Lucian used a Site of Grace to teleport back to the underground area where the Drakeblood Knight Legion was stationed.
At this moment, the Drakeblood Knights were already each mounted atop their Dragonbeasts, practicing riding and movement.
It had been nearly a full day since Lucian and Stella had brought the Dragonbeasts here.
From the looks of it, the Drakeblood Knights had already more or less mastered the basic commands.
As for actual combat coordination, that would likely require further practice.
Lucian went to find Hakkan.
At this moment, Hakkan was riding his Dragonbeast, moving vertically along a nearby cliff face.
Lucian looked up at Hakkan on the cliff and called out to him:
"Hakkan, how does it feel?"
Hearing Lucian's voice, Hakkan whistled sharply toward the Dragonbeast beneath him.
The Dragonbeast immediately dashed down the cliff at astonishing speed, arriving in front of Lucian in the blink of an eye.
Hakkan swung himself off the Dragonbeast and landed on the ground, unable to hide the excitement on his face.
"These creatures are incredible!"
"Not only are they fast, but their climbing ability is terrifying. They can traverse all kinds of complex terrain and even possess a certain degree of combat capability."
"I heard that their endurance is a bit lacking, but after actually using them, that doesn't seem like a particularly serious flaw."
"In fact, compared to their other advantages, that weakness is practically negligible."
Hakkan patted the Dragonbeast beside him and continued:
"These Dragonbeasts are unquestionably excellent mounts."
"Once this operation is complete and we return to Stormveil, we can outfit them with proper saddles and additional armor."
"On the battlefield, they'll absolutely be first-rate war mounts."
Lucian smiled and nodded.
"How well have the Drakeblood Knights adapted to these mounts so far?"
Hakkan recalled the training he had just conducted with the knights.
"Although this is their first time interacting with this kind of mount, the knights have adapted quite well."
"These creatures aren't like ordinary beasts, they don't require bonding or gradual acclimation."
"They don't resist, and they don't have personal will or emotional fluctuations."
"As long as you give commands, they'll carry them out."
"That's why they can be mastered so quickly."
"Nearly everyone has already learned all the basic commands."
Lucian nodded, feeling satisfied with the pace of progress.
Ordinary warhorses required extensive training.
Not only did they need to meet strict physical standards, but their obedience also had to be cultivated to ensure stable riding.
Beyond that, they had to be trained for combat—unable to panic at the sight of blood or weapons, and capable of staying steady even when wounded.
But these Dragonbeasts, created through bioengineering, had no such requirements.
They were like machines.
As long as the commands were correct, there would be no problems.
Lucian asked Hakkan:
"When do you think we'll be able to set out for Sellia?"
Hakkan looked around at the other Drakeblood Knights riding nearby, thought for a moment, and then replied,
"If we want to leave, we could depart right now."
"All the basic commands are already solid, and we can continue training while on the move."
"Of course, if conditions allow, I think it would be better to depart tomorrow during the day."
Although it was difficult to distinguish day from night underground, it wasn't impossible.
For the sake of coordinated movement and maintaining schedules, Tarnished who ventured underground were equipped with clock-like timekeeping devices.
Lucian had wandered outside earlier, and at this point, it was already nighttime.
Since Hakkan suggested it, then departing during the day would be better.
Marching during daylight would be more convenient, and it would avoid arriving at Sellia Town in the middle of the night.
"Alright, we'll depart tomorrow morning."
After settling the timetable with Hakkan, Lucian didn't disturb their continued training and returned alone to the camp tent.
At this moment, Selinsax was playing with Sif using a chunk of meat.
Beside Selinsax lay the leg of a large beast, already partially eaten.
The Exalted Flesh from earlier had already been completely devoured by Sif—even the bones had been gnawed clean.
The meat being fed now had been brought over at Hakkan's request.
Normally, when the Drakeblood Knight Legion was stationed here, they would go out to gather resources, hunting along the way to obtain meat.
The natural resources underground were quite abundant, supplies were rarely a concern.
At this moment, Sif had already grown much larger compared to when it was first born.
In just a few more days, it would likely reach the size of an adult wolf commonly seen in the Lands Between.
When Sif saw Lucian return, it immediately ran over and rubbed itself affectionately against his leg.
Lucian crouched down and gently patted the little creature that was clearly acting cute.
Then he looked toward Selinsax.
"Sif ate quite a lot today."
Selinsax nodded.
"Yes. For its current size, it's eaten an incredible amount."
"Maybe it's because this is the stage where it needs to grow quickly."
Lucian looked at Sif rolling around on the ground and suddenly remembered something.
"Come to think of it… has it gone out to relieve itself yet?"
Selinsax smiled.
"Of course it has. It just happened while you weren't here."
"Sif is very smart. It goes out on its own, finds a spot, finishes its business, and then comes back. It's very worry-free."
Lucian let out a sigh of relief.
Not having to shovel poop—truly wonderful.
In his previous life, it wasn't that he had never thought about raising a pet.
But his room was barely enough for himself to live in, let alone accommodate an animal.
And after looking up guides online about how to properly care for various pets, Lucian had decisively given up.
Almost all pets were troublesome when it came to eating, drinking, sleeping, and relieving themselves, not to mention the countless things one had to pay attention to.
Some even required regular grooming, and others needed their mental health carefully managed.
Lucian felt that as a hopeless gamer who could barely take care of himself, it would be better not to ruin a pet's life.
Seeing how worry-free Sif was now, he felt genuinely satisfied.
After petting Sif together with Selinsax for a while, Lucian sent her back to her own tent to rest.
Lucian lay down, idly stroking Sif while recalling the two matters Ranni had spoken of earlier.
The impact of those revelations was simply too great—so much so that even now, his thoughts still felt somewhat unsteady.
—
The next day, Lucian was nudged awake by Sif.
When he exited the tent, the Drakeblood Knights outside had already begun packing up their living tents.
These tents could still be reused in the future, and once packed, they would be transported back to Stormveil.
The materials were bundled together and loaded onto massive cargo wagons, which were then pulled by Dragonbeasts.
This would also allow some of the Dragonbeasts to be brought back to Stormveil so that the blacksmiths could craft suitable armor and saddles for them.
Hakkan had assigned more than a dozen Drakeblood Knights to escort the supplies back to Stormveil, along with their knight attendants.
This included the few warhorses they had brought earlier.
The remaining Drakeblood Knights would travel light and accompany Lucian to Sellia Town.
Once they reached Sellia, they could resupply and station themselves there, so there was no need to carry excessive provisions.
Seeing Lucian emerge, Hakkan and Stella stood to his left and right respectively.
Hakkan blew the whistle used to command the Dragonbeasts.
The Dragonbeasts immediately gathered together, carrying the fully prepared Drakeblood Knights, forming neat ranks before Lucian.
Lucian looked at the orderly formation of knights before him and nodded in satisfaction.
This was the first time he had seen his own army so directly.
Lucian took the Sword of Night and Flame out of his spatial disk, raised it high toward the sky, and shouted to the Drakeblood Knights:
"Drakeblood Knights, march on Sellia!"
The Drakeblood Knights drew their weapons and raised them skyward, responding with thunderous roars—
Under his command, the Drakeblood Knights emerged from the Siofra River well and entered the canyon beneath Caelid.
Once everyone had gathered, Hakkan directed the Dragonbeasts to climb the massive canyon walls, following the same route they had taken before, heading toward Sellia Town.
The day before, Selinsax had cleared out many of the rot-infested creatures along the way from the air.
However, in just a single day, rot creatures from other regions had already reoccupied those areas.
Although their numbers were fewer than before, they still posed a nuisance.
This time, however, Lucian did not have Selinsax clear them out.
Instead, he took advantage of these rot creatures to let the Dragkeblood Knight Legion hone their skills.
If they panicked in battle and forgot to command their Dragonbeasts, they would surely suffer losses when facing the rotspawn.
But the situation Lucian worried about never occurred.
With the Drakeblood Knights charging together in large numbers, these beasts were nothing more than obstacles.
As long as the knights drove straight into the rot creatures, entire groups would be swiftly crushed beneath the torrent.
The Drakeblood Knights had consumed dragon blood, greatly enhancing their physical abilities.
Even against corrupted Giant Dogs and Giant Crows, one-on-one combat was not impossible.
And now, with their numbers and mounted advantage, the disparity was overwhelming.
Wherever they passed, greatswords swung in unison, hacking rot creatures down onto the ground.
The knights following behind delivered finishing blows, completely eradicating them.
The feeble counterattacks of the rot creatures were firmly blocked by shields.
By the time the rot creatures' pitiful intelligence finally realized they should flee, it was already too late.
They were easily caught by the Dragonbeasts, limbs clamped in powerful jaws, slammed to the ground, and reduced to helpless slabs of meat.
Thus, the Drakeblood Knights rode their Dragonbeasts at full speed, resting only once along the way.
After an entire day of travel, the Drakeblood Knight Legion finally arrived at Sellia Town.
The Sorcerers of Sellia came out to greet them, visibly surprised at the sight of such a well-organized and sizable knight order.
They had not expected that in the current Lands Between, Lucian could still muster a force of such quality.
Lucian instructed Hakkan to have the Drakeblood Knights station themselves within Sellia Town and rest properly for the night.
Tomorrow, the entire force would be mobilized—
To reclaim the Sellia Crystal Tunnel.