Bran watched the scene unfold before him, a swordfight. An attractive blond warrior was facing off against a large man, both clearly enjoying the clash of steel. Then he noticed something.
"Rhaegar Targaryen," he whispered.
"So the other one must be Arthur Dayne," he muttered.
He watched as the Targaryen and the Morning Star engaged in fierce combat. Bran had never seen a swordfight so fast.
"Fast," he said in awe.
Then Rhaegar struck Arthur in the stomach with her elbow, pushing him back. With a swift movement, she knocked the sword from his hands.
Bran smiled at the sight.
Even though Rhaegar had once been a sworn enemy of his family, there was no denying the skill.
"They were very good," the Three-Eyed Raven admitted.
"What were they training for?" Bran asked.
"There was a tournament at Harrenhal, hosted by Lord Walter Whent, in honor of his daughter, and to display the power of his house," the Raven explained.
"The Harrenhal tourney… I've heard of it. Rhaegar Targaryen won," Bran whispered.
The vision changed.
Now he saw Rhaegar win a joust against Ser Barristan Selmy. The prince took a blue flower and handed it to a woman standing beside a tall man.
"Aunt Lyanna," Bran whispered.
"And that's how it all began," the Raven said quietly.
"The rebellion," Bran muttered.
"No," the Raven corrected. "The rebellion came later. This… this is where the song of ice and fire began."
"What?" Bran asked.
But the Raven didn't answer. He only stared at Rhaegar.
"He was perfect, wasn't he? Skilled with a sword, brilliant of mind, and full of a desire to help. But that desire… it was also his doom."
"I don't understand," Bran said.
"You will," the Raven replied.
Another vision appeared.
Rhaegar Targaryen sat in a quiet room. Beside him was a beautiful woman.
Bran stared, mesmerized. He had never seen anyone like her.
She was somewhat dark-skinned, thin, with black eyes and a flat chest. There was kindness in her face, and fragility too.
They were both looking at a sleeping baby.
"We need more time, Elia," the prince said.
"Elia? Elia Martell?" Bran asked.
The woman looked at her husband with sadness.
"The maesters said that Rhaenys' birth weakened me, my prince. At best, I might give you one more child. But I will not survive two," she whispered.
Rhaegar shook his head.
"No, not two. It will be three, Elia. Believe me, I know. The dragon has three heads."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Bran muttered, annoyed by the heir's lack of tact.
"Rhaegar was strong, skilled, intelligent… with a great desire to do good," the Raven said. "But he lived his life shrouded in shadows, fantasies of an ancient prophecy. That was his doom. In trying to see his future enemies, he never realized he was creating them."
"He created them? The White Walkers?" Bran asked.
"No, not the Walkers," said the Raven.
"He created discord. Robert's hatred. Your father Ned's frustration. In trying to save the Seven Kingdoms, he seeded conflict within them. That discord… was his downfall, and the downfall of his entire house."
Bran stood up and yawned as the vision faded.
He looked around.
He was back in the white room.
Without a word, he walked over to the computer.
{Congratulations, your familiar has leveled up!}
Bran wondered what Summer did to level up, but then shook his head, he couldn't waste time, he checked what it said.
{Name: Summer
Familiar
Level: 2
Dream of wolves: Shares its consciousness with its owner, when he sleeps.}
The boy left the chamber and made his way to where the others were gathered. He spotted Meera sitting nearby and walked over to her.
"Hello," the girl greeted as he sat down beside her.
Bran smiled in return and turned his gaze to the wolves, who were training together. Summer looked up at him in greeting as she arrived, and Bran noticed Rickon practicing the same knife movements demonstrated by a Child of the Forest.
"He's been training since you left," Meera said.
Bran watched his younger brother repeat the precise motions.
Rickon, meanwhile, didn't even notice Bran's return, fully absorbed in his training. The Children were teaching him the thousand-year-old art of blade dancing.
Low movements.
High movements.
Defense.
Attack.
His mind wasn't on anything else. The White Walkers had weaknesses. Their vital points revealed it.
Rickon exhaled deeply and continued the sequence.
His blade moved swiftly, each strike sharp and deliberate.
The Children had explained that his previous fighting style had too many openings, too many wasted motions that made him slow. Blade dancing, they said, had to be fast. Precise.
Suddenly, Rickon found himself back in the white room. He approached the monitor.
He hit Level 7 and got 1 skill point.
He nodded and exited the room.
Returning to training, he finally noticed Bran and decided to take a break.
"And has he taught you anything?" Rickon asked.
"He showed me visions of the past. I saw Arthur Dayne and Rhaegar Targaryen sparring," Bran said.
"Great," Rickon replied.
"Then he showed me the Harrenhal tournament," Bran added.
"Did you see Ser Barristan?" his brother asked excitedly.
Bran nodded.
"Yes, or at least I saw him fall during the joust against Rhaegar. I also saw Aunt Lyanna… and Princess Elia Martell," he said.
Meera looked at him curiously.
"What's the point of all that?" she asked.
Bran shrugged.
"I have no idea," he admitted.
"Well, the Harrenhal tournament was the beginning of what would become the rebellion, the first sparks," said Jojen, arriving quietly.
"So it's just history?" Bran asked.
"Did he tell you that?" Jojen countered.
Bran shook his head.
"No. It was more like… he was showing me Prince Rhaegar's flaws. He said Rhaegar was trying to save the Seven Kingdoms, but he was so focused on future enemies, he didn't notice the ones he was creating," he explained.
Jojen nodded.
"Rhaegar's downfall was his arrogance," he said softly.
Meera turned to her brother, curious.
"Did you also have visions of Harrenhal?" she asked, knowing Jojen had the greensight.
He shook his head.
"No. Not Harrenhal," he said, but offered nothing more.
Bran looked at him, curious.
Jojen always seemed like a mystery.
Meera sighed, already knowing her brother wouldn't say anything else.
XXXXXXXXXXX
At Winterfell, men studied the terrain intently.
"Something's strange. These boys were burned, but didn't they have two direwolves?" muttered one soldier as he inspected the area.
"Sir, we found something," another soldier called out as he approached.
"Show me," the leader ordered.
They moved about six hundred feet beyond Winterfell's perimeter.
The soldier held up a broken piece of wood.
"What's this?" the leader asked.
"Look closely," the soldier replied.
The leader examined it and noticed some hairs caught in the splinters.
"Wolf hair," he whispered.
"Exactly. And not only that, follow me," said the soldier.
They walked another thirty meters to a nearby tree.
The soldiers studied the ground carefully.
"Footprints," the leader whispered.
"Human and wolf prints," said one of the men.
"How old?" the leader asked.
"We don't know exactly. The snow has covered them for weeks, but luckily we found parts where they scraped the ground. Apparently, there were two young ones, two adults. One adult was really tall. The wolves looked quite large," the soldier explained.
"Did you follow them?" the leader asked.
The soldier nodded.
"They disappear about two hundred meters away… but they were heading north," he said.
The leader fell silent, deep in thought.
"I must inform the king. Don't say anything to anyone else until we have proof… It seems possible the princes are still alive," he said quietly.
The soldiers nodded in agreement.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jon looked closely at the computer. He had arrived in Valyria two days ago, and the Targaryens were slowly getting used to their new life.
Jon had given them one of the great mansions in the noble district of Valyria, along with a few attendants.
Aegon had begun training to lead men under Jon Connington's guidance. Knowing how to fight wasn't the same as managing an entire squadron or army.
The night before, Jon had dined with Raenerys, who came to visit him. Sansa wisely left them alone.
Nothing happened but dinner.
Still, Jon enjoyed spending time with the Targaryen princess.
He touched the monitor and entered the white room.
The boy blinked.
"What's wrong?" he muttered.
He turned back to the monitor.
{Congratulations you have leveled up x4.
Your familiar has also leveled up x1!}
"4 times?" he muttered.
He didn't quite understand what had happened.
"Is it possible that all the points I earned during this time in Valyria come through at once when I touch the monitor?" he wondered.
The boy nodded to himself.
It was possible.
In Volantis, he only earned points when he completed renovations, and he received them when he touched the monitor.
"Interesting," he whispered.
He scanned the options, then hesitantly chose "Teams."
{Current sole member of the team:
Eddard Stark
Do you want to send an invitation to someone?
Yes / No}
Jon pressed yes.
{Choose who you want to send the invitation to:
Robb Stark
Talisa Maegyr
Catelyn Stark
Sansa Stark
Arya Stark
Brandon Stark
Rickon Stark}
Jon sighed heavily as his eyes lingered on the last few names.
"Why are they still listed if they're dead? Maybe they don't disappear from the game even if they die?" he muttered.
He closed his eyes and selected one.
Are you sure you want to send an invitation to Brandon Stark?
Yes / No}
The boy let out a stifled sigh and pressed yes.
{Invitation sent.}
Jon squeezed a few tears from his eyes, thinking of his little brothers, then quickly shook his head. He couldn't afford to think like that anymore.
He looked back at the screen and selected Arya. He missed his wolf.
{Are you sure you want to send an invitation to Arya Stark?
Yes / No}
He pressed yes.
{Invitation sent.}
He glanced at the screen and tapped on Ghost, wondering what new ability his familiar might have gained.
{Name: Ghost
Familiar
Level: 6
Howl: Calls the Direwolf Troop immediately.}
Jon looked curiously at that, he wondered what it would be like.
He shook his head and looked at his own abilities.
{Name: Jon Snow
Title: King of Valyria/ King of Volantis
Skill Points: 14
Level: 38 (0/54500)
Health: 3800/3800
Mana: 3750/3750
Attributes: Low
Skills: 2
Swordsmanship Level: 5
Summoning Magic Level: 5
Do you want to spend six skill points to raise the Summoning Magic skill to level: 6?
Yes/No}
The boy pressed yes.
{Summoning Magic Level: 6
This skill has two upgrades.
Cost: 660 mana per cast.
Company of Healers: Summons 10 healers with healing magic. Every job they do gives the user experience.
Alchemists: Summons an alchemist, every job he does gives experience to the user
Survival: Healer's Tools, Healer's Tool Blueprints, Healer's Shop Blueprints, Laboratory Blueprints. Common Alchemist Brews.}
These were good spells.
Healers above all.
Sansa could heal him, but it never hurt.
He also had two upgrades, which seemed like it could be really useful. He looked at his points again.
[T/N: It's not needed to show the status screen again.]
{Skill Points:8}
He shrugged and chose Swordsmanship.
{Do you want to spend six skill points and raise your Swordsmanship skill to level: 6?
Yes/No}
Jon pressed yes.
{Swordsmanship Level: 6
This skill has two upgrades.
Cost: 80 mana
Physical Aura: Creates an aura that increases strength, speed, and resistance five times and lasts ten minutes.}
The boy watched with interest. This skill was very useful.
Certainly much better than the previous Flash, which, though helpful, couldn't compare to Physical Aura's speed, strength, and endurance.
"A skill made for battle," he muttered.
He still had two skill points left.
The boy left the room just as a knock came at the door.
A soldier passed by, handing Jon a letter.
His eyes gleamed with hope.
"Don't tell anyone. I don't want false hopes raised for my family if this turns out to be wrong," he ordered. The men nodded and retreated.
"Is it possible they're alive?" he muttered to himself.
"Jon," he heard, and saw his sister enter.
"Yes, Sansa?" he asked.
"Is something wrong?" she inquired.
Jon paused for a moment.
"No. Nothing," he replied.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Is everything ready?" Daenerys asked.
"Yes, my queen," came the reply as she saw her new guardian, Ser Barristan.
"There are still a couple of days until we reach Astapor," Jorah added.
"News indicates that a war between Volantis and Astapor is about to begin," the legendary knight said.
"War? Why?" she asked.
"It seems Volantis was conquered by the king of Valyria," Ser Barristan explained.
"They're just rumors," Jorah said.
"Valyria," Daenerys whispered.
[T/N: There you go, 2 chapters for hitting 25 powerstones, if we get 30 this coming week then you guys will get another 2x chapter release, the only reason I'm doing this is because we are almost done with the patreon release. Ok, this one was re-edited, so this is actually better than what the Patreon got when this first came out back in October last year, and its quality is up to the latest chapters of the book on Patreon.
Once all the books are finished I'll go back and edit all previous chapters for all the books up to this quality, and then we can start a new book, no systems again, this has been a lot.
As always, if you find a mistake, please point it out.
If you can't wait for the next chapter, then check out my Patreon for some advanced chapters! For just $10, you can get access to over 300+ posts. That means you get to read up to chapter 91 from book two and have access to all my other works. You could also join the free membership. I always appreciate it. (*/ω＼*)
[patreon.com/PuddingLord]