Arc 4 - Storms End

"Stormlands. A more appropriate name is impossible." He muttered bitterly.

He is currently sheltering from a storm under some trees. He had just entered this kingdom less than a day ago and it seems that the gods themselves are protesting against his presence.

A few hours after crossing the border the blue skies turned black and the wind began to blow strongly and before you knew it it began to rain heavily. The water that fell from the sky was colder than the rivers of the North, and the icy wind moved the rainwater in all directions, making it impossible to take shelter even under the leaves of the trees.

Anyway, Ikarus was completely soaked in a matter of minutes. His clothes, his backpack... Worst of all, his food was ruined.

When the storm passed the whole forest was soaked, making a fire was impossible. With his supplies ruined and hunting being useless since he wouldn't be able to cook the meat, Ikarus was forced to sleep on an empty stomach.

Hungry and cold, that's how he describes his first night in the Stormlands.

He could barely sleep, he woke up in a worse state than he went to bed.

No hardship quenched his spirit, he continued his journey south.

But the gods seem to hate him because that same day not one, not two but five tornadoes formed.

To avoid them he had to take a long detour, and when he finally got away from the tornadoes another storm started.

"I hate this kingdom."

Ikarus leans against a tree and sighs tiredly, ignoring the growl in his stomach and the constant shivers running through his body.

After half an hour he completely loses patience.

"Fuck!"

He punches a tree.

He looks up at the blackened sky and frowns at it.

"Screw it."

He decides to continue his journey in the midst of the storm.

`If ​​I stop to take shelter from every storm by the time I get to Dorne I will have started to grow a beard.`

Running through the rain and hurricane winds is not a pleasant experience.

***

It takes him almost three days to reach Storms End.

`Tornadoes are one thing but a fucking hurricane...`

Ikarus Senju officially detests Stormlands.

House Baratheon's home is located on a cliff, the cliff that has a drop of about fifty meters. Storms Ends is surrounded on three sides by the cliff and a plain of emerald green grass on the last side.

Storm's End has a massive wall 30 meters high and 12 meters thick on its thinnest side and almost 25 meters on the side facing the sea. It is made of gray stone that reflects the stormy sky and is smooth and curved. The stones are very well placed, there is not the slightest crack visible.

The fortress itself is not near as beautiful as Highgarden but it has a majestic aura.

The fortress has only one tower, a colossal drum tower topped with formidable battlements, making it look like a huge spiked fist hurtling skyward from afar.

"And to think that it was built 8000 years ago. This building and the Wall are clear evidence of the existence of magic, that or the existence of a much more advanced society than today, which makes no sense. According to Martin the first Men used bronze as weapons, iron and steel were brought by the Andals. Magic is the only viable explanation."

Buildings like Casterly Rock, Winterfell, Storm's End, and the Wall are wonders that the First Men couldn't have built on their own without the help of magic. The technological level of the First Men was too low to be able to create these constructions with their own hands. And not only the beauty and strength of the buildings, but also their resistance.

8,000 years is a long time.

The castles faced many conflicts and still remained standing. Its inhabitants were always protected, nothing could destroy them.

"It is as if these castles and their inhabitants have some magical protection. House Casterly did not fall to an enemy, the heiress of the family married an adventurer and together they founded House Lannister. House Stark has remained intact all this time. And House Durrandon suffered the same fate as House Casterly. How could one explain that these castles and their inhabitants survived so many conflicts if not by magic?"

Magic exists in this world. That is something that cannot be denied. Resurrections, animal possession, seeing the future... All of this has happened in the books.

Curious about the fortress's protections, Ikarus decides to take a closer look.

He approaches the wall from the unattended side and prepares to scale the wall.

He channels chakra into his feet and begins the climb.

He falls on his ass to the ground.

Ikarus blinks and stares wide-eyed at the sky.

"What the hell?"

After getting over his shock he gets up and tries again.

He falls back to the ground.

"My chakra isn't sticking me to the wall?!"

This time he channels chakra into his palm and places it on the wall.

"It's like I'm not using chakra at all. There's no friction." He is frowning.

He tries again a couple of times studying the phenomenon carefully and finally comes to a conclusion.

"The wall nullifies my chakra." He gazes in wonder at the construction before him.

"A magical building! Or at least one that has magical protections."

Now Ikarus's curiosity is at its highest point. He has to enter this fortress and take a closer look at this phenomenon.

He looks up and realizes the distance is too great for him to jump. Entering through the front door is not an option, then he remembers the story of Davos and Stannis.

"A secret passage through the sea!"

***

Ikarus walks to the edge of the cliff and looks down. The drop is at least 50 meters, below you see the sea crash against the rocky edges of the cliff.

"If the fall doesn't kill you, the sea will crush you against the cliff."

Before going down he checks that the cliff wall does not have the same protections as the fortress walls.

He walks down the cliff face to sea level, takes a jump and lands in the water.

It is night, but the moon and stars provide more than enough light and before long he finds a small dock. There are two guards keeping guard.

He sneaks up behind them and stealthily kills them. He dumps the bodies into the sea after taking all the valuables from them and climbs the steep stairs that lead to a tunnel.

The tunnel has an iron gate with a lock, luckily among the items he stole from the dead guards was the key to the gate.

He puts the key in the lock and opens the door.

The tunnel is one and a half meters wide and about two meters high.

He steps inside.

"!!!!"