Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 491 Liver Bird Sky Rider

The Liverbird's nest is located on a huge ice plateau on the leeward side of the snow-capped mountain.

Countless nests made of ice crystals and some kind of silver moss are scattered among the ice walls, reflecting a cool, clear light.

The air was filled with an even stronger aura of ice elements than down the mountain, and every breath was accompanied by the shimmering of tiny ice crystals.

Dozens of enormous birds are perched on the ice floe, some preening their feathers or flapping their wings and flying low.

Their size is comparable to that of a griffin, and their feathers are a blend of pure white like snow and deep blue like glaciers. Their beaks and claws are like the finest sapphires, sharp and hard.

Their eyes were two frozen flames, flickering with a lively light. Each flap of their wings would create a cold whirlwind and a small flurry of snowflakes.

These are a group of snow sprites.

That's what the lord thought.

What are small birds that serve only as messengers to the Frost Giants are undoubtedly enormous to humans.

It is even slightly larger than a griffin, but its body is more slender and beautiful.

The live birds were initially wary of the unexpected visitors, but once they saw Lagras and Tamene, they resumed their leisurely preening.

“These are Liverbirds.” Lagrass’s tone carried a hint of barely perceptible pride: “They are the darlings of the ice plains, messengers of the storms.”

As if to confirm his words, a particularly magnificent lemur let out a high-pitched cry, its wings fluttered slightly, and its figure suddenly blurred, turning into a blue-white lightning bolt that instantly covered a distance of hundreds of steps and appeared on the other side of the ice platform. Its speed was so fast that it was almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.

The next second, it plunged into a deep, unfrozen pool at the edge of the ice platform, emanating a chilling aura, splashing water almost imperceptibly. A full minute later, it burst out of the water like an arrow, carrying a strange fish shimmering with phosphorescence in its mouth.

"Awesome!" the lord exclaimed inwardly.

In terms of speed, these live birds far surpass griffins, and what's even more remarkable is their ability to dive.

As a military lord and a descendant of the Chinese nation, he likely suffers from insufficient firepower, and the lord places great importance on air superiority.

He only managed to get five hundred griffins from his father-in-law, Harland, after becoming a son-in-law. If it was just for intimidating the wilderness, that would be enough.

But now that it's in the hands of King Debe, relying on five hundred griffins in the vast sky is becoming increasingly difficult.

In ancient times, ground troops were always the main force in every battle, and the decisive battles always took place on the ground, not in the air.

Therefore, air cavalry was not established on a large scale at that time. This was not only because people at the time did not attach importance to air cavalry, but also because it required a huge amount of financial resources to build an air force.

The financial resources required to assemble a 500-man squad of air cavalry are often enough to arm a ground legion; the cost and the income are completely disproportionate.

Therefore, small countries generally do not have air forces, and even a few military powers only retain a very small number of air scouts.

But all of this changed with a famous battle thousands of years ago. In that famous blitzkrieg, humans attacked the dwarven capital with three thousand air cavalry, forcing the dwarves to suffer a crushing defeat and laying the foundation for their later decline.

From then on, all countries attached great importance to air cavalry and would retain several air legion units with independent combat capabilities.

From Lord's perspective, the decisive factor in the future battles at High Cliff Fortress will undoubtedly be in the sky, and with two giant dragons, he has every reason to be confident.

Because dragons are the most powerful aerial cavalry, their deterrent power is no less than that of the Dongfeng Express in the previous life.

However, despite the current emphasis on air cavalry, the problem of their insufficient ground attack power remains unresolved.

It was still the same old three items: bow and arrow, spear, and slingshot.

The tortoise elder Tang Jin once said that if Li Wei could solve this problem, it would usher in a completely new era.

The lord simply smiled at the time, because the new weapons being tested by the Griffin Legion had already caused the sea creatures a great deal of suffering.

“As you can see, my lord. Speed, endurance, and their extreme adaptation to ice and water environments are their greatest advantages.” Lagras looked at Levi. “We frost giants rely on them to deliver messages, patrol our territory, and even assist in hunting fish and shrimp in the deep water.”

Li Wei's eyes showed great interest.

This magical beast has immense strategic value. Whether used as an aerial mount, a reconnaissance unit, or a communications soldier, it is excellent. Its underwater capabilities are particularly surprising.

"What are their temperaments like? Are they difficult to tame and breed?" Li Wei asked.

In the Holy Sith Kingdom, there is a bird called the Four-Winged Bird. It is not only proficient in wind elemental magic, but also has a huge body and is fully capable of carrying people in flight. The Sith Kingdom once wanted to tame this magical beast as an air mount.

However, unexpectedly, this bird is very proud, would rather die than submit, and extremely resists being kept in captivity. Once caught, it will starve itself to death.

“They are very proud and only recognize powerful partners. But once they do, they are extremely loyal. The knowledge of taming is a secret passed down through generations of us frost giants,” Raglast paused, glanced at Levi, and said respectfully, “Of course, this is also your knowledge now. Breeding is not easy; it requires an environment with active elements and specific food. The Snow Roman bananas cultivated by us frost giants are key to their survival and reproduction.”

Li Wei walked to the edge of the ice platform and looked down.

The icy pool was bottomless, radiating a chill that even made his skin sting; it clearly contained powerful ice energy.

"It seems that migrating them to the material world on a large scale is indeed not very realistic." Li Wei stroked his chin, his tone tinged with regret, but more so with contemplation.

Simply put, these birds don't necessarily need to live in icy, snowy conditions. As long as there are enough snow bananas and the elemental concentration is not low, they can survive.

However, this means that raising these birds of prey is entirely dependent on the Snow Banana, which can only be grown in the Frost Giant region.

No wonder these birds of prey could be tamed by the frost giants; they really are bound by their lot.

“It will be difficult, at least in the short term,” Lagras said. “But they remain the most reliable eyes and arrows. My lord, five hundred adult livebirds, and their offspring, will be at your command. I will assign the best bird trainers to your orders and provide them with enough snow bananas to live on.”

Li Wei nodded. Even if they couldn't expand the breeding scale, five hundred heads would still be crucial for Gaoyabao.

At this moment, the frost giant girl, Tamene, who had been silently following, suddenly spoke softly, her voice like ice beads falling onto a plate: "My lord, every Liverbird has its own unique call frequency. We frost giants can simulate this frequency through special bone flutes to summon and transmit simple information over long distances. Even if they are hundreds of miles apart, as long as the sound of the flute can penetrate the wind and snow, they can find us."

As she spoke, she took out a short flute made of some kind of white bone from the side of her animal skin skirt and handed it to Li Wei.

The flute is engraved with intricate frost giant runes and emits a faint magical fluctuation.

A bone flute capable of carrying sound for hundreds of miles is certainly not an ordinary one.

Li Wei didn't answer, but just looked into her icy blue eyes: "You know how to tame them?"

“I am one of the youngest Liverbird tamers in the tribe.” Tamene straightened her back slightly, her face bearing the pride typical of frost giants. “My lord, I tamed my first Liverbird on my own when I was twenty years old.”

Twenty years old?
The frost giants' long lifespan is equivalent to that of a human child who has just learned to walk.

No wonder he's so proud. If he were still wearing diapers at that age, he could have tamed one of the village's three most notorious bullies, and he would be bragging about it every day.

Lagras added from the side, “Tameni is very talented. If you need someone who knows about Liverbirds, can be your soldier's teacher, and can act as a guide in the world of Tillyridge, she is the right person.”

This time, Li Wei did not refuse immediately. He looked at the bone flute in Tamene's hand, and then at the magnificent magical beasts on the ice platform.

A local guide who knows how to handle Liverbirds and is familiar with the world of Tiridates is definitely someone you can keep by your side.

Then we can have them teach the barbarians of High Cliff Fort how to tame these flying birds and turn them into qualified air cavalry.

Serena idly painted her nails the whole time.

This Black Dragon Queen was extremely arrogant. Apart from the Lord, she showed no respect to anyone else and wouldn't even bother to speak to them.

After a moment's thought, Li Wei finally said to Tamene, "From now on, you will stay by my side. You will be responsible for liaising with my subordinates and coordinating all matters concerning the Liver Bird. At the same time, you will teach my people how to use this bone flute and the basic riding skills."

A glint flashed in Tamene's icy blue eyes. She nodded and carefully put the bone flute away: "Lord Liwei, I will do my best."

It seems that this old father, Lagras, still has some self-respect in front of his daughter. He didn't tell Tamene that she had been given a good beating by the lord before she submitted. I wonder what kind of story he made up.

The reason for saying this is that Li Wei actually received a notice from Tamene to join the team, which means that she genuinely wants to work with him.

Levi glanced one last time at the vibrant yet extremely cold habitat of the Liverbirds, then turned to Lagras and said, "Alright, take me to see the plantations of those Snow Roman bananas, and that so-called eternal cold spring. I'm very curious about what kind of environment can cultivate such a peculiar fruit."

His tone was calm, but a glint shone deep in his eyes.

He already had some vague ideas about how to move the resources here back to Gaoyabao as much as possible, and all of this needed to start with a deeper understanding.

The world of Tillyridge is no less than the New World of the previous world. Although the Frost Giants have lived here for many years, they still lead a very primitive life.

Because of their race, frost giants are destined to have absolutely no connection with weapon forging. This means that the iron ore and magical metals in Tiridates are just gold nuggets scattered on the ground, waiting for the lord to pick them up.

Lagras, of course, had no idea what was going on in Levi's mind. He simply responded respectfully and led his new master toward the vast banana grove below the mountain, which emitted a faint blue light.

Tamene followed silently, her bare white feet brushing across the snow without leaving a trace.

Her gaze occasionally swept over Li Wei's back before quickly shifting away.

……

With the ascension of the new king of Debe, the somewhat turbulent situation gradually stabilized with the help of Flinna and Onaya, two noble ladies representing the entire northern and southern territories.

However, the most fundamental reason is still because of Duke Li Wei, who is hailed as the greatest warrior under the stars.

No one dared to make any underhanded moves under the pressure of the other party's immense reputation.

It was only at this point that the other countries realized that Deber's Haaland was dead and that his daughter had succeeded him.

While everyone was astonished, the eyes of all parties once again focused on the dragon knight.

They were naturally familiar with this only dragon knight in the world, who was also the trigger for war between several powerful nations.

I never expected that after just a short time of not hearing from him, I would hear from him again and he would become the so-called number one warrior under the stars, the King's Hand of Debe.

These messages are like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, and the ripples they create are rapidly spreading to all nations and even more distant places, once again stirring up undercurrents in this turbulent land.

"Elder Tang Jin, the situation with Governor Bernard is not optimistic. What should we do now?" Ashley's brows furrowed, her little face full of anxiety.

Since she became queen, she has had a lot of things to do. If it weren't for Grandpa Turtle and Sister Flina helping her, Ashel felt that she would have gone crazy like those berserk minotaurs.

"Li Wei is really something. He said he would personally lead the team to the Persian Gulf Empire when he returned, but half a month has passed and there's still no news." Old Man Tang Jin sighed.

"I wonder if the master has dealt with those frost giants yet. The moment I saw that guy named Lagras, I knew he wasn't a good person. I wonder if he'll turn on us later?" Van Gogh, the burly orca, said in a muffled voice, no longer in the mood to wipe his broadsword, which he placed aside.

"Don't worry too much, everyone. Lord Li Wei is hailed as the number one warrior under the stars. His strength is unparalleled. Even my father is no match for him. He'll definitely be fine. He's probably just held up by something." Swan Butler Melissa brought everyone a cup of black tea and offered some words of comfort.

As the daughter of the Swan Clan's high priest, she naturally knew how powerful her father was; otherwise, the Swan Clan wouldn't have remained aloof from the world and avoided the fate of the elves and dwarves.

She had always thought that her father was at least in the top three, if not the best in the world, but after meeting Li Wei, she finally understood the meaning of her father's words: "Pride is the swan's right, arrogance is the swan's tombstone."

(End of this chapter)