Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: lex m/m (mature OR explicit)
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Explicit
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death
Category:
F/M
Fandoms:
A Song of Ice and Fire & Related FandomsGame of Thrones (TV)A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. MartinThe Beginning After the End - TurtleMe
Relationships:
past Ned Stark/Ashara DayneCatelyn Tully Stark/Ned StarkOberyn Martell/Ellaria SandJon Snow/Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia)Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Characters:
Jon SnowNed StarkAshara DayneGendry (A Song of Ice and Fire)Mya StoneJaime LannisterObara SandTyene SandNymeria SandOberyn MartellDoran MartellAllyria DayneEdric "Ned" DayneDaenerys TargaryenViserys Targaryen (Brother of Daenerys)Sylvie (The Beginning After the End)Robb StarkArianne MartellEllaria Sand
Additional Tags:
MagicSlow BuildSlow BurnAshara Dayne LivesAshara Dayne Raises Jon SnowR Plus L Equals J | Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen are Jon Snow's ParentsOther Additional Tags to Be AddedJon Snow Doesn't Join the Night's WatchNew social normsNo Bashingmagic heavy
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2025-10-09Updated:2026-07-22Words:269,612Chapters:71/?Comments:435Kudos:692Bookmarks:257Hits:79,173
The Magic Bastard
Sometbatenerd
Chapter 2: Lessons
Notes:
Pretty exposition heavy chapter as it explains what type of mages TABTE actually has. They're a little different than your normal wizards from DND or Harry Potter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jon
Things quickly changed in Jon's life at Starfall. With the awakening of his mana core, he had a whole new slew of responsibilities to add to his schedule. The first of those was lessons on magic theory. It was the lesson they were on right now, the history of the foundation of magic. A long title he could barely pronounce but it was something important he needed to learn. Even if his seat was uncomfortable in the Maester's chambers.
It was something only for Jon though as Allyria hadn't awoken her mana core, and if what the Maester said was true there was a chance she wouldn't. For every child in Westeros, there was a one in fifty chance they would become mages. Meaning those who did were allowed certain privileges non-mages weren't.
The first of which was schooling. All around the realm there were several magic academies with the biggest and most sought-after one being the one in the city of Xyrus. While younger than all of the other academies it was still ranked first in the realm thanks to its headmaster. Though the one in Oldtown was a very close second.
The second one was that women who were mages had more autonomy over themselves than normal. Now Jon had no idea what the word autonomy meant but his mama said it was something good. He trusted her word as she had never lied to him before.
Since so little of the population were mages even bastards were well looked upon if they were a mage. A highborn bastard who was a mage was even better. Jon had been told a lot of doors were now open to him though he wasn't quite sure what that meant.
He wasn't even sure what a bastard truly was. Only that his last name was Sand and not Dayne. That didn't seem to change anyone's opinion of him however. People were still really kind to him. From the servants to the guards to his own family. They all seemed to love him. So Jon didn't understand what the big deal about him being a bastard was.
"Jon." Maester Orville said. "Are you paying attention?"
The Maester was a pale man with dark black hair combed over to the left side of his head with a clean-shaven face. His eyes were the color of malachite green that stared sternly at his very young pupil.
Jon was quick to nod, wanting to avoid the Maester's wrath. "I am."
"Then repeat back to me what I said." The Maester said.
Jon swallowed roughly and racked his mind. "You were uh…speaking about the beginning stages of mana cores?"
Orville sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "A lucky guess." The Maester muttered. "Tell me what the first stage of your core is."
"Black." Jon quickly answered.
"And do you remember why that is?"
"Because impurities of the body mixing in with the mana." Jon smiled.
Orville hummed and nodded. "Good, now break down the impurities. What are they?"
Jon opened his mouth to answer and then clamped his mouth shut. When he spoke his voice came out meek and ashamed. "I can't remember."
Orville sighed again. "Blood, waste, food, air, and anything else that's not purely mana is what is called an impurity to the core. As you grow older those impurities will begin to cycle out as your body begins to get used to the fact that it can now absorb mana."
Jon nodded along, he felt like he should write this stuff down. But then remembered he didn't even know how to write so he was stuck trying to commit everything to memory as the Maester droned on.
Since they were only learning about cores today Jon made sure to listen to the important stuff and filter it in with the very little he knew so far. All cores started off as black no matter what. Didn't matter who you were or where you came from, they all started off as black.
The next stage is where things change. The mana core after enough purification goes from black to red. However, at that point, there are three stages to the color. Dark, solid, and light. Once one passes from the light red stage to orange the process is repeated again and from orange goes yellow, silver, and then white.
However, when it came to white core there were no stages as the white core was the highest stage a mage could reach. Of course, with such a low chance for children to become mages, there were very few white core mages recorded in history.
Jon felt like falling asleep by the end of the lesson. He had sat there for well over three hours while Maester Orville went on and on about the intricacies of mana cores and they hadn't even gotten to whatever an Augmenter and Conjurer were let alone beast wills.
But seeing as Jon's eyes were starting to droop and he was losing focus Maester Orville dismissed him and Jon readily ran out on the man's turret. He knew learning about magic was important, Ashara was very clear in that. But he wanted to practice manipulating mana.
What was the point of having a mana core if he didn't practice magic?
Was this how Allyria felt in her lessons? Then again she was learning how to be a proper lady. Whatever that meant and not magic. But still her lessons had to be boring as well. Then again what did he know about magic?
With a huff, Jon ran down the halls and past the maids and servants doing their jobs. Some yelped in surprise while others seemed to chuckle and some groaned that their reprieve from the wild boy was over.
As he was running however, coming out onto a parapet that opened out above the training yard he was whisked into someone's arms and lifted into the air.
"Hey!" He shouted trying to break free. "Put me down."
"Oh?" Wylla raised a brow. "And just why would I do that when you're skipping your lessons?"
"I'm not," Jon grumbled. "Maester Orville dismissed me."
"Did he now?" Wylla asked, clearly not believing him. Jon was known to smudge the truth when he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. "And if I take you back and go ask him he would agree?"
Jon was quick to nod. "Mhmmm."
Wylla kept her eyes locked on Jon and the boy didn't look away. Seeing this she sighed and shook her head. "Very well I'll believe you. Now, tell me where you were running off to in such a hurry?"
"I wanted to visit mama."
Wylla smiled. "Well then, off we go. You can tell me all that you learned in your magic lesson today."
"Ok. But it was kind of boring. Maester Orville likes to talk a lot. I think he likes the sound of his own voice."
Wylla let out a giggle as she began walking. "Just don't let him hear you say that."
….
A year passed quickly and slowly for Jon. Stuck in his lessons Jon could do nothing but learn about magic and magic theory. He learned that there were four elements a mage could manipulate. Fire, water, earth, and wind. No one had an affinity for any one element, however one could find out what element a child would possess due to tests which were quite frankly too expensive for House Dayne.
On top of that, there were also elements that were higher forms of the core four named deviants. The only one Jon really paid attention to was lightning the deviant for fire. Mainly because fire was cool and therefore so was lightning. However, when it came to deviants it was quite hard to categorize them since some were different from the four elements entirely.
Aside from the four baseline elements there were also two different types of mages. Augmenters and Conjurers. Jon had found out he was an Augmenter, a mage who used mana to strengthen one's body to allow for quicker reflexes, more agile movements, and stronger defenses. The downside of said improvements was a limited range when it came to his spells. This was discovered when Jon's core awakened and sent Ser Desmond flying back.
Conjurers were the exact opposite in result. They could emit mana out into the outside world and bend the mana that hung in the air to their surroundings allowing them to form spells. Unlike Augmenters however, Conjurers need a conductor to allow their spells to fire off.
Jon found that Conjurers seemed like cowards who stayed behind everyone while the Augmenters and non-mages did all the fighting. Though Maester Orville had told Jon the difference between the two becomes less apparent the lighter a mage's core grows.
All very important stuff Jon had no doubt. But he actually wanted to use said magic and not just sit in a stuffy room learning about it all day. Luckily for him, fate seemed to smile upon him as his mother had gotten him a tutor.
Unlucky for him it was a pretty girl and Jon made a fool of himself by hiding behind his mother's skirts when he was introduced to her.
The girl was tall, with pale white skin. Dark of hair and dark of eyes. Her black hair was tied neatly in a long braid behind her dark purple robe. At her hips were a whip and two daggers. She held herself elegantly and gracefully and smiled as Jon hid his face away.
"Jon." Ashara softly said. "This is Nymeria Sand, Prince Oberyn's daughter. She's an Augmenter like you are and also became a mage pretty young as well."
"Not as young as you though." Nymeria smiled. She crouched down to Jon's level and watched as the boy pried his face away from hiding behind Ashara's skirts. "Quite the prodigy you are. I'd be happy to teach you."
"Are you actually gonna teach me magic or talk like the Maester?"
Nymeria giggled and ruffled his hair. "I'll actually teach you magic. Or at the very least how to channel mana into your core. No boring magic theory from me."
Jon seemed to brighten at those words. "Ok. Can we start now?"
"Eager are we?"
Ashara scoffed. "Like you wouldn't believe. Hard enough to sit the boy down and listen when all he wants to do is magic this and magic that."
Nymeria didn't seem put off by that as she held her hand out to the boy. "Well then I guess we can start our first lesson now. Get all the boring stuff out of the way first before we have fun."
Jon looked up at his mother nervously, his hands still grasping at her skirts. Ashara gave him an easy and disarming smile as she nodded, sending a small wave of calm to the boy. With reluctance, Jon let go of her skirts and slowly inched forward. His small hand took Nymeria's who gave him a gentle squeeze.
The two began to walk away from Ashara and deeper into the castle.
"What attribute do you have? Maester Orville says most people only have one, but some people can have two and are called bi-elemental mages. Are you a bi-elemental mage?"
Nymeria gave Jon a small smile as she shook her head. "Sorry to dash your hopes but I only have one attribute and it's wind. You might have more than one element however. Why don't we start our lessons and find out together?"
"Ok!" A bead of silence before Jon gasped. "Wait, your last name is Sand?"
"It is."
"Mine is too!"
"Looks like we match then." Nymeria chuckled.
….
Allyria seemed weirdly possessive over him ever since Nymeria showed up. Whenever he wasn't training with Nymeria or Ser Desmond or learning with Maester Orville she would take his attention. Whenever Nymeria was around she would feel standoffish, something Nymeria found amusing.
"My Lady, if you would kindly let him go he needs to continue his lessons."
"You had lessons yesterday," Allyria grumbled. She was holding the four-year-old Jon in her lap at the breakfast table. The boy didn't seem to care, not struggling to break free. But he was smiling.
"And that was yesterday. Today's a new day." Nymeria teased.
Allyria tightened her grip on Jon who unashamedly reached for a spare apple on the table. "Can't he have a day off? You're pushing him too hard. He's only four."
Jon bit into his apple while a dangerous glint shone in Nymeria's eye. "Jon." She called out bringing the boy's attention to her. "She's trying to get you out of your magic lessons."
Jon stopped himself from biting his apple and slowly turned to look at Allyria. "What? Why? Magic's fun."
Alyrria's mouth opened and closed multiple times before she could finally get the words out. "It's just well…you spend so much time practicing I feel like you've forgotten about me."
Jon blinked a few times, noting the sad look in Allyria's eyes before humming. "Oh, but if I don't learn magic and swordsmanship how can I protect you?"
"I-what?" Allyria blinked. From her peripheral vision, she could see Nymeria with a dangerous smile on her face and a similar look in her eyes.
"Yeah, I can't protect you, and Mama, and Wylla if I can't protect myself or not use magic. I mean none of you know how to defend yourself and you can't use magic either. So someone has to look out for you. Why not me?"
Allyria seemed stunned into silence as Nymeria took this chance to step forward and take Jon out of her lap. The boy let her and she set him down in the ground allowing him to stand. Still stunned into silence she didn't notice Jon waving goodbye to her as Nymeria and Jon left the room.
"Who knows, maybe today you'll awaken your attribute."
"I hope it's fire. I want to use its deviant form."
"In due time Jon." Nymeria chuckled.
….
The nursery at Starfall had a new baby. Lord Dayne's wife had brought a new one into the world before she died named Edric. Jon felt kind of sad for the boy. His father was sickly and his mother died bringing him into this world.
Soon the boy wouldn't have any parents if the conversation he overheard between Lord Dayne and Maester Orville was to be believed. Apparently, Lord Dayne was dying due to something in his stomach.
Edric was a quiet boy in the crib. Sleeping away peacefully as Jon peered over. The two were alone in the nursery as everyone else seemed to be mourning the death of Lord Dayne's wife. Edric seemed unaware of this face as his soft snores filled the room.
'No one ever told me how small babies were. Did I use to be this small?' Jon wondered.
Jon wanted to reach into the crib and hold the baby, but he wasn't sure how one did such a thing so he kept his hands to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Edric after all.
"You don't need to worry," Jon said. "My mama can be yours as you get older, and I can be like an older brother. I am the eldest so I would know best after all."
Allyria was the eldest, but she wasn't here and didn't count right now. All that mattered to Jon was that he had a cousin added to the list of people he needed to protect, and with Lord Dayne soon to be gone from this world it would be up to him to step up when needed.
He could never be the Sword of the Morning. But he could be the Bastard Mage of Starfall. The mage who would make people think twice before messing with his family.
"You'll be the Sword of the Morning one day," Jon said to Edric. "I just know you'll be worthy of Dawn. The Bastard Mage and the Sword of the Morning. We'll make a good duo."
….
As another year passed and Jon turned five his core went from black to dark red. The first step in the strengthening and purification of his core. His progress was all thanks to Nymeria and her teachings and a little of Maester Orville and his papers and theories.
Ashara and Allyria were proud of him. As was Lord Dayne who seemed to grow weaker and weaker with each passing day. Jon was already special awakening so young. But he had only been practicing with Nymeria for a little over a year now and he had already moved onto the next stage of his core.
Such a thing wasn't unheard of with beginner mages. But said beginner mages were much older than Jon when they started to practice their magic. He still hadn't awakened to an attribute yet, and there was a chance he wouldn't for a while. He was an Augmenter and they had a longer time discovering their elemental affinity than Conjurers did.
Maester Orville had told Jon that mages from lowborn families didn't normally have the money or resources highborn mages had to help them advance. Jon however did have access to some of these resources but not as much as richer families in the realm.
Ashara however was hesitant to use said resources to brute force Jon's growth. He was only five after all and she did not know the effects it could or would have on him.
So he was stuck going the natural way.
Right now he and Nymeria were training with knives much to Ashara's chagrin as the older girl was teaching him how to throw them. A special technique the girl had where she'd attach a thin line of mana to the handle and use it to pull the knife back to her.
"It's really simple Jon. Just put the knife in your hand, focus the mana down your arm and to the handle, and solidify it and there you go."
Nymeria gave him a slow demonstration before throwing the knife at one of the targets in the training yard. Her aim struck true and she easily hit the bullseye. Causing a whistle of appreciation from Ser Desmond who stood off to the side leaning on a wall.
"Now you try."
Jon took a deep breath and let the mana run down his arm, to his hand, and wrap around the handle. As an Augmenter he had better mana channels than a Conjurer allowing for faster movement of mana inside his body.
After taking another deep breath and keeping himself calm Jon exhaled and threw the knife. Thanks to reinforcing his arm with mana he was able to throw it to the target from about twenty yards away. The downside was that Jon didn't know how to aim and only hit the outermost ring compared to Nymeria's bullseye.
"Good, very good." Nymeria softly clapped. "Now, give the string a tug and pull the knife back to you. Careful not to catch the blade or else your mother will throw a fuss."
Jon gave her a worrying look before tugging and watching as the knife came flying back toward him. He panicked and jumped out of the way, causing the knife to go flying past him and clatter onto the ground.
"You were supposed to catch it." Nymeria dryly said.
"It's a knife! It's scary!"
Nymeria sighed and pulled her knife back to her. Catching it with ease without even sparing a second glance. "Jon, you're going to have to catch it one day. You can keep dodging out of the way just because it's scary."
Seeing that her words weren't getting through to him Nymeria sighed. "Here, watch this."
Then without a second word, Nymeria raised her knife to her wrist and slashed down. Jon was quick to react, letting out a yelp as he grabbed Nymeria's wrist tightly.
"Nyneria!"
"Calm down Jon." She calmly said. Gently grabbing his hands showing them empty, not red with blood. Now that his attention was fully drawn to her wrist he didn't even see a cut.
"As Augmenters our bodies are protected by the mana barrier we can wrap around ourselves. It doesn't make us invincible but we can withstand attacks much better than those without mana. Kind of like a shield. But I suppose you have an idea of your next lesson now."
"The mana barrier?"
Nymeria nodded. "Yup, experienced mages like myself constantly have a thin barrier of mana surrounding our bodies. An unconscious thing we just do, it's weak of course, and more focus is required for a stronger one. But my papa always says that the thin barrier allows for one extra hit we need to fully focus."
"And I can learn this?"
"You can."
"Well, why didn't you teach me that first?"
Nymeria chuckled. "Because this is more on the advanced side and you needed to learn the basics first. It's like what you do with Ser Desmond and your sword."
"Oh." Jon nodded. "Can we start now?"
"Yes, Jon." Nymeria sighed. "We can start now."
….
The courtyard of Starfall was busy with the hustle and bustle of servants as they hurried to pack and fill away chests into carts. Jon's mother was making sure he was all packed and ready while Allyria skipped down the halls with glee.
House Yronwood was hosting a tourney.
His Mother seemed to fret about him going. For some odd reason, she seemed to want to keep him at Starfall while everyone else left. Which he, Allyria, and Nymeria pointed out was unfair that he was excluded. Though to ease her concerns Nymeria had promised to safeguard Jon with her life if the need arose.
Something about Jon being her favorite student or something. Now that Jon thought about it he was pretty sure he was her only student but that was besides the point.
He was going to a tourney. His first-ever tourney where knights would fight, things his Uncle Arthur had participated in when he was still alive. Jon wanted to see the melee and how Augmenters fought against other Augmenters. He was quite certain on the rules but he knew mages were split up from non-mages though mages had to reel themselves in to a certain degree lest they destroy the tourney grounds.
But he could find out more about that stuff at the tourney.
Allyria was excited because there would be a bunch of handsome and single Knights and Lords there. Something which she had not shut up about. Her main hope was to give her favor to some Lord or Knight and be crowned Queen of love and beauty. Jon found that dumb. It was just a crown of flowers to put on your head and they'd dry up and die eventually. It seemed like a waste.
"Jon!" Allyria yelled from the courtyard. "Come on! Get in the carriage, it's time to go!"
Nyneria sighed and shook her head. "Looks like your sister is all too eager to see the pretty Knights and young Lords."
"She hopes to be crowned as Queen of love and beauty." Jon shook his head as the two walked down the steps.
"She will have to quench her expectations then." Nymeria chuckled. "Though if you were old enough would you crown her as Queen of love and beauty?"
"Yes." Jon quickly answered. "Otherwise she'd be mad at me and complain the entire way back to Starfall."
"Ah coercion, my favorite."
As they reached the bottom of the stairs Allyria ushered them into the carriage. Ashara was already sitting inside so Jon took his seat across from her and Nymeria took her spot next to him. Allyria was the last one in and she took the empty spot next to Ashara filling the carriage to capacity.
Lord Dayne would be staying behind due to problems with whatever was wrong with his stomach while Edric would also remain as the boy was barely a year old. Leaving Jon to be stuck inside a carriage with a hyperactive Allyria with her head in the clouds.
Jon was excited for the tourney too, don't get him wrong. But he wanted to see the fights. Where men took to the arena to beat each other while those in the joust slammed a giant piece of wood into the other's chest. None of this romance stuff Allyria kept talking about.
Ashara seemed amused by his plight but decided to be merciful and tried to calm Allyria down as Jon looked out the window. He heard the reins snap and the carriage began to move.
He smiled. 'Let the journey begin.'
Notes:
Like I said very magic-heavy heavy and it only gets heavier.
So a very barebones explanation of Augmenters and Conjurers is that Augmenters are practically tanks or rogues while casters are your everyday wizards/magic archers. A good way to differentiate is that Augmenters want to beat the hell out of someone and Conjurers will blow you up.
Now with that out of the way, there are still things to introduce but those will come later when the time/need arises. With that said it's off to the tourney at Yronwood where Jon is still safe in Dorne. And for any TBATE fans reading this, I'm sure you can guess what's about to happen.
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Bookmark Comments (8)
Kudos
quirkyporky44, KatMorgan, DannyM23, bdwilliams3, Zephyr19, queenofwoldrans, USKiwi, Yeonii, Mortuss444, Pilea, bibliophile_musicgeek, Mm1221, nonardodicaprio, Vbmio, BigWilly526, Tatabug92, 12345tech, ludblud, Tabi24, axpats_12, jennyamanda8, Dominator81, BruhOnAStick, Nootfall, The_Final_Dark_God, Andres2614, Izzyt25, Madangopal, Akersf7, Dragonpink2002, Tobedois, Sherlynlopez16, Master358, rrs_plm, SamanthaGrindelwald_Targaryen, Sunshine_Shine_03, Waterfox00218, TheRiverWolf, faye6467, GenericsfandomsiswhatIlike, canardcz, NocturnaLectio, Catlady9, Mschriver, Kingindafuckingnorth, hippiebyday, Ysmir123, Batzam29, AegonTargaryentheLast, reikokuoni, and 270 more users as well as 372 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.6.0.3
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW