WILOW-Ch.334: Magical Cube
Dreadfort Castle, Bolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Two weeks later.
"You're changing your hair black again," Ygritte said with a frown. "I thought you'd use your Valyrian appearance to support your Empire Plan."
"I will." He said as he checked himself in the mirror once again, "But I need to reveal my Valyrian appearance to Lord Stark and the other lords at the right time. Otherwise, I might earn their enmity rather than their support."
"Why?" Ygritte asked.
"Because the people of the North don't really like the Targaryens after the Mad King burned down Lord Rickard Stark and strangled his heir, Brandon Stark, to death." He replied. "And I don't want them to think I'm a Targaryen. Especially now, when the entire North needs to be united, and I need their support for my plans to build an Empire."
"But you're not a Targaryen," she said.
"I know that. But they don't know that, and when they see someone with a Valyrian appearance, the first thing that comes to their minds will be the Targaryens." He explained.
Ygritte understood and nodded, "The men are ready. They're just waiting for you now."
"Hmm… Did they sign the magical contracts?" he asked.
"They did." She nodded, "Though, isn't this contract a little too harsh?"
"Perhaps." He nodded, "But I'm paying them 10 gold dragons per month for their services, along with free food, equipment, and lodgings for their family. If they still try to betray me, then they deserve to die."
Ygritte nodded.
"Your eyes are still shining."
"Yeah. Unlike my hair, I don't want to transfigure my eyes. Plus, I like the shining effect. So, I put some glamor on my eyes. It does change the color from bright violet to grey, but it doesn't remove the shining effect." He said and placed his armor and helmet back into his inventory.
Although they were embarking on a military campaign, Domeric planned to cover most of the distance between himself and the Northern host using magical means. Therefore, he and Ygritte wore only light leather armor.
"Shall we go then?" Ygritte asked, after placing her armor and helmet inside her bottomless pouch.
He nodded and took her hand.
With a tug and a twist, they were standing in a large clearing outside Lundenhold.
He looked around and saw the 700 magically armored men standing beside their horses.
"My lord," Varko said and walked up to him with a stack of papers.
He used a charm to count the number of papers.
'Exactly 700. They're all here. Good,' thought Domeric.
He had even renegotiated the contracts of the men he had previously signed. That's why there were precisely 700 contracts. Every special unit carrying magical armor and weapons had signed this new contract.
He took the stack of papers and put them inside his system inventory. His safest place. Even more than his bottomless pouch.
Then he summoned a cube-shaped object from his inventory and, moving a short distance away from his men, placed it on an empty field.
After stepping back slightly, he gently waved his hand, removing the Shrinking Charm from the cube and restoring it to its original size.
The cube, which initially had sides measuring ten centimeters, instantly grew to a length of ten meters.
As the cube grew larger, its details became clearer, and at first glance, it appeared to be a gate about ten meters wide and ten meters high.
Well... when you count the ten-meter tunnel section behind the door, it would be more accurate to call it a passageway than a door.
This was one of the last magical items Domeric had crafted. It was one of two magical items he had been focusing on for the past two weeks.
This cube was Domeric's second magical item with an expanded, habitable space inside.
After a long time, Domeric had finally managed to gather the materials to make a new magical suitcase.
But since he already had a magical suitcase, Domeric decided this time to create a habitable dimension for military purposes.
After all, for those unfamiliar with it, entering a suitcase could be strange, even frightening, especially for animals like horses. And letting everyone in one by one took a long time.
But thanks to this magical passage, he could quickly transport many of his soldiers, including giants, into this habitable dimension and easily move them to another part of Westeros.
Moreover, Domeric had designed the interior entirely based on military needs.
Tents, food, and water storage areas, a few medical tents and medical supplies, shelters and stables for war animals, training areas, and much more were already prepared inside.
And according to Domeric's current estimates, it could comfortably house 20,000 soldiers.
With another wave of his hand, Domeric caused the two iron gates at the mouth of the passage to begin to open inward.
"Tell them to march inside." He said, "The Northern host has already crossed Moat Cailin. If we try to catch up by normal means, then we'll be too late. The Northern host is slow but not that slow."
"You sure you want to show the magical space to them, Domeric?" Ygritte asked.
He nodded. "I do. That is why I had each and every one of them sign the magical contract. So even if they want to share the truth with others, they can't."
Varko nodded, turned to the 700 men on the field, and began commanding them to enter the suitcase.
The men hesitated at first, but some of them had seen some of the magical things he could do and were fanatically loyal to him.
They followed Varko's lead and entered the passage. The others followed their leads and entered the passage behind them.
Once everyone started entering, even those who did not want to enter the expanded space had no choice but to comply.
In the end, only he and Ygritte remained outside.
"Do you want to go inside, or will you join me?" he asked.
"I'll join you." She replied.
"Great, then you can personally try out the other magical item I recently made," said Domeric, grinning mischievously.
First, Domeric went back to the cube and shrank it back to its mini size, then placed it in his inventory.
Usually, enlarging or shrinking magical objects with expanded dimensions was a risky undertaking.
But Domeric managed to stabilize the cube's size-changing feature to a certain extent using magical runes. Its current minimum width was 10 centimeters, and its maximum width was 10 meters.
Then Domeric approached Ygritte and summoned another magical object from his inventory.
And when this object appeared before him, Ygritte couldn't help but be surprised. Then she asked.
"Domeric, what is this?"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.335: Work of Art
Ch.336: I Want One
Ch.337: Moat Cailin