The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 719: Last Minute Practice

One week after the airship was removed from the hangar, it was finally delivered to the freshly trained crew, and the design team had split to operate both shops at the same time.

But more importantly, Dominic had finally finished all the rifles and other equipment for the Malton Knights, who were scheduled to start their first patrol of the region this morning.

They didn’t have much time to practice with the rifles, but they were all skilled marksmen, thought their rifles had been the outdated steam rifles that the Capital Knights had discarded during the battle in favour of the ones that Dominic and the rest of the forge had been making.

Good enough to go monster hunting, for certain. But they relied on a backpack system for pressure, they were heavy, cumbersome, slow to charge and had limited capacity without being refilled with water.

For what they were, they were great.

But compared to the new designs, which had rifled barrels, self-contained lever action charging, ammunition creation orbs built in, and higher level enchantments to increase their damage, they were practically a relic.

Dominic had put out the row of rifles for them when they came to the training grounds to prepare to leave for their first mission today, and now it was time to watch the show.

“Gentlemen, in honour of your first outing, I have one final equipment upgrade for you.

Take a few minutes to test these rifles before you leave so that you’re familiar with them when it’s time to fight.

I know that you’ll be headed through the Baronies first, before you head up into Kinewen Province. But it’s best to get any questions you have answered before you go, instead of having the mages forward them to me.

I have provided a simple repair guide for your armourer, so he will be able to manage any small damages that you might have. But if it’s beyond him, they can be shipped back to me for retrofit.

These rifles were specifically designed for hunting Ogres, but they’re equally effective on nearly everything that you might come across.

The only downfall they have, in the hands of someone who is not a mage, is that they don’t have the area damage that a shotgun does. So, aiming is a requirement, and you can’t stop a group of charging Goblins.

For that, I would recommend using your pistols.”

The Knights laughed as they thought of the possibilities. Charging Goblins were a minimal threat, and they could take out the Hobgoblins in advance with the rifles. Then, pistols until the Goblins were near spear range.

The new spears that Dominic had made would cleave through Goblins like swinging a stick through water. Hardly enough resistance to count.

The soldiers grabbed their new rifles and ran off to the firing range at the back of the Manor.

The Royal Guard practiced there, and there was a reinforced backdrop, in case someone missed a shot on the wooden targets.

Dave was happy to keep repairing the targets, though his fingers were too thick to use the rifles. It was just fun to watch everyone else playing with their weapons.

Dave enjoyed the simple things.

While they were sighting in their rifles, something that Dominic had already done, but had set to a hundred metres for the sake of uniformity, the mages he had hired to accompany them arrived.

They had two new vehicles from the factory, the Wistover standard extended utility vehicles, affectionately known simply as “The Bus” to the locals.

There was a mage from the Duskblade Sect in each, and a Troll from the Sands Sect in the passenger seat.

They had healing magic, but that was not why they were chosen.

The Trolls were chosen for their skills with potions, as well as with cooking. Letting the squires do all the cooking for the Knights was guaranteed to be a low-level disaster. Dominic was certain of it.

Sending along a pair of proper cooks, who also had the ingredients for potions with them, and a stockpile of essential alchemical concoctions, would make life much better for the group.

Having the mages driving gave them some additional firepower, but also allowed them to open portals back to Wistover for reinforcements if they were in trouble.

That added versatility would make all the difference if there was still a larger force hiding somewhere in the wilderness of Kinewen Province. Not every military unit that had been serving under Prince Kaizon had been accounted for, thanks to the floods.

So, there might still be some in hiding who had no intentions of settling down peacefully.

The trucks would also let them carry gear out in the open, instead of in a storage device, which made it easier to get to, and kept a random accident or casualty from having them lose access to something mission-critical.

Like the soup pot.

“Boss. It looks like the boys are about ready for their mission,” one of the two trolls, a middle-aged slender man with deep blue skin, greeted Dominic.

“Yeah, I just gave them some rifles. Give them ten minutes, and they’ll be all mounted up and ready to go. Everything is staged. Do you have all the supplies?”

“We got everything, plus some extras, out of the supply budget. We’ll be fine.

The mages from the Duskblade also brought trade goods for the Baronies so that they can make some side money when we visit the Baronies.”

“Can’t blame a man for wanting to make a little on the side. I’m guessing that they’re planning to sell spell gems and such?”

The Troll nodded. “And magical wards. They’ve premade some building repair wards and defensive barriers.”

Those were expensive. But every Baron would want them if their house didn’t have one, or it was damaged beyond repair. The Techno Wizards had been out to repair as much as they could, but adding features to the houses would have to wait, and most of the Baronies didn’t have barriers over the house.

It simply wasn’t something that they had prioritized.