A special existence

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Crystal's Scar, temporary academy tent area.

Arthur was the son of Arthur Stone, House Flint's Captain of the Guards. He was already twelve years old. Little Arthur had curly golden hair and looked somewhat frail. His pale green eyes held a maturity beyond his years, as though everything around him had nothing to do with him.

Although Little Arthur's father was a bastard, he admired his father immensely, for no other reason than that his father was the strongest warrior in all of Flint's Finger.

Arthur also knew that his father was a knight who had received orthodox knightly training in the Vale, learning horsemanship, lancework, swordsmanship, and literacy. His father had always held Eddard in great reverence, and that was why Arthur had come here.

Little Arthur wanted to follow his father's example and serve Eddard, become an excellent warrior, and establish a powerful house with a surname of his own.

"Hey, Arthur! I heard Lord Eddard is coming to teach us himself. Is that true?"

Just as Little Arthur was thinking back on his father and considering his future, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. He turned and saw Stone, the son of the blacksmith Black, looking at him with curiosity all over his face.

Stone was about the same height and age as Arthur, but his body looked sturdier and his skin was darker. Since the tents had been put up temporarily, they had no proper desks, chairs, or benches, only blocks made of cement that gave them somewhere to sit.

"I heard Maester Albert say that our lessons will indeed be handled by the lord himself. There are rumors that he was expelled from the Citadel for studying magic there. I just want to know whether we'll get to learn magic. And everyone says Lord Eddard can build those machines because he can use wondrous magic, just like the First Men kings from the Age of Heroes."

"Oh! Really? Then will Lord Eddard turn me into a toad if I misbehave?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Stone's question was so funny that Little Arthur nearly choked. Just as he was about to argue back, someone pulled open the tent flap, and an enormous Shadowcat appeared before them.

"Whoa..."

Most of the students here were boys and girls of fifteen or sixteen. At the sight of the great cat, they all cried out in excitement. Still, several of the boys bravely stepped in front of the girls, Little Arthur and Stone among them.

When Eddard appeared, the Shadowcat ran straight behind him. After scratching its head, Eddard walked over to the lectern.

The lectern in this tent was also cast from cement, a massive cube with a storage shelf underneath. After Eddard reached it, the Shadowcat ran to a spot behind him and lay down.

"All right, you can sit down now. You few did very well, and I'm very pleased. What just happened was a test for everyone. Those who bravely step forward when faced with the unknown are true warriors."

After praising Little Arthur and the others, Eddard waved to everyone, motioning for them to sit. Seeing his gesture, the children all obediently returned to their seats.

Then Eddard took out a register and began calling roll. The register listed not only the children's names, but also their families and their parents' names. These children had all been carefully selected by Maester Albert and the White Holy Tree; they could be called the most gifted of the lot.

After Eddard added the bloodline of the primordial bodies,

the Demon Child's bloodline also underwent a degree of elevation, beginning to evolve toward a higher-level bloodline. Under the influence of the Lord of Light's primordial bodies, this demon became something resembling a fire elemental. Eddard then added the power of dragonglass to it. With the influence of dragonglass, an entirely new creature appeared in the Dream World, a strange being that possessed powers of three different attributes.

Eddard named it the "Fire Demon." The students before him were all among those with relatively high affinity for Fire Demons, and were very likely to become the first people to "conjure fireballs."

"All right, now that roll call is over, let's begin today's lesson. The lesson will continue without a break. If you need anything or have to use the toilet, you must raise your hand. Of course, if you miss any of what I teach because of that, you'll have to review it after class. All the materials will be kept with Maester Albert, but you may only read them there, not take them away! Understood?"

"Understood, Lord Eddard!"

Hearing their reply, Eddard nodded in satisfaction. Then he opened his teaching plan and began the first stage of instruction.

"I believe you should all have heard, or already guessed, what I'm going to teach you. Some things are indeed just as the rumors say. And now I can tell you plainly: I have indeed mastered magic!"

"Whoa..."

At Eddard's words, the students erupted into an uproar, talking excitedly among themselves. Had they not been mindful of his presence, some of them would probably have jumped to their feet already.

In fact, many of the rumors circulating in Crystal's Scar had always been under Eddard's control. But now, hearing his confirmation with their own ears, all the students grew excited.

House Targaryen, the former royal house, was among those people said to have mastered magic. Many still believed that House Targaryen possessed some unknown magic, and that it was precisely this wondrous magic that allowed them to control fire-breathing dragons. Although dragons had been extinct for many years, many prophecies and legends had always maintained that they would return to life.

"L-Lord Eddard, c-can we learn magic?"

Eddard glanced at Stone, who had asked the question, feeling quite curious about this bold child. This little fellow should also be the blacksmith Black's son.

"Hahaha, you're Stone, aren't you! You can ask more boldly than that. Yes, just as all of you think, dragons will one day return to life in Westeros, and you will be the witnesses and creators of their rebirth."

"Whoa..."

If the students had merely been surprised at first, now Eddard had thoroughly stirred them up. They shouted and talked loudly, their voices even louder than before.

Clap, clap, clap...

Seeing that everyone had been roused, Eddard clapped his hands. Hearing his clapping, the students all turned their attention back to him.

"All right! Discussion is over. Let's begin! From this moment onward, you will enter a whole new world. In that world, there will be nothing you cannot do, and everything will become reality."

As Eddard finished speaking, the first stage of instruction began. It focused mainly on understanding perception. Since these people's powers all came from the Dream World, their powers were likewise based primarily on perception. To use pure mental power, they would have to undergo a complete change at the bloodline level. Eddard estimated that fully accomplishing that change would take at least another three generations before they could completely master this power.

"All right, students. Now try closing your eyes, then move your consciousness toward the space between your brows. You can imagine how you feel when you sleep. Try to accept it, to feel it."

As Eddard spoke, everyone entered a state of perception under his guidance. Once they entered that state, the sight before them stunned them.

Eddard's appearance in the Dream World was truly terrifying. His head consisted of countless tentacles covered in eyes. His left side was a horrifying, scaled demonic body, while his right side was made of terrifying crystal columns like dragonglass. By now, Eddard stood around five meters tall, looking like a giant in the students' eyes.

"Whoa..."

"Help!"

"A monster!"

All sorts of cries spilled from their mouths. But when they turned to look beside them, they saw terrifying monsters like magma. These creatures looked like lizards, except that instead of scales, their bodies bore crystal columns-or rather, cooled dragonglass.

These were the wondrous creatures Eddard had newly developed: Fire Demons. His inspiration had come from a certain game on Blue Star. When the demonic Fire Demon Spirit bloodline encountered primordial bodies and dragonglass, the three powers had actually fused perfectly, allowing some of Eddard's plans to become possible.

"All right, quiet down, all of you!"

Eddard's voice echoed through the space like rumbling thunder, making many of the students immediately stop what they were doing. Only then did they realize that everyone around them was one of their companions.

"The place you're in now is the Dream World. Here, your current forms are the power you possess. You were able to come here because your souls have fused perfectly with Fire Demons!"

Hearing Eddard's words, the students gradually calmed down. Some of the bolder ones even began controlling their current bodies. Before long, these children, who had yet to fully grow up, were happily exploring the area as though they had found a new toy.

Watching the students moving about below, Eddard nodded in satisfaction. These children were truly worthy of having been selected by Maester Albert and the White Holy Tree; their adaptability was remarkable. Ordinary children would probably have been scared witless long ago. It seemed the two had done quite a lot to reshape these children's thinking in the Dream World.

Eddard's magical transformation plan involved more than spreading rumors and displaying tangible things in the Real World. In the Dream World, he had also kept requiring the White Holy Tree to reshape the dreams of every inhabitant of House Flint's lands. At first, this had involved magically reworking certain myths and legends of the Seven Kingdoms.

In many legends of the Seven Kingdoms, many First Men kings possessed wondrous abilities. After that came stories of Aegon I riding dragons to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. These dreams mixed truth and falsehood, interspersed in fragments, and it was precisely because of these dreams that the students had not been scared witless on the spot.

"Take a good, careful feel of what you're experiencing now. The Fire Demons' power has fully fused with you, and what we need to do now is learn how to use it in the Real World."

Eddard's words settled the students' minds. Following his instructions, they carefully sensed the power within their bodies. When the temperature rose, dragonglass would melt; when the temperature fell, magma would become dragonglass.

"Hmm... go ahead!"

After seeing a student raise his hand, Eddard spoke. His voice seemed to descend from the heavens, making the students feel waves of pressure.

"Lord Eddard, how can we return from our current state?"

Through the Golden Eye, Eddard learned that the boy was Little Arthur, the son of Arthur Stone, the Captain of the Guards. This little fellow was extremely gifted. Even Maester Albert thought he might become the first person to truly master a Fire Demon's power.

"You're Arthur, aren't you! That's a very good question, but I'd like to know what you think. Whenever any of you have an idea in the future, you can bring it up at any time. I'll reward students who offer good suggestions or views."

Eddard's words instantly lifted Arthur's spirits, dispelling his earlier unease. Under everyone's gaze, he offered his view.

Little Arthur believed that all their current changes were related to perception. So, with Eddard's encouragement, Little Arthur made his first attempt, and everything happened just as he had thought: he returned completely to his original state.

In the blink of an eye, Little Arthur returned. Once he felt the physical sensations of his body, he finally understood that he had returned to the Real World.

Over the time that followed, students returned from the Dream World one after another. Under Eddard's guidance, the first group to return had already begun paying attention to the new changes in their bodies.

"The Fire Demon's power is within your bodies. In the Dream World, you are one, so you can control its power in the Real World as well. It's like your own body. You don't need to possess all its power directly; a very small part will be enough."

Having returned as well, Eddard stepped away from the lectern. Whenever he passed a student, waves of spatial distortion appeared around that student's body. Eddard was using the Golden Eye's power to interfere with the students' powers, allowing them to feel those powers more directly.

"Ah..."

Finally, after a cry of pain, something resembling a dragon's claw appeared on Little Arthur's body. It had no visible form or trace, as though it were cotton candy growing from his body. Ordinary people could not see it; it could only be detected in a state of perception.

"L-Lord Eddard! I... I did it..."