Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Magical and Fearsome Power of Wizards
The fifth potion-making attempt failed, using up Sunan's last batch of sub-dragon blood.
But he didn't mind. He didn't need to show a physical product; he himself was the best proof.
After a good night's sleep, Sunan found Kyi in the council hall the next day.
Kyi had just returned from a patrol, still wearing his armor, looking dusty and weary.
He sat in the hall with a group of knight commanders, discussing how to deal with the Blackscale Lizard invasion.
"In previous years, the Blackscale Lizards would invade during the Frost's Descent month to steal food for the winter. It's about that time again."
"Scouts discovered traces of the Blackscale Lizards more than ten kilometers north of the city yesterday."
"Those damned bandits! They never learn!"
"Sir, give me a hundred-man squad, and I'll take care of those bandits!"
Kyi frowned.
Blackrock City was just a small city with a total force of only a little over five hundred men.
More than half of them were militiamen who had only received basic training and had never seen real blood.
They were fine for defending the city, but if they were to fight the Blackscale Lizards in the open, they would probably collapse in an instant.
The only real fighting force was the two hundred and fifty or so soldiers.
This small force was stretched thin, having to defend Blackrock City and the many surrounding villages.
Thinking of this, Kyi couldn't help but have a headache.
Besides Owen, the Blackscale Lizards were another threat he had to deal with.
If he didn't handle it properly, Blackrock City would have a difficult winter.
Just as he was having a headache, Kyi caught sight of Sunan walking in from the corner of his eye. He raised his hand to signal his subordinates to stop talking and looked at Sunan.
"What's the matter?"
Sunan said, "I succeeded."
Kyi was stunned for a moment before he realized what Sunan meant. He asked doubtfully, "Did you find a way to increase the strength of the army?"
The others also reacted at this time, all looking at Sunan.
But their eyes were filled with obvious doubt.
He had only been researching for a day, and he had already found a feasible solution?
This sounded too good to be true.
Facing everyone's doubtful gazes, Sunan didn't waste any words. He went straight to a long table, grabbed the edge of the table with one hand, and lifted it with force.
There was a creaking sound as the heavy table was lifted off the ground, hovering steadily about twenty centimeters in the air without any shaking.
Everyone looked at this scene in astonishment, their eyes almost popping out.
It was common knowledge that Sunan was in poor health and usually couldn't even lift a long sword.
But now he could easily lift a table made of solid wood, weighing at least two or three hundred pounds, and it seemed effortless.
This strength was probably no less than that of an apprentice knight!
Coming back to his senses, Kyi abruptly stood up, looking at his younger brother with surprise.
"What's going on?"
Sunan put down the table, smiled and nodded, explaining, "I've created a potion that can strengthen the human body. I took one myself, and my current physique is roughly equivalent to that of an apprentice knight. The weaker the user's physique, the stronger the effect of the potion. It's also effective for formal knights and can be taken multiple times, but the effect will gradually weaken. I'll need to collect more data to analyze more specific information."
As he listened to Sunan's words, Kyi's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
According to this, with enough potions, they could mass-produce apprentice knights, or even knights.
If an ordinary person could become an apprentice knight after taking the potion, wouldn't an apprentice knight be very likely to be promoted to a formal knight?
Kyi's face flushed with excitement.
Those who weren't lords simply didn't know how difficult it was to train a knight these days.
An ordinary person would start practicing skills and toughening their bodies from the age of twelve. On average, it would take four or five years to train their physique to the point where they could practice breathing techniques and thus be promoted to a knight squire.
And a knight squire generally had to practice breathing techniques for four or five years before being promoted to an apprentice knight.
Then, it would take another seven or eight years of training to condense a life seed and be promoted to a formal knight.
In total, it would take an average of seventeen or eighteen years to train a knight.
And this was only if they had sufficient aptitude.
Those with poor aptitude might never become knights in their lifetime.
In addition, the manpower and material resources consumed during the training process were also a huge expense.
Therefore, even powerful nobles with territories often couldn't train too many knights.
Take Flashing Territory as an example, even at its peak, the total number of knights in the territory did not exceed a hundred.
This showed how precious a potion that could produce knights in a short time was!
Taking a few deep breaths, Kyi calmed his excitement, stared at Sunan, and asked solemnly, "What do you need me to do?"
Sunan said seriously, "Making this potion requires a large amount of Blackscale Lizard blood."
"No problem!" Kyi agreed without hesitation, "I'll lead the army out of the city to hunt Blackscale Lizards tomorrow!"
After a pause, he quickly came to Sunan, patted his shoulder with a gratified expression, and said, "I didn't expect the legendary wizard methods to be real."
"I was wrong to doubt you before. I apologize to you!"
Sunan smiled slightly, "We're family, no need to worry about that."
Kyi's smile became even brighter, and he nodded vigorously, "Well said. As long as we brothers work together, we will definitely be able to take back Flashing Territory and avenge our father one day."
Sunan nodded seriously, but his heart remained calm.
With the goal of becoming a wizard, he had no interest in conquering the world. He just wanted to quietly cultivate, pursue longevity, and live until the elemental recovery and the golden age of wizards a thousand years later.
Although this was what he thought in his heart, he still had to put on an act in front of his elder brother.
After all, wizard cultivation required a lot of resources, and having a lord as a brother made collecting resources more convenient and faster.
Therefore, Sunan's goal was very clear. On the one hand, he would find ways to increase the strength of the territory, making it a logistics platform for collecting resources for him. On the other hand, he would cultivate and improve his strength, striving to be promoted to a formal wizard as soon as possible.
On the other side, the commanders also recovered from their shock and looked at each other.
None of them expected the legendary wizard methods to be real.
To be able to turn an ordinary person into an apprentice knight in just one day, such methods were simply magical and fearsome!
For a moment, everyone looked at Sunan with amazement and awe.
And then came intense joy.
With such a magical potion, the territory could be strengthened!
Therefore, when Kyi issued the order to go out of the city to hunt Blackscale Lizards tomorrow, all the commanders responded excitedly.
They had never wanted to see those damned bandits so much!
The Blackscale Lizards, whom they used to hate so much, had now become walking preci
ous potions in their eyes.
They were all capital for becoming stronger!