14 Rebirth Totem

Randyll Tarly has no idea what kind of charms the Tyrells used to gain the allegiance of the Wolf King but he is extremely glad that the boy was on their side.

Just standing next to this Hunter made his warrior intuition scream how deadly the young man was.

Now that he meets him in person he can tell why the guards are constantly shaking in fear around the boy.

"There is a forest half a day of travel from our location. It should have some good game. I propose a small party for it." The old man said while joining them for a hunt with his small party.

"It's fine by me." Willas was just going along. He would prefer to listen to two top-class hunters. He has not seen how Raynor hunts. It is a perfect opportunity to witness such a thing.

The ride was quite quick considering they were using war horses which are used for heavy-duty travel.

Once there a small camp was erected by the party members of House Tyrell and House Tarly. It was the time when Raynor summoned Deimos and his small portion of the pack.

"Go and find the best-looking prey for us."

The Alpha wolf nodded before barking orders.

As the wolves went to the forest the Alpha stayed with his Master. In the meantime, Raynor checked his gear. With an array of knives, bows, and arrows. He was ready to do what he does best.

"Wolves…truly your reputation precedes you Young Lord."

"This is Deimos. One of the Alphas I have. His pack consists of 34 wolves."

"Such a peculiar name." The old man ignored the absurd number of wolves.

"It means, Personification of Dread and Fear." Raynor decided to give some context to what the beast's name means.

"...Fitting name for a beast which emits such blood lust." Randyll Tarly nodded with some fear. Such an animal…a war-hardened beast.

"You could say. He brought Fear to House Stark. Especially since it was Deimos who killed Lord Stark and Lord Bolton."

"...I think we don't need to know the details, Lord Raynor," Willas said with a strained smile.

The guards nearly passed out when they heard that. This thing was a killing machine!

"I guess. Anyway, are we ready for the hunt?"

"Aye, since we are for Lord Tyrell we will proceed with horses. Is it fine with you?"

"Hmm, I don't mind. It will be good to practice shooting from the horse the same way as Dothraki." Raynor quite casually agreed he doesn't mind as long as he gets something for himself.

After the initial discussion, the party proceeded to enter a small forest.

Well 'small' by Westerosi standards. One could still lose himself in this place easily.

This was where Willas noticed that no one was talking, he expected Raynor and the old man Randyll to talk about war tactics, and hunting stories, or at least tell what truly happened in the North.

But the pair were in their hunting mode.

"There, a trail."

Raynor noticed something several metres away. he dashed over with his horse before jumping down and then inspecting the trail left by someone.

"...Hnn, at least a couple years old deer," Randyll said as he stroked his beard.

"Will this be enough for the ritual you were planning to do?"

"Either vigorous or young, both fit."

"Good, then we can proceed with this." The old man nodded before they proceeded to follow the trail.

They didn't need to follow for long, as Raynor made his wolves start circling the deer.

"Make your aim true Lord Tyrell, this thing is young and nimble," Randyll said with a serious tone as the deer was pinned down at a single location by five bloodthirsty wolves.

While all this was happening Raynor was still thinking if this is not too much assistance from him to affect the blood acquisition ritual.

Regardless, the Heir of Highgarden shot his arrow which hit the deer in its leg. It was not a fatal hit but still, he injured the animal.

Willas didn't need to be told what to do next as he shot another arrow which hit its spine.

The Tyrell guards were about to move to get the deer but Raynor stopped them.

"Willas needs to end its life. Otherwise it will not be his kill. As I said before, ritual needs to be done according to the laws of nature. In this situation, your Heir is the predator." The Hunter explained to the guards who reeled in from the serious tone.

"U-Understood."

The Heir slowly proceeded to get off his horse and slowly walked over. He had a specific leg prosthetic to hold the leg straight. It was made by the Maesters and looked like it was from the late Renaissance…

It just shows the boarding nature of the Masters. The dudes hold a monopoly on technology which is another reason why Westeros is in the perpetual medieval era.

Sure enough, while it was gory the Heir did end the life of the dear.

"I…assume I will need to drain the blood as well?" Margaery's older brother asked while breathing heavily he was in pain and all bloody from such a hard kill for a crippled man. However such display has earned the respect of House Tarly members who were watching this closely.

"Sadly yes. You only need the blood, the rest can be used however you wish."

"I see…" As he was getting up from the ground his guard swiftly moved to help him. They were in awe of their Lord! Even in such a state he still acts like this!

"Well, Willas is going to be busy here. We can proceed with our hunt, I wish to see you in action."

"Same with you Lord Raynor. This old man wishes to see your prowess in the hunt!"

The pair dismounted their horses and proceeded to hunt in the most archaic way, with just the bow and arrows. Even the guards were instructed to take some distance away so that they could do it properly.

~~~

By the time the sun was down the group was camping outside the forest. In total, they hunted down 3 stags and 1 deer.

Raynor showed the prowess of his skinning which made Randyll nod sagely at his mastery. The old man nearly cried several times from the boy's sheer talent and how he wished that this boy was his son.

After seeing him in action, from hunting to tracking to shooting the bow, the way he handles his knives. It was beautiful. The only thing he could teach the boy is the way the beast behaves in certain situations, something one develops from living a long time and experiencing many hunts.

Apart from all of this Raynor did tell several stories when he was waging war in the North. His tactics of leaving the empty castle, goading the troops, provoking the King, and killing him with a magic arrow. Turning Winterfell into a death trap.

All of this has made everyone feel chills. It was brutal efficiency.

Something Lord Tarly liked very well. He is known for tactics of similar efficiency. After all, he was the only battle commander who won against Robert Baratheon when he was waging his rebellion.

After sleeping outdoors for the night everyone was returning to Highgarden. This was where Raynor decided to pull out some of his snacks which got the attention of the pair of lords.

He was snacking on his smoked meat which he has not that much left.

"Try it out. This is something I have been cooking up in the North before the whole nonsense started."

Calling a continental-size war a 'nonsense' is something of an insult. But after hearing how the boy deals with them…it was indeed nonsense. It's like bringing the wrong tool to a specific job. For the royals that is.

As Raynor handed out the meat to the pair of lords they started to chew on it.

"...Salted game…with honey…but the way it's prepared… What is it?" Randyll asked with narrowed eyes. This…is like sweets but at the same time, it's good as filling food?

"It's smoked meat. I cook it in smoke. What you are eating specifically is boar meat. Deer and Stag taste differently. I was still experimenting with something before the whole nonsense started."

"This is very good, my Lord. Highgarden would pay quite a bit of coin if you wish to return to this hobby." Willas already has finished his side. He didn't even have time to speak about the taste. It was just like addictive snacks; it was finished before he even knew it!

"Maybe. I still have things to do."

~~~

After saying goodbye to the old Tarly, Raynor with Tyrells returned to the Highgarden where Willas proceed to rest for a bit as the ritual will be exhausting.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Oliana asked Raynor who has started to read a book about High Valyrian Language.

"It's safe, the only issue is that it's going to be painful. Rebuilding broken bones will be painful. That much is for sure."

"Is there a way to lessen the pain?" Margaery asked him as she doesn't want her oldest brother to suffer like that.

"It's the only way unless your Maesters have other non-magical means to fix him?" Raynor said with an eye roll.

"Sadly they are out of regular tricks. They are a useless bunch of them. By the way, I have heard that you got quite splendidly with that bore Randyll Tarly?" The Queen of Thorns asked about the hunt.

"Yes. The old man was sad that I was not his long-lost son. This is the second time that the noble house wants to adopt me." The Wolf King said with a snort.

"...You do have a talent many want," Margaery said while she got into position to proceed to feed him some fruits. She does want to get addicted to the benefits of Reach. Like good weather, a lot of fruits, and an abundance of Food.

"...Indeed, though my first encounter was with Lord Bolton who wanted me to be his Heir. He was quite straight to the point. His ambition for the North was leaking more than water from a fragile bucket."

"He saw a great opportunity for his house."

"I suppose he didn't have a girl who liked my wolves." As Raynor said that he hugged the brown-haired girl who smiled at him coyly.

"Talking about wolves I think…I feel a certain connection with animals." Margaery said that as she remembered feeling something when she looked at the hounds in the kennels.

"Oh? It could be that you awakened the beast taming?"

As he said that he summoned his companion's window.

[Margaery Tyrell]

[Type: Human]

[Bloodline: Garth The Greenhand {First Men (40%)}

[Magic: Herbology, Potioneering, Gardening, Beast Taming, Skinchanging]

[Talents: Diplomacy, Gardening, Administration, Acting]

[Obedience: 100%]

[Loyalty: 85%]

'So she awakened some of the First Men traits, but the whole Andal mixture has lowered the potency of her magic.'

"Beast Taming usually comes with Skinchanging. You should be able to dominate animals. This reminds me, Margaery, start learning High Valyrian."

"...That came out of nowhere…"

"We will be going to Pentos to relinquish Dragon eggs from a Magister."

"...You mean…"

Even Oliana looked at him with wide eyes. Dragons… Gods… If they get Dragons… They will remake the Iron Throne in their vision!

"We will bring them back. Their sheer existence improves the magic quantity in the air."

"I understand…but don't you need to be Targaryen to tame and control one?"

"Adult? Yes, but newly born?"

"I see…make sense…"

"Beast Tamer and Skinchanger will dominate the minds of beasts. This will make us even better than Valyrian as they used Blood magic to tame and control their dragons. They could never possess their dragon the same way as First Men could."

"Fascinating, so First Men were this strong with magic!" History always showed them as barbarians, but that was most likely Andal's way of looking at people who constantly resisted them.

"Valyrians were natural with blood whereas First Men with animals and nature. Everyone has what they are good at. Now we are going to start learning High Valyrian."

As he said that he showed her the book he was reading.

Margaery just rolled her eyes and decided to join him, though she wanted to hear some more about magic. While the old lady opposite them was wondering where all of this was going. It's getting wilder by the day.

~~~

"Pour the blood into this bowl."

"But…the amount of blood won't fit."

"Don't worry about the sizes." Raynor just offered a basic wooden bowl made from wood.

"If you say so." Willas started to pour the blood from quite a large basket. What shocked him and the crowd is that this small bowl easily takes all of the blood from the basket. It's like it has no limit!

Eventually, after less than a few couple minutes all of the basket was empty.

"Now place it in front of the totem. Then submerge yourself in the water."

After saying the commands Raynor watched this with a serious look. He wants to see how effective this will be. He was following everything according to his Greenseer visions and his interpretation of nature.

Sure enough, the water turned pinkish like it was coloured flesh.

"It appears it has accepted the blood offer." He said while stroking his chin.

"There was a chance it could not?" Garlan the middle brother asked curiously. For this spectacle, the whole family was here.

"Yes. We were hunting in a group, and my wolves were assisting him by cornering the deer. It's not something a predator does in nature. So I was not certain about this part. However, it appears it only needed to be hunted down and drained of its blood by him."

"The symbolism behind it. I understand. I thought magic is more complex and mysterious."

"It is to some extent. For example the totem you see you have to describe how nature rejuvenates, then describe the cycle of life, then how rejuvenation will work."

Raynor smirked when he saw how he made the knight lose for words.

"What I made easy is the ritual to use for your family."

"!"

"You mean? We can keep on using it!?"

"I guess? Or you could tear it down. It's not like I can take this with me." Raynor said with a shrug.

"No-No! It's fine Lord Raynor! We will take care of this properly!" Mace Tyrell said that while rubbing his hands. He already is thinking of building a castle around this place!

Such a place is better than a goldmine!

Though soon enough Willas started to thrash around in the water. Pink-like smoke and particles started to appear above the water.

"Willas!"

"Don't worry woman! He is my son! He will take that pain!" Mace said to his wife with a proud tone. Though everyone just rolled their eyes at the man. The oaf of Highgarden would be first screaming like a pig from the pain.

"Doesn't he need air?"

"The water is not a regular one. The water itself represents the 'mother's womb' , its ritualistic way that the person returns to his roots and gets fixed before being reborn once more. There is no easy way to fix one's bones without long magical studies." Raynor explained the symbolism of the small pond.

The thing was he had other ideas but he used this specific totem ritual as a test run for more complex rituals. As he will be returning to DxD and he will be quite fragile in that world. So he is thinking of rituals that could improve his constitution.

He didn't expect to create life-prolonging, rebirth, and total and complete healing rituals.

The totem he made rebuilds the body, improves its lifespan with the blood it was offered, and improves the muscles according to the blood.

He is certain if he uses this ritual he will be able to add other bloodlines to himself, though they should be magical by nature as First Men's blood would consume lesser ones.

How long until people figure this out?

As he was thinking this Willas slowly was walking out of the water his top was naked for this one even then Raynor already could see toned muscles, and his leg was completely healed.

"Gods…Willas…"

"I feel…powerful." The brown-haired Heir said with confidence. He was feeling unstoppable now!

"Wonderful! It appears you are fully healed!"

The whole family gushed around the oldest son. They were all inspecting him. People were slowly starting to realise how powerful this ritual is!

Eventually, Willas left the family circle and looked at Raynor who was thinking of using the Bear blood stash he has.

"My Lord. As promised you can take any bird you want. I don't think all the birds are enough for what you have done."

"Don't think much about it. While the ritual is powerful it still requires one to hunt an animal in a specific way. Not everyone can do what we did. And even then they could have hunted down an old animal which would cause negative effects."

"Even so."

"Yes, Yes. Now let's go, I want my birds!"

Raynor grinned for a second. Once he has birds he can start hunting other flyers and make a totem of them!

'Proper flight here I come!'

As the pair were leaving to get the birds for the Hunter, Willas got himself a simple robe. He was feeling slightly more wild, less noble-like. It's most likely the feeling of liberation he was feeling.

Not only it was like his blood was singing but he was feeling explosive power from his body. It was no doubt because a Deer has strong and flexible muscles. It could run quickly. He was feeling the same way. Like he could run circles around people.

"You should test yourself out against your household guard and see how strong you are now."

"Aye, I am planning to do it after you select your birds."

Raynor nodded at him, this will be interesting. Blood magic rituals are interesting!

~~~

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