Chapter 756: The Tianxuecao's New

The next day, Jier woke up early, only to be roused by the noise outside his tent.

"What is everyone doing? So noisy."

As Jier shouted from inside the tent, the Armed Civilian responsible for guarding outside explained to him: "Sir Knight, it is those alien beings who call themselves Mao Mao, er, and the female civilians in the group; everyone came over early in the morning to see the novelty. Many people are seeing a living alien being for the first time."

"Is that so? There are no conflicts, are there?"

While putting on his clothes, Jier asked.

The voice outside the tent continued to answer: "No, no, Mr. Siter is watching. Although it is noisy, no one is getting close. Those alien beings look soft and cute, but they are quite fierce."

Jier chuckled, used a water bottle to pour some clean water into a Wooden Basin, scrubbed his face, and then took a mouthful of water to rinse his mouth before finally walking out of the tent feeling refreshed.

Sure enough, just as Jier had expected, the campfire area where he had arranged for the alien beings to rest last night was already surrounded three layers deep by curious civilians.

Because the Mao Mao lacked an aggressive appearance and were covered in long, fluffy fur, the civilians were not afraid of them even though they knew they were alien beings, and they all curiously watched them.

Jier stood on tiptoe to look inside, and seeing that Xueya Siter had the situation under control, he stopped worrying about it, hung his Hunting Sword at his waist, put on his new Cloak, and walked toward the place where the livestock were kept not far away.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Tianxuecao bullying the newly arrived donkeys again, its huge horse head swinging left and right, striking the poor donkeys that were half its height.

However, these newly bought Stubborn Donkeys were also stubborn; they refused to submit and kept trying to use their teeth to bite Tianxuecao in retaliation.

This completely annoyed Jier's mount. Tianxuecao opened its mouth, bit the upright ears of a Stubborn Donkey, and pulled hard, causing the Stubborn Donkey to wail and beg for mercy.

The civilians responsible for looking after the livestock could not manage Jier's warhorse at all, so they just stood around watching the excitement, waiting for Tianxuecao to finish dealing with the newcomers before going to tend to the new livestock.

"Sir, you are here. Your warhorse is bullying our livestock again!"

Seeing Jier approach, they immediately pointed at the misbehaving Tianxuecao and shouted.

Tianxuecao flicked its ears, seemingly hearing Jier's steady and powerful footsteps, or perhaps understanding that someone was tattling to its master, 'wronging' it, a model warhorse. Thus, it immediately let go, moved away from the aggrieved, braying donkey, and trotted away with small, dainty steps, freely circling around the wooden stakes to which the livestock were tied.

Yes, because Jier had given orders, Tianxuecao was never tied to the hitching post in the group. This clever prairie horse would not run away; it would only rush to its master's side at full speed when Jier whistled to participate in battle.

Even though it was not wearing a Muan and Jiansheng all day long.

Hearing such complaints, Jier just laughed, waved at Tianxuecao, who was pretending to be 'innocent', and let it come over, then took the horse gear brought by the civilians and personally placed it on the Tianxuecao that had trotted over.

"It's fine, it is a warhorse after all. It needs to establish its status in the group, just like me. A knight riding a warhorse is very fitting. Of course, if you see it about to hurt other livestock, remember to separate them."

"Yes, sir. But Tianxuecao is so fierce, it won't bite us, will it?"

"You fools, just get some Beans and lure them to eat; wouldn't that work?"

After saying this, Jier jumped onto the horse's back, flicked the Jiansheng, and the understanding Tianxuecao proudly tossed its head at the civilians tending the livestock and walked away with a light gait.

Leaving only the Stubborn Donkeys braying in grievance, and the snorts and happy neighs of other horses that sounded like mockery.

Coming to Duoen Town again early in the morning, Jier rode on horseback with his ears pricked, paying attention to the idle chatter of drunks and early-rising civilians passing by.

To his surprise, the civilians' conversations were quite related to the news he had only arranged to be sent out yesterday. Some old drunks who had been sitting along the street drinking since early morning were actually still arguing about whether to "deal with" some arrogant Hunter.

Was this "deal with" the same as the one he understood?

And when he heard civilians adding things and content to the news about the Hunters that he had not instructed, the corners of Jier's mouth could not help but curl up.

He secretly said to the black Bird Wood Carving hanging on his chest: "Listen to what people are saying! Is it a surprise?"

Immediately, a voice reached Jier's ears: "Rude brat, what exactly do you mean? Hmm?"

But Jier didn't say anything more; he just curled his lips and rode toward the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild.

At the same time, in the lobby of a remote inn in the civilian district of Duoen Town, two Hunters with bows on their backs were silently eating their Bean soup.

These two Hunters, who were still wearing wide, brownish-green Cloaks indoors, one in his forties and one in his twenties, were both tall and strong men. On their Cloaks, between the mottled camouflage patches, were densely sewn patterns of various beasts and Monsters.

They should not have attracted anyone's attention sitting in the corner, but at this moment, other civilians in the inn lobby were all whispering and pointing at them. Their expressions were all displeased, including the innkeeper who was wiping the tables.

"Did you cause trouble yesterday?"

The older Hunter had been eating his Bean soup in silence, but finally couldn't help but question his young companion.

The young man looked unlucky and stubborn: "No. It's just..."

"Then it is trouble. What were the instructions before we left? Follow secretly and keep watch; we are not responsible for anything else. The new things that that existence has stirred up will be handled by other young Hunters who need to level up and challenge them."

"It's not that."

The young man explained: "Everything was fine yesterday. I had just finished patrolling and scouting around the town at night when some strangers stopped me and asked me to apologize to them."

"Apologize? Did you do anything unnecessary?"

The young man was speechless: "I am not a novice; I didn't do anything unnecessary. Those people were really just looking for trouble. I originally wanted to throw a few coins to attract their attention and walk away, but those people didn't even pick up the money and insisted on rushing up to hit me."

"Did you fight back? Did you kill any locals?"

The young man rolled his eyes, slammed the wooden spoon in his hand into his bowl of Bean soup, and retorted in a low voice: "I'll say it again, I'm not a novice. In terms of hunting skills and past records, you and I are on the same level. Put away that attitude of yours, old man."

He muttered the last sentence under his breath.

But the old Hunter probably guessed it wasn't anything good, though he didn't care: "Then, why are the people in the inn so hostile to us today? If we can't stay here, we can only stay outside the town. Duoen Town is different from other places; the management and surveillance outside the town are stricter. Those guys who guard against debtors running away or slacking off are far more troublesome than the Thieves you can occasionally see in town."

"I know, hmph." The young man was still angry, not only at his companion's blame but also at the groundless hostility and discussion from the people around him.

As Hunters, their ears were far better than ordinary people's, so he had heard most of the content discussed by people who thought they were lowering their voices.

Things like the two of them bragging that they could shoot eagles and that everyone in town was weak—although he hadn't said anything similar, how did these civilians know? And it had even been spread around?

"Do you think it could be the Thieves in town? Could we have underestimated them? Is this them playing tricks on us in the dark, or is it a warning?"

The young man speculated.

The old Hunter finished his food first, put down his Wooden Bowl, and replied: "It's possible. Regardless of whether it is or not, we can't stay in town anymore. I'm going back to the room to pack, and we'll head outside the town after we finish eating. We can also monitor that Knight and that existence from outside the town."

"Sigh, let's do that."

The young man picked up his wooden spoon and stirred his Bean soup quite melancholically. This town was actually quite interesting, especially the various entertainment and low-level gambling facilities. Every time he went out to patrol and monitor over the past two days, he would go to the casino to hang around and 'play a little'.

Relying on his perception, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, and his hunter's intuition, his money bag had been bulging these days.

Jier arrived at the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild, entered through the front door, found the Merchant assistant he had met yesterday, and then, under his guidance, rode Tianxuecao to the Merchant Guild stables he had seen yesterday.

It was a hive of activity here; several Craftsmen took turns, while the apprentices worked continuously. When they were sleepy or tired, they would just rummage through some dry Wheat Straw in the stable, lie down in it, and rest whenever they could.

Through everyone's efforts, in just one day, the custom-made Horse Armor for Tianxuecao was already beginning to take shape.

At this moment, in the center of the open space of the stable complex, on a crude wooden model made to the exact scale of Tianxuecao, there was already a basic set of leather Armor, and on top of that, large pieces of cut, sewn, and bound Multi-layer Protective Cloth had already been draped over the wooden model with metal clasps.

Apart from the frontal impact area of the wooden warhorse's body, the protective armor for the other parts had already been completed.

Jier pulled Tianxuecao along and circled the wooden model, not only carefully inspecting and examining this newly crafted armor, but also reaching out to flip through it.

Except for the head, neck, and chest areas of the wooden model, all other parts, including the tail, were protected by two layers of armor half a fist thick.

Aside from the connecting buckles, not a single gap was exposed on the back and sides of the body. At the same time, the lowest point of the armor was only one horse-hoof's height from the ground, making it almost impossible to injure the horse itself inside the armor before breaking through it.

Seeing Knight Jier approach, the old Craftsman Kent, who was in charge of this set of horse armor, personally stepped forward to explain the disassembly, cleaning, and maintenance procedures for this set of armor to Knight Jier.

While listening, Jier curiously asked where the other three craftsmen were.

"They are each responsible for one, rushing to finish the metal components for the most important parts of this armor. They are the anti-arrow face guard for the horse's head, the anti-slashing articulated plate armor for the horse's neck, and the metal composite chest armor for the horse's chest to defend against long spear and pike charges."

The old craftsman pointed to the three areas on the front of the wooden model that lacked the multi-layer protective cloth.

These places were where horses were most easily attacked during battle. For an army, a knight on horseback was not easy to defeat, so it was only natural for ordinary soldiers to target the warhorse, which was larger and less agile and protected than the knight.

Archers and crossbowmen shooting at the horse's head, heavy Warriors hacking at the horse's neck with heavy axes and greatswords, and spearmen forming ranks to use meters-long spears to turn the knight's own momentum against the warhorse—these were all areas that required primary protection.

Of course, knights and Cavalrymen mostly would not charge an army head-on, but rather use their mobility to attack poorly defended logistics units, or use battlefield mobility to attack the sides and weak points of an army.

These requirements for protection were also the foundation of tactics. One could fight without them, but with better horse armor, the combat effectiveness of knights and Cavalrymen would be even stronger.

This was beyond doubt.

Jier stood to the side talking with the old Craftsman Kent, while Tianxuecao tilted its head, sizing up the wooden dummy horse that was as tall as itself.

"Neigh?"

It first sniffed the head of the wooden horse with its nose, but other than a smell of wood, it discovered nothing.

Afterwards, it stretched out its neck and rubbed the side of its neck against the neck of the dummy horse, hoping to make friends with this dummy horse that was as tall as it was.

But the other party just stood there blankly without responding.

This made Tianxuecao very disappointed; it swung its thick horse neck and knocked the dull dummy horse to the ground.

"Neigh-neigh-neigh-neigh!!!"

A triumphant cry.

Jier laughed out loud, while Craftsman Kent muttered, "What a very aggressive warhorse." He then called over his apprentices to find a way to pull the fallen wooden model upright.

This thing was quite heavy and not something an ordinary person could easily lift.

But for Jier, this was nothing; he waved his hand to stop the apprentices from bustling about, stepped up, reached out, and used his strength to lift the fallen wooden horse model upright. To prevent Tianxuecao from causing more trouble, Jier sent it into the nearby stable, letting it go bully the horses of the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild.

At noon, Mr. Scott came by, and he also brought the horse's metal composite chest armor, one of the three important protective components.

Although this thing was called chest armor, it was actually not just one piece. It included the main body of the chest armor, the extended articulated protective components for the front of the front legs, and the most important connecting fixed locks and leather straps.

This item was the heaviest of the three metal components, so it had the most fixed locks and leather straps, which needed to be fastened in the correct order onto the base leather armor that served as the foundation.

This base leather armor was similar to the Inner Armor of Jier's Metal Armor; it not only provided the most basic protection but also provided additional fixed points for the metal components and load-bearing connection points for the locks and leather straps.

Without this, the horse chest armor could still be mounted on the horse, but the horse would certainly feel uncomfortable, and if it wore the armor for a long time during battle, the friction would cause damage to the horse's hair and skin.

In severe cases, it could even lead to ulcerated wounds caused by chafing; if there were no treatment methods, then no matter how strong the warhorse was, it would be ruined.

And all of this was something Jier heard from the old Craftsman Kent for the first time.

The breeding and raising of horses, training and equipment, and even further strengthening of warhorses were all fields of knowledge and technology.

Unlike humans, much of the basic knowledge and technology regarding horses was held by the church of the Chumu God, though the equipment for horses was relatively widespread, with craftsmen in various places mastering quite a bit of it, while the strengthening of a knight's warhorse had become an important technology for various forces and organizations.

These technologies were an important part of mastering the power of knights; after all, the difference in strength between a knight with a mount and a knight without one was too great.

On the battlefield, it was even more of a key factor in whether a knight could dominate the situation.

For many knights, without the high mobility, protection, and load-bearing capacity for weapons and equipment provided by a mount, a knight was nothing more than a slightly stronger Warrior.

At most, they could only consume a few dozen Refining Qi heavy-armored soldiers in local combat.

But with a powerful mount, a knight possessed the ability to truly dominate the battlefield.

High mobility and endurance meant that even a large number of Cavalrymen could not catch up to a knight moving and engaging in battle. Not to mention that a warhorse clad in heavy armor could completely pierce through an infantry formation and strike directly at the Noble Commander leading the troops.

And a mount with astonishing load-bearing capacity could allow a knight to carry multiple different heavy weapons at once, or hundreds of long heavy arrows, to shoot and kill soldiers from a distance one by one.

If an army was not led and guarded by knights of the same level, there could even be situations where a few knights spent an entire day completely routing an ordinary army of two or three thousand people.

By the time the afternoon arrived, the last two metal components had also been crafted by the other craftsmen, and after final polishing and assembly, they were delivered from the blacksmith shop of the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild.

"Come on, Tianxuecao, let's get you armored up!"

Jier called out, and although Tianxuecao didn't understand, it snorted in response and voluntarily jumped out of the stable to come to its master's side.

First, they removed the saddle, stirrups, Jiansheng, and bit from Tianxuecao, and then the apprentices nimbly dismantled the armor on the wooden model, taking off the leather armor that was no more than a finger thick and draping it over Tianxuecao.

Because this was the first time draping so much heavy gear on Tianxuecao, Jier personally stepped in to soothe the warhorse's emotions, letting it adapt and get used to this new 'fur'.

Next came the freshly finished metal horse armor for the head, neck, and chest, which completely protected and wrapped the front of the tall Tianxuecao.

The armor on the chest and neck was fine; although Tianxuecao was uncomfortable, it accepted it quietly. When it realized its own handsome horse face was also going to be covered by these hard things, it became unwilling.

"Neigh-neigh-neigh-neigh! Neigh-neigh-neigh!"

The tall and heavy warhorse kept jumping and bumping in place. Jier first let the surrounding apprentices step back, then personally stepped in and 're-enacted' exactly how he had tamed this guy.

Everyone present, including Mr. Scott who had rushed over, opened their mouths wide, looking with astonishment at how the small knight, compared to the warhorse's tall body, overturned the warhorse and then lifted it up horizontally.

"Is this too exaggerated?"

"Is this something a Human can do?"

"No, are knights actually this strong? Can they lift a house in one breath?"

"Maybe, but they certainly couldn't lift a castle."

Mr. Scott even cast a suspicious glance at the main building of the Merchant Guild where he usually lived and worked, doubting whether knights could lift that building directly.