Chapter 6: Attempt

Viserys knew that his strategic misdirection would provoke certain people into overthinking and might even prompt them to react.

But that didn't matter; he had other explanations ready. The longer Illyrio took to investigate, the more time Viserys would have to prepare his story, making it align better with the original logic and memories of his current body.

This was the inherent advantage of being an other worlder: using the results to deduce logic.

By combining the original body's memories with a touch of conspiracy theory, he could come up with several plausible stories to buy himself more time. If he couldn't, he might as well follow the original plot and wait for a molten gold crown.

However, clever arguments were ultimately a minor tactic. Without real power to back them up, they could only buy temporary reprieve.

The most pressing matter now was to study the dragonbone pendant he had obtained from Illyrio.

The dragonbone pendant was light, made from a small segment of jet-black bone that looked like onyx.

The broken end was adorned with clear gemstones, and the pendant hung from a fine silver chain, crafted with exquisite detail.

But Viserys, being the kind of person who would burn a piano to cook a crane, cared only for the segment of black bone.

He felt an overwhelming urge to remove the gemstones and silver chain.

His task was to "collect," implying that the "dragon soul" was scattered.

The peculiar feeling he had when touching this segment of bone made him believe that it contained something related to the dragon soul.

Unfortunately, a simple touch did not activate the potential dragon soul within. The sensation was mysterious, not quite tangible.

Viserys thought it must be some sort of mystical response, triggered by the latent power within him.

But how to harness this response and tap into his inner power?

Viserys began to experiment.

First, he took out his dagger—his only sharp object. According to his memories, Viserys originally had a sword, which he had sold to survive. Fortunately, he had kept a dagger for self-defense.

He gently cut open the pad of his finger and squeezed out some blood, smearing it on the black dragonbone.

This was probably a common method every transmigrator would try when they were at a loss with their treasure.

Unfortunately, the dragonbone showed no reaction. It didn't absorb the blood or shine brilliantly.

But Viserys wasn't discouraged. He brought the blood-smeared dragonbone close to his nose and sniffed it carefully.

After some hesitation, he stuck out his tongue and licked the blood-stained area.

What entered his mouth was a nauseating sweetness, likely due to the iron corrosion on the dragonbone, his blood, or the dried adhesive used by the craftsmen to polish it.

It must be said that this behavior was very risky. Thankfully, it didn't work. If it had, someone might use this method to poison him in the future, making him defenseless against such attacks.

Even though this attempt was unsuccessful, the idea of path dependence remained. In his previous world, he had triggered changes by swallowing materials, so he still wondered if he should swallow this piece to see if it would work.

Quickly, Viserys poured himself a glass of wine—this thirst-quenching wine was essentially a fermented beverage, low in alcohol, sour, and slightly sweet. In the homes of powerful people, the choices for quenching thirst were usually between wine, lemonade, and tea.

Viserys began to scrape off some dragonbone shavings with his dagger, mixing them into the wine. He shook the mixture well and then drank it in one gulp.

It was still ineffective.

Since it was ineffective, he completely abandoned the idea of swallowing the dragonbone whole.

It was important to note that the total amount of dragonbone in the world of Ice and Fire was not small, and its essence was different from the magical element materials he had swallowed before.

The materials he had swallowed from the ancient King Gleeok were pure magical element aggregates—when the magical element monsters in Hyrule were killed, they disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only the purest magical element materials from their bodies, such as eyes, horns, livers, hearts, and wings.

However, in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, the dragon's body was composed of flesh and blood as well as magic, not purely magical element constructs.

The remains left behind were not the purest magical element materials from the body.

If he relied on swallowing, Viserys might die from indigestion before he could obtain the tiny bit of magical element, possibly dragon soul, contained within the dragonbone.

In this world, things of mystical significance should be obtained through mystical means.

Viserys remembered that the world of Ice and Fire had warlocks, magic, and even gods. Dragons were just one part of it.

There had to be a way to extract the dragon soul from the dragonbone.

'Should I try boiling it in water?'

Viserys had a sudden idea, but he quickly dismissed it.

Dragonbone was highly heat-resistant, and if it were that simple, it would have been discovered long ago during the process of crafting these artifacts.

Thinking along the lines of alchemy, Viserys considered that he might need some kind of magical extract to draw the dragon soul out of the dragonbone.

Speaking of magical extracts, Viserys thought of ethanol, or alcohol, as the best organic solvent on Earth.

'So, is there a need to produce alcohol to try this? Do the alchemists of this world use alcohol to extract magical elements?'

Given the current circumstances, it wasn't feasible to attempt this now, but Viserys noted the idea. If he couldn't find another way, he would try this in the future.

So everything returned to square one.

Viserys caressed the black dragonbone, deep in thought.

He was feeling somewhat troubled.

As he stroked the dragonbone, he could distinctly feel the strange sensation, like a feather brushing lightly against his soul.

This tantalizing, almost unreachable sensation was akin to watching a woman undress behind a glass screen, leaving him feeling restless and agitated.

"No! This won't do!" Viserys released his grip, allowing the pendant to fall onto the table. He then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in and exhaling slowly.

Even though his simple attempts had not yielded results, he couldn't afford to lose his composure.

This was a scenario he had anticipated.

The task was to "collect," and given that it was set in the world of "A Song of Ice and Fire," where according to the original story, magical elements wouldn't become active until the arrival of the red comet.

"So it's normal not to find a method right away. Be patient!"

In his previous world, when he first traveled there, the chosen swordsman was still in slumber, and the ancient King of Akkala was yet to be seen.

He had waited for years, waited for the swordsman to awaken, and for the drastic changes in Hyrule to occur before his opportunity arose.

And now, he had only been in this world for a day and a half.

What he needed to do now was wait patiently.

According to the original storyline, the Targaryen siblings would stay with Illyrio for over half a year and then spend nearly a year migrating across the Dothraki Sea before the red comet appeared.

In other words, he might have to wait for a year and a half.

During this time, Viserys would need to deal with the scheming Illyrio and the hidden master manipulator, Varys the Spider. These two were suspected to be the masterminds behind many of the world's conspiracies.

Viserys had already met Illyrio, so there was no need to dwell on him further.

As for the hidden master manipulator Varys, he was the spymaster and intelligence chief for the current king of Westeros.

In the original story, he had numerous informants and seemed to be aware of almost every secret and conspiracy. He was a dangerous individual.

They had orchestrated Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo with the aim of leveraging the Dothraki horde for the "Beggar King" to stir up trouble in Westeros.

Their true intention, however, was to pave the way for their real candidate, the "False Aegon."

At least, that was the apparent goal.

Since Martin hadn't finished the story before Viserys's transmigration, he couldn't fully trust those speculative rumors.

Some claimed they were "Blackfyre" loyalists and that the Aegon they supported was actually the "Mummer's Dragon" Daenerys saw.

"Blackfyre" originally referred to a Valyrian steel bastard sword passed down in the Targaryen family—"bastard sword" being a type of sword.

Later, "Aegon the Unworthy" chose to pass it to his illegitimate son, who took "Blackfyre" as his surname and established the Blackfyre lineage.

Due to Aegon's foolish actions, the Blackfyres rebelled in a bid for the Iron Throne.

After their defeat, the remnants of House Blackfyre fled to the Free Cities—Westerosi exiles often sought refuge there after failing in their home country.

Among Earth's readers, many speculated that Illyrio and Varys were Blackfyre loyalists.

They believed that Illyrio and Varys supported the Targaryen remnants to use them to destabilize Westeros, planning to benefit from the chaos.

The situation with the "Mummer's Dragon" was even more complex. The "Mummer's Dragon" was part of a prophecy Daenerys saw in the House of the Undying in the original series.

Generally, it was believed to refer to the "False Aegon" secretly supported by Illyrio and Varys.

This Aegon was supposed to be Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, not Jon Snow, who was a bastard in the TV show.

In the original books, it was initially believed that Aegon was killed during the sack of King's Landing, his head smashed against a wall by the Mountain.

Later, Varys claimed that the baby who died was a peasant's child, swapped with Aegon, who was smuggled across the Narrow Sea and raised by Rhaegar's friend Jon Connington.

Some readers speculated that this "False Aegon" was actually Illyrio's son.

In short, Illyrio's current support for Viserys Targaryen was likely to pave the way for his real candidate, Aegon.

Viserys's opposition was a layered conspiracy: Illyrio on the first layer, Varys on the second, and then Aegon.

In summary, the situation was highly complex and a deep pit to be stuck in.

If it were possible, Viserys would have liked to leap out of this pit.

Unfortunately, his initial attempt hadn't succeeded; the dragonbone pendant seemed unable to rescue him from his plight.

Since he couldn't figure out a way to utilize the dragon soul in the short term, he had to activate his backup plan.

With that in mind, Viserys casually rolled up the pendant and tied it around his wrist. Then he stood up and began exercising in the spacious room.

The constant contact between his skin and the dragonbone, despite being a frustrating reminder of the power he couldn't yet harness, was something he hoped would eventually lead to success. Maybe, with continuous contact, it might subtly activate some hidden power.

Patience.

Viserys had to endure until he became accustomed to this contact.

This body had originally learned some martial skills, but due to wandering and starvation, it was now emaciated and feeble, almost forgetting everything except how to hold a sword.

However, that didn't matter. As a transmigrator, he had trained in martial arts for years in the previous world, preparing to slay dragons.

He had practiced with fists, single-handed swords, double-handed swords, spears, hammers, and axes.

His best skill was archery, especially since explosive arrows, lightning arrows, and frost arrows were extremely useful in that world.

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