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Chapter 276: The Gifted of Magic
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 10:56:23 +0000 UTCLynd was completely baffled by the mutants living in this ruined city. All he wanted was to ask the locals where he was.
What puzzled him even more was that after helping these mutants by taking down the monster attacking them, they didn’t show the slightest bit of gratitude—or even acknowledgment. Shouldn’t they be thankful? Maybe even revere him? Yet, one by one, they looked at him as though they'd seen some unspeakable horror, choosing to hurl themselves off the cliff rather than stay and hear what he had to say.
Thanks to the aid of Lynd’s Storm power, Deltos had flown at incredible speed. A journey that would normally take nearly a month was completed in less than half a day.
However, once they entered the Lands of the Long Summer, the terrain had become a scorched, blackened wasteland with no landmarks to guide him. Lynd lost his bearings and had no choice but to head south, flying toward the coastline. From there, he followed the shore until he spotted this ruined city—and with it, a group of mutants being attacked by monsters.
Mutants from the Lands of the Long Summer also lived in Ny Sar and Miracle Harbor. They usually joined traveling circuses with bards, singers, and performers, making a living by showcasing their misshapen bodies. So when Lynd saw these deformed mutants, he wasn’t surprised or particularly curious.
The outside world had long been puzzled by the sheer number of deformed people from the Lands of the Long Summer, often attributing it to some divine curse. But after entering the region himself, Lynd quickly uncovered the truth—the source of these mutations was magic.
The land here was saturated with dense, chaotic magical energy. This unstable magic emitted constant waves of radiation, triggering biological mutations in anything that lingered too long. It didn’t matter if you were a Smallfolk or someone like Maloxin, gifted with rare magical talent—prolonged exposure would still eventually lead to mutation.
This harsh environment wasn’t exactly kind to Lynd either. While dragon runes were capable of absorbing and converting magical energy, this particular kind was too unstable. Once absorbed, it would taint his own rune power—like ink dropped into clear water—making it volatile and difficult to control.
The closer one got to the Valyrian Freehold, the more chaotic the magic became, and the faster the corruption spread through the rune power.
The consequence of that instability was dangerous—any dragon rune technique could fluctuate wildly in strength or even backfire, potentially harming the user.
So from the moment he entered the Lands of the Long Summer, Lynd had reined in his rune power, preventing it from absorbing any ambient magic on its own.
Deltos, however, seemed to be a rare exception. It absorbed the surrounding magic freely, completely unaffected by the chaos. In fact, the magic even appeared to accelerate Deltos’s growth.
It was obvious this wasn’t Deltos’s first time here. It must have visited and stayed in this place before. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have specifically requested to return. Clearly, it wanted Lynd to witness the environment firsthand—perhaps to better understand a request it intended to make later.
“You can stay,” Lynd said, responding to Deltos’s request. “But only after I’ve figured out what’s going on here.” With that, he nodded and turned away from the mutants who had fled, heading toward the empty dragon nest to see if there was anything of value left behind.
But he had only taken a few steps when a faint sound behind him caught his attention. He halted, turned, and glanced toward a nearby ruin. In High Valyrian, he called out, “Come out! I’ve already seen you—you’re hiding behind that fallen pillar.”
At his words, a woman with two heads slowly rose from behind the stone column, eyes locked on Lynd. She looked nervous and unsettled, but there was more than fear in her gaze—there was also curiosity, and even a hint of excitement.
Lynd studied the two-headed woman. He had to admit, if not for the second head, she would easily be considered a stunning beauty—and one with unmistakable Valyrian features at that.
He removed his helmet, tucked it under his arm, and waved her over.
Ella and Yara exchanged a glance. Then, as if perfectly in sync, they took a deep breath, calmed their nerves, and stepped out of hiding. They slowly walked toward Lynd.
The reason they hadn’t run away was simple: they hadn’t sensed any danger from either Lynd or the dragon.
“Are you from around here?” Lynd asked in Valyrian.
“No, my lord,” Ella replied in the same High Valyrian, which she had always used when speaking with outsiders. “We’re from Mantarys. This place is Oros.”
“This is Oros?” Lynd had heard of Oros—the city closest to Valyria. Then he asked, “Who were those people just now?”
“Those were Oros people. They were offering a sacrifice to their god,” Ella said, pointing behind him at the octopus now being devoured by Deltos.
“A god?” Lynd turned to look at the deformed creature. Honestly, it was the ugliest, most revolting octopus he had ever seen. Compared to it, even Dagon’s Kraken would be considered a beauty. If Deltos hadn’t told him that eating this mutated octopus would benefit him, Lynd wouldn’t have let the dragon so much as touch the thing.
“Forgive me, but… are you a Dragonlord of Valyria?” Ella asked hesitantly, curiosity getting the better of her.
“No. The Valyrian Freehold has been gone for many years—there are no Dragonlords left. Besides,” Lynd gestured to his hair and eyes, “do I look like someone with Valyrian blood?”
Yara, unable to contain her curiosity, asked, “But if you don’t have Valyrian blood, how can you ride a dragon?”
“Because I’m Lynd Tarran. I don’t need bloodlines to ride a dragon,” Lynd replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
When Ella and Yara heard his name, shock spread across their faces. They had both heard stories of the God of Calamity from wandering ascetics—tales of how Lynd Tarran was the earthly incarnation of the God of Calamity, a god walking the land.
The moment they recognized the crest on Lynd’s armor, they dropped to their knees before him. Following the rites of the God of Calamity’s faithful, they bowed deeply and recited the familiar prayer:
“My lord, your glory shines upon the earth…”
Lynd blinked in surprise at their reaction. His eyes dropped to the holy emblem hanging at their waists—one that had fallen to the ground. He recognized it immediately. It was the emblem of an ascetic of the God of Calamity.
“You’re followers of the God of Calamity?” Lynd asked after waiting for them to finish the full ritual.
“Yes, my lord,” Ella and Yara answered in unison.
“What are your names?” Lynd asked.
“My name is Ella.”
“My name is Yara.”
They answered almost at the same time.
Lynd looked at them, puzzled. “Mantarys is quite far from here. What brought you all the way to this place?”
Ella and Yara immediately explained their reasons for coming. When Lynd heard that they had braved so many dangers just to reach the edge of Valyria’s ruins, all in the hope of earning enough to reach the Holy City of Calamity, he felt a strange, unexpected wave of emotion.
Just as he was telling them that they didn’t need to worry about the cost anymore and that he would help them reach the Holy City himself, he suddenly sensed a surge of magical energy from their bodies. Activating his special vision, he examined them more closely and was startled to find that their magical fluctuations were even stronger than Maloxin’s. Of all the humans he’d encountered, none had stronger magical presence than these two.
By all logic, conjoined twins with such potent magical signatures should possess some unique ability.
With that thought, Lynd asked, “Do you two have any special abilities?”
Ella and Yara froze.
Their ability to sense danger had always been their deepest secret—so closely guarded that even their parents had never known. And now, Lynd’s question made it clear: their secret had been exposed.
So they exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. Then Ella spoke on their behalf.
“We have the ability to sense danger. It’s something we’ve had since we were very young.”
Lynd paused in thought before replying, “In my domain, there’s a place dedicated to teaching magic. It’s called the Silent Court. Those with talent can go there to study and become mages of various kinds.”
Ella and Yara were sharp, and they immediately picked up on the implication in Lynd’s words.
“You mean… we have magical talent? And we could study magic at this place you called the Silent Court?”
Lynd nodded. “Yes. You both have magical talent—and not just any talent. You’re the most innately gifted people I’ve ever met. With proper training at the Silent Court, you could become powerful mages. I feel like I already know your answer, but I’ll ask anyway, just for formality’s sake—would you be willing to come back with me to my territory?”
“Yes, we’re willing,” Ella and Yara said quickly, nodding.
Lynd gave a slight nod and motioned for the sisters to follow him as he turned toward the dragon’s nest.
The structure of the dragon’s nest built by the Magister of Oros was similar to the one in Winterfell, but much larger—suggesting that the dragons once kept here were enormous, perhaps comparable to the Cannibal.
Many of the secondary chambers had collapsed during the Doom. Only the main cavern and a few smaller ones meant for young dragons remained intact. These surviving chambers had been repurposed by the Oros people to store sacrificial corpses. Because the bodies had been completely drained of fluids and preserved with basic methods, there was little to no stench lingering in the air.
As a result, the chambers had long since been emptied. Nothing of real value remained.
Ella and Yara were slightly disappointed by this, but they recovered quickly. After all, while they hadn’t found any treasure, meeting Lynd was already the greatest fortune they could’ve hoped for.
Lynd surveyed the area, not particularly disappointed. He had expected this outcome—too many people had passed through here, and with Oros people still inhabiting the city, it would’ve been unlikely for anything valuable to be left behind.
However, he didn’t believe that everything of worth had already been taken. Several caves destroyed during the Doom showed no signs of ever having been excavated. In other words, whatever was inside them then was likely still inside now.
Lynd thought for a moment, then gestured for Ella and Yara to step back. He approached the entrance to one of the ruined chambers. Focusing his mind, he used telekinesis to extract the large stones blocking the entrance, carefully pulling them apart from where they had collapsed and stacking them elsewhere.
From the side, Ella and Yara watched in awe as the stones—once pressed tightly together—seemed to float up, one after another, moved by an invisible force and set gently aside. The sight was incredible, and it only deepened their yearning to learn magic.
The clearing process triggered a brief secondary collapse, but in the end, everything went smoothly. Soon, a new entrance to one of the sealed chambers was revealed.
Lynd didn’t enter right away. Instead, he waited outside, conjuring a steady breeze to push fresh air inside while drawing out the stale and toxic air. Only once the airflow inside had stabilized did he step in.
Inside the chamber, Lynd found the skeletal remains of a dragon. This one was much smaller than the Cannibal—likely a newly matured dragon. Its cause of death was clear: a massive stone pillar had fallen from the ceiling during the collapse, piercing straight through its skull. There were no dragon eggs nearby.
Lynd continued to clear and check the other ruined chambers. Each one told a similar story—dragons crushed beneath falling debris. The Doom had come so suddenly that they hadn’t even had a chance to flee.
“My lord, maybe the dragon eggs were taken when they were laid—moved to Valyria for hatching,” Ella and Yara suggested when they saw Lynd return from the last chamber empty-handed.
“It’s possible,” Lynd said after a moment’s thought, nodding. Still, he didn’t quite believe the eggs had been sent to Valyria. According to House Targaryen’s records, each Dragonlord typically hatched and raised their own dragons. While some eggs were paid as tribute—“dragon tax”—to Valyria, most were kept within the family.
Lynd suspected that a dragon egg might still be hidden somewhere within the Magister’s residence. So he asked Ella and Yara to stay with Deltos while he conducted a more thorough search.
And he was right.
In the ruins of one building, he found a hidden chamber. Inside, a single dragon egg lay nestled in a stone cradle—its surface covered in glistening red and black scales. And it was alive.
When Lynd picked it up and used the Banished Knight’s method to examine it, he could feel the vibrant energy pulsing within.
However, something was off. Whether it was due to Oros’s corrupted environment or some other unknown factor, the nurturing technique used by the Banished Knights didn’t work here. The egg refused to absorb any of his rune power.
Lynd didn’t dwell on it. He took the egg and returned to the dragon’s nest, handing it to Ella and Yara for safekeeping.
And in that moment—perhaps it was just his imagination—but when the sisters took the egg into their hands, he could’ve sworn he saw it flicker with a faint flash of light.
