Source Energy—Runes—Magic Energy

Black wings brought black news.

A Message Raven from King's Landing flew to the Lannister convoy.

The news quickly spread—Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, Lord of Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East, had suddenly died of illness.

Joffrey was quite surprised. He had not expected the Hand of the King to die so quickly; he had thought there would still be another week or two.

He could only be glad that he had not delayed and had communicated the information to Lord Tywin in time, securing the Lannister family's support.

Once Stark received that secret letter of provocation, gaining their strength would become far more troublesome.

The convoy continued onward.

Because of that fact which could not be made public, the Lannister siblings and Lord Tywin inevitably harbored doubts. Until King Robert's attitude was confirmed, the convoy probably would not change direction.

Joffrey continued his research.

The greatsword or the Glass Candle? He hesitated for a moment, then decided to first study the project with clearly anticipated returns.

"Hannah, bring me the Glass Candle."

Of all the items taken from the treasury, only the greatsword was the hardest 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 effect.

The effects of gemstones and crystals had also become clear: they provided some kind of energy for magic.

Yet there was nothing remarkable about this greatsword. It could not power other magic, and it had displayed no visible changes during this time, leaving him with no idea where to begin.

Though he was very curious, there were more important matters now.

Over the past two days, through experimentation and thought, he had proposed a provisional framework for magic based on the information and data currently available:

Gemstones, crystals, and other "Sensing Sources" that could only produce a sensation within him could absorb and store a kind of magical energy that was difficult to directly use. He temporarily named this energy "Source Energy."

The nature, origin, total amount, and effects of Source Energy were all unknown.

"Luminous Sources" such as Valyrian Steel, which he could both sense and see glowing, could absorb Source Energy and convert it into a usable form of magical energy. He temporarily named this type of energy "Magic Energy."

The White Light that repaired damaged Valyrian Steel and healed injuries was Recovery Magic Energy.

More precisely, what he truly sensed was Source Energy. What he could both sense and see 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 unknown entity behind the Pattern.

Joffrey gave it a cliché name—Rune.

It was worth noting that Runes consumed nothing when converting Source Energy into Magic Energy, but creating and splitting off new child Runes required consuming their own origin—that invisible, cold energy.

He named that precious cold energy "Rune Energy."

Unlike Source Energy and Magic Energy, so far he could only sense the Rune Energy he possessed himself. He was helpless when it came to the Rune Energy on other magical items.

When he had previously used the Recovery Rune to create Valyrian Steel, he had briefly sensed the Rune Energy being transferred—that coldness.

What he had once believed was a special sensation toward Runes weakened as Rune Energy was consumed. In other words, he was actually sensing the Rune Energy contained within a Rune, not the Rune itself.

That made Runes entirely an intangible concept. He could neither sense them nor see their true structure, greatly increasing the difficulty of research.

Fortunately, there were still Patterns.

Although Patterns were merely Magic Energy flowing along special paths due to a Rune's needs, a distorted projection of invisible Runes.

It was precisely because Patterns existed that Joffrey could indirectly affect Runes. Through a fortunate coincidence, he had obtained a Rune and glimpsed the mysteries of magic.

Then came his first use of the Recovery Rune three days ago.

Joffrey happily noticed that spreading and promoting magic was not as difficult as he had imagined.

At least, it was not so difficult that magic's impact on the world would be negligible.

Taking himself as an example, the Recovery Rune could not only absorb Source Energy and convert it into Recovery Magic Energy, but also continuously produce Rune Energy, creating other items bearing Recovery Runes. It could even grow alongside his soul.

That last point was the most miraculous. It seemed as though the soul provided food for the Rune to grow, while the Rune in turn nourished the soul and made it stronger.

Perhaps Rune Energy was some derivative or variation of soul power.

Back to the 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 usefulness was already quite obvious.

But this also left him puzzled: if that was the case, Valyrian Steel should never have been so rare.

There were several hundred Valyrian Steel weapons remaining on the Westeros Continent, perhaps several thousand in the entire world. In ten years, he alone could double that number.

Could it be that the Valyrians had only a few mages in each generation?

That was obviously impossible. Since they could be called a lost magical civilization, Valyria's use of magic should have been far more widespread.

Then the problem probably was not with the Valyrians, but with himself.

Was my Rune growing too quickly?

Or does this method of mine carry some unknown, severe cost?

Or perhaps they did not have Runes within their consciousness at all, instead borrowing the power of magic through other means?

The moment he thought of that, he immediately spotted the crucial blind spot.

Right! Why had I always assumed that everyone else had Runes too?!

Previously, he had unconsciously assumed others were in the same situation as himself. He had attributed the decline of magic to the rarity and difficulty of observing Runes, without questioning it too deeply.

But once that thought arose, and he recalled the magical information he knew, the answer became obvious.

Judging from practical manifestations.

The ways this world used magic were diverse: incantations, mediums, rituals, dreams, items, blood, life, and death...

There were many varieties, yet there were no similar accounts of magic appearing at a mere thought.

The magic known to the world was not only complicated and difficult to understand, but also lacked precise effects and reliable success rates. Luck and accidents played a major role, entirely unlike the effects of Runes.

In terms of difficulty.

Though Joffrey could only see the distorted Patterns projected by Runes, that alone was a talent unmatched anywhere in the world.

Even so, he had deeply meditated on the Patterns in his dreams and completely consumed dozens of Runes before successfully taking the first step. Ordinary people who could not see the Patterns could never learn it.

Taken together, his Runes were probably truly unique.

The magic used by others might merely be empirical applications of Runes or lesser powers. They did not truly understand Runes, or magical concepts closer to the essence, which was why their magic was both complex and difficult to control.

Could it be that in this world, certain specific movements, sounds, and phenomena could invoke the power of Runes?

He would have to wait until he encountered other mages to find the answer.

"Your Highness, the Glass Candle."

Hannah carefully held it out before the Crown Prince. This treasure did not look sturdy at all, and she had no desire to break it.

Joffrey accepted 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 with mysterious Blacklight. It was made from the famous Dragon Glass. Since Dragon Glass looked like some kind of glass, it was called a "Glass Candle."

Dragon Glass was also known as Obsidian, and the Valyrians called it "Frozen Fire." It could itself harm the Others who used Ice Magic.

When he had been in King's Landing, he had specifically sought out 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 create Glass Candles.

The sorcerers of the Ancient Valyrian Freehold used these candles to send their sight across mountains, seas, and deserts. Sitting before such a candle, they could enter other people's dreams to show them illusions, or exchange information across half the world.

Just what was known already had captivated Joffrey's modern soul.

Looking at these splendid functions—Magic Satellites, a Dream World, long-distance communication—this was absolutely a foundational component of a Magic Network!

Could I be the Lord of the Weave myself?!

At the thought of such a bright future, the anticipation in his heart nearly erupted.

After dismissing the servants, he immediately concentrated and connected with the Recovery Rune in his consciousness, while attempting to meditate on the Pattern on the Glass Candle.

Could Rune Energy from different Runes be used interchangeably?

He vaguely knew the answer.

The Rune Energy hidden within the Recovery Rune could definitely form a new Rune.