Chapter 190: Farewell to the Black Blood BMW

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Lightning is a stallion, without a doubt.

To determine its age, Liszt forcibly pried open its mouth and had Marcus inspect its teeth.

A normal stallion has forty teeth, including twelve incisors, four canine teeth, and twenty-four molars. Mares do not have canine teeth, only thirty-six teeth in total.

To determine a horse's age, one primarily examines the incisors.

"Incisors are divided into central incisors, intermediate incisors, and corner incisors. The central incisors are the front teeth, the corner incisors are the outermost ones, and the intermediate incisors lie between them. Incisors go through two stages: deciduous teeth (baby teeth) and permanent teeth."

As Marcus observed, he explained to Liszt and the squire knights, fulfilling his duties as a tutor and knight instructor.

In foals, deciduous central incisors grow within 1-2 weeks, deciduous intermediate incisors within 3-6 weeks, and deciduous corner incisors within 6-8 months. Deciduous teeth do not fully meet.

At two and a half years old, deciduous central incisors fall out, and permanent central incisors emerge. By three years old, the permanent central incisors meet—commonly referred to as being "even."

At three and a half years old, deciduous intermediate incisors fall out, and permanent intermediate incisors emerge. By four years old, the permanent intermediate incisors are even. At four and a half years old, deciduous corner incisors fall out, and permanent corner incisors emerge. By five years old, the permanent corner incisors are even.

Pointing to Lightning's fully aligned incisors, Marcus said, "Lightning's incisors are perfectly aligned, all permanent teeth, indicating it is over five years old. After five years, we need to judge its age based on the black basins—the hollows in the center of the teeth."

The depth of the black basins varies, allowing us to estimate the age from six to eleven years. Once the black basins completely disappear, we assess the shape, size, and position of the wear marks on the incisors to determine the age from thirteen to eighteen years.

"If Lightning were an ordinary warhorse, it would be around eight years old," Marcus concluded after his inspection.

However, he added, "But many excellent warhorses are mixed-blooded, descendants of magical beasts or dragon horses. Estimating age by teeth can introduce some error. Adjusting for Lightning's magical beast bloodline, it could be ten years old or even older."

Magical beast horses and dragon horses develop similarly to ordinary horses but have enhanced bloodlines that improve their teeth, making them more durable.

The rate at which black basins wear down and wear marks disappear slows down accordingly.

Marcus did not know that the Black Dragon horse had dragon blood; he estimated it to be ten years old. Liszt silently adjusted the estimate, concluding that Lightning was likely twelve years old.

It was a prime-aged stallion.

"I'll ride Lightning to get used to it, Master Marcus. You should also select and tame a few Black Dragon horses," Liszt said, looking at the herd near the Horse King.

Marcus took a deep breath and knelt on one knee. "Thank you, my lord!"

To him, a Black Dragon horse was worth more than a hundred gold coins—a significant gift. He could not help but treat it with utmost respect—if he knew it was a dragon horse, retaining breeding capabilities, its value would be measured in dragon coins; even if gelded, it would still be worth thousands.

He might prostrate himself in gratitude.

After accepting Marcus's bow, Liszt said calmly, "The Black Dragon horses have strong bloodlines. Before they see battle, they will be bred to expand the herd."

"That makes sense!" Marcus agreed wholeheartedly.

Then, with trembling legs, he walked towards the Black Dragon herd, determined to tame one for himself!

The squire knights looked enviously at Marcus; they did not yet qualify to ride such prestigious horses and could only mount inferior ones.

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A gentle breeze blew, and the sun was warm.

Riding the steady horse, Liszt let Lightning roam freely.

His thoughts drifted to another matter: "Black Dragon is the name of my castle mount. I thought there was only one, so I named it 'Black Dragon' because of its pure black color. Now that there are so many Black Dragon horses, should Black Dragon be the name of a single horse or the herd?"

Ultimately, his affection for Black Dragon prevailed.

"Black Dragon will remain the name of a single horse, like my fire dragon horse... The current herd should have a new breed name... The Duke Sapphire has Blue Blood horses; perhaps I can have Black Blood horses?"

They are all dragon horses, none more noble than the others.

"Though Blue Blood horses aren't actually blue... Never mind, Black Blood horses sound great, just like Blood Sweating horses—names fit for top-tier steeds."

Thus, the pure black dragon horses received an official name.

Black Dragon remained Black Dragon, but its status would inevitably decline, giving way to Liszt's new mount—the Horse King Lightning!

Strictly speaking, Lightning is not entirely black; it has a small patch of purplish-red hair on its forehead.

About palm-length, shaped like the Flash's lightning symbol, adding much grandeur.

Perhaps due to its high intelligence, Lightning seemed to understand the closeness between Hiddleston and Liszt after being tamed. Its fear of Hiddleston quickly dissipated. Even when Hiddleston stood nearby, opening its mouth and growling, Lightning did not flee.

Instead, it raised its head and snorted dismissively at Hiddleston.

Standing at least four meters tall, Lightning towered over Hiddleston, who was only 1.9 meters tall, forcing him to look up. This undoubtedly humiliated Hiddleston, especially since he felt "replaced" by the new horse. However, he could not bite it.

Just like he dared not bite the Black Dragon horse.

"Woof woof!"

"Huff!"

One barked, the other snorted, exchanging something incomprehensible.

...

The initial exploration of Black Horse Island came to an end after taming The Horse King, Lightning.

Liszt and Marcus each rode a black-blooded horse, accompanied by their retinue of knights and sailors, heading back to the Rock Pier. Unexpectedly, the herd of horses followed them to the vicinity of the pier.

Still yearning for their king.

"The black-blooded horse herd has been found; this voyage's mission is complete. We'll set sail for home tomorrow," Liszt issued the order. "From now on, the development of Black Horse Island will be on the agenda. First, we need to establish a temporary base here. While there's still some daylight left, let's clear the area around the pier."

"Yes, sir!"

Once the temporary base was established, the sailors and their families would be relocated to Black Horse Island to prevent any news about it from leaking out.

If word of the black-blooded horses got out, it could attract the attention of covetous individuals. Once they discovered the value of the black-blooded horses, they would undoubtedly spare no effort to seize them. Only when Liszt had established military merit and received a barony with land would it be time for Black Horse Island to be revealed. For now, the island would develop slowly under the covert support of Flower Town.

Time flew like a white horse passing through a gap; before they knew it, a night had passed.

Early the next morning, after riding Lightning around the pier, Liszt reluctantly released him back to the herd—he did not intend to take the black-blooded horses back.

Marcus did the same, releasing the horse he had tamed, "Black Death."

Lightning and Black Death quickly merged into the herd, but they would lift their heads and gaze at the sea, watching as the sailboat slowly turned and eventually disappeared over the horizon.