over completely. Then, the ice would need to be broken to keep the large waterwheels operating.

The construction of the Outer City walls had progressed well during this time. Three sides were already completed, with only the western wall still under construction. It was expected that all the walls would be finished within a month at most. With the protection of these walls, the people originally living in the Inner City would move to the Outer City.

The Inner City of Northguard Keep had become extremely crowded. Within the 250,000 square meter Inner City, over 6,000 people now resided. For this era, that was already very crowded.

Construction of houses in the Outer City had also begun on a large scale. The houses were not particularly beautiful, just standard and functional—ordinary brick houses with simple structures that could be built quickly. All the houses were constructed in designated residential areas, while those facing the streets would serve as shops and be rented out in the future.

The Outer City was still in the early stages of development. Only a few main roads had been completed, with the rest still in the planning phase. Because Carina could use the Turn Mud to Stone spell, Su Lun had been dragging her around during this period to cast it on the newly built walls.

The construction progress of the Harvest Altar had been steadily advancing. Both Heatherway and Carina were somewhat puzzled by the Harvest Altar Su Lun was building. In their view, this Harvest Altar had no practical use; at best, it was just a rather impressive structure. Perhaps when the Territory developed to a certain extent, building such a magnificent structure could demonstrate the Territory’s strength.

However, in the early stages of the Territory’s development, spending a lot of resources on such a non-functional building was not a good idea. However, due to Su Lun’s insistence, they proceeded with building this altar.

The foundation of the Harvest Altar was made from a large amount of compacted earth, encased in rocks on the outside. The rocks were seamlessly joined together using the Turn Mud to Stone spell. The meticulously carved marble sculptures were also being transported and installed on the altar.

The abundance of work allowed the Serfs and Refugees to earn generous Points and income. Some Refugees had already saved enough Points and coins to exchange for land from the Territory. Su Lun specifically ordered that these land exchanges be publicly announced and arranged for personnel to promote it among all the Serfs and Refugees.

Also promoted was Marshall, who had been rewarded earlier for discovering the coal mine. The success of these individuals greatly boosted the enthusiasm of the Serfs and Refugees. In this world, it was not easy for commoners to obtain a piece of land. Although there was plenty of unclaimed land in the Wilderness, few people ventured to cultivate it.

Those lands were inhabited by large numbers of Goblins, Kobolds, or other monsters. In this era, a city’s influence extended about thirty to fifty kilometers around it. In the south, due to developed commerce, economic Prosperity, and population growth, cities continuously expanded. To meet the needs of the city, its influence had to expand outward. Many cities had an influence radius of nearly fifty kilometers.

In the north, most cities had an influence of only thirty kilometers. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to expand, but that they lacked the strength.

The Garrison Forces, composed of the city and surrounding towns, periodically cleared the areas around the city. Only in this way could the numerous villages outside the towns farm safely. Therefore, in this world, only those with considerable strength had the ability to reclaim land. The strength of a city could be judged by how much control it had over the surrounding Territory.

In other cities, land had long been divided up, making it nearly impossible to acquire any. Yet, not long ago, people who were once Refugees and slaves like them, through their own efforts, gained Freeman status in this city and obtained land and houses. Wasn’t this exactly what they longed for?

With these examples, the Serfs and Refugees displayed a level of enthusiasm that even surprised Su Lun. Over the next half month, Su Lun watched as the final wall of Northguard Keep was completed.

At the same time, many Refugees who had earned substantial Points and monetary rewards began exchanging them for land and houses. In a short time, the number of Freeman in Northguard Keep increased significantly.