Arriving In Westeros

For what seemed like hours, Brandon could only wish that that 'Overgod' or whatever it was could go die. Over and over, he felt his body twist and turn beyond human capabilities. He felt his body squeezed and stretched until his entire body was akin to a long noodle, yet he wasn't dead. For all intents and purposes, every part of his body was destroyed, yet he was still conscious. He could still feel unimaginable amounts of pain around his 'body'. His brain should be squished to nothing, yet he could still think and reason. He could still taste the blood and saliva in what would normally be his mouth. He could still hear the roar from the passing surroundings as he blazed through at what felt like light-speed. And he could still see around him.

And what he saw was equally shocking and awe-inspiring.

He was being transported in what looked like a beam of light, similar to the Bifrost Bridge of Asgard. Beyond this beam of light, he was flying through the cosmos. He watched entire star systems and galaxies pass by him. He could see asteroids streaking through space and black holes consume all that was around them. The sights were straight out of dreams and stories. It was all so beautiful, all so picturesque.

The further he flew, the more nebulae and star systems he came across.

'If this world functions anything like my original universe, then it should be constantly expanding. But even with that, the density of planets should be fairly equally distributed, right? Why is the density increasing? Am I going to the centre of this universe? I was supposed to just go to Westeros!'

As he continued flying through space, he began to feel a dual sense of warmth and cold; he felt warm from above and cold from below. The closer he got to where he was going, the greater these sensations became. They became great enough to distract him from the pain, and then became greater still. It got to the point where he could no longer register the initial pain, only the burning and freezing was still recognized. Endlessly, their intensities increased, increasing far beyond what his body should have been capable of withstanding.

Even amidst all this pain, Brandon found a moment of clarity. He managed to see beyond the searing pain and look before him. He saw a giant, mystical tree shimmering in the light, almost fading from existence.

From above, there was a burning flame of infinite colours. Every colour possible on the spectrum, every shade of those colours, all were shown. It was bright enough to darken all the suns and stars around it with its brilliance. And with the sheer size of this fire, was the equally loud roar as it burned and smothered all it could, using them as fuel grow and spread.

From below, there was a huge void. Darkness with no end, an abyss that swallowed all. On its outer edges, he could see the stars and planets dying out as a layer of ice and snow spread over them. Those that were already covered began to crumble away, fading into the nothingness that froze them.

To his horror, he saw the fire grow eyes as dark as the night. He also saw the void below grow eyes as cold as ice. Both looked at Brandon in fury and opened their mouths and roared. He was buffeted by waves of absolute cold and heat that struck at him with the blunt force of a colossal mountain. And with that, his momentary clarity came to an abrupt end, as he continued hurtling to a planet between the ice and fire. By the time he came close enough to see the blue of its oceans, he immediately lost consciousness.

***************

When Brandon finally came to, he found himself surrounded by trees. He was also sitting upright. Looking around, he could see nothing but more trees for miles. Looking down at his body, he saw that it was exactly as he had designed it to be.

'Holy shit. I'm actually in Westeros.'

Then he thought back to what he had seen arriving here. The mere thought of it made him tremble from the fear he felt. They were like nothing he had ever seen. Something divine, yet evil.

'That was the Lord of Light, right? And the Great Other? Ohnoohnoohnoohno! I'm so screwed! So very screwed! I've attracted their attention. This cannot be anything good!'

'Wait, if I'm actually in Westeros, then I should have a system, right? Status! Err, System! Err, Start! Umm, Initialize system!'

[Initializing system]

[Binding to host]

[0%...1%...2%]

"YES!" He screamed out in excitement. This was the stuff of dreams for him; he'd go to another world with a system, become super overpowered, have a harem and conquer the world. Now, he knew that with the restrictions that were placed on him, none of that may happen, but the possibility was still there.

He noticed that he was already sitting upright. Looking behind him, he saw that he was leaning on a weirwood tree. It had an angry expression, with the red sap coming from the eyes looking like blood. It thoroughly spooked him. After all, he knew that the weirwood tree was watching him, or at least a greenseer was watching him through the tree. Heck, maybe Bloodraven was watching him. Now that would be terrifying.

[97%...98%...99%...100%]

'Wow. That was quick.'

[Hello. Welcome to the Planetos Gacha System. There are 4 functions: Lottery, Inventory, Status and Treasury. Please select Status to continue.]

In the top-right corner of his vision, he saw the four words Lottery, Inventory, Status and Treasury. He imagined himself selecting Status with a mouse and the Status page appeared before him.

[STATUS

Name: Undefined

Race: Human

Age: 14 years

Condition: Healthy

Active Skills: N/A

Passive Skills: N/A]

[Please select a name.]

'Brandon'

[Are you sure you want 'Brandon' to be your name?]

'Yes'

[Name change successful! To change your name again in future, you will have to pay 1 Silver Stag.]

'What the actual fuck? I have to pay to change my frickin name?'

[Alert! New items detected in Inventory.]

Opening the inventory, he saw a row of boxes that were 3x10. He noticed that the first four boxes were filled. Selecting the first, he saw a box come up in front of him describing what it was.

[Hybrid Bloodline

Description: A hybrid bloodline asked for by Brandon Cole as compensation for an Overgod's mistake. It is a fusion of the bloodlines of the First Men (Human), Children of the Forest (Unique Race), Valyrian Purebloods (Human), Rhoynar purebloods (Human) and the Westerosi Giants (Giants).]

Extracting it from the inventory, he saw that it was a blood-red ball the size of a ping pong ball. Holding it in his hand, he subconsciously felt like he should swallow it, and so he did.

[WARNING! Substance detected that will alter your DNA and may change your race. Continue?]

'Continue'

[Choose a race:

-Human

-Giant

-Child of the Forest]

'Human'

He felt his heartbeat quicken. Looking down at his skin, he saw the colour become darker and greener. Twigs and fur started to grow out of it. Then it started to burn.

"AAAAARRRGH!!!"

He writhed in pain on the floor as his body burned from the inside. He could feel all his muscles bur up and turn to nothing, only for them to be reformed again and again. He felt his eyes melt and reform over and over. He didn't even want to think about what was going on inside.

Then his body started producing water to douse the flames, which effectively reduced the pain Brandon was feeling. But this respite was only temporary. He felt a wave of anger well up inside him, an anger that was not his own, that caused the fires to burn even hotter. This only made the water increase in volume and potency. The fire and water began fighting a battle inside him for dominance.

Within the flames and water, he could see twigs and leaves growing and receding into the skin. There was a growing sense of calm and tranquillity with this process. The pain from the fires was lessening and he felt more attuned to his surroundings. No, it wasn't the pain-reducing. It was his body healing. The more the pain reduced, the more he saw the plants surrounding him shrivel up and die. He could see faint golden energy flowing out of the plants and into his own body.

'I'm using the plants to heal myself! If the plants are dying, am I using their lifespan to heal myself!?'

With a thought, he tried to increase the number of plants he was drawing energy from and saw that he was healing at a much faster rate. Within minutes, the pain was gone from him completely and the fires had died down completely. That was when he noticed all the changes to his body.

He could feel his muscles wriggling underneath his skin with a newfound strength. He felt that, amidst the plants and the earth, he was one with nature. He could sense everything around him in his immediate surroundings. He felt like he was a part of the forest and could topple mountains. There was also something else, something strange, that he felt inside him. But it felt good. So, so good.

[Alert! New skills detected!]

'Status'

[STATUS

Name: Brandon

Race: Human (Hybrid)

Age; 14 years

Condition: Healthy

[+] Active Skills (NEW)

[+] Passive Skills (NEW)]

Seeing that his new skills were collapsed under the active and passive skill buttons, he willed the system to un-collapse it, which took him to a new page.

[ACTIVE SKILLS

-Skin-changing [+] (NEW)

-Warging [+] (NEW)

-Greensight [+] (NEW)

-Magic Vision (Level 1) [+] (NEW)]

[PASSIVE SKILLS

-Fire Immunity (Level 1) [+] (NEW)

-Nature Resistance (Level 1) [+] (NEW)

-Water Resistance (Level 1) [+] (NEW)

-Fire Magic Affinity [+] (NEW)

-Water Magic Affinity [+] (NEW)

-Nature Magic Affinity [+] (NEW)

-Dragon Magic Affinity [+] (NEW)

-Prophetic Dreaming [+] (NEW)

-Giants' Strength [+] (NEW)

-Shortness [+] (NEW)

-Longevity [+] (NEW)

-Primal Instincts [+] (NEW)]

Seeing such a list brought a wide smile to Brandon's face. After all, now he was in Westeros and could perform all sorts of magic. He could warg, have dreams about the future, tame dragons and perform all sorts of magic. He was immune to fire, he was as strong as a giant and was attuned to nature. He could see the magic around and within himself too. He was immune to fire and, as a result of the water affinity, was immune to drowning.

But out of all the new skills he just got, there was only one that truly interested him. Not because it was especially powerful or unique, but because it was completely unexpected.

[Primal Instincts: The First Men were descended from the First Man and his demon wife. From their lineage, almost all demonic traits were lost to time except the demon instincts and behavioural traits.

Effects:

-Heightened senses

-Animalistic instincts

-Increased virility

-More potent anger

-Berserker Mode: When consumed by anger, strength will temporarily increase while wisdom, intelligence and awareness all temporarily decrease. The greater the anger, the greater the strength gain and the greater the loss in wisdom, intelligence and awareness]

'Is this...what they call...the 'Wolfsblood'?'

He thought about Brandon the Wild Wolf, known for laying with women and for being wild in his attacks and rage. He thought about Rickon, a boy who would behave more like an animal than a boy. He thought of the Winter Kings of old, of Theon the Hungry Wolf, Brandon the Breaker, Brandon the Burner and all the others. He thought of their tales of strength and brutality, of their irrationality when in grief, their recklessness in their anger and their strength in battle.

'It was all because of this! It's why all Northern armies are feared in war! It's why the wildlings act and fight the way they do!'

"This...does bring a smile to my face."

Checking the other items in the inventory, he found that two of them were the requested skills Mortal Boxing (Beginner) and Sword Mastery (Beginner). They were both in the form of golden books that dissolved into motes of light and flew into his head upon wanting to use them. He suddenly felt like he knew the basics behind using a sword and how to fight with his hands.

'If the first three were items I was expecting, then what's the last one?'

He opened up the inventory again and willed the last item to come out. It was a cardboard box half the size of his body.

[Starter Kit (Westeros – The North): A starter kit given to you by an Overgod to make sure that you 'don't die as soon as you arrive'.

Contents:

-Grey tunic

-Leather breeches

-Clean loincloth

-Worn out leather boots

-An old longsword

-Purse with 10 silver stags

-The body's original memories]

'This stingy motherfucker. He's a being above gods and can't even give me anything good for-wait! The body's original memories!? I took over someone's body!?'

Scrambling to open the box, he saw a neatly folded tunic and leather breeches. Under the leather breeches were a white loincloth ('I have to wear this for underwear?) and his boots. After taking them out, He saw a wooden box. Opening it, he found a rusting longsword, a black purse and a blue orb.

[Unidentified Orb: Unknown substance. Unknown history. Unknown materials. Unknown purpose.]

'This must be the memories.'

Putting it in his mouth, he ingested it like he did the bloodline orb and for the second time, his mind was assaulted by a lifetime of memories. He remembered growing up without a father in a village out in the Rills. His mother was a beautiful woman, with such luscious black hair and green eyes that were like emeralds. He remembered a childhood friend of his who, coincidentally, was a redhead called Rose and how they would always run around in their little village playing with each other.

He remembered how his mother always had a sadness to her whenever she looked at him. He remembered how it always hurt to see her in pain all the time, and his astonishment at the truth.

***************

"Mother, why are you always sad when you look at me?"

They were in the midst of breaking their fast when he asked this. His eighth nameday had been the day before and he felt that it was time his mother gave him some answers.

His mother jolted upright, almost spilling the food she was pouring into her bowl. She seemed so sad, almost on the brink of tears. She knelt by Brandon's side as she stroked his cheek and hair.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm not always sad. Just...remembering." Her gaze seemed to go far off into the distance, reminiscing on times long past.

"Remembering what, mother?" He asked, with all the curiosity and inquisitiveness inherent in all children.

He looked up innocently at his mother who at this point was doing all she could to stifle the sobs threatening to come out. Even with this, there was that same loving smile on her face.

"I just...remember your father. You look so much like him. Your eyes and mouth are mine but everything else is his."

"Who was he, mother?"

"He was a great man, the heir to his noble House. A man far beyond what I have any right of having a child with."

"Where is he now, mother? Will I get to see him?"

By now, she couldn't stop the tears rolling down her face and her eyes reddened in her sadness. She pulled Brandon into a tight embrace, her tears soaking the top of his head.

"Promise me, my son. Promise me you'll always remember what you are."

"I-I promise!"

"Your father died before his time. He was killed by tyrants. Those tyrants are still out there, and when they find you, they will come for you. But you are better than them, my son. You are a wolf, a wolf of the North. And the North remembers."

***************

Since that conversation, two years had passed. In his formerly peaceful village, all the buildings were up in flames. People died in pain around him as the younger women were dragged away by their hair. Men wearing dark leather were roaming around the village. On them, he could see krakens, boned hands and warhorns. Brandon remembered his mother hiding him in a secret closet under the ground in the barn. He was terrified and confused; he couldn't understand the situation. The village was always so peaceful, so why was it up in flames? Why was everyone screaming?

"M-mother? W-what's going on?"

"Brandon, promise me you will not come out. Promise me that, no matter how scared you are, that you stay brave and courageous. Promise me you'll keep yourself safe."

"I-I promise!"

"I love you, Brandon. More than anything."

With that, she shut the door, leaving him alone in the darkness. He could not see but could hear the cries of pain outside. He could hear the roaring fire as it devoured his village. He could hear as the aggressors cackled maddeningly into the night, and he could do nothing but hug his knees and cry.

***************

"...Holy fuckamoly."