Mist of Shadows
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Dragon King Part 9
🕑 Added 2021-03-30 10:18:15 +0000 UTCMyst wasn't sure how to feel as he sat down on the annoyingly uncomfortable throne and looked at the group of assembled nobles that were waiting for him to say something about the Ironborn. He was fairly sure he could thank the timing of the Ironborn's rebellion and Lyanna's survival for the fact that his coronation had gone off without any real trouble beyond some mostly harmless glares by lords on opposing sides of the rebellion. "I'll try to keep this brief, I know most of you have better things to do than drink my wine and listen to me talk."
"It's excellent wine, your grace," Mace Tyrell offered.
"I'd hope so," Myst replied with a touch of humor. "I could spend time complaining about the timing of the attack on Lannisport or the fact that they don't have any honor but they're Ironborn, we already knew this. Despite three hundred years of peace, they want to return to an older time, a time where they raped, murdered and stole anything they could get away with. If the Ironborn insist on charging people the iron price, I reserve the right to charge the dragon's price."
"Dragon's price?" Mace Tyrell asked.
"The last rapist I ran into was the Mountain that Rides, I killed him and his friends when he came for my mother and sister. If the Ironborn want to declare themselves criminals, I'll treat them as such. They had three hundred years of peace to make something of themselves and to find better gods, the old or the new or something that didn't encourage them to be rapists and murderers, they failed."
"Does that mean you're banning worship of the Drowned God?" one of the gathered lords asked hopefully.
"People have the right to choose their own gods but we also have a duty and obligation to hold people accountable to the laws of the land," Myst pointed out. "I refuse to let the Ironborn return to being a blight on the land. If that means sinking their raiding ships, I'm more than willing to do that. Either way, enough about the Ironborn, you have wine to finish."
Rhaella spoke up before the crowd of nobles could go back to drinking, "Lord Baratheon will be in charge of the fleet while Lord Stark will be coordinating the North's defense. Lord Lannister should be in position to lead the defense in the West to protect his lands from more raids, feel free to volunteer your services if you're so inclined."
Myst ignored the ensuing discussion as he opened his upgrade ability and focused on the throne. He spent a couple of hundred mana to upgrade the comfort and safety of the chair, causing the bits of metal that had been poking out to fuse with the rest of the backrest so there was no chance getting stabbed. 'Now I just need to deal with the Ironborn in a way that doesn't give me nightmares which probably means killing a bunch of drowned priests and raiders while trying to figure out what to do with the children.'
0o0o0
Elia smiled as she walked out onto the balcony where her son was leaning against the railing looking at the ruined dome on the Hill of Rhaenys. "Thinking of the past or things to come?"
"A bit of both," Myst replied as he pulled his attention off the ruined dragonpit and looked at his mother. "I'm trying to wrap my head around the Ironborn, both their history and their plans moving forward. Even ignoring the insanity of wanting to rape and murder people, they have to understand they can't win in a fight against the royal fleet."
"Probably but I don't think Balon cares, he wants to return to the old ways and probably figured he was in a fair amount of trouble for siding with Robert so he might as well see how much he could steal before coming to the table to sue for peace."
"Never let it be said that Balon Greyjoy isn't stupid," Myst said as he opened his upgrade menu and focused on the dragonpit. "How much do you think people are going to panic in the morning when they see the repaired dragonpit?"
"Hard to say," Elia mused as she turned to look at the ruined dragonpit she could see in the moonlight. "Most people barely believe in magic anymore, this is going to be a shock though I suspect less of a shock than repairing the entire city."
"It's on the list," Myst replied as he poured mana into upgrading the condition of the dragonpit, causing it to change from a ruined remnant of a faded bloodline to a pristine testament of his power and magic.
"Gods above," Elia exclaimed as she stared at the repaired dome she could see, surprised that he'd been able to fix the dome. "Did you repair the insides?"
"Of course," Myst replied with amusement as he spent the mana to upgrade the dome, changing it from stone into a clear crystal dome so they'd have more light inside the central chamber. "I'll have to go through and swap out some of the wooden doors for fireproof weirwood doors and make a couple of tweaks here and there but yeah, it's in perfect condition," he said cheerfully as he upgraded the durability of the crystal dome so it could take a strike from a meteor without cracking.
"Did you just turn the dome to crystal?" Elia asked, wondering if he could do the same to some of the walls in the red keep so they'd have more light.
"Being able to see the stars at night is a clear upgrade," Myst replied as he turned his attention towards the city.
Elia grinned. "Since we can't hide the changes, we might as well upgrade the red keep."
"Any suggestions?" he asked as the door to his new chambers opened. "Hello?"
"I wanted to say thank you for the apple and to give you the seeds like you asked for," Rhaella said as she walked through her old chambers to the balcony, glad that someone had removed the more garish decorations that her brother had favored and that no one expected her to keep the damned room.
Myst smiled when he turned and saw his grandmother's hair had changed to a bright red that matched the roses woven into it. "You're welcome."
"You look amazing," Elia blurted, staring at the woman that looked young enough to be her younger sister.
"Thanks, I feel better than I've felt in years," Rhaella said with a smile that lit up her entire face and showed off her perfect teeth. "Where did you get the apple?" she asked as she handed Myst the apple core.
"From one of my abilities," Myst replied as stuck the apple core in his ring's storage and opened his skill book menu so he could check her new abilities. "Eternal youth, ethereal beauty, flower creation and manipulation of plants and earth."
Rhaella pointed towards the roses in her hair. "The flower creation power is interesting but the ability to sense and manipulate plants might take a little getting used to."
"Nice," Myst replied as he quickly created a skill book for eternal youth and handed it to his mother. "This should give you eternal youth." He grinned when she immediately used the skill book.
"How many of those can you make?" Rhaella asked, curious about her grandson's magic.
"As many as I want," Myst replied with amusement as he created a skill book for ethereal beauty and handed it to his mother. "This should increase your already stunning appearance."
"Thank you," Elia replied as she opened the book and it vanished.
"Are you planning on selling those?" Rhaella asked as she studied Elia's face as most of the flaws seemed to melt away, leaving her looking better than she remembered her ever looking.
"I wasn't planning on it," Myst replied as he worked on creating books for the other two skills. "I have a necklace that grants agelessness and beauty that the girls should be able to copy. I'd rather sell copies of a magical necklace than let people know I can hand out actual agelessness with what amounts to a wave of my hand."
Rhaella nodded. "I can't see that ending well, we'd end up with too many nobles and the court would be filled with people hoping for handouts."
"Yeah, I'd rather just tell people that the necklaces are extremely expensive and limited and let the various nobles buy them with donations or favors," Myst said as he handed Elia books for flower creation and earth and plant manipulation.
"Sounds like a good way to get various nobles stabbed," Elia pointed out.
Myst shrugged. "Unless they run around bragging about the necklaces, I doubt that will be a problem for at least a couple of years."
Rhaella stared when she looked out on the city and noticed the repaired dome glittering in the moonlight. "How the hell?"
"One of my abilities lets me upgrade things. I fixed the dragonpit because I need somewhere to play with my dragon form and because I like the idea of creating a bunch of dragon riders," Myst explained as he created his own set of skill books, sticking the eternal beauty and youth books in his ring's storage and using the rest.
Rhaella turned and stared at Myst. "Dragon form?"
"Technically, I can turn into a drake right now but I'm going to upgrade the ability so I can turn into an actual dragon, do you want a copy?"
"I could turn into an actual dragon?" Rhaella asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Myst replied with amusement.
"What do you want in trade?" Rhaella asked, wondering what it would cost her.
"Nothing, you're my grandmother," Myst replied as he quickly created a skill book for the drake form and handed it to her. "Just don't use your dragon form until we get inside the dragonpit."
Rhaella opened the book and smiled when she realized she knew how to change into a 'small' dragon that could carry someone. "What other tricks do you have?"
"I have a couple of tricks left, including the ability to improve the city with magic, do you want to watch?" Myst asked with a grin as he gestured towards the city.
"Sure," Rhaella replied, curious what types of improvements he could make.
Myst focused on the city and poured his mana into upgrading the condition of the buildings and the materials used, changing the burned out wooden buildings into stone where appropriate and solid burn free wooden construction where it was more appropriate to have wooden structures or support beams. "Now for my next trick, the stench."
"Best of luck," Elia muttered.
Myst shifted his attention towards the city's sewer and water system and tossed mana at it, upgrading it from a barely functional series of stone lined tunnels that poured the filth into the bay into a system with actual flush toilets, running water and a sewage treatment plant that used slimes to filter and clean the water before it poured into the bay. "That should handle the stench, now for the quality of the streets!"
Rhaella glanced at Elia. "Should we be worried about a five year old having god like powers?"
"Nah, he's fairly responsible," Elia replied with amusement, knowing he was actually older than she was given his previous life.
Myst finished upgrading the streets so they were clean and in perfect condition rather than the patchwork system they'd been before he started. "I've upgraded the structures and improved the sewage system and streets. I could improve the walls but I'm not particularly worried about it right now and we might want to change or expand them."
"Can you improve the red keep?" Rhaella asked thoughtfully.
"Mom was asking about that when you came in, what are you thinking?" Myst asked with a grin.
Rhaella glanced at Elia. "I wouldn't mind improving the defenses and the quality of the stone."
"Can you turn the stones into red crystal?" Elia asked with a grin, figuring they might as well have fun with things if they were already going to have to field questions about the city and the dragonpit.
"It's related and probably counts as an upgrade," Myst replied as he looked up at the red stone of the tower. He spent twenty seconds looking over his various options then spent the mana to improve the stone in the Red Keep to a smokey red crystal. "That's going to look great during the day." He improved the durability so that it would survive a dragonic rampage or an angry titan, figuring he could always improve it more later if he needed to. "I'll have to walk around to get the rest but that's a good start."
"Could you improve the king's road?" Rhaella asked, thinking about the expense of maintaining it and wondering if they could drastically decrease the cost.
Myst grinned. "It's on the list to look at when I fly north to deal with the Ironborn."
"You're flying there?" Elia asked in concern.
"Unless I can talk one of the girls into it. I was serious about charging them the dragon price if they want to charge people the iron price," Myst replied.
Rhaella shook her head. "I'd rather you stayed safe."
Myst shrugged. "I'm not going to allow them to raid people and then sue for peace when it's convenient for them. If they want to be criminal scum and raiders, they can go to the wall or they can lose their heads, same as anyone else that turns pirate."
"I'm not saying you shouldn't deal with them, I'm just saying you have soldiers for a reason and burning castles would be in poor taste considering your grandfather's recent actions," Rhaella pointed out.
"I wasn't planning on burning a castle, too many innocent people and a waste of a castle but you have a point about the perception if their fleet goes up in flames," Myst admitted. "I'll talk it over with the girls and see if any of them want to deal with the Ironborn in a slightly more humane way. Just because they're monsters doesn't mean we have to be."
"Good, I don't want you fighting until you have better defenses and you're older," Elia stated firmly, knowing she couldn't really stop him but hoping he'd listen.
"Fine, you win," Myst admitted. "I'll leave the Ironborn to the girls or Eddard and Stannis. I have plenty of crafting projects that I need to work on."
"Are you sure your friends can handle it?" Rhaella asked, not quite sure what to make of his strange friends.
"We've survived worse," Dawn said as she walked over.
Myst turned to look at Dawn. "That reminds me, I need to upgrade everyone's defensive gear."
"That would be appreciated, what are you volunteering us for?" Dawn asked with amusement.
Myst shook his head. "I wasn't volunteering you for anything, I was going to ask everyone if they wanted to help with the Ironborn on account of Mom pulling rank and decided I needed to stay here."
"It would help keep the kingdom stable and we don't need someone trying to cause trouble while he's gone," Elia explained her reasoning.
"You had me at hunting pirates," Dawn replied with amusement. "Besides, we're pretty good at sneaking into places we shouldn't be and dealing with trouble. Not to mention, you're the only one that can look at people and check for magic potential without resorting to extensive testing and we only have a limited amount of time with Hermione before she's heading home."
"What are you planning?" Rhaella asked.
"I'm planning on using the dragonpit to train magic users and dragon riders that are loyal to the crown so we have a group of people that can defend the city and country from magic using threats when magic starts coming back," Myst explained.
"How long will that take?" Rhaella asked.
"Anywhere from weeks to twenty years," Myst replied with a shrug. "I'm pouring a lot of magic into the area which might cause it to come back sooner or it might take sixteen to twenty years but it's going to happen and we're going to have to deal with warlocks and twisted priests of fire."
"At which point we'll need our own magic users," Rhaella mused. "How much gold are you going to need?"
"No idea," Myst admitted. "I'll need to hire a number of mundane scholars and pay for supplies but I should be able to avoid a fair amount of the cost with magic. If nothing else, selling a couple of ageless necklaces should keep us in the black for years."
"And then some," Dawn muttered, fairly sure he could figure out a way to duplicate most of the supplies they needed which would save on costs.
Rhaella glanced at Elia. "Any objections?"
Elia shook her head. "No, the dragonpit has been useless for over a hundred years, we might as well put it to use."
"In that case, I don't have any objections," Rhaella said with a smile.
"Are you going to give the students all of the abilities?" Elia asked thoughtfully.
"I'd rather give people a chance to earn the extra skills rather than just hand them out, it saves me from having to make a bunch of skill books to start with and it gives people a feeling of accomplishment. I'll probably start with the skill booster and the elemental defenses and use the rest to encourage good study habits."
"Makes sense," Elia admitted.
"On that note, we should probably get my grandmother some defensive items and give the rest of the girls the new skills," Myst replied as he turned and headed for the door.
"Sounds good," Rhaella replied as she followed her grandson out of her old room.
Elia closed and latched the doors to the balcony then followed the others, looking forward to seeing what she could pick up.
Myst glanced at Gerold who was guarding the door then continued walking not sure how to feel about the man that refused to speak up for Rhaella against his asshole of a grandfather, on the one hand, he understood his grandfather had been insane and prone to burning people alive but seriously he was a frail old bastard by the end, tossing him down some stairs would have been easy. 'Screw it, you can't change the past and the conflict between duty and sanity shouldn't come up again.'
He opened his gacha menu and glanced over the collection of gacha wheels, trying to reclaim his previous good mood. 'Permanent elixirs, magic boxes, forbidden spells, magical cookie tins or magical mirrors?' He bought the gacha wheels as he walked into the workshop, his mana bar visibly dipping for a second thanks to the cost of the magical mirror and the forbidden spells which were expensive enough to give him hope that they'd be interesting.
Rhaella followed Myst into the room his friends had turned into a workshop, marveling at the piles of silk clothes that were stacked on various benches and tables. "Where did all of the silk come from?"
Zara looked up from carefully cutting up an ugly brown pair of silk pants so she could make something more interesting. "We have a box that conjures undergarments. Did you get any interesting abilities?"
"Eternal youth and beauty, flower creation and the ability to manipulate plants and earth," Myst replied as he glanced at the various piles of silk clothes the girls had created. "Are you planning on cornering the silk market?"
"We might have gone a bit overboard," Hermione admitted as she looked up from her alchemy book.
"Anything interesting?" Myst asked as he watched his permanent elixir start slowing down.
Hermione glanced at her notes. "Seventeen pairs of everclean panties with armor, a translucent blue evening gown that increases skill gain with ice magic by 100%, nine shirts that grant armor, one of which covers the arms and a silk robe that gives you a bonus to training magic and seduction of 25% that should probably be boosted into something more reasonable."
"Before you ask, my duplicate robes are hovering around 20%," Zara said with a grin.
"Nice," Myst replied as he reached out and caught the glass vial that stopped from his elixir wheel. He examined the potion. "Elixir of Transformation: Hag? Gives the drinker the alternate form of a hag."
"Any mental flaws?" Hermione asked, thinking about the hags from her world.
"Doesn't look like it," Myst replied as he stuck the potion in his ring's storage. "You get a boost to magic and toughness and your appearance takes a massive hit in your alternate form." He reached up and caught the cookie tin when his wheel stopped spinning. "Seriously?" he blurted as he read the description on his upgrade window. "It conjures chocolate chip truth cookies."
"As in they make you tell the truth?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, you just can't lie for an hour after eating one," Myst replied with a grin as he watched the forbidden spell wheel start slowing down.
"That sounds useful for sorting the Ironborn raiders," Elia pointed out.
"Extremely, just feed them cookies and ask them questions," Myst mused, fairly sure it wouldn't be quite that easy but figured it was a start.
"Are they any good?" Dawn asked, curious if having chocolate was worth the minor problem of not being able to lie for an hour.
"Should be." Myst handed the cookie tin off to Dawn and caught the scroll that dropped from his wheel. He stared at the description for the scroll for a couple of seconds then used it, picking up a spell that would let him create orbs that would transport people to temporary demiplanes filled with monsters and loot. "Magic mirrors," he muttered as he waited for his magic mirror window to stop spinning.
"Like Snow White or mirrors of opposition?" Dawn asked warily as she opened the tin and grabbed a delicious smelling chocolate chip cookie as large as her hand.
"No idea, it hasn't dropped it." Myst quickly looked away when a standing 'mirror' appeared in front of him, showing an empty room despite the fact that he was standing in front of it. He walked around the mirror and checked the mirror with his upgrade ability. "Staring at it too long twists people into demons."
"You should stick that in your ring before someone turns themselves into a demon," Hermione suggested.
"Point," Myst replied as he stepped forward and stored the mirror in his ring, fairly sure they could farm abilities with it if they used it on criminals. He jumped backwards when the magic box wheel stopped spinning and a large wooden shipping crate fell out of the air, hit the ground with a thunk and fell backwards with a crash.
"Fucking assholes, it says fragile!" a female voice shouted from inside the box.
"This can't end well," Myst muttered as he walked over to open the crate.
Comments
Robert Buniff
Good one. Can't wait to see who the new person is.
