WILOW-Ch.306: House of Black and White - I
House of Black and White, Braavos
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric looked at the large building in front of him and sensed a strange kind of magic permeating from it.
It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and he wasn't sure about what to make of it.
The magic in the Northern Kingdom was Earth and Nature, because it was generated from the Heart Trees.
The magic of the True North was Death and Cold.
The magic of Valyria was Oppressive Fire.
While the magic of Sothoryos was Hot and Humid.
Earth, Water, Fire, Ice, Nature, Death... Yes, these were examples of high-hierarchy magic that aligned with the knowledge Domeric had acquired about the Elemental Moon Cores.
Domeric attributed this to the fact that after the Old Gods had completed the formation of this world and left, the powers of their domains remained more concentrated in some regions.
Or the creatures they call their children chose certain regions as their settlements and nourished them with the magic of their nature.
This place, however, had a mismatch of magical signatures overlapping one another, fighting for dominance like 10 different kinds of oil had been thrown into a bucket of water, and none of those oils could submerge the others.
The most prevalent of them all was the Death element. But it was somehow different from the death element in the True North.
Domeric believed this was because, unlike Lady Death, the Many-Faced God lacked a true Death elemental domain.
In fact, Domeric believed the Many-Faced God's primary domain was mimicry, allowing him to mimic the powers of many elements, and his followers' primary power was their ability to mimic others' appearances.
Mimicry was a special element, and instead of having a fixed domain, it mimicked the properties of other domains. However, it was never as powerful as the element it mimicked.
It was hierarchically above the basic elements, but not as powerful as the 2nd-level elements.
Domeric could feel it with his current senses.
He had seen the House of Black and White before in his life when he had first come to Braavos, but his senses had not been as intoned back then as they were now.
He had heard that this building housed the statues of almost all the religions in the world.
Maybe that was what it was.
He hesitated for a moment, not sure what he would find inside, but decided to enter nonetheless.
The white and black gates were opened before he could touch them, and a middle-aged man looked at him.
"A man has been waiting for your arrival." The man said, "You're welcome to the House of Black and White, wizard."
"You knew I was coming?" Domeric asked as he entered through the door.
"No. But you have a presence about yourself. We felt you when you arrived in front of our doors."
"Hmm… How did you know I was a wizard?" He asked
"A man has been told." The man said.
Domeric understood what the man meant. The Many-Faced God had told his followers about Domeric.
Domeric didn't know what he had told them, but it was impossible for these beings, whom Lady Death had dubbed the Young Gods, not to sense Lady Death's champion and not to investigate him.
The man led him into the large interior of the room, which had a pool filled with clear water that tingled his magical senses for some reason.
Surrounding the room were 30 large statues of various kinds of gods. All of which emanated a little ambient magic. They were not made of any special stone, so they must have been ancient.
Like how Hogwarts started generating ambient magic of its own after centuries, these stones had also been here for a very long time and had gained some mystical energy from being prayed to for so long.
"How old are these statues?" he asked, noticing that a few people were praying to the statues in silence.
"As old as the religions." The man replied, "But you're not here to learn about the statues."
"No." He said, looking at the man who might not even be wearing his own face right now, "I was wondering if you could teach me your magic."
The man smiled and shook his head. "That is not possible."
"Why is that?" he asked.
"A man cannot teach a wizard if the wizard does not want to learn."
"But I do want to learn." He said. And he not only wanted to learn about the magic of the faceless men but all other kinds of magic in this world.
The Valyrian magic itself had given him such a massive boost in his magical knowledge and power. And the world was filled with various magical institutions of their own that might be willing to teach him something.
The red priests could teach him Pyrokinesis, and some of their followers have also been known to return the dead to life.
Their glamor was also far better than anything he could produce.
The ruins from the Rhoynar might teach him how to manipulate water.
The mages of Asshai might teach him blood magic or the art of controlling shadows.
And these were just some of the many different kinds of magical abilities in the world. He was sure that if he searched the earth, then he could find dozens of other magical people in the world who might be able to teach him an entirely different kind of magic.
Something that would definitely aid him in the upcoming war, but also increase his knowledge.
"To learn is to devote." The man said, "To learn is to devote yourself to the Many-Faced Gods. The wizard does not want to do that. So, he cannot learn."
He let out a sigh at that. He had expected to face such hurdles when trying to learn magic. The Red priests might ask him to worship the Red God, and the Blood Mages might ask for his blood to perform experiments upon.
"Yeah. I am already a taken man." He said.
Domeric had already agreed to be Lady Death's champion. Therefore, he couldn't dedicate himself to other beings or become their champion.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.307: House of Black and White – II
Ch.308: Noble High Dragons
Ch.309: Letter from Bloodraven