9 Powers And Limits (Part 3)

[POV AQUILES VIRIDIUM – YEAR 271]

Amidst hurried steps, Aquiles hastened his march through the forest, his eyes attentive to every sound, every movement. Fear settled into his veins, a cold and insidious sensation accompanied by a knot in his stomach that left him tense; it was as if every falling leaf, every rustle of the trees, and every noise were a potential threat. His five senses sharpened by the {Extreme Human} ability provided him with a chilling awareness of his surroundings, and this only heightened his fear even more.

As he quickened his pace due to fear, his heightened senses made Aquiles once again feel as though he were being watched, causing him to turn again, but now at a much faster speed than the first time. Thanks to the light emitted by the fireball and the speed at which he turned, he managed to see that a raven was watching him from atop a tree, which relieved him greatly. "It's just my mind playing tricks on me, it's just a raven," Aquiles realized, and then turned and continued on his way.

When Aquiles returned to the camp, he saw that Ser Rodrik was still sitting on the wooden log, his hands outstretched towards the fire as it warmed them; a pot with a stew was also over the fire, illuminating his figure and casting his shadow against the trees behind him.

Ser Rodrik raised his eyes when he noticed Aquiles approaching with two brown hares hanging from his hand. A slight disbelieving smile involuntarily formed at the corner of his lips, and he exclaimed in appreciation, "I won't lie, I never had any faith that you would manage to hunt anything in this forest, but it seems I was mistaken!"

"Beginner's luck, I suppose!" Aquiles humbly replied as he sat down by the fire, next to Ser Rodrik. After sitting down, Aquiles requested, "I had to run a lot to catch these hares, I'm completely exhausted. Could you clean them?"

"Of course, hand them over here! After all, I should do my part." Ser Rodrik replied as he took the two hares from Aquiles' hands; he then began to clean one of the carcasses. As he slit the abdomen of one of the hares with a thin dagger he took from his pocket, he raised his voice in a question, "Why are you heading to King's Landing?"

Aquiles was a bit surprised by the question, as since they left Winterfell, Ser Rodrik had remained silent, barely sharing more than a few strictly necessary words. "I'm seeking a better life, I can't stand this damn cold anymore." Aquiles replied with a serious expression, enunciating the words carefully, as if each of them carried the purest truth.

However, Ser Rodrik shook his head slightly with a disappointed air. "If you're looking for a better life, King's Landing is not the place. That city reeks of shit and urine, and people live packed like rats!" Ser Rodrik declared in a harsh and disdainful tone, as someone who knew the city and had seen its miseries firsthand.

Ser Rodrik's response made Aquiles frown, raise an eyebrow in doubt, and ask, "Have you been there, Ser Rodrik?"

"I was there two years ago, in service to Lord Stark... and I tell you with absolute confidence, never again in my life do I wish to return to that rat's nest!" Ser Rodrik replied with a grunt, his skilled hands delving into the hare's belly and then pulling out its entrails.

"And how long does the journey take?" Aquiles inquired, curious about the travel time, as it was never specified in the books how long the characters took to travel from one place to another.

"By sea, a little over a month and a half. By horse, at least 4 months of journey." Ser Rodrik spoke as he finished cleaning the second brown hare.

"And from here to White Harbor?" Aquiles questioned.

"Seventeen days, maybe two weeks if we pick up our pace," Ser Rodrik spoke as he used a branch to make a spit for each hare. After preparing the spits, he impaled the two hares and positioned them over the crackling flames of the fire. Initially, a smell of burnt fur filled the air as the hares' pelts were incinerated, but after a few minutes, the smell dissipated along with the hares' hair, and Ser Rodrik moved the hares further away; at that moment, a savory aroma of the cooking meat quickly filled the air.

"So it seems we are destined to spend quite a bit of time together," Aquiles commented, and Ser Rodrik nodded with a brief movement of his head. The surroundings seemed to settle into a calm silence, only occasionally broken by the crackle of burning wood, the wind whistling, or the rustle of branches whenever the wind brushed against the treetops.

Once the meat was ready, Aquiles and Ser Rodrik began to eat. Each consumed a whole hare and drank the soup Ser Rodrik had made. The hares were too small to satisfy their hunger, but the taste was excellent. After finishing the meal, both retired to their respective cloth tents. As they lay down and closed their eyes, Aquiles delved into his thoughts about what to do next.

"When I get to King's Landing, I'll set up a medical clinic and make money healing people. Then, I'll use that money to go to the continent of Essos. But which city should I go to?" Aquiles mentally questioned himself, remembering that Magister Illyrio lived in Pentos, although the Illyrio of that moment was 27 years younger than in the days when Viserys and Daenerys lived with him and might not have acquired the dragon eggs yet.

"No, I definitely can't meet him yet. Perhaps some of my actions could change the future I know and prevent Daenerys from hatching the three dragons. At least until I have a way to hatch the dragons, I shouldn't think about obtaining them!" Aquiles realized as he pondered the implications of intervening in the fate of the people of this world.

Aquiles desperately wanted the dragon eggs, but he would need gold to buy them from Illyrio and a way to hatch them, or it would simply be a waste to buy them and thus deprive Daenerys of obtaining them. "Maybe in Valyria I can discover how to hatch them, but in Valyria there are many dangers. Honestly, I'm not worried about the stone men, but rather the Firewyrms. From what I remember, Septon Barth recounts the story of a Targaryen princess who died burned alive with hundreds of firewyrms inside her. Just imagining it is distressing!" Aquiles thought, shivers running down his spine as he imagined dying in such agony.

"Perhaps my poison could eliminate the Firewyrms, but I don't want to risk it, since in the books their only known weakness is the cold!" Aquiles noted to himself.

"Besides Daenerys's dragons, I also need to acquire an army in less than 27 years, or it will be difficult to change the course of things alone!" Aquiles reflected again, spending the next few hours lost in thought, trying to figure out a way to obtain an army.

Aquiles continued to reflect silently until, finally, an absurd idea emerged in his mind. He recalled the memory of Christians from his own world and thought, "Men may betray other men, but they never betray their Gods! Moreover, a religious man also does not hesitate to give his life to fulfill the will of his God!"

His reflections turned into a recollection of a history book he had read about Christians in the Roman arenas. This book recounted Christians facing death with smiles on their faces, guided by unwavering faith in Jesus. Aquiles also remembered quotations from people who died for God written in the Bible itself. He had read the Bible for the first time as a child and again as an adult. Thanks to the photographic memory God had given him, he could now remember every word, every letter perfectly.

"If I could instill a similar level of devotion, I would have at my disposal an army willing to fight and die for me without even questioning!" Aquiles thought, but he was still a little hesitant about how to do it.

"Essos is still a continent where slavery exists. If I can free them and make the slaves believe that I am a God, I can make them fight for me, I can even become their King, as Daenerys herself had done in the books. I guarantee that my rule will be 100 times better than what they have now with the slave masters!" Aquiles thought confidently. "In the books, Daenerys did right by abolishing slavery and also by killing the slave masters of Astapor. However, by advancing to conquer the other cities without stabilizing her rule over Astapor and without forming allies who could support her, she inevitably became completely surrounded by enemies from all sides, and that was her downfall."

Aquiles pondered, remembering how Daenerys was forced to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq to appease the Sons of the Harpy and shortly after had to flee Meereen flying on Drogon. "I definitely won't make the same mistakes as her. Before freeing the slaves from the masters, I need to find people who can support me and also help me govern, and I already know where I'll get all that!" Aquiles thought confidently as he decided where to go. "I will go to Braavos! After I get there, I will infect the wealthiest men in the city and their families with an incurable and deadly disease. Then, when they are in despair, about to lose those they love the most, I can perform 'miracles' and heal their families." Aquiles could almost imagine the scene.

"When they see me healing their families with just my touch, they will surely believe everything I say!" Aquiles muttered softly. "Then I will make them believe that I am God and make them my loyal followers. If all goes well, I will be able to use their power and influence to support me once I free and dominate the cities of Slaver's Bay. With their support, when I take Astapor, food will not be a problem, as I will have the Iron Bank supporting me! This seems like a good plan, but it will surely be easier said than done." After getting an idea of ​​what his plan would be like, Aquiles began to meticulously plan the details, including planning a way to escape from Braavos if his plan went wrong and he was discovered.