Chapter 38

After the Men departed from the garrison, the training ground was empty with only Harwin and Aerion left inside. Ser Harwin stepped forward.

"Lord Commander, is there something you wish to inquire ?" Harwin asked, his tone respectful despite his earlier skepticism.

"Ser Harwin, I will be returning to the Red Keep. I want you to prepare a list of all the members of the City Watch with their names, basic details, personalities, and your personal evaluations of these men within a week," Aerion instructed, his gaze unwavering.

"And see yourself to the Maester as soon as possible," Aerion added, noting the severity of Harwin's injuries.

"As ordered, Lord Commander," Ser Harwin saluted, his respect for Aerion evident in his demeanor.

Aerion nodded and left the garrison, Harwin was a simple-minded but strong person and Aerion could easily read the other parties sincerity from his expressions.

Leaving the Citywatch Garrison, his thoughts racing as he rode through the bustling streets of King's Landing toward the Red Keep.

Before he reached the castle, he made a brief stop to inform his spies to compile a similar list to the one he had requested from Harwin.

He emphasized the importance of identifying the most corrupt members of the CityWatch, ensuring a thorough purge of corruption within the ranks.

As he continued his journey, his mind wandered to the awakening of his vitality seeds. The Vitality Breath Art was different from the awakening of Ki in the martial world, yet similar as both were a manifestation of life force and are divided into different realms.

Aerion had previously tried to activate his Ki before, using the Bloodmist inheritance, but had come to the conclusion that activating Ki in this world was impossible for some reason.

However, the Vitality Breath Art had given him hope. He had trained rigorously to activate it, not only as a substitute for Ki but also due to its various features.

The Vitality Breath Art consisted of two parts: the physical training that prepared the body for the formation and activation of the vitality seed, and the breathing method that facilitated the activation and further growth of the vitality seed.

Without training in both methods, anyone attempting the Vitality Breath Art would not only fail to activate the vitality seed but also risk harming their own body. Aerion had dedicated himself to mastering both aspects, driven by the potential power it promised.

The awakening of the vitality seed naturally varies from person to person for example his vitality seed is red in colour symbolising the fire attribute energy, but as a whole it's the same.

Vitality seeds are also of two types, the Origin seed and Branch seed, The vitality seed formed and activated by an individual by his own hardwork and energy is known as Origin seeds.

Those who possessed an origin seed could help another individual activate a lower version of the vitality seed using their own energy are called Branch seed.

This ability would allow subordinates of the Orgin seed user to instantly strengthen themselves to peak human levels.

However, there were significant drawbacks. The selection criteria were extremely high; only those with high talent or those physically very strong individuals could receive the Branch seed.

Even then, there is no further growth in strength other than the initial power up and those who did receive the Branch seed would be in a sense enslaved to the Origin seed user, bound by the energy that had empowered them.

Aerion had long wanted to build a new order, men under him strong and loyal and the Branch seed brought him just this opportunity, but now he had one major problems to overcome.

One he needs to find men with the talent to receive the Branch seed or he would need to gather children and train them from a young age to make them strong enough to receive it which is very time and resource consuming.

•••

A week passed.

During this time, Aerion purposefully paid little attention to the City Watch and let Ser Harwin handle all matters like before.

This had left a majority of the men of the City Watch deeply disappointed. They had hoped for change, expecting Aerion to be like his uncle Daemon Targaryen, who had once reformed them into an elite and proud force of King's Landing.

However, this lack of oversight over the week after Aerion's appointment as cammonder made them Think that Aerion wasn't like his uncle, but this also allowed the previously cautious, corrupt men within the ranks to revert to their old ways making it easy for Aerion spies and Harwin to report to Aerion.

Red Keep, Aerion's Chamber

Two stacks of reports sat on either side of Aerion's table. The left stack contained reports submitted by Ser Harwin; the right stack, reports from Aerion's own men regarding the Citywatch members.

With a sigh, Aerion placed the last report on the table. The current state of King's Landing and the men of City Watch were arrogant, weak in number and most importantly corrupt.

After his uncle took over 2,000 men to Dragonstone when he was exiled, the City Watch was reduced to less than 500 which was most likely purposefully left behind by his uncle.

Over the time after Ser Harwin had taken charge he had recruited 300 more from different houses of knights, bringing the total to current Citywatch to 800 men. This force was insufficient for effective management, especially at night.

Comparing the two sets of reports, Aerion noted that over 150 men were completely corrupt and needed to be removed. Most of these were high-ranking newly appointed knights.

Additionally, around 100 men were found to be slightly corrupt or misusing their authority.

The only reason the city hadn't fallen into chaos was the 500 men his uncle had left behind. These men, though not loyal to House Targaryen or Aerion, were loyal to Daemon and performed their duties efficiently while their actions were cruel, it was effective. The remaining 50 were in trainees and had no authority to abuse.

Leaving that aside during this past week, Aerion had also been gathering information on major gangs, thieves, and places where women and children were abused.

He wasn't targeting brothels, but rather places built for the nobles and common folk scum of King's Landing gathered—fighting arenas where children were forced to battle, and locations where women were tortured for others' enjoyment.

With the last report finished, Aerion was ready. He would start rectifying the city's issues beginning with the City Watch. He was determined that before the first light of next dawn hit King's Landing, he would cleanse the city of its scum.