2 Chapter 2

POV Daeron

Two days have passed since my first meeting with Maester Luwin, during which he visited a few more times to check on my condition. On his last visit, he informed me that if nothing adverse occurred today, I would finally be able to leave the confines of these four walls. Over these days, aside from the maester, Lord Stark and Robb visited me, and I remember how our first meeting went.

One day ago

In this time, I didn't exactly craft a meticulous plan of action but managed to become quite proficient with the Arsenal. Once, I even summoned a flamberge; upon gripping it, I instantly knew how it worked and how best to utilize it. Alas, my body wasn't quite strong enough for all those maneuvers, though I longed to wield the sword and feel like a hero from medieval tales.

My earnest attempts to alleviate boredom ceased when I heard footsteps distinct from the maester's—these were more assertive and weightier. By the sound, I knew it was Lord Stark, my father in all but blood, a man who risks everything for my safety, probably the only man in all Seven Kingdoms who truly embodies honor and is, simply put, a genuinely good person.

As I finished my thoughts, Lord Eddard Stark entered. He was a man in his thirties with an elongated face, chestnut hair, and grey eyes—eyes that to those who didn't know him might seem cold and icy as his heart. But those familiar with him would say quite the opposite, describing him as a man with a heart of gold.

Upon entering, he surveyed the entire living space before his gaze settled on me. After inspecting me and ensuring certain things, he decided to speak.

"Hello Jon, how are you feeling?"

"Good day, Lord Stark. I feel well, just waiting for Maester Luwin's final word."

"I've told you, you can call me father when we're alone. You've really had us worried, Jon. Robb has been restless these past few days," he said with a smile.

"I apologize for the concern," I sincerely replied, truly regretful about the situation.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Lord Stark had to attend to matters concerning the North, leaving me with mixed feelings about our dialogue.

Present time

Since that meeting, Lord Stark has visited two more times. Although the conversations were brief, they were quite fruitful. From these dialogues, I was able to confirm many of my suspicions about Winterfell. It's hard to say everything was bad, but not particularly wonderful either. Overall, as before, life was bearable.

Lost in these thoughts, I missed the sound of Maester Luwin's footsteps and only realized his arrival when the door opened.

"Hello Jon, do you think you're ready for the last check-up?" he asked with a smile.

"Absolutely, I can't wait to be free!" I responded with a smile of my own.

After the now familiar checks on my condition, Maester Luwin cheerfully announced that I was free and reminded me of the lessons I had missed. Completing all checks, the old maester left to attend to his other duties.

We were currently covering lessons on the history starting from Robert Baratheon's Rebellion, primarily focusing on the houses, their sigils, and mottos. While useful, I found this information incredibly dull, a sentiment Robb shared.

I was more interested in the histories predating Baratheon's Rebellion, from the Age of Heroes to the reign of Bloodraven. Considering that Winterfell is one of the oldest castles, its library is also among the most ancient. The Age of Heroes intrigued me, as it might hold clues to help us in the upcoming Long Night.

"Future goals set, but first, I need to find Robb and the others," I resolved.

Assuming Robb was likely training with weapons under Ser Rodrik Cassel's supervision, I headed to the main courtyard where training usually took place.

After a few minutes' walk, I reached the training grounds where the master-at-arms Ser Rodrik Cassel, the young heir to House Stark, Robb Stark, and the self-important Theon Greyjoy were present.

At that moment, the old knight was overseeing Robb and Theon's practice, occasionally pointing out their mistakes.

Ser Rodrik Cassel, one of the few knights from the North, was an honest, brave, and loyal man according to my memories. This not-so-young man, stout and burly, with a mustache and splendid white sideburns, had a habit of tugging at his mustache or sideburns when anxious.

Nearby was the young Robb Stark, who had inherited his mother's Tully features—red hair, blue eyes, and he was expected to grow into a robust man. Typically, Robb relied more on endurance and strength during sparring.

Theon Greyjoy was also there, dark-haired and lean, with a narrow face and a haughty expression. My past dealings with him were initially strained because his sense of self-importance seemed to have doubled since he and Robb had become friends. Likely because he was five years our senior and, in Robb's opinion, more interesting.

As I approached, the old knight noticed me and nodded, signaling, "Hurry up, lad!"

Following his gaze, the two trainees also saw me. While Robb greeted me warmly with a smile, Theon merely sneered disdainfully.

After talking with Robb for a few minutes, I was reassured that I hadn't missed any crucial teachings. I apologized for any inconvenience caused and expressed my readiness to take everyone down. Overhearing this part of our dialogue, Ser Rodrik raised an eyebrow and said:

"If that's the case, get ready! Grab a training sword!"

I immediately complied and soon stood opposite Robb with a wooden sword ready.

"Ready, Jon?" Robb said with a smirk.

"Ready to beat you, Robb," I replied with a matching grin.

"Begin!" commanded the master-at-arms.

I decided not to wait for Robb to initiate the duel and struck first. He parried my initial blow quite well, but as the duel progressed, my speed gave me an advantage, though he still had the edge in strength. If I couldn't improve my strength, future duels would be challenging, yet currently, the difference between our strengths wasn't so great. Our duel felt short because, after countering one of Robb's attacks, I began striking even faster.

My first blow landed on his right shoulder, and I managed to dodge his subsequent attack, as I had his previous ones. My ability to evade his strikes and his inability to do the same was ultimately what led to my victory, as his hands could no longer hold his training weapon after so many of my hits against his blade.

After two more attacks, Robb finally lost. Ser Rodrik, after checking Robb for injuries and ensuring he was alright, began to explain the mistakes we had made. Robb's main flaw was his lack of mobility, while my mistake was getting too caught up in the battle.

"Hmm, I think you can still fight. Ready for another round with Theon?" he asked.

Theon looked surprised at the old knight and smiled, clearly thinking he could beat me. But today, he was in for an unpleasant surprise.

Nodding in readiness, I began to wait for Theon, who didn't take long to get up and stand opposite me, saying:

"Are you ready, bastard?" with the same smirk.

Instead of answering, I pondered how best to make this squid eat dirt.

"Begin!" shouted Ser Rodrik.

This time, Theon started first with a vertical strike, quite predictably I thought, simultaneously dodging and countering with a precise lunge from the right side, where I had evaded, knocking the breath out of Theon. He, having lost his breath from such an attack, fell to the ground, simultaneously dropping his blade.

Everyone present in the Main Courtyard was shocked by such moves, but the old knight quickly regained his composure and went to check on Theon, while Robb watched me with surprise.

After this, I was pitted against Robb and Theon a couple more times, but they stopped putting me against these two young heirs. More often, Theon and Robb sparred against each other than against me.

Four hours later, we were awaited for lessons with Maester Luwin. This time, we discussed the end of Robert's Rebellion, and the main part of the discussion revolved around Tywin and Jaime Lannister.

In my opinion, rather unsavory characters, but compared to the Mad King... Overall, they didn't actively participate in the Rebellion until the end, and to establish a good background, they exterminated all members of House Targaryen in King's Landing. Jaime, breaking his vows, killed his own king while serving under him. Perhaps there was a reason for such actions, but since everyone knows Tywin as an amoral monster, they assume that the order to kill came directly from the Old Lion. Hence Jaime earned the title Kingslayer.

After the sack of King's Landing, the active participants of the Rebellion arrived. Lord Eddard Stark then went further south, first to the Stormlands to lift the siege by one of the stupidest lords, Mace Tyrell. Despite having some semblance of intelligence, he still ended the siege voluntarily. Overall, one of the best commanders in the Stormlands was Randyll Tarly, only to be defeated by Robert Baratheon. Following these events, Lord Stark went to the Tower of Joy to rescue Lyanna Stark, where a battle against three knights of the Kingsguard ensued, Ser Arthur Dayne, Gerold Hightower, and Oswell Whent. Lord Stark went there with six men from the North but returned only with Howland Reed, the remains of his sister, and a bastard.

The discussion then moved on to the Great Houses of Westeros, their ancestral castles, sigils, and mottos. Afterwards, I decided to visit the godswood before the library, as I was curious about this aspect of Planetos. According to my memories as an inhabitant of Earth, divine manifestations were from the Old Gods, the Fire God from Essos, and Death God from the House of Black and White. And I wanted to see what was so extraordinary about these heart trees.

The ritual of worshiping the Old Gods was quite simple, as there were no particularly complex ceremonies. Before the heart trees, they prayed, meditated, and tried to listen to the sounds of nature in hopes of hearing the gods' answer.

According to legends, the Children of the Forest carved eyes in the heart trees so that the silent gods would have eyes. In places where such trees were absent, they prayed to the largest and oldest tree in the grove. Sacrifices, including human sacrifices, were made before the grove, but nowadays it wasn't very popular.

Thought after thought led to contemplation about the afterlife. In this religion, there was no kingdom of the afterlife per se, but in the Winterfell crypts, sitting statues were placed on the tombs of kings and lords, and each had a longsword placed across their laps—a custom meant to keep the spirits of the deceased in their tombs.

Before me stood the Winterfell godswood, an ancient grove covering three acres, with ponds fed by hot springs. At the heart of the grove was an ancient heart tree with a carved mournful face, with white bark and wood, dark red five-pointed leaves, and a red sap resembling blood.

At that moment, when I touched the heart tree, a message popped up from the system.

Received Worldly Mission from the Old Gods

-Save Westeros from the Others-

-Conditions for completion: survival of the Children of the Forest 0/1

- Survival of Giants 0/1

- Survival of Mankind 0/1

-Deadline: 20 years-

-Reward: Gift from the Old Gods-

-Penalty: Death of all living things in the Seven Kingdoms-

Accept/Decline

Well... Here was the evidence of the existence of these very gods. Without much thought, I accepted the mission... As I doubt I could survive this even in Essos, considering the legends of the Long Night inherent in every religion and people in this world...