What Rong'en mentioned, although it sounds very mysterious, is actually quite common within the Empire, specifically the magic items made by the Sea God Manan, the God of Watcher of Death Mole, and the Wilderness God Tal Church.
In the Mortal Realms, magical objects are commonplace, and aside from the lowest merchants, almost every caravan sells some kind of magical accessory or divine magic equipment at high prices.
These items cannot be called knight equipment, as they do not resonate with the knight's bloodline. However, they can indeed be used by every warrior. To put it figuratively, they should be considered magic items carried by warriors, beyond their standard equipment.
Powerful knights scoff at these enchanted trinkets, but mercenaries, adventurers, and armed attendants are keen to use these magical items to make up for their lack of strength.
For example, the three items Rong'en mentioned all have good combat effects.
[Echoing Conch: Originally a tool for sailors to communicate across the fleet amidst raging seas, it greatly amplifies volume and encourages sailors to bravely fight various sea monsters with its deep voice. Later, the army in the southwest of the Empire was the first to use it for military command. Almost every officer in the Imperial Province Legion carries such a conch at their waist.]
[Mole Mask: This is a legitimate church product that no knight would refuse, and it is the closest thing to knight equipment. Some powerful knights wear these black, ghoul-like enchanted masks under their helmets. When charging, these masks transform the knight's shout into a deathly howl, causing terrible fear in their enemies. Some weaker foes might even turn and flee, unable to face the pressure, let alone launch an attack on the knights. However, the downside is that knights may ignore officers' commands and launch unordered charges. It's not that their minds are affected; rather, they only hear the echo of the mask in their ears, unable to hear the orders from their superiors.]
[Wild Skull: This is a tool from the Tal Church, the least favored by Sun Goddess followers. However, knights in the north of the Empire especially love this item. They adorn their heads with lion skulls, hides, huge bison skulls, and horns. This makes them appear exceptionally tall, and if the hidden wild beast nature shares the same bloodline as theirs, it can make their power increase even more barbarically, with a chance to use Blazing Blood ability without cost.]
It can be said that if these items are used properly, even powerful Elite Knights can benefit greatly, boosting their combat strength by a notch.
Su Li asked, "How many of these items have we procured?"
Rong'en replied, "We haven't procured many directly; currently, we have only about 30 items in storage. However, the number procured by knights and armed attendants themselves is not small, possibly reaching over a hundred. These knights and armed attendants are very willing to invest to improve their strength and earn more merits on the battlefield."
Su Li couldn't help but think of the ancient castle in the Northern Wilderness occupied by the Lost Demon, which also contained many witchcraft items, and possibly equipment for knights such as talismans, rings, etc.
If they could send troops to capture it on the mysterious day, the strength of the territory's army would likely increase significantly.
However, entering it requires a more suitable choice of dispatching an elite squad of knights rather than mobilizing the main force.
Su Li turned to look at Knight Oerstein and asked, "My Commander-in-Chief, how many troops have we gathered now?"
Oerstein immediately replied, "With the cooperation of Knight Connor and our full reorganization, our territory now has four Knight Orders: the Red Night Knight Order, the Corona Knight Order, the Hesse Guard Knight, and the Sun of Vengeance Half-Lion Griffin Knight Order. These four Knight Orders have an elite knight scale of 340 people."
"Additionally, there are 130 elite knights distributed in the Provincial Legion serving as officers or directly affiliated elite knights under your command."
"As of now, under your leadership, there are 1 Divine Chosen Knight, 7 Champion Knights, 473 Elite Knights, and the number of formal knights and apprentice knights has reached over 380."
"Regarding the provincial army, your Directly Affiliated Attendant Camp has reached a scale of 700 people, along with two squadrons of the Manor Guard Team and four squadrons of dwarves."
"For this battle, we can deploy about 900 knights, 1400 professional provincial troops, and 1600 Free People's Corps."
This scale is roughly what Su Li expected, which is 900 elite knights plus 3000 infantry corps.
He initially estimated the army scale should exceed 3000 or even reach close to 4000, and after the family knights came to assist, the army scale directly approached the maximum expectation of 4000.
Moreover, due to the addition of a Church Knight Order and a Secular Knight Order, the number of elite knights in the army exceeded the formal and apprentice knights.
Otherwise, the ratio of over 200 elite knights and about 400 ordinary knights would be quite close, especially given that their territory has a lot of fantasy opportunities, allowing knights to quickly improve their strength. It stands to reason that many knights should be stuck at the elite stage below the championship level.
As for allowing a large number of elite knights to break through to the championship level, it is almost an unimaginable task.
Even in the Hesse Territory, elite knights breaking through to Champion Knights are one in a hundred opportunities.
Organizing a Knight Order with all Champion Knights is not impossible, but it relies on the Holy Purple Vine Tree to infinitely extend the knights' lifespan, providing them with ample life energy, and then using time, little by little, to accumulate enough Champion Knights.
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