Foreword: The usual foreword, don't take this too seriously. I whipped it up in like two days.
Chapter 5: Like a kid in a candy store. Except the candy is all free.
My sleep was poor and plagued with thoughts so it was not exactly a surprise to me that activity outside my door was enough to dispel any attempts at sleep I had. Looking through the window, it was still dark out but the lightening of the sky indicated that dawn would be coming soon enough.
I focused on my hearing. I always found it a bit odd Prowess boosted my base senses like this but at one hundred, it was hypersensitive. The rattling of armor as it was donned and boots against the ground filled the ambiance.
I idly wondered what was happening though I had my suspicions.
Alys was still asleep and would likely stay like that for a while longer so I quietly stepped out into the hall.
The hallway itself wasn't that busy but our sleeping quarters were most likely out of the way so I made my way into the courtyard.
There I could see men mustering and getting ready to move, roughly thirty of them.
Hm.
I looked inwards, onto my interface.
My interface was definitely weird. It didn't exist in any kind of 3D space where it would pop up in front of me where only I could see or interact with it.
It was not visualized with my eyes or anything since it was completely mental.
The jarring part of this was that a human brain's memory was not this sharp, this vivid.
If you looked at it with your eyes, you could remember what you were seeing directly but in this case, every pixel was crystal clear and burned into my mind. It was like I was playing a video game but instead of an image on a screen, it was an image projected into my brain in perfect detail which I could somehow all take in without being overwhelmed. I could visualize minute details like the border of that UI element and the slight color gradient on the other side of the metaphysical screen simultaneously.
Weird.
But it was definitely a lot faster to interact with since it worked at the speed of thought. I could mentally control an imaginary cursor but it had slowly become more responsive over the years I used it. I didn't exactly have to use the said imaginary cursor to zoom in or anything or pan across the map, I merely willed it in a sense and it responded.
Imagine playing a video game with your mind.
Like this was Sword Art Online.
Anyway, I zoomed in on Wyman's Hill and its surrounding areas. There was an army icon filled with a thirty-four which was the people standing in front of me and I could also see another group of raiders, fourteen in all approaching. Their little walking icon indicated they would be here today and relatively soon.
The soldiers of Wyman's Hill were preparing for battle.
Or perhaps ambush.
I do hope they heeded my advice last night to examine the meeting point. The clan of the approaching raiding group was the same as the ones I fought last night so it was highly likely they were going to meet up.
The thought of last night made me feel ill. I had never butchered a chicken in my past life but last night I had done that to human beings.
One would think that living in a medieval life inured people to blood and guts and death and all manners of medieval horribleness but at least for me, I didn't find that to be true in the least.
Maybe if I lived in the shithole that was King's Landing where death and suffering seemed to be pervasive or the currently war-torn river lands but I didn't. I lived in a tiny farming village far away from any of that. It was some real rural living.
Sure, there were occasional deaths but those were few and far between.
I guess even in a medieval world, I was still considered a sheltered boy.
I've never had to chi ku or Eat Bitterness in this life either.
I sighed.
New life, new body, and phenomenal cosmic power but it's all still me.
I was conflicted about what to do.
Habits and feelings from my old life welled up, telling me it was time to go home and stay there. To put my head into the sand and pretend nothing happened.
It was a terrible habit that I hated but one I found myself succumbing to time and time again.
I found myself railing against that. Things were moving in the background at this point, surely. I wasn't sure what or who, but the wheels were turning all the same and I knew my peasant villager 01 roleplay would likely soon be coming to an end, whether I wanted it or not.
I thought about that and looked inwards. Did I regret my decisions?
I considered the slaying of Harry Hardyng accidental but thinking over it, I honestly wasn't sure if that was fully true. Prowess was a blanket ability that applied to combat in general. Considering Mordhau literally meant some variation of murder-strike, murder-stroke, or murder-blow, my Prowess likely ensured the efficiency of my technique, ensuring I killed Harry with that blow.
Yes. I regretted that decision. There were cleaner ways I could have chosen to finish that fight but I was being childish. I was running high on imminent victory and thought Mordhau was cool so I wanted to use it. A lifetime of memories as an adult but it turned out I was still a child playing with something beyond his understanding.
Me wanting to feel cool got a man killed.
Idly, I wondered if I could blame my younger body for it.
Did I regret my decisions? Yes, yet there was nothing I could do for him further but carry this burden with me and learn from it. I would have to be more mindful in the future.
With great power comes great responsibility and all that. Though I was no hero nor did I think I could be.
I was just a man, flawed as the rest of them.
Regarding Alys, I knew I had little regrets for my actions. She was family and if the worst had happened to her, there was little doubt my anger would have seen me cutting a bloody, vengeful, and possibly genocidal swath through the mountain clansmen. I remember working myself into a righteous anger in my past life but lack of ability to enact change quickly muted those bursts. Now, I had tangible power and could very well make those crusades reality, for good or ill. I would have to be far more tempered in the future.
My saving grace, however little it was, was that I hadn't teleported away in the sight of everyone at Stoutstone.
Eventually though, someone may put the pieces together that I had somehow traveled weeks across the Vale in seeming days, but this wasn't the modern day where everyone had perfect information or could get it relatively fast. News spread slowly and quickly got muddled.
Maybe I would get lucky.
Doubtful.
But there was still time until it blows up in my face.
Fuck it, let's just take Alys' suggestion to just leave for a while and let the figurative heat die down. I did want to do more than just stay in Kipress for the rest of my life regardless so this would be a good opportunity to do so.
We would definitely have to return home first to let the family know Alys and I were alive and fine. I also wanted to drop off my winnings with them since I didn't need them as I could just spawn more. Wait no, perhaps I should find a way to break the gold into smaller denominations. A tiny farming village had little use for gold coins.
Perhaps Kipress' lord could do so for us but I wasn't sure if I wanted him or anyone else to know my family had so much gold. Wealth was material here and for us lowborn, it tended to be hidden in the house or buried under it. We had no guarded vault or bank to deposit into for safekeeping.
I stood there pondering until I watched the soldiers exit the gate and into the forest in the direction which I had pointed them to last night. The sun was peeking over the horizon and its light was starting to blanket the world. I watched it for a little more before choosing to return to my room.
I wanted to head home and that meant moving. Dawn was here and Alys would likely be waking soon.
"You seem to be in haste, Petyr?" A voice asked when I managed to barely take a few steps.
I turned back to Ceriya Arryn. The noble lady looked…
Honestly, disheveled would be the best word, to be honest. Her once-rich dress had faded slightly and was adorned by cuts and dirt. Ceriya Arryn herself was a fair enough woman I could tell. Four years older than me and with strong Andal traits of light hair and dark eyes.
Could I call her features aquiline? The book series tended to have characters take after their houses literally more than figuratively at times since it was a fantasy series and all that.
Nope, couldn't tell. I was a monkey-brain about all this anyway.
Onga bonga, pretty woman.
Fucking puberty.
"Lady Ceriya," I replied, giving a little bow. I wanted to wake up Alys and get outta here. Perhaps we would make travel during the day and when night fell, we could teleport the rest of it. "I was meaning to wake my sister."
"Alys? Is she well? We were worried when she did not return to our room last night." Oh, were they all shoved into the same room? I guess that was why she wanted to stay with me instead of returning.
"She is well though this experience has taken a toll on her," I said amicably.
"As it did all of us. I must thank you again for the timely rescue."
Flashes of death and blood ran through my mind again but I ignored it.
"As I said last night, none is necessary," I replied not unkindly, hoping to end this conversation. Ceriya Arryn wasn't an evil woman or anything judging by her traits but she wanted something and quite frankly, I would like to leave this behind me. "I merely did what I had to do."
Of course, she was not one to be denied. "Petyr, understand this." She said declared firmly. "My honor and that of my house would be tarnished if you were not rewarded."
Yup.
She wasn't going to let this go.
And I suspected she already knew what she wanted.
"Even without a knighthood, you espoused all the chivalry of one, Petyr of Kipress." Oh you, buttering me up for what I knew was coming. "Alys mentioned you have never squired but I desire to change that. House Arryn has many knights sworn to us and I would like to welcome you among those one day." It was quite a sweet deal and one that many would not refuse. She was offering me to be squired which meant I would be a knight someday, the dream of many men in Westeros.
I gave a disarming chuckle. "My lady, surely I am too old to be a squire. And much too lowborn. How could a lowborn knight ever serve the storied House of Arryn?"
"Some squires live all their lives as such but with your demonstrated skill and courage, Petyr, your squirehood would be shorter than most I say." She denied my attempt at deflection.
Ceriya Arryn was really trying to pull me into her sphere of influence.
Well, it was no surprise. There were lots of knights in Westeros but no one else had the ability to heal as I do.
As a peasant, she could have accepted that I wanted nothing in return for saving her since I was a peasant. Hell, she wasn't even obligated to thank me since I was lowborn. Her so-called debt of honor was only true for her peers of nobility.
"My lady," I said slowly to her offer.
A part of me was tempted.
I mean it was Knighthood.
Villager roleplay is over, now time for Knighthood roleplay. Call me Ser Petyr, the… What's a good word that starts with P? Pious? Perfect? Paragon? Pretty?
Ser Petyr the Powerful.
But I was being stupid. The childish side that got Harry Hardyng killed was once again trying to influence me. Sure, being a knight would be cool and all but that entailed being fully entangled in the politics of the Vale.
"That is a most generous offer."
She must have heard the denial buried deep within my words because she followed up by sweetening the pot. "I would also like to take in Alys as one of my handmaidens." That was also another good offer.
One of the duties of a lady was to find good matches for her handmaids which meant Alys could marry into nobility. As a lowborn though, it wouldn't be very high nobility, perhaps a newly landed knight at best, but it meant her children could be lords in their own right.
"Lady Ceriya," I began slowly. "I do not mean to offend but I'm a simple man. I merely wish to return home to assure my family I am well. I feel I have seen enough excitement for a lifetime at this point." A lie. "I suspect my sister feels the same way but you are welcome to ask her."
I also knew Alys didn't give a fuck, especially now that she knew what I was capable of.
Ceriya frowned but my skills told me there was no real heat in it. "To deny a woman so, you are a difficult man to please, Petyr." I disagreed personally. I knew me and I was a most simple man.
"Apologies. And I do not mean to dishonor your house. Perhaps a favor would be enough." I offered instead, no need to burn bridges.
She tilted her head slightly and the smile she deployed was a weapon to surpass Metal Gear. "Oh, you desire this lady's favor?" She stepped closer.
Too close, too close too close!
Danger alert!
The Cersei strat of utilizing the weapon between her legs was cheating! The move was a super effective one against hormone-driven teenage boys, dealing 4x damage.
It should be banned by the Geneva Conventions damn it!
A soft hum brought my eyes back to hers from where they had ended up inadvertently wandering down her figure.
I suddenly realized Ceriya Arryn was actually taller than me.
Step on m– Nope nope nope.
I leaned back and let Diplomacy take the wheel.
"Forgive my words, my lady, I meant to call upon the honor of House Arryn." Diplomacy and Intrigue working in tandem to assure none of my inner turmoil showed.
She stepped back, her seductive smile shifting into a more coy one. "Oh very well. Do you intend to leave today?"
"I do hope so. Our family must be worried and I would be a bad son to leave them in such state." I was relieved as she finally stepped back.
Adults often remembered the stupid shit they did as teenagers in an attempt to gain the attention of girls but what they were feeling to drive them to such actions had long faded from memory.
Now that I was going through a renewed puberty, it was a constant battle to keep the horny teenager part of my brain from taking front and center to decide my actions.
"You reside in the village of Kipress, correct?"
"It is the village of my birth." A slight deflection as I didn't mention I would likely be taking leave of there after this.
"Very well. Safe travels to you and your sister, Petyr of Kipress." Ceriya Arryn gave me one last smile before abruptly turning and leaving. At least she didn't do some hip swaying thing to saunter away.
Not that she needed too.
I suspected she wished to travel with us but that would be a most irregular offer. A Lady and her two handmaids traveling with two peasants. I wasn't sure what they would do now honestly.
Did this little village have a lord and maester who could send word about her well-being to her family? I doubt she would leave these walls without a small army accompanying her after what had happened to her.
I felt bad for her but honestly, it wasn't my problem. I went to wake Alys so we could finally get a move on.
I can definitely run away from my problems.
Yup.
New life.
New body.
New powers.
Still old flawed me.
It was no surprise Alys was just as eager to return home and we were off shortly after she woke and I managed to get my horse from the stables.
Alys was initially unhappy that we wouldn't be immediately teleporting home but understood my reasoning that we would do so when night fell.
For now though, we were just enjoying the sensation of galloping through country roads at top speed.
Horses normally couldn't maintain top galloping speeds for very long and most of their travel was done at much slower-paced trots.
My trait-modified horse had no such problem. I didn't know the conversion for Prowess but stacking some Prowess onto the horse worked enough to boost all his base stats.
My horse here was a rounsey, commonly used by poorer knights and squires or as pack animals so it shouldn't have the speed of coursers nor the strength and stamina of expensive full-bred war destriers yet just as Prowess increased my strength and stamina, it worked for my new horse which I named Clifford.
His coat was of a deep shade of chestnut that bordered onto red when the light shone just right so I couldn't help myself.
I originally wanted to name him after Lu Bu's famous red mount but I couldn't remember the name so I settled for Clifford.
Clifford the Big Red Dog Horse.
We raced down trails at speeds that made me feel like I was in a car again.
If a car had no suspension.
No AC.
No radio.
Nor windows to block the wind whipping around us.
But by the seven hells, it was fast!
It had been a long time since I felt this sensation of speed and wind whipping through my hair and I was thinking we must have been hitting forty miles per hour.
There was just one annoyance.
"Ack, damn it Alys, tie up your hair!" I yelled against the wind as Alys' wind-whipped hair got in my mouth again.
"With what?! And it won't hold!" She yelled back. Alys was sitting in front of me with my arms wrapped around her smaller form gripping the reins.
New dad hadn't taught me much about riding double on the horse but I assumed the smaller and inexperienced person sits front so they wouldn't fall off due to experience but I honestly wasn't sure if I was doing it right.
For one, Alys was starting to get too into it and leaning forward against Clifford's mane which was getting in the way of me controlling the reins. It might have been better if she were behind and just holding onto me so I could really drive Clifford on.
"Can you at least get behind me?!" I yelled back, exasperated by her antics.
"No! Keep going, Clifford!" Alys reached forward and patted Clifford on the crest who neighed.
"We might be able to push him faster with the right technique!" Switching tactics, I appealed to her desire for more speed.
A few moments later, clearly mulling over it, she shouted back, "Fine!" Alys finally relented and leaned back against me, allowing me to pull on the reins to start slowing us down even as Clifford whinnied in obvious reluctance. Finally, we slowed to a stop and Alys hopped off only to immediately climb back on behind me as I scooted forward. Clifford was digging his hoofs into the dirt impatiently.
Clifford's Prowess was at a thirty right now. On a whim, I doubled it to sixty. Ridiculously, Clifford the Big Red Horse should now be one of the strongest fighters in the entirety of Planetos. I had no idea how that worked since he was a horse and all that.
…
Could I put a sword in his mouth à la Sif or Zacian?
I also think Prowess might have mucked with Clifford's intelligence as well but as long as he didn't start talking to me, I was fine with this.
"We can go faster right?" Alys called out excitedly from behind.
"I just blessed him so probably?"
"What are you waiting for then?" Without prompting, Alys eagerly drove her heel into Clifford's flanks.
Clifford was clearly waiting for some signal and he took off. From a standing position to walking to trot to canter to galloping over a matter of seconds. Horses don't have speedometers but whereas before I estimated we had to be around forty miles per, we had to be in our sixties now.
Fuck it.
I increased Clifford's Prowess to ninety. I felt Clifford shake under me momentarily before he grunted and our speed pushed further up.
This was just fucking absurd at this point but I might as well go all the way.
One hundred Prowess.
As the world sped by, I couldn't help but release a giddy laugh at the sheer absurdity. Here I was on a horse that was technically an equivalent fighter to me racing down roads at utterly unnatural speeds.
It felt like I was on a roller coaster except it was so much more unsafe but that same feeling of thrill thrummed through me. That terror mixed with exhilaration that built up in a person during a rollercoaster before a person was forced to release it in a yell of emotion.
"Come on Clifford! Let's fucking go!" I roared in excitement to release some of the bubbling emotions within me.
Alys let out a delighted laugh of her own as Clifford pushed himself to absolute max speed. At this point, I had not a clue how fast we were running but speed was speed.
As the sun began to set, I decided to start slowing down and looking for a place to stop for the night which eventually found us off the trail in a small clearing.
We passed several villages this day and a trip that should have taken over a week was already halfway completed in a single day.
Clifford didn't even look winded. I got the feeling this was the equivalent of taking a dog out on a walk for him.
Neither Alys nor I were tired either thanks to Prowess but I couldn't help but laugh as Alys wrestled with her wind-tangled hair.
"Ugh, not helping Petyr," Alys complained.
My laughing trickled down to a chuckle before I retorted. "And what do you want me to do about it?"
"I'm going to cut it all off," Alys grumbled half-heartedly.
"Oh, and what will Jerrod say?" I teased. "Or Hoydan, Dunstan, Alyan, Todrick, and Symond?" My smile grew wider with each name I added. Honestly, Alys was quite popular with the village lads and I only felt comfortable teasing her with this since I knew she had no interest in any of them.
She threw a handful of dirt at me in reply to which I only laughed harder to her annoyance.
Eventually, we settled down into silence as we waited for time to pass.
"You need to buy me a horse too, Petyr," Alys suddenly asked from the side. My twin had given up fighting her tangled and matted hair and was now just sitting against a tree, fiddling with some rocks in her hand. "One like Clifford."
"Sure sure. It can be any horse and I can just use my abilities." What's the point of being theoretically infinitely wealthy if you can't spend them on your family?
"You said you can make gold right?" I nodded in reply before opening my palm up.
gold 3
And like that, there were suddenly three gold dragons in my palm. If there was one complaint about console-summoned gold, it's that they were pristine. Gold dulls over time, especially coins that might get exchanged around or left in some vault somewhere.
My coins looked like they came straight out of the mint and were chemically polished to a shine. Additionally, each and one of them were also perfectly made. The striking of medieval coins was not a super precise process and the imprints often time tended to be off-center or the coins themselves were not perfectly flat all the way.
Instead, mine looked like they were modern twenty-first-century replicas of medieval coins. Perfectly centered and balanced.
As all things should be.
Wait no.
Still, it was a nitpick at best since rubbing them in the dirt takes the shine right off of them.
I tossed the three coins over to Alys whose Prowess allowed her to deftly catch all three out of the air.
"Well, can you make anything else?" She asked curiously.
What else can I make?
"I mean, there is another interesting thing." Alys perked up at that, looking up from playing with the gold coins. "One of my…" Commands? Powers? "Spells allow me to summon artifacts of the world."
Judging by the list, it was more than just this world. I was also relatively sure some of these artifacts didn't exist in Crusader Kings 3, but rather in Crusader Kings 2. Hell, some of these definitely didn't exist in Crusader Kings 2 actually.
"Artifacts?" Alys tilted her head questioningly.
"Yeah. Stuff of legends I think." I remarked.
She piqued up at that. "Legends, like what?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh, well there's a lot." There really was and some of this shit was utterly wild.
Oh look, right near the top of the list.
add_artifact aegon_i_crown
A circlet crown of smokey Valyrian steel with square-cut rubies set along it at spaced intervals appeared in my hands.
Neat.
I looked it over momentarily before throwing it to Alys.
"What's this?"
Ah. I sometimes forget people just don't know as much as I do about this world. Alys wasn't dumb but she was a peasant so was never formally educated. Well, neither was I technically.
I thanked George's lazy worldbuilding that everything was in plain pseudo-medieval English and used the English alphabet so I could read and write.
"Some kind of necklace?" She inquired further.
I smiled in anticipation of her reaction. "It's the crown of Aegon the Conquerer."
Alys' eyes widened at that and she dropped the gold in her other hand to grasp the crown with both hands to examine it further.
I was very amused at her reaction as she ran her fingers through the crown, examining every detail of it.
"Wait, you said you summoned this artifact? Won't the owner miss it?"
"Ah no, sorry, summon was the wrong word. Not summon but… Hmmm. Commanded it into existence? Maybe that's more accurate."
Alys looked pensive at that before returning her attention to the crown. "Is this Valyrian Steel?" She asked, examining the darker metal closer.
"Yup. Rare stuff." I replied absentmindedly as I was still running through the list to see what was there. There were certainly a lot of goodies available to me and I felt like I was a kid in a candy shop.
Except all the candy was free.
And unlimited.
There was a bunch of stuff that seemed useless to me like Bones of St. Peters. Who is Peter and why would I want his bones?
I prefer my bones as they were clearly far superior.
Though there were others that could prove more interesting though it depended on whether they were actually mystical in nature.
Mjolnir for example.
Would it just summon a standard hammer from some dude named Thor whose actions got him deified or would it be more akin to a Noble Phantasm, meaning it would spawn a crystalized myth version of it where it could shoot lightning and stuff?
"Um, Petyr."
"Hmm?" I shelved the thoughts for now and shifted my attention to Alys.
Alys had tried to wear the crown but it was shaped for a man's head so the venerable and storied crown hung around her neck like some ungainly necklace. "What are we supposed to do with this crown? Should I bury them?"
Hm. A sudden thought occurred.
add_artifact aegon_i_crown 7233689217
Alys startled at the sudden weight on her head and reached up with her hands to grasp the crown of Aegon the Conquerer. Or should it be the crown of Alys the peasant girl now? The crown I spawned in fit her head perfectly. So that answered that. I had no doubt there were armor sets I could spawn in so this would make fitting a breeze. I kinda wanted to swag out Alys and myself now.
Alys was still staring at me, now holding two crowns. "I was just testing something. Give em here." I gestured for her to throw them back at me.
destroy_artifact aegon_i_crown
"What did you do?"
"Erased them from existence," I said simply.
Alys blinked. "Oh."
With a thought, Brightroar materialized in my hand. The last time I summoned Valyrian steel, I was in too vengeful a mood to examine them properly but now I had the time and privacy to do so.
Alys scooted over to me to take a look as well before looking at me questioningly.
"It's Brightroar, the ancestral Valyrian steel sword of House Lannister," I said absentmindedly.
The pommel was hammered into the shape of a roaring lion and to the surprise of none, made of solid gold. The grip was wrapped in some rich red and the guard was steel with gold pounded in and rubies seated.
I brought the blade up to my eyes, examining the distinct Damascus ripple pattern. The only difference was that the steel was a lot darker.
My takeaway was…
Yup, it's metal.
None of my abilities gave me particular expertise in swords themselves. Prowess merely takes in the combat aspects of it such as its superior cutting edge and lighter weight and makes sure to maximize those advantages during combat.
I tapped it with my fingernail to see what it sounded like.
Actually, I found the sound coming off of it… Slightly off? My instincts told me the sound should have been a bit higher, yet it was duller like it was denser and thicker than it actually was.
I spawned in another sword, the same I had that night I rescued Alys.
Not that she needed rescuing honestly.
"Lamentation, the lost Valyrian steel sword of House Royce," I explained to Alys. "I'm just kinda curious about the magical properties of Valyrian steel."
Lamentation was a normal longsword compared to the greatsword that was Brightroar.
Where Brightroar edged into black, Lamentation itself was all black but the ripples of silver could be seen. A standard hilt and guard but they had first men runes engraved onto them. Honestly, the blades were gorgeous. I tapped Lamentation with my nail but the sound was the same as Brightroar.
I vaguely remembered that when two Valyrian steel swords clashed, the noise they made was supposed to be unique.
"Hey Alys, wanna spar real quick?"
She looked surprised at my sudden question momentarily but quickly reached her hand out in a gimme gimme fashion for a sword with an eager smile. "A chance to beat you with a sword? Of course, I want to." She was too chipper about this. Honestly, I fear I might have awakened something in her.
I held onto Brightroar since it was a greatsword and handed her Lamentation.
We stood opposite to each other, neither moving.
Even though I gave Alys the Patient trait, she still made the first move, leaning heavily into her superhumanity to quickly close the distance between the two of us with a standard downwards cut. I could see the imprints her feet left in the ground as she closed on me.
I blocked.
For the first time in nearly a hundred years, spell-forged Valyrian steel met its brethren in a duel.
The ringing noise that sprang forth and across the clearing was definitely far from ordinary and even Alys paused at the sound of it.
I took the opportunity to swing at her to which she responded with a block as well, the same noise echoing forth across the clearing.
The weirdness of those strikes slowly faded as we went about the spar in force.
It was less us trying to kill each other but more exchanging strikes though I believe Alys was just enjoying being able to test her newfound abilities.
We must have traded dozens of blows accompanied by the same sound as our swords met before she stopped suddenly.
She had a pouty look on her face. "I really don't think I can beat you. You have no openings and any attempts of unbalancing you to find openings just fails. Your defense is weirdly flawless which isn't possible."
I smirked. Well, I guess that's what one hundred Prowess feels like. In turn, I could still perfectly predict what Alys would do.
"You wanted to test the sounds our swords made right? It sounded weird."
"Yeah, I was just curious." It was hard to describe. For some reason, it sounded more echo-ey when it had no reason to be. Sometimes the ringing sound was normal and other time it was more screechy. My enhanced hearing also registered odd, but distinct warbling when the swords clashed.
Perhaps some artifact of the magics imbued into the two swords as they tested themselves against each other?
Kinda like when an immovable object meets an unstoppable one?
I also wanted to test the durability a bit. I was cleaving through steel last night but is it really utterly unbreaking?
"Hey Alys, I wanna try breaking it."
"What why?"
"Well, Valyrian steel is supposed to be unbreaking sooooo I wanna try breaking it." I gave a shrug. "I mean why not."
"Boys," she muttered, clearly done with me.
I went to a nearby tree and with unnatural strength, I gave it a horizontal swing against the thick trunk.
I was expecting Brightroar to bite in but eventually get stuck. Instead, it cleaved through entirely instead.
Huh.
I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that.
Steel armor was one thing but to cleave through an entire fucking tree was another thing.
I looked over the blade to see it undamaged.
"Petyr, give me the sword." Oh, now all of a sudden, she wasn't done with me. "I wanna try." Alys had materialized behind me and had a hand on my sword arm. Running one last look along the edge to determine it was truly undamaged, I passed it to her.
"Girls," I mocked muttered in return but she took it all the same and went to a similarly sized tree before eagerly swinging. Even before she swung, I knew it wasn't going to cleave through.
Alys' swing made it about four-fifths of the way.
It suddenly clicked for me that it was a technique thing. I remembered watching a YouTube video in my past life about a bunch of students trying to cut through rolled-up tatami mats with a katana in some exhibition and the results were wildly different before in the end, a master came up and cut through like six of them perfectly smoothly. It wasn't just brute force since I distinctly remembered some of them were women as well.
Alys looked put out at her result while yanking her sword out of the tree.
"Less brute force Alys, more cutting technique. Listen to your instincts and let them guide you." I mimed stroking my imaginary beard like I was some ancient Chinese master dispensing wisdom to his juniors.
As expected, this insolent junior looked at me like I was stupid but she went to another tree and actually paused before it to take a posture.
Immediately, I could tell this attempt would likely be successful. Her stance was better and more balanced, allowing her to utilize her higher strength further without unbalancing herself.
She swung and a tree fell.
"Good job," I said and noted Alys' pleased expression while taking back Brightroar.
Alys' mistake made me realize I was testing it the wrong way. I shouldn't be using the proper technique here.
I needed to brutalize this sword like it was a Forged In Fire test. I didn't have bones but the tree Alys felled would do. I approached the fallen tree and purposefully resisting my instincts, started hacking away at it. Slowly the trunk chipped and pieces flew away under my onslaught.
Stopping halfway through, I examined the blade again.
Unmarred.
Looked like wood was not a hard enough material to test then. I looked around the clearing but there really wasn't anything else.
Well.
There was really only one way.
I went to another tree and plunged Brightroar in deeply so only six inches of steel by the guard showed, the rest of the sword deep in the tree with the sharpened edge towards the sky.
I picked back up Lamentation.
What happens when an unbreakable object meets an unbreakable object?
Let's find out, shall we?
"Can you scoot back Alys?" I asked. "Just in case it breaks." Most of the steel was embedded into the tree but I was still worried about shards hitting her if it did violently shatter.
I brought down Lamentation on Brightroar, edge on edge only for the same ringing sound to erupt which was definitely weird considering Brightroar was lodged nearly fully into the tree so the sound should have been significantly muted.
I repeated my actions. Stronger this time.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The edges were still unmarred.
Fuck it.
I brought down everything I had
The wooden grip of Lamentation crumbled away under my strength.
The two opposing edges met.
I assumed Lamentation would have sheared at the point where edge met edge.
It did not.
Instead, with a horrific-sounding ringing scream, Lamentation violently shattered across the entire steel length of the sword. As it did, I witnessed a burst of fire emanating from it along with a dark red mist that momentarily looked like many tiny faces in agony before it quickly dissipated.
The sound of the scream rattled me down to my very soul.
It sounded like the screams of the damned or something.
Fucking hell.
Wasn't expecting that but I should have.
it was spell forged steel but spells here tended to be wrought by blood sacrifices and the Valyrians were known for that.
So maybe some kind of unholy combination of dragon fire and the souls of the sacrificed were used to forge the steel.
Jesus Christ, George.
"What, what in the seven hells was that?" Alys uttered wild-eyed and bewilderedly.
"Not really sure but it was definitely magical."
"That sound though…"
"Yeah, the Valyrian's magic was rooted in blood, fire, and sacrifice." I looked down at my hand to notice it was stained by blood.
Oh fuck, that's probably not good.
Weirdly though, I didn't feel any pain.
"Your hand!" Alys cried out in alarm.
"Huh." I started wiping it against my tunic to see what the extent of my injury was but was surprised to see it unmarred.
"Um, I don't think that blood was mine." I looked down at the chunks of sword pieces on the ground. I could see blood on them. "I think it was in the sword," I said as reassuringly as I could in the current circumstances.
I pulled up my character sheet to make sure I hadn't just contracted magical hepatitis or something but everything was in the clear.
I was as healthy as a horse.
Clifford to be exact. I also double-checked Alys just to be safe.
Alys clearly wasn't reassured in the slightest as she grabbed my hand to examine it but she must have agreed with my statement because she also turned her attention to the remnants of Valyrian steel scattered against the forest undergrowth.
The pieces of Valyrian steel were blackened as if burnt, yet by the hissing sound they generated by touching the ground, they were still blisteringly hot. They also seemed to be oozing some blood-like fluid that wasn't affected by the heat.
Staring at something so utterly unnatural really made me really internalize that magic was a real thing here.
This shit was whack and creepy as fuck.
Hello Random Omnipotent Being.
I would like a refund.
Can I get an exchange and go to Harry Potter instead?
I'll take Voldemort over whatever the fuck this was. Hell, I'll even return the CK3 system.
Oh, my refund window was only two weeks?
Let me speak with your manager, please.
"Enough of that, Petyr," Alys demanded, clearly spooked. Well, I was too actually.
"Yeahhhhh, I think you're right." With a thought, Brightroar dematerialized from existence.
Though there was nothing I could do about the broken chunks of Lamentation scattered about the brush. It didn't even count as zero durability nor was it in my inventory anymore. It was utterly shattered.
Hope this doesn't start a fire or something. Smokey the Bear would be disappointed with me.
Wait no, Smokey was defunded.
Instead, let's hope this doesn't start a zombie plague or something.
Alys and I returned to the other side of the clearing, away from the souls of the damned I released into the air. Not sure if N95 masks could filter those.
She took a seat and started fiddling with the coins again, a nervous tic by her. Shame I couldn't get her a fidget spinner or something.
Though there was one thing I wanted to examine.
add_artifact
I let it pull up the autocomplete list and started to mentally scroll down the list. I found some in the 'D' section but I decided to check the 'V' section.
valyrian_dragon_eggs_fertilized
There we go. Riding Clifford was awesome but flying, oh boy.
Talk about unsafe rollercoaster rides, I'm sure a dragon would have nothing on Disney World.
I completed the command and it appeared before me.
I spawned another and passed it to Alys because I was sure she would be interested in it as well.
"What's this?" Alys blinked curiously at the large egg in her hand. "Supper?"
I laughed at her question momentarily. Then stopped to consider it.
She did raise a damn good question.
"Valyrian dragon eggs."
"What?" She yelped in surprise. "Can these hatch?"
"We're not Valyrians so maybe not?"I mused out loud. "I don't actually know to be honest." I confessed though I was just as curious.
There were fertilized so maybe they would? It had been a long time but Dany's were petrified and her little ritual wasn't a normal egg birth, more of a rebirth or so I think. The book series never clarified how eggs were hatched.
Looking through the console command again, there were some unfertilized eggs and even some petrified eggs which I assume were the ones Dany had.
So if ours was already fertilized, does it mean they would hatch regardless or merely have a potential to hatch if the right bond appeared?
Thinking about it, didn't Dragonstone use to have wild dragons on their own? So eggs could hatch on their own.
No wait, perhaps mama dragons hatched them before sending them on their way.
So I was back to square one.
Hm. As I mused, Alys was knocking on the egg with her knuckles and had moved onto giving it a shake to hear what was inside.
I spawned in a generic Valyrian steel dagger and started sawing at the top of my egg.
Alys' question got me really curious and with console commands, dragon eggs were not so rare that I couldn't eat them every day if I wanted to.
I was really curious to see what it was like inside.
In my past life, I was a vegetarian so I found myself eating a lot of eggs so it was no surprise eggs ended up as my favorite food.
Here though, I couldn't go out to a local grocery store and get myself sixty eggs for ten bucks. Our family, like many other lowborn families, raised chickens for their eggs and meat on occasion but the output was limited at best.
I suspect the dragon eggshell would have been a challenge for a normal steel knife, but my Valyrian steel made short work of it. Slowly, I popped open the cap of the egg to peer inside.
After the magical fuckery I watched earlier with the steel, I wasn't sure what I expected to see. Maybe there would be a fully fertilized dragon fetus growing in there.
If that was the case, I wouldn't be able to eat it. As an Asian in my past life, I've eaten some weird shit but even I wasn't willing to try balut eggs.
Instead, it looked like a standard egg except the yolk was light in color so instead of yellow, it leaned more towards white.
Wasn't that what crocodile eggs were like?
Hm.
Well then. I mean, it looked edible enough.
I looked to Alys' trying to convey my intention with purely twin telepathy.
She shook her head in denial.
I nodded in support.
Again she shook her head, more vigorously this time.
Again I nodded, equally vigorously.
"Alys." I said, my demand unvoiced.
"No," Immediately denying my demand.
"Please get a fire going." I voiced my wishes.
"You don't know if it's safe. What if you get sick?" She argued seriously. Honestly, she was the rational one in all this, speaking with facts and logic.
"Alys, if I get sick, I can heal myself." Unfortunately for her facts and logic, I have magic.
Hah!
I deny your reality and substitute my own.
The CK3 system worked on the underlying fabric of reality so I assume it would be able to handle anything if it popped up. If not, I might as well be well and truly fucked.
Alys gave a deep resigned sigh to which I grinned in reply. She set aside her egg to fetch some firewood and branches.
Soon enough, we had a small fire going with and an egg balanced in the middle of it, softly boiling away. I wasn't sure if this was the right way to cook it. I knew you were generally supposed to cook an egg in still hot ashes and coals of the campfire after the fire had smoldered out but with an egg this size, I decided to directly go with the fire, though we were no longer stoking said fire.
Some salt and pepper would have been great but we were poor as shit. Actually, some soy sauce too would have been great.
God, what I wouldn't give for a bowl of fucking rice.
Wait. I could go to Yi-Ti. Knowing George's worldbuilding, Yi Ti is probably just historical China and likely spoke modern Mandarin Chinese. Now, my Mandarin was shit and beyond rusty at this point, but surely I was fluent or understandable enough to order a bowl of rice.
Fuck it. I'll add it to the list if I ever get to go on my Planetos world trip. Maybe I'll start a Michelin's guide or something but instead of Lomas Longstrider and his world wonders, it'll be food. Hell, I might as well check out his wonders since some of them are only possible in such a fantasy world though I would have to find the book first since the only wonder I remembered was the Wall.
Still, it could be fun.
"Smells good doesn't it Alys?" I had deactivated my feast_good_food_modifier for this but Alys had declined. I was tempted to deactivate hers anyway but tampering with her like that for a practical joke was a slippery slope, one which I wasn't willing to start on.
Alys was poking at the yolk with a stick to see if it was cooked but turned to give me a deadpan stare.
"What's life without a little bit of adventure?" I laughed.
Honestly, I felt like I was one of those bushcraft YouTubers right now who brings exotic foods into the wild to cook a damn feast.
Well, screw your ostrich eggs and Wagyu steaks!
I'm cooking a damn dragon egg! Imagine the views I could have gotten with this baby.
Soon enough, the egg eventually solidified on top. I took the Valyrian steel knife I summoned earlier and stabbed the top of the egg a few times before twisting it a few times to churn the egg up.
I didn't have any utensils on me so using the same knife to trim some twigs got me an acceptable version of chopsticks though Alys looked at me like I was going mad.
Look, Alys. I don't have anything else and I need to practice for Yi Ti.
I started picking up pieces of the egg and eating it.
Yup.
That's egg alright.
I tried a piece of yolk.
That's also egg alright.
I mean, it tasted slightly different but I couldn't really pin it down just what it was. I've had game meat in this life and I couldn't call this that.
I pulled up my character sheet and yup.
No change.
"It's fine Alys. This isn't making me sick or anything. I just checked. Now come on, try some." I scooped up some on my chopstick and turned it toward her face, beckoning her. "It's dragon egg, Alys. I doubt anyone has had such a delicacy since the fall of Valyria." I say that but I wasn't sure if this was some cultural taboo in Valyria but she didn't need to know that.
Eventually, Alys' curiosity won out enough for her to try a bite though her initial expression had me believing I was feeding her dirt.
I rolled my eyes. The drama queen.
The expression faded as she gave it a few hesitant chews.
"It tastes like an egg," Alys said in surprise.
"Yup. Not bad though."
Seems the old adage tastes like chicken held firm here as well.
Are dragons just oversized chickens? I wondered.
Hm.
What does an actual dragon taste like?
…
Ayo Daenerys! I have questions that needs answering!
"Want another bite, Alys?" I offered.
"Sure." I handed her my chopsticks and she gave me a what the fuck am I supposed to do with these-look which I didn't need to use twin telepathy to understand.
"Just use em for now while I carve you up a spoon real quick." I chuckled, knowing her struggle to come.
She did so reluctantly as I picked up a decently sized twig stick and started carving it down to size. The sheer edge of the knife and my Prowess granted deftness allowed me to do it quickly. Though I couldn't hold back my amusement as Alys tried to puzzle out how to use the chopsticks. She tried to mimic me at first but failed. Then she shifted to one stick in both hands to try and lift things which somewhat worked thanks to her Prowess before she just gave up and used them to stab chunks of egg.
"Here," I handed her the spoon and got my stabby sticks back. Don't worry chopsticks, we'll show this savage westerner how to use you properly.
The both of us polished off half the egg before sitting back and relaxing for another couple of hours. Once we judged it late enough that nobody would see us when we started teleporting around, I deleted Alys' egg and fed the rest of the cooked one to Clifford who took it eagerly.
"Here you go, bud. No other horse has ever eaten a dragon." I said to Clifford. I suspect it was often the other way around. Clifford was going at it with a gusto, as if the egg had personally harmed him. He was even eating the eggshell.
I mean it was good calcium so should be fine?
Had the shell gone brittle after cooking or were his teeth now harder thanks to Prowess?
Eventually, Clifford finished and Alys and I climbed onto him once more and with an instamove, we were gone from the clearing as if nobody was ever there.
…
Except for the still chunks of Valyrian steel littering the floor.
And the trees cut through smoothly.
And another tree only partially cut through.
And another tree with a hole where Brightroar had once been stabbed into it.
Oh, and the trunk that had been hacked away with a sword.
Eh, they would never link it to us.
Two jumps later and we reappeared in a familiar square. To the surprise of none, it was completely empty since it was so late.
A sense of ease swept over me as I arrived, the feeling of returning home after a long trip.
Home sweet home.
It was dark out but Prowess granted night vision and familiarity was more than enough for me to urge Clifford down the path for home.
His gentle trotting was the only thing that cut through the silence of the night.
Clop.
Clop.
Clop.
Clop.
Most of the residents of Kipress should have been asleep but I could still see the glow of light from our little house.
Slowly, I guided Clifford around the side and wrapped his lead onto the post next to our family horse.
Alys was waiting by the side, saying nothing but a lifetime together told me she was nervous.
Shoot, so was I.
We were probably going to get in trouble, well Alys sure as hell was.
We found ourselves hesitating before our door, neither of us having the courage to knock.
Alys elbowed me in my side. Urging me to do the deed, the brat.
I elbowed her back.
Damn it, she was the one with the Brave trait!
Fine.
I knocked.
"Dallar?" I heard my dad immediately call back. Dallar was one of the men-at-arms and likely the one on patrol tonight.
"Dad, it's me and Alys," I called back.
I heard an immediate shuffling of several steps of feet rushing towards the door before it was unbarred from his side and opened.
There was mom and dad.
Dad looked like Dad, a bit more ruffled and a few more lines around his eyes but Mom…
She looked terrible. Her eyes were red and shadowed as if she had not slept well in some time and had been crying. She was also thinner than I remembered.
I felt bad but I could feel Alys tense up next to me, likely in shame. I caused them a lot of problems but Alys compounded it by disappearing.
"Petyr, Alys! You're back!" A young girl's voice cried out cheerfully.
Sharra slipped between our parents to stand before Alys and me with a beaming smile.
I couldn't stop my own smile that bloomed at the sight of my ever-cheerful littlest sister and I patted her head, mussing up her hair a bit. Sharra must have missed us too because though she never liked it when I messed up her hair, instead giggling at the action this time.
"Yup. We're home. Sorry, we took so long Sharra. Did'ja you miss us?"
Mom side-stepped Sharra to envelop both of us in a crushing, desperate hug as if to confirm we were real.
"You're back." She sobbed. "My children are home." The guilt welled up and I wrapped one of my arms around her to reassure her while Alys copied my motion from her side.
"I'm sorry, ma. I was foolish," Alys said quietly from the side.
"You're back and safe. That's the most important thing." I could feel her clutching us tighter.
I smiled. Looking at Dad who stood behind her with his arms crossed, I addressed him. "Good to see you too old man. It's been… Quite the adventure."
Dad wasn't one of the most expressive men but I could tell he was relieved we were home. "Come on in then and tell us about your adventure."
Reluctantly as if scared we would disappear again, Mom reluctantly let go of us and pulled us inside.
"Oh hey, Hugo," I greeted my older brother. Hugo was the middle brother and four years older than Alys and I. He had taken an apprenticeship with the town blacksmith, Master Lomys, some few years back and as an apprentice, ended up living at his place.
An apprentice living with their master was pretty normal in cities and towns but wasn't exactly necessary in our small village with a commute of a few minutes at most so I was surprised he chose to live with his master. I originally just chalked it up to him wanting to move out and be independent and all that young man stuff so I hadn't seen him all that much over the past few years.
"How's Josey?" I inquired.
I found the real reason one day when I was exploring the woods and stumbled upon Hugo going at it with Master Lomys' daughter, Josey. Master Lomys had no sons and three daughters and after his late wife passed from childbirth, he never remarried so Hugo was looking to inherit Master Lomys' works.
"Well." He replied curtly, but not unkindly. Our relationship wasn't strained or anything but nor was it especially strong so I always found myself disconnected from Hugo. He was always serious and thinking about his future whereas I kinda just drifted like a leaf on the wind, living the day by day.
A part of me also suspected he merely settled for Josey and seduced her for her father's forge, guaranteeing his own future.
Anyway, good talk. Alys was not any closer to Hugo than I was so she said nothing.
Awkward silence started to fill the air as Mother bustled the lot of us to the table.
"While you were gone, Hugo told us she is with child," Dad said in an attempt to fill the air.
"Josey has missed her moon's blood so we are hopeful." Hugo explained further.
"Really now? Congratulations than Hugo. You're going to be a father." I gave him a smile.
"Thank you." He replied simply before the conversation faded once again.
Good talk, oh brother of mine.
He must have realized the awkwardness so he did that awkward cough into hand thing people do before speaking. "Now that you and Alys have returned, I guess I shall be taking my leave." He made to stand.
"Oh Hugo, there is no need. Please stay. We see so little of you these days." Mom asked of him.
"What your mother said, Hugo." Dad spoke in support. Dad and Hugo weren't exactly super close either. Hugo didn't have any interest in martial arms like I did so when I was born, it wasn't exactly a surprise they drifted apart.
Honestly, thinking about it now, it also shouldn't have surprised me Hugo wanted to get out and live his own life and secure his own future.
Hugo shook his head negatively. "Apologies mother, father. I have duties on the early morrow so I must retire for the night."
"I won't trouble you any longer than Hugo, though do visit your poor mother more often. And bring my gooddaughter along with you." Mom relented.
Hugo was a man at eighteen but even I could tell he was flustered. "It is no trouble and I shall endeavor to do so Mother."
At the entryway just before he stepped outside, he suddenly turned back to look at Alys and me. "Petyr, Alys. Please don't worry us like this again."
We may have never been the closets of siblings, that title belonged to Alys and Sharra behind her, but he was still family.
"We won't." He turned back but I continued. "And Hugo, we know you're busy as Master Lomys' apprentice but thanks for coming by to make sure Mom and Dad were okay while we couldn't," I told him honestly.
"Of course. Mother, father." He looked at them and nodded before fading away into the night.
As he disappeared, Dad wasted no time in turning to me. "Now then. Petyr. What in the seven hells happened at Stoutstone?" My father demanded, not angrily, but more worriedly.
"I… Errr… I won the tourney?" I grabbed my now significantly heavier money pouch and upturned it, spilling the gold all over the table thinking shiny gold could defuse some of the tension in the air.
The amount of gold I won was honestly quite the windfall for a peasant villager family like us. Gold was more often used and seen in larger towns and cities.
"Thats… What?" Mom and Dad were both clearly surprised at my sudden declaration and action.
"We heard you killed a man and were arrested for it," Dad explained.
Guess the story really got muddled.
"That is true, yes not the full story though." I admitted. "During the final battle of the melee, the tip of my sword broke off so I was forced to use the pommel. I managed to land a solid hit against his helmet and I guess he died later that night due to that injury since I was arrested as I came back into town the next day."
"Don't deaths happen often during tourneys?" Mom asked further.
"They are Jessa, but well…" Dad trailed off, looking at me for confirmation of his words.
I nodded at him. "The man I ended was pretty highborn." I shrugged. "Harry Hardyng, heir-presumptive to the Vale." I couldn't exactly tell them of the underlayers underneath it all with Beomar and the schemes.
They went quiet at that.
"How are you here then? Are you fleeing from the law?" Dad voiced the question flatly and without emotion for Mom who must have been terrified that another of her sons could have been branded an outlaw.
"There was a trial. They tried to sentence me to the wall but I demanded a trial by combat and it was granted. I won that trial and was set free." I said quickly to allay their fears.
"Oh, Seven bless," Mom let out a relieved sob at that.
Of course, Dad on the other hand. "A trial by combat eh boy?" He had an excited and pleased glint in his eye. "Who'd you fight?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Alys wordlessly mouth 'men' beside me and rolled her eyes.
"Lord Royce, of Runestone. Harry Hardyng was his squire so his honor demanded he fight me." I answered him.
Honor. Yup. Had absolutely nothing to do with the way I insulted him to his face, prodding him into fighting me.
Dad started at that. "Bronze Yohn? You won?" He spoke in surprise before he promptly burst into a fit of laughter.
"Pa's gone weird, Petyr." Sharra said in childish innocence which made me laugh as well.
"Bronze Yohn is a storied tourney knight who's been winning fights since I was your age, Sharra." Dad explained to her. "A damn good fighter, one of the best in the Vale. Hell, in Westeros. And my son says he bested him." His eyes shone with pride. The boyish part of me couldn't help but be pleased by his praise.
"The battle was hard fought," not really, "but the Seven was with me." I nodded. Gotta keep up the story. "He's a good man. After the battle, the other judges saddled me with weregild obligations but Lord Royce said he would pay it for me."
"As he would. Your cause was just and Lord Royce is said to be a man of high honor." Seems Lord Royce's name was known by even the lowborn.
"But it's over now right?" My mother asked quietly from where she was observing us. "You said you won a trial by combat so the gods have declared you free?"
"Yup," I assuaged her fears.
"Actually, how did you come by Alys?" Dad asked curiously.
"I went after Petyr but I was come upon by clansmen." My mom gave a dismayed cry and moved to hold her.
"Are you well Alys? Did they…" Mother looked near tears again as she clutched Alys tighter.
Sharra just looked confused.
"No, they did not." Alys quickly reassured her. "I am still a maid."
Mother held her and I heard a quiet 'thank the seven' under her breath.
"Petyr came upon them in turn and rescued me and the other captive women."
I mean, as long as they didn't ask us to elaborate on the timeline, that was all technically true. How sly of you Alys. I guess we shouldn't worry our parents overly much.
Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "The battle, Petyr?" The same undertone of excitement laced his question again.
Is my dad secretly a battle junkie or something? Shouldn't you be like working me through my first kill or something?! Fuck, this wasn't Naruto.
"Quick. I came upon them in the night and cut through many of them, sending the rest fleeing." Dad looked prideful at that. I guess the killing didn't bother him like it would me, merely the triumphing over others would be important.
"Your father tracked you Alys but we found hints that you were snatched. When nearby villages alerted us mountain savages were in the area, we feared the worst."
"Aye, the lord has increased night patrols," Dad added in.
Sharra had hopped off her seat to go hug Mom.
"I'm sorry for worrying you but I was worried about Petyr," Alys said weakly.
"Daft girl, we were all worried. If you had waited another day, I would have gone to Stoutstone."
Alys looked surprised at that. "But you said we couldn't go!"
"I cannot go as I have a sworn duty to the lord," Dad acknowledged, "but that's why I had to request leave first." He pinned Alys with a flat stare.
"Oh." Alys looked embarrassed at that. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.
He sighed. "You headstrong child."
This was the better outcome I think. If Dad had gone, he may have encountered the clansmen and they would have just killed him.
"And Alys, you definitely won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Mom said sternly.
Oooooo she was grounded. Not that grounded was a thing here.
"But mom, Petyr said he would take me to Braavos." Alys said oh so innocently but I knew the truth. My Intrigue and Diplomacy are higher than yours missy!
This brat. My sister just threw me under the truck.
I've already been isekai'd and I'm not ready for the next one just yet.
My parents' gazes both focused back onto me with intensity.
Diplomacy please help!
"Well… I mean wasn't this what you wanted Dad? Getting me out into the world? Well, now I have a taste for travel. Take responsibility, why don't you?"
Diplomacy delivered by promptly dragging my dad under the truck with me.
How's that supposed to help?!
"Oh, and here's me paying you back the silver you fronted for the tourney entry fee." I slid a handful of gold dragons toward his side of the table.
I escaped the oncoming truck that took the form of a furious Mom and left Dad the sole target.
Thank you Diplomacy.
Very cool.
I shall never doubt you again.
"You mean to say this was your idea, Yorrick?!" Mom demanded.
Oh dear, she even pulled out the first name.
"Pa's in trouble." Sharra clearly agreed with me as my enhanced hearing caught her whisper to Alys.
He gave me an amused look of half-hearted betrayal before defending himself. "I thought it would be good for the boy and I stand by it. He left a boy but returned a man."
"A man?! Killing does not make a man and Alys was nearly dishonored!" Alys who was still being held by her flinched at the reminder.
Mmm, Mom was getting a bit worked up.
"It's fine, Mom. Dad had the right of it. I feel like I've really grown this trip and while I love Kipress, it's home but I do want to see the world a bit before I settle down."
"The two of you are ten and four, much too young." Mom denied. Old enough to be pushed towards marriage and have children, but too young to travel and see the world.
Mom was being irrational.
"Bah Jessa. Petyr's a man now." Typical fantasy macho feeling. I've killed a person so now I'm considered an adult. "He killed in defense of himself and others, he'll have little issues if he wants to travel around a bit."
"Mom, we aren't leaving tomorrow or anything."
"I… No. Let us end this for tonight. The night grows long and we should retire." Mother said, resigned. "We'll continue this conversation at a better time.
That sounded fine enough to me.
Honestly, that conversation could have gone worse. I was okay with Alys knowing my secret but I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to tell my parents. Though, I feel like I should before I leave for travel, if not for the fact I wanted to up their Prowess like I did Alys' so if there was any blowback from my actions, they could handle it by force if necessary.
I was also thinking I should, perhaps I could ask them to leave Kipress with me. Maybe set them up in Braavos.
Either way, this was a conversation for another time.
I was just happy to be back home.
I hope this happiness lasts.
Author's Notes:
Thanks to Grape Fanta on SpaceBattles for beta-ing this chapter.
One small thing I want to point out from the last chapter which I got a bit of heat on. Septa Lanny being an amputee was a pre-existing condition. It was not a wound gained during her capture, instead it was an accident in her youth that saw her join the Septs in the first place. If it was a wound gained because of the clansmen, Petyr would have healed it then and there, damn the consequences. It was originally much clearer but I think it got inadvertently shuffled out during rewriting.
Slower fare this chapter as I can only escalate so hard with each chapter. Next chapter will likely be another cooldown chapter, perhaps further toying around with the add_artifact command. I haven't fully decided on which route I want to take with the artifacts but leaning towards Noble Phantasm style. I mean, let's be honest. This is an OP MC so maybe I should just embrace it.
Saying that, I'm still undecided.
There are just so many goodies.
No links are allowed here on FF but you can google them if you're interested.
Wikipedia - List of mythological objects
Or maybe I should just stick to what's in the games:
Crusader Kings 2 Artifacts
Crusader Kings 2 Game of Thrones Mod Artifacts
Crusader Kings 3 Artifacts
Crusader Kings 3 A Game of Thrones Artifacts
Next chapter is uhhh… I dunno. I rotate between my two stories so I'll be shifting focus back to my other fic and well, August is a stacked month. Baldur's Gate 3 will be taking what little free time I have, not to mention I'm also returning to school, giving it the old college try to finish that degree which is already ¾ of the way done. You know what they say, the third times the charm. Hopefully, life doesn't get in the way again.
There may be an Omake coming out sometime in the next week, depending on my motivation. I got bamboozled into reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (would not recommend it), but I feel like I should at least get something out of the words I read. I've made no secret that I'll likely be giving the MC a dragon for the hell of it and I can since this isn't a serious story so the Omake will likely have potential spoilers. I say potential since I don't have any solid clue what the future of this story holds so things are always subject to change.
As always, thanks for reading and any feedback would be appreciated.
Edit 1: There is no Brightroar in tree left in the clearing. Clarified it.