Earthquake

Could a month really forge an invincible army?

Of course not.

However, with the right training, it was absolutely possible to transform an army completely—and Landen had already proven it with concrete results.

Ever since the Rock Lizard had been selected, under Landen's death order, the Hobgoblins and Rock Lizards had spent hours together every day, training, eating, sleeping, and even using the toilet. The two sides were not allowed to stray more than meters apart!

Not only that, Landen had also transplanted the entire military training system from his previous life. During the days before these Hobgoblins began training, they had not come into contact with anything related to battle formations or tactics. They had only undergone basic training such as standing posture, long-distance running, and push-ups.

It was not only the Hobgoblins—even the Rock Lizards had been included in the training. They naturally had no need for standing-posture drills, but they still had to obey orders absolutely. When Hogg told them to charge, they charged; when she told them to stop, they stopped.

The intense training, which continued for days without rest, had carved these commands deeply into the minds of the Hobgoblins and Rock Lizards, to the point that they had even become instincts.

Only afterward were the mounted-combat techniques added to the training. However, the time was still short, and most of it was still spent on basic training.

Who in this world understood the importance of fundamentals better than Landen? No one, of course.

This was not merely to form instincts. It was also to shorten their reaction time after those instincts had formed. Originally, when Hogg's howl rang out, both the Hobgoblins and Rock Lizards needed seconds to hear, judge, and react. But as the training continued, that time was reduced to a little over seconds—and there was still room for it to become even shorter.

Hobgoblins were stupid, absolutely one of the dumbest races among intelligent beings, while Rock Lizards were not an intelligent species at all. Teaching these two kinds of creatures something new was difficult. Yet if all they had to do was react faster to instinctive commands, it became easier instead. When information arrived, their undeveloped brains would not make all kinds of analyses and responses like those of highly intelligent beings. Simple transmission and simple feedback naturally meant greater speed!

That was right. What allowed the Hobgoblin Knight army to win this battle was neither overwhelming strength nor outstanding tactics. The absolute coordination between knight and mount had laid the foundation—and speed, speed determined everything!

Although only one or two hundred people had witnessed this battle, and it had taken place in the poorly connected underground world, a battle destined to be recorded in history would ultimately be remembered and widely passed down.

Of course, as the two main figures who had created this battle, Landen and his Beast-eared Cutie subordinate Hogg were clearly not very concerned about that.

"Damn coward! You actually ran away just like that. Don't give me another chance, or you're dead!" Hogg currently had one foot planted on the corpse of the Black Iron Peak Dark Elf she had killed with a single claw strike. Her pose was incredibly imposing, but paired with her petite, charming figure, it gave off an indescribably cute feeling.

The reason she was furious had nothing to do with the Hobgoblin Knights' earlier performance. It was entirely because... she had not had enough fighting. The strongest enemy among them all had escaped, leaving her extremely displeased and even more eager for the next battle.

Thus, she began urging them on. "Hey, I've already cleared the passage for you. Can you hurry up? Don't tell me you don't know that delaying the battle is wrong?"

Faced with this accusation, everyone—including Vivian—fell silent. What could they say to someone who had just accomplished something they themselves could not?

At the same time, in the Yumas District, beside the Blackwater River, in the Stone Spire District.

Landen naturally did not know how the battle had gone. Even if he had known, his reaction might have been similar to Hogg's. Although he had handed the training over to Hogg, all the training content had come from him, so he was the one with the greatest confidence in these Hobgoblin Knights.

Therefore, even if someone reported the battle's outcome to Landen right now, he would only say, "Oh, well done. You deserve a reward. Keep it up." Then he would continue doing what he was currently doing.

Landen was still studying that stone spire.

The difficulty of communicating with the Bear Hobgoblin had caused the research to progress slowly. From beginning to end, Landen had been trying to understand the Bear Hobgoblin's gestures and act accordingly.

However, on repeated occasions, just as he was about to do something, the Bear Hobgoblin had anxiously and frantically stopped him. Clearly, Landen had misunderstood—and had nearly done something that might damage the treasure.

This left Landen speechless and frustrated. In the end, he hardened his heart, first giving a few instructions to several Dark Elves, then directly undoing the restraints on the Bear Hobgoblin.

"You do it!"

This time, the dim-witted Bear Hobgoblin instantly understood Landen's meaning. Its furry face showed clear excitement, and it even performed a surprisingly proper bow to Landen, as though thanking him for giving it this opportunity. Then the Bear Hobgoblin walked over to the stone spire.

First, it caressed the stone spire obsessively for minutes. Then it suddenly began to run.

Landen did not stop it. Instead, he had the Dark Elves follow close behind.

The Bear Hobgoblin first rushed to a damp, shadowy corner, squatted down with its somewhat hefty body, and began digging with grunts. Soon, a large clump of moss had accumulated in its claws.

Clutching the moss, the Bear Hobgoblin swiftly turned and ran back to the stone spire. With pious solemnity, as though making an offering, it held the clump of moss before the stone spire. When the moss was still centimeters away, something strange happened: a suction force emerged from the stone spire and pulled the moss directly onto it!

The Bear Hobgoblin seemed to have expected this. It had already turned and begun running again. This time, it took a handful of water from the Blackwater River.

Then Landen watched as the Bear Hobgoblin began digging a hole in the ground with its claws. Landen wanted a Dark Elf to take a tool and help, but the Bear Hobgoblin stopped him. It dug alone until the hole was more than a meter deep, then scooped out a clump of soil.

Finally, the Bear Hobgoblin took two things from its own body and knocked them together before the stone spire, striking out several wisps of sparks.

After completing all this, the Bear Hobgoblin stopped and looked at Landen, gesturing once more. This time, its gestures were very simple, and Landen quickly understood its meaning.

Thus, Landen walked to the stone spire and gently blew on the place where the moss, water, soil, and sparks had already been absorbed.

The earth suddenly began to shake!