The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 0612 Berserker (First Update)

"Who is the Marquis of Boulder?"

"He is the second landlord I followed, Pilaf the Earth Frenzy, from an old marquis family of the Eagle Kingdom. The offspring of this family call themselves Cloaked Bear-wearers and do not like to charge on horseback; they prefer fighting on foot. Sometimes, their fists are more powerful than guns and swords!"

"Cloaked Bear-wearers, what kind of profession is that?" With the Pioneer Mandate continually expanding his knowledge, Liszt had already encountered many cultivation systems different from those of knights and magicians.

"I'm not clear on the specifics, but aside from the Cloaked Bear-wearers, there should also be Cloaked Wolf-wearers and Cloaked Pig-wearers. When I first entered the level of Sword Saint, I challenged the Marquis of Boulder. After he ate a poison mushroom, his momentum skyrocketed in an instant. Just with one punch, he sent me flying."

"Poison mushroom?"

"A kind of poisonous mushroom that's very common. It's a small, gray, umbrella-shaped mushroom called Dog's Mantle."

Liszt was familiar with Dog's Mantle; even on Coral Island and Black Horse Island, these small toxic mushrooms would grow after rain. Unexpectedly, this kind of poison mushroom could act like a stimulant, causing the Cloaked Bear-wearers to become frenzied and significantly increase their strength.

However, the Cloaked Bear-wearers somehow reminded him of the druid bear warriors.

In the Sun Scriptures studied by Ach, there had been detailed explanations stating that warriors among the Children of the Sun could transform into bears, eagles, leopards, and other creatures for combat, utilizing natural magic and their observations of animals.

Perhaps there really was some connection between Cloaked Bear-wearers and druid bear warriors.

So, he asked, "Then, what changes occur in the body of a Cloaked Bear-wearer after consuming Dog's Mantle?"

"It seems their bodies enlarge slightly, their eyes turn somewhat red, and their spirits appear to fall into a state of intense frenzy. Normally, the Marquis of Boulder is cultured and refined, making him seem like a born noble. But once he eats Dog's Mantle, he becomes a berserk... almost like a humanoid magical beast."

Yevich tried his best to recall, but since he had seen the Marquis of Boulder take action only a few times, he didn't have a thorough understanding of the Cloaked Bear-wearers' combat methods.

After all, it was the family's secret training inheritance, hard to reveal the intricacies to outsiders.

"Do Cloaked Bear-wearers have Dou Qi Manuscripts like knights?"

"I don't know."

"Do they practice magic, or Dou Qi?"

"It should be Dou Qi."

"Dou Qi, huh..." Although Yevich's descriptions were vague, Liszt was gradually forming a preliminary impression of the Cloaked Bear-wearers through his account.

They didn't transform into bears, but there were signs of "going berserk."

They didn't like mounted combat, so they could not be called knights, but rather warriors. The thought of warriors capable of going berserk made Liszt involuntarily think of a fighting profession from Earth's legends—the berserker.

Of course.

The Cloaked Bear-wearers were only similar to berserkers.

In fact, as a Different World with language and history distinct from Earth's, this world had no such terms as dragon, elf, magician, or knight—these were labels Liszt translated in his mind according to his personal preferences, comparing them to Earth's legends to aid his own understanding.

Just like the term "druid," which in Serpent Script was just a string of squiggly symbols resembling little snakes, devoid of any reference meaning—with neither the semantic evolution of Chinese words nor the root and affix changes of English words—Liszt named it "druid" based on his impression.

His impression from Earth's legendary stories mentioned druids capable of transforming into bears, eagles, and other animals.

Thus, this chain of meaningless symbols was interpreted by him as "druids."

Liches and vampires, both are interpreted in a similar manner.

Take elves, for instance. On Earth, they are supposed to be the high intelligence race living in forests as described in "The Lord of the Rings". However, in Li Si Te's understanding of this world, there is no elf race, so based on the literal meaning of elf, it becomes a magical creature endowed with the ability to plant vegetation.

"Yevich, you have felt the strength of Marquis of Boulder. Compared to me, who is more powerful?"

"I believe you are more powerful, my lord. When I first became a Sword Saint, Marquis of Boulder sent me flying with a punch, but I did not suffer much harm; Now that I've spent many years as a Sword Saint, and am much stronger than when I first entered the rank, yet I was severely injured by one of your arrows and defeated by a single sword strike, the defeat was much more swift and decisive."

Li Si Te nodded, not saying a word, yet he understood clearly in his heart, "Indeed, being a Dragon Knight is the most powerful profession—a Cloaked Bear-wearer is at best a stronger inheritance, lacking the strength to compete with a Dragon Knight."

All in all.

The Marquis of Boulder represents a new occupational system—the Cloaked Bear-wearer.

This indicates that in this world, not only do casters have a variety of professions, but those who cultivate Dou Qi aren't limited to knights either. Cloaked Bear-wearers, Cloaked Wolf-wearers, and Cloaked Pig-wearers could all potentially cultivate to become very powerful systems. There are even more hidden occupational systems on the continent.

In the ordinary stages of cultivation, knights do not necessarily have an advantage—after all, a Cloaked Bear-wearer at the Completion Level could very likely overwhelm a powerful Sky Knight.

But with the almost cheat-like method of Dragon Riding to gain the dragon's strength, it becomes only logical for knights to rule the world.

And with the rise of Dragon Knights, not only have other Dou Qi occupational systems gradually declined, but so have the magicians who were the rulers of the Moon Empire era. The era progresses, civilization advances, and anything that cannot adapt to survival will be eliminated like the ancient casters and warriors.

Even those who survive can only tremble and gasp for breath in fear under the domain of the Dragon Knights.

Li Si Te felt quite fortunate.

He too was part of the hierarchy of this era's rulers, not the ruled.

He quickly curbed his excitement and pride; the information about the Cloaked Bear-wearers broadened his horizons, but what mattered now was Yevich's ransom.

He still did not want to accept Yevich: "Yevich, counting Marquis Nuta, you have followed four lords. How did you fall out with the first three?"

Yevich took a deep breath and sighed, "When I was full of pride as a reserve Dragon Knight, my first lord promised to marry his daughter to me, but after I was quickly eliminated from the Dragon Knight program, that lord swiftly reneged on his word and married his daughter to the offspring of a Noble."

In a fit of anger, Yevich refused to follow him.

The second lord was Marquis of Boulder, powerful and elegant, but he valued loyalty above all else. Thinking that Yevich wasn't loyal enough, he was very strict with him regarding military achievements and material distribution.

Yevich simply handed over his fief and left.

The third lord valued Yevich highly, but just when the fief granted to Yevich was not yet fully transferred, a wild Little Minor Elf was discovered on it. The lord forcibly took the Little Minor Elf under contract away.

Having grown scared of poverty, Yevich, upon seeing the Little Minor Elf that belonged to him being taken, confronted him directly. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

After wandering for some time, he followed his current lord, Marquis Nuta. After several deeds of valor, he was entitled a Viscount; the relationship was normal, but after being defeated and captured in battle, even Marquis Nuta's nephew Deborah was implicated—this disgraceful experience was to completely exhaust whatever little fame Yevich had left.

That's why he planned to leave the Eagle Kingdom and follow Li Si Te.

"I do not owe the Eagle Kingdom anything. Apart from Marquis Nuta, I don't feel any debt to the other lords. Now that I am defeated and captured, I am dutiful to Marquis Nuta... At this moment, I choose to follow you, my lord, to lead charges into battle for you, to start anew and begin again!"

By that account, Yevich's character is at least much better than Lü Bu's.

However, a follower who casually turns against his lords is not something Liszt wants. He simply said, "Since you cannot pay your own ransom, I will demand it from Marquis Nuta. He is your lord, two units of grain and a Magic Potion-type Little Minor Elf, and your freedom will be returned to you immediately!"