Return and Review

Westeros, Beyond the Wall, Unknown Cave

"Caw..."

In a dim, deep underground cave, a flock of crows crowded around a nest built from weirwood roots, cawing noisily. Fluorescent moss cast an eerie glow throughout the cavern. This was the home of the Three-Eyed Crow, the last greenseer of the Children of the Forest.

More than ten Children of the Forest, who had already vanished from Westeros, also lived here. Their appearance was somewhat frightening, like humanoid creatures born from dead wood. When they hid beneath the weirwood roots, ordinary people could not make out where they were at all.

"Ah... hah... hah..."

In a spacious cavern covered in vast quantities of roots, an old man wrapped in countless roots seemed to have just awakened from sleep. He seemed terribly frightened, as though he had encountered something horrifying. Cold sweat dripped down his face.

"Ah... ooh..."

When the Children of the Forest nearby noticed that something was wrong with him, they all gathered around. These strange beings did not speak the Common Tongue, instead using a language as beautiful as song.

Hearing their beautiful voices, the old man gradually calmed down. After sorting through his tangled thoughts, he spoke to a Child of the Forest with golden eyes:

"Leaf, while looking back into the past, I encountered that thing in my dreams again. It's growing stronger and stronger now. It's coming back for revenge. I can feel its hatred. It will surely kill every living thing.

"Ah! Is the Path of the Gods truly a forbidden realm beyond our reach? I'm afraid, afraid that I won't be able to fulfill our people's final wishes. I can't bear their wailing around my soul. That feeling is truly unbearable."

"You've already done very well, last greenseer! The reason you feel fear and dread is that this body can no longer bear your power. We need to find a new body and complete this final ascension."

The Child of the Forest named Leaf spoke to the old man. Her pronunciation of the Common Tongue was impeccable, like a lark singing, making anyone who heard her feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze.

The old man was the Three-Eyed Crow, the last greenseer among the Children of the Forest. This vessel was so old that it could no longer move, and only the weirwood roots barely kept his body supported. Yet as time passed, his body grew weaker and weaker.

The Three-Eyed Crow's former identity had been a highborn bastard of House Targaryen from the south. His name had left an illustrious mark on the history of Westeros, and he had been one of the most controversial figures of his time. His name was Brynden Rivers.

Later, for certain reasons, he had come to the Wall in the North. Following a patrol, the famous "Bloodraven the Duke" had disappeared into the Haunted Forest, becoming a legend. In truth, no one knew that he had come here and become a vessel for the greenseer.

As one of the few magical races in Westeros, the Children of the Forest were born with extremely powerful special abilities. They could be called the earliest custodians and discoverers of the Dream World.

It was precisely because the Children of the Forest had discovered the secrets of the Dream World that they had touched upon certain indescribable secrets of this world. After calling upon the gods time and again without receiving any response, some of the Children of the Forest who had been corrupted by the demon B'lack began to entertain other ideas.

As a wondrous race privy to a few of this world's secrets, some of the Children of the Forest had grown radical under the demon B'lack's influence after suffering a catastrophic disaster in the Battle of the Neck. Leaf was the leader of this group.

It was this group of Children of the Forest who had created the terrifying beings known as the Others. It was also they who, upon discovering that their people's last greenseer was about to disappear,

had forcibly used skinchanging to keep the greenseer alive. At that time, the Children of the Forest had forbidden prolonging their existence through Skinchanging Flesh Bodies. Yet to ensure their race's survival, and to redeem the souls of their fallen, twisted kin, Leaf and the Three-Eyed Crow had persisted all this time, hoping to uncover the gods' secrets as soon as possible.

In Leaf and the others' eyes, only by mastering power as great as that of the gods could they lift the curse-like Blessing of Long Life upon their people. Over these hundreds and thousands of years, this way of thinking had become engraved upon their souls, turning into an obsession.

"Uh... what's happening? How is that possible?"

Just as the Three-Eyed Crow was about to answer Leaf, a message from a distant consciousness suddenly entered his mind. Upon receiving it, the Three-Eyed Crow immediately cried out in shock.

"What is it?"

Leaf asked with some curiosity. The Children of the Forest near her also seemed to realize something, unconsciously huddling together. Low whimpers escaped their mouths, like abused puppies, making them look utterly pitiful.

"Fl... Flint. Some... someone has awakened. That... that feeling is unmistakable. It's that th... thing!"

The North, Sea Dragon Point, Flint's Finger Castle, a room in the Great Tower

After waking on the reclining chair, Eddard rubbed his somewhat swollen-feeling head. Once he felt he had recovered, he instinctively activated the Golden Eye and directed it toward his chest.

At the location of his heart, Eddard discovered a black gemstone the size of an index finger-or rather, dragonglass. Inside it was a golden, jewel-like point of light, exactly the same as the one he had seen in the Dream World.

"Ah, I haven't even solved the problems with my hands, and now there's this as well. What is my body, a bus? Why does every last one of them like burrowing into me? Or am I just that unlucky?"

After withdrawing the Golden Eye's perception, Eddard began muttering helplessly to himself. Just as he was about to get up and stretch, a knock suddenly reached his ears.

"Uh... come in!"

With Eddard's permission, Auntie Aiju, the head maid, pushed the door open and walked straight in.

Before entering the Dream World, Eddard had not known how long it would take, so he had asked Auntie Aiju to come and knock at regular intervals. He had also made it clear beforehand that she could only enter after receiving permission.

Eddard hoped to use this method to calculate the relative passage of time in the Dream World and the real world. Each time he entered the Dream World, he had no consistent sense of how quickly time passed outside. He believed that with this occasion as a reference, he would gain a general idea.

Although Eddard had not eaten since morning, Auntie Aiju had no choice but to obey his orders. Looking at Auntie Aiju, who could hardly wait to bring him food, Eddard somehow felt a little guilty.

"Lord Eddard, although you're still young, your body is far too frail. No matter how much you have to do, or how important the affairs of governance are, I still hope you'll eat on time."

After setting a carefully prepared serving of thick soup and meat pie on Eddard's small dining table, Auntie Aiju could not help speaking up. She had served in the castle for many years and had a very good relationship with House Flint. At times, she had always treated Eddard like a child. Moreover, Eddard was the last remaining blood descendant of this branch of House Flint.

The North was unlike the south. Distinctions of rank and formalities of status were not so pronounced here. Many commoners were not as meek and deferential as southerners; they generally said whatever was on their minds.

These customs and ways of doing things were largely influenced by House Stark of Winterfell. Their relatively lenient and egalitarian style of rule won considerable trust from both nobles and commoners in the North.

"Hahaha, all right, all right! Auntie Aiju, I'll listen to your advice. It's just that if I don't do certain things, we'll be in serious trouble. Once I gradually get used to it, everything will get better."

Eddard's words eased much of Auntie Aiju's displeasure. Only after watching him finish all the food did the plump, middle-aged head maid leave his room with her basket, thoroughly satisfied.

After gathering his thoughts, Eddard seemed to have made some sort of decision. Using the Golden Eye's ability this time had given him an enormous amount of knowledge and memories.

The demon B'lack, Evil Spirit Alys Rivers, the consciousnesses in his left and right hands, and the Golden Dragonglass recently sealed in his chest-all these things remained full of secrets. Eddard needed to organize this knowledge before the captain of the guard, Arthur Stone, and the others returned.

The two most important things in the Blackstone Ruins were already in Eddard's hands. Later on, he would naturally go and reopen the place. After that piece of dragonglass had attached itself to him as a parasite, his perception had been forced back into his body.

Still, Eddard was not particularly worried, because the captain of the guard, Arthur Stone, and the others were fully capable of dealing with what remained. The Blackstone Ruins had been built for the demon B'lack by its followers. Its power had already vanished, and the remaining wights no longer posed any threat.

Moreover, by tracing back through the demon B'lack's consciousness, Eddard had discovered that this creature had actually placed contingencies in many locations throughout Westeros. The Blackstone Ruins at Sea Dragon Point were merely the place where it had housed its body.

With the body's demise, its contingencies elsewhere would activate in turn. Thus, the demon B'lack would still appear later, just not here again. Yet one thing concerned Eddard: in certain fragments of memory, he had also seen images of other demons.

This world was indeed not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Thinking of all this only strengthened Eddard's determination to study magic, and he made that work his first priority.

At the thought of having to continue writing, Eddard unconsciously turned his gaze toward the window. The sun had already set, and in the evening glow, the entire castle looked as though it had been coated with golden paint.

Looking around the tower room, which had already grown somewhat dim, Eddard rose and walked over to the desk. He took out three Silvered Glass Lamps and lit them one after another.

Next, Eddard took out something resembling a range hood, which he had made specifically to concentrate the light. Writing under dim lamplight for long periods was extremely damaging to the eyes. Perhaps these conveniences would improve once magic had truly been researched, but for now, he could only make do.

Scratch, scratch...

As the sound of a quill rubbing against paper rang out, Eddard began writing again. In his previous life on Blue Star, he had always firmly believed in one principle: "The faintest ink is better than the best memory."

Memories could sometimes overlap and affect one another. At such times, the value of recording things on paper became apparent, preventing memories from becoming confused. After organizing this information, Eddard should be able to try casting magic.

After carefully retracing the patterns through which these four strange powers parasitizing his perception developed, Eddard took another great step forward in his research into supernatural power. He had also learned some of this world's secrets.

In this world, blood, fire, and dragonglass could all serve as mediums for communicating with mystical forces. If magic was a chemical reaction, these three things were catalysts. Yet there was another extremely important "element" involved: mental power.

Mental power was a broad, collective term belonging to the realm of the mind. In philosophical terms, it meant "I think, therefore I am." Mental power was like that: as long as thought continued to operate, it would exist. Magic, meanwhile, was a concept of "I use it, therefore it exists."

The relationship between matter and mind was much like that between time and space: mutually dependent, yet independent of one another. Magic was a manifestation of the mind interfering with matter, or rather, a state of being.

Eddard's perception was likewise a manifestation of mental power. Perception lay somewhere between physical substance and the self, much like the soul. According to the knowledge Eddard had obtained, the people of this world possessed three special powers: mental power, perception, and the soul.

Each of these three powers had its own characteristics and produced different effects when influencing matter. Simply put, mental power was difficult to train and strengthen, but could directly affect matter. Perception came next, while the soul faced even greater difficulty.

The two types of magic most commonly used by the people of this world were blood magic and fire magic. So-called necromancy and shadowbinding magic were actually applications of the soul's power.

Apart from these two types, there was the magic the Children of the Forest cast using dragonglass. This magic was relatively complex, involving the three powers of soul, fire, and ice. Dragonglass magic was also the form of magic most compatible with perception, and would be the focus of Eddard's future research.

Eddard still had no real idea how to train or use pure mental power, because he had discovered that it seemed to be related to bloodline. Demons were born with mental power, and using magic was as natural to them as shitting or pissing was to humans, almost like an instinct.

Thus, until he had some leads, Eddard decided to focus on dragonglass magic and strive to do as well as he could. Once he had fully mastered this power, he would work out methods for using the other two types of magic.