Humbling

"Master... I have grave news."

An initiate of the sect approached one of the bearded priests. The bearded priests were the true, yet secretive leaders of Norvos. They were the ones to choose the council of magisters... a process which they accomplished through 'divine inspiration'. The name of their god was unknown to all but the members of the sect.

"What is it?"

"The false Emperor's forces have repelled the navies from Volantis and Braavos, led by the undead Lord Stannis Baratheon. And the army... the army was vanquished by the false Emperor's newly-attained khalasar. The surviving sellswords speak of fire falling from the sky and winds strong enough to tear apart hundreds of men within seconds... some have even fallen so low to claim him to be God."

Although he already knew some of the information from before, some of it was new to him. The fall of the navy was well-known, but the army too...

"So we have lost." The bearded priest sighed. "Once his conquest is complete, there will be no place for our God..."

"Perhaps, he truly is God's chosen."

The bearded priest laughed. "The false Emperor believes in no God... he only has faith in himself."

When has there ever been a man so invincible? Not even the combined efforts of five Free Cities could repel him... it all started with him and a hundred men. A hundred grew to several hundred, a thousand, several thousand, ten thousand... and there was not a single dragon to assist him.

Who would've thought that such a prestigious and mighty figure would emerge at this time? No more than sixteen years of age and his name was already placed alongside Aegon the Conqueror... if not above him! A living legend at the age of sixteen... and his conquest had yet to be completed.

However, everyone knew that Aerion would become Emperor once the majority of the rebel forces were put in their place. It was inevitable.

...

Aerion aimed to continuously use 'Complete Rebirth' instead of the other options due to the supreme strength of his Soul Knights. Also, if he used all of his vitality, he could only revive 53 skeletons. It would take around twelve hours to recover his vitality fully so that would only be a hundred and six undead skeletons per day... which means that resurrecting all 20,000 (though the true number is less than 20,000) corpses would take more than half a year (188 days~)!

However, with the combination of Soul Summoning and Revive Greater Undead, Aerion could use up a thousand corpses by resurrecting 10 Soul Knights a day (5 every 12 hours). Instead of taking more than half a year, the corpses would be used within twenty days.

Needless to say, Aerion did not wish to stay in the middle of nowhere for half a year (though his experience in the Dornish Desert would say otherwise) so he went with the Soul Knight route.

~Twenty days later~

Aerion laid atop a hill in the outer reaches of the camp, surrounded by a dozen or so Soul Knights. They were all silent and slightly far away but close enough to ensure his absolute safety. It was already past midnight as the night sky was pitch-black except for the moonlight above.

My sixteenth nameday was spent in the wilderness... I wonder, what does my mother think of all of this? The undead, pirates, conquering Free Cities, defeating and humiliating Robert Baratheon, taking Dragonstone and declaring myself Emperor...act after act, I've constantly done something that would have been deemed shocking, to say the least.

Aerion decided that he would visit Sunspear to reunite with his family after all of his business was settled.

Although Jaime Lannister has yet to speak the blatant truth, his secret lover maybe Cersei Lannister. She is both married and already his sister, which would also make a marriage between them forbidden as they are siblings.

Moreover, after all these years, Edmure Tully has yet to gain a child from her which does suggest that there is a lack of love (and some moon tea as a result). How could Edmure Tully possibly match up with Ser Jaime?

It would be like comparing a fish to a ferocious golden lion...

After collecting all of his thoughts, Aerion returned to his camp for the rest of the night.

He closed his eyes and drifted off into a series of dreams.

~

"Welcome back to the void, Dragon Prince." The system spoke. "I have wonderful news for you..."

"Did I ascend to Grandmaster?"

That was the first question on his mind. The power of a Grandmaster was something that no man could defy, as shown by his use of the Greater Tornado against twenty-thousand Dothraki. Naturally, he wished to attain this power.

"No, you have not. But... you are on the very edge of becoming one. This edge, however, is very steep, if I do say so myself!"

"A very steep edge... I see. Is there any way that I can swiftly get over this 'steep edge'?"

"Why, of course. The swiftest way would be in a trial ground, where your abilities are tested. Magic is also strongest there."

Aerion nodded. "So I must make my way to Old Valyria?"

"Well, it isn't absolutely necessary... but I would highly recommend it. Being the second last stage of magic, Grandmaster cannot be achieved easily. Without much adversity, it might even take the better half of a decade for you to ascend!-"

More than five years!?

Seven Hells, even I'm not that patient.

"In that case, it is absolutely necessary," Aerion replied.

"Mortals are so short on time... hahahahaha." The system laughed at his reply. "A decade is less than a single moment to Him."

"Less than a single moment? How old is he?"

"Relatively, he's very young." The system stated.

Aerion laughed. "You give the strangest answers... anyways, what is the wonderful news?"

"Well, in truth, I've already announced it. You are on the edge of becoming a Grandmaster... and your magic vitality has increased to 43, of course."

"I suppose that is something worth noting."

~Early 296 AC, a sunny day in Norvos.

As Aerion's massive horde of nearly ten thousand riders circled the Free City of Norvos, the gates remained open. He rode atop his red stallion, observing the state of Norvos from a relatively close hill with his Myrish spyglass. Around a hundred and seventy dismounted Soul Knights stood around him, all watching silently.

There were no defenders to be found on the walls... no archers, no infantry... no one. The entirety of the garrison was unarmed and inside of the city, seemingly waiting for something... or someone. At the gate stood a dozen or so bearded men with their hands at their sides. As a result, Aerion deduced that the leaders of Norvos had surrendered and avoided unnecessary bloodshed (and broken gates, of course).

Magnificent.

Aerion ordered the khalasar to stay put while he rode down at a moderate pace with his Soul Knights surrounding him.

The difference of power between the bearded priests and Aerion was rather clear in this situation. Aerion remained mounted atop his tall stallion while the bearded priests stood on the ground. He had nearly ten-thousand warriors behind him while the bearded priests had none. Truly, the scene could be described as 'the mighty Emperor conversing with his lowly subjects'.

"Ah, the Emperor himself has arrived to visit us... isn't that wonderful? We are all blessed to witness your heavenly beauty and divine presence so closely."

Aerion chuckled. "And that is why you, along with the Qohorik, gathered twenty thousand men in response to my declaration?"

His violet eyes glowed with overflowing killing intent as the bearded priests remained silent.

"It's a little too late to start being submissive now, you filthy pack of ungroomed priests..."

Let the humbling of the five rebel Free Cities begin.

"Ahh, please, there is no need for that, my Emperor. We will do anything you ask... we are still valuable to you despite our previous misdeeds. Someone has to rule the Free City in your absence..."

"Yes, precisely that... we are willing to accept any of your policies, give you all our gold, all the slaves, everything-"

Mumbling priests... I have no use for them.

"You said that you will do anything that I ask?" Aerion smiled.

"Yes, yes... of course."

"Then die for me."

Aerion drew his sword and the Soul Knights struck immediately.