In the 31st era of the Guangming calendar, 1253, the month of cicadas and flowing fire. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Marcos hugged the horse's neck tightly, his butt cocked high to prevent him from falling off the horse. He was not big enough, and it was still difficult to reach the stirrups on horseback, and it was actually more difficult to clamp the horse's belly.

So Marcos had to change his posture from time to time, and after many verifications, it was still the most comfortable and effortless, although the posture was a little unsightly.

"Why don't we take the carriage?" said Marcos, resting his head on the side of the horse's neck, the tame animal walking unhurriedly, not minding that Marcos was stuck in its neck.

Marcos complained a few words, he had been doing this for more than ten days. In fact, he had never ridden a horse before this expedition. So at first, there were a few experiences of falling off the horse's back, but the horse only walked slowly, and the injury was not serious, and there was a mage on the side to take care of it, and it didn't take long for the horse to jump up and down again.

After more than ten days, Marcos only felt that his whole body was sore and exhausted, and his thighs and buttocks did not feel like his own. Of course, the progress is also obvious, and being able to stay on horseback for half a day in a row is the best proof of this.

Tang Mo rode a tall and sturdy black horse beside Marcos, his body rising and falling slightly with the rhythm of the horse.

"Quiet. The Master said, "You are not a child since ten days ago, you have to remember that. You're an adult now, a man!"

Marcos sat up all at once, his waist straight—it wasn't easy to get a mage's compliment. Most of the time, the mage always nodded, even if it was an approval. Occasionally, when I'm in a good mood, I'll come up with a comment like "good" or "okay".

It was only when he faced his sister Dorothy that the mage smiled from time to time, and liked to ruffle the little girl's hair, making her protest loudly and laugh.

The young owl stood firmly on the horse's head, and spent most of his time closing his eyes to recuperate, and when he woke up, he admired Marcos's clumsy riding skills. This young owl's current IQ is almost equivalent to that of a child of seven or eight years old, it is no longer an ordinary animal or a magical beast, and signing a contract with a magic envoy has greatly improved its abilities in all aspects, especially intelligence.

The young owl turned his head and observed Marcos curiously, making an ugly cry or two from time to time. Seeing Marcos suddenly sit up straight, it fluttered its little wings and flew onto Marcos's shoulder.

It was still a little smaller, and it didn't have much control over its strength, and Marcos' shoulders ached with its powerful claws. He shouted, "Go back, get to your place, don't mess with it here!"

It's a pity that the seven or eight-year-old child has learned to be naughty, and the owl completely ignored the meaning of his master's orders, and his claws clung tighter, and from time to time he rubbed his little head on Marcos twice affectionately.

The mage said slowly, "As a rider, you must learn to handle your mount properly in the presence of interference. ”

"But why should I be a rider? Can't I just ride in a carriage?"

"There are many reasons, which one do you want to listen to?"

"All of them!"

"Okay. The mage crossed his fingers and analyzed Marcos: "First, horses are much more flexible than carriages, and in many places carriages are impassable, what are you going to do? I don't believe you can run better than horses. ”

Marcos nodded, in approval. If there is a horse to ride, it is certainly much better than walking.

"Second, if you need to escape, it takes a lot of time to prepare a carriage. How can it be convenient to ride a horse by yourself, even if you encounter alleys and rivers or something, there is no problem at all. ”

"But why should I run for my life?"

The mage looked at him deeply, and saw that his heart was furious, and then he turned his head to look ahead: "There are many forces in this world that you can't resist, and running away is not a shameful thing." ”

Marcos didn't seem to understand, he felt that what the mage said made sense, but there was something not quite right.

The mage suddenly shouted, "Like now!!-"

Before Marcos could react, the mage was already slapping the big black horse's ass. The black horse, which had been wandering around for a long time in this hot season, was already impatient, and now he spread his hooves and galloped in pain.

Marcos was dumbfounded - what's going on?

There was a cracking sound, and a javelin thuded against a large rock on the side of the road, not far behind the horse.

Marcos looked back and saw a group of tall, muscular humanoids, each with a weapon such as a mace or javelin, chasing after him.

There were about twenty of them, with bear-like faces and fierce looks. Large, formidable and powerful, standing about two meters tall, with skin ranging in color from pale yellow to yellowish brown, covered with thick coarse hair, ranging in color from brown to brick-red. Their eyes were similar to those of wild beasts, with a red pupil in the center of their greenish-white eyes, and a pair of large shovel-shaped ears.

"It's a bear goblin!" Marcos was terrified, thanks to the mage's teachings these days, or rather small talk, he had some idea of the common dangers that might be encountered on his journey.

Human bandits, various goblins, gnoll tribes, zombie skeletons, and the occasional cameo merchant arm, noble private army, it doesn't sound like a great journey!

Bear goblins are natural wanderers (rogue classification) and like to ambush their opponents at any opportunity, and sneaking up on enemies after sneaking is what they do best. But the tall human sensed with an unexpected acuity, and suddenly discovered their presence. As a last resort, they had to attack in advance, hoping to leave another person behind.

Unfortunately, the distance was a little farther, and the javelin missed. The bear goblin led by him was particularly tall, strong and fierce, he was armed with a huge axe, and rushed forward with a roar in a language that Marcos did not understand, and the other goblins threw their javelins in their hands and chased after them.

In desperation, Marcos whipped the horse's buttocks so hard that the poor animal was startled and ached, and began to run wildly.

Marcos clung to the horse's neck and tried not to let himself fall off the horse - if it did, it would be over!

The young owl reacted quickly, and when he saw that something was wrong, he flapped his little wings and hid on the horse, at least Marcos would not be affected if he fell.

The chestnut horses were gone, and the brutal bear goblins ate a nose of dust, and could only roar for a while, helplessly giving up the food they almost had.

......

Marcos looked at Tang Mo angrily, one of his shoes had fallen off, his hat didn't know where it had flown to, he was sweating all over his body, and he didn't know whether he was tired or scared.

"How can you leave me and run away first?"

The mage said disapprerovingly, "I just wanted to tell you the importance of being a skilled rider, now you understand, right?"

He looked at Marcos's embarrassed appearance, and said: "At least you didn't fall off the horse this time, or at such a fast speed, I really didn't misunderstand you, you are a talented rider!"

Marcos tugged at the corners of his mouth, and the mage's compliment made him happy, but he couldn't pull his face down for a while, so he had to smile more ugly than crying.

"Okay. Tang Mo patted the dust on his body, turned over and dismounted.

"Now let's take a break. He took the big black horse to rest under the bushes by the roadside, took out dry food and water, and fed the horses some before he began to enjoy himself.

Marcos did so, and then he heard the mage say, "Have you ever thought about flying in the sky on it?" he said, referring to the young owl.

"Of course I thought about it. "It's still too small, though." ”

"Again, your riding skills are terrible. The mage seized the opportunity and criticized unceremoniously: "Even ordinary horses cannot be skillfully controlled, how can you ride them to fly in the sky when the time comes? It is at least ten times more difficult to control a giant owl than to ride a horse!"

Marcos thought for a moment and felt that it made sense, and he sincerely thanked the mage. He couldn't help but say, "But can you teach me a spell? a real spell!"

Tang Mo smiled without saying a word, and handed over a thin booklet. Marcos grabbed it and took a look, and it read: "How to Knock Down a Strong Skeleton" by Momiji.