Just as Lancelot and Melisandre were preparing to explore a ruin, Podrick came running over, his face drenched in sweat.
"Ser Lancelot! A monster! There's a monster! We saw a monster!"
"Podrick, don't panic. Where is the monster?" Lancelot asked urgently.
"In the smoke! A giant tentacle shot out and grabbed one of the soldiers. Then... we heard his screams. It sounded like agony from the Seven Hells."
Podrick was clearly terrified, his whole body trembling and his spirit broken.
"Take me there!"
Podrick stumbled forward, shivering. Eventually, Lancelot had to support him as they reached the spot where the monster had appeared in the smoke.
Eight other men were there, staring in horror at the long, shadowy tentacle weaving in and out of the fog.
Lancelot could vaguely make out something serpentine.
"A kraken? But why only one tentacle? If it were a giant octopus or squid, shouldn't there be eight or ten?"
As Lancelot pondered this, the tentacle in the smoke lashed out again—this time aiming for him.
"Look out!" Podrick yelled, tackling Lancelot to the ground.
The tentacle whipped past like a steel lash, missing Lancelot by inches.
"You saved me! Podrick! Truly House Lannister's most loyal friend," Lancelot said.
Podrick's complexion improved slightly at the praise.
"Ser Lancelot, we should get away from here immediately. At the very least, we need to stay out of the monster's reach. We don't want to die for nothing."
"You're right. We retreat."
Lancelot ordered a retreat of half a mile. He then summoned the other nine squads. Only when all the groups had gathered did Lancelot realize the extent of their losses. Of the original one hundred soldiers, only eighty remained.
Twenty men lost in an instant.
"This place is terrifying. Worse than war," a young soldier muttered, squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, shaking.
"Aye, it's a nightmare. What took our mates wasn't any beast we've ever seen. It's a demon. A demon from the sea," an older soldier said.
"Everyone, calm down. First, we need to determine the range and active hours of the tentacles in the sea. Then, we can figure out a way to search while it sleeps," Lancelot said.
He surmised that since the monster stayed in the water and didn't come ashore, it likely didn't want to—or perhaps couldn't—come onto land.
Next, Lancelot ordered men to fire arrows into the fog to bait the sea monster. This allowed them to gauge the length of its tentacles, which turned out to be roughly fifteen zhang (about 45 meters).
"Everyone stay at least one hundred meters from the shoreline and continue the search. If anyone is unfortunate enough to die, your family will receive a compensation of two thousand Gold Dragons," Lancelot announced.
The search operation resumed. Lancelot didn't join the physical search this time. Instead, he checked his remaining Popularity Points and found he had over a thousand left.
He decided to use them all, hoping to draw something useful.
The ten-spin draw began. The massive wheel started to turn. After ten breaths, Lancelot called for it to stop.
He received the following items:
Mana-Enhancing Red Crystal (x1)
Wildfire (Pyromancer Made) (x10 flasks)
100 Gold Dragons (x1)
1,000 Silver Stags (x1)
Handheld Scorpion Crossbow (x1)
Scroll of Wind (x1)
Rum (x100 bottles)
Omni-Trauma Medicine (x10 bottles)
Strength Attribute Point (+1)
Spirit Attribute Point (+1)
Lancelot immediately used the last two prizes. He felt his strength increase slightly, and his tense mind relaxed.
"So I can draw attribute points too! Does this mean I can keep boosting my stats? But the probability seems low," Lancelot thought.
He stowed away the gold, silver, medicine, and rum, taking out only the Handheld Scorpion Crossbow.
"A range of one hundred meters? For something so small, that's incredible! I think Joffrey would love this toy!" Lancelot thought.
But then he remembered Joffrey's somewhat sadistic nature and decided against giving it to him.
If a madman got his hands on a lethal weapon, someone was bound to suffer.
Lancelot then took out the Red Crystal.
"Increases Mana. With this, my magic training speed should increase significantly."
"Scroll of Wind. It can create a strong gale to blow away smoke. Before we leave, I'll use it to try and clear the fog so we can see what exactly is in that Smoking Sea."
"Wildfire. Very dangerous! Better be careful with that!"
Lancelot took out all the rum, deciding to reward his men. Their water supplies were running low, and they hadn't eaten fruit in days; everyone was lacking vitamins.
Lancelot didn't go exploring himself. Instead, he used his Skinchanger ability to possess a small bird, surveying the area from the sky.
Suddenly, the bird Lancelot possessed spotted another bird—a black one. A raven.
"A raven? Why would a raven be here?" Lancelot found it strange.
He steered his bird toward the raven. As he got closer, he saw that the raven had a third eye on its forehead.
Boom!
Lancelot was blasted out of the bird by a powerful force, his consciousness snapping back into his own body.
"That raven... could it be the Three-Eyed Raven? A Greenseer? What is he doing here?" Lancelot rubbed his throbbing head.
"To be able to knock my consciousness back so directly... his Spirit and Mana must be incredibly high. Definitely higher than Melisandre's," Lancelot reasoned.
He tried to possess an animal again, but he felt a sensation as if something was trying to grow inside his brain, accompanied by a sharp pain like needles piercing his heart. The dual agony made Lancelot roll on the ground in pain. Thankfully, no one saw him.
"What's happening? Am I cursed?" Lancelot felt a wave of fear. Was it the monster in the Smoking Sea, or the Three-Eyed Raven?
Lancelot cracked open a bottle of rum and took a swig to calm his nerves.
An hour later, the soldiers began to trickle back. They returned empty-handed, covered in dust and grime. Their lips were cracked, and they were exhausted, hungry, and thirsty.
Lancelot treated them to the rum.
everyone was confused.
"Didn't we finish all the wine seven days ago? Where did this rum come from?"
"I am Ser Lancelot, blessed by the Seven and the Lord of Light! They grant me miracles in my time of need!" Lancelot declared.
Although everyone knew Lancelot was bluffing, a mouthful of rum was too refreshing to question.
After drinking their fill, the men started fires to cook. They still had plenty of dry rations, so they wouldn't starve anytime soon.