8 Sun and Moon - part 2
Rhaenys' face paled as she looked at me, storing the knife Varys gave her, and timidly tottered over to me after she finished changing her gear.
Her Defense stat went from 0 to…
DEF: 10* (Padded Clothes: Piercing and Slashing +45% Damage Resistance/ Bludgeoning +15% Damage Resistance)
A message with terms of service agreement appeared before me.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED A PARTY MEMBER!]
[WHICH NAME WILL YOU PLACE ON THIS PARTY?]
'Inner Circle' would have to do, at least for now.
[INNER CIRCLE PARTY CREATED! ONE MEMBER ADDED!]
Numerous terms and conditions were listed.
I skimmed through it, checking the companion icon next to the window entry and setting the result for betrayal to be immediate expulsion from my party.
It seemed like I could change the specifications however I wanted, like equal XP distribution and individual Perk sharing like I did to provide her with a lesser version of my Inventory.
But I decided to read it closely later.
I commanded Rhaenys to follow through the secret passages of the Red Keep, and she trailed behind me with an expression of uncertainty.
Holding her hand, I led her through some regions as my Mental Map informed me of how to avoid Varys' young spies.
Throughout the way, Rhaenys kept staring at the hand which held hers.
"I rather keep the Spider unaware of my presence in his territory." I told her, answering the question she hadn't voiced out. "And so should you, if you want to avoid having him as an enemy."
On our way towards the Flea Bottom, I noticed some stores and street stalls along the side road which continued stretching into the horizon.
While Rhaenys held my hand and walked beside me, she glanced around the town restlessly, being finally free from the castle her mother was murdered.
Although the food stalls in this region were releasing an unpalatable aroma, Rhaenys belly was apparently a bit empty, which seemed to indicate they were feeding her appropriately.
When hungry belly noises were heard, she averted her gaze with a cute pout. "It's nothing."
'I guess her version of my System doesn't give her a Game Body like mine.' I acknowledged. 'Does it mean she won't get a bonus in XP from nutritious food like I did?'
As she tried to deny what just happened and pretend to be tough, I wondered why she was holding back.
Right now, if she doesn't have the strength to fight enemies, I will be just wasting my time with her.
She won't be able to muster any strength when she's hungry, and a dull knife in the dark was useless to me.
I retrieved some food from my INVENTORY, feeling that it was still warm thanks to the stasis condition of my storage, and handed it to her.
Rhaenys stared at me with clear astonishment. "Wha-why?"
"Hm?" I lowered my gaze towards her after hearing her voice.
She was staring up at me with a face full of wonder and conflicting emotions.
"You looked hungry, no? Or is it too unrefined for your standards, princess?" I teased with my stoic expression.
Rhaenys shook her head so fast that a bustling sound could be heard from the movement, as this was quite a delicate topic for her it seems.
'Why was she being so persistent on this subject?' I mentally pondered before coming up with a couple of answers. "Anyways, eat some food and get some nutrition. You'll die if you're too skinny and weak to fight, you know. Do they feed you properly?"
"They do… it's just that… sometimes I don't feel like eating what they offer me." Rhaenys admitted with a semblance of shame.
"Smart." I surprised her. "Although my caretaker doesn't seem like the type to cause me harm, I too don't completely trust what someone might put in my meal."
She timidly began eating, her face contorting a bit upon hearing my reply. "Did you make this?"
"Yeah. But it's only leftovers from the castle kitchen and some bread, though. I'm still a novice in cooking skills."
"For leftovers, it's quite good! And safer." Rhaenys chuckled for the first time in quite a while before savoring each and every morsel of her lunch, almost as if she had never tasted a Smashedburger before.
Well… she most likely didn't.
Regardless, after her lunch, I handed her my unfinished copy of a Soda recipe I got from an anime I recalled watching.
Could humans have made cola back in the medieval age? Most likely not.
Well, it would have been hard for the average peasant back then to even fathom a carbonated drink like cola. And even if they could fathom it, it would be too difficult for them to practically conceive the devices that would help them make it.
There are only four ingredients that are needed to make it.
They are…
1 bottle of Carbonated Water (my Chemist perk aided me immensely with this one).
Around 4-5 tablespoons of Honey.
Coriander.
Lemon/Lime.
Other items being…
A regular Strainer.
A regular Peeler or zester.
Enough number of cups/saucepans.
A way of putting out accidental fire.
And a first aid kit if things go terribly wrong, I'm not kidding.
The first step in making Cola is to zest or peel the lime.
Lime zest is basically the coloured outer surface of the peel and is used to add a concentrated tangy flavour to the recipes.
Once you're done zesting, keep the lemon aside.
Then shred the coriander leaves and crush them.
You could do that using a cup or in a small mortar, since the motive is to get the coriander leaves crushed properly.
Now squeeze the lemon and add the juice into the crushed coriander along with the zested lime, then again continue with the crushing until the ingredients form a fine paste.
This paste will provide our homemade drink the smell of Cola, with the quantity of lime juice to be added depending on personal taste.
I'd say squeezing one half of the lemon should be more than enough, but further experiments were needed for a more broad appeal.
Then strain the mixture that you have created and keep it separate, take the honey in a saucepan (a small cup should suffice) and heat it till it starts boiling.
Now simmer the flames and cook it till the honey caramelizes (till it becomes nutty brown, you should get a slightly burnt smell by the time the honey caramelizes).
Ideally, you'd leave the honey one for a minute or two at the most, the slightly burnt smell is ideally your cue to stop.
Almost finished, mix the strained coriander-lime mixture and the caramelized honey to make the cola syrup, this syrup essentially provides the taste and the essence of the cola to your drink.
The mixing should be done immediately after the honey is caramelized, otherwise the honey might harden (or thicken) again.
Now in the final step, take a small quantity of the cola syrup that you have just prepared and mix it with carbonated water to ready your homemade cola.
While the best quantity of the mix hasn't been exactly found yet, from trial and error I found that you'd ideally add around 200 ml of carbonated water to 3-4 tbsp of the cola syrup.
Lo behold, I've made my first bottle of Cola.
The taste of the cola depends on the right balance of the ingredients….it took me 2-3 tries before I was able to find the taste that suited me the best.
Sure, I could just achieve the taste by casting Thaumaturgy, but where was the fun in that?
Besides, I was considering making it a thing throughout the world, since alcohol wasn't really my thing.
"Did you like it?" I asked, noticing her gulping down my drink with gusto.
"Hm!" She nodded with her mouth full.
"Good to hear it." I replied before leading us onward.
Rhaenys was now humming a melody on the way, however, upon hearing what we will be hunting that night, she began to bite her lip with nervousness lingering in her eyes.
"It may be scary at first, but I will protect you from danger." I assured her.
She tilted her head upon hearing my words. "It's no big deal, I've been preparing myself to kill for a long time now."
"Good." I assessed. "C'mon, these small fries can't hide from us."
Her eyes popped out when she saw my twin Valyrian Steel Gladius.
"Valyrian Steel?" She somehow recognized immediately, regardless of their black and white colors.
"So you know about it? Mind to explain?" I asked with a nod, not revealing my surprise.
Rhaenys timidly nodded. "I-it's my legacy…That old fart, Pycelle, had a chain link slightly similar, and I always dreamed about it."
"I see…" I wondered about Dragon dreams since I haven't slept in quite a while. "For the time being, tonight's task will be having you watch me hunting criminals in the city."
She nodded obediently.
—————————————————————
289 A.C
As I dedicated myself to finally make a breakthrough with the scrolls the Alchemists Guild had provided me, struggling a little to understand its clever and complex use of ancient alphabets, with a tricky numerical substitution and language shifts, I earned my second level on my Artificer title alongside the trait 'Alchemist Specialist'.
[YOUR TITLE "ARTIFICER" HAS LEVELED UP!]
[FEATURES UNLOCKED!]
Coming up with a few potions once I gained two new features.
[EXPERIMENTAL ELIXIR]
*You can magically produce an experimental elixir in an empty flask you have available. The elixir's effect is triggered when someone drinks it. A creature can drink the elixir voluntarily or have it administer to an incapacitated one.
*Creating an experimental elixir requires you to have alchemist supplies on your person, and any elixir you create with this feature lasts for an entire day or until it is drunk.
The expiration date sucked, but the effects were somewhat useful.
First, Healing. A weaker version of my potion of Ultimate Healing, that makes the drinker slowly regains a number of Health points equal to a half of its overall health.
More of a way to outsource my healing skills.
Second, Swiftness. The drinker's walking speed increases by half for 1 minute or regenerates it's Stamina reserves 100% faster while standing still.
A weaker version of my Action Surge, Second Wind and Step of the Wind.
Third, Resilience. The drinker gains an extra quantity of temporary Health and Stamina points equal to a quarter of their reserves for 10 minutes.
Same thing as the previous one with Rage, without the damage resistance.
They were nothing revolutionary, but to me it was an incredible first step on my path as an Alchemist.
And wait until I tell you about my progress with Inscripting Runes, or Infusions if you will.
*Knock!Knock!
But right now, someone just knocked on my door.
"Yes?" I asked for the soldiers guarding my bedchamber's door.
"It's Lady Arryn, my Prince." One of the soldiers announced.
"Let her in." I said, organizing my messy table before rearranging the scrolls in piles establishing my progress.
"Don…" Alysse said coming through the door. "Yesterday you spent the day exercising on the training yard, now you're shutting yourself up here again?"
"Oh, you got me." I smiled at her, knowing it has been a while since we haven't spent some time together. "I was just handling some interesting paperwork I've happened to come across. I still have a lot of work to do though."
Walking near me, Alysse saw that I was speaking the truth. Over my table she saw the encrypted journals of previous Grand Masters of the Guild, their words lost since before Aegon's Conquest.
"Are you eating enough?" She asked in a motherly manner, genuinely worried about me as she massaged my shoulder. "Sleeping enough?"
"As much as my body requires." I replied, not exactly lying to her despite not actually needing both things, I still benefited greatly from the former's buffs and the latter as a mental break. "I ate two hours ago and took a fifteen-minute nap."
Shifting my head to look at her standing besides me, I noticed that she had a cute blush due to the proximity of our faces.
"T-that's fine, then." Alysse stuttered a little as she stopped to massage my shoulders. Clearing her throat, she finally revealed the reason she had come to visit me. "Here's something Pycelle requested me to deliver to you."
"Oh, thanks…" I took the small scroll, noticing it was what I had asked him to get me from the Citadel. Nothing too important to either be denied or making anyone suspicious, but extremely helpful to decipher the long forgotten Alchemist code. "Pycelle didn't need to make you walk all the way here. If he had just sent Shadow with a note, I would've come to get it."
"So you say, but would you really have come?" Alysse said with a sad expression. "You've barely come to visit us this week, so I asked Pycelle to allow me to come check on you."
"I'm glad you did." I replied looking her in the eyes, immediately making her blush again.
You see, when we first met, Alysse already thought my hair and eyes were cute, but now she could barely resist me.
As she moved to open the curtains of my room, I asked from my seat, remembering something. "How's the festival preparations looking?"
"Your father seems to be going all out, he has assigned the Master of Coin to make everything ready for the tourney during your name day before winter comes."
"At least I can count on him to take the opportunity to make a lavish party." I chuckled before thinking. 'Even though celebrating my name day is hardly part of his top priorities by now.'
"If you forgive me, I fear he might me spending too much with his tourneys." Alysse pointed out, not knowing that was exactly what I was thinking.
"Indeed." I replied before baiting her. "Good thing the Master of Coin is such a competent and loyal servant of the Crown, otherwise I doubt my father would be getting his festivals, especially with the entire world still not completely recovered from the sudden change of the seasons. Did you know his family has roots from Braavos, just like my Fencer instructor?"
"Yes… competent." Alysse repeated my first words while getting lost in her thoughts.
Although we hadn't been spending enough time together, I acted from the shadows and led her to begin suspecting about her Stepmother and Baelish's secret affair.
I had even made her notice some shady things the Master of Coin has been doing, like beginning to make loans in my Father's name twice as expensive as what he had been providing the Crown with.
In other words, overbilling it and slowly but surely burying the Iron Throne in debt to both my Grandfather and the Iron Bank of Braavos.
"Hey Alysse, with the festivities of my Name Day coming, I wondered, would you accept to join my Party?"
Not my most subtle choice of words, I know, but still very effective once I heard her reply.
"Yes, of course I would." Alysse said, a little confused.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED A PARTY MEMBER!]
[THE NEW PARTY MEMBER HAS BEEN ADDED TO "INNER CIRCLE" PARTY!]
"You should take a break for the next few days and enjoy your coming Name Day." Alysse finally came out of her confusion and suggested it to me.
"Will do." I assured her.
"Alright then." She gave me a polite bow and made a move to leave, disappointment clear on her face.
"Alysse?" I called her name, prompting her to quickly turn to face me.
"Y-yes?" She quickly replied, almost as if she had been meaning to stay longer.
"Would you mind lending me a hand with putting my siblings to sleep?" I asked.
She smiled gently. "Not at all!"
As she left I continued to inspect the other feature I got from my Artificer title.
[INFUSE ITEM]
*You've gained the ability to imbue mundane items with certain magical infusions, turning those objects into magic items.
*Infusing an Item. Whenever you finish a short rest, you can touch a non magical object and imbue it with one of your artificer infusions, turning it into a magic item. An infusion works on only certain kinds of objects, as specified in the infusion's description. If the item requires attunement, you can attune yourself to it the instant you infuse the item. If you decide to attune to the item later, you must do so using the normal process for attunement. Your infusion remains in an item indefinitely, but when you die, the infusion vanishes after a number of years equal to your Intelligence stat.
And thanks to that, I was capable of successfully attuning with the Set of Armor I bought from my Nexus Market.
Consisting of shaped, interlocking metal plates of bronze to cover the entire body, the suit included gauntlets, heavy protected boots, a visored helmet, and thick layers of padding underneath the armor. Buckles and straps allow it to distribute the weight over the body of the wearer.
The set of bronze armor began to light up and shrink down to my size.
Storing it again inside my Inventory, I opted for instantly equipping it through my System.
'Not bad. Not bad.' I acknowledge while posing before the mirror on my Bedchamber.
Funnily enough, now donning the armor myself, it actually reminded me of Goblin Slayer's armor if it was made of bronze.
Activating my dragon scales underneath it had the curious effect of changing the color of the armor to match my "type", as the bluish scales seemed to naturally fuse with the armor, though I could just turn it back with my Minor Illusion.
Using my Observe skill on the Magical Item, I got new information.
{This suit of armor made out of bronze functions by itself as a regular plate armor of forged castle steel thanks to its current runes. Its secondary attribute allows you to stack multiple Infusions on it.}
(Runed Bronze Segmented Plate armor: Piercing and Slashing +100% Damage Resistance/ Bludgeoning +50% Damage Resistance)
'Well, would you look at that?' I pondered while finally considering myself ready to face an actual Knight in a fight.
—————————————————————
I opted for going after small prey, surprising a small group of low level thugs while making sure to properly introduce Rhaenys to the concept of taking a life.
Unlike me, everyone else didn't know it was like a Video Game.
"I'll seize them, make them vulnerable and you'll deliver the killing blow." I told her while instantly equipping my Bronze Armor before our combat encounter.
With how far I had progressed since my debut night, these criminals were so awfully outmatched.
By the end of it, only the toughest one remained alive, but just barely.
Rhaenys face contorted as she firmly gripped the weapon Varys gave her, firmly steeling her will to kill as I raised the Strong Bandit's head, exposing his throat to her.
The man swore and cursed, making the deed as unpleasant as he could, but Rhaenys backed up her previous words with actual action.
"Arrrgh!" She growled before impaling the Band's head from underneath his jaw.
[ONE OF YOUR PARTY MEMBERS HAS DEFEATED AN ENEMY COMBATANT!]
Now panting and covered in blood, Rhaenys remarked with an uneven expression. "S-sorry, D-durrandon… b-but can we stop for…"
She actually puked right there on the cobblestone floor, and would've slipped over it if not for my quick action of holding her.
"Good, you did well, girl." I said, giving her room to breathe before patting her head and cleaning her with Thaumaturgy.
She then looked up at me with a mystified expression and clear admiration towards my magic.
"Your face is a little red." I noticed. "Do you have a fever?"
"N-no!" She replied awkwardly. "I never get sick."
"Good, let's move on." I said, finally understanding the effect my Bardic charisma had on her.
Henceforth, whenever we encountered enemies roaming the slum, we'd always use the common tactic where I disabled them with my superior speed before Rhaenys went in for the kill.
Slowly making her get used to bloodshed and seeing men shitting themselves, I even lectured her about how to properly avoid the rare Gold Cloak unit patrolling the streets.
"That's weak! Put in some more effort!" I told her, strangling another Bandit from behind while Raging.
Startled, Rhaenys recoiled back for a moment but immediately used the momentum, she once again charged at the vulnerable criminal with great force, piercing the man's eye firmly with her Castle-forged steel dagger.
It was then that the window I've been looking for caught my attention.
[ONE OF YOUR PARTY MEMBERS HAS LEVELED UP!]
"Good, from now on, just keep fighting like this…" Smiling at the speed she was progressing, after sharing my Prodigy perk with her, I told Rhaenys. "Let's go!"
Following my orders, Rhaenys stored her weapon in her own INVENTORY again before obediently following me.
Thankfully this wasn't a one way street, given that it seemed I've found a sweet spot with leveling the Rogue title.
Besides gaining proficiency with thieves' tools, I've earned enough XP to improve my roguish path.
[TITLE "ROGUE" HAS LEVELED UP!]
[NEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: SWASHBUCKLER]
*You focus your training on the art of the blade, relying on speed, elegance, and charm in equal parts. While some warriors are brutes clad in heavy armor, your method of fighting looks almost like a performance. Duelists and pirates typically belong to this archetype. A Swashbuckler excels in single combat, and can fight with two weapons while safely darting away from an opponent.
[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: CUNNING EXPERTISE]
*Your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can Dash, Dodge, Disengage, or Hide in the blink of an eye. Knowing how to land a strike and then slip away without reprisal or leaving openings for your opponents to exploit.
Not groundbreaking, but still good to have while facing dangerous opponents.
—————————————————————
At the Red Keep, inside my half-siblings' bedchamber, during one of the nights I wasn't roaming the slums.
Alysse laughed at how tightly Joanna hugged me. "You know, I'm starting to suspect she really likes you."
"You think?" I chuckled, kissing my little Anna on the cheek, making her smile.
"Another song, Don." Alysse asked with a happy face as I secretly admired her sky blue eyes.
"Yes, please." Lann joined in, still enjoying the story I've told them, regardless of how he attempted to hide it.
"Another?" I questioned, having spent almost an hour trying to put the twins to sleep.
"Pretty please." Joanna used her infamous cute face to convince me.
"Alright, alright." I smiled. "But after that you two will rest."
"Deal." Lann answered, being adamant about keeping his word.
Both Joanna and Allyse nodded, the latter forgetting that she came to aid me.
"Okay…" I said before playing my lute, turning to look at Lann I sang. "Heeey broother, there's a endless road to be discovered."
I saw that my young half-brother was glad at my words.
"Heeeey sister, know that water is sweet but blood is thicker."
Joanna was mesmerized by my expertise with the instrument and my melodious voice.
Now shifting to look at both of them. "Ooooh, if the sky comes falling down, for you…" I smiled at them. "…there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Joanna actually clapped for me, and the others joined in.
"Heeeey brother, do you still believe in one another? Hey sister, do you still believe in love I wonder? Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do!"
Now rockin the fingerstyle, I continue. "What if I'm far from home? Oh, brother, I will hear you call! What if you lose it all? Oh, sister, I will help you out."
I signaled for them to sing this time, with Alysse following along, to Joanna's slight annoyance.
"Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Joining them with a more upbeat rhythm, we proceed with happy smiles.
"Hey brother, there's an endless road to rediscover. Hey sister, do you still believe in love I wonder? Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Signaling for them to go to bed, I continued with a more delicate melody, almost cheering in success after seeing them finally yawning.
"What if you're far from home? Oh, brother, I will hear your call. What if you lose it all? Oh, sister, I will help you out. Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do!"
Smiling from ear to ear, I pulled both of my half-siblings' blankets and left their room with Alysse without making a sound.
As I closed the door, I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at Alysse. "Thanks for the help back there."
The daughter of the Hand of the King gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Don. I was just having such a good time hearing your wonderful tales and songs. You're so creative, I'm sure most poets couldn't hope to compare to you."
"You flatter me, Lady Arryn." I replied with a casual bow. "I was expecting to await a few more years, but with your words of encouragement, I will be hitting the road to entertain the masses by dawn."
"Oh stop it." Alysse rolled her eyes with a gentle smile before caressing her hair. "I've known you long enough to know that you aren't a boy that would compromise with a single path. I know you love both fighting and studying."
"Passion shouldn't be mistaken with love, my dear. While the sword and book you often see in my hands could be mistaken as my arm and head, it is the art that helps my heart to continue beating." I teased her with the poetry I knew would leave her breathless for a brief moment.
"Oh, Don, it's a good life we lead." She said, bringing her hands together and lowering her head. "I mean, you and me, here in this castle."
"The best." I grasp her shoulders to sweep her off her feet. "Even though I'm sure it's bound to change, I hope it never changes us. Don't you agree?"
"Y-yes… I do." Alysse replied with a sweet expression.
"It's already late." I finally said before kissing her hand. "Good night, my lady."
"Good night for you too, my Prince."
I leave her with a charming smile that even Chataya said was really hard to resist, and I was positive that's saying something.
{PING!}
'Huh? What now?' I thought immediately shifting my attention towards the popping windows. 'Just leveled up my Bard title and gained the trait College of Eloquence. What else?'
[FEATURE UNLOCKED!]
[SILVER TONGUE]
*Mastering the art of oratory, you are an expert at saying the right thing at the right time, your inspiring words are so persuasive that others feel driven to succeed. Persuasion can be compared to any high art, and a well-reasoned, well-spoken argument often proves more powerful than objective truth. Blending logic and theatrical wordplay, winning over skeptics and detractors with logical arguments, and plucking at heartstrings to appeal to the emotions of entire audiences. You can spin words laced with magic that unsettle a creature and cause it to doubt itself. You've learned how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others.
'So I basically unlocked Mind controlling levels of speech. That certainly is invaluable in political affairs. … Come to think of it… that's invaluable for anything. Deception, manipulation, persuasion and even intimidation. Yeah, Charisma is broken, what a shocker.'
—————————————————————
A few days later…during the nights…
We took to the roofs.
It was a drizzling cold night, so the few people now remaining on the street never bothered to look up.
"As long as we are quiet, we should be safe enough from unwanted attention." I told her through my Thaumaturgy cantrip and she nodded back.
It was thanks to her that I finally managed to grind this feature of my cantrip with someone else besides Shadow.
Speaking of my cute kitty, she and the other cats I tamed were actually aiding us, meowing to us if anyone attempted to sneak on us or causing distractions.
Like Varys did with his little birds, I had trained my Cats, rats and pigeons to do my bidding.
My first command to the army of rats was to clean up the city in whatever way they could, either by extracting the poop out of the sewers or stealing whatever useful miscellaneous they happened to come across.
The second one was aiding my Wisdom and Acolytes from the Alchemist Guild with locating and securing any hidden jar of Wildfire spread around King's Landing.
Unfortunately I couldn't send my man of the Alchemist Guild to tread on Varys' territory on the Red Keep without having him hear about that particular song.
But the pigeons were quickly becoming a reliable way of communicating with my allies throughout my encrypted messages, like Hallyne, Mott and Chataya (who knew how to decipher the code), without leaving the Red Keep for whatever reason.
I only wished they were somewhat competent in combat, their numbers would've been excellent for me to get my hands on a bird of prey.
Back to my Night Raids with Rhaenys…
I've chosen our vantage point well.
A large flat roof two stories up on the edges of the slum.
I taught Rhaenys to always prepare for the unexpected, so we had ready access to other buildings in three directions and a single ladder extending down in the back, with a near safe spot established for us to regroup in case we split.
Arriving just in time as we almost missed the crooked merchant leaving, I saw that he was accompanied by eight guards with none of them looking up.
Stupid move.
Not that they would see us for long under the fog clouds I had circling around us just in case we were spotted, not to mention that we were both small and squashed into a tiny alcove.
My Goldenheart wood shortbow shot was perfect, right in between the eyes of the merchant as the top of my arrow came out of the back of his skull.
No saving him now.
"Are you sure?" I asked Rhaenys, already aware of her OBSERVE skill's current limitations.
"Y-yes! None of the guards have ranged weapons with them!" She replied with a focused stare.
Contrary to mine, her OBSERVE didn't pop a window for her, she had to actually interpret what her improved sight was showing her.
Rhaenys took her shot with one of the crossbows I gave her, taking down the guard trying to drag the merchant away.
She aimed for the back of the larger thug, intending to dissuade them from carrying the body away.
The crossbow I gave wasn't even that strong, but it still punched deep into him, through his riveted mail armor of low quality.
Proper armor really is rare in this society, but at least it better than those awful and stupid Studded Leather Armors.
I keep forgetting about that fact.
That and how easy it was to kill someone.
Oh look, they started looking for us.
Oops, some do have crossbows, albeit lighter ones.
I stare back at Rhaenys only to see her squirm apologetically.
Honestly, I already knew about her slip up, but processed all the same.
Hopefully, this will teach her to be aware of her limits and incentivize her to improve.
"Wait here!" Before Rhaenys grabbed another bolt from her INVENTORY and attempted to reload, I casted Arcane Ward on her and shot twice with my bow before jumping down.
There was a guard under me trying to track us.
Summoning a regular sword and leaving it buried in the man's skull, I took off, hearing the rest of the guards giving chase as I dodged some of their shots.
Wonder if it's only because they can see that I'm alone?
Or perhaps they were after some sort of compensation for capturing/eliminating the assassin of their contract.
Regardless, I had prepared myself for this instance.
Running through the alley, I leapt twice over the boxes I summoned with Minor Conjuration and quickly placed them, only to then duck under the last one I placed at chest height for an adult.
Sliding to a halt and pulling my Goldenheart shortbow's string as I heard the guards swearing curses, I climbed over the boxes and eliminated them with quick yet precise moves.
I summoned a pillar underneath me to reach the rooftop of the building beside me and ran back over the rooftops towards Rhaenys, noticing she had decided to engage the man that had stayed to guard the crooked merchant's body.
Stepping off the roof again, this time pulling out a pair of knives with an impressive spin.
Heh.
I actually managed to completely ignore fall damage by stabbing him while doing a Slow Fall Ki action, very Assassin's Creed of me if I may so myself.
Perhaps I might one day pull off a Leap of Faith if I time it well.
Regardless, I start shooting before the rest of the guards realize I was back to where I attacked them.
One.
Two.
Thr..
Damn, I missed, the last guard just barely ducked past my third shot.
Gotta keep leveling up my Ranged Mastery skill, my use of the bow wasn't as good as my performance with the Crossbow, but it didn't compare to the rate of fire bows innately had.
I could see the remaining man looking around and struggling to accept that we were just children, so he screamed in anger and tried to charge.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Especially when I tore a hole in his armored chest with my Empowered Eldritch Blast spell.
And done.
Not a bad result.
After blowing the tip of my index finger, as if it was a smoking gun, I quickly stuffed all the bodies in my INVENTORY and smacked Rhaenys in the head.
"Ouch! What was that for?" She questioned while scratching her head. "I swear, I didn't know they had crossbows."
"Correcting mistakes like that is why I bring you here with me. But I told you to stay put and you disobeyed." I replied. "Disobey my orders again and our partnership is done."
"What?!" Rhaenys almost shouted, not willing to give up everything we've been doing for the past days. "But I was… I had it…" She tried coming up with some justification for her action, but my cold stare silenced her immediately.
After receiving a nod of acknowledgment from her, we continued.
"Nice shot, by the way." I told her without looking back. "Gotta work on your reload time, though."
Despite not showing it, Rhaenys was happy with my compliment.
A pity she was more useful to me as a weapon then she was as a romance option, though I guess it wouldn't hurt to be friends.
—————————————————————
"Are you sure it is safe?" Asked Alysse from her seat, as the carriage led us again through the streets of the city during the day.
"For us? Of course." I smiled before scratching my head. "Not that sure about them. If any of them even looks like they are about to harm us, I fear that my uncle won't be lenient on his job to keep us safe."
That seemed to amuse Jaime, who was just smiling while riding his horse near the window of our transportation.
"Oh, okay." Alysse nodded in agreement. "Have you brought everything?"
I nodded while tapping on the back of the carriage, where all the baggage had been stored. "Everything. Clothes, food, toys and even children's books for the caretakers to read while putting them to sleep."
"That's really nice of you." Alysse complimented me.
"Probably not nice enough." I argued. "The lowest amongst us are no different from the highest if you give them a chance and approach them with open hearts."
"My prince, you do remember what your mother had to say about that, don't you?" Jaime finally gave up pretending to not be hearing our conversation and barged in with his casual tease.
"An open heart is what I will get, if I recall correctly." I casually replied to him. "I'm not a stupid boy with stupid dreams, uncle. I just know that if you give people your love, they will return it a thousandfold."
"I never called you stupid." Jaime pointed out with his charismatic grin, without mentioning what he thought about my dreams.
Meanwhile, Alysse kept an active stare that I came to understand was her way of admiring something I just did.
Oh, how cute.
In any case, our visit to one of King's Landing orphanages was very successful, with little girls staring at me as if I was their Prince Charming, and boys my age thinking that Alysse was an actual angel.
I was very thankful to Jaime for having aided me with this visit, it was quite honestly a very important moment in the great scheme I had planned to shape Alysse into a better version of Margaery.
On our way back, Alysse asked me something I wasn't really expecting.
"Don, do you happen to know about the girl living in the tower of the Hand?"
"Hum, I believe so. Her name is Rhaenys, right?" I neither confirmed nor denied we were acquainted.
"Yes." She nodded rather quickly. "Well… I've been meeting with her recently… and she seems to have become a nice girl to be around. Not very social, but striving to be gentle."
"Good to hear." I said, not that surprised that they would eventually begin to interact with one another. "From what I heard, the poor girl has quite the tragic past."
"Indeed." She agreed with me. "But about that… as I just said…I've been trying to help her out, but there aren't enough kids our age to befriend. So I was thinking if…"
'Oh, I see… Rhaenys has finally come up with a way of us meeting one another during the day without drawing too much attention. If Varys questions her about it, she could simply claim it to be one of her plans to gain more power for their cause.' I realized. 'But that's a little too insensitive towards my dear childhood friend, to be manipulated like that. Good thing I've been thinking about ways of introducing her to my secret anyway.'
"I would love to meet your friend." I said, surprising Alysse, who immediately thanked me for my understanding.
—————————————————————
Halfway through the month, as the winter was nearing its end, we eventually encountered enemies other than the common Bandits during the night.
"Meow!" Shadow suddenly warned me.
"Look out!" I shouted, pulling Rhaenys close to me as a whistling Crossbow's bolt almost struck her, instead only grazing her leg, where her armor was thinner in order to not restrict her mobility.
"Ah…thanks!" She replied, wincing in pain as a bit of blood came out of her superficial scratch.
I nodded, immediately casting Thaumaturgy to clean her wound. "Don't mention, just be even more careful."
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this." Said the one who just attacked us towards someone following him.
And it was then, for the first time, I met an actual Assassin.
[ORWEN - HIRED ASSASSIN]
LEVEL: 30
POWER: 26
END: 25
MOB: 27
INT: 19
STL: 29
DEF: 25* (Mail Armor: Piercing and Slashing +50% Damage Resistance/ Bludgeoning +25% Damage Resistance)
{Trained in the use of poison, assassins are remorseless killers who work for Nobles, Guild masters, Sovereigns, and anyone else who can afford them. Orwen is a veteran assassin that, along with his brother, has a nasty disposition to poison his blades with a messy concoction of poisons so that even if he fails, an antidote would be hard to find for his victims. He and his brother, Brarton, have accepted a contract to get rid of the vigilante frightening the criminal underworld at the capital city of Westeros.}
And…
[BRARTON - HIRED ASSASSIN]
LEVEL: 28
POWER: 25
END: 24
MOB: 26
INT: 20
STL: 30
DEF: 25* (Mail Armor: Piercing and Slashing +50% Damage Resistance/ Bludgeoning +25% Damage Resistance)
With a pretty similar description…
Guess the rumors of someone impersonating The Stranger were bound to result in this, since the ones controlling the underworld from the shadows would see the need to get rid of me, but to know that I'm actually making enough criminals afraid of me so profissional assassins were sought was really satisfying.
Varys must be puzzled beyond belief for not being able to know my identity, especially since I was acting this close to him.
"Girl, try to observe him again, this time the way I taught you. Look for anything that might help you know about his weakness and strengths." I ordered Rhaenys as I intimidated the assassins with my trick of summoning my dark Valyrian steel sword out of nowhere.
"What in the seven hells!?" One of the assassins spat.
"No wonder I missed, these two are freaks!" The other argued.
"A-alright." Rhaenys replied to my previous command before narrowing her eyes for a moment, only to hold out a snicker. "Wait, their names are Orwen and Brarton? Really?!"
I nodded, keeping the hired Assassins at bay, glad to see how far she had progressed, while accessing the best way to face him.
"They're strong, fast, tough and pretty sneaky." She remarked. "Though not that bright."
"Well done." I smirked, casting my Eldritch Blast and getting rid of both enemies with my recently acquired through leveling it up secondary beam, on top of a Twinned Metamagic and each one had too much to deal with.
Noticing Rhaenys covering her ears I reminded myself of how loud the crackling beams actually were, especially when multiplied by four.
I keep forgetting it somehow.
"What a mess." I said using OBSERVE on Rhaenys and noticing she had acquired the Poisoned status. "Here…"
Thankfully it wasn't as aggressive as it would've been had I not quickly cleaned her wound.
Retrieving from my INVENTORY an experimental elixir that worked as a poison antidote, which I had crafted as a countermeasure against the Magical Dungeon while studying the Health and Stamina potions, I handed it to Rhaenys.
"Drink this."
"Wh- I mean, yes." She was about to question my order, but immediately corrected herself.
Although the respect she had for me was barely enough to keep her from almost spitting the antidote with a disgusted expression.
"Ew, so bitter!" She argued.
"Good antidote tastes bitter." I told her, making her understand the reason I gave it to her. "Just drink it all already."
"Gul…" Rhaenys almost puked in disgust as a result, but her Poisoned status went away.
"Here, store it for when you need it. If you don't like how it tastes, make sure to not be poisoned again." I handed her everything I had, and as she put it all on her INVENTORY, I instantly spent a Healing Kit on her wound, leaving behind not even a scar.
The Perk Physician had some impressive secondary features, which made actions like these all the more easy for me.
"Let's keep moving." I ordered, quickly retrieving the Assassins' loot from their corpses, which was basically more poisons and weapons.
"Yes!" She replied, observing the mess that I left behind. "Are you leaving them like this to send a message?"
I turned to gaze at her, prompting her to flinch as a result, and nodded.
However, instead of the silence falling between us, Rhaenys suddenly asked. "Can I get another sip of that drink you've made?"
I halted my movement for a moment, noticing her squirm meekly, I just handed another bottle to her. "Here."
"Thanks." She replied before drinking it with gusto.
Meanwhile, I stopped to notice that I had just leveled up my Rogue title again, this time to Level 4, though unfortunately this time I've neither unlocked nor improved my features.
Hopefully I will have better luck next time.
—————————————————————
The three of us met in the tower of the Hand, which was empty because Jon had a meeting with the Small council and his wife was away spending time who knows where.
The tower's private audience chamber was not as large as the king's, but it had Myrish rugs, wall hangings, and a golden-tinted round window that gave it a sense of intimacy.
"Rhaenys, I want you to meet my best friend, Prince Durrandon." Alysse introduced me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Targaryen." I replied with my polite smile, noticing she wasn't used to being called by her family's name, much less a lady.
"T-the pleasure is all mine." She timidly replied back, acknowledging my greeting and noticing Shadow nearby my feet.
From our constant talk, she had revealed to me that Shadow most likely was the small black kitten she had named Balerion, who had been her pet before the rebellion ended.
At first I felt a little awkward and guilty, spending time with the animal that had brought her so much joy had to make some of her memories of the past resurface.
But Rhaenys told me she was really glad that Shadow had found someone to take care of her when she herself couldn't, and that she had feared her childhood pet had been killed during the attack of the rebelling army that night when she lost her mother.
"So, what should we do?" Alysse finally asked, thinking about something to do with Rhaenys, since the Targaryen princess wasn't allowed to roam free around the Red Keep.
"I was thinking about telling you something I should've told for quite a while now." I said facing Alysse and surprising them both.
To my surprise, after assessing my surroundings with my Mental Map, it seems that Varys trusts Rhaenys enough to not spy on her or even have someone listen to our conversation from the secret passage hidden in this room.
That or the meeting they were having on the Small Council had really caught him by surprise.
"Tell me something?" Questioned Alysse, not understanding what could possibly be that I was talking about.
"About this!" I said before summoning a rose for her. "And about my secret deal with Rhaenys."
The shock in Alysse's face was only matched by Rhaenys' awkward one, which revealed that she didn't know how to properly explain to her new friend why she pretended to not know me.
And if not for my Silver Tongue, I would've been quite hesitant about opening up to Alysse as well.
Fortunately, fate wasn't willing to antagonize me and my childhood friend understood it well enough.
I would say a little too well, but knowing her for more than a year led me to notice her inability to hold a grudge.
Case in point was her genuine sympathy with Lyssa Tully, her stepmother, who visibly had some animosity towards her.
"Ever since we've met, I've taught you and watched you grow into a brilliant girl, mastering the art of oratory and general knowledge." I complimented her, acknowledging what no adult had noticed yet. "Persuasion is regarded as a high art for a reason, a well-reasoned, well-spoken argument often proves more powerful than objective truth. And a blend of logic and theatrical wordplay, wins over skeptics and detractors with logical arguments, plucking at heartstrings to appeal to the emotions of entire audiences."
I could see she finally understood the meaning behind my constant lectures of storytelling whenever she asked me of how I came up with my tales.
Sure, I got most, if not all of them, from my previous life, but those lessons were still relevant.
"Even though I've led you to master deceit, you ended up also pursuing beauty and truth. So be a wolf among sheep with your silver tongue. Use your knowledge to uncover secrets and turn them against others through extortion and threats if needed." Revealing my magic once again, I hooked her on another field of study, the arcane arts. "Did you know that one could actually 'weave magic' through words and music to inspire allies, demoralize foes and even manipulate minds. Become a master of song, speech, and the forgotten magic they contain. After all, the cosmos we live in is a work of art, the creation of the Gods, whomever might they be. As their creative work made use of harmonies that continue to resound through existence today. Draw on that primeval and intrinsic human art through dance, music, and poetry."
Now facing both Alysse and Rhaenys together, I finally explained what I was asking of them.
"Know this lesson: 'Before the sun and the moon, there was the gift of both Life and Death, and its music and secreta awoke the first Dawn and foretold the last Twilight. Its melodies so delighted the stones and trees that some of them gained a voice of their own, and now they sing as well. Its brutality rooted out all the evil, both known and unknown to the masses. Learn the Song, as Lord Bloodraven once did and you too can teach the mountains to sing and dance at your will."
—————————————————————
A month later…
Well, looks like the time for hiding was past.
I placed a box near the door and placed a chair next to it, since Rhaenys needed the height for what would come next.
Taking out a greatsword and handing it over to Rhaenys.
"Remember to stick it with the pointy end this time." I joked teasingly.
"H-hey… I already told you it was an accident." She blurted ashamed of her comical mistake. "I thought I've already proven to you that it won't happen again."
I just tilted my head with a provocative stare in response.
Thankfully, she knew better than to question me any further and stored the heavy weapon in her own INVENTORY.
I would make a convincing distraction for her to act, again.
Besides, I've been training her for over a month now, so she might actually help.
Or at least shouldn't hurt to try.
By now, I could hear footsteps, so it looked like our time was up.
As soon as the door was open, Rhaenys took motion.
She stepped off a chair onto the box we've placed next to it, a leap later and she was in the air.
The target didn't even notice her lunging at him, too busy staring at me wielding a sword threateningly at him.
Perfect.
Right before she reached the target, Rhaenys summoned the sword I handed her.
Compared to her, it was massive, a full greatsword was already large enough for most grown ups, but she didn't have any problems summoning it, thanks to the game physics I believe.
With a solid thunk the sword buried itself in our target's skull and came out of the other side, carving itself into the wooden floor.
I quickly looted him and we advanced.
The two of us were both small and fast, and had the surprise factor on our side.
I summoned a dagger and buried it in someone's foot as I dived under the table, everyone in the room began cursing and yelling as a result.
I looked around.
Nine left, one of them hurt and momentarily immobilized.
One of them bent down to reach for Rhaenys, but she darted forward and summoned her trusty dagger with the point immediately burying itself in his eye.
It was stuck for a moment, but by storing it again she freed it from the corpse.
Three of them headed towards me, it was time for me to make another move.
I sprinted forward at them, noticing that they were wary, taking me seriously.
They swung as I got near, but I shifted my head to the side, tanking it while guarding my head.
The following triple strike that I purposefully took staggered me, but as expected by now, there wasn't any real pain, just a slight irritation, like any other common bruises or shallow cuts.
The health they took off was manageable thanks to my current armor, improved thanks to Tobho Mott's guidance and my Health Bar.
After a brief moment, I felt a surge of energy and glanced at my health.
Full.
I almost stumbled in shock.
Luckily, it seemed to have stunned my opponents more as the noticeable cuts healed themselves at impossible speeds.
[PHYSICAL RESISTANCE Lv-26 (56%)]
{THE BODY'S TOLERANCE TO PAIN AND DAMAGE INCREASES, ALLOWING FOR A MORE QUICK RECOVERY.}
Yeah, I'm on my way to become just like Wolverine.
I immediately summoned my Valyrian Steel swords and slashed their legs in an awesome spin, lost in their shock they didn't even attempt to try to dodge.
Funnily enough, I actually severed their legs off, ignoring all the protection they had as if it was nothing.
Need to keep that in mind.
Although I could deal with superficial damage, I might not actually be capable of regenerating my own limbs.
Perhaps I could stitch them back with a Healer Kit.
But what about vital and specialized organs?
Rather not live as a one-eyed man, much less a completely blind one.
Switching to one of my sharpest knives, I immediately climbed on top of them.
To be fair, they tried to stop me rather competently, but after my multiple quick slashes they were unable to grab me without their fingers.
It kinda made me feel like Captain Levi dealing with troublesome titans.
A few swift cuts later and I got them bleeding out from their throats cut open.
Six left.
In the meantime, Rhaenys had shot one of the Crossbows I gave her with deadly precision, and took down another two.
Four to go.
She faced the one I had injured first.
Obviously, she was not even skilled nor strong enough to face a grown man in a fair combat. I might've trained her well, but she was still eight.
She doesn't waste the advantage I gave her though. Circling around after dodging the man's strikes, Rhaenys swung and cut across the back of both of her opponent's legs.
When her target fell to the ground, she stepped onto his back and stabbed him without hesitation.
Meanwhile, I quickly got rid of the other three with Stunning Strikes, a new move I've learned from my Monk title.
*Stunning Strike allows you to interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. When you hit another creature with a melee weapon Attack, you can spend 1 ki point to attempt a Stunning Strike.
Spending 2 extra Ki points, I imbued my fists with lightning and thunder damage before punching grownups across the room.
Not allowing them time to reconsider their initial response to fight us and force me to pursue them through the streets.
By the end of it, Rhaenys raised an eyebrow in doubt. "So… you weren't kidding about bringing the wrath of the storm."
I nodded with a smirk before assessing that, just like with the previous ones, this encounter had been really insightful for both of us.
Regardless of it, after we finished our job, I tore apart the house, looting everything I could.
Tearing up the beds and using my Inventory yielded plenty of string for me to use.
Too bad I couldn't really make any traps for now.
The Wildfire weren't fit to be used inside a slum like Flea Bottom without causing a catastrophic tragedy.
Something to work on later with Mott and Hallyne, I guess, after they completed my current projects.
I was, though, capable of crafting longbows of great quality since wood wasn't that much of a trouble for me to acquire.
Now I just needed a trusty supply of metal materials to mass produce arrows.
Though I could scavenge a few quills here and there, I still needed a reliable source of flint to sharpen them all.
Oh well, what was going to do about it?
I could at least flake bolts and arrowheads from the Dragonglass pieces I had bought from my Nexus Market, though I was still waiting for the proper opportunity to mine Dragonstone.
As I smirked and stared down at one of the bodies, I was reminded of something.
He was armed with a bow, and had metal arrowheads before I looted him.
I used OBSERVE on them and held my breath.
Amazing, just as it had worked with food and protective clothes before, I gained the recipe for instantly crafting objects like metal bolts and arrowheads.
An ingot, stick, feather and I got a set of ammunition ready for use.
I considered the bodies inside my Inventory for a moment, then shrugged and tried to interact with them in any way other than retrieving them back.
Huh.
That worked.
With a new option as a result.
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO BREAK IT DOWN?]
[YES/NO]
After selecting to break it down, it granted me several Bones and a lot of Human Meat chunks.
Well now I know how to avoid anything similar in the future on my food, that was really neat.
My INVENTORY could automatically process bodies, that was definitely going to be incredibly useful since I would undoubtedly continue to kill lots of people.
Perhaps I could make use of it to bait undead that craves human flesh.
I quickly stored and broke down the other bodies I already had stored before ordering Rhaenys to leave with me.
A trail of fresh blood still tainted everywhere as I walked around.
Using Thaumaturgy, my legend as The Stranger would continue to freak the criminals of King's Landing.
You see, leaving behind a trail of carnage would lead me only to completely scare away my prey.
But the absence of proof in the places I raided would make it mysterious enough to scare the small fries while leaving the higher ranked criminals to continue acting either by boldly exploring the vacuum I was leaving, or actively attempting to hunt me down.
I spared a moment to check if my Party Member was fine, and although Rhaenys was very exhausted, it seemed nothing beyond that.
I had sustained some injuries mostly to Level Up my Damage and Pain Tolerance skill, but not much though, with a quick bite I could heal right up anything too severe since I didn't want to make Rhaenys too worried about me.
The XP I gained by killing in the real world was totally worth the endeavor, completely compensating for the lackluster quantity of XP in the Magical Dungeon under the Red Keep.
"In case I haven't emphasized it enough, on Planetos, it's might that makes one right." I told her, giving Rhaenys another piece of knowledge for her to internalize.
She nodded, by now being completely loyal to me.
I suddenly noticed something different about her.
Sniffing the air around her, I ask. "You're smelling different."
"I-I do?" She stuttered a little.
"Yes, but it doesn't seem to be perfume." I pointed it out, having been around Cersei for enough time to know basically everything about it.
"Oh! It's part of my training." Rhaenys recalled. "Varys is currently teaching me how to produce something to hide my natural smell from simple materials. It's supposed to aid me in disguising myself."
"I see. Speaking of it, how's your training with the Spider progressing?" I finally asked about the first solo mission I gave her.
"Well enough." She replied. "He trusts me enough to begin explaining how he managed to raise and operate his own network of spies."
"Good. And what about his interest in me? I'm sure your stunt with Alysse didn't escape his attention." I questioned, knowing that Varys had noticed that we began talking to one another during our lessons with Pycelle, thanks to Alysse supposedly introducing us.
"He's intrigued by how I manage to draw your attention." Rhaenys revealed. "Being a little worried that I was beginning to grow… attached to you."
"Truly? He must be worried that I might influence you to not follow the mummer's Dragon when the time comes." I mused with a small pause she had grown used to, believing it was my way of showing interest.
"Yes." Rhaenys nodded.
"And what was your response?" I asked, already knowing the answer since I've been stalking most of her meetings with the Spider.
"I-I lied to him, telling him that I was befriending you in order to manipulate you to side with me when the time comes." She spoke honestly. "He deduced that despite your overachieving nature, you also have the same weakness for women as your father."
Inadvertently stopping for a brief moment again, Rhaenys began thinking she had offended me in some way.
"I see." I said, surprising her before patting her on the head. "Good thinking."
"T-thanks." Rhaenys replied, trying her best to hide the small blush from appearing on her dark skinned cheeks.
"Next time I would like to have a lesson with him in your place." I suddenly said.
"B-but you said he wasn't…" Rhaenys began worrying about me. "The Spider might…"
"Shh." I silenced her with a finger over her lips. Casting Disguise Self on me and her, I literally switched our appearances. "I know what I'm doing. Besides, I'm a good enough actor to mimic you."
My voice, speaking pattern and body language were all in fact an exact copy of hers, realizing that fact made her respect my powers even more.
But what she might not have noticed was that our real bodies hadn't changed, and that these illusions wouldn't last against a combat encounter.
"What will I be doing in your place?" She questioned, suddenly growing worried about the idea of roaming around pretending to be me.
"Take a day off with Alysse." I shrugged, not willing to risk any inconvenience. "I'm sure she will like your company."
"Understood." She nodded without reservations.
"For now…" I dispelled our disguises. "… how about starting with that meditation I told you about. Even if you don't unlock your Draconic Bloodline, I'm sure there's something for you to gain from it."
"I'm ready." Rhaenys agreed without requiring further convincing.
Even if I couldn't make her a Sorceress, I was sure that something on top of the Rogue training I was putting her through would make her much more powerful.
Either learning how to harness her Ki or how to Action Surge would've brought her closer to my level.
Hell, even Rage had its benefits.
Though unfortunately, regardless of her growing stats, neither Wizardry or Artificer studies and the Bardic lifestyle weren't her strong suits.
I believe that's more tied to her personality.
Which explained why Alysse was making some progress with the teachings of theoretical arcane knowledge and picking up some of the tricks I've been teaching her about oratory and persuasion.
Speaking of it…I began mixing the
[TITLE "ROGUE" HAS LEVELED UP!]
[NEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: ARCANE TRICKSTER!]
*Some rogues enhance their fine-honed skills of stealth and agility with magic, learning tricks of altering minds and fooling the senses. These rogues include pickpockets and burglars, but also pranksters, mischief-makers, and a significant number of adventurers.
[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: LEGERDEMAIN HAND]
*You've learned how to conjure a spectral, floating hand that appears at a point you choose within a range of ten meters. The hand lasts for one minute or until you dismiss it. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 10 meters away from you or if you cast this spell again. You can personally control the hand as an extension of you or order it to perform tasks for you as if it had a mind of its own. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. The hand can't Attack, activate magical items, or carry more than 5 kilograms.
*When you conjure this Legerdemain Hand, you can make the spectral hand invisible, and you can perform the following additional tasks with it: You can stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature. You can retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature. You can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range. Finally, you can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature unaware of your presence.
'Awesome.' I thought before immediately testing the new ability I've unlocked, noticing that I could use Twinned Spell in order to conjure two Mage Hands at the same time.
The sensation of having invisible hands reminded me of telekinesis, its uses were copious and I couldn't wait to test them all.
—————————————————————
Alysse's relationship with Rhaenys was unexpected, as the two were actually opposites in most respects, similar to how the Stark sisters were to one another, nonetheless they still ended up befriending one another.
However, even with both girls being particularly close to me, who encouraged their intellectual and martial pursuits, that didn't mean they always saw eye to eye on everything.
But that was kept in a healthy manner.
Rhaenys was a spirited girl interested in fighting and exploration, unlike Alysse who was being raised as a lady by her father's order.
Alysse possessed the traditional feminine graces of her milieu, with a keen interest in music, poetry, singing, dancing, embroidery, and other traditional feminine activities.
Being fond of sweets like cakes, with Jayne, my caretaker, who cooked treats for her whenever she could, while Rhaenys preferred a more spicy and salty type of food, seemingly addicted to the recipes of meals I remembered from my previous life.
Rhaenys was left-handed, quick, dexterous and often bites her lip whenever she is anxious.
She wanted to learn how to fight with a sword even before we met, to the stark contrast of Alysse, who enjoyed the more traditional pursuits of a noblewoman, and only accepted learning from me in order to learn how to defend herself.
While both Alysse and Rhaenys received the standard noble's education from the Grand Maester, they had different performances.
Rhaenys was said to underperform at most subjects she was taught, noticing she couldn't read properly due to her reversing the letters in her head.
But after I aided her with my Teaching skill, she quickly got into Warcraft, Astronomy and High Valyrian, though she still wished to learn a little bit of horseback riding one day.
Meanwhile, Alysse was said to excel at multiple subjects such as mathematics, household management and medicine, probably seeking to follow my example, though she still had her shortcomings.
Like many girls her age, the falcon lady was enthralled by songs and stories of romance and adventure, particularly those depicting handsome princes, honorable knights, chivalry, and love, meanwhile the dragon lady was more interested in adventure filled with action and gritty realism.
While Rhaenys was normally described as a knucklehead and short tempered brat, Alysse ever so often was a little too kind and compliant with those that didn't reciprocate her politeness.
I wanted to shape them into becoming better versions of both the current Master of Coin and Whispers.
To make Alysse a formidable opponent for both Tywin Lannister and the Lady of Thorns in the Game of Thrones, while combining Syrio's water dance to Brynden Rivers' practical use of arcane knowledge for Rhaenys.
My own Chief Diplomat and Spymaster if you will, from the molds of Josephine Montilyet and Leliana from the Dragon Age series.
Varys was a master of disguise and could change his appearance, gait, smell, and costume to become unrecognizable, and his skill at acquiring secrets had earned him a reputation for being seemingly omniscient, which was all thanks to his spy network of "little birds".
Agile orphans raised and trained by Varys, which paved the way for Rhaenys to practice managing my actual army of birds, rats and cats.
Petyr Baelish possessed considerable skill in commerce and coin, as well as manipulation, and had a gift for political improvisation, being often underestimated by many high lords due to his low birth, at least this version of him, which everybody trusted because he seemed powerless, and always acted so very friendly and helpful to everyone.
After he was named Master of Coin and appointed to the Small Council, he increased his influence by moving his own people in place, as well as harbormasters, toll collectors, and wine factors.
Meanwhile, he also developed a complex web of loans, transactions, and investments, such as to supply the King and the King's Hand with enough gold, while also buying a number of establishments, including several brothels.
For the past months, me and Rhaenys had been using our time training together to hunt down each of his accomplices while thwarting his business.
But Alysse would be the one to deliver the finishing blow.
Oh, and just like the Falna system from Danmachi, I decided to constantly present them both a draw of their stats to make their evolution more easily understandable to them, putting into numbers their own weaknesses and strengths while being aware of their progress rate.
Unlike me, Alysse and Rhaenys wouldn't be able to immediately rely on magic, but the inferior version of my System should at least give them some significant edge.
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Meanwhile, since Varys wasn't the only one to notice my recent proximity with Rhaenys through our constant meetings, everyone began telling me to be wary of her.
The thing father disliked even more than my Valyrian features was the possibility of having the daughter of his hated enemy, become Queen.
Even mother joined Robert's side, now finally supporting my initial request of becoming ward to Tywin Lannister after my sixth name day.
Cersei was hopeful that I would eventually become more willing to marry someone from House Lannister, possibly one of the daughters of Lord Stafford, Lord of Lannisport.
As for the other players, they knew our proximity was something to be cautious about.
Jon Arryn was neither in favor or against it for now, probably too busy ruling the realm for my father.
But thanks to Rhaenys, Varys wouldn't be much of an obstacle for now, though I knew the same couldn't be said for the Master of Coin.
Petyr Baelish thrived amidst conflict, and the Crown Prince becoming friends with one member of the previous ruling house wouldn't allow him to climb his chaotic ladder.
If not for his unpredictability, I would have considered keeping him as an indirect ally similar to Varys.
Perhaps having him mentoring Alysse just like he did with the original Sansa would've been productive, but contrary to the redhead Stark, the gentle Arryn wasn't gentle because of naivety.
Despite some external influence attempting to turn her against me, even going as far as to suggest that Rhaenys was stealing me from her, Alysse remained loyal while reassuring that she only wanted me to be happy.
Quite noble for a twelve years old.
If not a little indicative of self-esteem issues beneath her overlaying personality, seeing herself as inferior to others in both appearance and personality.
That led me to the idea of dropping hints without interfering for Alysse about Baelish and Lyssa's secret affair, and his schemes.
Something that would serve as a grindstone to help sharpen her cunning and fuel to make her enjoy The Game of Thrones.
The term applied to the politics and machinations of the nobles and rulers of Westeros.
Politics here were an incredibly complicated "game" or "dance" of intrigue, seduction, ambition and scandal, an approach to politics, high culture and morality that was quintessential to Westerosi culture.
The political and familial infighting that characterized the Game of Thrones was as if they were donning masks and playing their roles: indeed, this habit was also an intrinsic part of the Game of Thrones in its most metaphorical form.
The Royal Court of Westeros in its capital city presented a veneer of opulence, but the aristocracy were committed to a system of social one-upmanship.
Sprawling receptions delight friend and foe, while the players struck from the shadows with manipulation, larceny, and even assassination, to the dismay of their targets.
Jon Arryn and Ned Stark are good and honorable men, but they disdain the Game and those who play it.
Individuals like Tyrion and Cersei actually enjoyed it, but none played it better than both Littlefinger and The Spider.
Since I was shaping Rhaenys to eventually become a better Spymaster than Varys, I sowed the seeds for Alysse to grow into a better player than Baelish could ever hope to be.
My Sun and Moon, if you will.
…
Yeah.
Gotta come up with some awesome nicknames for them, before lame ones caught on.
While I taught Rhaenys everything Syrio taught me about the Braavosi Water Dance, flowing masterfully between movements, as it befits a descendant of the Rhoynar, I made sure Alysse memorized everything I got from Pycelle and all the other Maesters he called to tutor me on specific subjects.
This was not only possible because of my high level TEACH skill, but thanks to how the System worked for making them part of my Party.
Curiously, the Party System also worked retrospectively to reward all the hard work she had put on learning everything I taught her, making her and Rhaenys almost equal in their overall level.
Which perfectly suited my following plans for her.
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(04/10/2021)
(07/04/2022)
*Hope this chapter is of your liking.
Anything you wish to ask, feel free to do so.
Check out my auxiliary chapter if you still haven't.
Thanks as always for your attention and please be safe.
Any problems with my writing, just point them out and I will correct them as soon as possible.
