The process of creating the "flying sword" technique was full of hardship. Even for a genius like Ronald with "magic flowing in his blood", there were more than a few times when he wanted to give up while developing the "flying sword" technique.

The reason was simple - there were too many difficulties.

"Insufficient main power."

"Decreased sensitivity at long distances."

"How to reduce the penetration area of the mage's hand."

"How to quickly reconnect after the mage's hand is disconnected..."

One problem was more thorny than the next, but Ronald persevered.

After overcoming countless difficulties, the basic version of the "flying sword" technique was barely completed.

The main component of the smart arrows were the short daggers seized from the peak apprentice knights.

They were short spikes mixed with some mythril.

Mythril was an extremely precious material. It had a silvery-white appearance, was much tougher than steel but very lightweight, and also had extremely strong anti-magic properties. Weapons forged with it could easily penetrate through the defensive magic cast by mages.

The peak apprentice knight who contributed this short sword most likely did not know the value of this item. With just this short sword in Ronald's hands, he could easily arm 100 heavy cavalry.

That was the price under normal supply and demand conditions. In an environment of greater demand than supply, it would be even more expensive.

As long as he sold it off, Ronald would basically not have to worry about resources before his promotion to a formal knight.

But unfortunately, Ronald could not let go of this object.

Because his abilities and wealth were mismatched.

If Ronald showed this off at the auction house, the moment he stepped out the door he would be surrounded by a group of people!

Ronald's talents were strong, and he could easily defeat senior apprentices at a low level, but that did not mean he could deal with dozens or hundreds of people at the same time.

The saying about ants killing an elephant was not an exaggeration.

Before his abilities underwent a qualitative change, when facing a huge number of enemies, Ronald could only choose to flee again.

Therefore, for ordinary people, the best way to handle it was to wait until their abilities were strong enough before taking it out.

And Ronald's approach of turning it into part of his own abilities could also work for now.

After all, as long as he made sure everyone who had seen it was dead, naturally there would be no trouble at his door.

.....

After walking and resting for about a month, Ronald finally arrived in the northern territories.

The month of traveling gave Ronald new understanding of this different world.

The fascinating aspects of this world were even richer than Ronald had imagined.

In addition to the captivating supernatural powers, the various major races were also a highlight of this world.

Basically every creature Ronald had seen in Western fantasy movies in his previous life, existed in this world.

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There were normal ones like cat people, rabbit people, fox people, mermaids, elves, etc.

And some more exotic ones like liches, vampires, giants, centaurs and so on.

In summary, this was a world that even a novice hero would be intimidated by.

......

After stepping onto the rammed yellow earth road leading to Flying Dragon Castle, there were more travelers along the road - from caravans of a hundred people, to groups of three or two companions, all heading towards the majestic building on the horizon.

As the distance shortened, the outline of the building gradually became clear. The towering castle sat atop a solitary mountain, surrounded by two circles of tall, long city walls below.

The outer wall was about 10 stories high, and the inner wall was at least a third taller than the outer wall!

Such a magnificent feat of engineering would not be rare in modern times, but in the medieval era of low productivity, it was simply a miracle.

Ronald watched, enthralled, as a merchant passing by proudly laughed, "This is Flying Dragon Castle, built to ward off foreign invaders. It's stood for 300 years now without falling."

As if in response, beams of light shone through the clouds onto the highest building, bathing the ivory-white castle in a halo, making it seem like a celestial kingdom on earth.

Seeing the shocked expression on Ronald's face, the fat merchant grew even more proud. He pointed at the city and said in a low voice, "Flying Dragon Castle is the convergence point between the human race and foreign races. Although it's full of danger, it also converges wealth.

Here, the fresh fruits of the south, the tall warhorses of the north, the bright pearls and expensive seafood of the sealife, the fine wines of the elves, and the sharp weapons of the dwarves, all flow here together, creating Flying Dragon Castle's ceaseless prosperity throughout the night!"

"Get in line... undergo checks one by one... no cutting in line..." The soldiers at the city gates waved their hands vigorously at the crowd.

Travelers, merchant caravans, adventurers all gathered into a long queue under the soldiers' direction.

When it was his turn to enter the city, Ronald thought he would have to bleed heavily again today, just like when he was extorted every time he entered a city.

But unexpectedly, the soldiers did not make things difficult for him. Instead they even kindly reminded him that he could seek help from the lord's manor if anything happened.

This was the first time Ronald had encountered one of the few good soldiers since he had set out.

Previously, the city guards he met were either deceitful and lazy, or overbearing bullies. As a young lone traveler, Ronald was not short on being extorted.

Encountering a kind person for once put Ronald in a much better mood, and he found this city a lot more agreeable.

After leaving the city walls, Ronald followed the crowds into the city.

After walking down the street for a while, his initial agreeableness quickly disappeared.

The exterior of the city looked good, but the interior was just as messy as other cities.

Although the streets were paved with flat white stone slabs, they were not very clean. Many places had standing water and mud, and in many inconspicuous corners, one could even see excrement.

The air did not smell good either, mixed with the rancid sourness of various odors - fishiness, feces, urine, and the sweat of various creatures.

After a short walk, Ronald saw many foreign races.

There were dog-headed people constantly sticking out their tongues, and wolf-headed people with blood-red eyes. Most amusingly, there were even bald white tigers!

So even this different world had problems with baldness. Ronald almost laughed out loud at this.

In addition, there were many demi-humans wearing collars. These demi-humans had one thing in common - the other end of their collars were held by someone leading them. Most of them also had very beautiful looks.

"Slaves? This is a highly profitable business." Ronald murmured to himself in a volume only he could hear.

......

Flying Dragon Castle had a total of six districts. Ronald was in the commerce district.

After wandering around for about two hours, Ronald finally found a street for lodging, drinking, and entertainment all in one.

He randomly chose an inn called Adventurer's Home, but just as Ronald was about to walk in, he was stopped by a scantily clad woman at the door.

"Hey handsome, why are you out here alone? Want to come play with big sister?" As she spoke, the woman reached out and pinched Ronald's buttocks. Ronald immediately took off like a dog was chasing him, running into the inn without looking back.

Curses of anger came from behind him from the promiscuous woman. The adventurers drinking around them revealed ambiguous smiles that said "every man understands".

The exterior of the inn looked ordinary, but the interior was not messy.

The air did not have the sour stink from the mixing of odors outside. The adventurers were also not being rowdy, just drinking quietly. Occasionally when they talked about something delightful, only short bursts of laughter would erupt.

Ronald's first impression of this inn was very good.

As he walked to the front desk, with just one glance, Ronald understood why the inn was so orderly.

Behind the counter stood a woman built like an Amazon - she was at least over two meters tall. Her forearms were nearly as thick as Ronald's thighs!

Looking at the clearly defined muscle lines exposed on her arms, Ronald swallowed with difficulty.

No wonder the adventurers drinking in the lobby were so well-behaved. With a slap from her, their brains would probably be smacked right out.