Gavin straightened at once, nodding firmly, his eyes steady.
“Maester Qyburn, you have my word.
I swear on my honor—I will not breathe a single word of what I learn.
I only want the knowledge so I can go deeper in these studies and contribute more to our work.” Qyburn studied him for a long moment, eyes narrowed.
Then he spoke slowly.
“Very well.
Since you’re so determined and sincere, I’ll grant your request.
But remember—if anything goes wrong, you know the consequences.” Gavin’s face flushed with excitement.
He bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Maester Qyburn.
I won’t let you down!” Qyburn waved a hand.
“Go on.
Come see me tomorrow and I’ll make the arrangements.” Gavin answered with a bright “Yes, Maester,” then turned and left the study with quick, light steps.
In the weeks that followed, Gavin threw himself completely into the flood of magical knowledge Qyburn provided.
The books covered fire sorcerers, blood sorcerers, shadowbinders, moon singers, and more.
Most of it was badly fragmented—sometimes only brief introductions—but Gavin devoured every scrap like a starving chick.
He studied day and night, chasing down every detail no matter how small.
Among the fire sorcerer texts he found something that made his pulse race: a powerful working called Inferno Form.
According to the description, the caster’s body could fully transform into roaring flames.
When the form ended and flesh returned, every wound the body had suffered would heal completely.
To Gavin it sounded like true elementalization—an almost immortal state.
The ability was strikingly similar to what the great dragon Belaerys had possessed.
Unfortunately, the entry was only a short summary; there was no real method to learn it.
The one complete skill he could actually master was Flame Blade.
It let him sheathe his weapon in searing magical fire, greatly increasing its cutting power.
He also picked up several practical fire sorcerer techniques—ways to compress flame until it was almost solid and to reshape it more easily.
There was one other useful find: a recipe for a fast-acting healing potion.
The ingredients weren’t especially rare, but the formula called for adding magic-infused blood.
The stronger the magic in the blood, the better the result.
For most people that would have been the hardest part.
For Gavin it was trivial—his own blood already carried magic.
While Gavin studied, Qyburn made real progress in his own work, especially with the Blood Puppet ritual.
The two biggest obstacles—lack of magic and the difficulty of replacing the blood—had long frustrated him.
Through their discussions he finally saw a way around both.
His new approach abandoned the idea of starting with a corpse.
Instead he planned to use a person who was already on the very edge of death—still clinging to a thread of life but close enough that the death-magic runes could take hold.
While that spark of life remained, Gavin’s dropper device could use the body’s own natural blood flow to replace the special mixture without needing perfect precision from a living caster.
The method would make the finished puppet a little less powerful than the original ritual described, but it came with a major advantage: the subject never fully died, so the puppet wouldn’t need regular magic infusions to stay functional.
Gavin had quietly suggested the core idea, drawing on what he remembered of how Qyburn would one day revive the Mountain.
In the original story the Mountain had been dying from manticore venom but not yet dead when Qyburn worked on him.
Qyburn had clearly used a similar half-alive state to succeed.
For now Qyburn kept his new plan to himself.
He intended to test it only after Gavin had left for the tourney.
Both men continued to treat their conversations as purely academic exploration.
Time passed quickly while Gavin was buried in research.
Then word arrived: Highgarden had officially announced a grand tourney for the Reach, to be held at the start of next month.
The event would celebrate both the prowess of Reach knights and the thirteenth name day of Lord Mace Tyrell’s daughter, Margaery.
Gavin had no choice but to set his studies aside.
He reluctantly put down his books and notes, went to Maester Mysh to request leave, and prepared to sail for Highgarden.
Host: Gavin Flowers Age: 15 Bloodline: Bloodfire Dragonborn (Development 32%): Valyrian dragonlord bloodline.
Grants dragonriding and flame control.
Initially awakened.
Command: 32 (Your subordinates can be improved through the panel) Skills: Flame Control: Master Swordsmanship: Master Flame Blade: Proficient Archery: Proficient Spear: Proficient Energy Points: 1 (Automatically absorbs ambient magic from the surroundings.
Can also be obtained by actively drawing in magic.) Gavin studied the updated panel.
Weeks of near-mad study into magic had not been wasted.
His bloodline development had climbed to 32 percent.
More than that, the various fire techniques had pushed his Flame Control all the way to Master.
He could now ignite a barrel-sized flame out of thin air and keep it burning for half an hour.
He could also compress it into almost any shape he wanted.
On a whim he had tried condensing flame into arrowheads and shooting them from a bow.
The bow had shattered instantly and the range was cut in half, but the exploding fire arrows hit with the force of a hand grenade from his old life.
What excited him most was finally having a real offensive spell.
Flame Blade wasn’t perfect—it only lasted about ten minutes—but when he tested it the combination of a normal sword cut plus magical flame burn was devastating.
Even plate armor could be split in one stroke, and every swing threw out a wave of searing fire.
The only real drawback was that each use ruined the sword.
His coin purse had taken a beating from buying replacement blades.
He was already thinking seriously about acquiring a Valyrian steel sword and a dragonbone bow for the future.
Gavin boarded a merchant ship bound for Highgarden.
As the vessel raised sail and entered Whispering Bay, sunlight glittered on the water and a warm breeze brushed his face.
For the first time in weeks he felt the tension ease from his shoulders.