"The Ancient Ones? What is that?" After forging a new pact with the Unicorn Giant Turtle, Lynd contentedly left Na Sa Star, but on the way, he couldn't help but ask Marwyn, puzzled.
Marwyn thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I've seen similar terms in the stone tablets of the First Men. This is a general term for some ancient existences, such as Garth the Gardener, Brandon the Builder, and the first Storm King, Durran Godsgrief. In some books, they are also referred to as beings closest to the gods." He then looked at Lynd and added, "Just like Lord Linde you are now."
An ordinary person hearing such praise might feel pleased, but Lynd frowned slightly, because he truly knew the current situation of Garth the Gardener, knowing that he was bound within the heart tree of Highgarden. As for Brandon the Builder or Storm King Durran, their situations were probably similar, or even worse.
As Lynd acquired the Nameless King's character template, his inner self began to change, harboring greater ambition and desires. Being confined to one place, becoming an existence like a guardian spirit, was not the outcome he desired.
The two still rode the small boat they had bought from Norvos, sailing southward along the Lorne River and entering Dagger Lake.
Lynd did not immediately head north on the Qin'en River, but instead circled around Dagger Lake to understand the river conditions within it. Since he had decided to rebuild Na Sa Star, the river pirates of Dagger Lake would inevitably be a problem he needed to solve.
Although in terms of scale, the river pirates here could not compare to the pirates of the Stepstones, if one wanted to completely clear out the river pirates here, the difficulty would likely be greater than clearing the pirates of the Stepstones.
The reason Lynd was able to clear out the pirates of the Stepstones so quickly and gain control of the Stepstones was entirely because he gradually forced the pirates of the Stepstones to gather and engage him in a decisive battle, ultimately annihilating the main forces of the pirates in one fell swoop. The scattered pirates on the islands, without external aid, were quickly eliminated.
But the river pirates of Dagger Lake were different; their scale was much smaller. A group the size of Uda U was unique in Dagger Lake; generally, a band of river pirates would not exceed ten boats at most. They were like hyenas, swarming prey when encountered and scattering when faced with danger, almost never confronting strong enemies head-on.
Moreover, and more importantly, most of these river pirates were fishermen from villages along the Lorne River, Qin'en River, and other rivers. To completely clear out the river pirates, it would require sweeping through all the villages on both sides of the rivers.
However, even so, Lynd still had many ways to deal with these river pirates; it would just take a bit longer. If the Old Man of the River could assist, it would be even easier.
After briefly understanding the situation of the Dagger Lake river pirates, Lynd did not linger there, heading directly north from the Qin'en River towards Kohor.
Compared to sailing downstream, going upstream against the current was undoubtedly much slower. Lynd no longer used his telekinesis to control the boat, as using telekinesis to constantly fight the river's current was still very strenuous for him at his current level.
So, while in Dagger Lake, he directly seized a sailboat from the river pirates, then created a strong wind to propel them upstream.
As they entered the Qin'en River, the number of boats on the water increased. Besides the fishing boats of the fishermen along both banks, the most frequently encountered vessels were the cargo ships of the Kohor Craftsmen's Guild.
In Kohor, although power was divided into three, it was the Craftsmen's Guild that truly held the economic lifeline of Kohor. Nearly eighty percent of all income in Kohor came from the Craftsmen's Guild, and within the Craftsmen's Guild, the Blacksmiths' Guild accounted for over eighty percent of the income. Thus, the importance of the Blacksmiths' Guild to Kohor was self-evident.
However, in recent years, the Blacksmiths' Guild of Kohor had not been doing very well, the reason being that Summerhall had directly seized over ninety percent of the weapon market from them. The Blacksmiths' Guild barely managed to maintain its operations by relying on high-quality weapons and various types of armor.
The blacksmiths of Kohor had also thought about reclaiming the weapon market, but facing the ultra-low prices of weapons produced by Summerhall, all their efforts were in vain.
In terms of high-quality weapons alone, the weapons specially forged by Kohor's blacksmiths were indeed much better than the assembly-line weapons produced by Summerhall's hydraulic forging devices. However, compared to mass-produced ordinary weapons, the difference between the two was not that great, and Summerhall's weapons were sold at only one-third the price of Kohor's weapons. In the face of such a huge price advantage, that slight difference naturally ceased to exist.
Due to Summerhall's weapon dumping, Kohor's overall income was cut in half, which directly led to a significant reduction in funding for the Mages Association and the Black Goat Church. Therefore, it could be said that no one in Kohor City currently had a good impression of Lynd. House Soyid's actions against Lynd's magic armor were probably related to this, more or less.
Propelled by a powerful wind, Lynd's small boat traveled incredibly fast, so fast that even the sailors on the Kohor cargo ships they encountered were shocked. Moreover, some observant individuals on the ships clearly saw Lynd's figure and the Lost Knights Greatsword hanging at his waist.
Such an unusual small boat, such a distinct attire, coupled with the recently circulating news, led some well-informed Kohor merchants to vaguely guess Lynd's identity and sense that Kohor would be very lively this time.
It was no longer a secret that Summerhall Lynd had arrived on the continent of Essos. Ever since the news from Braavos spread, many keen observers had gradually deduced Lynd's route to Essos, such as his previous disguise as the Lion Knight, and so on. They also inferred that his objective should be the magic armor of House Soyid in Kohor.
After all, Lynd was recognized throughout Westeros as the one who truly mastered the mysteries of magic. For a long time, Lynd only had a pair of magic Greatswords and no magic armor, which made him seem somewhat incomplete. Now that House Soyid had forged magic armor, Lynd would surely be interested.
However, apart from a few high-ranking officials in Kohor, others did not know the relationship between the magic armor and Lynd, nor did they know that Lynd's visit to Kohor was not just for the armor, but also to cause trouble.
So, when they guessed Lynd's identity, they immediately used their respective means to relay the news of Lynd's approach to Kohor back to the city.
By the time Lynd's small boat reached the confluence of the Qin'en River and the Darkflow River, passing by the abandoned Loisne city-states of A'nor, the news of his arrival had already spread throughout Kohor City.
Regarding his visit, the three major ruling factions within Kohor City held different views. The Craftsmen's Guild was naturally extremely repulsed; they wished they could kill Lynd and reclaim the market, so how could they welcome his visit?
The Black Goat Church remained neutral. Although Lynd was called the Chosen of the Seven and the storm god incarnate, there was no Sept in Kohor, nor did a Storm God Temple exist. They were more concerned about the formidable enemy, the Lord of Light Temple, which was close at hand.
Moreover, the Black Goat Church's funds mainly came from devotee donations and land taxes. Kohor's tax revenue was heavily discounted due to the Craftsmen's Guild's reduced income, which did not significantly impact them, so they had no extra thoughts about Lynd's arrival.
On the contrary, the people of the Mages Association were extremely welcoming of Lynd's visit.
On an intellectual level, Lynd was regarded by the Kohor Mages Association as a pioneer of magic. Many Warlocks, witches, and Shadowbinders considered him a spiritual mentor. If not for various reasons preventing them from leaving Kohor, they might have already gone to Lynd's territory.
Now that Lynd was coming, it was practically a grand festival for those in Kohor who were obsessed with mystical powers.
However, while these three ruling factions harbored their own thoughts about Lynd's arrival, some people who understood the magic armor came, by coincidence, to House Soyid, one of Kohor's foremost noble families.
"Now that Linde Terra has come knocking, how do you plan to resolve this?" The High Priest of the Black Goat Church directly questioned Kos Soed, the patriarch of House Soyid and also a priest of the Black Goat Church.
The High Priest of the Black Goat Church was like the Archbishop of the Seven Gods Church; the moment he became the High Priest of the Black Goat Church, his previous identity and name had to be discarded. His status and authority were the highest in Kohor, and even now, questioning Kos Soed, who was also a priest, with such an impolite attitude, the latter dared not show any dissatisfaction.
Kos Soed honestly replied, "The item is currently in the mine. When Linde Terra arrives, we'll just return it to him."
Upon hearing Kos's reply, the High Priest immediately showed an incredulous expression, then looked Kos up and down as if he were an idiot, saying, "Do you know what you're saying, Priest Kos? Has your brain been filled with the black water of the Ash River? To say 'just return it to him.' If someone stole something from your house, and you traveled over mountains and rivers to find them, and they told you 'just return it to you,' would you let it go?"
Being lectured by the High Priest, Kos's face turned somewhat ugly. He hadn't actually thought of a plan yet and had just answered casually, not expecting such a strong reaction from the High Priest.
"Actually, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on House Soyid. If not for certain individuals inciting them from the side, I don't think House Soyid would have dared to do such a thing." The president of the Mages Association was a Warlock from Qarth named Boya Sati. He had lived in the House of the Undying for a long time and had continuously drunk Night Shadow, which caused his skin, lips, and nails to turn deep purple, and his eyes to become black.
The reason he left the House of the Undying was because he received a prophecy: the House of the Undying would be destroyed by fire, and the Undying Ones would be consumed by flames. The fear of the prophecy of the House of the Undying's demise, and his dissatisfaction with the corrupt and decadent lives of the Warlocks, led him to voluntarily abandon his seat in the House of the Undying, relinquish all his power in Qarth, and come alone to Kohor, joining the Mages Association.
Afterward, relying on his powerful illusion and prophetic abilities, he quickly gained power and status within the Mages Association, eventually becoming its president.
For some unknown reason, his relationship with the Craftsmen's Guild was very poor. The pointed remarks he just made were directed at the Craftsmen's Guild.
Hearing the Warlock's words, the people of the Craftsmen's Guild couldn't help but frown, but they didn't refute him. Instead, they looked towards the president of the Blacksmiths' Guild beside them.
Feeling the gazes on him, the president of the Blacksmiths' Guild looked annoyed and, unable to suppress his volatile emotions, said to everyone around him, "I wasn't the only one who persuaded House Soyid to intercept that magic armor. Every one of you participated as well. Didn't you all covet the magical mysteries within the armor? Now that something has happened, and Linde Terra has come knocking, every single one of you acts as if you've lost your memory, forgetting what you said in front of Old Kos back then, blaming me for inciting him to intercept the armor, you..."
"Alright, now is not the time to discuss who is to blame and who is not, but rather how we should deal with Linde Terra." The High Priest of the Black Goat Church timely interrupted the Blacksmiths' Guild president, preventing them from completely falling out and tearing each other apart, and brought the conversation back to the main topic.
"What else can we do? We should compensate him as we should," Boya Sati directly stated his idea.
Kos Soed looked at the Warlock Boya with a strange expression and said, "Lord Boya, do you mean to compensate him with a Valyrian full plate armor?"
The Warlock shrugged and said, "I think besides that, there's no other way to appease his anger."
"Are you crazy? A complete Valyrian steel armor, do you know how much that's worth? Even if you sold all the assets of your Mages Association, you couldn't buy one Valyrian steel armor!" Kos couldn't help but yell, then turned to the other powerful figures in Kohor present and said, "What's wrong with you all? Linde Terra is just one person, not a god. When our ancestors faced the invasion of the Dothraki, did they surrender? No, they did not surrender, but fought to the death, and ultimately defeated the Dothraki. But what about us now? We are facing only one person, and one who hasn't even arrived outside the city, and we're already surrendering? I can't believe such a thing is happening in Kohor, this city of heroes."
Listening to Kos Soed's roar, most of the native-born Kohor residents all showed embarrassed expressions, while others felt nothing.
"But Linde Terra is not Dothraki." In the silence, Boya Sati suddenly spoke, "The Dothraki are like weeds in the Dothraki Sea before him. Do you know how many Dothraki died at his hands when he passed through the Disputed Lands disguised as the Lion Knight? At least five thousand, all killed by him alone. Do you know how Uda U, who had been entrenched in Dagger Lake and couldn't be eradicated, died? They were all frozen to death, turned into ice sculptures, and haven't thawed yet. You actually want us to resist a being with such power, like a god, with you. I don't know if you're crazy, or if I'm crazy?" He then looked at the others around him and added, "Or perhaps we are all crazy!"
Everyone fell silent again upon hearing these words, but compared to the previous silence, this one was much more profound.
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