"Ser, did Maelys Blackfyre really have two heads?"
Jaime was full of excitement, practically leaning over his idol.
Brynden remained calm and said, "He did have two heads. When Barristan the Bold cut off the first, the second, malformed head was still screaming."
"Just hearing it makes me feel like I was there, fighting alongside you all."
Jaime's blood boiled with excitement, his eyes filled with longing.
"Boy, you're not qualified yet."
Brynden had always been blunt, but he was also realistic: "I see you have already begun to master Life Force. During your stay at Riverrun, I can train you for a few days."
The boy was indeed a promising talent.
At only fourteen years old, his Life Force was quite robust.
From the calluses on the webbing of his right hand to the way he rode and walked, it was clear he put in a great deal of hard work.
Jaime agreed immediately: "I couldn't ask for more!"
He was simply overjoyed.
His father, Tywin, truly favored him; knowing that Lord Crakehall had nothing left to teach him, he had specifically sent him to Riverrun.
He hadn't considered the possibility of a marriage alliance between the two Great Houses at all.
"Ahem..."
Lord Hoster interrupted the conversation with a light cough, his tone displeased: "Brynden, we are about to dine. Do not ruin the pre-meal etiquette."
This disrespectful brother of his—did he not know that Lord Tywin had sent his eldest son to Riverrun to deliver a letter because he actually wanted a marriage alliance between the two houses?
Brynden glanced at him but did not challenge his brother's dignity.
By keeping the Jaime boy around, wasn't he creating an opportunity for his niece, Lysa?
Hoster would only ever see him as the 'Blackfish of the family'.
"Ser, when can we start training?"
Jaime had his own pride and did not stop just because of Lord Hoster's underlying meaning.
His journey to the Riverlands this time wasn't just to deliver a letter.
His third uncle, Tygett, had written in a letter that the King's Second Son had injured his fourth uncle, Jilian, and then defeated his second uncle, Kevan, in a Trial by Combat.
Cersei had also written to him, saying she had found a second pursuit in The Red Keep.
Driven by a desire to defend his family and an inner jealousy, he was urged to head straight for King's Landing after leaving Riverrun... Spring 12, Friday, Sunny, 9:00 AM.
"Today is a good day, everything I wish for..."
Daeron was staked out at the Mine Lake as usual, skillfully casting his hook.
Practice yields truth.
The facts told him that as long as he kept trying and challenging himself, he could always overcome difficulties.
Two days of fishing experience allowed him to skillfully pull the reel and drag the biting fish onto the shore.
And then... give it two slaps.
"Reality is just better than the game; you can't give a fish two slaps in the game."
Daeron felt refreshed, the matter of his first kill long forgotten.
Today was a rare Iridium-star luck day. Before the 13th of Spring, he would surely catch a bounty.
[Farmer: Daeron Targaryen]
Farming: Level 3
Mining: Level 3
Foraging: Level 1
Fishing: Level 4
Combat: Level 2
His farming level had increased by two, the experience coming from a bumper potato harvest.
Fishing had risen from Level 0 to Level 4, all thanks to day after day of sweat and effort.
Glug glug!
A fish bit the hook, and Daeron quickly pulled the line.
After a bit of a struggle, he caught a Silver-star quality Bullhead.
Bullhead: A relative of the Catfish that feeds on a variety of foods on the lake bottom.
Selling prices are: 75/93/112 Gold.
This Bullhead was Silver-star quality, 45 centimeters long, and could be sold for 93 Gold.
"Not bad, though I didn't get a treasure chest."
Daeron identified the type and value of the fish at a glance, unhooked it, and put it into his inventory.
Nothing is hard for those who know how.
In the last two days, his harvest from fishing alone amounted to 556 Gold.
He had more than enough to gather the 2,000 Gold needed to buy Strawberry Seeds.
If he worked hard today, he might even be able to buy more.
Besides the gold from selling fish, the treasure chests that appeared randomly while fishing had also yielded many good things.
Basic items: Copper Ore, Iron Ore, Coal, Wood, Rice Shoots... Rarer items: Jade, Diamond, broken trident... Yes, he had fished up a weapon.
broken trident (Level 5 Dagger): 15-26 Damage, +1 Critical Strike Power, +1 Critical Strike Chance.
The first two are base attributes, while the latter are traits after weapon reinforcement.
Each weapon can be reinforced with different types of gems to gain different reinforcement traits.
Just this broken trident alone was enough for Daeron to brave the first 80 floors of the mines.
The only pity was that he hadn't fished up a neptune greatsword.
The broken trident belonged to the dagger class of weapons; its appearance was that of a broken wooden fork, which wasn't very comfortable to use.
"Give me some good luck today!"
Daeron used all his strength to cast the hook to the perfect distance.
Glug glug!
The next second, the hook was bitten immediately.
"Here it comes?"
Daeron focused with all his attention.
Exactly two seconds after the tug-of-war began, the panel gave a notification that a fishing treasure chest had appeared.
"An opportunity for some extra cash."
Daeron became even more serious.
But this fish wasn't as dull as a Carp, nor did it stop when it should like a Chub or a Bullhead; instead, it jumped up and down, swaying wildly.
"I don't believe this, don't you dare run."
Daeron's competitive streak flared up.
Time passed minute by minute, and in the blink of an eye, two and a half minutes had gone by.
Splash!
The fishing rod whipped up high, and the transparent line pulled a massive green bass into the sunlight, which landed with a thud on the grassy shore.
largemouth bass.
Daeron panted slightly, grabbed the fish by the gills, and gave it two slaps first.
This is what you deserve!
largemouth bass: A popular fish that lives in lakes.
Selling prices: 100/125/150 Gold.
This largemouth bass was of normal quality, 68 centimeters long, and had a selling price of 100 Gold.
"Open the chest, open the chest."
Daeron put away the fish and opened the fishing treasure chest that had come ashore with it.
Creak!
The chest opened to reveal three items.
[neptune greatsword, lucky ring, Diamond...]
Daeron: !!!
"What am I seeing?"
"Is this real? Such crazy luck?"
Display!!
neptune greatsword (Level 5 Sword): 18-35 Damage, -1 Speed, +2 Defense, +4 Weight, +2 Speed, Slime Slayer.
The increased attack power went without saying.
-1 Speed was because the sword was too heavy, making the swinging speed slower than usual.
+2 Defense increased Daeron's own damage resistance; another item with the same attribute was a pair of boots from a chest on the 10th floor of the mines.
+4 Weight didn't increase the sword's weight, but rather the weight felt by the opponent, causing a knockback effect.
The higher the weight, the better the knockback effect.
Slime Slayer: A massive bonus to damage, critical strike chance, and critical strike damage against Slime monsters.
In simple terms, one swing, one Slime.
This was a weapon enchantment exclusive that surpassed weapon reinforcement; each weapon could only have one exclusive enchantment.
He no longer had to worry about encountering a large number of annoying Slimes in the mines.
lucky ring: A symbol of the moon, +1 Luck.
The importance of luck was fully displayed at this moment.
The luck increase from an Iridium-star luck day was only 0.1 to 0.125.
A single lucky ring gave a direct +1 Luck.
Diamond: A precious gem, selling price 500.
Looking at the items in the chest, how could Daeron not smile: "Now this is how you play the game."
A neptune greatsword in one hand, and a lucky ring in the other.
The 120th floor of the mines was already as good as his.