On the way from Tyrosh to King's Landing, Storm's End served as a reference landmark.
The castle where Wright had spent his childhood had now expanded to a city enclosed by four layers of walls, with new houses being constructed outside them. However, this did not mean its total area surpassed Highgarden or King's Landing, as Storm's End was built on a landform resembling a sliced triangular cake, with the castle positioned at the tip, surrounded by cliffs on three sides and the sea beyond. The city could only expand westward, a design that provided significant advantages—any land-based assault would first have to breach four layers of walls before reaching the main keep.
The port of Storm's End, once a mere fishing village when Wright was born, had grown into the fourth-largest port in the Seven Kingdoms, following White Harbor, Lannisport, and King's Landing. Large merchant ships came and went in an endless stream, while a great number of smaller fishing boats operated to supply the city's needs.
Wright guided Odahviing to descend, intending to follow the King's Road under construction on his way to King's Landing.
As the dragon circled above Storm's End, its shadow cast over the city, prompting residents and soldiers to shield their eyes and look up at the sky. The Baratheon family now had two dragons—one large and one small. The smaller one resembled an owl, while the larger was unmistakable.
After the Baratheons had grown in power and split into four branches, the people of Storm's End still believed that as long as one bore the Baratheon name, this place would always be their home. They took great pride in the glory their house had achieved.
When they saw the figure standing atop the dragon's head and recognized him as Wright, countless soldiers began waving banners bearing the crowned stag sigil. Even though he had already been granted lands of his own, Wright saw that he remained popular here and signaled Odahviing to roar in response.
"ANG~~~"
Hearing the dragon's mighty roar, the crowd below erupted into cheers, raising their arms toward the sky.
Leaving Storm's End, Wright continued north. The King's Road under construction was divided into numerous segments, each being worked on separately. Some portions had already been melted down by Odahviing's dragonfire, while others were still in the process of being widened by clearing trees and expanding the roadbed.
Upon arriving at King's Landing, Odahviing circled the city a few times. From the sky, Wright observed that the city itself had not changed much, save for the top of Rhaenys's Hill, where the Dragonpit had once stood. Now, the scorched summit had been melted into a vast black stone plaza, a result of a petition by both the city's nobility and its citizens to the king.
Due to the construction of the King's Road, Odahviing had been residing in the area. Given its immense size, every takeoff would stir up clouds of dust dozens of meters high, much to the frustration of King's Landing's residents. In the end, Renly had struck a deal—offering twenty head of cattle to persuade the dragon to clear the area.
The magic School was now the only structure atop the former Dragonpit. The original main building had been expanded to three stories, housing a massive library, classrooms for theoretical study, a dining hall, a lounge, and guest rooms, as well as private chambers for Wright and Renly.
Beside the main hall stood two residential buildings—one large, one small—each two stories tall. The smaller housed Qyburn and other faculty members, designed with suites that included both bedrooms and sitting areas. The larger served as dormitories for students, with each having a private room furnished to a luxurious standard.
A new dedicated teaching hall had been constructed for more powerful magic experiments. Meanwhile, the old training grounds had been converted into a garden for cultivating alchemical plants, with the perimeter walls expanded accordingly. Yet, despite these additions, the entire School still seemed small compared to the vast expanse of Rhaenys's Hill.
The School's uniform white stone walls and red-tiled roofs gave it the appearance of a formal institution rather than a private estate, a stark contrast to how it had looked in its early days.
Training now took place directly on Rhaenys's Hill. When Odahviing landed, a group of newly admitted students were in the middle of their practice session, and a few younger ones immediately ran over to see the dragon.
"Arya Stark! The last time I saw you, you weren't even as tall as my sword!" Wright called out when he spotted a girl followed closely by a small direwolf.
"Headmaster," the surrounding students greeted Wright respectfully.
"Haha, hello to you all!"
"Arya, did you bring the direwolf with you?" Wright asked.
Arya nodded. "It was Robb—he brought four of them. Each of us got one, and Ashara has the last one."
"I'll take it to her when I return to Tyrosh. Who else is here today?"
The students around Arya were about her age, but she had already become their de facto leader, wielding a wooden practice sword as she led Wright toward the School. "Master Qyburn and Master Malora Hightower went to Oldtown for an exchange. Thoros of Myr is probably drinking with the king. Only Renly is in his quarters."
Renly also bore the title of headmaster—Wright was the primary headmaster, while Renly was the deputy. Wright focused on magic theory and research, whereas Renly handled practical instruction.
"Dragonbone armor! Come look at the dragonbone armor!" The children had discovered something new to marvel at.
"Careful, it's hot! I'll leave it here at the school later so you can examine it to your heart's content," Wright warned the young students.
Using the Mage Hand spell, he lifted himself to the third-floor dormitory, where he removed his armor and changed into more comfortable clothes. He had intended to show off the dragonbone armor, but with so many children crowding around, it would have been inconvenient for conversation.
Descending the stairs, he made his way into the School's main hall and entered the reception chamber.
"Renly! Weren't you bedridden?"
Seeing Renly up and about, lively as ever, Wright felt like he had come for nothing.
In the luxurious seating room, Renly, Robb, Jon, Sansa, and Jojen Reed were drinking and chatting, while the new apprentice, Meredyth Crane, and Jojen's sister, Meera Reed, sat nearby. Serving them was handmaiden Jeyne Poole, pouring wine.
"Haha, you finally came! I really was in bad shape from the poison before—almost went blind—but I pulled through with healing magic. Now I can drink and eat just fine," Renly said nonchalantly.
Wright used Mage Hand to pull up a couch and sat beside Renly.
Awooo~ woo~ wooo~
Behind Renly's couch, the young dragon, Peytvahaaz, was tangled up in a noisy scuffle with four small direwolf pups.
When Arya entered, her direwolf, Nymeria, quickly joined the fray, making it five against one.
Though it looked like a battle, there was no real biting involved—just a contest of strength. Peytvahaaz, with its white scales covered in red and gold speckles, had already grown larger than an adult hunting dog, but dragons had lean, elongated bodies. The four-month-old direwolf pups, on the other hand, were thick-furred and stocky. They had some bite to their strength, and, being pack hunters by nature, soon overwhelmed the young dragon.
"Viing! Viing!" Peytvahaaz cried out in clumsy Valyrian, flapping its wings as it bolted from the room to seek help from Odahviing. The five direwolves immediately gave chase.
Watching the small creatures dash out, Wright asked Robb, "Do they all have names yet?"
Robb replied, "Mine is Grey Wind, Jon's Ghost, Sansa's is Lady, and Arya's is Nymeria. The one belonging to Ashara doesn't have a name yet—she wants to choose it herself."
Robb then recounted how the mother direwolf had given birth to a whole litter and stubbornly remained in Winterfell.
Still the same as before, Wright mused, though now there was one more pup for Ashara.
"Keep them close to you. It will help strengthen your skinchanging abilities. I know of the most powerful skinchanger beyond the Wall—he can bond with six animals at once. They call him the Six-Skin."
"So strong!" Sansa exclaimed in surprise. She had yet to form any real connection with her pup and still treated it as a pet.
Robb thought for a moment. "I think one is enough. More might distract me in battle."
Jon added, "My fighting style doesn't quite suit a wolf companion. I doubt it could keep up with my pace."
Wright nodded. "The Six-Skin is a bit like Qyburn—a pure summoner. The key is to explore each type of magic's strengths, play to your own advantages, and integrate what works for you. Only what suits you best is truly useful."
"Understood!"
Wright then turned his attention to the new apprentice, Meredyth Crane, who had affinities for transmutation and healing magic.
"Your family traces back to Rose of Red Lake, daughter of Garth Greenhand. By rights, your skinchanging bloodline should be as strong as Robb's. You'd be best off choosing a powerfull bird as your bonded animal. Cranes are too gentle—you can keep them as pets, but for your magic, you need something fiercer."
Menedys was cheerful. "Would an eagle do? I used to go hawking with my brothers all the time. I'll have them bring me a fledgling."
"That'll work, but I'm no expert in raising hawks. You should consult Leaf. Speaking of which, where is she?"
Leaf had been at the magic school for years now, and three more children of the forest had arrived later to study magic. With the foundational theories Wright had provided, they fused their ancient practices with structured knowledge, developing their own unique system of magic, which Wright named the Nature School.
Nature magic allowed for plant manipulation, communication with animals, and healing abilities. Once the children of the forest grasped the magical fundamentals, their progress skyrocketed. However, no humans had been found capable of learning it so far.
Renly chuckled, swirling his wine. "Leaf went to Harrenhal to help deliver babies."
He then explained the reason behind it.
After learning nature magic, Leaf had started healing the wounded in King's Landing. But in peacetime, there weren't enough injured people to keep her busy. One daily life-threatening event, however, never stopped—childbirth. Over time, people began inviting Leaf to attend births. Even if a delivery went smoothly, her presence reassured families.
The other three children of the forest also mastered healing spells and, after receiving the title of Mage from the King, spread out across Westeros to assist women in childbirth. However, they only went to settlements with weirwoods.
Harrenhal had a grove of weirwoods, and the Isle of Faces in the middle of the Gods Eye had an even larger one—making it a favorite place for the children of the forest.
Casterly Rock had a small grove, Highgarden had three weirwoods, Riverrun had one, Storm's End had one, and Kingsland had one. Winterfell, of course, had its own.
Other castles, despite having godswoods, no longer had living weirwoods—for instance, Raventree Hall and Darry in the Riverlands, where the weirwoods were long dead. In some places, the central heart tree wasn't even a weirwood—like the oak tree in the Red Keep's godswood or the pine in Deepwood Motte. The children of the forest avoided these places.
Renly asked Wright, "We're the two strongest healing mages. Why hasn't anyone asked us to deliver a baby?"
Wright replied, "Us? I wouldn't mind, but the families of the mothers would never agree to let two men do such a thing."
"Fair point."
Wright took out the contents of his two backpacks—books, all of them. His books were the most valuable resources in the magic School, and soon, everyone gathered around.
"This one was written by Tyene. It's about alchemy. I've modified some parts and divided alchemy into five stages, so apprentices won't recklessly experiment with advanced techniques and get themselves into trouble. Renly, you should take a look at it first."
The first batch of mages from the magic school had now reached a bottleneck. The magical surge brought by the dragons had significantly boosted their power, but after that, growth slowed to a crawl, restricted by individual talent and age. They could only increase their reserves by expending magic daily and then replenishing it.
To progress, they continuously learned new ways to wield magic. Some, like Renly and Robb, turned to alchemy as a supplementary method.
Flipping through the book, Renly suddenly exclaimed, "This is the potion I made! Turns out you're only supposed to add one leaf of this herb—I added an entire stalk! Thank Tyene for that!"
When it came to alchemical materials in this world, only regular food items resembled those from the Elder Scrolls world. Everything else was entirely different, and it was thanks to Tyene's tireless tasting and testing that they had reliable formulas.
"This book is about magical forging—using magic to craft and maintain equipment. But let me warn you, magical forging is ridiculously expensive! Back when Renly and I were researching, we almost bankrupted Storm's End!" Wright pulled out another book, filled with forging techniques. However, it excluded the section on forging new Valyrian steel, leaving only the re-forging process.
"Even Storm's End almost went bankrupt?!" Robb wondered if his father's wealth was enough for him to squander.
"I'll just stick to weapon maintenance. I still need to save money for a house," Jon Snow said, as he was still living in the Gold Cloaks' barracks.
Renly chuckled. "Back when we were researching Valyrian steel, we ran out of money and almost couldn't keep our business afloat. I even had to buy glass jewelry to keep up appearances."
"Hahaha."
No one had expected that the once-imposing Wright and Renly had gone through such a phase of wearing fakes.
Wright took out yet another book. "This one is about the development of our magic School. I've reclassified magic—for example, summoning is now divided into elemental summoning and necromancy, while destruction magic is split into fire, frost, wind, and lightning. This should make it easier for apprentices to study."
Renly held the book and grumbled, "You couldn't have done this sooner? I was completely lost as a kid."
The group chatted and laughed, and before they knew it, night had fallen.
Since Renly was fine now, he invited Wright to stay at his home.
On the way back, only Wright and Renly remained. With Wright around, Renly's guards had already taken the night off.
The young dragon perched on Renly's shoulders, its legs planted on either side of his neck, its head resting atop his, wings fully spread as if in flight.
Wright tossed a piece of cooked meat to the little dragon and asked, "How far have you gotten with alchemy?"
With the dragon pressing down on him, Renly couldn't move his neck. "I'm mainly researching poisons. I set up a small workshop at home and am currently trying to replicate Strangler."
Wright nodded. "Poison in alchemy is most effective when applied to weapons—ingested poisons don't work as well."
Renly agreed. "Exactly! Who in their right mind would drink something that's bright red or green? If I wanted someone dead, it'd be easier to just run them through with a sword."
Wright recalled another reason he had come to King's Landing. "What's Robert up to lately? I need to see him tomorrow for something important. You should come to the Small Council meeting, too."
Renly sighed. "What else could he be doing? He's busy with state affairs every day."
"You actually believe that?" Wright scoffed. "He's probably worn out every hidden passage in the Red Keep."
Renly burst into laughter. "Hah! He actually took over Littlefinger's establishment. That place was the best entertainment venue in King's Landing. After Littlefinger fled, he sold it to some minor noble, but they mismanaged it and ended up selling it again to Mace. Robert found out and proposed that the treasury secretly fund the purchase, transferring ownership to him while Tyrell runs it publicly."
Wright said nothing. He simply thought to himself—these three are finally handling things on their own now.