Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Enchantment Dilemma
After completing his business in Myr, Wright met up with Oberyn, and the ship set sail northward toward Braavos.
About a week later, at the residence of the Myr Warlock, a persistent stench of rotting corpses filled the air. The locals avoided the area, and the bodies of the two Warlock, already decayed and foul-smelling, had gone unnoticed.
However, an organization had been keeping an eye on the Warlcoks — the priests of the Red God Temple in Myr. As the westernmost outpost of the faith of the Lord of Light in Essos, they closely monitored the activities of other cults in the city. When the Warlcoks had not been seen outside for several days, the priests realized something was wrong and dispatched a group to check on their residence.
Clad in red robes, the group consisted of several temple knights, monks, and a high-ranking female priest who had come from Asshai. They surrounded the corpses of the male Warlcoks, which were swarming with flies.
A red-robed Priest prodded one of the Warlcoks' bodies with a wooden stick. "Melisandre, this body is in an advanced state of decay. There are no visible signs of injury, but based on his position lying on the bed, it seems he was killed in his sleep."
Melisandre took the Priest's stick, pulled out a pouch of powder from her robe, sprinkled it on the stick, and then ignited it with a touch of her hand. She threw the burning stick onto the body and recited a prayer from the Lord of Light's teachings. The flames immediately consumed the corpse.
"He used magic before he died!" she declared.
The Priest replied, "Only someone stronger than him could have killed him. He didn't have a chance to resist while lying in bed."
Melisandre led the group out of the burning house, gazing at the fierce flames.
"The prophecies of the Lord of Light have become clearer. I followed the prophecy and arrived here in the west ahead of schedule."
A red-robed Priest recalled something. "I heard that the... mage from Westeros, Wright Baratheon, came to Myr not long ago. Could he be the one who killed these heretics?"
(Magic practitioners in essos are called Warlocks or Sorcerers. Peopleo in essos are not much familiar with the term "Mage".)
Melisandre answered, "It may have nothing to do with him, but I am very interested in his magic."
The Priest added, "And there's Thoros, the Priest we sent to spread the faith, but we haven't heard from him in years. It seems he has abandoned the faith of the Lord of Light."
Melisandre replied, "I will go find him myself."
The Priest asked, "Do you think Wright, this mage, might be connected to the Lord of Light?"
Melisandre: "The name Wright Baratheon does not appear in the prophecies of the Lord of Light. It is impossible for him to be the one who draws Lightbringer."
The priests of the Red God do not possess the ability of the Three Eyed Raven to directly see the future and past. They can only glimpse fragmented pieces of the future in the flames and must study these fragments to interpret the future. The same vision, depending on the priest, can be interpreted differently, and it all comes down to who holds the highest authority in the faith.
Turning to the Priest's and knights, Melisandre loudly declared, "We all must make a choice — man or woman, old or young, noble or humble, our choice is the same. We choose light! We choose justice! We choose the true god. A Warlock has appeared in Westeros. If he is false, the fire will consume him! If he is true, he will come to serve the Lord of Light!"
The three-story house behind them burst into flames, and the heat from the fire blew Melisandre's red hair and cloak, casting her beautiful, alluring face and crimson eyes in a holy light as they were reflected in the fire.
The knights and monks, hearing Melisandre's words and witnessing such a sight, all knelt and worshipped the flames, shouting, "Praise R'hllor! Praise the Light of Light!"
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The space aboard the ship was cramped, and aside from eating and drinking, it was mostly boring. The sailors from Dorne had taken to singing the songs Wright had taught them, occasionally humming a few lines.
After giving Tyene the alchemy recipe, Wright found himself bored and went up to the deck to look out at the sea. His mind wandered to an attribute panel he hadn't checked in a long while.
Name: Wright Baratheon
Age: 18 years
Attributes (average adult value: 100):
Life: 900
Magicka: 2100
Endurance: 1300
Body Skills (Max Level 100):
One-Handed Weapons: 100
Two-Handed Weapons: 100
Block: 65
Archery: 62
Light Armor: 53
Heavy Armor: 35
Magic Skills:
Destruction: 85 (Master)
Restoration: 85 (Master)
Alteration: 85 (Master)
Summoning: 85 (Master)
Illusion: 85 (Master)
Alchemy: 21
Enchantment: 18
Life Skills:
Eloquence: 100
Lockpicking: 40
Stealth: 40
Sneak: 56
Smithing: 80
Free Points: 2
Talents:
Broken Item Space
Magic Affinity
Dragonborn:
Fus-Ro-Dah/Unrelenting Force 3/3 (Mastery)
Mul-Qah-Diiv/Dragon Aspect (Mastery)
Remaining Dragon Souls: 4
Wright decided to save the four Dragon Souls for when they would be necessary. There were many situations where ordinary magic could solve problems, so he didn't need to use the shouts just yet.
With Tyene helping him with alchemy, forging was one of the main purposes of this trip, to find a Skyforge in the ruins of Valyria.
After encountering the army of wights in the North, he had strengthened his life force and endurance. His magic skills had all reached master level, but now his main limitation was magic consumption and regeneration.
His magic regeneration had, for unknown reasons, become nearly twice as fast as it had been a few years ago, but when his magic was completely depleted, it would still take over a week to fully recover.
As for magic consumption, that was something that could only be addressed through equipment. The biggest problem with equipment was enchanting, which required souls!
He had already managed to create an enchanting station and had made some small trinkets for others using animal souls. But in order to achieve the strongest enchantments, human souls were needed.
The most powerful enchantments required human souls, and this world did not have soulstones. This meant that to enchant an item, a person had to be killed right next to the enchanting station.
Enchanted gear was undoubtedly the most attractive item for a mage. Combined with alchemical potions, it could even make a mage's magic consumption disappear entirely! Would the mages here be able to resist the temptation of such powerful gear?
The greed for money, power, and strength in humans is uncontrollable. As a certain philosopher once said: "Never attempt to test human nature."
When mages started killing to get stronger equipment, whether by killing criminals or enemies on the battlefield, no matter how covert their actions, once they did it too many times, it would inevitably be discovered.
At that point, ordinary people would begin to fear. The white walkers of the North merely played with corpses, but people believed that the soul would go to the afterlife according to their faith. Enchanting, however, involved turning a person's soul into a mage's equipment! Playing with souls was far more sinister than the wights playing with corpses, and it would be far less accepted by the world.
By then, there would inevitably be war between the mages and ordinary people. Mages weren't invincible; they would be slaughtered by thousands of angry enemies. The mage system that Wright had worked so hard to build would be wiped out and perhaps even ridiculed by future generations.
Because of this, Wright had kept his desires in check and had not made any powerful enchanted equipment. To this day, he had not taught anyone the enchantment skill. Even Renly had never seen the process; it was something Wright kept to himself.
Wright stood at the bow of the ship, lost in thought.
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