Experiments and guests

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Flint's Finger, Crystal's Scar Castle.

This was a secondary bedroom on the castle's fourth floor, right beside Eddard's master bedroom. To make his magical experiments easier, Eddard had specifically converted it into a magical laboratory.

At that moment, Eddard and Maester Albert stood before a huge crystal pillar, seemingly observing something.

The laboratory covered roughly forty square meters. By now, none of the ordinary masonry or furniture remained; black dragonglass covered the entire room. Entering the laboratory felt like stepping into some underground dragonglass mine.

The Dragonglass Pillar before them stood over three meters tall and resembled an ordinary hexagonal crystal prism, except that inside this enormous pillar was a substance like liquid. Sleeping within that liquid was a strange creature shaped like a lizard.

Beside Eddard, Maester Albert was writing something down with some excitement. He held a wooden clipboard in his left hand, while the quill in his right raced across the paper. Anyone looking closely would have noticed that the quill could actually keep writing without stopping.

That was because Eddard had made the quill specially. Its tiny gold nib and the cylindrical gold ink reservoir inserted into its hollowed shaft both spoke to its expense and fine craftsmanship.

"Subject number one's readings are all normal. Prepare to test its release from the chamber!"

As Eddard finished speaking, an oval opening slowly appeared in the crystal pillar before him. The liquid inside slowly flowed out as the opening widened, and something resembling a flowerpot saucer suddenly "grew" out of the floor beneath the pillar. Then the liquid was absorbed into the crystal floor under their feet.

"Cough, cough... hiss... hiss..."

Amid a series of coughs and gasps, the lizardlike creature, which resembled a wingless dragon, poked its head through the opening in the crystal pillar. It seemed to be sniffing the air outside, and when its head turned toward Eddard, its movements visibly paused.

"Hiss... huff, huff..."

Just as the dragonlike monster tried to crawl out of the Dragonglass Pillar, its body began to shake violently. Then its little head turned as red as a strawberry, and after several streams of blood ran from its mouth and nostrils, the little monster died inside the pillar.

"Ah... how could it just die like that? What a terrible pity. This was a dragon! Tsk, tsk!"

Maester Albert looked at the lizard monster with regret. It was the product of Eddard's modifications to a demon egg, a hybrid of a Lion Lizard from the Neck and a demon. The intention had been to create a dragon, but unfortunately, the experiment had now failed.

After finishing his work on the mine last time, Eddard had returned to Flint's Finger. He had then carried out a series of reforms throughout House Flint's lands: rebuilding the town, reorganizing the troops, and establishing a municipal administration.

The mines in the Western Mountains had provided Eddard with considerable support for the town's construction. With the help of the Dragonglass Lesser Demons and Alys Rivers, the Dragonglass Spider Mother, Eddard's mine had become a complex underground labyrinth.

The original mining pit had also become House Flint's ore distribution center. By now, the prisoners only needed to load the ore excavated by the Dragonglass Lesser Demons and Crystal Demon Spiders onto carts. The veteran miners at the mine handled all the ore before it was shipped to the castle through Mine Harbor.

With the support of the dragonglass mine and the other mineral deposits, Eddard's Alchemy Workshop had developed rapidly as well. Moreover, after returning from the Western Mountains,

he had devoted himself to researching a magical system unique to him. This magical laboratory was a product of his research during that time. Magic in this world generally manifested in ways connected to the power of the soul, so Eddard had considered modifying his subjects' bloodlines, allowing them to possess powerful physiques and unparalleled magical talent like the Dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold.

The key to the emergence of such bloodlines lay in magical creatures. Though demonic bloodlines were useful and convenient, they were far too corrosive. Parasite Demons in both the Real World and the Dream World would cause a certain amount of damage to their hosts' bodies, and some would even deplete their hosts' potential.

The talents of Bran "Housecat" and Ralf "Eel" had essentially been exhausted ahead of time. Still, as pioneers on Eddard's magical path, they would naturally not be treated poorly by him. Whatever the two achieved in the future, Eddard would trust and support them just as he always had.

Although this biological experiment had failed, Eddard's earlier experiments in strengthening bodies with Parasite Demons had been very successful. Rickard "Scar," Brandon "Big Bear," Black the smith, Dogg the kennel master, Lemon the armory supervisor, and Apple the head cook had all undergone enhancement by Parasite Demons.

Eddard had also discovered that Parasite Demons could infest them in the Dream World as well. This could likewise alter their physical constitutions, without being as frightening as infestation in the Real World. Although the changes were gradual, the results were no worse than those of infestation in the Real World. Most of them could be said to have completed their "awakening" rituals in their dreams.

Those among the lower-ranking guards with poor physical constitutions had undergone modification by Parasite Demons in the Real World. Since the initial Parasite Demons were not very large, Eddard had described them as a special kind of medicine. After he offered rewards for trying the experimental medicine, the guards had shown no dissatisfaction.

Looking at the ugly lizard lying on the floor, Maester Albert felt deeply saddened. He had always thought he would witness the appearance of a dragon, but unfortunately, now there was nothing.

Eddard had already performed the "awakening" ritual on Maester Albert. To keep this old man, the only person who could truly help him, alive, Eddard had subjected him to two kinds of modification: Parasite Demon modification in the Dream World, and modification using Demon Child dragonglass in the Real World.

Maester Albert's figure was no longer stooped. After placing his writing materials on the dragonglass table beside him, he picked up the lizard monster from the floor and dropped it into a glass jar with some resignation.

Under Maester Albert's manipulation, a Dragonglass Pillar "grew" out of the floor. Then the same liquid as before flowed along the curved pillar into the glass container.

"All right, my dear Maester Albert, let us take our time! Time is what we have in greatest abundance now. And as long as we have more people with magical powers, I believe that one day we will create these legendary creatures."

Eddard comforted Maester Albert. This experiment had never been part of his plans. If not for Maester Albert's pleading, Eddard would never have skipped over the other mythical creatures and gone straight to dragons.

Only after Maester Albert abandoned his fanciful hopes of bringing dragons back would he be willing to settle down and help Eddard teach more people to read and write. Today also happened to be the day Eddard intended to establish a magical academy. Though it was publicly called a literacy school, only Maester Albert knew that this was a cover Eddard had established to search for people with magical talent.

"Hmm!"

Just as Eddard was about to speak, he suddenly sensed a strange mental message. He quickly entered a state of perception and Skinchanged into the creature that had sent it.

At the entrance to Crystal's Scar Castle, a few minutes earlier.

Eddard's reception officer, Beris, was a slightly stooped old man. When he stood beside Maester Albert, many people confused the two. Still, many here knew that Beris was an impoverished minor noble who had fled King's Landing.

After Robert's Rebellion broke out, many nobles, great and small, who had remained loyal to the former ruling House Targaryen had faced reprisals of varying severity, so no one here doubted his account.

However, Maester Albert had once told Eddard that Beris was no ordinary noble, for his learning was nothing like a nobleman's and much more like a maester's.

Eddard had not been too worried about this. Through his perception, he had learned that Beris was not an ambitious man. Though he could uncover little meaningful information, Eddard knew that Beris had always led a secluded life. Moreover, he had always done an excellent job with the taxes, so Eddard had not looked too deeply into his origins.

Led by Beris, Rogers Ryswell, Masse T, and their party entered the castle. Once volcanic-ash cement production had stabilized, Eddard had paved the entire castle courtyard with cement. He had also carried out major reforms to certain aspects of the castle's administration and sanitation.

As a result, the castle now looked very clean. Rogers and the others were greatly surprised when they saw it, for although it was small, its cleanliness rivaled that of some great houses' castles.

"Awooo..."

"Roar..."

Just as the group prepared to head toward the main keep's entrance, terrifying roars rang out across the castle courtyard. They turned to look and nearly fainted from fright.

For at that moment, brown bears, wolves, Swamp Pythons, Lion Lizards, and even the legendary Shadowcat were all charging fiercely toward them. These terrifying creatures were all exaggeratedly large, and the brown bears were nearly the size of the snow bears of legend. In short, they were larger than normal.

The Unsullied guards hurried forward with raised shields and drew the short swords at their waists. These eunuch soldiers had never known fear, possessing only the mechanical mindset of obeying orders. Fortunately, the terrifying beasts merely roared at the group and showed no intention of advancing to attack.

At that moment, a woman in the crowd wearing a face covering and a red robe instinctively shrank back, seemingly somewhat afraid of these creatures. Her clothing was very different from that of the ordinary maidservants, and she seemed to exude an air of mystery.

"Dogg! What are you doing? Aren't these creatures usually tame? Are you trying to hurt Lord Eddard's guests?"

Watching this awkward scene, Beris's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom. To him, this was truly far too discourteous, so he shouted out everything he had to say, along with all his displeasure. For an instant, his voice even drowned out the roaring beasts.

"Crack... whimper..."

As Beris finished speaking, a middle-aged man holding a long whip suddenly rushed out of a building beside the main keep. He moved very quickly, charging straight over to the group. After lashing the ground hard with his whip, he shouted strange cries at the beasts, seemingly trying to drive them back.

Unfortunately, the beasts ignored him and continued to give warning roars. Beris grew so anxious that he nearly rushed forward to help Dogg, the kennel master, subdue them.

"Woo, woo..."

Just then, the enormous Shadowcat suddenly gave a series of strange cries. The surrounding creatures scattered, leaving only the giant Shadowcat behind.

Skinchanged into the Shadowcat, Eddard spotted a veiled woman in red among the crowd. Though the woman wore a veil, his attire reminded Eddard of a certain figure. That memory was distant, but it had been so striking that even after living another life, Eddard still remembered it vividly.

This was a Red Priestess. Though she wore a veil, Eddard still remembered such beautiful women, clad in distinctive red robes with strange gemstones hanging around their necks.

Although the person before Eddard was not the Red Priestess Melisandre, she was certainly connected to that uninhibited, heart-faced priestess, and might even be more powerful than her.

For Eddard could now clearly sense the changes in her gaze, from shock to curiosity, and then to a certain inexplicable fervor. It felt like a beggar who had gone hungry for days catching sight of some delicacy.

After glancing at her, Eddard directed the Shadowcat toward the castle, leaving the group with only a view of its back. Beris watched the departing Shadowcat with some resignation, then explained to the others:

"My sincerest apologies, everyone. These are pets raised by our Lord Eddard. They did frighten quite a few people at first, but they have always been very tame, so over time, no one was specifically assigned to watch them anymore. Their reaction today was truly strange, but everything is all right now. Please come this way!"

After seeing the Shadowcat leave, Masse T and Rogers secretly breathed sighs of relief. Then they turned their gazes toward a certain woman in the crowd.

Clearly, both had guessed that this incident was connected to their red-robed companion. Though uneasy, they still had to press on, for they were now drawing ever closer to their goal.