The martial arts tournament grounds, located southwest of Redemption Town, began construction a year ago and were completed only a few months prior. They were originally intended for a martial arts tournament to be held after the Miracle Fleet gained control of the Dorne Sea.
However, after that, there was an incident where sea dragons attacked ships, followed by Lynd's disappearance while crusading against the sea dragons, and other events that affected the entire territory's situation. Thus, the martial arts tournament was repeatedly postponed.
Lynd did not leave the martial arts tournament grounds idle like those outside other castles. Instead, he built a stable next to them, where all retired horses in the territory were gathered and cared for. Furthermore, this place was open to the citizens of the territory; as long as they applied for a permit from the Town Hall, they could ride horses for free at the stable. Additionally, some injured and retired warriors were arranged to teach sword fighting and riding skills, thereby increasing the military foundation of the territory.
As for the martial arts tournament grounds, they were also open to the public, and some small martial arts competitions were organized. A few months ago, when a large number of mercenary knights, mercenaries, and free riders gathered in Redemption Town, this became the liveliest place in Redemption Town. Those people would show off their prowess daily in the official martial arts competitions held in Redemption Town, hoping to be noticed by the high-ranking officials of Summerhall and become the next Roso, the next Baelon.
Although these brave and aggressive mercenary knights, mercenaries, and free riders were all sent to the Army Camp and were not allowed to leave without authorization, which made the martial arts tournament grounds much quieter, this quietness was only relative. Every day, many people from Redemption Town still gathered here, because many guards of other noble territories remained in Redemption Town, and these guards would look for opportunities to compete in the martial arts tournament grounds.
Just like today, a knight from Runestone in the Vale and a knight from Golden Tooth in the Westerlands agreed to have a jousting duel here, and they had extensively publicized it in Redemption Town beforehand, even setting up a betting game with stakes as high as two hundred gold dragons.
However, before the knights from both regions could officially begin their engagement, their jousting duel ended, because the martial arts tournament grounds were occupied by others, and the person who occupied them was the Earl of Summerhall, Linde Terra.
It's just that they also had a new opponent, and this opponent was Lynd. What was even more shocking was that Lynd actually announced a challenge to all the knights in Redemption Town, and the challenged event was not the well-known sword duel, but a jousting duel.
Almost everyone on the entire continent of Westeros knew that Lynd was the Seven Kingdoms' foremost sword master, possessing divine and powerful sword skills. But how strong Lynd's jousting skills were remained a question mark, because for so many years, Lynd had never displayed any jousting skills, not only in front of enemies but even in front of those close to him.
Therefore, when Lynd announced that he would challenge all knights in Redemption Town to a jousting duel, not only were the common people of Redemption Town attracted, but even the officials of Redemption Town gathered at the martial arts tournament grounds. For this, Nameria also gave all officials a day off, and she herself excitedly came to the viewing stand of the martial arts tournament grounds.
Lynd's challenging action was not due to arrogance, but because he was confident. When he obtained the Nameless King's character template memory, he not only received the memory of this sun's firstborn, but also the character template memories of two other individuals merged with him as attachments. This meant he simultaneously gained three character templates.
Compared to the various abilities in the Nameless King's memory that required powerful divine power to use, the abilities in the other two character template memories could be used by him now. In fact, one of the character templates even endowed him with a weapon skill he was not proficient in before: the spear. This is also the reason he can confidently challenge all the knights in Redemption Town now.
After the viewing stands and grassy areas around the martial arts tournament grounds were filled with spectators, Lynd, dressed in ordinary garrison uniform armor, walked out from the other end of the martial arts tournament track. He then mounted an ordinary warhorse, not his own mount Black Wind, and picked up the spear and shield handed to him by a squire.
At this moment, entering from the other end was the universally feared Rosso Brun. Since Roso became the Blood Armor leader, not only the common people but even the officials of Summerhall feared him immensely, because the Blood Armor was a department specifically targeting spies and secret agents within the territory; once targeted, it meant big trouble.
Therefore, when Rosso Brun appeared, everyone hoped to see Rosso Brun knocked off his horse.
As the two rode their horses to opposite ends of the barrier, the martial arts tournament official gave the signal, and both sides charged forward almost simultaneously, quickly meeting in the middle of the barrier.
Rosso Brun did not hold back and aimed directly for Lynd's chest with his spear. However, before his thrusting spear could even touch Lynd, Lynd's spear had already precisely bypassed his shield, striking the plate armor on his chest. He then felt as if his chest had been hit by a wooden stake, and his entire body flew off his horse, falling to the ground.
Compared to Rosso being completely clueless about Lynd's spear thrust, the surrounding common people could clearly see how Lynd attacked Rosso. Even the knights watching could discern Lynd's method of thrusting the spear; however, being able to see it is one thing, being able to do it is another.
Because Rosso had been made to wear thickened plate armor beforehand, and the spear in Lynd's hand was a soft-tipped jousting lance, Rosso, who was knocked off his horse, only sustained minor injuries.
Lynd did not stop the challenge. After changing to another spear, he challenged his next opponent, Baelon.
Unlike Rosso, who was unknown in martial arts tournaments, Baelon was a jousting champion who had fought his way to victory in a King's Landing martial arts tournament. Although he had been following Lynd on various campaigns for many years and had not participated in another martial arts tournament, some people still remembered his exquisite jousting skills and believed that Lynd would not win easily this time.
However, to the surprise of many, in the martial arts tournament, Lynd used the same thrusting technique to directly knock Baelon off his horse. Not only was the method the same, but even the parts of their bodies that were struck were identical.
No one would suspect Baelon of intentionally holding back, because they could see that Baelon's timing of the thrust and his control of the horse had reached an extremely high level, living up to his title of jousting champion. But Lynd performed even better: precision, speed, stability—these were the adjectives the watching knights could think of.
Although these standard terms sound so ordinary, just like Lynd's ordinary attack methods, if someone could achieve the state described by these terms, then that person's jousting skills would be unparalleled, and the current Lynd seemed to have achieved this.
With Rosso and Baelon's defeat, other watching knights also joined in, challenging Lynd.
Although from the process of Lynd's engagement with Rosso and Baelon, it was evident that Lynd's jousting skills had reached an extraordinary level and they would be difficult to match, they still hoped that if Lynd made a mistake, they could become the one to defeat the Seven Kingdoms' foremost knight and gain widespread fame. Such a lucrative venture seemed worthwhile no matter how they looked at it.
So, Lynd continuously engaged with all the knights who voluntarily challenged him. During the challenges, he changed twelve horses, but he himself did not rest, fighting from morning until afternoon, challenging a total of four hundred seventy-six official knights, mercenary knights, free riders, and others from various parts of the Seven Kingdoms and across Across the Narrow Sea.
And from beginning to end, he only used one thrusting technique, simply and efficiently knocking his challengers off their horses. Throughout the entire challenge, he was not struck by the opponent's spear even once, and not even his shield was touched.
When this grand challenge concluded, all those who watched and participated no longer doubted Lynd's jousting skills. Some devout believers even thought that Lynd's jousting skills, like his sword skills and mysterious powers, were a gift from the Seven Gods, and thus the jousting lances Lynd used were sacred relics.
Those who held this view were not just ordinary believers; some knights also thought so. Consequently, all the broken jousting lances that were originally prepared to be discarded were picked up by knights and common people and enshrined as sacred objects.
This jousting challenge, which was significant enough to be recorded in history, would be a topic of discussion in Redemption Town and even the entire Seven Kingdoms for a long time to come. For Lynd, this challenge was merely to demonstrate to his wife and squires his ability to teach jousting skills.
Thus, the next day, Lynd was seen training Brienne in jousting skills at the lord's stable. The idle knights under Lynd's command were also summoned to act as opponents for Brienne, allowing her to quickly accumulate experience in jousting duels.
"My Lord, do you need something from me?" After instructing Brienne on some jousting techniques, Lynd returned to the castle. Tob Mott, the current foreman of the forge, was already waiting in the study. Upon seeing Lynd, he stood up and asked.
Lynd motioned for the forge foreman to sit down, then took out several scrolls from a drawer and placed them in front of him, saying, "I need you to forge a new set of armor and weapons for me. No need for Valyrian steel; the hundred-forged steel from the current forge will suffice."
Tob took the scrolls and read them carefully. He read very meticulously, taking over an hour to finish the contents of the scrolls, and after reading them, he even recalled every detail of each component in his mind.
In Tob's forging career, the fallen knight armor was one of the most complex armors he had ever forged, if not the most. Now, that title of most complex had to be relinquished, because the armor recorded in the scrolls in his hand was several times more complex than the fallen knight armor, and its design was even more bizarre.
The entire armor was composed of hundreds of ferociously shaped plates, which overlapped and interlocked to form a complete set of armor. This armor, viewed as a whole, possessed an indescribable, bizarre beauty and also gave a highly aggressive impression. Ferocious is perhaps the best adjective to describe this armor.
Just as the armor's design was extremely bizarre, the helmet's design was also extremely peculiar. The lion-shaped face guard, the rhomboid plates and rhomboid spikes extending backward, coupled with the red tassel at the back, made the entire helmet appear both magnificent and strange. Especially the face guard, which was clearly a lion's face guard, but combined with the helmet and armor's overall design, it looked more like a dragon's head.
Compared to the bizarre design of the armor, the weapon seemed much more ordinary: a cross-shaped spear. The only strange part was that the spearhead looked more like a Greatsword.
"When can it be forged?" Lynd asked.
"About half a year." Tob thought seriously and stated a time. Fearing Lynd might not understand, he explained, "If these plates are to be forged according to your requirements and standards, the difficulty is greater than directly forging a fine Greatsword, and it also requires time for polishing and testing, so half a year is already..."
"No need to say more. I know this armor will be very difficult to forge. Take your time!" Lynd indicated that he understood Tob's difficulties and instructed Tob not to rush.
The reason he wanted to forge such a set of armor and weapons was mainly to provide himself with a disguise when he goes to the continent of Essos in the future, to facilitate his actions. And he would not be going to the continent of Essos for at least another year, so he had plenty of time.
"My Lord, what is this armor called?" Tob suddenly asked curiously as he left with the blueprints.
"Golden Lion Armor." Lynd replied.
"Golden Lion?" Tob clearly misunderstood, and the Lannister of the North appeared in his mind.
Lynd did not explain this.
It's unknown if it was a coincidence, but a few days after Lynd asked Tob to forge the new armor, a message came from Varys: the fallen knight armor forged from Valyrian steel was ready. Illyrio was organizing people to transport it from Kohor, and it would arrive in Lynd's hands in about two months.
This news surprised Lynd somewhat, because this set of fallen knight armor had been in production for too long, so long that he had almost forgotten he had a set of magical armor. In fact, in his Essos continent plan, after gaining control of Tyrosh and a territory on the Essos continent, he would set off for Kohor himself to see how his armor was doing.
Now, it saved him some trouble, but he always felt that this matter was not so simple and that there would likely be further complications.
And indeed, events unfolded as he expected. A little over a month later, Varys sent another message: the cargo ship transporting the armor, while passing through the Lorne River on its way to Volantis, stopped at a place called Sai Helu Town. It was then attacked by Dothraki. Although the town was not breached, the dock outside the city was plundered, and the armor was stolen by the Dothraki.
Because he had anticipated it, Lynd did not have too much emotional fluctuation, but he still felt somewhat annoyed.
Therefore, he asked Varys to continue monitoring the armor's movements, to see if the armor was taken by the Dothraki to Vis Dothrak or sold to others. A set of armor containing such powerful magic would surely cause a considerable stir wherever it appeared, and similar intelligence would certainly not be lacking.
Indeed, a month later, news arrived claiming that the Sea Lord of Braavos possessed a set of magical armor.
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