January 23rd, the ninth day of the tour of Casterly Rock.
The convoy received a messenger raven sent by the King early in the morning, instructing the Queen to stop the tour with her children and return to King's Landing as soon as possible.
The Lannister forces in King's Landing had also been continuously reporting news here these past few days.
The King had no abnormal reaction and decided to head north to Winterfell to invite Duke Eddard Stark of the North to succeed as Hand of the King.
The Lannister secret was indeed kept.
So Duke Tywin continued his westward journey, while Cersei and Jaime took a little less than half of the retinue and turned back towards King's Landing.
Joffrey couldn't bother with these things for the moment.
He had already accumulated 7 units of Rune Energy and was eager to unravel the final mystery.
What exactly was the special sensation from the greatsword?
He had suspected it for days, but had delayed until now because he was unwilling to take irreversible destructive measures.
Now with sufficient Rune Energy, it was much easier.
He could directly apply a Recovery Rune to the greatsword using Rune Energy. This would not only ensure the greatsword wasn't completely destroyed but also allow him to observe the external manifestation of the Rune on the greatsword for comparison, killing two birds with one stone.
Just as he was about to take action, a lady-in-waiting from the Queen's side walked over. "Your Highness, the Queen wishes to see you."
Joffrey suddenly had a bad feeling.
...
Perhaps to ensure privacy, the luxurious and spacious wheelhouse had no windows, and hundreds of scented candles were lit even in broad daylight.
Joffrey boarded the wheelhouse and looked up to see Queen Cersei's worried and hesitant face illuminated by the red candlelight.
Looking inside the wheelhouse, his younger siblings were not there, nor were there any attending servants.
He probably understood.
Did dear Grandfather tell Mother everything about me?
Even so, there was nothing to worry about. There was no concept of soul possession in this world, and all his changes were the blessings of The Gods.
"Mother, I'm busy right now, why did you call me over?" Joffrey sat down beside his mother and complained affectionately.
Cersei's mood was complicated.
"Little Joff," she finally asked, "You knew Jon Arryn would have an accident early on, and you also knew about Jaime and me...?"
Joffrey slightly lowered his gaze, trying to alleviate Cersei's unease and shame.
"Not early, just before the tournament."
An awkward silence followed.
In this world, Joffrey could be said to be the person who understood Cersei and Jaime best, besides themselves.
Cersei was arrogant and selfish, seeing herself as a female version of Duke Tywin, yet so emotional that she couldn't control her feelings and desires.
Jaime dreamed of becoming a true knight, but his private affair with his sister, the Mad King's atrocities, and other experiences and observations constantly tormented his heart. The Kingslayer was destined to walk in darkness.
But Joffrey didn't care about any of that.
My people, friends, enemies, how simple and clear, why make it so complicated?
For him, although he couldn't truly accept Cersei as his real mother from the bottom of his heart, the deep motherly love was a genuine feeling.
The judgment of the world was ultimately just fleeting clouds.
I am the center of the world.
He held his mother's cold little hand and looked frankly into those emerald eyes shimmering with tears.
"What's there to it? The Targaryens have been like this for hundreds of years, haven't they? No matter what, as long as Mother is still my mother, that's enough."
Joffrey smiled very sincerely.
"I will always stand by you, Mother."
Cersei could no longer suppress the excitement in her heart and hugged her gentle and considerate son tightly.
God knew how wronged and resentful she felt about this marriage.
To Cersei, the young, brave, and handsome Robert died on the wedding day, replaced by a fat king who spent his days drinking and carousing, and had a bad temper, which was simply disgusting.
She poured out her inner bitterness to her obedient son.
Joffrey quietly played the role of a listener, not intending to offer any opinions.
He didn't expect to easily change Cersei's character or behavior. As long as he maintained their current mother-son relationship and made sure she didn't cause trouble in crucial matters, that would be enough.
Even the Joffrey in the original story could do whatever he wanted under Cersei's regency; he believed he would do even better.
Evening arrived in a flash.
Joffrey finally returned to his carriage.
Thinking about the past half-day's experience, he still felt a lingering fear. To be able to repeat the same meaning with different words for so long, women were truly terrifying.
Fortunately, he had finally gotten through it.
He sat by the bed, the greatsword resting flat on his thighs. Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind of distractions.
The experiment continued.
After using it for several days, he was quite skilled at the process of meditation and driving Rune Energy. In just a dozen breaths, he had inscribed a Recovery Rune onto the greatsword.
After repeating this twice more, he opened his eyes and immediately made a crucial discovery.
He could only vaguely sense the presence of these newly created Recovery Runes, but he couldn't see the white light that should have appeared!
This meant that the greatsword itself could conceal the light emitted by Magic Energy.
Either its material was problematic;
Or it had some kind of Rune or other ability with an equivalent effect that could conceal magical aura.
He drew out the "Light of Peace," which was rich in Magic Energy.
Regardless of whether either of his guesses was correct, or if neither was, the greatsword now had at least three Recovery Runes, so he could experiment more boldly.
He brought the "Light of Peace" down in a chop. It should have cut the greatsword in two, but it suddenly got stuck about an inch deep.
Joffrey clearly felt that the material underneath was much harder.
He simply cut a circle along the outer edge of the greatsword, and in the middle was a piece of regular black metal.
The answer seemed clear.
A piece of Valyrian Steel that was no longer precious, and a useless material with a special purpose.
But his eyes were filled with excitement.
The black metal emitted white light, black light, and red light. Two new Runes!
After cleaning it up, an exquisite one-handed sword returned to this world. Its appearance was similar to Valyrian Steel, but in reality, it was very different.
He chopped a dozen nearby trees into charcoal, and the Magic Energy on the sword finally ran out, revealing unfamiliar patterns.
Fire magic?
This was how genuine Valyrian Steel should behave. Could it be that the Valyrians sold inferior goods and kept the good stuff for themselves?
Joffrey immediately began meditating on the patterns on the one-handed sword.
After almost exhausting his accumulated Rune Energy, he finally obtained his first offensive Rune – the Fire Rune.
It was wonderful.
With almost no practice, the scorching power seemed to surge continuously from his heart, moving according to his will, obediently appearing where he wanted it to be: in his mouth, on his fingertips, on the soles of his feet, on the sword.
He felt the flow of fire.
The heat of the flames would only harm what he wanted to destroy; even his clothes were spared. This was even more impressive than The Unburnt.
He had never felt so powerful.
The Recovery Rune was the starting point of his path in magic, providing excellent auxiliary effects;
The Mirror Image Rune was the foundation of the Weave, with broad prospects, full of potential, and an extremely high upper limit;
But ultimately, it was the simple and direct power of the Fire Rune that was more shocking.
The power of fire, the power that life instinctively feared.
How could life make fire submit?
At this moment, he surpassed the limits of carbon-based life.
His burning gaze fell upon the nameless one-handed sword. "I'll call you 'Dragonflame'," he thought, "May you and I soar through the sky like Dragons and rain down flames capable of burning the world."
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