"What are you doing?" The old voice was low, as if he was falling asleep.
"I'm looking at the Starks' underground mausoleum." Will said.
The roots of the Heart Tree became Will's sensory tentacles, omnipresent in the damp, dark and cold places, in the crevices of the huge stone-built passageways.
"Aren't you afraid of adventure? You're afraid of the undead."
"People are afraid of the undead, and I'm also afraid of taking risks, but why did you let me know that there is a dragon's tomb under the Starks' mausoleum, it's nothing to know that there is a dragon's tomb, but you just let me know that there are countless beautiful jades and treasures, and a dragon's bone and fine sword inside. You know my profession and know that I'm a thief who gets itchy when he hears something good, right."
"I don't know you, you didn't come to pray in the Godswood Forest, and I didn't even know you existed. As for the dialogue between you and Ed, you are voluntarily rambling in front of me, I do not want to hear it."
"You lie."
"The Old Forest Demon never lies, the Old Forest Demon only likes to snooze, and I snooze for a long time, maybe a whole summer, and mind you, this time it's been nine years of summer."
"You call yourself an old forest demon? You are the god of the forest, aren't you, the god of wood or the god of trees."
"I'm so old I've forgotten my real name myself, all I remember is that the Children of the Forest like to call me the Old Demon, and some of the nasty Giant Clan."
"You've been alive for thousands of years? Ten thousand years?"
"Thousands of years? Ten thousand years? Can't have lived that long, is there any point in remembering years? I never keep track of time. I just know the only thing I have to do is wait."
"What are you waiting for?"
"What I'm waiting for is a little fuzzy, but I do know when what I'm waiting for comes back."
"Waiting for me to strike? A bad guy with naturally strong soul power."
The pale voice laughed softly, like the endless loneliness and isolation given by a fallen mountain range, "I can't quite remember the reason I'm here, but I know I'm not waiting for you, that's for sure."
"Then why did you encourage me to go underground through the Starks' mausoleum, it can't be as simple as just getting the Dragonbone Thin Sword, can it. I remember you told me that there's a big secret in this underground, and there's a reason why Winterfell was built in this place."
"Smart boy, you're right, the hot springs dragon bones and the dragon's tomb aren't really secrets yet, but the real big secret is something that requires adventurers to have the fearless courage to discover for themselves in order to know it, not by being told by others. The secrets that others tell you are often not secrets, but traps. A dragon bone fine sword has already made you feel that it's worth the risk, another bigger secret that you can't afford right now."
"Then why are you telling me this, so I know."
"Because of the invasion of the Fae, child, you are the first to have seen the Fae, and if we don't stop the Fae, and the Fae get past the Wall, and the whole continent is a realm of death, you will be a dead man, and then turn into a horrible Fae, and I will be a dead tree, and then turn into an undead tree.
"But I don't want to die yet, because I have things waiting. After my life became one with this heart tree, I could no longer walk halfway around my body except to see farther and live longer."
"You are a Shifter? Your soul occupies this heart tree, the heart tree is you, and you are the heart tree." Will said.
"That's about it. All my flesh and blood have become one with this heart tree too, not just my soul."
"That's pretty miserable too, a person with their body and soul attached to a tree can't go anywhere if they want to, I don't want that."
"No one wants you to, and your bloodline also destines you to not be one with the Fish and Beam, you are not a child of the forest. But with your soul power, refining into the Green Vision is still possible."
"So you're a child of the forest?"
"I'm an old forest demon, that's what they call me."
"The Green Vision is a way to possess an animal and see the world through its eyes, don't lie to me, I know what the Green Vision is, it's one of the powers of the Shifters."
"Child, the green vision of possessing animals and the green vision of possessing trees are both green visions, and while the average shifter can only possess animals, more powerful shifters can also possess trees. Every living tree is a living being, with senses and thoughts, just like humans."
"So I'm an Advanced Shifter?"
"You're not a shifter yet, what you can see now is because of my help, when you can possess trees without my help and see the world through the eyes of trees, then you're a shifter. Do you want to be an Alien?"
"Of course, winter has arrived, and I want to travel through it, but I don't want to die in it."
"Then you first go to the underground dragon tomb and draw out that dragon bone thin sword. When this sword stabs into the body of a foreign spirit, it will instantly burn the foreign spirit to ashes. It has two names, initially called Shadow Nemesis and later called Flame Bringer."
"Do you trust what you say? You said that secrets told by others are not secrets, but traps. And this time you took the initiative to tell me. How many words can I believe you?"
The voice, however, ignored Will's questioning as he spoke to himself, "The thin sword of dragon bone is in slumber, when you enter it will sense the popularity, it has been trapped for too long and longs for a new life, as soon as the popularity enters, its blade will burst into flames and dispel the undead around it, allowing you to see it so that you can take it away."
"Old Demon, as far as I know, the dragon bone can't be made into a sword because it's too hard, it can only be made into a sword hilt by grinding it according to the shape of the dragon bone itself, is the Dragon Bone Thin Sword made of dragon bone mixed with steel, or is it purely made of dragon bone?"
"Light as a feather, Flamebringer." The old demon sighed.
Light as a feather, that's pure dragon bone no different.
"Who forged it? Who could have forged the Flamebringer?"
"There are many legends, and the exact reason why, I don't really know."
"You don't want to talk about it or you don't know?"
"All I know is that the Flamebringer comes from the place where House Targaryen originates from: Valyria. It was crafted by forges skilled in fire magic and able to harness dragons. In Valyria, everyone who is a master of forging Valyrian steel is proficient in fire magic. Forgers who are not proficient in fire magic are apprentices."
"Valyria? The place where the best sword in the world was created, the empire was annihilated in the Armageddon Cataclysm, and now it's a place of ruins and death." Will's voice trailed off, and it turned out that the more he talked, the sleepier he got, long before he felt like he couldn't keep his eyes open and his senses were getting dull.
"You've been out long enough, your natural soul power is strong, but it's time for you to rest or your soul power will be damaged."
"It's fine, I can still hold on, I haven't fully seen the structure of the ground yet." Will Cao's voice got lower and lower and finally disappeared, as if he had fallen asleep from sleepiness.
I don't know how long it took, a warm breath woke Will Cao from his deep sleep, he was horrified, he couldn't be touched close to his side in his sleep without realising it, what's wrong with this day, too sleepy? If the enemy attacked, he would already be a dead man. He broke out into a cold sweat of terror - but he kept his eyes closed and remained motionless as he was.
It was the scent of a wolf, but it wasn't hostile, it was making a gesture of goodwill.
A coyote's tongue was licking Will's face.
In addition to that, there was the scent of another person right next to the bed.
Will slowly opened his eyes as the wolf stopped licking his face and his sharp little teeth glinted a faint raw white light right in front of Will's eyes.
"Namelia." A girl's voice called out.
The wolf then whooshed and jumped off the bed.