The First Vampire

Outside Ice Rock City, the sounds of horse hooves thundered on.

The twang of bowstrings rang out continuously, accompanied by the harsh rebukes of the military officers.

“Form, form! Don’t just focus on aiming, pay attention to maintaining your posture on horseback!” “Tom! I’m talking to you, damn it! Is your waist broken?”

“And you, Jerry…”

“It’s looking quite good, they’re beginning to take shape.” Colin looked from a distance at his first batch of cavalry training their horse archery skills, feeling quite pleased.

“They only have the framework but they’re still far off.” Knight Shar, standing nearby, was obviously still not satisfied.

Colin laughed heartily: “After all, they are new soldiers, you can’t expect them to meet the standards of the Dark Cavalry right now. I’m already very satisfied that they have progressed this much in only one month. You guys are doing a great job!”

“You’re too kind! This is all due to your strong support.”

Knight Shar’s words were not entirely flattery.

Colin’s support for this cavalry was indeed wholehearted, providing manpower, funding, and equipment without hesitation.

The huge sum of money he just borrowed was spent like water, as if there was no concept of saving.

The spectacle made butler Emon’s heart flutter with shock, occasionally throwing in a few pieces of advice.

But Colin carried on as he pleased.

In his view, only money that is spent can truly generate value. And, as a famous businessman once said

Money isn’t truly spent, it just changes form and stays by your side.

The old Colin would have scoffed at this saying, but now, watching the galloping cavalry before him, he was in full agreement.

“Is there a problem with the source of the soldiers? I see you have only recruited slightly over three hundred men so far.” After obtaining a hefty loan, Colin increased the initial scale of the cavalry from one hundred to one thousand soldiers.

“My lord, we shouldn’t recruit too many new soldiers in the first round. As the number of people increases, the training effect will significantly decrease.”

“Alright, as long as you have a plan.”

Colin didn’t interfere too much with Knight Shar’s military training. He knew that professional matters should be left to the professionals.

When it came to training cavalry, he was utterly clueless.

But Knight Shar, who came from the Dark Cavalry, was an expert in the field.

“A few days ago, Knight Lyle mentioned to me that you have snatched many high-quality new soldiers from him?”

Knight Shar was about to explain when he saw Colin wave his hand and continue:

“Don’t panic, I’m not blaming you. After all, I made it clear from the start that the cavalry has priority in recruiting new soldiers. I’m just curious why you’re competing with him for new recruits instead of choosing the experienced soldiers from his ranks.

“My lord, even though soldiers under Knight Lyle are indeed quite good with strong physiques and high training levels, they are ultimately infantry and are used to combat on foot. Their tactical movements have taken form and to retrain them as cavalry wouldn’t be quite suitable.”

“What about the new soldiers? What kind of new recruits are worth you competing with Lyle for?”

“Are they the prisoners who escaped from the Sky Ice Plain?”

“Prisoners?”

“Yes, the prisoners taken by the trolls a few months ago when they invaded the North Territory. When Marquis Garcia caught up with the Troll Army, weren’t these prisoners who were estimated to be over fifty thousand in number abandoned by the trolls on the Ice Plain? During this period, more than a few of them have managed to return alive.”

Understanding suddenly dawned on Colin, and he understood why these escaped prisoners were being so fiercely fought over by Lyle and Shar.

Because these men were the true warriors that came through rounds of harsh selection!

First off, the first round of selection was done by the trolls.

When they took prisoners, they certainly didn’t pick the old, weak, or frail, but selected the strong and youthful to use as labor.

The second round of selection started when these prisoners were abandoned by the Troll Army on the Ice Plain.

This was an even more brutal and strict selection process.

They not only needed strong physiques but also wisdom and courage to survive in the extreme cold and hunger.

After all, when the trolls abandoned them, they certainly didn’t leave them any food supplies.

Thus, the only way for these prisoners to obtain food was to hunt.

But there weren’t many wild animals on the Ice Plain. If all fifty thousand of them stayed together, even if they were to catch every animal in the area, it wouldn’t be enough to feed them all.

So, smart people must make a choice at this time.

Following the large group may seem safe, but in reality, it’s just waiting for death.

Only by forming small groups and distancing themselves from the large group can they obtain enough food through hunting to keep their stomachs full.

In fact, judging from the successive groups of prisoners who have arrived at Ice Rock City these days, they are indeed small groups of less than a hundred people.

The ones with more numbers, are probably starved to death on the Ice Plain by now.

The groups with fewer numbers are at risk when encountering fierce beasts.

So, these prisoners who successfully escaped from the Ice Plain and returned have naturally become delicious treats in Shar and Lyle’s eyes.

Especially in each small group, the most important members are all elite seedlings with outstanding judgment and organizational abilities.

So, when Knight Shar enlisted these people into the cavalry with the preferential conscription rights promised to him by Colin, Knight Lyle couldn’t help but complain to Colin.

There was no choice; this tall knight was simply too envious.

However, no matter how much he coveted, Colin would not change the established strategy.

The cavalry is always the troop he is determined to prioritize in developing.

In this era of cold weapons, the deterrence of a powerful cavalry is too horrible.

Especially in places with mostly plains such as the North Territory and Sky Ice Plain.

Unless the infantry hide in the city and don’t come out, the cavalry will always be the masters of the battlefield.

After inspecting the cavalry training, Colin also ran to see the infantry training place, after all, he shouldn’t be too biased.

With the huge loan, Colin also increased the size of the infantry from the original one thousand to three thousand.

The current unit has not been filled, and only about half has been recruited.

According to the Moben brothers’ estimate, it should be full in about a month, and then after three more months of training, they should have basic combat capabilities.

Although they can’t be considered elites, they can go on the battlefield.

After several battles’ baptism, the survivors will be the elites.

The speed of the infantry’s formation is this fast, in comparison, the cavalry is just too slow.

According to Shar’s estimate, it would take at least a year for the cavalry to barely reach the level of going on the battlefield.

This was thanks to the excellent instructors like Shar from the Dark Cavalry. If Colin were to do it, it would probably take three to five years to make it.

While inspecting the infantry, Colin also saw the depressed Knight Lyle.

This tall knight has been a bit irritable recently, and whenever he has free time, he takes the new recruits to the forest in the suburbs for training.

Of course, Colin knew that he was just using training as an excuse to have these new recruits help him search for the mysterious knight who had once ambushed him.

However, Knight Lyle was destined to be unable to avenge himself.

Blood slave Cynthia was usually hidden by Colin in the basement of the Red Castle.

After borrowing blood from Knight Lyle twice, Colin has also successfully advanced to the third rank.

With such speed, if others knew about it, they would probably call Colin a genius.

After inspecting the infantry training, Colin returned to the Red Castle. He had a cup of deer blood wine and then took a nap.

Colin’s carefree life as a laissez-faire boss was quite comfortable.

However, his leisure time was quickly interrupted. The butler, Emon, came in a hurry and reported, “Sir, a Troll Army has arrived from the Ice Plain.”

“Trolls?” Colin’s heart tightened, “How many have come?”

“Just over a hundred, claiming to be envoys headed to Winterfell City, passing Ice Rock City and requesting to pay a visit to you.”

“Envoys?” Colin breathed a sigh of relief.

Colin thought for a moment with his cheek in his hand, then nodded and said,

“Alright, I’ll meet the Troll Envoy then..”