In the training ground,
Over twenty knights formed a circle, their eyes gleaming as they scrutinized the Black Rock Leopard in the center, their gazes as intense as if they were eyeing a naked beauty.
Every knight desires a fine warhorse.
While the Black Rock Leopard wasn't strictly a warhorse, it could still serve as a mount.
Crucially, this mount possessed the combat strength of a novice knight—far superior to a warhorse.
How majestic it would be to ride!
On the battlefield, it would be invincible!
"My lord, sir, could you spare one of those black rock leopards for me?"
Jodon excitedly rushed to Ke Yi and Sunan, his voice booming throughout the training ground.
Hearing this, the other knights immediately expressed their displeasure.
"Why should you, you drunkard, go first?"
"I'm a mid-level knight; I should go first!"
"Pah! I'm the best rider; I should go first!"
"You're riding a horse; this is a leopard!"
"They're practically the same!"
"Bullshit, I'm also good at riding women; shouldn't I go first with the Black Rock Leopard?"
Seeing that the crowd was about to start arguing, Kee rubbed his temples in annoyance and waved his hand, saying, "Shut up, all of you; this Black Rock Leopard goes to Brad first."
Brad, who had been standing quietly to the side, was surprised by this and immediately beamed with joy.
"Thank you, Sir; thank you, Your Excellency."
Jodon and the others looked at each other, pursed their lips, and said nothing.
Brad had a high reputation among the knights and was one of the strongest, so giving him the first Black Rock Leopard was acceptable to the others.
As for Kee, Su Nan had already said that he would forge an even more powerful Black Rock Leopard for him later.
Su Nan tossed Brad a necklace, saying, "This is the key to controlling the Black Rock Leopard. Wear it, and the Black Rock Leopard will obey your commands, though it can only accept relatively simple instructions."
"I understand, thank you, sir!"
Brad excitedly put on the necklace and, amidst the envious gazes of the others, mounted the Black Rock Leopard and galloped around the training ground.
Kee turned to Su Nan and asked, "How long does it take to forge a Black Rock Leopard?"
"Three or four hours."
Seeing the delight on Kee and the knights' faces, Su Nan poured cold water on their enthusiasm.
"The materials for the Black Rock Leopard are black stone, iron, and gemstones; one costs about thirty-eight gold coins."
Hearing this, Kee frowned but quickly relaxed.
Compared to the increased military strength, the cost of thirty-eight gold coins was insignificant.
As long as the Blackstone Mine existed, Blackrock City would have a steady stream of gold coin income.
In contrast, what Blackrock City urgently needed now was military strength.
Only with a powerful army could they protect the Blackstone Mine, their cash cow.
"Don't worry about the money; I'll take care of it. Now, it'll be up to you to refine the Black Rock Leopards."
Su Nan nodded calmly.
These days, besides meditation and making minor activating potions, he spends the rest of his time reading, and even his sleep and rest are mostly replaced by meditation. Taking a few hours out of his schedule to refine Black Rock Leopards isn't difficult.
Moreover, refining Black Rock Leopards will increase his puppet-making proficiency; the more he refines and the higher his level, the shorter the time it takes.
This matter won't take up too much of his energy.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
In the Summer Moon (June), the rising temperature scorched the leaves, and the blazing sun relentlessly licked the ground day after day.
Despite the sweltering heat, smiles graced the faces of the residents of Black Rock City.
With the reopening of the Blackrock Mine, a large number of caravans were attracted to Black Rock City.
The prosperity of commerce raised the standard of living for the people to a new level.
Although the city had recently absorbed a large influx of refugees, the Black Rock Mine, the army, and the reclaimed wasteland effectively absorbed them, greatly mitigating the impact of the refugees on Black Rock City.
Everyone could see Black Rock City's prosperity and was filled with hope for the future.
It's worth mentioning that Su Nan's birthday also fell during the Summer Moon.
Although Su Nan declined, Ke Yi insisted on holding a 17th birthday banquet for him.
All the knights of Blackrock City, as well as several merchant guilds closely cooperating with Blackrock City, sent representatives to the banquet.
Mu Zhuo, the president of the Fire Fox Merchant Guild, even came personally to present Su Nan with a precious gift—a full twelve rubies!
Perhaps he had learned that Black Rock City was buying gems.
In any case, this gift, worth hundreds of gold coins, was unparalleled among all the guests' gifts, its extravagance causing many to secretly marvel.
Su Nan was also somewhat surprised.
He could sense Mu Zhuo's intention to cultivate a good relationship with him, but he didn't understand why the other party would do this.
Could it be that Mu Zhuo had discovered his identity as a wizard apprentice?
And did he even understand the implications of this identity?
Despite his doubts, Su Nan didn't reject Mu Zhuo's overtures and engaged in a lively conversation with him during the banquet.
"I heard that old fox Mu Zhuo really likes to invest in promising young people. He probably already knows you're a wizard apprentice, and he likely understands the power of wizard apprentices, which is why he sent you such a generous gift."
After the banquet, Ke Yi and Su Nan returned to the study and sat down to discuss Mu Zhuo's actions that evening.
"However, the Firefox Merchant Guild's influence extends throughout the Jinghua Duchy and has cooperative relationships with many merchant guilds in the Fanxing Duchy. Being on good terms with him will make collecting wizarding texts and materials much easier for you."
"Indeed." Su Nan nodded, glancing at Ke Yi. "What happened? You seemed a little distracted tonight."
"You noticed."
Ke Yi gave a wry smile, then his expression turned serious.
"My spies in Flashing City have received intelligence that Zolf, Norwood, and Devon will all be attending the harvest celebration in Flashing City three months from now!"
Zolf, Norwood, and Devon were all subordinates who fought alongside Baron Arnest on the battlefield, and he was the one who promoted them to lordship.
However, when Baron Arnest died unexpectedly on the battlefield and Owen shamelessly seized the baronial title, the three of them, intimidated by the power of the marquis of Goldrock, chose to protect themselves.
It was precisely because of their silence that Owen hesitated to eliminate the two brothers immediately.
However, Kee would not be grateful or forgive the three of them for this.
"If it weren't for Father, how would those three have had the chance to obtain lordship? Yet they show no gratitude whatsoever, and now they've even turned around and joined that bandit's ranks. They deserve to die!"
Compared to Kee's anger, Su Nan appeared calm and composed, saying calmly,
"Except for Blackrock City, Owen now completely controls the power of the entire Flashing territory. I think he will soon make his move against us."
Kee suppressed his anger, his brows furrowed.
What Su Nan said was exactly what he was worried about.
After thinking for a while, he quickly made up his mind, slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair, stood up, and said solemnly,
"We can't delay any longer. We'll attack the Blackscale Lizardmen's lair in three days and eliminate this closest threat first!"
After two months of training, the cavalry regiment that Ke Yi had assembled was beginning to take shape.
Although it only had a little over sixty men, it included twenty knights, and the rest were all apprentice knights.
More importantly, the entire cavalry regiment was equipped with Black Rock leopards as mounts.
Although the time was a bit tight, with this cavalry regiment at his disposal, Ke Yi was still quite confident in wiping out the black-scale lizard men.
"Let's do it this way. I'll go too," Su Nan said, standing up.
If the battle were postponed until the Month of Scrolls (August) after he advanced to the second-class wizard apprentice level, he could minimize the losses when attacking the black scale lizardmen.
Now, even if they could win, the losses would inevitably be quite large.
However, it wasn't certain; after all, he still had the spell scroll as a trump card.
With good luck, there might be a good outcome.
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