Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ After harvesting Blackfyre, Vaelor honestly hung the family sword back where it belonged.
For an object to contain magic, there were only a few likely conditions.
It had to be old enough, inherently magical, or altered by some unusual event.
Valyrian steel was one of the few treasures left from ancient Valyria.
It would have been strange if it had no magic.
House Royce also possessed a Valyrian steel ancestral sword: Lamentation.
Unfortunately, his mother, Lady Rhea, treasured it so much that she kept it in her own rooms and gave Vaelor no chance to touch it.
“Let me see what else there is.” Vaelor continued rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
This time, his target was a Valyrian steel crown.
It was the crown worn by Aegon the Conqueror at his coronation, set with several brilliant rubies.
The crown currently used was the golden crown his great-grandfather had worn.
The Conqueror’s crown should have been put away as a collection piece.
“Nothing.
Still nothing.” With the sun about to set, fine sweat appeared on Vaelor’s forehead.
He gave up searching for the Valyrian steel crown.
It had probably been stored somewhere else.
Vaelor let out a breath and wiped away the sweat.
“Another place, then.
Keep working.” He was about to leave when his gaze swept across the stone carvings arranged on the round table in the bedchamber.
His feet stopped as if they had taken root.
Leaving after only circling the room would look suspicious.
Vaelor’s eyes shifted.
He walked to the broad round table crowded with carvings and picked up a little stone dragon.
Uncle Viserys loved collecting stone models.
He used them to recreate the lost glory of ancient Valyria in miniature.
In Vaelor’s former life, the king would absolutely have been a collector of little display figures.
“I will not take much.
Just one, for appearance’s sake.” Vaelor silently apologized to his uncle and put the dragon carving into the pouch at his waist.
Someone had seen him come in anyway.
Viserys would know sooner or later.
Taking one cherished model could serve as a cover for his search for magic.
After finishing the cleanup, Vaelor hurriedly changed positions.
The Red Keep was too large.
He could not afford to be slow.
The Red Keep, the underground vaults.
Yes.
Vaelor was, in truth, a little grave-robbing boy.
Click.
He lit the white tallow candles on the wall, and the broad, dim vault brightened.
Vaelor looked around once, unable to hide his smile.
This place was called a crypt, but it looked more like a private royal treasury barred to outside ministers.
The most unique object inside was the black dragon skull set there for remembrance.
At the center of the vault stood a round altar half as tall as a man.
Upon it rested a huge dragon skull, as large as a house, black as ink from end to end, savage in shape yet solemn in dignity.
Half-burned white candles surrounded the skull in rings.
Their hazy light made the relic look unspeakably grave.
Vaelor stared, his small chest rising and falling faster as he whispered, “The remains of Balerion the Black Dread.” Only one being could be kept by the royal family in such a place: the terrible dragon that had dominated an age, Balerion.
A true adult dragon, with a throat large enough to swallow a mammoth.
It was said that the dragonfire he breathed at his peak could easily melt armor and stone, burning sand into glass.
Even now, House Targaryen had no dragon that could compare with him.
“Bless me, Balerion.
Please do not disappoint me.” Vaelor clasped his hands together and muttered with great sincerity.
Then his small body climbed onto the altar with difficulty, and he reached out to touch the dragon skull that still seemed to hold warmth.
[Essence Panel] Special magic-rich biological remains detected.
Scorching fire magic acquired.
Vaelor shuddered and suddenly felt his hand grow hot.
A faint red glow appeared like drifting fireflies, spun through the air, and slipped into his chest.
“Hiss!” His eyes widened as a warm current washed through his entire body.
The sensation was several times stronger than [Constitution +1], as if a thousand little hands were massaging him until every part of him tingled.
In only two breaths, sweat poured from him.
Then the effect ended.
Vaelor froze for a moment and scratched his head.
“That is…
it?” He looked at his palm.
A little soot clung between his fingers.
Then he turned back to the terrifying dragon skull.
It remained black and metallic, no different from before.
“No, something reacted very strongly.” Vaelor clenched his fist.
His strength did seem to have increased a little.
He called up the Essence Panel and opened his personal status page.
[Essence Panel] [Vaelor Targaryen] Talent: Dreamer (Gold) Bloodline: Ancient Valyrian Dragonlord (13%) Skills: High Valyrian (Mastery), History (Familiar)…
Magic Cards: None Status: “Constitution improved.
Less susceptible to chills.
More resistant to high temperatures.” “A bloodline column appeared.
Was it activated by that fire magic?” Vaelor’s thoughts were clear.
It had not been there before.
This was new.
The panel had said Balerion’s skull contained special magic, probably the scorching flame unique to dragons.
“A dragon truly is a dragon.
Even in death, it benefits those who come after.” Vaelor could not help feeling delighted.
Bloodline was extremely important.
It affected inborn talents such as taming dragons, enduring heat, and resisting cold.
“Still, unlocking the bloodline column does not seem to show much obvious change.” Vaelor touched his chin, looking forward to what it might mean.
With the bloodline column visible, he could clearly measure its richness and use that as a reference for the danger of contacting dragons.
If he could find a way to improve its purity, there might be unexpected benefits.
After a little thought, he decided this was not a place to linger.
“Leaving first would be wiser.” Once he had the thought, he acted.
Vaelor immediately ran.
“Thank you for the hospitality, Balerion.” He did not forget to thank him before leaving.
No wonder Balerion was a legendary dragon.
The reward he provided was truly generous.
A bloodline column pointing straight to the core of the matter, plus a small improvement to Vaelor’s constitution.
Most important of all…
At the bottom of the radiant panel, the golden hourglass shone beside a line of numbers.
[Essence Panel] Magic Essence: 141.
One portion of fire magic had provided a full hundred points of essence.
It was a fortune overnight.
The road of gathering magic would be long and heavy.
At dusk, the sky burned red.
Vaelor slipped out of the vaults, glanced at the inconveniently late hour, and planned to return to his room to rest.
When he passed through the castle’s forecourt, people were still coming and going.
Thud.
Vaelor had his head down, calculating how to spend his essence, and ran into a hard body.
“Who are you?
Are you all right?” A white knight in silver armor and a white cloak stopped in place.
Surprise crossed his handsome face as he bent to question the silver-haired boy.
Vaelor covered his reddened forehead.
He had no time for a long conversation.
“I am fine.
I will go now.” Next time, he would not walk with his head down.
Ser Criston Cole looked doubtful and stopped the silver-haired boy before he could leave.
“What is your name?
Where are your parents?” Silver hair and purple eyes were not features of an ordinary noble.
The boy before him was finely dressed.
Although he was dusty from running around, his high birth was obvious.
As far as Criston knew, the royal family had no little prince of this age.
Perhaps he was a lost child from House Velaryon or House Celtigar, both of Valyrian descent.
Besides…
Cole’s gaze sharpened as he looked Vaelor up and down.
“Where did you just come from?
Do you need help?” Hearing a third question, Vaelor’s patience cracked.
He looked up and saw a young white knight with black hair, black eyes, and a fine martial bearing.
Vaelor had not seen him when he lived in King’s Landing.
He had likely been chosen after Vaelor left.
That left only one man.
Vaelor had no fondness for him.
He folded his arms and said firmly, “White knight, your duty is to protect the royal family, not trouble them.” His tone was proud and offered no courtesy at all.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.