Dragonriding Handbook

Rhaegar poured out all the gold, covering the entire bed.

He lay on the bed, which sparkled with gold. Despite the discomfort, he enjoyed it.

Taking the time to open the books he had taken out, Rhaegar, fluent in Valyrian, began to read.

The book recorded a brief history of a Dragonlord family named "Daelgarien."

That dragon crest was the emblem of this family.

It was carved with two intertwined dragons, full of life.

The Daelgarien family was an ancient and vast family with a long history in Valyria.

More than three hundred dragons were recorded.

During its peak, the family had an astonishing sixty-seven dragons of all ages alive at the same time.

With such a foundation, they ranked among the top forty Dragonlord families, second only to a select few.

The space bracelet on Rhaegar's hand was one of the Daelgarien family's heirloom treasures.

The holder was a certain heir of the family.

For some unknown reason, the bracelet had been lost.

The more Rhaegar read, the more alarmed he became. He gradually sat up straight, reading every line with seriousness.

The book briefly introduced several Dragonlord families allied with the Daelgarien family, roughly analyzing the strength of these allies.

After a quick read of the first book, Rhaegar picked up the second.

The content recorded in this book was not as important.

It was merely a detailed account of the Daelgarien family's vassals.

Switching books again, Rhaegar absorbed the knowledge without pause.

On which book he didn't know, he finally found something useful in the historical accounts.

--Dragon Habits

Rhaegar's spirits lifted, and he silently prayed, "The content is about dragons. I hope for a different kind of harvest."

"What is a dragon?"

"How are dragons born?"

"The connection between Dragonriders and dragons..."

The opening described what dragons were, introducing when they were discovered and tamed by the Valyrian civilization.

It was all old news, similar to the theories analyzed by some Grand Maesters in their writings.

Rhaegar didn't care where dragons came from; he only wanted to know how dragon eggs hatched.

Unfortunately, the book did not cover this point.

However, it frequently mentioned records of Dragonriders taming dragons.

"Those with dragon blood can form a connection with dragons and become Dragonriders by climbing onto their backs..."

"Pyromancers' research suggests that dragons' intelligence surpasses that of beasts, second only to humans..."

"Dragons have long lifespans, and their size grows continuously with time. Many dragons become unable to fly in their later years due to their excessive size..."

Rhaegar flipped through carefully and suddenly saw a crucial annotation.

"Dragons belong to the sky and the wilds. Dragonlords allow their dragons to fly to various places to build nests in their leisure time, and summon distant companions with magic horns during wartime..."

"Magic horns? Another magical item that can summon dragons."

Rhaegar had never heard of such a magical horn.

The Targaryen family issued commands to dragons in Valyrian and did not possess any special dragon-taming tools.

He continued to read silently.

"Dragons are not slaves; they are the flesh and blood kin of their Dragonriders. If one restrains dragons with chains to prevent them from returning to the sky, they will surely be subjected to a severe curse..."

At this point, Rhaegar frowned deeply.

"One cannot treat dragons like slaves, or they will suffer a curse..."

Rhaegar immediately thought of the Dragonpit in King's Landing.

It was a massive structure built during the reign of King Maegor I to house the dragons bred by the Targaryen family.

Balerion, Vhagar, Vermithor...

All those powerful dragons had once resided in the Dragonpit.

At this very moment, at least three dragons resided within the Dragonpit.

Dreamfyre, Caraxes, Syrax...

They were all permanent residents of the Dragonpit, especially Syrax.

Syrax was Rhaenyra's dragon. It had yellow scales and had resided in the Dragonpit since hatching from its egg.

Rhaegar had no experience with dragons and didn't know the difference between the dragons in the Dragonpit and those living outside.

But he knew one thing: any dragon entering the Dragonpit would be chained.

Dragons were ferocious creatures with a strong sense of territory.

When multiple dragons lived together in one place, conflict was inevitable.

To protect the young dragons, the Maesters of the Citadel proposed using shackles to confine the dragons in the Dragonpit, to prevent them from slaughtering each other.

Staring at the pages without blinking, Rhaegar believed the warnings in the book.

These books came from the Freehold of Old Valyria.

They were the notes left by powerful Dragonlord families far surpassing the Targaryen family.

Not some baseless speculation spouted by arrogant Maesters from the Citadel.

"When I get a chance, I should give this book to Father so he can make the decision."

Rhaegar thought to himself.

He finished the book quickly and carefully stored it alone in his bracelet, afraid of damaging it.

Precious knowledge was priceless; every word on it represented the fortune of the Targaryen family.

There were still many books, and Rhaegar slowly flipped through them.

When one is focused, time passes extremely quickly, like a fleeting moment.

One night passed in the blink of an eye.

Daybreak arrived.

The morning sun dispelled the darkness and brought warmth to the land.

Rhaegar, who hadn't slept all night, suddenly noticed the sunlight shining into the room, as if surfacing from an ocean of knowledge.

Rhaegar cautiously glanced at the door, swiftly put away the books and the gold covering the bed, and stored them in the small bracelet on his wrist.

He didn't want anyone to discover his secret, at least not yet.

"Seven hells, when will my dark circles disappear!"

Looking at the glass mirror on the bedside table, Rhaegar pointed at his panda eyes and sighed.

Fortunately, books did not fail those who savored them.

Rhaegar had read through the night and discovered many small details that had not been passed down in the Targaryen family.

For example, taming a dragon wasn't just about issuing commands.

It also required the tenacious will to believe one could tame the dragon.

If the dragonrider's will was not firm, if their subconscious did not believe they could tame a dragon.

Then, the dragon would sense their cowardice and never acknowledge an unconfident weakling.

The best way to tame a dragon was to actively climb onto its back and loudly issue commands.

Let the dragon feel your strong desire to conquer, and soar through the sky and across the sea with you.

Thus, the dragon and the dragonrider would become one in spirit.

With an excited heart, Rhaegar briefly washed up and, before going out, held his dragon egg and kissed it forcefully.

He loudly expressed his wish: "Hatch quickly, the sky is waiting for us!"

He firmly believed he would become a dragonrider.

Any doubt in oneself was a betrayal of the ancient Valyrian blood flowing in his veins.

Pushing open the door, Rhaegar immediately noticed Illyric's gaze.

His brown pupils were filled with encouragement.

"Sir, can you please stop looking at me with such ambiguous eyes? It makes me uncomfortable."

After breakfast, Rhaegar voiced his opinion to Illyric.

Illyric paused slightly and said, "Alright, but I agree with your aspirations."

Rhaegar's face flushed slightly, and he pretended not to care, "Don't focus on such trivial matters; there's a tournament to watch today."

The tournament had ended early yesterday to welcome Daemon.

However, the tournament lasted for seven days, with events held daily.

That arrogant Dornishman was still being held in King's Landing.

Today, a powerful Knight would surely defeat him and earn the King's favor.

The Targaryens were not the strongest Dragonlord family; their ranking was only in the lower-middle tier.

This could be seen from the fact that Inys only brought five dragons when he crossed the ocean.

Fifty years later, during the time of King Aegon the Conqueror, the only dragons in existence were Balerion, Meleys, and Vhagar.

It wasn't until the Dance of the Dragons that the number of dragons exploded.

Special mention goes to Syrax, who hatched seven dragons, a model of early and good reproduction.