117 Chapter 117 - Braavos and Asshai.

While in Meereen, Daenerys and her retinue pored over the contract offered by Asmodeus, in the city of Braavos, in the most protected place of the city - the Vault of the Sea Lord, amidst treasures lay a coffin of azure hue.

Oh no, it was not painted wood... This coffin was hewn from ice, dark blue ice.

Inside this coffin, someone stirred from a long slumber.

"Mana! Mana returns once more..."

If Jon Snow or anyone who had witnessed the attack of the White Walkers were here, they would have noticed certain similarities in this creature and the Walkers...

But unlike the Walkers, this creature clearly looked... alive, perhaps?

Blue skin, almost shimmering under the torchlight. Small icicle-like protrusions on its crown. Eyes the color of the sea wave, vibrant as if painted with fine brush strokes. This creature wore a cloak, also of dark blue hue, matching its almost crystalline, translucent blue skin.

The creature carefully emerged from the coffin without any effort, lifting the lid effortlessly.

As it climbed out, humanoid in form, it didn't bother to look around, but simply stood, inhaling the air, or rather, the Mana in the air, with all its subtle nuances, if it indeed possessed such senses.

"Oh, what a beautiful sensation... Mana. Could it be that the world has restored itself after the devastation? No... it cannot be so simple... Mana gradually faded after the world's division... and now, it seems as if life has returned to the world."

The creature extended its palm upwards, and a flower, made of ice, appeared in its hand.

"This time, I will set you free... I swear by the name of Bellam!"

Squeezing the icy flower in its hand, it crumbled away.

Finally, Bellam took a moment to survey the surroundings.

"I am in... the treasury?"

A clear perplexity was evident on Bellam's face.

"And why is it so warm here...? I need to understand what has happened while I slept."

Bellam didn't linger here for too long.

He began to make his way towards the exit, gradually.

He couldn't open the doors on the first try...

Freezing them, they simply crumbled.

Just as Bellam broke through the door and stepped out of the vault, cries echoed through the corridor.

"Thief!! Catch him!!!"

"Kill the thief!!!"

A couple of dozen armed men were rushing towards him.

Bellam decided to see what soldiers looked like when the world was filled with magic; perhaps they could cast spells?

But he was quickly disappointed. The maximum that flew at him was a spear. And when it disintegrated upon touching his body, the soldiers were horrified and screamed in fear.

Bellam shook his head and waved his hand.

A white mist began to emanate from his palm, gradually engulfing the entire Sea Lord's palace, and everyone except Bellam within the castle - fell asleep.

So Bellam casually and quietly left the Sea Lord's castle in Braavos.

Stepping out onto the street, Bellam, wrapped in various pieces of clothing he had taken from the guards, resembled an assassin, with only his eyes visible.

He pulled out a pouch of gold from his pocket, which he had taken from the treasury, as payment for his moral damage for being kept in the private collection of the treasury owner.

Tossing the pouch of gold to the tavern owner, he said, "I need to hear the news."

The plump landlady nodded and called out to a particular prostitute named "Hey Joanna, you've got a special client!"

A semi-naked girl emerged from the canopy and, taking Bellam by the arm, led him away.

Prostitutes have always been one of the best sources of information, and it's pleasant to look at them...

Meanwhile, as Bellam acquired basic knowledge about the modern world,

In the easternmost city of Essos - Asshai, a city known for its sorcerers, mages relying on rituals were incredibly happy.

Their peculiar rituals began to yield the expected effect more often, and sometimes even more than expected!

This is because after the merging of worlds, Mana began to be evenly distributed throughout the world.

One might think that with such redistribution of Mana, there should be less of it on average, and Asmodeus's work would suffer, but that's not the case.

Besides the wizards and magical creatures, Mana itself is also produced by Primis. Thus, the return of the 4 continents to their "native harbor," so to speak, healed one of the world's wounds. Consequently, Primis now generates more mana daily, and at Hogwarts, where previously, with the magic amplifier turned off, the mana density was 2.4 points, it now stands at a solid 3.2 points. Therefore, the even distribution of mana throughout the world did not affect the previous level of mana in the world; on the contrary, it is gradually increasing.

The city of Asshai has its own peculiarity.

Entire Asshai is built from black shiny stones. The city is so massive that even several of the largest cities in the continents of Essos and Westeros combined could not compare to its size. All the buildings in the city were constructed from the wreckage of black stone mined from the surrounding mountains, but no one knew who built them because these buildings had already existed since the first recorded moment. Some speculated that these structures were built by giants, similar to the Wall in Westeros, and this is not just speculation, but has certain grounds, since all the buildings here were enormous, even the tables and beds used in daily life were gigantic, not matching ordinary human standards.

This black stone possessed very special properties; for instance, it could absorb light, so even during the day when the sun's rays fell on the roads and buildings of Asshai, people still felt as though it were sunset outside. And at night, because of this light absorption by the stones, people avoided going out as there was no guarantee, even with a torch, that they wouldn't walk into a wall.

Light absorption is just one of the many abilities of the black stone. For the inhabitants of Asshai, its greatest value lay in its ability to activate and amplify the magical power of the spellcaster.

Outside of Asshai, before the magical tide, a wizard knowledgeable in fire magic could only create a small flame, light a candle, and the like. But in Asshai, a fire mage could unleash a pillar of flame like a small dragon.

Everyone who arrived in Asshai, after feeling the true power of their magic in practice, stayed here without hesitation because the satisfaction they experienced from using magic could not be replaced by anything else. As those who left Asshai say, when they departed, they could feel that a part of their soul remained in Asshai; they experienced an overwhelming sense of emptiness in their soul, and ultimately, these people either went mad or became the most devoted followers of the gods because faith can fill the void.

Those who left Asshai did not do so of their own volition; they had to leave because if they didn't, they would soon be corrupted by the dark power contained within the black stone and ultimately would go mad, for although the black stone brings its benefits when using magic, the drawbacks were not to be overlooked.

The magic contained within the black stone can help a spellcaster unlock the true power of magic, but it can also cause harm. The mana contained in this black stone is tainted with negative emotions that destroy the soul.

The situation is better for spellcasters. Their lineage, which grants them the ability to cast spells, may allow them to resist the erosion of these magical powers for a long time, but ordinary people cannot. For an ordinary person, it takes a maximum of two years. Contaminated mana will completely destroy the mind, leaving only the body's instincts to eat, sleep, and move. Spellcasters in the city refer to this situation as the loss of the soul. Ordinary people subjected to such erosion and unable to leave the city will wander around like zombies.

Moreover, even if a spellcaster's lineage can resist the erosion of magic, it is not an invincible shield. As age increases or the body weakens due to certain diseases and other reasons, the ability of a mage to resist the erosion of tainted mana will quickly diminish and eventually become the same as that of ordinary mortals.

If they do not leave Asshai immediately, these spellcasters will eventually become as lost souls as the zombies roaming the area.

For this reason, despite the fact that the city of Asshai is extremely vast, the population permanently residing here is less than 40,000. Among these 40,000, only about 1,000 are true spellcasters, and the rest are slaves purchased in the Slaver's Bay. A small part of the population also consists of sailors, merchants, and adventurers who temporarily stay here.

Spellcasters are the absolute rulers of Asshai. Any spellcaster whose identity is confirmed automatically receives a portion of Asshai's rights and wealth. Although no one can linger in this realm for more than a couple of decades...

The whole city is quite deserted, in the sense that despite its size, residents are mostly concentrated on the outskirts. This is due to the negative influence of the black stone on the slaves. The deeper you go into the city, the faster ordinary people go mad, so wizards with a large number of slaves prefer to live on the outskirts.

Thus, most spellcasters living in the center of Asshai live alone, and only a few have apprentices who can serve them. Somewhere along the street, heading towards the city center, walked a man. This is Kemir.

Kemir is a member of the Red-Striped Spellcasters. They are one of the wizard organizations in Asshai. There are many spellcasters in Asshai, but the largest group is shadow mages because the special environment of Asshai is very suitable for practicing this type of magic. Especially the monsters living in the nearby mountains — the best magical materials for Shadow Mages.

Members of the Red-Striped Spellcasters will use paint made from a special poisonous plant to draw patterns reflecting their status on wooden masks they wear. Anyone who wants to become a member of the Red-Striped Wizards must undergo a trial in the Shadow Lands.

The content of the trial is very simple: to travel upstream along the Ash River to the outskirts of the dead city of STYGAI, where you can catch a fish with green scales living there. If the spellcaster does not fail on the way there or back, he has the right to join the Red-Striped Spellcasters.

Joining the Red-Striped Spellcasters not only confirms your individuality and status, but, more importantly, you have the right to choose a black house in the city center as your residence and practice place.

Despite Asshai's rare population and harsh environment, it does not mean it is extremely barren. The surroundings and the city itself are rich in gold, precious stones, and dragon glass, and the quality of local precious metals is extremely high.

A large number of trading ships from various ports of Essos would come here to trade. They brought boats with fine wine and food, and also took away bags of gold, precious stones, and dragon glass. To maintain this profitable trade route, these traders spread information that the gold and precious stones from Asshai are cursed and whoever touches them will meet death.

Under this guise, traders melted gold into ingots similar to those issued by the Braavosi bank, and embedded precious stones into jewelry and sold them, thus distributing these riches to all parts of the world.

Because of such wealth, some not very wise traders hired various armies in the hope of taking control of Asshai. They thought the spellcasters of Asshai were just like those pitiful pseudo-wizards outside. Who could come up with a few tricks, but nothing more.

It just so happens that the head of one of these men is now hanging from Kemir's belt. Initially, this head belonged to a pirate from the Summer Sea. I don't know what the pirate leader was thinking, but he wanted to rob someone in Asshai.

The spellcasters quickly captured him and sent him to the altar, where they made various tools from the body parts of the entire group of pirates to facilitate the casting of shadow spells.

It was thanks to this dried head that he was able to return alive from his journey through the Shadow Lands and become a member of the Red-Striped Spellcasters.

Walking through the city, he bypassed a couple of zombies and entered what resembled a castle. Passing through the corridors, he entered a large round hall, where most of the city's spellcasters were currently present.

Sitting next to the other Red-Striped Spellcasters, he waited for the meeting to begin.

This meeting was related to the increase in mana density in the world. Currently, even the weakest wizards were able to achieve some results from their rituals.

It was rituals, not spells, as in the magical world. The problem was that in Essos and Westeros, magic remained in the embryonic state it was in before the so-called ancient magic.

Ancient magic in the magical world is the magic used by Merlin or Morgana. But local magic is prehistoric. It has no common foundation; most spells are ritualistic magic that requires various sacrifices or special preparations.

Тhe decline of magic is also attributed to the loss of knowledge after two consecutive world catastrophes.

Firstly, it was the fragmentation of the world into pieces. When Primis passed through the spatial barrier, the world collapsed, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were just some of the minor catastrophes that occurred.

Then came the fall of ancient Valyria as a result of a magical catastrophe. In Asshai, there are certain records about the causes of that catastrophe.

At the peak of their power, the 14 ruling Valyrian families felt that mana was rapidly depleting. Their descendants were no longer wizards, and their special lineage only allowed them to tame dragons.

Once, they tried to explore the reasons for such a sharp mana drain. Little did they know it was merely a consequence of the long-term effects of the world disconnecting from its foundation.

When the ten strongest Valyrian families gathered to explore the depths of the earth to find out where the mana had gone, they inadvertently damaged one of the channels through which Primis-produced mana entered the world.

All active volcanoes erupted simultaneously, hundreds of earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods destroyed almost all families and their magical legacy, except for the Targaryens, who were initially not invited to participate as one of the weakest families, and also thanks to a prophecy made by one of the Targaryens who still had the ability to use basic magic.

Thus, the last surviving Valyrian nobles and their servants decided to move to what was previously considered the backwater of Westeros.

Just then, into the hall walked the disfigured wizard Zykar - the oldest of the current spellcasters in Asshai. He decided that it was better to become a mad zombie than to give up magic.

Due to the detrimental effects of certain rituals, Zykar looked like a two-meter decaying corpse. But whereas he would usually sigh in pain and be miserable from the consequences of mana erosion, today he happily hops towards the main chair.

"Ha-ha-ha, ahem, ahem, excuse me, my friends, I am too excited. Yesterday, one of our citizens returned who set out for New Ghis to trade. You all already know his statement; it spread quickly throughout the city. And just two hours ago, another one of our traders has returned, confirming that magic outside Asshai is now sufficiently strong! Today, we have gathered here to discuss what to do next. As you understand, if magic outside the city is the same as in the city, I am not going to stay here for the sake of my health. Therefore, I suggest that our wizards gather and seize one of the cities in Essos. Are you ready to follow me?"

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