Looking at the shattered cup, Linde looked at his hand again, immediately realizing something. He then used some testing methods to very carefully check his body's condition, and the results of the check surprised him.
Because he found that while absorbing and organizing the Lost Country Knight's memories, he had also completed a Dragon Feast Ritual under the influence of the Golden Finger.
Although this Dragon Feast Ritual did not bring him particularly powerful supernatural abilities, it greatly increased his strength. He felt that if he were to return to the arena now, even without using clever tricks and instead going head-to-head, he would still be able to achieve ultimate victory.
More importantly, his current physical strength meant Linde no longer needed high-intensity strength training. He could directly begin using the Lost Country Knight's dual Greatsword techniques, as his strength was sufficient to wield two Greatswords.
Besides his strength, he also found that his bones and internal organs had become much stronger, equivalent to an overall improvement of his physique by one level. This would not only help him achieve greater speed, stronger power, and longer endurance, but also significantly increase his recovery speed after injury.
His current physical strength made Linde think of someone: The Mountain, and not The Mountain in his normal state, but The Mountain who had been made into a wight. Although he couldn't achieve the undeath of the zombified Mountain, his physical quality should at least not be much worse.
This was only the effect of one Dragon Feast Ritual, which made Linde begin to anticipate the greater changes that a second Dragon Feast Ritual would bring him.
However, the next Dragon Feast Ritual could not be held again in a short time, because if the power brought by this Dragon Feast Ritual was not thoroughly digested and its hidden side effects resolved, then performing the Dragon Feast Ritual again would only lead to unpredictable mutations, and those mutations were usually not good ones.
While excited about the improvement in his physical quality, Linde also had a headache over the Dragon Feast Ritual's side effects.
He was already feeling this side effect, because whenever he thought about opponents and enemies, he couldn't help but feel a surge of violent emotions. These violent emotions, combined with the Peace Envoy's combat memories, greatly affected Linde's mind and had become an issue he urgently needed to address.
As for the solution, it was also very simple: the Lost Country Knight's training methods contained a solution. All that was needed was an obsidian called Dragon Crystal, made into a corresponding Dragon Rune necklace. Wearing it long-term would gradually alleviate the side effects and eventually eliminate them completely, but it was ineffective in completely uncontrolled situations.
Thinking of the Dragon Rune necklace's effect, Linde couldn't help but want to make one immediately. So he called Raul, who was guarding outside the tent, in and asked, "Did anything happen while I was resting?"
Raul shook his head and said, "No, everything is normal. However, Lord Garlan sent someone to look for you, but hearing you were resting, he didn't enter the tent. He just asked me to relay that you don't have to perform any tasks these next few days and can rest well and explore King's Landing. Also, the champion's prize money has already been sent over; the Duke has exchanged it for Rose Merchant House gold notes, and they are now with Lord Garlan. You can pick them up anytime."
Linde was not surprised that the prize money would be exchanged for Rose Merchant House gold notes. Although there would be some loss during the exchange process, this small loss was negligible compared to the trouble of constantly having to watch over twenty thousand gold dragons.
He was also not in a hurry to retrieve the huge sum of money. Compared to carrying such a large amount and constantly worrying about safety, leaving it with Garlan for safekeeping was clearly better.
"Do you know where I can buy obsidian?" Linde then asked.
"obsidian?" Raul was stunned, then asked in confusion, "What is that?"
Linde explained using a more common name: "It's Dragon Crystal."
"Ah? That seems to be sold where gems are sold, and blacksmith shops seem to have it too." Raul wasn't very clear and answered vaguely.
Linde shook his head and said, "I need large, complete pieces of obsidian, not fragments."
Raul thought for a moment and said, "I remember Scarface Mite from the shield squad seems to have a Dragon Crystal dagger that he's always showing off."
"Scarface Mite?" Linde thought back and quickly remembered that this person seemed to have been his sparring partner, possessing excellent sword and shield skills. He himself had spent some effort to break through his shield defense. Thinking of this, he instructed, "Go ask Scarface if he's willing to sell that dagger?"
"Yes, My Lord." Raul immediately left the tent and jogged towards the shield squad's camp.
A moment later, Raul returned to the tent, bringing someone with him. This person was Scarface Mite.
"Great Bear Hunter, I am willing to offer my Dragon Crystal dagger as a gift to you, My Lord." Before Raul could speak, Scarface Mite proactively took out the obsidian dagger from his waist, holding it with both hands, and presented it to Linde.
Linde did not take the dagger. Instead, he looked at Scarface Mite and said, "What do you want?"
Scarface Mite showed a look of reverence and said, "I sincerely admire you, and I am willing to..."
Linde interrupted him, saying in a deep voice, "Stop talking nonsense. I don't have that much time to beat around the bush with you. Tell me your true thoughts. If they are reasonable, I will consider them."
Scarface Mite was silent for a moment, then said, "I want to join the cavalry squad."
Linde was stunned and said, "My cavalry squad is already full."
"No, I'm talking about the new cavalry squad." Scarface Mite cautiously lifted the tent flap slightly and peeked outside through the gap. Seeing no one outside, he lowered his voice and said, "I have a friend who serves in the Duke's Guard. He told me that after you left, the Duke and his people were discussing how to arrange you. Ser Roger and Scholar Moras believe you should be brought back to Highgarden for training, and in the future, you could serve as the commander of the Duke's Guard. However, Fotimo believes you should be placed in a more important position, such as being responsible for bandit suppression in The Reach."
Saying this, he looked at Linde and carefully said, "My Lord, have you had some misunderstanding with Fotimo? If so, it would be best to go reconcile with Fotimo now, so as not to miss this good opportunity."
Linde looked at Scarface Mite and said nothing. In the eyes of ordinary people, staying in Highgarden and becoming the commander of the Duke's Guard and a trusted confidant of the Duke would definitely be the best choice, at least much better than camping in the open and risking one's life to pursue bandits.
However, they did not know that in Linde's heart, Fotimo's proposal was what he wanted, because if he were truly to lead a bandit suppression force, he would inevitably be granted relatively independent military authority. As an Easterner, he clearly understood what military authority meant, especially for someone of his humble origins.
And more importantly, if it was bandit suppression, then his area of operation would be the vast mountainous and hilly regions from Bitterbridge to the Kingswood, which would undoubtedly give him a great deal of room for maneuver. If he was lucky, he might even be able to acquire a territory ahead of time.
However, before that, he needed to get Fotimo's proposal approved.
So, after a moment of thought, Linde said seriously, "Not enough. The value of a single Dragon Crystal dagger is not enough for a Duke's Guard member's slot. I need more."
Scarface Mite was stunned. He hadn't expected Linde to give him such a response. In his opinion, Linde should either refuse him or agree, but he never expected Linde to actually haggle.
Since there was haggling, then the matter was open for discussion. Scarface Mite also considered raising the stakes, but after thinking about it, he realized he didn't have too many valuable things on hand.
"If you don't have other valuable things, it's fine. I have a suggestion for you. If you handle it well, then that slot is yours." Seeing Scarface Mite's troubled expression, Linde suggested, "As you thought, I will definitely go to Highgarden to receive training from Ser Roger. If the cavalry squad is expanded, I will definitely have many slots available, but not all of these slots can be chosen by me, because by then, the Lords of Highgarden will also likely need some slots. Even so, I can still squeeze out ten slots. I can give one of them to you, but for the remaining nine, you need to help me sell them. The higher the price, the better, of course."
Upon hearing Linde's words, Scarface Mite and Raul both showed surprised expressions. They clearly hadn't expected Linde to make such a suggestion.
Although accepting bribes was common, and anyone with a little power would more or less make money from it, they had never seen anyone as blatant as Linde, openly selling slots in the cavalry squad.
Raul quickly felt something was amiss and wanted to advise Linde, but he was stopped by Linde's meaningful glance.
Scarface Mite, on the other hand, thought seriously for a moment and realized that this matter had no downside for him, so he agreed without hesitation.
After Scarface Mite left, Raul didn't understand why Linde would do this. In his opinion, Linde had just received a champion's prize, and House Tyrell would also give some monetary rewards, as Linde's championship was considered a glory for House Tyrell. Linde had no need to covet the money from selling slots.
With confusion, Raul reminded him with a puzzled expression, "My Lord, what you are doing might be inappropriate. If the Duke and his other trusted confidants find out..."
"You don't need to worry. I know very well what will happen." Linde gestured to Raul, then instructed him to find the camp's leatherworker and blacksmith to get some tools for engraving and polishing.
Raul saw Linde's expression, which suggested everything was under control, and realized that Linde must be planning something, and he simply hadn't seen through it. So, he didn't think further and instead followed Linde's instructions to find all the tools.
After getting the tools, Linde began to cut the obsidian dagger in his hand into several suitable pieces according to the style of the obsidian Dragon Rune necklace in his memory, then meticulously polished them.
While making the obsidian Dragon Rune necklace, Linde discovered a huge difference between the Lost Country Knight's memories granted to him by the Golden Finger this time and the situation when he first gained the Peace Envoy's combat experience.
When he first gained the Peace Envoy's combat experience, he still needed long periods of training to fully integrate all the combat experience and be able to fight like the Peace Envoy.
But this time, after integrating the Lost Country Knight's memories, it was as if the owner of these memories had completely merged with him. All the combat experience and movement habits had integrated into his body and mind. This meant that as long as his physical quality met the requirements, he would be able to perform all of the Lost Country Knight's sword techniques and combat skills without needing specialized training.
The reason he discovered this was entirely because he found the process of making the obsidian Dragon Rune necklace incredibly smooth, so smooth that it seemed as if he had already made hundreds or thousands of similar necklaces, when in fact, this was his first time carving anything and his first time making a necklace.
He only took a dozen minutes to polish the obsidian into the shape of a necklace pendant from his memory, then picked up the carving knife and skillfully engraved the Dragon Rune onto the necklace.
As the hardest stone, carving patterns or designs onto obsidian is extremely difficult. Even a master jeweler specializing in engraving needs to expend considerable effort to carve patterns onto it.
But Linde was completely different. He could easily find some fragile points on the obsidian surface, and by starting from those fragile points, he could engrave the Dragon Rune onto the obsidian surface as easily as carving on mud.
As the carving knife moved, he quickly engraved the Dragon Rune completely onto the obsidian surface, but then a strange thing happened.
When he pulled back the carving knife, preparing to check the effect of this obsidian pendant, he felt a chill emanating from the obsidian, and then its surface quickly cracked and shattered into pieces of various sizes.
"Did I engrave it wrong?" Seeing this change, Linde couldn't help but frown. He then carefully recalled the process of engraving the Dragon Rune and found that his engraving was perfect, without any mistakes.
So, he picked up another piece of obsidian and began engraving again. This time, he slowed down significantly and was much more careful, striving to make every rune line in the perfect position. Ultimately, he spent twice as much time to complete the engraving of this obsidian.
The result was just like the first obsidian Dragon Rune pendant: this pendant also emitted a cold aura the moment the carving knife was removed, and then completely shattered.
Not believing his bad luck, Linde picked up the last piece of obsidian and continued engraving. The final result was the same: the obsidian completely shattered under the influence of the mysterious cold aura.
"Is it because of the difference in worlds that the results are different?" Linde muttered to himself.
He meticulously recalled every detail related to the obsidian Dragon Rune necklace, from the necklace itself to the crafting process, and he found where the problem lay.
"Only obsidian that has been sprayed by dragonfire can withstand the power of the Dragon Rune?" Linde's face showed a look of realization as he murmured to himself.
After his words fell, he couldn't help but look towards the location of the Dragonpit in King's Landing, as it seemed there was obsidian that had been sprayed by dragonfire there.
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