He was way too open.
Dodge, dodge, parry to push the man off his balance. Strike quickly.
‘Clang’
Ping!
Skill Level Up!
Basic Sword Fighting Lvl 72
Defense Lvl 76
Offense Lvl 69
“Hahaha good fucking fight lad!” Desmond's loud voice hit my ears as I stood there in shock. The guard on the ground in front of me hadn’t even put up that great of a fight. Truth be told, he was a city guard, and never really had to fight that much to keep his job. But still, a grown man had just been bested by me in under two minutes.
Two months, and training my ass off nearly everyday for what was to come had brought me this.
“What the fuck have you been feeding this kid?!” The guard snarled as he got to his feet holding the side of his helmet that I had smacked with my wooden sword.
“Hard work.” Desmond responded as he walked onto the training field. “And it’s about to get even harder.” He said with a grin on his face.
“Harder?” I asked, mimicking his smile.
I had almost mastered the basic sword fighting in two months, I had grown four inches based off of food buffs and sleep. My strength and speed had more than doubled, allowing me to keep up with grown men in spars, even though a proper knight would still kick my ass all over Riverrun. That didn’t even touch the other skills I had developed and levelled.
And he wanted me to work even harder?
“That’s right! It’s time we start teaching you more useful techniques. The types of forms that Edmure is learning, and knights use.” Desmond said as he reached forward and took the wooden sword out of my hand. He put a real sword in its place and then stepped back a couple of feet.
“Are you ready?”
Ping!
Skill Created!
Sword Fighting Lvl 1
Defense Lvl 1
Offense Lvl 1
“Yes ser.” I answered with an even bigger grin.
----------------------------------------
“Desmond tells me that you are perhaps the most skilled student he has ever had the pleasure of teaching.” Hoster Tully didn’t even look up from the paper on his desk when he said that. The tone of his voice didn’t make it seem like it was particularly a good thing.
Is he mad that I am outshining Edmure?
“I work hard, My Lord.” I answered amicably.
Hoster looked up then, to meet my eyes. They widened slightly. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t seen the Lord since the first day that I had stolen Petyr’s body in this world. Hoster was a traveling man, and has been gone riding around the Riverlands since then.
This meant that he wasn’t here to see my transformation, from a boy, into a young man. I stood at 5 foot 4 inches. That was a full 4 inches taller than the last time I had seen him. On top of that, I was not a twig. I had developed very defined arms, shoulders, and a chest from swinging a sword and shooting a bow and arrow all day. To grow that much in two months was not unheard of in this world, but extremely inconsistent with this body. I was approaching my full height in the books, but something told me that would not be the case in this world.
My only saving grace, was that Edmure had also grown two inches over this time period, putting us at the same height. He was also a man child.
“You have grown also.” Hoster complimented with a nod.
“Vyman claims it is the exercise, and how much I have been eating lately.” I told him truthfully. Vyman didn’t know just how right he was actually.
In fact, I’ll need to consume another meal for the buffs later. I reminded myself as I looked at the timer at the top left of my vision.
“Indeed. I summoned you to tell you that I am pleased with your progress. I will not send you off to die just yet.” Hoster joked with a smile. But his eyes, his eyes told me he may not be lying at all.
“Good news then.” I said trying to placate him, while going along with it.
“Do not get complacent, however.” Hoster berated. I nodded as he continued to speak. “Also, there is a tourney at Harrenhal this year. The Lords have known about it for close to a year by now. Soon other Lords will begin their journey to the Riverlands. Normally, I would not bring you or Edmure.” Hoster commented.
“But it seems my brother has caught wind of your skill, and wishes to see it for himself. And I will not dishonor my son by bringing you along and not him. So it seems my hand is forced. We will leave in a month's time. You are dismissed.” Hoster said, tearing his eyes from my frame and going back to the paper on his desk.
I turned to leave, but stopped. “Might I ask something of you My Lord?” I asked as I got a wild hair.
“What is it?” Hoster said, getting straight to the point.
“There will be an archery competition at the tourney, correct?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“As there is at every one.” Hoster confirmed.
“May I have your permission to enter?” I asked, getting my intentions out in the open.
Hoster stopped writing on whatever it was in front of him. I turned around to face him once more. He was staring at me, with his hands clasped.
“Do you have the money to enter?” Hoster asked.
We both knew the answer. “What is the entry fee?” I asked, for appearances sake.
“5% of the total winnings. Or 500 Golden Dragons.” Hoster answered quickly.
Holy shit, that means first place wins 10,000 dragons… I thought as I did the math in my head really quickly.
The surprise must have shown on my face. “Largest prize pool in the history of the Seven Kingdoms.” Hoster said as he saw the look on my face.
“I cannot enter then.” I answered. I didn’t have any money at all, let alone five hundred dragons. That was a lot of fucking money in this world. Well, for some people at least. Hoster shit that much a day.
“No you cannot. I will cover the cost. You will pay me back, regardless of whether or not you win.” Hoster said as he broke eye contact and went back to the paper on his desk.
“Now leave.”
----------------------------------------
I entered my room for the night, and marched straight to where a pile of twigs sat. From a glance I knew that the toad was somewhere in my room, having jumped off the egg at some point in the day. As it did, every day.
I went through the room, searching for the toad for a while, before finally deciding to call it quits. I grabbed the birds nest and the egg and immediately threw the damn thing in a bin I had begun using for a trash can. I heard the egg crack down at the bottom, and didn’t care.
I stood up immediately, and made my decision as to which ‘path’ I would take.
----------------------------------------
I had been very very angry at my failed attempts to hatch a basilisk. At this point I was convinced that ‘King of Snakes’ wasn’t about basilisks at all. For all I knew, the game could be talking about something completely different.
It didn’t matter anymore, however, because I had made my decision.
I reached out and touched the white bark of the weirwood tree in front of me.
Ping!
Path of the Greenseer?
Y/N?
Rewards: Ability to see into the past, present, and future.
Consequences: Forfeiting of the following Paths: ‘Skinchanger’, ‘Father of Dragons’, ‘King of Snakes’, ‘Priest of R’llhor’.
For the hell of it, I read through the entire thing one more time to see if anything changed. I just couldn’t get over how I failed. I had followed the recipe to a T. One day, I had even feigned a fever to keep the toad on the egg unmoving.
Everything I tried, failed.
I went to select ‘Yes’ on the prompt, but stopped myself.
‘King of Dragons’
I couldn’t look away from the path. Perhaps it was my own personal bias, afterall, what kid didn’t dream of riding a dragon? Dominating the skies like Eragon had done in the Inheritance Cycle. There was something that stopped me from giving up on it.
A dragon would literally seal the deal, in a sense. If I could achieve hatching dragons, then I could do anything I wanted to in this world. They could become my ultimate tool to truly changing the world. I could take the throne if I wanted to, which I most definitely didn’t want to do. I could travel across the world faster than anyone could hope to without an airplane. I could forge alliances, stop wars before they began, everything. I could forge Valyrian steel. With study, maybe I could even birth magic in the world again.
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It’s too risky… I finally decided.
But then excitement ran through me.
With Greenseer, I could look into the past, and find out the method of crafting Valyrian Steel regardless. Or find my own blade. I thought as I put the pieces together in my mind. Or find out how Brandon the Builder incorporated magic into his construction.
It was all but decided. I looked at the prompt in front of me and accepted the quest.
‘Yes’
Ping!
Path of the Greenseer chosen.
Ability to see into the past, present, and future.
Ping!
Title Attained: Greenseer.
Increased reputation with those in the North and beyond the wall. Increased reputation with the Children of the Forest. When equipped, a 15% experience buff is applied to the skill: Greenseeing. Nature accepts you, and welcomes you into its arms. Healing increased by 50% while sleeping in the vicinity of a Weirwood.
Ping!
Skill created!
Greenseeing Lvl 1.
Present: Range of 1 mile.
Locked***
Locked***
Ping!
Path’s forfeited:
‘King of Snakes’ - The Basilisk will never rule in Westeros.
‘Father of Dragons’ - Dragons will fly, but not for you.
‘Skinchanging’ - Nature will hear you, animals will not.
----------------------------------------
‘Inventory’
A screen appeared in my vision, eerily similar to a Runescape inventory. On each ‘slot’ was a digital representation of a meal. Most meals were a stew that I had discovered had a little bit of everything, leading to major buffs. The rest were meals I had found boosted growing that I took before bed.
Can you imagine how fucking dumb I felt, when it was month three that I realized I had an inventory?
Even if it was an extremely nerfed down version of an inventory, it was still there. And I had only tried it, as a passing thought one night at dinner as I was staring at my balance of coins on my screen. Surely if my currency was stored in the game, then other things could be too, right?
And that’s how I learned that I could store small objects in my inventory. Objects, such as meals, and trinkets. I tried with bigger objects like swords and the like, but it was impossible. Nothing bigger than a basketball would fit in the ‘slots’. Naturally, I decided that having meals stored in my inventory, to give constant buffs throughout the day was the way to go.
And I was right. My stats had risen even faster than before.
Petyr Baelish
Greenseer
Strength: 14
Vitality: 11
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 14
Skills:
Economics: Lvl 67
Branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.
Manipulation: Lvl 43
Control or influence (A person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously.
Lying: Lvl 54
The ability to Lie.
Pain Tolerance Lvl 62
No pain, no gain!
Basic Sword Fighting Lvl 92
Defense Lvl 93
Offense Lvl 92
Sword Fighting Lvl 45
Defense Lvl 50
Offense Lvl 42
Archery Lvl 79!
The ability to shoot a bow and arrow.
Accuracy at 20 Yards or closer: 98%
Accuracy at 21-50 yards: 96%
Accuracy at 51-75 yards: 89%
Accuracy at 76-100 yards: 80%
Locked***
Locked***
Locked***
Greenseeing Lvl 1.
Present: Range of 11 miles.
Locked***
Locked***
I smiled at the stats. I was a certified badass at only 12 years old. I stood at five foot six, a full inch taller than I was supposed to be at fully grown. I did not have to look up at everyone I was around anymore either. Although the nobility of this world was notoriously tall, while the peasants and normal people were shorter.
Suddenly the name smallfolk made sense.
I heard a knock on my door. I opened it promptly.
“The Lord requests your presence at the gates. Your trunk has already been packed and loaded.” The same serving girl that always came to my door said. And just like every other time, she ran off as soon as she said something. I didn’t even bother responding to her anymore.
I shut the door and went back into my room, searching for anything I might have forgotten. One thing people didn’t realize when traveling with a Lord, or really traveling in this world at all, was just how fucking slow it is. It would take us three weeks to get to Harrenhal, and we were the closest Lord to the fucking castle possible.
Now of course, this was because we were traveling by cart. If it was just horseback, we could get much farther much faster, but we were essentially walking there. This was causing an extreme amount of anxiety because I couldn’t leave anything important.
I put the sheet back on my bed, as I realized I hadn’t left anything at all in my room. I set my feet, realizing I might be left behind and moved to leave.
I stopped as I passed by the body length mirror in my room. It was a new addition, courtesy of my gracious Lord who hadn’t even bat an eye when I asked for it. I took the time to inspect myself in the mirror. I wore black boots on my feet, with tough leather bottoms for the journey ahead. Black trousers covered my legs, and on the inside of my thighs the cloth gave way to leather, for protection when riding a horse, normal for a lord. I wore a dark green long sleeve tunic that went just below my waist, and was secured by a black belt.
My black hair was getting longer, so I had begun combing it back, to keep it out of my eyes. My now completely red eyes. Imagine my surprise when waking up to find that accepting ‘Path of the Greenseer’ had changed my eye color to scarlet red.
That was one perk the game hadn’t mentioned.
I had to admit, I was beginning to look completely different from the small skinny little boy I used to be. I was now a young man with a healthy amount of muscle on my frame. So much had been accomplished in the span of three months.
So much was to come, too.
No use in running from it.
----------------------------------------
“Have you finished combing your hair finally?”
I smiled at Edmure’s jab. He always felt the need to tease me, or demean me, especially in front of company. However, he had learned to be wary of me, while I was holding a sword. Very rarely could he beat me nowadays. I suspect it was a driving factor of him becoming even more hostile towards me.
It was something I thought was a bit weird, though. Normally, when a child from another house is fostered under a Lord, they become lifelong friends with the Lord’s children. The biggest example would be Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon. Although they hadn’t yet, they would overthrow a dynasty together.
Edmure couldn’t be in the same room as me for very long. Now I realize that was because of ‘my’ actions in challenging Brandon Stark, but even before that, they weren’t particularly close.
“Of course, not a strand out of place Edmure.” I said as I walked up to the Tully family.
Hoster, Edmure, Catelyn, and Lysa were all in attendance. Along with nearly every servant that worked for the Tully’s. Apparently the tournament at Harrenhal was going to be just as big and important as the books and shows described. I couldn’t wait to watch Rhaegar condemn himself and his family. I also couldn’t wait to meet some of the series’ most influential people. More importantly, I wanted to meet Robert before he became a fat drunken king. I wanted to see Robert the Usurper, the warrior.
“Cat, Lysa, it has been a long time since we saw each other.” I nodded to both of them amicably. They sat on the back of a carriage, surrounded by pillows, water, food, and other luxuries to make the journey easier on them.
It wasn’t an exactly true statement. I saw them at dinner all the time, almost every night, but they did not speak to me, either one. Although I had caught Lysa watching me train every once in a while.
Catelyn didn’t even spare me a look, she turned her nose up, and busied herself with whatever she was sewing in her lap. Lysa gave me a look that was confusing. On one hand, it was yearning, but at the same time her lips were pulled tight as if she was mad at me.
I broke eye contact with her to finish the formalities. “My Lord.” I greeted Hoster as I nodded my head towards him. Hoster and Edmure sat on their horses so I had to look up to greet them.
“Petyr.” Hoster greeted me. “Are you prepared for the journey?” Hoster asked as his eyes moved towards the front gate of Riverrun. I could tell he was ready to ride.
“Yes my Lord. How do you want me to travel?” I asked, curious. I didn’t have my own horse, so I assumed I was to be riding in the back of the carriage with the rest of the family. I was not looking forward to it.
Hoster smiled, and rose his right hand to a guard some ten paces away from us. Upon entering the yard, I thought nothing of the guard holding the not-too impressive horse off to the side. I had actually assumed he would be accompanying us to Harrenhal. I was wrong.
The guard walked forward, yanking on the reins of the horse behind him.
The horse, while beautiful, was not what I would describe as a beast. Parts of his hair were mottled on his back, and it didn’t shine like a well cared for horse did. The hair that did look decent was a reddish brown color. It was obviously male, if the swinging anatomy was anything to go by.
But that didn’t matter to me, because I knew what was about to happen.
“I have a gift for your first tournament, Petyr.” Hoster said as the man brought the horse closer.
Once the guard got close, I wasted no time in grabbing the reins from him, and inspecting my new horse.
Ping!
Assign ‘Horse’ as companion? Y/N
Warning! Only one ‘companion’ is allowed at a time.
Warg - Locked due to ‘Greenseer’ path chosen.
Yes. I selected with my mind.
Ping!
Companion - ‘Horse’
Strength - 20
Speed - 20
Stamina - 20
Bond Lvl 1
‘Horse’ does not know you very well and will barely obey you.
“I am shocked, my Lord. I cannot thank you enough.” I said genuinely towards Hoster.
“Think nothing of it, Petyr. Take good care of him, and he’ll do the same for you.” Hoster said as he turned his own horse towards the front gate. “We’re off!” Hoster yelled.
Way to give me time to recover, asshole. I thought as I immediately put my left foot in the stirrup, preparing to pull myself on the horse. If I hadn’t had experience in my last life riding horses, I might have been fucked.
“Hold on a moment Petyr.”
I stopped what I was doing and turned to the voice. Desmond Grell stood there with a sword and belt in his hands. He had a proud look on his face.
“Is that for me?” I asked with a smile. I was wondering when I was going to be cleared by Hoster to wear a sword. Normally, when a boy is of age to squire, assuming he has the build, he is allowed to wear a sword. Especially so for Lords.
“It is.” Desmond answered. “Castle forged steel. You have proven yourself more than capable of wielding this on the journey. And I would not have my best student die to bandits because he didn’t have a weapon to defend himself with.”
“That would be embarrassing.” I said as I pulled my foot out of the stirrup, but made sure to keep my hand on my horse's reins so it didn’t run off.
“Hand him to me, so that you can belt this.” Desmond said as he reached for the reins of my new horse.
I obliged and handed the horse over while snatching the sword out of his hands. Almost immediately, I unsheathed the sword.
“A hand and a half?” I asked as I observed the length of the blade and hilt. It was called a hand and a half because of the slightly longer hilt on the weapon, allowing the wielder to use both hands for powerful strike or one hand, for precise control.
Otherwise known as a bastard sword.
“Aye, it fits your style and stature best, as of now.” Desmond said as he watched me observe the blade in my hand.
“I love it.” I told my teacher as I sheathed the blade and belted it. The first thing I noticed was the weight and that I would need to get used to it being on my hip all the time. Once that was done, I brought the white-haired man into a hug. He patted me on the back awkwardly as he gave me some parting thoughts.
“Pray you don’t have to use it.”