Chapter 43 Dragon's Lair Ruins

 As for the legendary figure who has been mentioned the most in King's Landing in the past two days, Clint Mott has been heard about it even if he cannot go out due to physical reasons.

  It's just that he thinks the rumors about bear hunters are a bit exaggerated. After all, the idea of ​​one person killing hundreds of people in a martial arts competition sounds like a fairy tale, which is hard to believe.

  However, now that he saw Linde holding a knight's sword and using the sword, he gradually became convinced that the man in front of him could indeed kill a hundred people, or even kill a thousand people. Moreover, Linde's strange power It also made him think of a person, that person was Reggo Clegane.

  Linde ignored the looks of several people, pointed at the two knight swords, and said: "I want these two swords, and I will give them a pair of better scabbards and two sets of sword belts." , one set is a belt, used for this pair of knight's swords, and the other set is made into a strap, used for my two broad-bladed hand and half swords."

  The servant of the blacksmith shop has not come back to his senses for a while, Old Klin Then he reached out and patted his servant on the back, and said: "What are you doing standing still? Why don't you follow Lord Linde's instructions? Go to Perot the Golden Tooth for your scabbard and sword belt. He has the best leather goods." "

  After hearing this, the servant first helped Old Colin sit down on a chair nearby, then called a few people, took off the knight's sword, carried him out of the blacksmith shop, and walked towards the street where the leather shop was.

  Lind temporarily solved the problem of temporary weapons, and then remembered another purpose of coming here, so he asked Old Klin: "Since you were the best blacksmith in King's Landing, then you must know about Valyrian steel." Right?"

  Old Krillin replied: "Of course, even if you are not the best blacksmith in King's Landing, you will know about Valyrian steel."

  "Then do you know where to get Valyrian steel?" Lind was very direct. asked.

  Old Krillin was stunned and asked: "My lord, do you know how many swords made of Valyrian steel there are in the Seven Kingdoms?"

  "I don't know, probably not many." Lind replied.

  "Yes, there are indeed not many, sir." Old Klin nodded and said solemnly: "There are only a few swords made of Valyrian steel over the years, and every great noble hopes to get one. A weapon made of Valyrian steel. Your main family, the Tyrell family, has been hoping to get a Valyrian steel sword for many years, but they have not gotten it yet. Now you ask me where you can get a Valyrian steel sword. Steel, how do you think I should answer? My respected lord."

  Linde did not respond, and he felt vaguely that it seemed too difficult to possess Valyrian steel weapons and armor at the same time.

  Old Klin continued: "And even if you find Valyrian steel, how can you re-forge it? You must know that smelting and forging Valyrian steel is a very advanced craft. It is said that in Valyria After the demise, this craft was lost. It is difficult to find people who know this craft even on the continent of Essos on the other side of the Narrow Sea, let alone the continent of Westeros, so whether you want to use It is almost impossible to forge weapons with Valyrian steel or make armor."

  "Is there no other way?" Lind asked reluctantly.

  Old Klin thought for a while and then said: "If you simply want to get Valyrian steel, you may be able to find it in the academy, and there may be someone in the academy who knows how to forge Valyrian steel, because some The bachelors of the academy will forge a Valyrian steel chain link after they have completed their studies."

  Hearing this, Linde couldn't help but rolled his eyes. Although he had also thought about going to the academy, he went to the academy more for the purpose. To learn the knowledge of this world, not to get Valyrian steel there.

  He could imagine that the Citadel must regard Valyrian steel and its smelting and forging processes as the most secret and precious knowledge. If he touches these secret knowledge, he will only offend the Citadel. In that case, he will not be able to do anything in the Seven Kingdoms. It's really hard to move forward.

  In the entire continent of Westeros, there are two major forces that cannot be offended the most. One is the Church of the Seven Gods, which controls faith, and the other is the school city, which controls knowledge. Especially the school city, they can use those who become noble advisers Bachelors subtly influence their employers' decisions, and this silent influence is the most fatal.

  Lind thought about the information about Valyrian steel in his memory, and said solemnly: "I know that in the free city-state of Essos, there is a city that has mastered the process of recasting Valyrian steel. That There may be enough Valyrian steel in the city, but I don't remember the name of that city..."

  "You are talking about Qohor, the city of mages." Old Klin took the initiative to name the city. name, and added: "My son Tob Mort is learning forging skills in that city, and he should come back this year to inherit my blacksmith shop. He may have learned how to reforge Valyrian steel. , if you can find enough Valyrian steel by then, maybe he can help you recast him into the weapon or armor you want."

  When Lind heard this, the already fuzzy memory in his mind immediately became clear. Young, he remembered a post he saw in the forum in his previous life that discussed various cities in the Free City State, and Qohor was mentioned in it.

  However, there is not much content related to Qohor. I just know that the people there are called Little Valyrian people. It is very likely that there are a large number of Valyrian survivors, so that city also has a lot of Valyrian people. Knowledge, the technology to reforge Valyrian steel should be one of them.

  However, the knowledge of making Valyrian steel does not exist in that city, because if they really master the knowledge of making Valyrian steel, then they must also have various products made of Valyrian steel among their exported goods. With this item, Valyrian steel weapons in Westeros would not be so rare.

  In addition, he also realized that Tob Mott, the son of old Krillin in front of him, was most likely the King's Landing blacksmith who helped Duke Tywin resmelt ice into two Valyrian steel swords more than ten years later. This pair of This is undoubtedly good news for him.

  Although he didn't find any clues to get Valyrian steel, it would be nice to at least know someone who could help him forge Valyrian steel weapons and armor.

  Since he couldn't get any other useful information here, Linde had no intention of staying here any longer. After he paid the money for two swords, scabbards and other accessories, he asked Old Klin to send someone to Tilly. Your family's camp outside the city.

  After leaving the blacksmith shop, Lind did not return to the camp immediately. Instead, he led Raul to wander around King's Landing. It had been several days since he arrived in King's Landing, but he had never taken a serious look at the city.

  Although King's Landing is known as a city made of urine and feces, the population has dropped sharply due to the looting and massacre by the Western Army a year ago. In the past year, Lord Jon Arryn has spared no effort to rebuild King's Landing. The environment has improved a lot. At least a few main streets and some alleys in big urban areas are relatively clean, and there isn't much odor in the surrounding air. It's much better than the slums outside the city.

  However, as a large number of people pour into King's Landing, the environment in the city will gradually return to its original appearance, just like Flea Bottom is now returning to its original appearance.

  After walking around several main streets in the city, the sky became completely dark. Linde had no sense of novelty about the city anymore, so he decided to go to Dragon Cave to have a look and get a batch that would last for a long time. Dragon Flame Obsidian, and then return to camp.

  However, when he had just entered Silent Sister Street and walked some distance towards the Dragon's Lair, a little girl suddenly rushed out from a small alley nearby, came to Linde, saluted to Linde and said: "Sir, there is someone who wants to I want to see you."    

  Lind looked at the girl and found that she was the little girl who had led him to the tavern before. But now that he heard the little girl's words, Lind immediately thought of Varys.

  After a slight hesitation, Lind turned around and told Raul to go back to the camp first, and then he asked the little girl to lead the way.

  The little girl did not lead Lind into the alley next to her, but continued walking along Silent Sister Street, in the direction of the dragon's lair that Lind had planned to go to before.

  The two moved quickly one behind the other, and soon they reached Rhaenys Hills and stood in front of the ruins of a huge dome building.

  Linde looked up at the building in front of him, his expression became serious, and there was a hint of scruple in his eyes.

  Perhaps it was the effect of the Dragon Feast Ceremony. Not only did his body change, but his extraordinary senses also experienced some changes. This change was not an effect of strengthening the senses, but more like giving the senses some extraordinary power. .

  For example, the current Dragon Cave ruins are just ruins in other eyes. There are some civilians building houses around the ruins, and some prostitutes and prostitutes got into the ruins to play, without any awareness of the danger hidden in the ruins.

  In Linde's eyes, the ruins were surrounded by countless black shadows. These black shadows were like balls of mud that were constantly changing their shapes. Painful faces loomed in the black shadows, and some dragons could also be seen. Dark shadows shuttled among them, and one could even hear the dragons making shrill cries.

  Lind had read information about the Dragon Cave from the books left by Maester Holly. It was once an important temple of the Church of the Seven Gods, and was later burned to ashes by King Maegor I riding Balerion, the Black Death. , all the people in the temple were burned to death, and later Maegor I transformed it into a dragon lair, specially used to raise the young dragons of the Targaryen family.

  In Dance of the Blood Dragons, the dragon lair was destroyed by a group of hungry civilians. All the dragons left in the dragon lair were killed. It is said that there were as many as five. Most of the civilians who besieged the dragon lair were also in the dragon lair. He was burned to death in the flames and was completely buried underground as the dragon's cave dome collapsed.

  Later, the ruins of the dragon's lair were used as corpse pits during the Great Plague. All the deceased who could not be buried in time were thrown into the dragon's lair, and even some patients who had not yet expired were also thrown into the dragon's lair.

  Because there were so many corpses, even the dragon's cave was almost filled. In order to deal with these corpses, the King's Hand at that time had them burned with wildfires. The flames ignited by the wildfires burned into the sky for several days before they were completely burned. When it was extinguished, the flames soaring into the sky could be seen outside King's Landing.

  It is no exaggeration to say that the dragon's cave in front of him is a huge mass grave. Believers, civilians, soldiers, and even dragons are buried here. The black shadows that Lind sees now should be the people and people who died here. The soul of the dragon is mixed with the energy of resentment.

  The reason why this kind of resentful soul energy is formed may be related to the magic power of the dragon itself. This kind of resentful soul energy will not affect civilians. Only people like Linde who were transformed by the dragon feast ritual and are particularly sensitive to special energy can feel it. arrive.

  Just when Linde was shocked by the sight before him, he suddenly felt a strong sense of hunger, as if the special energy formed by these innocent souls in front of him was a delicious meal.

  "Sir, what's wrong with you?" The little girl asked suspiciously when she saw some changes in Linde's expression.

  Linde did not speak, but just motioned to the little girl to wait for a while, and then carefully searched her body for where this inexplicable feeling of hunger came from.

  He soon discovered that this feeling of hunger did not seem to originate from himself, but directly acted on his spiritual will. The source was not here, but in the Tyrell family camp outside King's Landing. The glory of being caged radiates.

  Because at this time he and Glory seemed to have some kind of spiritual connection, so that when he saw this black shadow, Glory could also feel it.

  "Shapechanger?" Linde immediately thought of a type of people with special abilities in this world, but he quickly denied the possibility that he was a shapechanger. He felt that this might be the same as the glory that passed through him that day. It has something to do with the body absorbing the remaining dragon soul in the cracked dragon egg.

  Perhaps due to the influence of strong hunger, Glory bit into the iron cage that locked it at all costs, and its bite force seemed to have become extremely strong, far exceeding the bite force of a shadow lynx cub.

  Soon the iron cage was bitten open, and Glory who escaped from the iron cage turned into a black shadow and got out of the tent. Without anyone else in the camp noticing, he quickly rushed out of the camp and headed towards where Linde was. galloping in the direction.

  Linde did not try to break this connection, but maintained this mental connection, and then used part of his mind to signal to the confused little bird in front of him to continue leading the way.

  The little girl looked at Linde and found that his expression had improved a lot, so with doubts in her heart, she entered the interior of the dragon's lair through a damaged part of the ruins of the dragon's lair.

  The two then walked through the narrow dragon cave, gradually descending, and should have gone deep into the hilly underground. Finally, after passing through a narrow passage filled with bones, they came to a relatively empty cave.

  From the remaining traces in the crypt, it is not difficult to tell that this place was originally part of an underground warehouse. Some religious symbols of the Church of the Seven Gods can also be seen on some stones. It seems that this place should be part of the burned temple.

  "The Temple of Remembrance was built by one Targaryen and destroyed by another Targaryen. The fate is really wonderful. Do you think I am right? My lord."

  Varys's voice came from the shadows in a corner. , and then saw him walking into the firelight.

  Seeing Varys, the little girl leaned towards him and saluted, then turned around and left the same way, leaving only Lind and Wallis in the underground ruins.

  (End of chapter)