Greensight!
The moment the thought flashed through Lynn's mind, the world was stripped of all color.
The burning candle in the study, the ledgers stacked on the desk, the noisy sprawl of King's Landing outside the window—everything dissolved into countless intertwined strands of grey.
Lynn's consciousness, like an invisible hawk, broke free from the shackles of his flesh, soaring high above to look down upon the slumbering city.
He locked onto the location of the man named Donnel with precision.
It was a guest chamber within the Red Keep, temporarily assigned to him.
His consciousness pierced through the thick stone walls.
He saw the man.
Donnel was sitting cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed tight, breathing steady, as if in meditation.
But Lynn saw far more than that.
Retrospect!
Under Lynn's will, the river of time began to flow backward.
Donnel's features twisted and blurred within the rapidly shifting images, finally freezing on the face of a completely unfamiliar young boy.
A conversation with Littlefinger.
His thoughts drifted further back...
Across the Narrow Sea.
The Free Cities.
Braavos.
A temple of black and white stone, standing amidst grey fog, appeared abruptly in Lynn's vision.
The House of Black and White.
The lair of the Faceless Men.
Lynn's "sight" followed the boy as he walked into that cold temple.
He saw the boy scrubbing floors day after day, learning how to discard his name, his past, and how to become utterly "No One."
He saw the boy in dim, secret chambers, learning to identify and concoct hundreds of odorless, colorless, lethal poisons.
The scene shifted again.
The boy stood beside a cold corpse, a sharp little knife in his hand. With a technique approaching art, he carefully peeled the face from the dead.
The movements were practiced and precise; he had done this a thousand times.
Then, he saw the boy facing a pool of water, constantly altering his vocal cords, mimicking the speech of people of various ages and stations.
He could even mimic the voice of a woman.
Finally, Lynn saw his most proficient weapon.
Steel needles, fine as ox hair, quenched in deadly poison.
They were hidden in the seams of his clothing, in the hidden compartments of his boot heels, even inside the hilt of his short sword.
A scratch from such a needle meant instant death.
[Ding! Through Greensight, you are analyzing the techniques of a 'Faceless Man'...]
[Analysis Complete! You have comprehended 'Disguise (Novice)', including skin mask creation, voice mimicry, and other techniques.]
[Analysis Complete! You have comprehended 'Hidden Weapons (Novice)', including the use of poison needles, throwing knives, etc.]
[Analysis Complete! You have comprehended 'Toxicology (Novice)', enabling you to craft certain common and rare poisons.]
[Comprehending Toxicology has significantly increased your Herbalism experience.]
A series of system notifications rang in Lynn's mind.
A massive stream of information instantly flooded the depths of his memory.
It was as if he himself had spent those sunless apprentice years within the House of Black and White.
Disguise, poisoning, assassination...
These dark and lethal skills were now part of his own skill panel.
Lynn's consciousness slowly withdrew from the retrospect, refocusing on the man sitting cross-legged in the guest room.
A top-tier assassin.
A "loyal subject" willing to gamble his life for the King's "honor."
This play was acted out beautifully.
And the assassin's skills were excellent.
It was a pity that Lynn had read the script.
And the skills were now his.
The corners of Lynn's mouth curled into a playful arc.
He truly hadn't expected Lord Baelish to prepare such a surprise for him.
To use old connections to hire a Faceless Man to assassinate him—what a grand gesture!
"But your little tricks don't seem to work on me, Lord Mockingbird," Lynn muttered to himself with a smile.
Skinchanger, activate!
Inside the guest room, Donnel was still meditating.
He was adjusting his state of mind, preparing for the duel that would decide his fate tomorrow.
Suddenly!
An irresistible, cold will crashed through his mental defenses without warning!
His body jerked violently, and his tightly closed eyes snapped open uncontrollably.
But the look in them was empty and blank.
He stood up, his movements stiff like a marionette.
Under the control of Lynn's will, "Donnel" began to search his own body.
From a hidden compartment in his boot, he fished out three poison needles glinting with a blue light.
From the seams of his collar, he pulled out five more.
Finally, he pried open the pommel of his sword with a fingernail and took out the last two—the most deadly of them all.
Ten poison needles in total.
This was the "surprise" he had prepared for Lynn tomorrow.
"Donnel" walked to the window.
Outside, a few Gold Cloaks were leaning against the wall, bored. They were guarding Donnel to ensure he appeared for the trial by combat tomorrow and didn't run off halfway.
He extended his hand and silently dropped the ten poison needles into a pile of horse dung beneath the window sill.
Having done all this, "Donnel" walked back to the bed, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
As if nothing had happened.
---
Moments later.
Donnel jerked awake!
He gasped for air, his forehead slick with cold sweat.
What happened?
Did he... just have a nightmare?
No! That wasn't it!
That wasn't a dream!
A strong sensation of violation, of being watched, surged from the depths of his soul!
He instinctively reached for his boot.
The compartment was empty!
His face went instantly pale.
He frantically checked his collar, checked his weapon...
All gone!
All his poison needles, the fangs he relied on for survival, had vanished into thin air!
How was this possible?!
This was the Red Keep!
There were Gold Cloaks guarding the door!
No one had come in!
Fear surfaced in Donnel's eyes.
He rushed to the door, wanting to get out, but was blocked by two crossed longswords.
"Ser, the Hand of the King has ordered that you are not to leave this room until the duel."
The expressionless face of the Gold Cloak looked to Donnel like a demon from the Seven Hells.
He was trapped.
A snake with its fangs pulled out.
---
In the study of his estate, a pale-faced Lynn slowly opened his eyes.
Using Greensight and Skinchanging in succession placed a heavy burden on his mental strength.
But the objective was achieved.
Donnel's main method was those indefensible hidden weapons.
Lynn could feel that his control over his body, and his application of strength, now possessed a deeper layer of understanding.
It was the instinct of an assassin.
Faceless Men.
They were indeed a terrifying bunch.
Unfortunately for him, he ran into a cheat code that defied all logic.
Lynn stood up and walked to the window, looking at the towering silhouette of the Red Keep in the distance.
Tomorrow's duel was no longer a duel.
It would be a performance, through and through.
An assassin who had lost his fangs was nothing to fear.
Now, how should he act out this play to satisfy the entire audience?