Chapter 186: The third month-end settlement
The next day, Ian personally fed the black dragon, Ion, his ration of dog's milk, just as he always did.
Unfortunately, despite Ian's dutiful efforts, the little dragon turned a blind eye to almost all of his commands. It made him wonder if his feeding ritual was having any effect at all.
"*Zaldrīzes rȳbus, lo mērī udrirzi Valyrīo Eglīodrāssua,*" Daenerys said, finally unable to watch Ian's failed attempts to interact with Ion any longer.
"What does that mean?" Ian asked, confused.
"Dragons will only listen if you speak High Valyrian," Daenerys explained, then tilted her head. "Aren't you learning the Valyrian language from the priestess every day? Why can't you understand it at all?"
*Maybe because I was out riding a horse during class?* "How many days has it been, Your Majesty?" Ian said with a wry smile. "I've only learned some basic vocabulary." In truth, he hadn't even learned that.
"Then why don't you let me teach you from now on? Viserys told me many of the words for training dragons."
Although dragons had been extinct for an age, the Targaryen tradition of dragonlore had never been broken. Perhaps they had all held onto the hope that one day, the dragons would return.
*You truly never miss an opportunity to teach me a foreign language, do you?*
"If that is Your Majesty's wish, I will obey," Ian agreed. He was now beginning to truly feel the need to learn Valyrian.
He planned to use one of his optional basic skill scrolls to gain a foundation in the language, and then learn from Daenerys. It might even save him some skill points.
"How about we start now? We can begin with the basic commands for dragon training." Daenerys wasn't sure why, but his positive answer made her very happy. Perhaps the idea of becoming Ian's teacher, even in just one subject, was a fulfilling one.
And so, under Daenerys's guidance, Ian began his day's lessons in foreign languages and the art of training dragons.
Their study lasted until dusk. After finishing his meal, Ian returned to his cabin early.
Reflecting on the day's results, he had to admit that when he gave Ion commands in Valyrian, the dragon's response was noticeably more positive. Still, its obedience was nothing compared to how readily it listened to Daenerys.
From this, Ian's preliminary conclusion was that nursing the black dragon was having some effect. While it didn't see him as its mother, it at least regarded him as a wet nurse. Otherwise, it was unlikely the creature would respond to the commands of someone without a drop of Valyrian blood.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that Ion had only just been born and possessed very little self-awareness.
Once the dragon grew older, commanding it would not be so easy. In the original story, for example, a three-year-old Drogon had become so rebellious that he simply flew away, and the Mother of Dragons had been powerless to stop him.
The only way to truly and effectively control a dragon was to become its dragonrider. But the damn system didn't provide players with the blood of the Valyrian Dragon Kings, so that path was all but impossible to walk on his own.
Similarly, if the player didn't have the Dragon King's blood, any NPC the system provided likely wouldn't either. Therefore, the only person Ian could trust to become a dragonrider was, in fact, Daenerys.
As for trying to recruit people with Valyrian blood from the Free Cities to serve as riders, that was something Ian would never do. The rebellion of the two bastard dragonriders recruited by the Blacks during the Dance of the Dragons was a lesson learned in blood.
He would rather leave the remaining dragons without riders—or not even hatch them at all—than place such a strategic weapon in the hands of someone he could not absolutely trust.
After this brief summary of his thoughts, Ian went to bed early. Today was the settlement day for the third month, and also the day the third main quest would be updated. He needed to be awake before dawn to sort through the system-related matters.
A few hours passed quickly. When Ian awoke, it was still the dead of night. Instead of sitting up, he remained lying in bed and logged into the system.
The first email was yesterday's remaining player report. The number was still 27, unchanged.
The second email was last month's settlement report:
> [Congratulations to the player for ranking first in the standings on the settlement day of the third month.
> Players receive rewards: 20 points, 2888 gold dragons, 1 optional S-level NPC (in the area)]
Just as Ian had thought, the rewards from the points list were indeed increasing every month. This time, he had received 10 more points and over a thousand more gold dragons than last month.
Although the reward no longer seemed quite so monumental to him now, if this incremental increase continued, what would it look like in half a year? Or even two years?
Thinking of this, Ian suddenly felt less eager for the other players to be eliminated too quickly.
After all, once the number of surviving players fell below twenty, the standings mechanism would be canceled, and he would no longer receive this stable monthly benefit.
Without dwelling on it further, Ian clicked on the S-level NPC card-drawing scroll.
Three NPC career cards appeared before him.
> [**Pirate King of the Stepstones:**
> Strength: 33-36, Agility: 31-35, Mental Strength: 0-6
> Skills: Advanced Swordsmanship, Advanced Throwing (Handaxe and Spear), Navigation Proficiency, Random Other Skills
> Equipment: Longsword, Throwing Axe, Chainmail Shirt]
> [**Champion Gladiator of Meereen:**
> Strength: 35-38, Agility: 32-35, Mental Strength: 0-6
> Skills: Random Weapon Mastery, Random Weapon Advanced, Random Other Skills
> Equipment: Random]
> [**Qohorik Black Goat Temple Cavalry:**
> Strength: 32-40, Agility: 28-35, Mental Strength: 4-8
> Skills: Advanced Scimitar, Advanced Hammer, Advanced Riding, Intermediate Lance
> Equipment: Qohorik Scimitar, Mace, Qohorik Black Goat Armor, Heavy Warhorse]
Looking at the three cards, Ian began a simple analysis.
The first, the Pirate King of the Stepstones, had a fearsome-sounding title, but his stats were merely average for an S-level NPC.
Ian could guess the reason for this. There were simply too many 'pirate kings' in the Stepstones.
Legend told that the Stepstones were once part of the Arm of Dorne, connecting Westeros and Essos. When the First Men invaded Westeros across this land bridge, the greenseers of the Children of the Forest used powerful magic to shatter it, and the broken land formed the archipelago.
No one had ever counted the number of islands in the Stepstones—there were perhaps hundreds, maybe thousands—but only two were commonly named: Bloodstone and Grey Gallows. In the Stepstones, anyone who occupied a small island with a ship or two to their name dared to call themselves a Pirate King.
But even if this so-called Pirate King was half as powerful as his title implied, he was still a good choice for Ian right now. Gaining a pirate captain meant he could acquire another ship before entering the Summer Sea, making the eastward voyage safer.
The second card was the Champion Gladiator of Meereen. This option was a pure gamble. Meereen had hundreds of fighting pits, and the prestige of their champions varied enormously. For instance, Ian and his companions had already killed several gladiators of average strength during the tourney in Pentos.
Although Ian had always been lucky with his card draws, and the probability of getting a super warrior from this choice was not small, he believed that at this stage, his need for another pure fighter was no longer high.
So he simply ruled out this option.
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