291 AC, Viserys Hills, White Fort.
On the white marble balcony of the King's Tower, Viserys was playing with a black fish bone in his hand, a gift from the rhoynar fishermen to the King.
The rhoynar worship the Rhoyne River, but since they live by the river, anything they deem unsuitable for the giant turtle and crab deities is still fair game for eating and drinking.
These days, Viserys could be considered an osteophage, having consumed a significant amount of both dragon bone and fish bone.
Although the auxiliary effects of attribute enhancement were getting slower, like a curve gradually flattening, at least there was positive feedback.
Viserys was essentially mining several veins at once; his natural talent was already excellent.
Now he had not only the training mine but also the'special talent' mine, making his progress astonishingly rapid.
"I need to get some exciting new things," Viserys thought. For the best effects, did he really have to rely on dragon heads and broken dragon egg fragments? How easy was that?
The scarcity of dragon bone goes without saying; although many fish bones were sent from all directions, the 'river gods bone' blessed by the 'Rhoyne River' was extremely rare.
Thinking about it, this was normal; there were so many fish, shrimp, and crabs in the Rhoyne River, and not every aquatic creature managed to absorb the water essence from Mother Rhoyne River.
Viserys skillfully consumed the last fish bone; he was preparing for a new expedition.
This time, it was not to clear out rhoynar or dothraki bandit gangs, but to check out the ruined city of Gohod.
The bandits entrenched in the Andals lands and adjacent to the Rhoyne River basin had been scared out of their wits by the nickname "Bloodthirsty Dragon" Viserys. These men began changing direction, fleeing toward the Norvos Hills, the Qohor Forest, or escaping to Dagger Lake.
Viserys even received diplomatic letters from the Bearded Priests, but with Prince Doran's wife's connection, the Norvos people were easy enough to handle.
Furthermore, as a landlocked city-state of mountains and hills, Norvos's strength was relatively inferior to other city-states, and it lacked the drive to confront Andals directly.
[ ""Fate Defier" Viserys Targaryen" has consumed the enchanted item "river gods bone", rewarding one basic attribute enhancement: Strength Enhancement →, Agility Enhancement →, Toughness Enhancement →]
"Not bad." Viserys was very happy; the last bite was perfect.
It was like buying a lottery ticket; at least he hit the probability, and the feeling of spending money for power was extremely satisfying.
Besides the attribute enhancement, Viserys also saw a new prompt on his status panel.
This made him even happier, as Viserys's panel had been silent for a while. It was normal for leveling up to slow down as his attributes increased.
[Fate Reverser Viserys Targaryen, you have completed the preliminary accumulation of Water Element, gaining the Talent: Water Element Affinity, Destiny Axis Fluctuation, activating the Profession: Water Channeler.]
Viserys's consumption of resources had indeed paid off, but he truly hadn't expected the first talent to appear would be Water Channeler, rather than Fire Channeler.
Speaking of which, nobles intermarry back and forth, often mixing various bloodlines.
It seems the quantity of dragon bone consumed was still insufficient, while fish bone was easier to obtain.
All fear stems from insufficient firepower. As long as enough attributes are filled, it will definitely activate.
[Talent (Water Element Affinity): Traveling through countless worlds, water is the source of life. Affinity to the Water Element brings the gentleness of water, water resistance, and water acuity. (Note: Best used in the Rhoyne River basin..).]
Viserys looked at this talent; it verified his conjecture.
The Water Element of the Rhoyne River is both similar to and different from the Water Element of the sea. The Rhoyne River and the Drowned God, as abstract, elusive divine powers, cover different regions.
Mother Rhoyne River is gentler, while the Drowned God is entirely synonymous with slaughter and cruelty.
[Profession Gained: Water Channeler (Beginner), the power of the Great River endures, and the most exquisite Water Sorcerer can awaken the Dance of the Great River.]
Viserys spread his palm; it was useless. His level was still too low to make the Water Element dance.
As a rare magical profession, advancement is naturally much slower than traditional professions.
And Water Channeler should be a higher tier than Water Sorcerer. Thinking about it, this is normal; Fire Sorcerer is now a derogatory term used to curse those charlatans who play with wildfire, so a Channeler is higher class.
If Viserys could activate Fire Channeler, then he would consider the possibility of traveling to the ruins of Valyria.
"Viserys, it's time." Rhaenys, dressed in a silver dress, said to Viserys.
"Take good care of Viserysgrad. For internal and external affairs, you have Syrio, Count Roland, and Count Donal." Viserys ruffled Rhaenys's long hair.
"Don't worry." Rhaenys clenched her fist.
After Viserys put on his black scale armor, he went downstairs, where The Red Viper, Argos, Hugo, and Gaelin were already waiting for him at the stables.
"I heard from the fleeing Horse People that Khal Drogo's father, Barbo, is dead," The Red Viper said with a hint of sarcasm.
"He is dead. Khal Drogo is busy killing disobedient Khas, and is also attacking other tribes on the grasslands."
Viserys replied.
Now the Great Grass Sea was becoming chaotic. Even if the most powerful Khal Barbo had fortunately paved the way for his son,
the old Khal lived until Drogo was an adult and unstoppable, but the dothraki still preferred the method of seizing power through force.
Drogo still needed to continue demonstrating his bravery and producing results.
This was also their window of opportunity. Once Drogo came to his senses, the possibility of a battle for Viserysgrad would increase.
If he chose destruction to increase his prestige, Drogo would not overlook Viserysgrad, and the Tyrosh people would send him crucial intelligence.
"Depart!"
Viserys cracked his whip, the black and red dragon banner unfurled, and the cavalry wearing black armor resembled a solemn pine forest of sentries.
The cavalry swept down the hill and then left through the gates of the Viserysgrad town below the hill.
"Our army! Long live the King!" The andals and rhoynar lining the road, who had cleared the way under the command of the garrison, shouted the name of King Viserys.
Their horses' hooves were swift, and since the dothraki Grass Sea was already in chaos, Viserys and his companions rode like the wind toward Gohod.
When they reached the small hill and saw the gentle green river and the desolate ancient city, Viserys knew Gohod had arrived.
This city was originally inconspicuous; it was not a great city, but it was exceptionally beautiful, with emerald flowers, canals, and fountains.
The rhoynar possessed both the spirit of craftsmanship and artistic flair. They created a series of beautiful cities, which were ultimately destroyed by the demon dragon.
Canals, fountains, palaces—the destruction of rhoynar, like that of Valyria, brought about the decline of civilization.
The rhoynar were not only militarily powerful but also possessed specialized water magic.
Viserys seemed to feel the dance of the Water Element in the air; it was tiny specks of light slowly gathering toward him.
For him, this beginner "Water Channeler" and Water Sorcerer, the Rhoyne River offered the best effect.
"This is Gohod," Gaelin, a Loynan, said with a sigh. "An ancient and beautiful city, destroyed a thousand years ago."
A thousand years later, only reeds and silt remained in the canals, and the stagnant pools in the fountain basins had become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and flies.
The shattered stones and ruins of temples and palaces were scattered everywhere, with only the gnarled old willow trees flourishing more vigorously on the wasteland beside the river.
"Drain this stagnant water," Viserys commanded. "This is a breeding ground for flies and is very likely to spread bacteria. Wait, I will join you."
People still lived among the ruins, with locals carving out small vegetable gardens among the wild grass.
Hearing the sound of iron hooves from the small hill, most of them quickly fled back to the caves where they usually lived. Only a few brave ones stood under the sun, staring at the passersby with dull, indifferent eyes.
A naked boy, covered in mud below the knees, stared blankly at Viserys, perhaps having never met such a handsome young man.
The soldiers dismounted together and, along with Viserys, cleaned the dirty water from the fountain basins and filled them with dirt.
The locals watched for a long time, only relaxing slightly after confirming that these men were different from the dothraki bandits.
"Have some candy." Viserys grabbed some sweets from his pocket and scattered them.
The naked little boy dared to walk over, then ran away like a flash.
Viserys walked across the ruined city, suddenly recalling an ancient poem: "When the king dies, spiders weave webs in his palace."
Viserys originally planned to reinforce the defenses here, but the terrain was too low, and it was not far from the Valyria road. Unless the Horse People were crushed, there would be no peace here.
Viserys looked at the broken stones and ruined buildings; the local people's civilization seemed to have regressed to the level of savages.
Without civilization and organizational strength, how could they talk about Water Sorcerer?
Viserys walked slowly through the city, suddenly sensing a strange anomaly.
Why did he still feel the fluctuation of the Water Element near a palace some distance away?
"Move all these stones away," Viserys commanded, then joined the soldiers in moving the palace's scattered stones.
They continued moving stones until, beneath the rubble, after tearing up the floor, they discovered a long wooden boat that had long since shattered.
A departed soul lay inside the long boat, its bones having long turned to dust, but the glittering treasures attracted everyone's attention.
"What is this?"
"An ancient Loynan treasure." The soldiers cheered, surprised to find treasure in such a remote place.
"Your Majesty, this is your glory." Argos invited Viserys to proceed.
A fish-shaped helmet, silver scale armor, a turtle-shaped shield, and the most prized treasure: a beautiful spear.
The spear's appearance was a shimmering silver, still looking new despite the passage of time. Its material was neither stone, nor jade, nor ordinary iron.
Viserys felt that this might be a kind of magical meteoric iron, like Dawn.
"The Spear of Garin?"
Viserys carefully examined the spear; a person's name was etched onto the spearhead.
The silver spear was like silver glaze, completely pure.
The spear was ten feet long, with a leaf-like spearhead spanning the first three feet, and the shaft making up the remaining seven.
The protruding part of the spearhead featured a large silver turtle and a large silver crab facing each other, cradling the tip. The turtle and crab are the incarnations of the river god, the Old Man of the River, and the Crab King, and in the center was an inlaid azure gem, incredibly vibrant.
The spear shaft was painted with scenes of the Rhoyne River rapids, along with specific Rhoyne River species like large fish, crabs, turtles, aquatic plants, and reeds.
Viserys played with the spear, seemingly truly sensing the Great River dancing. Using this holy relic of the rhoynar, he felt he might be better able to summon the Great River.
"It's a gem." Viserys looked at the blue gem; its density and hardness were exceptionally high.
Like Melisandre, who uses a ruby to store or channel magical power.
The Red Viper's eyes widened; what incredible luck was this?
Garin was a legendary Loynan hero and a Prince of Naath in history.
Garin drove the hairy men out of the area where Norvos is now located.
However, the rhoynar did not linger there; they preferred the mild climate of the lower Rhoyne River and disliked the gloomy skies and chilling mountain winds of the hilly regions.
"How did this spear end up here?" Viserys still had questions.
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