A month later, when the group of Kobolds had recovered considerably and settled under the Dragon's Nest, Austin chose a sunny day to gather all the Kobolds.
"From the moment you decided to become my Clan, your life and death were no longer your own. As you enjoy my protection, you must also pay an adequate price. I do not need worthless individuals. If you wish to stay here, you must show your value!"
With azure wings unfurled, coupled with a domineering declaration, Austin began the first step of training his Clan.
The memories from the Dragon's Race inheritance told him that the area he was in was the Kawa Forest in the southern part of the Seta Continent, covering millions of square kilometers. The dreadful tropical rainforest climate halted the advance of the vast northern human territories, and even the Elves, who loved forests, abandoned this massive Kawa Forest as a discarded shoe.
This was a land of savagery, an untamed wilderness with rampant Magic Beasts in the deep forest. Only the lowest beast tribes, money-loving Adventurers, and bankrupt wanderers from the war-torn Civilized Land would come to the edges of the Kawa Forest seeking a living. The activity of intelligent beings slowly eroded this vast, endless forest.
Austin knew very well that the dangers of this world were far beyond imagination. Even with a mature soul inside, it was a result of his own hard struggle that he had grown to this point as a Blue Young Dragon.
As age and physical development demands grow, the food and materials like Magic Crystals that Austin needs for growth will become increasingly large.
On this Seta Continent, the growth needs of dragon hatchlings are typically the responsibility of adult Dragons. However, Austin was just a Young Dragon that emerged from a Dragon Egg thrown into a bush corner by some irresponsible parents, and everything in the future could only depend on himself.
During the immature stage of dragons, the variety of magic-power-containing resources needed for growth was astronomically high. As a Young Dragon, its combat power simply wasn't enough for a dragon cub to collect independently, and Austin was no exception.
For the sake of future growth and to eradicate those detestable Blood Wolves from his territory, Austin had no choice but to rely on the strength of his subordinates.
"No choice, who told me to be an orphan dragon? I'll have to build my own army."
Austin knew very well that compared to other intelligent beings or powerful Magic Beasts, his biggest advantage before becoming an adult was the memories of his past life.
Those modern scientific military training methods, knowledge of scientific industrial civilization, gunpowder and other weapons...
Of course, the only thing he could use right now was the method for training an army.
From the inherent Dragon Race memory, Austin learned that the combat mode between races in this world was still at a Western Middle Ages level from his past life.
Even if there were Warrior Mages with Extraordinary Abilities on the Seta Continent, when two Lords went to war, except for a small elite core troop, most of the army consisted of peasants, who not long ago were working the land, using manure forks for brute force combat, engaging in peasant skirmishes.
Perhaps those powerful Kingdoms on the northern Civilized Lands would perform differently, but here in the Kawa Forest, with equal combat power, a disciplined army could sweep through the defeated and homeless scattered throughout the forest.
"The strength of the masses is limitless, and combined with the Extraordinary Power of this Magical World, if organized into a disciplined army, I can establish a foothold in the vast Kawa Forest. As for firearms, gunpowder, industrialization, and so forth, at least a stable base is needed for development."
It was precisely because of this that Austin placed great importance on training his first group of Clan members.
If he could cultivate them into an army with a modern sense of discipline, it would be like planting a seed. In the future, as the followers increased, they could continuously grow based upon this foundation.
"This small step is the first giant leap in my conquest of the Seta Continent!"
Austin was brimful with confidence and ambition.
Then, very quickly, he wilted.
Reality proved that Austin oversimplified some things.
This was a painful realization that he reached after a morning of shouting, becoming hoarse from yelling in anger and frustration.
In the medieval era, it wasn't unreasonable for lords to drive peasants, armed with manure forks and untrained, onto the battlefield.
Those peasants, who labored day in and day out, with minds full only of surviving, were oppressed by their lives into stupidity and ignorance, unable to read scripts or understand orders. Cultivating their sense of discipline was as hard as training a Knight from childhood.
"Do you have crap in your heads? How many times do I have to repeat it! Why can't you tell left from right?"
Austin jumped in exasperation, roaring loudly.
The Kobolds below trembled in fear, yet it availed nothing.
Turning around ended in a mess, marching in step turned into chaos.
Previously, Austin didn't understand what chaos meant, but now he did.
Having seven Kobolds stand in a line and take two steps forward resulted in chaos.
Most aggravatingly, the Kobolds trembled when scolded loudly, but they would forget all instructions once turned around.
Austin was so angry, he multiple times contemplated biting them to death.
The first day's training was extremely ineffective, with absolutely no progress.
As the sun set, that evening, after a day of torment, Austin returned to his lair, lay inside the cave, and gazed hopelessly at the starry sky beyond.
When reading novels in the past, it seemed easy seeing the Protagonist train an army, flipping to the next chapter for it to be complete. But experiencing it personally, he truly realized the difficulty involved.
Sometimes Austin wished he had a system in his body, something like a game, where just a touch of his finger would bring forth a well-trained army.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
Once again, Austin missed the days on Earth, doing his job, with nothing to worry about, just aimlessly muddling through life would be so nice.
He didn't know which irresponsible guy brought him here, not only struggling daily but even trying to do one thing was so hard.
"I've taken note of this grudge, and if I ever meet them, I will surely castrate them, hmph."
Austin snorted as he lay on the ground, snickering internally.
"Great Dragon, are you there?"
At this moment, from below the cave's entrance, a tender voice called out. Austin poked his head out to see the only Kobold child among his Clan, Nina, holding something in one hand and struggling to climb up using a tree branch at the cliff's edge with the other hand.