The Fifth Day North

Joffrey was sparring with Jaime.

Though it looked more like he was being beaten one-sidedly.

The Kingslayer looked quite relaxed, even keeping his left hand behind his back.

"Left chest, right chest, head, neck..."

He called out his targets in advance. Joffrey raised his wooden sword and did his best to block and dodge, yet nearly half the attacks still landed.

Clearly, if this had been a real fight, the spar would have ended much sooner.

Joffrey was not discouraged.

Jaime was a knight famed for his martial prowess throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Losing to him was no disgrace for anyone, much less Joffrey, a complete novice.

It was embarrassing, but it was a small price to pay to make up for his weakness in close combat.

So wooden swords hurt this much when they hit you.

"Let's rest. We're done for now."

Joffrey tossed aside his wooden sword, sat directly on the ground nearby, and panted heavily.

Jaime flourished his sword and tucked the wooden blade back into his belt.

"Remember this: for a Warrior, abandoning your sword means surrender, or even death."

Joffrey only felt that he was showing off.

Jaime sat beside Joffrey. Over the past few days, Joffrey had actually taken the initiative to ask him to practice swordsmanship, and Jaime's impression of him had improved more than ever before.

"A sword isn't such a simple thing. Do you know how to finish someone cleanly?"

Jaime shared his own experience.

"Thrust hard into the heart, or twist the blade around a few times in the belly. You can also split his skull, provided he isn't wearing a helmet."

"Of course, if you've captured someone, you can show mercy and grant him a quick death. Behead him."

Jaime watched Joffrey's reaction with great interest.

"There's actually a great deal to be learned about beheading."

"The bones in a man's neck are very hard. Only by sliding cleanly through the gap between the bones, a space less than half a fingernail wide, can you take his head in one neat stroke."

"Otherwise, it gets ugly. It takes ages to hack it off, like smashing it apart with a hammer. No one likes that sort of sight."

Joffrey listened carefully to Jaime's instruction, neither excited nor afraid.

He knew what Jaime was talking about.

The weakest part of the spine was the intervertebral disc connecting adjacent vertebrae. It was soft tissue, naturally less durable than bone.

He also knew something else.

There were seven cervical vertebrae, but no intervertebral disc between the first and second, so there were only five cervical discs in total.

To behead someone, you had to find those five lines.

He recalled the strange sensation from last night. Had the Son of the Prostitute been beheaded as well?

He knew that he would be the first to learn of the Son of the Prostitute's death.

The Mirror Image Rune had a wide range of uses. It could sense the presence of other Rune Mirror Images, and it could also control and sense their destruction.

Once the host died, the Rune Mirror Image naturally vanished along with him.

But beyond last night's sensation, he had also received an abundant surge of energy.

It was familiar Rune Energy, more than three times the amount required for the two Rune Mirror Images he had given the Son of the Prostitute.

Although Rune Energy in a Rune Mirror Image grew at the same rate as the original Rune, even so, four days were nowhere near enough to accumulate that much Rune Energy.

So Rune Energy really is connected to a person's soul?

Joffrey felt that he had discovered a bug: give Rune Mirror Images to others, then harvest them periodically.

The more Rune Energy he spent, the more crops he grew;

the more crops he grew, the more Rune Energy he earned back;

the more he earned, the less he effectively spent.

In other words: the more Rune Energy he spent, the less Rune Energy he spent.

He "looked" at the 33 units of Rune Energy in his account, and the corner of his mouth curled upward on its own.

Over the past few days, he had meditated on the two unknown Patterns on the Dragon Eggs and obtained the Growth Rune and Contract Rune in succession.

As their names suggested, the Growth Rune allowed its host to surpass the normal limits of physical growth and lifespan. That was probably why dragons could keep growing larger.

The Contract Rune was less responsive. For now, he only knew that it could form a mysterious connection between two living creatures, allowing them to sense each other.

A Dragonrider and a dragon?

He had also learned the limit of Rune Energy growth—five units per day.

Although he already possessed six Runes, the growth rate of his Rune Energy had not changed with the appearance of the sixth Rune.

Five units a day was naturally more than enough for him alone, but it was nowhere near enough if he wanted to build a power base.

In the foreseeable future, he would need vast amounts of Rune Energy. The more, the better.

For now, harvesting crops might not be a bad choice.

The Hound walked up to them.

"Ser Jaime. Your Highness, that Lion has fully recovered."

Joffrey rose excitedly.

"That's enough for today, Uncle Jaime."

Sword practice could wait.

But he could no longer wait to tame such a colossal beast.

Inside a cage sturdier and larger than the one in King's Landing, the Giant Lion watched every passerby with its sharp, fierce golden eyes.

There was no doubt that the moment the cage disappeared, it would immediately tear apart these noisy people before it.

Joffrey stopped in front of the cage.

The Giant Lion's arrow wounds had vanished without a trace. Its fur was once again sleek and glossy, and its bright eyes looked as though it were patrolling its own territory.

Though he had seen it many times already, Joffrey still could not help marveling at its massive size.

He suspected it weighed more than one or two tons.

A mere beast possessed such majesty. It was hard to imagine how awe-inspiring a dragon several hundred years old would be.

No wonder the Seven Kingdoms had once bowed beneath the Targaryens.

He began thinking about his Dragon Eggs again.

Could Dragon Eggs truly only be hatched by Valyrian blood? Was it some kind of magic, genetic technology, or knowledge of the secret conditions needed for dragon reproduction?

Roar!

The Giant Lion let out a deep, furious roar, and the blast of air stirred Joffrey's golden hair.

"You're not behaving. You're even drooling."

He patted its head.

The Giant Lion suddenly jerked its head, its fangs slamming against the iron bars of the cage right after Joffrey's hand.

The dozens of iron chains bound around it rattled endlessly, and the entire cage shook.

The Hound stepped forward.

"Your Highness, this beast is too ferocious. You should be more careful."

Joffrey directly drew Dragonflame and extended its tip into the Giant Lion's wide-open mouth.

"If you're really so fierce, then bite down!"

The Fire Magic Energy carried by Dragonflame was enough to make the Giant Lion feel the blade's heat, and its sharpness and toughness went without saying.

The Giant Lion turned its head away and did not react further.

"Sandor, come hold Dragonflame."

Joffrey walked around to the other side of the cage and pressed down on the Giant Lion's hind leg.

Perhaps unwilling to be hurt by the sword in its mouth, the Giant Lion lay there without paying Joffrey any attention.

Joffrey smoothly fused a Fire Rune Mirror Image into the Giant Lion.

He eagerly awaited what would happen next.

The Giant Lion already had a Fire Rune. How would the two Runes interact now?

He felt it.

The Fire Rune Mirror Image's power suddenly grew several times stronger. Had they fused?

Yet he could still control this Mirror Image.

He smiled smugly. Little Lion, you can't run now, can you?

Be good.

Behave.

Let me ride you.