My name is Vincent Horn, and I am a Dragon Knight from the Duchy of Danube in the Elra continent, from the northwestern city of Stonehold - yes, the cleanest and wealthiest city on the continent.
On October 1st, 1849 of the human calendar, my father Bob Horn had the happiest day of his life because I was born. (Applause here, please!) For the Horn family, it was the realization of their dream of continuing their bloodline. Thirty years prior, when the central imperial court was just established and various nobles were fiercely grabbing land, the entire continent was in a state of chaos. It was a time where one day you could destroy me, and the next day he could destroy you. As a small viscount family, the Horn family was naturally crushed, with almost all members perishing except for my father, Bob.
At that time, my father was only a Bronze-rank Knight and could only survive by becoming a mercenary, traveling from country to country, completing missions, and earning money. He lived like that for over twenty years until he became tired of that life and wanted to settle down somewhere. At the same time, Stonehold Ridge (the precursor of Stonehold City) welcomed its new lord, Viscount Austin Bloodhoof, and thus began an unstoppable era of prosperity.
Stonehold Ridge is located in the nearest plain at the foot of the Endless Mountains. To get up the mountain, you must travel several hundred miles through here. The snowwater from the mountains flowed down and formed rivers, nourishing this land. On one side of Stonehold Ridge is the human kingdom, while on the other side of the Endless Mountains is a world of various races such as monsters, orcs, and dwarves. The mountains are towering and treacherous, with numerous fierce monsters. Only a few powerful individuals can cross them. For thousands of years, both sides of the mountain have been ruling themselves, with no interference from the other. The Endless Mountains seemed to also have some sort of restraint on the monsters, as they could only move on the mountains and not harass humans. However, humans can hunt lower-level monsters on the outskirts of the mountains. But if humans invade the higher-level monster territories, they will be torn to pieces within minutes.
Before Viscount Austin's reforms, Stonehold Ridge was a poor, isolated town with fewer than a thousand residents who mainly survived through primitive farming. It took everyone's hard work just to barely make ends meet. It was the great Lord Austin's comprehensive reforms (such as the construction of water conservancy projects, introduction of commerce, environmental sanitation improvement, new road construction, recruitment of mercenaries, clearing out monsters, and developing mines, among others - too many to name here) that turned Stonehold into the wonderful city it is now. (As a side note, if there weren't any public toilets built at that time, the roads would have been like most cities nowadays, piled up with feces, unbearable, and disgustingly filthy.)
The good reputation of Jushiling was gradually spreading among traveling merchants. Old Dad often acted as a guard for caravans and so heard many rumors. He thought it would be nice to settle down on the estate of a nobleman with a good reputation. He decided to go and see for himself, and if it was good, he wouldn't leave. On his way to Jushiling, he happened to help out Mom.
Mom (Susan Yituo) was originally a commoner from the Blue Clear Kingdom, which was a neighbor of the Danube Kingdom. They also shared a common neighbor - the Towana Kingdom. Blue Clear was a somewhat cowardly country, but Towana was an ambitious one, and over the years, it had occupied a large portion of Blue Clear's borders. Countless families in Blue Clear had lost everything, including my maternal grandfather's small restaurant, which was once prosperous and peaceful. The war destroyed everything, and my maternal grandmother's family seemed to have only Mom who managed to escape.
Mom disguised herself as a dirty little boy and followed the large troop of refugees as they migrated inland. Along the way, they suffered from hunger and fear, and despicable slave traders occasionally robbed lone travelers. Mom was very clever and followed a neighbor's family with several adult sons, and outsiders did not dare to attack them.
As the days of migration passed, everyone's supplies were running low. Whenever they stopped to rest, young and old alike searched for wild vegetables and hunted for food. One day, when Mom was digging for wild vegetables, she accidentally wandered too far. The slave trader who had been tailing the group saw her alone and tried to capture her from behind with a burlap bag. But Mom was very alert, immediately shouting and fighting back. It was then that the heroic Old Dad arrived on the scene.
He was hunting rabbits a little further away, planning to eat them that night, when suddenly the sound of fighting and shouting scared the rabbits away. Old Dad was very angry and wanted to see who had ruined his dinner plans. When he saw that a slave trader was abducting a little boy, he immediately displayed his knightly spirit and killed the villain. Old Dad was a bronze knight, and killing a few ordinary people was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Whenever he talked about this incident, he would hold his head high, his face filled with a proud expression, while Mom looked at him with extremely admiring eyes. I, on the other hand, would be standing there awkwardly, picking at the ground with my toes. But, come to think of it, if it weren't for this incident, the great Dragon Knight would have been missing one, and Old Dad also made a contribution.
After Old Dad saved Mom, he told her to hurry back to the main group and not to be alone again. But Mom felt that she should do something for her benefactor. So she offered to make him dinner as a way of expressing her gratitude...
After rejoining the main force, Dad took on the responsibility of being both a protector and a guide. Under his leadership, the group of fugitives finally arrived safely at Giant Stone City after two months of hardship. The city was in its early stages of development and was in great need of new residents. As a result, everyone settled down there and found jobs.
Due to the discovery of abundant iron ore in the Endless Mountains, the city lord invited dwarves to help with mining and smelting. In order to attract bounty hunters, the Warcraft Mountains were also opened up, allowing hunters to capture and trade various monsters. Therefore, the city needed a large number of mining workers, bounty hunters, and farmers. As long as someone could work, they were welcome to come.
Dad was a knight who loved freedom, making him the perfect fit for a bounty hunter. Mom was a great cook and got a job as a helper in a restaurant. Along the way, Dad enjoyed Mom's cooking so much that he wanted to make her his little brother so she could cook for him forever. However, by chance, Dad found out that Mom was actually a girl, which dumbfounded him. After a few days, he regained his composure and decided that no matter if Mom was a man or a woman, he would take her home and have her cook for him every day. In Giant Stone City, he quickly used his savings to buy a house and proposed to Mom. A year later, I was born.
Hahaha, I (Vincent Horn) finally made my debut.
According to Dad, on the day I was born, there was a fierce wind in Giant Stone City. Dark clouds like giant dragons covered the city, blocking out the sun. Thunder roared and small lightning bolts occasionally struck. At the moment of my birth, a huge lightning bolt struck the city. My mom was in labor and in pain, but in her consciousness, she suddenly saw a golden dragon rushing towards her, its huge dragon head inches away, its lantern-sized eyes staring at her. She screamed in shock and woke up, then pushed me out with all her might, and I immediately cried loudly.
As my cry echoed, the dark clouds, fierce wind, and lightning disappeared, and the earth was illuminated once again. Dad and the neighbors who were waiting outside were all amazed. Later, when I became famous on the continent, everyone talked about the phenomenon that occurred at my birth, saying that it was no wonder I was a dragon knight because the commotion was so great. City Lord Austin also noticed the abnormality in the sky and had an astrologer predict the significance of this celestial event. The conclusion was that a person who would greatly influence the continent had been born in Giant Stone City. (Of course, I only learned this later.)
That day, ten babies were born in Giant Stone City. The city lord named that day Children's Day and secretly kept a close eye on the growth of these ten babies, reporting regularly. Under the city lord's loving care, I (Vincent Horn) happily grew up.