The Commander's Exclusive Mount

The Hobgoblin Knight Training Plan officially kicked off with great fanfare.

The three days of "discipline" were clearly effective. When Landen stood before the hobgoblins, their eyes held loyalty. But when Hogg stood before them, their eyes were filled with fear. Sometimes, fear is far more useful than loyalty.

With Hogg's supervision, these hobgoblins immediately transformed from the laziest shut-ins into the most diligent soldiers. They didn't dare disobey Hogg in the slightest, immediately and obediently doing as they were told. Some hobgoblins even began to do extra work to please Hogg, a miracle for the goblin race.

Landen himself hadn't expected such a change.

Every race has its corresponding professions, and some higher races create professions beyond their racial ones. Humans, for instance, have countless professions. However, goblins, without outside help to create professions for them, would never develop any new ones.

Therefore, Landen didn't even need to look closely to confirm that these hobgoblins were all hobgoblin warriors. With such a low-level profession and a low-level race like hobgoblins, it was truly not easy for their leader to reach the intermediate Black Iron strength. Landen estimated that this individual's profession level had already surpassed level 10, meaning it would be very difficult for him to continue improving, especially given the hobgoblins' inherent laziness, making it almost impossible.

But now, things were different. Regardless of whether they could successfully transfer to the Hobgoblin Knight profession, just this relentless training offered hope for improving their original profession levels.

How to train them?

It was simple; Landen directly handed the problem to Hogg. As the leader of the Riverclaw Jackalmen, Hogg had considerable skill in training subordinates. However, beyond that, Landen also gave Hogg a set of materials, which were the key to the hobgoblins' successful transfer.

It was a complete set of mounted combat tactics. The two most important factors for a warrior to transfer into a knight are the compatibility with the mount and mounted combat tactics. It's not enough to just swing a weapon wildly while riding a mount to become a knight.

This set of tactics didn't come from the Lord System. Instead, Landen recalled it from memory. These memories came from his friend Degang. In the game of his previous life, Degang was a powerful figure who could command the wind and rain. Producing these tactics was as easy for him as producing a pile of alchemy formulas that even the professional Alchemy Apprentice Aila had never seen.

Hogg's training was indeed effective. In just a few days, the hobgoblins' strength showed noticeable improvement. Of course, this improvement was based on their already weak foundation. Compared to this, the two hobgoblins with Black Iron strength seemed to have made no progress at all.

Landen didn't pay much attention to this. He believed that with his tactics and Hogg's training, his goal would surely be achieved. And in the process, there were still many things he needed to do.

"Very good, Old Niu. Although you only brought back one Rock Lizard today, I am exceptionally pleased." Landen nodded as he looked at the Rock Lizard before him.

This was the fifth Rock Lizard brought back by the Minotaur Butler in these past few days. According to Landen's orders, these Rock Lizards had to be over 5 meters long, more than enough to serve as mounts for the hobgoblins. And today's specimen was the first Rock Lizard to possess a Flame Qi Cluster within its body.

Rock Lizards are giant lizards that prefer to live near volcanoes. The "rock" in their name doesn't refer to stone, but to magma. These creatures have a somewhat weak digestive system, so they often consume rocks formed from partially cooled magma to aid digestion. These rocks haven't fully cooled and still carry considerable heat. This heat accumulates within the Rock Lizard's body, and over time, it forms a Flame Qi Cluster. During combat, the Rock Lizard can expel this Flame Qi Cluster to attack enemies with high-temperature flames.

The formation of a Flame Qi Cluster is not easy. A Rock Lizard capable of forming one must have lived for at least 100 years. Such ancient and cunning Rock Lizards are not easily captured.

"As a reward, you don't have to hunt for Rock Lizards today. Accompany me out for a stroll to relax."

Landen wasn't going out to relax. He didn't have that much time for such things now. His purpose for this trip was to help Hogg find a mount.

As the commander of the knight order, how could Hogg be without a mount? He couldn't possibly have Hogg running alongside while the hobgoblins charged on their Rock Lizards.

To Landen's surprise, Hogg seemed to have already considered this issue. When he brought up the topic with Hogg, Hogg replied decisively, "I already have a target, my Lord, but I need your help."

How could the Lord not heed the request of his Beast-eared Cutie follower? Thus, after conquering the hobgoblins last time, the "Landen Lord's Guard" was once again mobilized. The unfortunate Aila, although allowed to return to the Alchemy Workshop, was still no different from being imprisoned. Being able to go out this time made him quite happy.

Withered Wood Lake is one of the few water sources for the fortress, located by the Blackwater River, about half a day's journey from the fortress. Besides the Dark Elves who frequently came here to fetch water, it is also a drinking spot for other creatures. Some creatures moving along the Blackwater River also choose it as a temporary resting place.

On the Lord System's map, there is a record Landen added not long ago. Not long ago, an unknown creature appeared by the Withered Wood Lake. Judging from the scales brought back by the Dark Elves, it should be a snake or lizard-like creature. More importantly, it was huge!

At that time, the Minotaur Butler used this as a reason to restrict Landen from going out. Now, Landen hadn't expected that the location Hogg mentioned as her target was precisely Withered Wood Lake.

"Could Hogg's target be that thing?" Landen wondered, fiddling with the item in his hand. It was the scale Mikhail had brought back when he went to fetch water – a giant scale half the size of Landen's palm!

"Hogg, do you know what your target is?" Landen asked Hogg.

"I don't know," Hogg shook her head.

"And you still want to capture it as a mount?" Landen asked in surprise.

"We Riverclaw Jackalmen live by the river, so our mounts naturally come from the water. As for that creature, I can feel that only it here is worthy of the status of my Riverclaw clan leader and your Lord's Knight Commander!" Hogg said seriously.

"Is this tsundere behavior...?"

Landen grumbled inwardly, but outwardly, he said earnestly, "Yes, I think so too!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and patted Hogg's shoulder.

Indeed, such a wonderful sensation, touching it just once wasn't enough