Chapter 160: Wyvern Knight

Su Lun saw the information about Wyvern Knights on the System interface. Becoming a Wyvern Knight also required a Fourth Tier Transcendent professional. Otherwise, if you were weaker than the Wyvern, did you expect those Wyverns to obey you?

Even the Wyverns tamed by Su Lun wouldn’t accept a weak Knight. Dragon-kind inherited the pride of true dragons. Even those stronger than them couldn’t necessarily force their submission. This was why adult Wyverns were nearly impossible to tame.

Fortunately, all the Wyverns Su Lun prepared for his future Wyvern Knights were hatched right here. This allowed the Knights and Wyverns to grow up together.

Wyvern Knight training and recruitment had strict requirements. Su Lun’s System showed the current recruitment number as eleven, but in reality, only eight could be recruited. Carina selected twenty Drow Elves from among their people to be sent for Wyvern Knight training.

Out of these twenty, twelve would be eliminated in the end. Only the strongest eight could become Wyvern Knights. Of course, those eliminated weren’t simply sent back. They would be kept as reserve forces for future Wyvern Knights.

At the Military Camp, Johnson was in charge of training. As the Hero who had followed Su Lun the longest, he was now a peak Third Tier Warrior. He only needed to experience a few more battles to break through and become a Fourth Tier Transcendent professional. Currently, Johnson trained the recruits at the camp, while Aydin maintained discipline.

All soldiers, besides their daily duties, came to the Military Camp for training every day. Zhenbei City currently didn’t have a large population and couldn’t recruit too many soldiers. Su Lun adopted an elite soldier policy, subjecting his troops to strict training to enhance their strength.

“How is the Spearman training progressing?” Su Lun asked, looking at the drilling soldiers.

“Eleven Spearmen have now reached the strength level of Elite Spearmen. They are currently the squad leaders of various Spearman units,” Johnson guided Su Lun across the training grounds, pointing at the burly Elite Spearmen. “Aydin is teaching them formations and discipline right now.”

Common troop types like Spearmen only exerted powerful force when arrayed together. Spear formations tested a unit’s discipline most severely.

According to the System, these Spearmen were only beginners in formation drill. Building a spear phalanx capable of facing a cavalry Charge was no simple matter. Ordinary people usually found their legs went weak just seeing the overwhelming momentum of a cavalry Charge, let alone standing firm against it.

Only a discipline as harsh, even brutal, as that of the Drow Elves could greatly accelerate learning formations and discipline for these men.

“And the other soldiers?” Su Lun continued his inquiry.

Soldiers training at the Military Camp gained Experience Points. While this training Experience couldn’t compare to that earned in battle, it was safe, reliable, and repeatable.

There were nine Spearman units of ten men each. After undergoing this severe training, they would be fully re-equipped. Zhenbei City had gotten a large number of shells from killing Burrowing Worms earlier. Besides those used to make full plate armor, the rest were crafted into Tower Shields.

A shield of one and a half meters could cover a man entirely. These shields made from Burrowing Worm shells were not only tough and durable but also had excellent resistance to strong acid. Their leather armor was upgraded to half-plate armor, worn over a layer of chainmail.

Chainmail was made by shaping iron wire into rings and linking them together. This armor offered good defense against both slashing and piercing attacks. Previously, the Blacksmith Shop produced chainmail very slowly. But after Su Lun built a wire-drawing machine, production speed increased dozens of times.

As for the Longbowmen, they were now all equipped with Centaur Longbows. The unit, including veterans and new recruits, totaled over eighty men. They were also divided into eight small units. Adding the Archers from the Spirit of War, Su Lun’s Territory had nearly a hundred Archers.

Formed into a phalanx and capable of volley fire, they finally showed the beginnings of an Arrow Rain effect. Besides this, all soldiers had begun learning to ride horses. Of course, Su Lun didn’t intend for them all to become dedicated cavalry; that simply wasn’t practical.

Teaching these soldiers horsemanship was meant to improve their mobility. Essentially, they were mounted infantry, using horses for rapid advance or retreat. Upon reaching the battlefield, they would immediately dismount and form ranks with their weapons.

This approach sped up the army’s movement and greatly conserved the soldiers’ stamina, allowing them to enter battle fully energized. Actually, this style of mounted infantry warfare had existed in Su Lun’s previous world. It first appeared in Europe during the Sixteenth-century Italian Wars.

France, to counter the Spaniards who could appear at any time, ordered its musketeers to mount horses, creating a mobile infantry force that became known as dragoons. In China, such mounted infantry appeared during the Tang Dynasty. The Tang organized a Mo Dao Army, which intimidated the world at the time. Even the cavalry of the Turks didn’t dare face them.

The Mo Dao Army comprised heavy infantry wearing armor. So they rode horses during marches and donned their equipment upon reaching the battlefield. The three hundred warhorses traded from the Centaur Tribes greatly enhanced the mobility of Zhenbei City’s forces.

…

Camp Warehouse.

Su Lun had just arrived, and the warehouse steward was already waiting for him.

“Your Lordship.”

The steward bowed respectfully and handed Su Lun the ledger to examine. While the System clearly showed the inventory of all goods in the warehouse, it didn’t guarantee the stewards wouldn’t embezzle. Thorough ledger checks were mandatory at regular intervals.

Any significant discrepancy in the ledger would indicate a problem with the warehouse manager.

“What about the Dragonhide Armor? Is it completed?” Su Lun asked after verifying the ledger matched the actual goods.

“The leatherworkers finished them just this morning. They haven’t been sent to Lady Heatherway yet,” the steward reported.

The Frost Wyvern hides had been processed by Heatherway and then handed to the leatherworkers to make into Dragonhide Armor. Only after the armor was made would Heatherway enchant them. They were just newly completed.

“Your Lordship, the quality of this batch of leather armor is superb,” the steward said excitedly. “When we inventoried them, we tested the protection. The Dragonhide Armor rivals regular Iron Armor in defense and is much lighter to wear!”

“Here they are, the Dragonhide Armor. Please take a look.”

Su Lun followed the steward behind a shelf. The steward opened a crate, revealing neatly stacked Dragonhide Armor inside. Su Lun picked up a piece. It felt slightly heavier than normal Leather Armor but looked pretty good on the surface.

“Item: Dragonhide Armor +1. Item Grade: Low Level Magical Gear.

Description: Dragonhide Armor. Crafted from the skin of a Frost Wyvern. Sturdier than other Leather Armor. Possesses decent magical resistance. The defensive properties of the Lesser Dragon’s hide persist, granting good protection against both physical and magical damage. Difficult to damage. Craftsmanship of the current pieces is somewhat crude. Non-enchanted.

Equipment Effects: Lesser Dragon’s Skin, Ruggedness, Minor Magic Resistance, +10 Defense.

[Lesser Dragon’s Skin: This Dragonhide Armor possesses the defensive capability of a Lesser Dragon’s hide. Immune to attacks below Strength Level 5. Mitigates a portion of damage from attacks exceeding Strength Level 5.]

[Ruggedness: This Dragonhide Armor’s tough material makes it very difficult to destroy.]

[Minor Magic Resistance: This armor offers decent magical resistance, reducing damage from spells below Magic Level 5.]”

The attributes were very good. Even unenchanted, it was stronger than many Iron Armors. Once enchanted by Heatherway, these armors’ properties would be greatly enhanced. Thirty-seven pieces of Dragonhide Armor were crafted. Besides those reserved for the Wyvern Knights, the rest would be awarded as rewards, only given to those with outstanding contributions. Even the Wyvern Knights who received armor would need to pay back the cost using Points later.

Su Lun took all thirty-seven unenchanted Dragonhide Armor pieces to Heatherway’s Laboratory. Because Su Lun provided collected materials, Heatherway never worried about supplies and often experimented.

Enchanting thirty-seven sets of armor was no small task, but they weren’t needed immediately. Su Lun wasn’t in a rush. Actually, during this idle period, Su Lun felt like learning some Wizard spells.

After some investigation, he learned that Wizards needed to study the spell model of a spell before being able to cast it. Spell models appeared complex and formed the foundation. Learning this was essential.

Su Lun was very interested in studying these spells. His Mental Strength was quite high, making learning spell models manageable. Still, the tedious study grew tiresome. Therefore, after studying, Su Lun and his teacher, Heatherway, would study life’s mysteries.

This also served to verify the spell knowledge learned in class. The first spell Su Lun mastered was Wizard’s Hand. Its spell model was the simplest; the learning difficulty wasn’t high, yet it had wide applications. Moreover, almost every Wizard modified this spell to suit their needs.

For example, some adapted Witch’s Hand to resemble a human hand very closely, granting it flexibility beyond a human palm. It was said a Legendary Wizard adapted various versions: Frost Hand, Tremor Hand, Flaming Hand… Their power wasn’t immense, but they were much loved by Witches.

Su Lun had begun researching these spells too. Besides Wizard’s Hand, he also learned Shadow Tentacle. This spell summoned shadow energy to form a tentacle used to bind enemies. It wasn’t hard to cast and was quite practical.

After mastering these two spells, Su Lun tried imbuing them with his lightning energy. After several attempts, he succeeded. Chris even experienced it personally. After just one encounter, the Little Succubus begged for mercy and surrendered.