Black wings brought black news.
A Message Raven from King's Landing flew to Lannister's caravan.
The news quickly spread—Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, Duke Eddard, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East, had suddenly fallen ill and died.
Joffrey was quite surprised. He had not expected the Hand of the King to die so soon; he had thought there would be another week or two.
He could only be glad that he had not delayed, and had promptly discussed the matter with Lord Tywin, securing the support of the Lannister family.
Once Stark received the provocative secret letter, obtaining their strength would become much more troublesome.
The caravan continued onward.
Because of the truth that could not be made public, the Lannister siblings and Lord Tywin inevitably felt somewhat hesitant. Before confirming King Robert's attitude, the caravan probably would not change course.
Joffrey continued his research.
Should he choose the greatsword or the Glass Candle? After hesitating for a moment, he decided to study the project with the clearer expected returns first.
"Hannah, bring me the Glass Candle."
Of all the items taken from the treasury, only the greatsword was the most difficult to understand.
There was no need to say much about Valyrian Steel. Like the Glass Candle with its Pattern, it was a magical item with a specific function.
The functions of the gemstones and crystals were already clear: they provided some kind of energy for magic.
But there was nothing remarkable about the greatsword. It did not supply energy to other magic, nor had it shown any visible changes during this time, leaving him unsure where to begin.
Although he was curious, there were more important matters at present.
Over the past two days, through experimentation and contemplation, and based on the information and data available, he had proposed a provisional magical framework:
Gemstones, crystals, and other "Sensing Sources" that could only be sensed by him could absorb and store a type of magical energy that was difficult to use directly. He had provisionally named this energy "Source Energy."
The nature, origin, total quantity, and effects of "Source Energy" were all unknown.
Valyrian Steel and other "Luminous Sources" that could both be sensed and seen glowing could absorb "Source Energy" and convert it into a type of usable magical energy. He had provisionally named this kind of energy "Magic Energy."
The White Light that could repair damaged Valyrian Steel and heal injuries was Recovery Magic Energy.
More precisely, what he truly sensed was "Source Energy." What could both be sensed and seen glowing was "Magic Energy." Those items were merely ordinary vessels.
And the "Converter" that transformed Source Energy into Magic Energy was not the Pattern, but the unidentified "thing" behind the Pattern.
Joffrey had given it a conventional name—Rune.
It was worth noting that Runes consumed nothing when converting Source Energy into Magic Energy. However, creating new, split-off sub-Rune bodies required consuming their own source—the intangible, cold energy.
He named this precious cold energy "Rune Energy."
Unlike Source Energy and Magic Energy, so far he could only sense the Rune Energy he possessed himself. He could do nothing about the Rune Energy in other magical items.
When he had previously used the Recovery Rune to create Valyrian Steel, he had briefly sensed the Rune Energy during the transfer process—that coldness.
The special sensation he had once thought he had toward Runes weakened as Rune Energy was consumed. In other words, he was actually sensing the Rune Energy contained within the Runes, not the Runes themselves.
Thus, Runes had become a completely intangible concept. They could neither be sensed nor seen in their true form, greatly increasing the difficulty of studying them.
Fortunately, there were still Patterns.
Although Patterns were merely Magic Energy flowing along special paths because of the needs of Runes—some kind of distorted projection of the invisible Runes—
it was precisely because Patterns existed that Joffrey could indirectly touch the Runes, and thus, by a twist of fate, obtain a Rune and glimpse the mysteries of magic.
Then there was his first use of the Recovery Rune three days ago.
Joffrey was pleasantly surprised to discover that spreading and promoting magic was not as difficult as he had expected.
At least, it was not difficult enough to render magic's influence on the world negligible.
Take himself, for example. The Recovery Rune could not only absorb Source Energy and convert it into Recovery Magic Energy, but also continuously produce Rune Energy and create other items containing Recovery Runes. It could even grow together with his soul.
The last point was the most miraculous. It seemed that his soul provided the Rune with nourishment for growth, while the Rune provided his soul with nutrients to become stronger.
Perhaps Rune Energy was some kind of derivative or variant of the soul's power.
Back to the main point.
At the rate Rune Energy accumulated, Joffrey could create one or two pieces of Valyrian Steel every day, or heal two or three minor external injuries. Magic's effects were already quite significant.
Yet this also left him puzzled. By that calculation, Valyrian Steel should never have been so rare.
There were several hundred Valyrian Steel weapons remaining on the Westeros Continent, and perhaps several thousand in the entire world. He alone could double that number in ten years.
Could it be that there had only been a few mages in each generation of the Valyrians?
That was of course impossible. As a lost magical civilization, Valyria should have made far broader use of magic.
Then perhaps the problem was not with the Valyrians, but with him.
Was my Rune growing too quickly?
Or did my method carry some unknown and significant cost?
Could it be that they did not have conscious Runes at all, but used the power of magic through other methods?
After reaching this point in his thoughts, he immediately discovered the crucial blind spot.
Right! Why had he always assumed that other people had Runes too?!
Previously, he had subconsciously assumed that everyone else's situation was the same as his own. He had attributed magic's decline to the rarity and imperceptibility of Runes without questioning it too deeply.
But once this thought arose, the answer became obvious as he reconsidered everything he knew about magic.
Judging from actual manifestations,
the ways this world used magic were varied: spells, mediums, rituals, dreams, items, blood, life, and death...
There were countless forms, but no descriptions resembling magic appearing with a mere thought.
The magic known to the world was not only tedious and difficult to understand, but also lacked precise effects and a definite success rate. Luck and accidents played a major role, making it entirely inconsistent with the effects of Runes.
As for difficulty,
although Joffrey had only seen the distorted Patterns projected by the Runes, even that was a unique talent in the world.
Even so, he had only succeeded in taking his first step after deeply meditating on the Patterns in a dream and completely consuming dozens of Runes. Those who could not see Patterns had no way to learn them.
Taken together, his Runes were probably truly unique.
The magic used by others might merely be an empirical application of Runes or secondary powers. They did not truly understand Runes or the magical concepts closer to their essence, which was why their magic was both complicated and difficult to control.
Could it be that, in this world, certain specific movements, sounds, or phenomena could invoke the power of Runes?
He would have to meet other mages before he could find the answer.
"Your Highness, the Glass Candle."
Hannah carefully held it out before the Crown Prince. The treasure did not look sturdy at all, and she did not want to break it.
Joffrey took it and examined it closely.
This was a magical item explicitly mentioned in the story.
It was shaped like a candle, crystal-clear, and suffused all over with a mysterious Blacklight. It had been made from the famous Dragon Glass. Because Dragon Glass looked like a kind of glass, it was called a "Glass Candle."
Dragon Glass was also known as Obsidian. The Valyrians called it "Frozen Fire," and it could itself inflict damage on the Others, who used Ice Magic.
While in King's Landing, he had deliberately looked for ordinary Dragon Glass and discovered that, like gemstones and crystals, it could automatically absorb and store Source Energy. Was Source Energy harmful to the Others?
In any case, Dragon Glass could be used by the Valyrians to make Glass Candles.
The wizards of the Ancient Valyrian Freehold used these candles to let their vision cross mountains, oceans, and deserts. Sitting before such a candle, they could enter other people's dreams to display visions, or communicate across half the world.
What was known of it alone had already captured Joffrey's modern soul.
With such magnificent functions—Magic Satellites, the Dream World, long-distance communications—it was absolutely a foundational component of the Magic Network!
The Lord of the Weave is actually me!?
At the thought of such a bright future, the anticipation in his heart nearly burst forth.
After sending the servants away, he immediately focused his mind on communicating with the Recovery Rune in his consciousness, while simultaneously attempting to meditate on the Pattern on the Glass Candle.
Could the Rune Energy of different Runes be used universally?
He vaguely already knew the answer.
The Rune Energy hidden within the Recovery Rune could certainly construct a new Rune.
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