Chapter 862: Hippolyta

In Ethan, the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's mind, Liszt's faint silhouette had begun to take shape, the imprint gradually forming.

Yet in the heart of Invisible Dragon Bard, no mental imprint had yet formed; Fire Dragon Leo, despite the longest period of bonding, also showed no signs of a mental imprint. Perhaps it would be the most difficult dragon to leave an imprint on, as the growth of malevolent thoughts constantly disrupted Liszt's influence.

Roughly once a month, Liszt purged Leo’s mind, filtering out the dark thoughts and leaving only pure, primal intentions.

"If I am to explore the world, taking Leo would be the most suitable—its combat strength is unrivaled... though Bard the Invisible Dragon is no slouch either."

At times, he found himself torn over which dragon to ultimately choose as his mount.

Fortunately, the time for that decision was still far off.

For now, he was waiting for Acheronides' training. The magic gate trials had been repeated endlessly, and all that remained was for her to perfectly master spatial elemental embodiment before implementation. Currently, Acheronides could already achieve full-body spatial elementalization, but her control of Spatial Magic wasn’t quite there yet.

But it wouldn't be long. With her terrifying talent, perfect mastery was within reach.

"Once the magic gate is established, I won’t have to work so hard, making three round trips to Black Horse Island every week to transport supplies—it’s a real pain." Flame Island was locked in a harsh, dry winter, with all growth halted and severe food shortages, compounded by the continuous integration of Moon Killers natives.

On top of that, keeping a herd of bottomless-pit Shoveltusked Elephants consumed even more resources.

Flame Territory scraped by on bulk trade in sea salt, glass, white paper, as well as perfumes, soaps, and their fledgling porcelain trade to barely sustain its current supply.

Just as he eagerly awaited the magic gate,

more good news came rolling in—brought back by the knights who had been subduing the Moon Killers natives. Along with them came a young Moon Killers girl, barely twelve or thirteen.

"Your Highness, this girl is named 'Hippolyta.' Her father is Pongtelesi, Elder of the tiny Lo Tribe. We discovered traces of spirit bugs in the Lo Tribe, but our request to redeem them was refused, so we captured all the natives of the tribe."

The knight captain reported truthfully: "Then we found that Hippolyta’s stilt-house concealed a group of spirit bugs, all of which had formed contracts with her. So we brought back both the spirit bugs and their host plants."

The knights behind the captain carried out a large wooden box. When opened, it revealed spirit bugs bound tight—among them, one Grand Sprite, three spirit bugs, and two spirit bug larvae.

Liszt was overjoyed.

He had assumed the knights were referring only to a few spirit bug larvae, given that the Lo Tribe was small, with a population of no more than two hundred. Yet they had returned with one Grand Sprite, three spirit bugs, and two larvae—this haul outweighed capturing a large tribe.

"Excellent, you’ve done very well. Captain Celt, what is your current title, and which lord do you serve?" Liszt inquired.

Celt trembled slightly, unable to suppress his excitement: "Your Highness, Celt is a Baronet, your sworn man!"

"So you are my direct vassal. Then from this moment onward, I promote you to Baron. Are any of your men nobles?"

"Thank you, Your Highness... No, they are all landless knights!"

"Then all shall be granted the title of Baronet."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

The entire knight squad went to a knee, performing the solemn oath of fealty to Liszt, grins splitting their faces—in truth, such scenes were common on Flame Island, where knights were frequently ennobled or promoted for their battlefield achievements.

After rewarding the knights,

Liszt turned his attention to the shivering Moon Killers child, Hippolyta.

The skinny native girl, still undeveloped, was already tall for her age, standing a hair over five feet. Her skin was a sun-browned hue, clad in cured hides and barefoot. Her hair, parted down the middle, fell to her shoulders—glossy black as crow’s wings.

Tucked into her hair was a row of feathers.

This is a preferred decorative method among female Moon Killers. The older the Moon Killer woman, the more she likes to adorn her head with feathers of various colors, forming a beautiful plumed headdress.

Hippolyta's plumed headdress is still incomplete.

However, likely because she is the daughter of an Elder, her living conditions are better than those of ordinary Moon Killer children, making her appear cleaner and with more delicate features.

Especially her middle-parted hair, which is quite interesting.

Liszt almost wanted to say, "From now on, call me big brother, and I'll teach you how to style a middle part..."

Of course, he refrained from uttering such a cheesy line, merely smiling as he observed Hippolyta. The fact that the little girl had hidden spirits instead of killing them gave him a favorable impression. "Your name is Hippolyta?" he asked in broken Lunar Language, having recently taken the time to learn it.

Spoken Lunar Language isn't particularly difficult, with predictable pronunciation patterns, as most languages on the legendary continent, including Wind Speech and serpent tongue, inherit vocabulary from Lunar Language.

"Wa ai ta ke..." The little girl mustered her courage and asked a series of rapid questions.

Liszt didn't understand.

He turned to look at the translator mage beside him—most knights had studied Lunar Language but weren't proficient, relying mostly on manuals for communication.

Mages who specialized in Lunar Language were better suited as translators.

"Your Highness, she is asking why you took her father, as well as her companions and family."

"This is a misunderstanding. I invited them to live in my territory, where life is far better than in the Luo Tribe. You will also start a new life here," Liszt said, with the translator conveying his words, making the exchange go smoothly. "So don't worry, don't be afraid."

"You really won't kill us?"

"No, we won't kill you. In fact, there are many Moon Killers here, all from various tribes who have come to start new lives."

"Then can you release my father and my brother?"

"Of course, but as a condition of the trade, could you break your contracts with these spirits?" Liszt grinned like a wolf, displaying great patience—he was willing to respect a Moon Killer who respected spirits, not just because she was a little girl.

"They are my companions, my father's gifts. Please don't kill them, okay?" Hippolyta said nervously.

"You like them very much?"

"Yes, I love spirits. They are very cute and shouldn't be killed. But my father only allows me to wish for one spirit on my birthday... Between ages seven and twelve, I only wished for five spirits. The rest were all killed."

Clearly, the Luo Tribe's Moon Killers were still Moon Killers.

It was just that this little girl, Hippolyta, had a fondness for spirits.

"Give them to my care, and I will take good care of them. In my territory, not a single spirit will be killed—they live happily. You will often see spirits roaming freely across the land, unrestrained... As for you, you'll be going to school."

For Moon Killers here, the school's main goal isn't skill training but to transform their worldview.

Please remember the first domain name for this book: . Mobile version reading URL: