Bai Shi quickly returned to Stormveil via a Site of Grace.
In the days he had been away, the castle did not seem to have undergone any drastic changes.
It even appeared quite harmonious, a sign that nothing major had occurred.
The city's construction had become more complete, and most of the damaged buildings had been repaired.
Furthermore, the number of people within the walls had grown.
Newcomers from every race had sought refuge here, but in terms of sheer numbers, the Tarnished were by far the most numerous.
Through the ongoing publicity campaign, Tarnished from all over Limgrave had learned of Stormveil and had flocked to it one after another.
Their numbers were so great that there were likely several thousand, possibly even exceeding ten thousand.
Bai Shi estimated from the street that, although he didn't have a precise count, the flow of people was significantly denser than before.
The influx of Tarnished injected fresh blood into Stormveil, which meant Bai Shi could mass troops, mass troops, and mass more troops.Even though a fair number of them were unwilling to fight, they were not the majority.
Most Tarnished, while not exceptionally strong, were still willing to go to war.
Especially after joining the army, they no longer had to face life-and-death situations alone.
Among them, the Tarnished who could not see the guidance of Grace were far more willing to enlist than those who could.
While having Grace meant having a chance to survive as long as one wasn't killed instantly, it also made the Tarnished reliant on it, always thinking they had a fallback.
Perhaps it was because they lacked Grace, knowing they had no path of retreat, that those individuals possessed a desperate courage to push forward.
If Bai Shi were to lower his standards for the army, these Tarnished could be sent to the battlefield without even needing training.
Aside from their discipline, any Tarnished capable of combat was superior to the soldiers of ordinary factions in every respect.
Moreover, the Tarnished came with their own weapons and equipment. Where else could one find such fine soldiers?
One could say that the Tarnished were even more cost-effective than the fifty-credit marines in StarCraft.
However, Bai Shi had no intention of lowering his military standards because of this.
Training and discipline were indispensable, and the proper armor and weapons for each unit were essential.
Bai Shi couldn't wait to see his grand army marching on Leyndell.
However, the influx of so many Tarnished inevitably increased the pressure on city management.
In the short time since his return, Bai Shi had already seen far more guards than before.
The guards in the city now were led by Storm Knights, clad in dazzling silver armor and carrying swords and shields. A few also had greatbows slung across their backs.
The helmets of this armor set were marked with two upward-sweeping wings, symbolizing that they were the Wings of the Storm.
This was the Silver Knight set from Dark Souls, now serving as the guards' equipment.
These guards were handpicked from among the Tarnished and had undergone rigorous training.
One could say that every Silver Knight here was an elite.
It was thanks to the Tarnished's lineage as warriors that their foundations were quite strong.
With such a foundation, only a little training was needed for their skills, both in terms of combat techniques and coordination, to improve rapidly.
Add to that militarized obedience training, and a unit could be formed very quickly.
The speed at which the army was formed was astonishing, and they were not mass-produced cannon fodder like the Albinaurics or Man-Serpents.
Although Bai Shi wasn't personally managing much, he had always been deeply invested in Stormveil, so he quickly noticed these changes through the details.
Overall, everything was developing well, and at a rapid pace.
As for whether anything had happened out of sight, he would have to ask Lanslet to find out.
Bai Shi made his way to Lanslet's office.
At this moment, Lanslet was leaning over his desk, engrossed in his work.
Upon seeing Bai Shi's arrival, Lanslet was startled, then immediately stood up to welcome his king back to Stormveil.
Seeing Lanslet's visible exhaustion, Bai Shi quickly patted his shoulder and had him sit down.
Then Bai Shi also took a seat in the chair opposite Lanslet.
"Lord Bai Shi, you've returned earlier than expected."
"Judging by the time, has the combat festival not started yet?"
Lanslet remembered clearly that Bai Shi had said he would be gone for quite a while.
Bai Shi nodded.
"I've already been to Redmane Castle, and I've explored Caelid and the surrounding areas, so I have a general grasp of the situation."
"For the next day or two until the festival begins, my schedule is quite free. I can finally take a moment to handle some matters."
"By the way, how are things in Stormveil? I saw a lot more people on the streets."
A smile appeared on Lanslet's face.
"Stormveil's development is very encouraging. First and foremost, the population has increased significantly."
"Thanks to our long-term promotion, a great number of Tarnished from the Limgrave region have come, exceeding ten thousand."
"A good number of them are training to join the army, about six or seven thousand."
"Those who don't wish to join the army have been assigned other tasks, including logistics, construction, and so on, which has also eased our manpower shortage."
"At this rate, not only can we fully establish the initial Dragonblood Knights and the Silver Knight guards, but we can also begin preparing for other knightly orders."
Hearing such good news, Bai Shi also smiled.
Having a strong and robust force under his command was naturally a good thing.
Lanslet continued:
"Under Master Iji's guidance, our blacksmiths have completed forging the equipment for the Dragonblood Knights and Silver Knights."
"However, Master Iji left a couple of days ago."
Bai Shi nodded. Since Iji had already left, it wouldn't be easy to bring him back right away.
"How many people are in the Dragonblood Knightly Order now?"
Lanslet knew these figures by heart and answered immediately.
"There are five hundred Dragonblood Knights, divided into five companies of one hundred, each with a commander and a deputy, all under the overall command of Hakan."
"Each knight is assigned two knight squires. In the event of war, each knight can be assigned additional soldiers to lead."
"However, given their command abilities, the effect probably won't be very good."
In terms of raw strength, every Dragonblood Knight started at a standard knight's level, with the stronger ones likely able to just touch the threshold of a hero.
But since they hadn't received relevant training, not much could be expected of their command abilities.
Making them lead would likely be counterproductive.
Agheel's body had a lot of meat. Even if the flying dragon's build wasn't particularly plump, its size meant the amount of flesh was staggering.
An ordinary flying dragon was over twenty meters long, while Agheel was a full thirty to forty meters, providing enough flesh for many to consume.
If the soldiers were only given a small taste of dragon flesh, the number of knights that could be cultivated could have been doubled.
However, for the sake of quality, Bai Shi had chosen not to do so.
Instead, he had these soldiers eat more flesh periodically, dedicating all of it to nurturing this specific group. The method of cultivating knights with dragonblood was not a long-term solution, and Bai Shi would certainly not use it much in the future.
Therefore, Bai Shi's requirement for the Dragonblood Knights was: become a sufficiently powerful army as quickly as possible and be ready to step up wherever Stormveil needed its knights.
Five hundred full-plate knights, and knights who had consumed dragon blood at that.
In the Lands Between before the Shattering, this would have been considered a formidable army, let alone now, after the war.
But one couldn't get complacent. The success of a war didn't just depend on knights.
Besides, the heroes of the Lands Between were genuinely capable of fighting one against a hundred, and above them were the demigods.
If utilized properly, even siege engines and the soldiers operating them could be more effective than a few hundred knights.
"Good. Thank you for your hard work. I'm grateful for all of you during this time."
Hearing Bai Shi's praise, Lanslet didn't look particularly happy.
Bai Shi noticed Lanslet's odd demeanor and asked:
"What's wrong? Is there bad news?"
"Just say it. If we ignore bad news, we'll sooner or later face decline."
Lanslet nodded and proceeded to recount the troubles Stormveil had recently faced.
"After you left, we did indeed run into some problems."
"None of them were major issues, but they were quite annoying. However, we've already come up with countermeasures for each."
"The first is the Night's Cavalry we dealt with before. They're still lurking in Limgrave."
"And after the massacre you inflicted on them, they've become more cunning."
"Before, their strategy was to search for large groups of Tarnished on the main roads and wipe them out."
"But now, they've broken into smaller units, operating in groups of two or three at a time, specifically targeting small bands of Tarnished."
"Because of them, we've already lost quite a few Tarnished. The Crucible Knights are currently hunting these Night's Cavalry."
"The Stormhawks patrol, relaying information to the Crucible Knights, who then fly over to intervene."
"Under these circumstances, we've managed to eliminate thirteen or fourteen Night's Cavalry."
"However, both knights have been wounded in these battles, though thankfully, none of the injuries are serious."
Bai Shi thought for a moment. The Night's Cavalry were indeed difficult to deal with.
They were highly mobile and not weak. Pitting the Crucible Knights against them was a good call.
In terms of mobility, the flying Crucible Knights were superior, and in terms of strength, they were also stronger.
The Crucible Knights' skill level was more than enough to handle the Night's Cavalry.
Crucible Knights were existences at the apex of heroes to begin with.
Erlisa, a leader of the Zamor who had earned great merit in the war against the giants, was on the same level of strength as the Crucible Knights.
Even if Andre and Red didn't possess the overwhelming power of the two chief Crucible Knights, they were more than sufficient against these Night's Cavalry.
Not to mention they had deliberately split up, only needing to face two or three Night's Cavalry at a time.
However, to have killed so many Night's Cavalry in the few days Bai Shi had been gone, the fighting must have been quite intense.
They were likely fighting two or three battles a day.
"What about Erlisa? Didn't she go? Her mobility and strength are not bad either."
Lanslet gave a wry smile.
"That's the second thing I was about to mention. To our north, in Liurnia, the Academy of Magic has sent some puppet soldiers to harass us."
"Those puppet soldiers aren't very strong, but they are incredibly annoying, especially the flying bird-type puppets and the hot air balloons, which can cross the cliffs behind Stormveil."
"Erlisa is currently stationed at the border with the Stormhawks."
"The problem is that both of these situations require either high mobility or large-scale destructive power."
"So our Dragonblood Knights and warriors haven't had a chance to be of use. We've had to trouble them for now."
Bai Shi raised an eyebrow.
Listening to this, none of it seemed like a big deal. They probably could have handled it even if he hadn't returned.
But he could understand Morgott's actions, since they had a history.
And Morgott knew he wanted to be Elden Lord, so he would naturally do everything in his power to stop him.
But what was the deal with the Academy?
A faction that couldn't even produce a figure of demigod-level strength now dared to posture before him?
Did they think he couldn't touch them just because they were hiding in their sealed-off turtle shell?
The Academy of Magic was courting death.
But for now, the first thing to deal with was the Night's Cavalry.
Their feud was already established, and now it was time for a final reckoning.
Bai Shi would show Morgott with his actions that the flames of his ambition were still burning fiercely.
And Morgott's darkness would never be able to extinguish those flames of ambition.
These flames would completely transform the entire Lands Between.
And he didn't even have the slightest clue what Bai Shi's ambition truly represented.
Bai Shi's fingers drummed lightly on Lanslet's desk.
Now that he knew the situation in Stormveil, it was time for him, the true leader, to make a decision.
"Where are the Dragonblood Knights now? Are they still in training?"
Lanslet pointed to the map hanging on the wall behind him and told Bai Shi:
"They are currently below the Mistwood, in the area you and Lady Ranni are jointly developing."
"The Tarnished explorers we sent down there discovered strange dragon-like creatures that they couldn't handle."
"Thinking it would be good training and that it was related to dragons, I sent Hakan down with the Dragonblood Knights."
"Considering the time, even in the vast underground region, they should be close to arriving by now."
Bai Shi thought for a moment. The dragon-like creatures underground in that area had to be the Dragonkin Soldiers.
Recalling the map, Bai Shi chuckled.
"Excellent, the place they're going is perfect. Should I call it a coincidence? It saves me a lot of time."
Right next to the Dragonkin Soldier's location, there was an elevator to Caelid.
This would save Bai Shi the trouble of having them march all the way from Stormveil to Sellia, Town of Sorcery, in Caelid.
Although the exit was probably a sheer cliff.
But the artificial beings of Sellia were excellent climbers. He could have them bring the Dragonblood Knights up.
Bai Shi quickly began planning a route in his mind, preparing to resolve all of Stormveil's issues at once.