One month later, under a crystal-blue sky, the sun hung high overhead.
Outside Whispers Castle, at the training grounds of the Thorn Corps.
To Emparo’s shock, Green drew the bowstring back to full draw effortlessly.
The custom longbow in Green’s hands had a draw weight of roughly two hundred pounds.
*Swoosh!* The arrow Green shot released a spine-tingling whistle that echoed ominously across the field.
Raina’s eyes went wide with astonishment, her expression freezing as her small mouth formed a sharp ‘O’.
She stood rooted to the spot like a wooden figure.
Over the past month, Green had set aside time every day for archery practice.
His original body had already possessed excellent archery skills, and since his physical attributes had been steadily improving across the board, Green felt he was coming closer to becoming a legendary marksman capable of striking beyond visual range.
The 200-pound longbow was a custom creation made by his craftsmen at his request.
Green calculated that under this bow’s power, anything within roughly three hundred meters was within effective killing range.
Beyond three hundred meters, the arrow’s armor-piercing force would drop off steeply.
After releasing the shot, Green felt the deep-seated anxiety he held regarding dragons ease considerably.
He knew all too well how terrifying dragonfire became in its later stages, and he certainly had no wish to watch the soldiers he had painstakingly trained turned to ash in a few breaths of dragon flame.
Green had meticulously studied the genealogy of House Crabb and confirmed that they shared no Targaryen dragon-blood, meaning he could not tame dragons.
Since he could not be a dragonrider, Green had no choice but to become a dragonslayer.
Rational as he was, Green would do everything possible to avoid a head-on clash between his legion and a dragon.
But if confrontation proved unavoidable, aside from heavy dragon-hunting ballistas, Green himself would be the single most dangerous dragon hunter.
He could tolerate the existence of dragons, but the moment they posed a threat to him, he would be prepared to eliminate them.
Preparation began now.
The carpenters would continue crafting bows with even heavier draw weights.
As long as Green could wield them single-handedly with agility, the greater the power, the more satisfied he would be.
*Clap, clap, clap!* “Hooray!” The surrounding onlookers cheered and applauded their lord’s marksmanship.
Green instructed the bowyer, “Craft another one of similar weight…
and wrap it up to look as fine as possible.” In the future, Green intended to publicly use the 200-pound longbow.
Anything above two hundred pounds would not be shown off and would be practiced in secret.
Standard-issue Crabb Longbows were overly simple in appearance, and when Green eventually went to King’s Landing, he planned to carry a bow with him.
For his own bow, he planned to ornament it tastefully without compromising its functionality, giving it an exquisite look.
Everything he used represented the pride and face of House Crabb.
In a world where noble appearances mattered greatly, pandering slightly to these customs would save him a great deal of trouble.
Green intended to vie for realm-wide supremacy; avoiding unnecessary friction meant his energy wouldn’t be wasted on tedious trivialities.
Raina bounded over, bouncing on her heels.
“My lord, my lord!
You possess divine strength!
Ah, using your training methods, all my sisters have gained so much strength—drawing their bows is getting easier and easier!
Only I haven’t made much progress!” “Raina, you need to be patient.
You’re still young, so don’t rush.
Besides, you are a commander now.
You have a very high-pitched, piercing voice that others lack, which is a great asset when commanding soldiers.” Diminutive as Raina was, she had the loudest voice in the Thorn Corps.
In a world where battlefield commands relied heavily on shouting, this was a distinct advantage for a commander.
“Mm!
Just watch, my lord!
I’ll work hard—united as one!” Green smiled and nodded.
“I’ll be watching.
United as one.” Emparo’s voice boomed over: “Raina, fall in for formation drill!” Once Raina scampered off, Emparo walked up to Green.
“Lord Green, shall I arrange a place for you to rest?” Green shook his head.
“No need.
I’ll be leaving shortly.” Saying this, Green patted Emparo’s left upper arm.
“You’ve done well and shown great dedication.
Training soldiers is a tedious, repetitive task every single day, so you must get used to the monotony.
If you hold fast, more of them will survive on the battlefield.” “I always keep it in mind, Lord Green.
As you said: ‘Sweat more in training, bleed less in battle.'” Having made a name for itself in the previous battle, the Thorn Corps quickly recruited 180 spearwives from the original territory, plus another 200 spearwives absorbed from mountain wildling captives.
The Thorn Corps now stood at 500 soldiers strong.
As commander of the corps, Emparo knew their lord intended to reclaim the ancient lands of House Crabb.
With the next war drawing near, she threw her heart and soul into training the Thorn Corps.
After the battle, Green immediately established a predominantly male unit equipped with longbows as their standard weapon, officially named the “Crabb Longbow Corps,” or “Longbow Corps” for short.
Green selected a few men from House Crabb’s veteran house guards to serve as commanders for the Crabb Longbow Corps.
Following the initial recruitment, the unit numbered over one hundred men.
In time, the Crabb Longbow Corps would become the most broadly encompassing military force in the realm.
As the arms workshop produced more longbows, most populace in the territory would take up longbow archery as a second vocation, serving as reserves for the Crabb Longbow Corps.
For example, under Lord Crabb’s new laws, every subject in the Crabb territory was required to spend one day out of every ten participating in longbow training.
Green set detailed regulations for training content and standards; absentees, defiers, and those who failed to meet standards would face appropriate penalties.
Green also planned to hold a territory-wide archery tournament every three months with various skill tiers, offering handsome prizes to spur the populace’s passion for longbow training.
This was Green’s grand scheme: a nation of longbowmen.
After completing recruitment for the Crabb Longbow Corps, Green established the “Crabb Spearman Corps”—or “Spearman Corps” for short—equipped with three-meter spears as standard gear.
House Crabb’s house guards were loyal and reliable veterans with rich combat experience, whom Green treated as prospective commanders.
Naturally, Green personally selected commanders for the Crabb Spearman Corps from among these house guards.
Following a period of recruitment and equipment outfitting, the Spearman Corps numbered around two hundred soldiers.
The Crabb lands lacked warhorses, making it impossible to form a cavalry regiment for the time being.
The Spearman Corps was established to protect the longbowmen in field battles through tight formations, particularly against cavalry charges.
Except for cavalry, House Crabb’s military branches were now roughly complete.
With daily training and strict discipline, the overall combat effectiveness of the Crabb military forces grew steadily every day.