12 Village (Part 3)

[POV AQUILES VIRIDIUM – YEAR 271]

Aquiles, Cedric, and Ser Rodrik walked through the narrow, dark alleys of the village; only their footsteps broke the heavy silence surrounding them. In the midst of this gloomy night environment, Ser Rodrik broke the silence, his voice filled with curiosity: "I've never heard of a remedy that could reverse putrefaction. What herbs and leaves did you use?"

"Sorry, Sor, but I keep my secrets well guarded!" Aquiles asserted in a manner that left no room for negotiation, after all, he couldn't reveal that his 'remedy' was just common weeds and leaves and that what truly healed Osmund was a 'magical' ability he possessed. Upon hearing Aquiles' response, a bitter expression formed on Ser Rodrik's face, but he decided not to press the matter.

"Cedric, take me to the other wounded... I assure you that by tomorrow morning they'll all be healed and ready to fight," said Aquiles, and Cedric guided Aquiles and Ser Rodrik to the homes of all the wounded. Aquiles repeated the same process he used with Eliane's husband and proceeded to heal them one by one with his {Gift of Healing} ability.

...

Three days later, the sun had just risen on the horizon, and Aquiles walked through the alleys of the village's modest houses. Some people saw him, and their faces lit up as they waved to him or greeted him with expressions of gratitude and gentle smiles on their faces. Aquiles returned the gesture and continued on his way.

In the last three days that Aquiles had been in the village, he had become almost a hero to them, because he had healed all the wounded, all the sick, and even shared 8 deer among the village people. Aquiles had actually only hunted a single deer, but he used his ability to multiply it. The process was simple: he cut the deer he had hunted into 8 pieces and then used {Gift of Healing} on the pieces, thus transforming the 8 cut pieces into 8 deer.

In addition to helping the people, Aquiles took advantage of the time he spent in the village to train his magic in the surrounding woods. He was training tirelessly, and each time he completely depleted his mana reservoir, he felt that upon mana recovery, his reservoir grew a little larger.

The training process to increase his mana reservoir was quite simple. First, he exhausted all the mana with training and then rested for his mana reservoir to recover. Repeating this process caused the mana reservoir to become increasingly larger. During the days Aquiles stayed in the village, he also managed to develop two other spells, namely Brivose Darilza (Water Ball) and Skori Darilgon (Ice Stakes).

It wasn't difficult for Aquiles to create these two spells, thanks to the {Lord of Magic} ability, which assisted him with basic knowledge of magic and a high level of magical perception and understanding. Aquiles had also already managed to use 2 out of the 4 primary elements and even transformed one of them, water, into ice. Now, Aquiles was venturing into the forest to train with the goal of creating spells of the wind and earth elements. As he walked through the surrounding forest, he saw Ser Rodrik and Cedric talking to each other at the edge of the wooden fence, but he ignored them and continued his way into the forest.

...

[POV NED STARK]

"You have to be careful at the Eyrie, Ned!" Lyanna spoke with concern as Ned mounted his horse.

"I'll be fine..." Ned affirmed gently and calmly, giving a slight smile toward his sister, although his smile concealed some of the sadness he felt. Ned knew that once at the Eyrie, he wouldn't see his family again for many years.

While waiting on his horse, his older brother Brandon approached and began teasing. "You always have to look on the bright side, Ned. From what I've heard, the Vale girls are stunning." Brandon joked with a smile on his face. He was Ned's older brother, but their personalities couldn't be more different. While Ned was shy and quiet, enjoying his time at home with the family, Brandon was impulsive, talkative, and liked to spend most of his free time in the nearby village with harlots.

"Easy for you to say when you're not the one leaving home," Ned thought, but he only gave his brother a faint smile. Brandon retrieved a sword sheathed in a wooden scabbard from his waist, and as he handed it to Ned, he said, "Benjen and I had the blacksmith make this for you, it's our parting gift."

Ned took the sword and unsheathed it, and as he did, the silver blade of the sword glinted against the sunlight, revealing an engraving at the center of the blade. It was a word, the word 'Stark' was inscribed. "It's very beautiful. Thank you, brother!" Ned thanked in a simple manner and sheathed the sword on the left side of his waist, as on the right side was another sword, one that his father had given him.

Ned, Brandon, Lyanna, and Benjen continued chatting for a while longer until their mother and father emerged from the castle. Their mother made him dismount from his horse and then embraced him as she bid him farewell. After listening to his mother's many reminders, his father and he departed from Winterfell, accompanied by a group of 100 knights, heading towards the Eyrie, the seat of House Arryn, where Ned would be fostered and trained by Jon Arryn.

Rickard and Ned rode at the head of the group, side by side, while the 100 knights followed them. As they rode, Lord Rickard directed his garron closer to Ned and asked, "Do you understand why we're doing this?"

Despite being shy, Ned was no fool; he knew the answer and replied, "It's tradition." Upon hearing his son's response, Lord Rickard continued to watch his son and signaled for him to continue speaking, and Ned did so, saying, "This tradition was established long ago and is carried out when the lord sends one of his children to be fostered by other noble families to establish alliances and strengthen bonds between houses."

"Exactly!" Said Rickard as he nodded slightly in agreement. "Lord Arryn is an honorable man; he will teach you well. Unfortunately, he has no children of his own, but don't worry, you won't be alone there. Lord Arryn recently informed me that the eldest Baratheon was also sent by the Lord of Storm's End to be fostered by him." Rickard spoke, and Ned nodded, maintaining a stoic expression.

"Father, I have a question," Ned spoke in an uncertain tone, waiting to see if his father would give him permission, which he did, nodding his head to signal Ned to speak.

"Why are we taking so many knights?" Ned inquired. Typically, when his father went out, he was escorted by only fifty; however, this time, he was taking 100, and all were armed to the teeth.

"Not all will come with us to the Vale; half of them are heading to a village near Manderly territory. A few days ago, I received a raven; the message it brought said that the village had been attacked by 15 mountain bandits, it also said that they had managed to resist, but they urgently needed reinforcements." His father explained as he pulled the reins to steer the horse away from a large tree branch on the road. Ned did the same, and the knights followed suit.

"If the bandits are so close to Manderly territory, why didn't they ask for help from Lord Manderly?" Ned questioned with doubt, looking at his father.

Rickard sighed and, after a few seconds of deliberation, decided to explain: "Lord Wyllis Manderly cannot afford to send his soldiers after bandits at the moment. On the same day I received the village's plea for help, I also received a letter written by Lord Manderly himself informing me that Torrhen Locke's middle son, Jason Locke, was in White Harbor and, due to a girl, got into a conflict with his younger son, who accidentally cut his left eye. Since then, Lord Torrhen Locke had placed his army on the border, threatening to attack White Harbor. Lord Manderly asked me to mediate this matter."

"If we had known we would have to go to White Harbor so soon, we could have come along with Aquiles and Ser Rodrik," said Ned, and his father nodded once before saying, "Initially, I didn't plan to send you to the Eyrie so soon, but since I need to resolve this dispute between the Manderlys and the Lockes, I'll take advantage of the fact that we'll already be halfway there and meet with Jon Arryn."