[Do you want to learn the basics of horsemanship? Detected that Lord Alexander meets the minimum requirement: Intelligence 6]
Without hesitation, Alexander chose yes. He was just thinking about not knowing how to ride a horse, so why not learn now?
As soon as he made his choice, a rush of information flooded into his mind, and the book in his hand, which he felt he had flipped through countless times before, suddenly felt familiar. In an instant, he learned how to ride a horse.
Alexander eagerly grabbed a Caraldian warhorse and stylishly mounted it. Then... he was violently thrown off by the horse.
At the same time, the system's voice sounded.
[Lord Alexander's horsemanship is too low to control the Caraldian warhorse]
As Alexander lay sprawled on the ground, feeling thoroughly embarrassed, he could only think, "Why didn't you warn me earlier?"
Just as Alexander was sprawled on the ground, his comrade Odo, with a silly grin, climbed onto a horse. The spirited warhorse naturally wouldn't tolerate a stranger riding on its back; it began to buck and kick violently.
But Odo's body moved rhythmically with the horse's movements, and he managed to stay on. Until the horse was exhausted, it didn't manage to throw Odo off. It lowered its head, submitting to Odo.
Alexander looked at Odo in astonishment and asked, "Odo, have you ridden horses before?"
"Boss, even if we Saint Martinians haven't ridden horses before, we're born riders."
Odo answered truthfully, leaving Alexander in silence once again. He had to admit the fact that he wasn't a true Saint Martinian.
So he could only watch as his men mounted the stolen warhorses.
In this battle, they acquired a total of five warhorses, chased off four riders, and killed one horse directly in combat.
These five warhorses were worth a hefty sum in Denars, but Alexander didn't plan on selling them. He definitely wanted to establish his own knightly order. What's a knight without a horse?
Well, technically, one could still be called a knight without a horse, since a knight isn't synonymous with a cavalryman. But the problem was, if a knight didn't have a horse, it was really poor form, wasn't it? Not authentic at all.
[Detected that Lord Alexander has learned horsemanship and acquired one or more horses. The Mount System is about to awaken]
[The Mount System has awakened. Lord Alexander, please check it out]
The system's voice rang out again, clearly indicating that a condition had been triggered and a new module had awakened. Alexander hurriedly opened the system shop and was surprised to see a list of mounts prominently displayed.
Upon closer inspection, he found all sorts of peculiar things: ordinary mounts like mules, warhorses, and chargers, as well as bizarre creatures like desert centipedes, griffins, and dragons. The dragon had a price tag of 9999w system coins. Could such things really be bought? Was the system malfunctioning?
Alexander stared incredulously at the system shop for a while, but there was no response from the system. Reluctantly, he tentatively accepted this setup, though he still found it hard to believe that mythical creatures could appear in a mount shop.
To verify the authenticity, he spent 1000 system coins to purchase a Saint Martin charger. Before long, a wild Saint Martin charger came galloping over from the distance. It had no saddle, with brown-black fur that looked quite handsome. The horse ran straight towards them without any fear of strangers.
Alexander's men were stunned when they saw a wild horse coming to their door.
As a Saint Martin, he will naturally not give up any horse that can be ridden.
A group of strong men were afraid that the horse would run away, so they surrounded it and held the horse firmly.
After all, even the stupidest Otto knew that there were dozens of them and only five horses, which would definitely not be enough.
Now, each additional horse meant one more cavalryman. Who knew if they had a chance to become the next cavalryman? What if the opportunity was theirs?
In fact, they no longer had a chance—because their leader, the great Alexander Castile, had already taken a saddle and placed it on this charger. The charger resisted to some extent, but far less than the earlier warhorse. Soon, it was tamed by Alexander.
This was why Alexander chose a charger: while not as robust as a warhorse, it was fast and required less expertise in riding. Alexander's riding skills were not high, so starting with a charger would allow him to practice riding for the time being.
The other five warhorses were given to Alexander's earliest followers, including Otto and Victor. They quickly cleaned up the battlefield, left the area, and headed for a safe zone.
Along the way, gathering the remnants of his troops, Alexander finally caught up with the breathless Duke Ferdinand. This unfortunate old man had hardly won a battle since encountering Alexander, losing twice in a row.
"Damn imperial fools, only know how to use underhanded tactics, don't even have the courage to face us head-on," fumed Duke Ferdinand, angrily gripping his exquisite noble longsword.
"You are absolutely right, Lord Duke," echoed Alexander, agreeing with him. What else could he do? Tell Duke Ferdinand directly to his face that he is a rigid idiot who cannot think for himself? This is likely to end his mercenary career, and if Duke Ferdinand is really depressed, he may go to see God early. For now, he had to go along with it.
At the same time, Alexander realized that Duke Ferdinand was a very rigid person, not open to flexibility. He couldn't just abandon Duke Ferdinand in this situation. Alexander had to use his brain to figure out how to get over that mountain range while making Duke Ferdinand not feel slighted.
"Thanks to your timely arrival, I heard Mr. Castile won a lucrative victory," said Duke Ferdinand, who had been relatively well-informed.
"I only captured a few more warhorses," Alexander modestly replied. "Your Grace, I have a way to break through the Dragon Mountains ahead and enter the Empire's territory."
"There are probably more than just one army lying in ambush there. How can you break through?" Duke Ferdinand looked up at Alexander.
Alexander grinned, "I'll lead my troops into the Dragon Mountains first. Then, with the flexibility of my small units, we'll engage with the enemy—if they're few, we'll fight them; if they're many, we'll retreat. This way, we can act as scouts and distract them, which will help the main force get through."
"You're truly a respected warrior, Mr. Castile," Duke Ferdinand agreed, finding the plan effective, and immediately approved Alexander's idea.
"But Lord Duke, the key to this tactic is flexibility. Look at my infantry; they can't be flexible without mounts," Alexander pointed out, gesturing to his troops.
Duke Ferdinand nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. Bring Mr. Castile's troops some warhorses!"
In reality, after the recent battle, many cavalrymen had died, so Duke Ferdinand easily found some warhorses to spare, making it quite effortless for Alexander to acquire a new cavalry unit.