"Lothor, release the armored dummies!" Gendry commanded.
Dragon training had to be done step by step. Dragons were extremely willful creatures, and if they were not properly trained from a young age, they could become troublesome to control later.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Several squires immediately carried the training dummies into the courtyard.
The dummies were made from wooden frames stuffed with old clothes and padded materials. They were dressed in old armor and helmets and propped up with wooden stakes. Oak shields and wooden weapons were also placed in their hands.
The three young dragons stared at the dummies.
Black Dragon Balerion spread his dark wings.
Green Dragon Vhagar lowered his head and opened his mouth, preparing to unleash his Dragonflame.
White Dragon Viserion let out a low roar, smoke slowly rising from his pointed snout.
"Balerion! Dracarys!"
Gendry shouted the command, as if awakening something deeply ingrained in the dragon's instincts.
Balerion immediately opened his jaws.
A swirling stream of red-and-black Dragonflame erupted from his mouth, instantly engulfing one of the dummies.
Under the intense heat, the dummy seemed to glow before being completely consumed by the flames.
The old cotton clothing was instantly reduced to ash, while the oak shield and wooden weapons shattered and burned away.
Even the steel armor began to heat up.
However, the armor was much more durable than the other materials. Although the Dragonflame was terrifyingly hot, Balerion's current strength was still insufficient to melt the steel quickly.
"Be brave."
Gendry turned toward Daenerys, who was standing nearby in a purple dress that perfectly complemented her violet eyes.
"Your turn."
Daenerys took a deep breath.
"Vhagar. Viserion."
Her voice was affectionate as she called out to her two dragons.
Then, without hesitation, she shouted:
"Dracarys!"
The Green Dragon and White Dragon immediately roared.
Two different streams of Dragonflame erupted from their mouths.
Vhagar's Dragonflame was an orange-yellow storm mixed with strands of green fire.
Viserion's flames were different. His Dragonflame appeared as a pale golden pillar of fire mixed with blood-red and orange-yellow flames.
The two fiery attacks struck the training dummies.
Boom!
Smoke, dust, and the stench of burning materials quickly filled the courtyard.
Balerion stepped toward the partially melted steel armor and tried to pick it up with his claws.
However, the armor was still too heavy.
Although Balerion was already powerful, he was not yet strong enough to lift it.
"Bang!"
Balerion became irritated and violently whipped his long tail against the armor.
The semi-molten steel armor shattered against the ground, breaking the wooden support beneath it.
The Black Dragon then spread his wings and soared into the sky.
"It has to be Balerion."
Gendry smiled as he watched him.
Among the three dragons, Balerion possessed the strongest instinct for hunting and killing. He was also the most aggressive and battle-oriented.
A dragon's primary weapon was its Dragonflame.
Only under special circumstances would it rely on its other weapons—claws as hard as steel, teeth as sharp as swords, and a long tail capable of striking like a whip.
Everyone watched the dragons' performance, including Ser Barristan and the other knights.
Although the dragons were still young, their Dragonflame already possessed considerable destructive power.
They were growing far too quickly.
And their Dragonflame was becoming frighteningly powerful.
Ser Barristan watched them with complicated emotions.
Dragons were completely unreasonable creatures when it came to warfare.
They could single-handedly change the outcome of a battle.
During the Field of Fire, three dragons had burned four thousand soldiers to death.
The casualty ratio was simply terrifying.
The dragons soon finished their demonstration and returned to Gendry and Daenerys.
Their leathery wings flapped heavily, producing powerful gusts of wind, while the fading Dragonflame illuminated the courtyard.
"Well done, Balerion. Good boy."
Gendry reached out and stroked the Black Dragon's red horn.
Balerion responded with a deep roar, a puff of smoke escaping from his nostrils.
The young dragons resembled enormous serpents with wings.
Their bodies were roughly the size of ponies, but their wingspans were already much larger.
Their long, horned heads were followed by equally long necks, while their tails extended far behind them.
Their necks and tails were particularly prominent, giving them a distinctly serpentine appearance.
Once the flames had died down enough, Gendry walked toward the center of the courtyard.
He wasn't worried about the heat.
He had already mastered several fire-element techniques and possessed the Fire-Wielder Ring, which could absorb flames.
However, he still wanted to personally determine the exact intensity of the dragons' Dragonflame.
Gendry looked at the three badly damaged training dummies.
The old clothing, padding, and oak shields had been completely reduced to ash.
Although parts of the steel armor had not yet melted, the intense red heat radiating from the metal was already enough to roast a knight alive.
Once the dragons grew to the size of large horses, melting steel would become much easier.
Balerion followed Gendry closely, his eyes glowing like pools of blood-red lava.
"Their Dragonflame is still somewhat lacking," Gendry said.
"They're still too young," Qyburn explained.
"As they grow older, both their physical defenses and the intensity of their Dragonflame will increase dramatically."
"If they eventually reach the size and age of dragons like Balerion and Vhagar, their Dragonflame should be capable of melting steel and even stone."
"Stone…"
Gendry's expression became thoughtful.
That was exactly what he was most concerned about.
The greatest threat posed by fortified castles was their massive stone walls.
Even powerful explosives would struggle to penetrate thick layers of solid stone, let alone ordinary weapons.
And Casterly Rock happened to be built almost entirely from enormous quantities of stone.
"It's time for the knights and warhorses to enter," Gendry said.
"Let the smoke and sulfur smell dissipate a little first."
The courtyard of Dragonstone was still filled with thick smoke and a choking sulfurous odor.
As the dragons grew larger, the flames and smoke they produced would become even more intense.
After waiting for a while, Lothor and Robar arrived in black armor alongside several household knights wearing studded leather vests and wool trousers.
They led a group of warhorses into the area.
This was the first time the knights and their horses would be directly exposed to the dragons during training.
It was an important experiment.
However, before Lothor and Robar could mount their horses and enter the training ground, something unexpected happened.
The warhorses began trembling violently.
The smell of sulfur and smoke coming from the courtyard was already enough to frighten them.
But when the horses caught sight of the dragons' shadows, their fear became overwhelming.
They turned around and attempted to flee.
"Whoa! Calm down!"
The knights desperately tried to control them.
But the horses refused to obey.
Balerion suddenly let out a mischievous roar.
The sound of a dragon was enough to make even a hundred lions tremble.
Vhagar and Viserion soon joined him.
Their roars rolled through the courtyard like thunder.
The warhorses completely lost their composure.
They pawed frantically at the ground before suddenly galloping in the opposite direction.
The backup knights quickly used nets and ropes to stop the two horses from escaping.
Qyburn couldn't help but sigh.
"Even though they're still young, dragons are already powerful enough to intimidate lions and tigers."
"When dragons appear on a battlefield," Ser Barristan said while watching the frightened horses being led back toward the stables, "it becomes a disaster for both knights and horses."
"In just a moment, those horses looked as though they had gone mad."
Gendry looked around the noisy and lively courtyard.
Even a lower-tier supernatural creature like a direwolf could make ordinary warhorses lose their minds.
The dragons were among the highest-tier creatures in this world.
It was only natural that horses would be terrified of them.
"Come here, good boy."
Gendry stretched out his hand.
"Balerion."
The Black Dragon immediately flew toward him.
Despite being the most unruly and fierce of the three dragons, Balerion had been thoroughly tamed by Gendry.
His massive leathery wings flapped through the air, creating a strong breeze as he obediently approached.
Gendry carefully examined Balerion's body.
The Black Dragon landed on his arm.
His scales resembled polished black jade, and intense heat radiated from his body, almost like red-hot armor fresh from a forge.
Although Balerion was currently around the size of a small pony, his wingspan was already enormous.
When fully extended, his wings were roughly three times the length of his body.
He was already beginning to display an impressive presence.
Dragons possessed lightweight yet incredibly durable bones. Their bodies were also primarily composed of long necks, tails, and wings rather than heavy muscle mass.
As a result, a dragon weighed considerably less than an ordinary animal of the same size.
Still, Gendry estimated that Balerion would need to grow to at least four or five feet in length before he could potentially carry a human through the air.
Once Balerion reached that size, carrying Daenerys would also become possible.
"Eat."
Daenerys picked up a bowl filled with bacon.
She tossed several pieces into the air.
The three dragons immediately stretched their long, serpentine necks upward and snapped at the meat as it fell.
Balerion was the fastest.
He launched himself from Gendry's arm and quickly swallowed one of the pieces of bacon in mid-air.
Daenerys laughed.
Gendry watched the Black Dragon with a thoughtful expression.
"It's time to give the Lannisters a surprise."
He looked toward the distant lands beyond Dragonstone.
Casterly Rock was like an insurmountable fortress, but not every city possessed defenses like that.
Once the dragons grew larger and stronger…
There would be plenty of targets for them.
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