Staring at the shattered cup, Linde then looked at his own hand. He immediately realized something and began running a series of tests on himself, carefully examining his physical condition. The results filled him with delight.
Because he discovered that while absorbing and organizing the memories of the Exiled Knight, he had also, under the effect of the golden finger, completed a Dragon Feasting Ritual.
This Dragon Feasting Ritual did not grant him especially powerful extraordinary abilities, but it greatly increased his physical strength. He felt that if he were to return to the arena now, even without relying on clever tricks and instead fighting head-on, he would still be able to seize final victory.
More importantly, his current level of strength meant that Linde no longer needed high-intensity strength training. He could directly begin using the Exiled Knight's dual-sword techniques, because his strength was now sufficient to wield two knight greatswords.
Aside from strength, he also discovered that his bones and internal organs had grown far tougher, equivalent to his overall physique advancing by an entire tier. This improvement not only allowed for greater speed, stronger power, and longer endurance, but also dramatically enhanced his recovery speed after injuries.
His current physical condition inevitably made Linde think of one person—the Mountain. And not the Mountain in his normal state, but the Mountain after being turned into a living corpse. While he might not reach the undying level of the corpse-like Mountain, at the very least, in terms of physical quality, he should not be much worse.
And this was merely the effect of a single Dragon Feasting Ritual. This made Linde begin to look forward to what changes a second ritual might bring.
However, another Dragon Feasting Ritual would not be possible in the short term. If he did not fully digest the power gained from this ritual and resolve its hidden side effects, then attempting another ritual would only trigger unpredictable mutations—and such mutations were usually never good.
While feeling excited about the improvement to his physical condition, Linde was also somewhat troubled by the side effects of the Dragon Feasting Ritual.
He could already feel them now. Whenever he thought about opponents or enemies, violent emotions would surge uncontrollably within him. These violent impulses, combined with the battle memories of the Peacemaker, placed enormous strain on his mind and had become an urgent problem he needed to address.
As for the solution, it was actually quite simple. The Exiled Knight's training methods included a way to deal with this. All that was needed was a piece of obsidian known as dragon crystal, crafted into a corresponding Dragon Runestone Necklace. Wearing it for a long time would gradually ease the side effects and eventually eliminate them entirely—though it was useless in cases of complete loss of control.
Thinking of the effects of the dragon crystal runestone necklace, Linde could not help but want to make one immediately. He called Raul, who was guarding outside the tent, and asked,"Did anything happen while I was resting just now?"
Raul shook his head. "No, everything was normal. However, Lord Garlan sent someone to look for you. When they heard you were resting, they didn't enter the tent. He asked me to pass on a message, saying that you won't need to carry out any missions for the next few days—you can rest well and take a stroll around King's Landing. Also, the champion's prize money has already been delivered. The Duke had it exchanged into Rose Trading Company gold notes, and they're currently with Lord Garlan. You can collect them at any time."
Linde was not surprised that the prize money had been exchanged into Rose Trading Company gold notes. Although some value would be lost in the exchange, compared to the hassle of constantly guarding twenty thousand gold dragons, that loss was negligible.
He was also in no hurry to collect the enormous sum. Compared to carrying such wealth on his person and needing to stay alert at all times, leaving it with Garlan for safekeeping was clearly the better option.
"Do you know where obsidian is sold?" Linde asked next.
"Obsidian?" Raul was momentarily stunned, then asked in confusion, "What's that?"
Linde explained using a more common name. "Dragon crystal."
"Oh? That stuff seems to be sold at gemstone shops. Blacksmith shops might have it too," Raul replied vaguely, not entirely sure.
Linde shook his head. "I need large, intact pieces of obsidian, not fragments."
Raul thought for a moment. "I remember Scar-Eye Milt from the Shieldbearer Squad seems to have a dragon crystal dagger. He's always taking it out to show off."
"Scar-Eye Milt?" Linde recalled for a moment and quickly remembered that this man had once served as his sparring partner. He was quite skilled with sword and shield, and Linde had needed to put in some effort to break through his shield defense. With that in mind, he ordered,"Go ask Scar-Eye if he's willing to sell that dagger."
"Yes, sir." Raul immediately left the tent and jogged toward the Shieldbearer Squad's camp.
After a while, Raul returned, bringing someone with him—Scar-Eye Milt.
"Great Bear-Hunter, I am willing to offer my dragon crystal dagger to you as a gift," Scar-Eye Milt said before Raul could speak. He took the obsidian dagger from his waist and presented it to Linde with both hands.
Linde did not take the dagger. Instead, he looked at Scar-Eye Milt and said,"What do you want?"
Scar-Eye Milt wore an expression of deep reverence. "I truly admire you and am willing—"
Linde interrupted him coldly. "Enough nonsense. I don't have time for this. Say what you really want. If it's reasonable, I'll consider it."
Scar-Eye Milt fell silent for a moment before saying,"I want to join the cavalry."
Linde was briefly taken aback. "My cavalry unit is already full."
"No, I mean the new cavalry unit." Scar-Eye Milt cautiously lifted the tent flap and glanced outside through the gap. Seeing no one there, he lowered his voice. "I have a friend serving in the Duke's guard. He told me that after you left, the Duke and others were discussing your future placement. Lord Rogel and Scholar Moras think you should be brought back to Highgarden for cultivation, and that you could eventually become captain of the Duke's guard. However, Lord Fotimo believes you should be placed somewhere more important—such as leading anti-bandit operations in the Reach."
He looked at Linde and said carefully,"Sir, did you perhaps have some misunderstanding with Lord Fotimo? If so, it would be best to go and reconcile with him as soon as possible, so as not to miss this opportunity."
Linde looked at Scar-Eye Milt without speaking. In the eyes of ordinary people, staying in Highgarden and becoming captain of the Duke's guard—a trusted confidant of the Duke—was undoubtedly the best choice. At the very least, it was far better than sleeping rough and risking one's life hunting bandits.
However, they did not know that in Linde's heart, Fotimo's proposal was exactly what he wanted. If he were to lead anti-bandit operations, he would inevitably be granted relatively independent military authority. As someone from the East, Linde knew very well what military power represented—especially for someone of humble origins like himself.
More importantly, if he were suppressing bandits, his operational area would span the vast mountains and hills from Bitterbridge to the Kingswood. This would give him tremendous room to maneuver. If luck favored him, he might even obtain a territory ahead of time.
But before that, he needed Fotimo's proposal to be approved.
After thinking for a moment, Linde spoke with a serious expression,"Not enough. The value of a single dragon crystal dagger is not sufficient to buy a position in the Duke's guard. I need more."
Scar-Eye Milt froze. He had not expected such a response. In his view, Linde should either reject him outright or agree—but never did he imagine Linde would start bargaining.
Since there was bargaining, there was room for negotiation. Scar-Eye Milt considered adding more, but after thinking it over, he realized he did not possess many other valuable items.
"If you don't have anything else of value, that's fine," Linde said, seeing his difficulty. "I'll give you a proposal. If you handle it well, the position will be yours."
"As you guessed, I will definitely go to Highgarden to accept Lord Rogel's cultivation. If the cavalry is expanded, I'll naturally have quite a few slots. But not all of them will be chosen by me—those lords in Highgarden will surely need some spots as well. Even so, I can still squeeze out ten positions. I can give you one of them. As for the remaining nine, you will help me sell them. Naturally, the higher the price, the better."
Hearing this, both Scar-Eye Milt and Raul looked shocked. They had clearly not expected Linde to make such a proposal.
Accepting bribes was common enough—anyone with even a bit of authority would use it to make some money—but openly selling cavalry positions like this was something they had never seen before.
Raul quickly sensed something was wrong and wanted to advise Linde, but Linde stopped him with a glance.
Scar-Eye Milt, however, thought it over carefully and realized there was no downside for him. He agreed without hesitation.
After Scar-Eye Milt left, Raul could not understand why Linde would do this. In his view, Linde had just received a huge champion's reward, and the Tyrell family would also provide additional monetary rewards. After all, winning the championship brought honor to House Tyrell. There was no need for Linde to covet the money from selling positions.
With confusion on his face, Raul cautiously reminded him,"My lord, what you're doing might be inappropriate. If the Duke or his close confidants find out—"
"You don't need to worry. I know exactly what will happen," Linde said, gesturing to Raul before instructing him to fetch engraving and polishing tools from the camp's leatherworkers and blacksmiths.
Seeing Linde's expression of complete confidence, Raul realized that Linde was clearly planning something—he just couldn't see through it yet. He stopped thinking about it and followed Linde's orders, bringing back all the necessary tools.
Once the tools arrived, Linde began cutting the obsidian dagger into suitable pieces inside the tent, following the design of the obsidian dragon runestone necklace from his memories, and then carefully polishing them.
While crafting the obsidian dragon runestone necklace, Linde discovered that the Exiled Knight memories granted by this golden finger were vastly different from when he had first obtained the Peacemaker's combat experience.
When he initially acquired the Peacemaker's combat experience, he still needed long periods of training to fully integrate it and fight like the Peacemaker.
But this time, after fusing the Exiled Knight's memories, it was as if the owner of those memories had completely overlapped with him. All combat experience and habitual movements merged directly into his body and mind. That meant that as long as his physical condition met the requirements, he could use all of the Exiled Knight's sword techniques and combat skills without any special training.
He realized this purely because the process of crafting the obsidian dragon runestone necklace was astonishingly smooth—so smooth that it felt as though he had already made hundreds or thousands of identical necklaces. In reality, this was his first time carving anything, and his first time making a necklace.
In just over ten minutes, he polished the obsidian into the shape of the pendant from his memory, then picked up the carving knife and skillfully engraved dragon runes onto it.
As the hardest of stones, obsidian is extremely difficult to engrave with patterns or designs. Even master jewelers specializing in engraving would need considerable effort to carve upon it.
But Linde was completely different. He could easily identify weak points on the obsidian's surface. Starting from those weak points, he could carve dragon runes onto the obsidian as effortlessly as if he were carving into soft clay.
As the carving knife moved, he soon completed the dragon runes on the obsidian's surface. But then something strange happened.
When he withdrew the knife and prepared to examine the pendant's effect, he felt waves of cold air emanating from the obsidian. Its surface rapidly cracked and shattered into fragments of varying sizes.
"Did I carve it wrong?" Linde frowned at the sudden change. He carefully recalled the entire engraving process and confirmed that it had been flawless, without the slightest error.
He then picked up another piece of obsidian and began engraving again. This time, he slowed down considerably and was far more meticulous, ensuring every rune line was in its perfect position. In the end, it took him twice as long to complete this piece.
The result was the same as the first. The moment he lifted the carving knife, a burst of cold air surged out, and the pendant shattered completely.
Unwilling to accept it, Linde picked up the final piece of obsidian and continued engraving. The outcome was identical—the obsidian completely shattered under the influence of the mysterious cold.
"Is it because this is a different world, causing the result to differ?" Linde muttered to himself.
He carefully recalled every detail related to the obsidian dragon runestone necklace, from the necklace itself to the crafting process. After reviewing it all, he finally found the source of the problem.
"Only obsidian that has been scorched by dragonfire can withstand the power of dragon runes?" Linde said, realization dawning on his face.
As the words fell, his gaze unconsciously turned toward the location of King's Landing's dragonpit—where there should be obsidian once touched by dragonfire.
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
Patreon Shop:patreon.com /InkNovels
Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)