Chapter 661: 0-meter Wingspan

Seeing the Count's envious and astonished gaze, Liszt felt quite pleased with himself. At this stage, his identity as a Dragon Knight couldn't be revealed, so he could only flex a bit in front of the Count.

However, just as he was about to ride Leo into the sky, he suddenly remembered his covert mission required discretion and suppressed his urge to flaunt. To avoid mission failure, he reluctantly stepped down from Leo's back and signaled for the dragon to return quickly.

"Fwoom!"

Without any visible movement, Leo transformed into a massive flame, engulfing Liszt. By the time the scorching flames dissipated, Liszt stood unharmed, while Leo had reverted to the fiery dragon emblem on his chest, communicating telepathically: *“Appearance fee—at least ten magic potions!”*

“No problem. Do your job, and you’ll get your potions,” he replied inwardly.

Then, turning to the Count with an air of nonchalance, he said, "Father, Leo has been called back. It’s not some circus act—despite being a juvenile, it retains the pride of a dragon. Unless it grants approval, no one can command it."

"I understand, I understand."

The Count nodded wistfully, then eagerly asked, "So Leo has always lived inside you?"

"That must be dragon magic—tough as nails, yet capable of transforming into magic power and attaching to a knight." Liszt didn’t elaborate further. Some secrets weren’t meant for disclosure, or rather, like other dragon-raising families, he had begun consciously guarding the mysteries of dragon-rearing.

The secrets of dragons were safest in the hands of the few.

Otherwise, if knights worldwide sought dragon mounts, all hell would break loose, directly undermining the foundations of dragon-raising families.

The Count understood this logic and refrained from pressing further, shifting the topic instead: "Leo appears much smaller than the Sapphire Dragon. Can its combat prowess truly rival that of an adult Sapphire Dragon?"

"There’s certainly a gap, but the power systems of Dragon Knights and Lords of Dragon Domain differ. Lords prioritize seizing a dragon’s lifespan over its strength, while Dragon Knights cultivate alongside their dragons for mutual progress... A Lord’s power is like 1+1<2, whereas a Dragon Knight’s is 1+1>2."

"Just keep it under wraps. This is the foundation of our family’s rise. Once we establish a kingdom, a single Fire Dragon may well keep our family set for a millennium!"

"I understand. In fact, I have never considered the Grand Duke and the Sapphire Dragon as my opponents. I believe that once the founding of the nation is declared, a dragon-slaying conflict is inevitable, as these kingdoms will not allow more factions to divide the resources. Among them, Prosperous Marquis Alonso Cyclamen is the most likely opponent I will face in such a battle."

"I have also investigated Alonso. He rides an adult Bronze Dragon, a Dragon Knight trained by the Kingdom of the Eagle in the past decade. However, the Bronze Dragon is said to have gone through several generations of Dragon Knights and is now in its prime years. Are you sure Leo can catch up to it within a few years?"

"Father, elemental dragons aren’t like metal or gem dragons—they are naturally adept at combat. Moreover, Leo is still a juvenile but already has a wingspan of twenty meters. It won’t be long before its size surpasses that of the Bronze Dragon!"

When Leo was first born, its wingspan was about ten meters, significantly smaller than the invisible dragon's fifteen-meter span. Yet, just a few months later, Leo's wingspan reached twenty meters, its body now much larger than the invisible dragon's. By devouring the residual dragon energy from the Fire Dragon's remains and the volcanic energy from Dodo Island, its growth rate has been absolutely staggering.

Based on the bones unearthed on Black Horse Island, an adult Fire Dragon's wingspan could exceed one hundred meters, making it one of the largest known dragons in terms of wingspan.

Liszt doesn’t have much data on hand, but he still compiled a table recording the sizes of various dragons.

Among them, the Fire Dragon's adult wingspan of 100 meters is currently the largest known. The Light Dragon's adult wingspan is about 80 meters, a figure inferred from Parris, the black dragon spirit. The White Iron Dragon's adult wingspan is 60 meters, as Yevich Shui Huasheng once encountered this dragon. The Sapphire Dragon's adult wingspan is 50 meters, which Liszt has seen firsthand.

The Pale Green Gem Dragon's adult wingspan is 45 meters, also encountered by Yevich. The Brass Dragon's adult wingspan is 30 meters, another dragon Yevich had contact with.

Lastly, the Bronze Dragon has a wingspan of about 30 meters, according to a vampire in the Blood Servants, who learned it from a pureblood of the Black Knight family.

The data’s a bit rough but gives a rough idea.

Elemental dragons are the largest among dragons, gem dragons are of medium size, and while metal dragons include the 60-meter White Iron Dragon, most are like the 30-meter Bronze and Brass Dragons.

Size doesn’t always equal fighting power.

However, it often takes two or three Dragon Knights working together to slay a single evil dragon (especially elemental ones), which suggests that they must possess strength far surpassing that of metal and gem dragons.

"Of course, these are just my personal speculations, unsupported by theoretical data, so they don’t count for much. I will remain as low-key as possible and avoid provoking conflict until I am fully prepared." Though a bit prideful, Liszt has not lost his rationality.

Dragon Knights can train and grow stronger!

Other dragon knights have trained for ten-plus years. Even if their dragons are slightly weaker in combat, their training can make up the difference. Just as sky knights have tiers - regular, sword saints, and peak, if dragon knights have similar rankings, Liszt, who has just begun riding a dragon, would undoubtedly be crushed in such a scenario.

So, it’s best to follow the smoke mission's instructions—rein in the urge to show off and low-key figure out training methods.

...

On the way back, the count finally cooled down.

Dragons weren't new to him. Every time he attended meetings on Blue Dragon Island, he had the chance to see the Blue Sapphire Dragon. Thus, the existence of a Fire Dragon didn’t shock him much—what really got him was that this Fire Dragon belonged to his son.

Getting his head straight, he shook it off fast.

Now, he looked at Liszt differently. Perhaps one day, he would kneel before Liszt and pledge his loyalty.

After returning to Tulip Castle, Liszt didn’t linger. He immediately took his leave. His territory had a ton of stuff waiting for him, especially handing out battle credits. While he could cash in his own merits for supplies, his crew needed them to move up in the world.

Becoming a noble was every knight’s dream.

“You’re busy, so I won’t keep you. But you must come to your grandmother’s quarters and pick a potted plant to take back!” Penelope said.

“Didn’t you gift me one when you visited Flower Town a few days ago?”

“That was days ago. Now, I’ve decided that every time you visit Tulip Castle, you must take a potted plant from me.”

“Fine.”

There was no need to refuse. Besides, he was quite eager for the old lady’s potted plants himself. Stepping onto the balcony, he swept his Magic Eye around but found no traces of magic aura. Disappointed, he randomly picked a lush-looking potted plant to take with him.

And so,

With the roadrunner Loki hauling ass, Liszt returned to Flower Town in just over half an hour. The squire knights trailing behind were still puttering along the road, long accustomed to Liszt’s hurried comings and goings.

The moment he got back to his nameless castle, his steward Carter reported: “My lord, last night, all hell broke loose in the bug room. Jie La clashed with several spirit bugs, filling the entire room with thorns and other plants… In the end, several earth knights had to intervene to quell the disturbance.”

Liszt jolted. “Is Jie La alright? Are my spirit bugs unharmed?”

“Jie La and the spirit bugs only suffered minor scratches.”

“Good.” Liszt exhaled in relief, then scowled. “These little shits act up when I'm gone? Seems they need a proper lesson!”