“Today is the final test you new recruits must undergo before becoming glorious Winged Cavalry!
It’s very difficult, but I believe that after so many days of training, you have gained a basic understanding of Winged Cavalry tactics. I also believe that your sweat and tears have been enough to forge you from a bunch of sissy boys who couldn’t ride horses well into true steel cavalry!
Today, witnessed by these ancient forests, new Winged Cavalry will join the ranks, and ancient glorious traditions will be carried on!”
Valand Knight’s distinctive low roar, which always sounded like a whip cracking when it rang out, echoed in the evening light of the Seicore Prairie near the Ancestral Woods. Today he sat fully ard and armored on his warhorse “Cold Wind.”
Besides him, Knight Sunny and several other Winged Cavalry captains were also present, and before them were 31 Winged Cavalry recruits waiting to be tested.
Not a single NPC – all were players from the Crimson Hamr and Sickle team.
The NPC knights who enlisted with Onboard Joy Stick and his brothers haven’t even completed the second trial of the recruit training manual, while these little players with their superb learning ability and fearlessness have already progressed to the fifth trial.
The two groups’ progress wasn’t even on the sa level!
Knight Valand used to marvel at this disparity, but as he participated in more activities under Murphy’s command and gained a deeper understanding of the warriors, especially after being inford of their true identities, he also began to believe this disparity was ant to exist.
After all, they were “heroic spirits” from another world!
They had already been battle-hardened in their own plane of existence, only becoming weakened after losing most of their power during their journey across worlds. However, that superior combat instinct still remained hidden within their bodies.
They only needed to receive the tempering of ti and battle in Transia to beco powerful once again.
This perfectly explained their astonishing learning ability and rate of growth.
While this peculiar narrative about the warriors couldn’t be said to match exactly with the background Murphy fabricated for the players, it was more like comparing apples to oranges. However, after Murphy learned of it, he quickly adopted an ostrich strategy, neither confirming nor denying, simply allowing the rumors to continue spreading.
It’s said these rumors first spread from the Torrent Knights, propagated everywhere by Miss Becky’s big mouth, but facts proved that compared to the mysterious and vast legends of the Seris tribe, locals were more accepting of this “heroic spirits from another plane” explanation.
Perhaps because this world itself already contained inexplicable mysterious things like vengeful spirits, since vengeful spirits already existed, adding heroic spirits probably wouldn’t be a big deal.
As the recruit leader, Onboard Joy Stick now sat proudly straight in his saddle, wearing an arrogant smile like a main character.
He had every right to wear such an expression!
Because over the past 25 days, he had already completed the difficult Winged Cavalry training course through his own efforts and unwavering persistence. This intensity of training and mastery of cavalry techniques and control wasn’t just so “war ga” that even a self-disciplined veteran could complete casually.
They had spent at least four-fifths of all their ga ti over these 25 days on horseback, with no less than 2,000 repetitions of wall charge and penetrating charge formation drills alone.
Not only did they have to learn in-ga, but the tough guys of the Hamr team even created a group chat offline to share various cavalry tactics and learning essentials they found online.
It could be said that over the past 25 days, these 31 little players were all in an “obsessed” state, especially those Tiger Leopard Cavalry brothers with families, who had no shortage of argunts with their family mbers over this research and learning.
But it was all worth it!
They created the “fastest clear” record in Winged Cavalry history!
According to Knight Sunny, even the greatest Winged Cavalry commander in history, Little Countess Sharon’s father Old Count Seicore, took three months to pass the Winged Cavalry recruit trials in his youth.
These foreigners from distant lands had created a miracle today!
In the eyes of the Winged Cavalry commanders before them, Brother Stick could no longer see any contempt or disdain, replaced instead by respect and blessings. This change in the locals’ attitude toward them filled Stick with a sense of achievent, a pleasure even more exciting than finding treasure in the ga.
He had proved through actual actions that Lord Murphy’s initial judgnt of him was wrong!
He had not only successfully integrated into Transia but had also gained the trust and respect of the most stubborn group of people in the land of Transia.
But this was just the first step!
Onboard Joy Stick’s attitude toward the Black Plague was different from most people.
He was probably one of the few people who looked forward to the Black Plague’s swift arrival. He made no secret of his enthusiasm for war, hoping to gain true supre honor for himself and his brothers in that war destined to go down in history.
Not having experienced that supre trial for warriors in a military career worth rembering had always been Brother Stick’s regret, but now, he finally got to fill this regret as his life approached its halfway point.
He also believed he wasn’t the only one who thought this way, his brothers in the team, who had already been honed razor-sharp by their war experiences in Transia, were just as eager for their mont to shine on the stage of war.
They would beco Murphy’s sword!
They would beco Transia’s undefeated spear, they would beco the enemy’s nightmare and enjoy all the glory they deserved amid the cheers of the civilians they protected.
“You will enter the ancestral woods after midnight arrives, seeking your own shadow-maned warhorse under the cover of night! This is your final step to becoming Winged Cavalry, and also the most difficult step.
Especially for vampire knights, although you will be strengthened at midnight, your inherent dark nature is not favored by shadow-maned warhorses.
This ans you will need to put in more effort to complete this contract.”
Knight Valand shouted the contents of the final trial.
Looking at the light in the eyes of these outstanding recruits before him, he was very familiar with this kind of combative and warlike desire, and this martial spirit-filled yearning also made him very satisfied.
This was exactly the fresh blood he wanted for the Winged Cavalry. He believed that as more heroic spirits from other worlds entered Transia, the Winged Cavalry he personally rebuilt would beco more brave and warlike than before.
They had once sworn to take back everything they lost. Valand thought it would take a long ti, but now it seed fate still favored them.
“You must rember, shadow-maned warhorses are contract spirits of the forest spirits and nature. These powerful beings will only submit to the fearless.
They will scrutinize you in the shadows. You must track and gain their approval. Once the contract is ford, you will not only gain a loyal companion of the Winged Cavalry but also receive the blessing of the forest spirits.”
Knight Sunny beside Knight Valand explained loudly to the recruits:
“Under the watch of the forest spirits, you cannot use force to achieve this contract unless the shadow-maned warhorse demands it of you!
The challenges given to you by those fierce and wise beings are not the sa, but whatever the content, you only have one night. If you cannot ride the shadow-mane up to the forest’s sacred pool before dawn arrives, it ans your trial has failed.
Is that understood?”
“Understood!”
Onboard Joy Stick, mounted on his demon-hunting steed, responded loudly on behalf of his brothers. Knight Valand nodded and made a gesture to the mountain folk elder guarding this special woodland behind him. The elder, leaning on his staff and wearing a strange antlered mask, shakily lit two stone fire basins with his own hands.
Strange blue flas rose in the fire basins without any kindling, then the territorial boundary like mist manifested in the material world.
Obviously, the shadow-maned warhorses needed by the Winged Cavalry were not bred in the material world, this was also the biggest secret of the mountain folk tribe of the ancestral woods and the Winged Cavalry.
This was also why from the army’s establishnt 400 years ago until now, not a single shadow-maned warhorse had fallen into anyone else’s hands except the Winged Cavalry.
This thing simply couldn’t be captured!
Because the mont the contracted cavalry died, these nature spirits would return to their peculiar demi-plane where they were born.
Therefore, it could be said that the warhorses Brother Stick and the others were seeking might have previously been contracted with other Winged Cavalry and participated in countless battles together. Compared to those horses, these guys were the real “recruits” without a doubt.
“When you et a shadow-maned warhorse inside, rember to call out ‘Old Company Commander.'”
Brother Stick made a joke in private chat, making the other brothers laugh out loud.
Among the 31 people here, everyone except Kind-Face Giant Shark Uncle had military service experience. They could obviously get the unique implications of Onboard Joy Stick’s joke.
With such laughter, the group dismounted and walked into the mist. After a “seamless transition,” they appeared in a tranquil forest bathed in moonlight.
Onboard Joy Stick found himself appearing alone at a spot in the forest, cut off from contact with his brothers, and unable to use his computation bead, but he wasn’t panic-stricken.
This kind of trial must be done individually, of course.
He limbered up his body and strode forward to explore, though compared to others exploring in the sa woodland at this ti, Brother Stick’s montum was a bit “lacking in vigor.”
This certainly wasn’t to say he was weak, although already in his thirties, he paid great attention to fitness and health, and his physical condition was better than many twenty-year-olds.
The real reason for Brother Stick’s “blood deficiency” was because of his “blood descendant.”
Having to complete a “blood feeding” every three days to ensure the weakened lia Korando Lessenbra quickly recovered her proper strength was not sothing that could make one feel pleasant.
Because that wolfsbane blind girl was really “greedy”!
Every ti she lay on Brother Stick’s neck to suck blood, the feeling was like she wanted to swallow Onboard Joy Stick whole, completely proving the truth of the saying “won are tigers” with her own strength.
Initially, Onboard Joy Stick was very resistant to this blood descendant behavior, but as he slowly adapted, he now also learned to reconcile with lia.
What else could he do if he didn’t reconcile?
He couldn’t just leave her there to die, could he?
This little girl’s background was already tragic enough, and he was even her father’s killer. From this perspective, Brother Stick probably understood why lia’s expression would be so strange every ti she drew blood.
However, this wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Brother Stick discovered that as the number of blood feedings increased, lia’s strength had also recovered quite a bit.
This forr wolfsbane vampire was a rare spirit mage in the Wolfsbane clan. She could now go out with Brother Stick at midnight and independently hunt so animals for her own “tooth ceremony.”
Onboard Joy Stick estimated that by the ti the Black Plague broke out at the latest, lia would be able to recover to Black Iron elite level spellcasting standards. By then, he would have gained a “personal mage.”
No!
Not one, but two!
Although lia’s sister Winnie wasn’t Brother Stick’s blood descendant, she was always inseparable from her sister, which ant that as long as lia followed Onboard Joy Stick onto the battlefield, spirit mage Winnie would fight alongside them too. At that ti, with him as Winged Cavalry Tomb Guard charging as tank, and lia and Winnie, two elite spirit mages, dealing damage from behind, wouldn’t this be an “invincible” setup?
Hehe, isn’t this the joy of raising “2D waifus”?
Both eye-catching and capable fighters, and they could chat together when free. Apart from not being able to cough cough, anyway their little players’ chickens were all in Lord Murphy’s hands now, so it didn’t matter whether they could or not.
“Master, don’t let your mind wander. The warhorse you’re looking for is scrutinizing you from the mist ahead, and your current performance has disappointed it.”
Just as Brother Stick was fantasizing, blind lady lia’s cold clear voice suddenly rang in Brother Stick’s mind, interrupting his pleasant imagination but not surprising Onboard Joy Stick.
Over the past period of ti, he had already gotten used to lia’s sudden ntal speech.
“You can sense it?”
Brother Stick looked ahead at the mist diffused in the forest and asked curiously:
“You can share my vision? I rember you didn’t know this spell before.”
“Mm, just learned it from Lady Femis. It’s said to be an improvent on detection spirit energy from Lady Tris. This spell is very convenient to use.
Especially in the situation where my eyes are already blind while your eyes are still intact, it’s like I’ve grown new eyes. The feeling of regaining light is really nice.”
lia explained, then continued:
“Although I’m not a knight, I know a bit about warhorses. My forr dream was to beco an equestrian. Anyway, my advice to you now is to approach it slowly, extend your hand to show you an no harm, until you’re allowed to touch it is a good start.
Then you can try to ta it.
The success rate of this strategy is over 70%! If you have carrots or oats on hand, then the success rate will increase to 90%.”
“Ever since deciding to beco cavalry, I always keep these things on hand.”
Brother Stick grinned, taking out three crisp carrots from his spirit bag and slowly moving forward according to lia’s instructions.
The shadow-maned warhorse seed attracted by the carrots and erged from the mist. Its over 3-ter-tall body was like a heavy tank, its black skin and muscles bulging beneath its mane reminded Brother Stick of those heavy draft horses in the real world. This warhorse was obviously old, with so scars still remaining on its skin.
Like a warrior’s dals.
It stared at Onboard Joy Stick, the light flickering in those pitch-black eyes like black agate.
After several seconds of eye contact, the warhorse lowered its neck and began to nibble at the carrots in Onboard Joy Stick’s hand.
“Now’s the ti!”
lia reminded:
“Jump onto its back and start taming it!”
Brother Stick took action imdiately, though at this mont he belatedly asked:
“You just said the success rate is 90%? Then the remaining 10%…”
Before he could finish speaking, the agile shadow-maned horse raised its hind legs and bang, kicked the jumping Onboard Joy Stick in the chest.
This strike ca without warning like an antelope hanging by its horns, but that terrifying force was like Brother Stick hitting a battering ram head-on, sending his whole person flying dozens of ters away with a scream.
Fortunately, he was a vampire and spread his wings in ti, otherwise this blow would have been enough to send him back in disgrace.
“The remaining 10% is this situation.”
lia’s voice, obviously holding back laughter, echoed softly in Onboard Joy Stick’s mind. She tried to maintain a Greenleaf lady’s tone but clearly couldn’t hold it anymore. She said:
“Your luck is really bad, my poor master. Hmm, that shadow-maned horse seems to find this quite interesting. It looks like this is the trial content it’s giving you.
Jump onto its back and ride it to the forest sanctuary before it gets bored. Good luck, my master. May your already broken ribs continue to hold up until your victory.”
“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
Brother Stick said very unhappily:
“I feel like I’ve raised an ungrateful wolf”
“Guess? Also, my nickna in the Greyclaw faction was ‘White Wolf.'”
As lia’s light laughter faded, the connection between blood descendant and elder quietly broke off. Onboard Joy Stick wiped the dust off his chest with an unhappy face, but then couldn’t help laughing himself. Alright alright, this wolfsbane girl was quite interesting. So black-bellied, no wonder she could play together with the young lady.
Onboard Joy Stick stood firmly again, taking out another carrot. He stared at the shadow-maned warhorse pawing its hooves before him and said with double aning:
“Then let ta you, this wild horse! Little cutie.”
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