Chapter 141: Dragon Knight’s Horned Cavalry

“Douglas! Douglas!”

“Yes, yes, I’m coming. I’m coming. Ugh, my head hurts.”

“You didn’t drink again yesterday, did you? Didn’t I tell you to refrain from alcohol during the operation?”

“That operation ended yesterday. Besides, I only had a few simple glasses of whiskey.”

“That whiskey is the problem!”

“Yes, yes, so what is it?”

“Ah! Look at my state. The Vulcanus from Korea has finally sent the items!”

“Oh? Really?”

In a mansion in the United States.

Not in a residential area, but on the slope of Mount Lee, where the Hollywood sign stands, Douglas staggered out of his house.

The reason he lived here was simple.

Since this place was undeveloped with barely any roads, it was hard for outsiders to find him, and at night, he could look down on the dazzling Hollywood night view.

Besides, he didn’t have to climb the mountain laboriously—he could just fly up on his dragon.

Normally, building such a mansion in Mount Lee wouldn’t be allowed, but being the number one Hunter in the rankings made such a ridiculous thing possible.

Well, because of that, his manager always ended up drenched in sweat every time he had to find Douglas’s house.

“Hurry up and show it to me!”

“It’s already been sent. Oh, it’s arrived!”

When items are sent from a different country, system transfers don’t work.

So after bringing the items over from Korea under strict security, they were sent to Douglas via the system.

“Oh! Is this really Vulcanus Equipment?”

Douglas’s eyes sparkled.

No one nowadays was unaware of Vulcanus Equipment.

Vulcanus, the Blacksmith of Korea.

Recently, he had been called the best Blacksmith in the world, and this was the equipment he crafted.

These days, a frenzy was underway worldwide with everyone trying to get their hands on Vulcanus Equipment.

But if that was all, Douglas wouldn’t have been this excited.

The real reason Douglas’s eyes gleamed so brightly was—

“I heard Korean rankers have been swapping spots in the rankings using Vulcanus Equipment?”

“That’s right. Even Korea’s Sword Saint lost the number one spot briefly to a Berserker wearing Vulcanus Equipment!”

“A Sword Saint means they’re quite skilled, right?”

“According to our investigation, even by American rankings, they’re at least in the top ten. No, probably within the top five. With Vulcanus Equipment, they might even be comparable to you.”

“Whoa, that’s no joke. So if I wear this, could I become not just the best in America but the best in the world?”

The upheaval in Korea’s ranking structure caused by Vulcanus Equipment wasn’t just famous within Korea.

Since Korea was now regarded as one of the leading Hunter nations, news of Korean rankings spread worldwide.

And at the center of that.

The biggest reason for the ranking shifts was judged to be Vulcanus Equipment, causing the name of Vulcanus to skyrocket.

And now, he had finally received equipment from Vulcanus himself.

But—

“What? SSS-grade?”

Douglas’s expression clouded with disappointment as he picked up the equipment.

Gauntlets, armor, helmet, boots, cloak.

Even the most crucial weapon, the lance.

All were SSS-grade items.

Even though SS-class materials had been sent.

“Where’s the L-grade?”

Douglas’s disappointment stemmed from the absence of L-grade items.

He hadn’t confirmed fully yet, but according to American investigations, Korean rankers wearing Vulcanus Equipment used L-grade weapons.

L-grade.

A grade above SSS.

No wonder Korean ranking was so heavily influenced by Vulcanus Equipment.

However, none of the gear he’d just received was L-grade.

Even the main weapon was SSS-grade.

Of course, that didn’t mean the performance was bad.

Far from it.

It was excellent.

Much better than the SSS-grade equipment he currently possessed.

Even among the same grade, Vulcanus Equipment had higher attack and defense stats.

Since it was tailor-made for Douglas, all the item abilities perfectly suited his needs.

So, while he liked it a lot, the absence of L-grade items was a huge letdown.

‘Well, you can’t just make something like that casually. Maybe it’s also to keep other countries Hunters in check.’

There was no choice.

As he sighed thinking that way, Douglas noticed among the items he received that there was no “saddle,” one of his most important pieces of equipment along with the lance.

“What about the saddle?”

Did they forget?

Missing the L-grade items was already disappointing, but to forget the saddle too?

Just as Douglas was about to lose hope in the American Hunter Association, he noticed his manager smiling at him.

Like someone who’d prepared a surprise gift for a birthday.

Douglas’s eyes widened as he realized.

“Here, the saddle.”

“No way!”

“Yes, it’s the grade you’re thinking of.”

The manager pulled out the saddle from behind him.

Douglas took the saddle in shock.

Eagerly, he immediately checked the item’s information.

[Dragon Rider]

Type: Saddle

Grade: L

Restriction: Dragon Knight, Elvin Douglas

Description: A dedicated saddle made by Vulcanus’s Descendant using the hide of a Horn Dragon, crafted for Dragon Knight Elvin Douglas and his companion Charlie.

Abilities:

1. Dragon’s Bond – Greatly increases intimacy between the user and the mounted dragon, allowing them to communicate their intentions.

2. Dragon’s Horn – While charging at enemies, it manifests the form of the Horn Dragon’s horn, increasing attack power and penetration.

3. Dragon’s Wings – Increases flight speed and allows momentary “high-speed movement” by consuming mana.

4. Emergency Evasion – Consumes mana to change flight direction without reducing speed, dodging enemy attacks.

5. Synchronization – Once per day, for 10 minutes, the user and dragon synchronize, combining their abilities.

“Oh, my god!”

L-grade.

Equipment he’d only heard of in rumors—an L-grade item.

And not just any item, but an L-grade saddle optimized for him.

He trembled with excitement.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“Is that even a question! No way! An L-grade saddle!”

He couldn’t enjoy this joy alone.

Douglas wanted to share it with his soulmate.

“Charlie!”

“Whoosh—”

A summoning circle appeared, and a dragon materialized.

Douglas’s personal dragon, Charlie.

“Charlie, look! It’s a legendary-grade saddle!”

“Kro?”

The saddle on Charlie’s back was removed.

In its place, the newly acquired L-grade saddle was fastened.

“Kro!”

Charlie’s reaction was different.

Usually, even the best saddles felt uncomfortable at first, requiring adaptation time.

But this saddle was accepted as if it were part of Charlie’s body.

Douglas climbed on with a broad smile.

“Let’s check it out right away!”

“Krooo!”

“W-wait! Hold on! Let’s at least get through today’s schedule first…”

“I’ll be right back!”

“No, I said wait a moment!”

“Charlie! Let’s just do a quick lap around Disneyland!”

“Kroooo!”

They took off into the sky immediately.

That day, Douglas reached the fastest speed of his life thanks to the power of the Vulcanus saddle.

***

The request for Douglas’s items was complete.

Pleased with the L-grade saddle, the requester sent ten times the originally promised fee along with additional SS-class materials as per the contract.

Although they felt a bit uneasy about crafting L-grade equipment for him.

‘It’s just a saddle, not a lance. It should be okay.’

They hoped this would be acceptable.

With that complacent thought, they erased Douglas from their mind.

But the problem was.

– “Mr. Vulcanus.”

“Yes?”

– “Sorry to bother you, but besides Douglas, American rankers have also requested custom equipment from you this time.”

– “The compensation will be the same as before.”

– “Moreover, requests for item production are coming from countries all over.”

– “How did everyone hide SS-class materials?”

– “They’re requesting L-grade equipment, trying to meet your demands as much as possible.”

– “Douglas tagged ‘L-grade’ on his social media, I heard.”

– “The government deleted it quickly, but the info is already all over.”

While they thought the urgent fire of making Douglas’s equipment was out, it wasn’t.

In fact, the fire only burned hotter and larger.

The news that they made equipment for Douglas spread, and not only America but other countries were convinced of the existence of L-grade and demanded production.

Though the SS-class materials they offered as compensation were tempting.

“Please reject all of them for now.”

Not now.

With an unknown time for the next Tower to appear, the battle team had to be formed as quickly as possible to capture it.

Besides, while the saddle was fine this time, making L-grade equipment for others was too much of a burden.

Fortunately, Nam Bora seemed to have guessed the situation.

– “Yes, I’ll tell them that.”

She readily accepted the decision.

For now, the urgent fire was out.

I looked at the equipment before me with satisfaction.

“Uh-huh.”

The equipment made for Douglas were SSS-grade lance and SSS-grade armor.

Thanks to the ample materials prepared in America, there was enough to make one more full set.

The newly created equipment was—

[Dragon Horn’s Cavalry Spear]

Type: Spear

Grade: L (Legendary)

Restriction: Level 230 or above

Description: A lance crafted by Hephaestus’s Descendant using the horn of the Horn Dragon to create the ultimate cavalry weapon.

Attack Power: 5,000

Abilities:

1. Rage of the Horn – As movement speed increases, the horn shape of the Horn Dragon becomes more vivid, boosting attack power and penetration accordingly.

2. Horn Torrent – The weapon accumulates power proportional to travel distance and releases it on the next attack.

3. Horn Deflection – Just before striking, uses mana to bend the lance, changing the point of impact or hitting evading enemies.

4. Horn Growth – Consumes mana to enlarge the Horn Dragon’s horn shape, widening the attack range.

“Uahaha!”

L-grade equipment.

I only sent the saddle because I thought sending both the L-grade saddle and L-grade lance to Douglas would be excessive.

But this newly made lance—

[Activates the ‘Cavalryman’ set effect of Vulcanus.]

[Effect: Cavalryman Set]

While mounted, increases movement speed and turning ability.

Together with the dedicated armor set ‘Cavalryman Set’.

[The Soul of the Blacksmith rises to action.]

My assistant was born.

And now it was time for a new challenge.

The mount for my cavalryman assistant.

In other words, I planned to create mount-type ‘equipment’ to raise an animal-type ‘assistant.’