Catelyn, with a slightly higher political awareness than Eddard, noticed his hesitation and spoke up, "Wright is still the Kingdom's Archmage, and he's also Robert's younger brother. Given their relationship, he will certainly take good care of Robb."
And jon...
Eddard thought for a moment, then replied, "Alright. He did ask me about this before, and I've been considering it. Tomorrow, I'll speak with Wright. You two can start preparing your belongings."
"Thank you, Father! Thank you, Mother!" Robb and Jon were so happy they almost jumped up with excitement.
Eddard paused for a moment before speaking to Robb. "Ashara's swordsmanship is a tradition of House Dayne. Without their permission, learning their style of swordplay is unethical."
Robb responded, "Ashara told me about it. There are some people on the continent who also use two swords. She only teaches me techniques that everyone can learn. She won't teach me the Dayne style. After some time, I'll return to practicing with a single sword. But she uses two swords — one for people and one for beasts. I think it looks cool. I want to carry two swords on me, too."
"As long as you understand. Carrying several swords is everyone's personal choice. If you want to carry two axes like the wildlings of the Vale, that's your decision," Eddard said, giving Robb his approval. He then turned to Jon. "And you, Jon? Two swords?"
"I'll focus on mastering the single sword first," Jon replied, his mind overwhelmed by the idea of mastering single-handed and two-handed swords, as well as short swords and longswords. The thought of learning even more made his head spin.
Robb then asked, "Can Sansa come too?"
Eddard responded, "I'm not sure how many years you'll need to study at the Magic School. The two of you can go, but Sansa should stay here in Winterfell for now and learn her embroidery. She'll go when she's older."
And so, the plans for Robb and Jon were set. Sansa would remain in Winterfell to continue her needlework lessons, Asha and Theon would stay in Winterfell for intense training, and Arya, still too young, was not considered for the journey.
---
Weeks later, Wright's ship docked at the harbor of Dragonstone.
From the dock, one could see a winding staircase leading up to the black castle above. The Targaryens had begun building their fortress here long before the Doom, and on its outer walls, massive dragon statues were carved. Centuries had passed, but the castle had witnessed countless significant events.
Dragonstone was an island formed by a volcanic eruption. Though it spanned roughly fifty kilometers, it was very narrow and elongated. The landscape was rugged, with jagged rocks formed by volcanic lava. The island's original inhabitants had lived by fishing, and when the Targaryens had resided here, the locals worshipped them as gods due to the presence of dragons.
Wright planned to stay on Dragonstone for a while. One reason was to wait for Renly's ship to arrive so he could deliver his new apprentices to him. Another was that Nymeria and Tyene, whose conditions had improved, were now able to walk again, though they still needed rest. This gave Wright a chance to explore the island.
Riding his skeletal horse, Arvak, Wright wandered around Dragonstone. A few years ago, when Shireen Baratheon had fallen ill with greyscale, he had visited briefly but hadn't had time to properly explore. Now that he had the chance, he hoped to find something of interest, perhaps even a dragon egg hidden in a crack in the rocks.
However, he soon realized that any dragon eggs found on the island would have been carefully guarded by House Targaryen, with their secret techniques used to hatch them. After spending much of the day wandering, all he had seen were rocks.
Following the coastline, he came upon a fissure in the rocks.
"This should be an obsidian cave. Let's take a look inside."
The entrance to the cave was narrow, but after squeezing through, Wright found a large cavern. One wall was perfectly straight, covered in numerous carvings — clearly signs of human craftsmanship. Some areas were adorned with murals.
Wright cast a few magical lights to illuminate the space and picked up a small shard of dragonstone from the ground, examining it carefully as he approached the murals.
The paintings depicted battles with the White Walkers. There were humans, Children of the Forest, and White Walkers, all wielding dragonstone weapons. The dragonstone itself contained trace amounts of magic, which were converted into destructive fire by its unique composition, making it capable of killing the White Walkers.
Placing his hand on the ground, Wright extended his magical senses fully and detected that the dragonstone vein extended deep into the earth. The vein's size surpassed the range of his perception. However, with the island being a volcano, there was no need to take risks by attempting to mine it.
Taking out a notebook he always carried, Wright roughly sketched the layout of the vein to keep for future reference.
The murals in the obsidian cave depicting battles against the White Walkers were certainly known to House Targaryen, as they predated even the Dragonstone castle itself. However, they had not given it much importance.
Afterward, Wright returned to the castle and entered the library. Before Robert's rebellion, the Targaryens had burned it once, leaving behind only a few partially destroyed books. After Stannis arrived, he had reorganized the library, but it still felt barren.
Wright made his way to the Stone Drum Tower, a circular room with four tall windows. In the center was a large wooden table, measuring fifteen meters long and seven meters wide, intricately carved with a map of the entire Westeros continent.
He walked around the table and sat in a chair at a high platform facing the map, as though he could survey the entire continent from there.
"This is the famous table from the original text, much larger than in the TV show, and this chair... I wonder how many kings have sat in it."
After a brief moment of reflection, Wright stopped caring about the furniture—after all, they were just objects. He picked up one of the damaged books he had found earlier and began reading. Despite its fragmentary nature, it might still hold previously unknown knowledge.
"Master! Master!" A voice called from afar, and Ashara hurried toward Wright.
"What's the rush?" Wright set the book down.
"My magical recovery is speeding up! I used to need a week to recover after casting a few ice spells, but now, after training on Dragonstone, my magic is fully restored in just three days! Am I getting stronger?" Ashara's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"You've been working hard, so yes, you've gotten stronger. Congratulations, you're about to enter the next stage of your magical studies. Are you ready?" Wright affirmed her progress.
"Ah! More books..." Ashara's excitement faded.
"Dragonstone doesn't have any magic books. Take these few days to relax and have fun with Robb and the others. When we return to the school, things won't be so easy," Wright added, but then a thought struck him.
Back in the North, his magic had fully recovered shortly after arriving in Winterfell. By the timeline, it had doubled in speed, and he had thought it was due to eating too much fish-leaf paste. Ashara, too, had started practicing magic only after arriving at Dragonstone, while back in Winterfell, she had focused solely on martial arts. He hadn't paid much attention to this before.
Something didn't feel right. Everyone seemed to be experiencing the same thing! After Daenerys hatched her dragons, the red comet appeared that same night. Was it the dragons first or the comet? But now, the resurgence of magic had already begun!
Wright stood up from his chair and summoned his skeletal horse, Arvak, once again.
Ashara had never seen it before. She wasn't afraid upon realizing Wright had summoned it using summoning magic, and she approached the horse, cautiously touching its body. However, she didn't dare to touch its head and tail, which were ablaze with purple soul fire.
---
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Up to 50 chapters ahead on the four novels i am translating.