Not far away from the outskirts of the Kroll Forest inside the province of Kruger, Zarba has stopped the carriage after they finally got out of the forest as he begins to summon his newly acquired summon unit template to see what it looks like, and when the new summon mount suddenly pops into existence, the curious Zarba and Xin can finally see the black skeleton of a horse with a metallic sheen on its skeleton body currently standing on the road under the sun next to the carriage with its long black mane and tail fluttering dramatically in the wind.
'This is going to be an issue...' They both thought at the same time, as they could tell that the ominous black horse's skeleton was going to make people point fingers at them with extreme prejudice.
While it is well-known that the undead have the same distinctive characteristic of glowing blue wisps in their eye sockets and give off an unnatural discomfort feeling when you are staying close to them and also usually have a corpse-like appearance so that you can easily tell them apart, unfortunately for Zarba, many people are still going to mistake the warhorse golem's identity as undead since most of the people in this medieval fantasy world are frankly… simply too stupid.
They are definitely not going to be able to tell that the summoned mount of Zarba is actually a golem and not some soul-fueled dark magic construct. For them the walking skeleton is not different from the walking skeleton with glowing eyes.
"This undead-like appearance is the only problem it has…" Zarba muttered with a frown as he knocked his knuckles on the golem's hard rib cage a couple of times, making a dull metallic sound with every knock. Zarba could tell that it is made from quite a dense material and can probably shrug off a normal blade and arrow easily.
'Fortunately there's also a saddle…' Zarba felt a little relief as he saw a simple black saddle that came with the summoned unit attached to its back, so the SSS' summoned mount could actually be ridden right away without Zarba having to find the saddle for it later, as that would be pretty lame otherwise if the legendary system can't even give the host this much.
Meanwhile, the curious Xin circled the obsidian horse slowly, her amber eyes examining and her fingers touching the seamless joints where black bone-like segments fused together with rubber-like material. She had tried to use some spells to scan its structure, but with no result whatsoever, just like the duplicate of Zarba, so she can only do it with her own eyes and fingers while trying to make up a hypothesis in her mind.
"My, my, it looks like a well-made piece of magic construct that most of the necromancy constructs can't even compare to. But tragically, peasants won't be able to distinguish this golem from the undead with their prejudiced minds." She then reached to tap the saddle on the golem's back, which seemed to have been made from the same rubber-like material on its joints, fused to the spine. "Well, it seems like you won't hurt your pelvis riding this."
Zarba hummed in agreement as he mounted the horse experimentally; its obsidian frame stayed steady beneath him as he climbed on top of it. No breath, no heartbeat from the golem—only the senses of balance and stability through the saddle that feel like he is sitting on a modern motorcycle's seat.
"Let's test its speed," Zarba said as he commanded the golem to move mentally, and the black skeleton horse surged forward immediately, black hooves striking earth with heavy dull thuds and the metallic sounds of its limbs moving through the morning wind. Trees blurred past as wind whipped Zarba's brown hair while he felt like the summoned mount's speed even rivaled that of the finest warhorse of the Great Golden Empire.
From what Zarba saw of the trees on the edge of the forest moving past his vision at great speed, he was sure that this warhorse golem could be a great asset to the cavalry knights, as they have no fear of danger, so they can even charge at the wall of pikes without stopping.
"Stop!" Zarba suddenly commanded as the skeleton horse halted mid-stride, and it immediately put down all of its feet on the ground in a sudden brake while kicking up dust as it slid on the ground, creating a long line of flattened grass and a straight line of dirt behind it.
Xin watched, with her arms crossed on her chest, as Zarba began testing turns, jumps, and abrupt stops in a complicated maneuver on the top of his summoned mount, which the skeleton horse had to slow down and clumsily move around from time to time, clearly showing its lack of agility.
"It has power, durability, and liner speed, but agility is pretty bad as expected," he muttered, dismounting the obsidian skeleton horse beside the carriage after he came back. "It's only great for charging at infantry and breaking army formation, I guess."
Xin hummed in agreement as she walked towards Zarba and wrapped her arm around his left arm.
"A heavy mount for knights, then? I suppose they wouldn't need grace..." She said as she gestured toward the ranger knights, standing motionless in formation alongside the carriage. "If you could somehow get another summon with your mysterious power, let's hope it is a lancer next. Your ranger knights are not really suitable for a cavalry charge after all."
"Well, I can't really do anything about either of those," Zarba said with a wry smile while he ran a hand along the obsidian skeleton's rib cage. He can't just get good with horse riding and jousting all of a sudden...
"But the actual issue is not the rider but the mount's appearance. We'll need to avoid showing up in towns and villages with the skeleton horse; it's going to be quite annoying to dismiss and resummon them every time we near the populated area." Zarba sighed, as he has more things to do now, but with the speed of the warhorse golem, he already decided to utilize it.
"Hmmm…" Xin leaned against his bicep, making a thoughtful expression.
"There's a solution, my husband. The Obsidian Steed's appearance could be... modified." Her amber eyes seem to be calculating as she speaks. "A simple illusion enchantment woven into its body could make it look like a normal warhorse to casual observers..."
"But we don't have that much time to waste doing all that right now, do we?" Zarba sighed as Xin giggled at him since to enchant just a single mount might take an hour, so fifty of them will take days! They really don't have the time to stay around in one place for days, as someone might accidentally find them or figure out who they are.
"Guess we can continue with a human-drawn carriage just like before when we near the populated area..." Zarba muttered while Xin just shrugged her shoulders.
"As you wish, my husband." Xin then released his arm before she vanished back into the carriage with a soft rustle of silk curtains closing on the carriage windows.
"Well, did you hear that? Make a room around the carriage!" Zarba called out to his summoned units as they quickly made a room for the about-to-be-summoned mounts. Then with just a thought, Zarba made fifty-three new skeleton horses appear out of thin air in a instant.
"Now get on them!" Zarba commands as the knights start to climb on top of the obsidian skeleton horses while four horses get to the front of the carriage to pull it.
Then Zarba rearranged the formation of his knights, reforming their escort positions with five knights in front and another five knights in the back; as for the rest, they are to remain on the sides of the carriage just like before.
After everything was all set, Zarba also stepped back inside the carriage like Xin after giving his summoned units, who slung their enchanted bows across their backs as they gripped the horses' ropes, an order to move, and with the synchronized steps of his summons, the carriage started to continue moving forward, wheels turning over the dirt road.
And finally the carriage and its entourage of mounted knights continue their journey through the Kruger countryside, leaving Kroll Forest behind.
÷×÷×÷
After half a day of travel, the landscape eventually shifts from dense woodland to rolling hills dotted with farmsteads as the air is thick with the scent of damp earth and distant smoke; it looks like the rain just passed through this area recently.
Zarba leans against the carriage window, watching some peasants scatter like startled birds at the sight of the platoon of his black knights marching along the road now that his summoned mounts are already dismissed.
"Can't really avoid people's eyes forever," Zarba muttered, watching a farmer dive behind a haystack and fearfully peek at them from behind it through the carriage window. Xin, in a gothic black dress, stretched lazily beside him, her exposed pale skin gleaming in the midday sunlight filtering through the curtains.
"Not with this entourage." Her fingers traced idle patterns on his thigh. "Perhaps we should reconsider the town-avoiding plan; I do miss a proper bed... and bathtub..."
"Maybe when we near the border..." Zarba shook his head, watching another peasant scramble over a stone fence while Xin pouted cutely. The carriage jolted slightly over a rock in the road, wheels grinding, and launched it away from the road. Ahead, the road curved sharply—a narrow pass flanked by steep hillsides.
'Wonder how Daddy Dear is doing now...' Zarba thought with some mild curiosity before shaking his head. 'Probably debating with his schizo friends right now, I bet...'