Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence

Chapter 223: Chapter 217: The Duke’s Founding History

A few figures were walking toward the training grounds. The man in the lead had a burly build and wore simple Leather Armor, yet he carried an air of natural authority.

Raylo’s heart tightened, and he quickly walked over to greet them.

”Duke!”

The man was none other than Aiden Duke.

He was followed only by Gaius and two Personal Guards, making the visit seem quite casual.

”No need for formalities.”

Aiden Duke waved a hand, gesturing for him to follow.

He looked around the vibrant, lively camp with great interest.

Not far away, several giant Mammoths were leisurely using their long trunks to lift hay into their mouths.

On another side, a dozen or so Griffins were preening their feathers, their eyes warily scanning their surroundings from time to time as they let out an occasional high-pitched cry.

Finally, his gaze returned to the sky.

Seeing the Duke visiting in person, the agile Pegasus Knights trained even harder. The whoosh of their Javelins cutting through the air grew even sharper.

A hint of appreciation showed on Aiden Duke’s face.

He turned his head to look at Raylo, a smile forming on his weather-beaten face.

”Back in the day, you were the family’s unpromising brat who couldn’t even figure out the temperament of a single Thunder Dragon Cub.”

His voice held a teasing note, yet it was also filled with gratification.

”Who would have thought that after running off to that backwater, the Black Stone Mountain Range, for a few years, you’d actually become a formidable ’Beast Taming Master.’”

Raylo looked a little embarrassed.

”You flatter me, Duke. It was just good luck.”

”Luck?”

Aiden Duke laughed and pointed at the perfectly disciplined Magical Beasts.

”This is more than what a single word like ’luck’ can explain. Come, walk with me.”

The two walked side-by-side, while Gaius and the Personal Guards followed at a distance.

They didn’t head for the commander’s tent. Instead, they casually found two sturdy supply crates to sit on, like a pair of old soldiers resting in camp.

Aiden Duke gazed at the ceaselessly flowing Nu River in the distance, his eyes growing distant as if he were lost in memory.

”Raylo, you should know that I wasn’t born a Duke,” he suddenly began, his voice calm.

Raylo listened quietly, not interrupting.

”My father—your grandfather—was a knight with only a small manor. I was his second son. According to the laws of the Empire, the title and the manor both belonged to my older brother. All that was left for me was a reasonably sharp sword and an old warhorse.”

A self-deprecating smile touched the corner of Aiden Duke’s lips.

”So, my only choice was to join the army. Back then, it was the only path for second sons of the nobility like me. You either earned glory on the battlefield or died in some forgotten corner.”

He told his story so matter-of-factly it was as if he were talking about someone else, but Raylo could imagine the hardship and bloodshed behind it all.

’Just how high a price must a second son with no connections pay to make a name for himself in the strictly hierarchical army?’

”I’ve fought in wars, killed men, and been dragged out of piles of corpses. Relying on sheer ferocity, I went from a common soldier to a Centurion, and from a Centurion to a Legion Commander.”

”And then, I finally broke through my bottleneck and stepped across the threshold to become a Domain Knight.”

Aiden Duke held out his calloused hand.

”The day I became a Domain Knight, I sat alone on a mountaintop all night. I didn’t feel joy. Instead, I just felt hollow. I had Power, but I still didn’t know where the road ahead would lead.”

”Later, after discussing it with Gaius and my other old comrades, we all decided to carve out our own destiny on this Continent.”

He paused, a glint flashing in his eyes.

”Only after becoming a Domain Knight was I qualified to challenge a true Giant Dragon. Not some weak little cub, but an adult Thunder Dragon that had lived for centuries and had a temper more explosive than a volcano.”

Raylo’s heart began to race. He could only imagine how magnificent and perilous that scene must have been.

”That beast was laired at Storm Cape, and it snacked on lightning. The first time we met, it gave me quite a ’gift’.”

Aiden Duke pointed to his left side, near his waist.

”A bolt of lightning nearly cooked me alive. I was stuck in bed for half a month.”

”What happened then?”

”Then?”

Aiden Duke burst out laughing, a sound full of the bold confidence that belongs only to the truly strong.

”Once I healed, I went back to find it. If I couldn’t win, I’d run. Once I ran and recovered, I’d go back and fight again. We fought from summer to winter, flattening several of the mountains around Storm Cape. I don’t know how many bones I broke, and I pried off more than a few of its scales.”

”Until the very last time. We both collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted, neither of us able to move. I looked at it, and it looked at me. For the first time, I saw something in its eyes besides anger and ferocity. It was recognition.”

”I gave it a name: ’Astra.’ In the ancient tongue, it means ’Thunderbolt.’ From that day on, I was no longer alone.”

Aiden Duke clapped Raylo on the shoulder.

”A Domain Knight may be strong, but a Domain Knight riding a Giant Dragon is an army unto himself. With Astra’s help, I conquered my first territory, established the Thunder Dragon Knight Order, and eventually, created the Thunder Dragon Duchy we have today.”

Raylo’s heart surged with emotion as he listened. This wasn’t just the story of one man’s struggle; it was the origin story of a nation.

’So his father, the Duke, also had such a battered yet legendary past.’

”After the Duchy was founded, that fellow Astra had achieved fame and success. He ate well, lived well... but he gradually grew unhappy. He’d sigh all day, and even his snores weren’t as loud as they used to be.”

Aiden Duke blinked, his expression suddenly turning a little odd.

”I asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say. It wasn’t until later that I found out the big lug had fallen for a female dragon living in the Black Stone Mountain Range.”

Raylo froze, completely blindsided by the turn the conversation had taken.

Aiden Duke slapped his thigh, an expression on his face as if recalling a painful memory.

”I mean, what kind of nonsense is that! As the ruler of a Duchy, I already have enough headaches dealing with military and political affairs, but I also had to worry about my dragon’s love life!”

”You can’t even imagine how difficult it was!”

He lowered his voice as if sharing top-secret intelligence.

”You think having a battle of wits with Valerius is tiring? Let me tell you, compared to teaching a Giant Dragon with a brain full of nothing but muscle and lightning how to ’court’ a female, that was a vacation!”

Raylo struggled to stifle a laugh.

”I told him that to pursue a female, he needed to show off his charm.”

”And what did that idiot Astra do? He flew to her cave entrance and unleashed three days’ worth of saved-up lightning all at once, nearly blowing her home to smithereens! For that, the female dragon chased him and beat him up for three days and three nights!”