As Rynar watched the Elaris Woods Rangers settle into their roles, he suddenly remembered that he had a remarkable treasure in his hands.
"Boom!" A golden-red figure crashed heavily to the ground in the open space outside the city, releasing a sulfurous aroma that filled the air.
"Look! I almost forgot about Smaug, measuring a whopping 141 meters!" Rynar clapped his hands and turned to the stunned crowd.
Even though everyone had grown accustomed to seeing the 15-meter-long Kalador soaring over their heads, this massive dragon was a true rarity.
Adult dragons typically measure around 30 meters... but Smaug?
A staggering 141 meters! He had traded away his draconic language magic for unparalleled strength and melee prowess.
"Oh my! What a treasure! Your Majesty, why didn't you bring it out sooner?" Radir grinned as he approached. For mages pursuing the truth of magic, any part of a dragon was precious material.
"Caslow, Reynard, you two take your men and strip him clean! These dragon scales and hides are top-notch armor material," Rynar exclaimed, rubbing his hands together.
It's true; slaying dragons could lead to instant wealth, and ongoing wealth as well!
"Ah! What a massive dragon!" Aivy seemed startled and ran behind Radir.
"By the way, we need to remove the dragon's teeth too! They can be made into weapons!" Rynar added.
"The dragon wings are top-tier material for magical cloaks; don't cut them badly and waste them." Radir conjured an elemental blade with earth magic and began to carefully slice the membrane of the dragon's wings.
"Dragon eyes! We have to get those too! A dragon eye this size could make an incredible Eye of Insight with a vast range!"
After a moment of panic, the adorable Aivy perked up, directing everyone.
"Be careful! Don't cut too deep! Dragon blood is expensive!" Caslow shooed away a clumsy knight and cautiously pried up a dragon scale.
"Reverse scales! Reverse scales! Don't forget to look for his reverse scales!" Rynar recalled the most noble scales of true dragons, imbued with magical power!
"Quick! Quick! There's a cut here! Bring a bucket to catch the blood!" Reynard yelled, his voice a mix of panic and excitement.
The hard dragon scales were embedded in thick dragon hide, and after much effort, Reynard managed to pry a few scales loose, only to accidentally exert too much force, causing boiling dragon blood to ooze out.
"Here! Here! The bucket is coming, my lord!" The Battanian archers, who had been waiting nearby, quickly handed over a wooden bucket.
"Watch it! Don't crack the skull!"
Radir exploded in outrage as he saw a Battanian archer swinging a hammer meant for breaking through mithril armor, preparing to smash open the skull for the crystal.
He snatched the hammer away, but the weight made him stumble, and his back let out a loud crack.
You can't extract the dragon crystal like that! You have to skin and fillet it first, then go in through the hollow of the bones!" Radir grunted, rubbing his back.
"Wait! Don't pull that arrow out!" Rynar yelled as he saw an Elaris Woods Ranger attempting to remove a black arrow lodged deep in the dragon's heart.
"If you pull out the arrow, the heart's blood will spray out! Get a basin! You all work together to pull it out! Don't waste any of it! There's gold everywhere!" Rynar commanded.
"Someone! Go find the villagers and bring back a couple of large saws!" Caslow spat in his palm, eyeing Smaug's sharp claws with greed.
"Up there! Cut the meat and let the blood flow steadily! Watch out for the dragon tendons!
Whether we archers can use dragonbone bows in the future depends on how steady your hands are!
If anyone snaps a tendon, I'll make him use his own tendons to string the bow!" Rynar paced around, inspecting everyone's work with an unyielding demeanor.
As he observed the bustling and enthusiastic group, Kalador, Caslow's four-legged wyvern, cast a sympathetic glance at Smaug's corpse before looking around to see if anyone was watching.
Seizing the moment, he quietly moved away… This place was too terrifying!
They regarded Smaug's body as if it were a trove of treasures—treasures that could maintain their value!
Kalador shivered; as a wyvern, he could easily ignore temperatures that dipped below freezing, yet he felt a strange chill at this moment… Humans were terrifying…
"Wow! This dragon tendon is long! Just think of how many bowstrings we could make from over a hundred meters of it!" Rynar exclaimed in awe.
Ultimately, Kalador couldn't escape the grasp of Rynar and his crew. At this moment, he was cautiously stepping outside, a rope tightly binding a dragon tendon as thick as a man's head…
"Wow, this dragon bone is quite nice!" Radir chuckled, tapping the exposed ribcage; the dull sound echoed in his ears, delightful to hear.
"Radir, aside from making armor, what else can dragon bones be used for?" Rynar asked curiously.
"Hahaha! Once you gain the allegiance of Zaltarion's alchemists or potion-makers, you'll understand.
Dragon bones are crucial components for countless alchemical items and potions!" Radir explained while stroking his beard.
"Hey! Hey! Someone break off those spines on top! Smooth them out, and we'll have a piercing weapon!" Reynard noticed some spines on the dragon's tail that had been overlooked.
…
Thus, in less than half a day, the once-majestic Smaug, who had occupied the Lonely Mountain, successfully contributed to Rynar's growth.
According to rumors, Smaug's legacy would even be used during the nation-building years to come.
One cannot help but marvel at why, throughout history, warriors have been so keen on dragon-slaying; it is incredibly lucrative!
The wealth from a single dragon could easily sustain a family!
"A few thousand scales the size of washbasins, nearly a hundred bundles of cut dragon hide, sixty-four dragon teeth of various sizes, a dragon crystal the size of a washbasin, seven dragon tendons, twenty claws, a pile of dragon meat, and a hundred barrels of dragon blood!"
Rynar counted the various treasures while systematically storing them away.
"A windfall!" Rynar exclaimed in amazement.
At one point, he even stole a few glances at Caslow's wyvern; it turns out that slaying dragons for riches really is addictive!
"Isn't there a lava forge in the city? We can process the dragon scales into armor!" Rynar said enthusiastically, imagining Zaltarion soldiers clad in dragonhide and scale armor, dominating all of Lothlórien.
"Your Majesty, we lack the strength to equip magical armor…" In fact, Radir quickly doused his enthusiasm with cold water.
Riverguard had only the basic magma forge and no rare materials for forging.
Moreover, it would be better to focus on repairing the city walls rather than wasting time on non-essential magical gear at the moment.
"Ah… I understand." Rynar said, feeling a bit dejected.
He realized he had been too naive. Having immense wealth was good, but unfortunately, he lacked the ability to convert it into something usable at this time.
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"Your Majesty, perhaps you should come and take a look at this!" Radir suddenly burst into Rynar's tent early in the morning, his words filled with excitement.
"Oh?" Rynar's interest was piqued instantly.
"Chirp chirp chirp~" Pushing open the slightly ajar door, Rynar immediately spotted five tiny Griffins scrambling around in a nest made of straw.
Their brown bodies, white heads, and flapping tawny wings looked incredibly adorable, completely at odds with the fierce image they would one day project!
Having just opened their eyes, they were curious about everything.
When they saw Rynar enter, the little Griffins showed no fear; instead, they all raised themselves and waddled to the edge of the nest, opening their beaks wide and squawking for food.
"Radir, they actually hatched? Isn't this a bit early?"
Rynar recalled that Griffins typically needed at least four weeks to hatch, and he was certain that less than two weeks had passed since the eggs were laid.
He even wondered if his Griffins were some sort of counterfeit...
"Hehe, it took me two weeks just to get here…" Radir chuckled as he stroked his beard.
"Oh, that explains it!" Rynar said, suddenly enlightened.
"Your Majesty should consider training Griffin knights soon, and finding suitable riders for them should also be prioritized," Radir gazed at Rynar with admiration, his heart filled with contentment.
"Yes, it is indeed time to think about the Griffin knights," Rynar replied thoughtfully.
After all, the best way to train Griffin riders was to start from a young age.
Griffins were known for their loyalty; they typically only acknowledged their first master or their master's offspring.
For their long lives, often spanning hundreds of years, they would follow their original owner into battle and life.
After their master's death, they would remain by the side of their master's descendants until their own demise.
Thus, one Griffin could forge a knightly lineage lasting for centuries.
It was crucial to thoroughly vet potential riders for these five Griffins.
While the citizens and soldiers under Rynar's rule were wholly loyal to him now, that might not hold true as his territory expanded!
By the way, it's worth mentioning that the lifespan of the Zaltarion people is as long as that of the Númenóreans, though slightly shorter.
They typically live for two to three hundred years, so a Griffin could easily serve a knight's family for three generations.
"Caslow!" Rynar called out as he found Caslow, who was busy feeding his dragon.
Upon seeing Rynar striding toward him with an unrestrained cheerfulness, Caslow looked up.
"My lord! Have you encountered some good news?" Caslow immediately noticed the excitement plastered across Rynar's face.
"The Griffins have hatched; we can start looking for their riders!" Rynar exclaimed joyfully.
"That's fantastic news! In a year, we'll have five Griffin knights at our disposal! Finally, I won't have to guard the skies alone," Caslow sighed in relief.
"As a dragon knight, you should be capable of training Griffin knights, right?" Rynar assessed Caslow with a scrutinizing gaze.
"My lord, are you underestimating me? Training other air knights is no challenge at all!
Besides dragon knights, I'm unbeatable in the realm of aerial combat!
Who dares to claim they can outdo me? They've never experienced the despair of being on the receiving end of a dragon's breath!" Caslow boasted.
"Such confidence! But from what I know, the Holy Light Pegasus knights aren't any weaker than dragon knights…" Rynar remarked, suddenly dropping a hint of doubt.
"What?! My lord, the Holy Light Pegasus has been extinct for how many years? How could a creature with bones as brittle as dust possibly still exist?" Caslow protested vehemently.
The sacred nature of the Holy Light Pegasus made them comparable to dragon knights, but their dwindling population led to their ultimate extinction; after all, wild Holy Light Pegasi were so scattered that one might live a lifetime without encountering another of the opposite sex...
"Don't say that; it's possible we might see a return of Holy Light Pegasus knights in the future."
Rynar smiled mysteriously, believing that, with the system he possessed, he should... hopefully be able to gain their loyalty.
"Um…" Caslow scratched his head, unsure of how to respond.
"Alright, go and pick suitable candidates among the children of the villagers," Rynar assigned this task to Caslow, as this was a meticulous endeavor.
After sending Caslow off, Rynar decided to find something to occupy himself.
He suddenly realized that, after being pulled out of bed by old Radir, he had completely forgotten to sign in that morning, so he stood in the military camp and did just that.
"System sign-in!"
"Sign-in successful! Congratulations, host, you have received a summon for 500 Light Infantry."
"What the heck! Good heavens!" Rynar was taken aback, shocked at the sudden reward of 500 troops.
After all, he had only entered the Battle of the Lonely Mountain with 500 men; this effectively brought him back to full strength!
"Wait a minute? Summoned Light Infantry? Come on! Can the system switch it up? I'd be fine with 100 Rapid Infantry instead…" Rynar examined the details and instantly wore a pained expression...
What did "Summon Light Infantry" even mean? To put it nicely, it was an emergency recruitment of lightly armed soldiers; to put it bluntly, they were militia…
If the Rapid Infantry were considered cannon fodder, these guys were merely human obstacles on the battlefield.
They had no combat experience and their equipment was horrifically subpar... Naturally, one couldn't expect much from ordinary people summoned in a pinch.
As Rynar pondered this, a soldier on the city wall suddenly reported a massive wave of refugees heading toward the city.
Soon after, several knights rode out to intercept and scout the situation.
(Thanks to the military camp's proximity to the eastern city wall, the garrison could quickly ascend the walls or leave the city to intercept.)
"Giddy up!" The knights who had just exited the city returned in a rush.
"Your Majesty! They are the Empire's summoned Light Infantry! I can hardly believe there are still organized summoned soldiers wandering out here!"
The knight appeared quite surprised.
...
"Boom!"
With a cacophony of clattering, the Light Infantry finally managed to kneel before Rynar, who couldn't help but wince.
These soldiers were even worse than those in a game!
What stood before him were not soldiers at all! They looked more like armed refugees; no wonder the sentinels mistook them for a tide of refugees...
Rynar examined the summoned infantry before him, a look of disappointment creeping across his face.
To start with their armor, they weren't even clad in iron armor, let alone leather armor…
Good heavens, they were essentially parading around in mere fabric!
They were poorer than Azog's orc legion. Their weaponry was pitiful; besides a single 60-centimeter iron one-handed sword, they had no other weapons at all...
Rynar couldn't help but gaze up at the sky; this truly exemplified the extreme of being lightly equipped! What level of light armor was this?!
In his memory, the Light Infantry at least had leather armor and iron helmets, plus weapons like long swords and a leather round shield...
On this day, Rynar felt the malice of the system and understood just how vast the differences in Light Infantry could be...
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