Arthur stood in his shed in the garden where all his work projects were scattered across the benches. It was here he stood instead of being in bed with both the women in his life and while he wanted nothing more than to be there with them, he had to take care of Rudge. He had killed over a dozen of his men, not including the ones he had killed in the melee, and Rudge would not let that go unanswered. The man would send more, or worse, target the orphanage to draw him out.
He was not entirely sure where Rudge was, but he knew generally where his gang was based. It would not be difficult to find one of his men and follow him back. He had to be careful though, he could not let himself get cocky. He still had a long way to go when it came to fighting and in combat it only took one mistake and he would be dead.
That being said he was confident he could win.
He had Sunset at his side and the hidden blade. He also had his new magic. Though he had not tried to use it yet. The novice level did not give him much information about it, only that it was an ability that let him generate energy akin to the sun through his breathing.
Arthur stood there for a moment. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, drawing air in slowly and deep through his nose, holding it for a count of three, then pushing it out through his mouth. He did it again, then again. After a few moments he started to see yellow sparks erupting from his upper body. They flickered along his arms and chest like tiny lightning strikes, though they felt warm against his skin.
He opened his eyes and stared at the sparks, his heart beating faster, it felt incredible. His eyes widened as seeing the sparks gave him an idea. He drew Sunset quickly and rhe blade immediately soaked up the energy he generated, yellow sparks started running along the edge and down the fuller in thin lines that pulsed with each breath he took. The sword soaked up everything he generated like it was made to channel Hamon.
"Wow," Arthur mumbled to himself as he looked at the yellow sparks coming off the sword. He hoped the septons did not think him doing witchcraft. Either way he would have to keep this a secret, as it was too strange to explain and it would lead to even more questions he could not answer.
He stopped emitting the Hamon and sheathed his sword. The sparks faded from both his body and the blade as he let his breathing return to normal. He then walked over to his armour stand and started to put on a few pieces of his armor that he had left here. He did not want to wear all of it but just where the most important parts were. He strapped on the vambraces first, then buckled the breastplate over his tunic. He added the greaves next, and finally the pauldrons to protect his shoulders. He tested the fit by rolling his arms, making sure nothing pinched or restricted movement too much.
As he did that he contemplated something else.
The Heritage Token.
Should he use it and if so what should he use it on. Out of the two of them the Valyrian side called to him a little more but a dangerous negative trait did concern him. The thought of gaining magic and dragon affinity was very tempting, yet the risk of whatever bad trait the coin flip might give him kept him from deciding. He had seen what the system could do when it wanted to punish him, and he did not want to wake up one day with something that would hurt Mira or Cassie or the children or be debilitating to what he had made of himself so far.
He could decide that later, he wasn't in any hurry, but for now he decided to use the otherworld token he had gotten instead. He focused on the item in his inventory and activated it.
───────────────────────────────
[Item Received]
Dragon Dictionary
───────────────────────────────
Description:
A book written by the last Dragonborn, containing all of the known dragon words of power he had found over the years. It is the first step in someone becoming a Master of the Thu'um.
__________________________________
Arthur raised his eyebrows. He had no idea that dragons talked. No stories ever mentioned them talking. 'Perhaps only the Targaryens know of it,' he thought to himself as he considered the idea. Dragons didn't even exist anymore so the point was moot.
Either way he opened the book.
He could read the language perfectly well because of [Arcane Script]. But he did not really understand. There was a script that was not dragon tongue explaining the more technical aspects of the language.
Apparently Words of Power were words that were spoken in the dragon tongue, they were more than just words though as they had an effect on the word itself.
A Dragon Shout contained three words of power, each one making it more powerful than before. The words themselves were strange, especially when considering that the dragons names themselves are three words of power.
'Might as well try one out,' he thought to himself. Picking one at random he tried the Unrelenting Force shout. With [Linguist] he didn't have to worry about not being able to speak it.
"Fus Roh Dah," Arthur spoke out in his small wooden shed. Though as he said the words nothing happened, the sound simply escaped his mouth and the shed returned to silence.
Arthur frowned. "Fus Roh Dah," he tired again, and again nothing happened.
He looked at the book in more detail, he then saw that Unrelenting Force was supposed to fire a shout of pure force, tearing up the land and blowing everything away. Arthur paled a bit when reading that. He could've very easily blown away a good part of his home and maybe even his neighbours.
'Read before doing you dumb oaf...' he chided himself before looking back to the book. On one page he saw an excerpt that went into detail about the Thu'um. Dragon words of power were not just a language, they were part of the word, they were the wind and the sky and the earth and the sea. Only when you truly understand the word in your heart will you know how to use it.
'I have to truly understand the word in order to use it, what does that mean...' he wondered to himself. He frowned as he started to wonder if this book was truly real or whether it was some fantasy story. The system had never lied to him before but you never know.
He put the book away in his pack. He would study it later. For now he had to go deal with Rudge.
He stepped out of the shed and locked the door behind him. The yard was dark now, the children long asleep inside. He moved quiet toward the gate and slipped outside. He had to be careful tonight, since the tourney the guards patrols had doubled. Even in Flea Bottom. It hadn't been that difficult to avoid them before, but he still had to be careful.
So he kept to the narrow alleys and side streets where the moonlight barely reached, and sticking close to walls so the covered him most of the way. Twice he heard the clink of mail and the voices of Goldcloaks coming down a street ahead, so he ducked into a doorway and waited until their footsteps faded around a corner before he continued. Another patrol passed close enough that he pressed himself flat against a wall behind a stack of barrels When they moved on, he slipped out and kept going, weaving deeper into Flea Bottom until he reached the area where he had found most of Rudge's thugs last time.
The streets here were much narrower, the buildings leaning close together the air smelled of rot and shit. He stayed in the darker stretches, listening for voices or footsteps that did not belong to beggars stumbling around. He rounded a corner into an alley and stopped when he heard muffled cries and rough laughter ahead. Two men had a woman pinned against the wall, one holding her wrists above her head while the other pawed at her dress. Arthur was not sure if they were Rudge's men, but something told him they were. He had been getting these feelings more and more often since the tournament and he had to conclude that it was some strange part of the Shining ability.
He snuck up on the two men from behind, moving slowly and quietly along the wall. When he was close enough, he rushed forward and grabbed the one holding the woman's wrists by the collar. He pulled him back hard and the man was almost ripped off his feet from the force of it. Arthur was surprised at his strength so much so that he almost got punched by the other thug who swung wildly at his head. But he managed to step back away from the punch before it connected and grabbed the man's arm. He then twisted to throw him but accidentally slammed him into the ground so hard that he knocked him out.
Arthur definitely had not been that strong before. Could it be passing over 20 strength had pushed him over some sort of threshold and made him noticeably stronger. He did not know. But it did not matter right now.
He turned to the woman who was shaking and pulling her dress back into place. "Get home," he told her firmly. "Run now."
She looked at him with wide eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you." She turned and ran down the alley, disappearing into the dark.
Meanwhile the other thug got up from the ground and cursed loudly. "You fucking bastard. I'll gut you and hang your entrails from the eaves. I'll fuck your corpse while it still twitches. I'll cut your balls off and feed them to the rats while you watch."
He drew a dagger and tried to attack Arthur, lunging forward with the blade aimed at his stomach. Arthur caught the wrist mid-thrust, twisted hard to disarm the dagger, and caught it as it fell. He then took it and pinned the man's hand to the wall with the blade, driving it through the palm so the point stuck out the other side. The man screamed and cursed him more while thrashing against the wall.
Arthur leaned in cllose to him. "Where is Rudge?" He asked in a deathly calm tone.
The man spat blood in his face. "Fuck you. I'll die before I tell you anything."
Arthur grabbed the man's other finger and twisted it back until the bone snapped. The man howled. "AHHHHH!!!"
"GO TO THE SEVEN HELLS YOU SHITE!!!" the man gasped through the pain.
Arthur wasn't phased by the shouting and simply pressed the dagger deeper into the pinned hand, twisting the blade slowly. The man screamed again, tears mixing with sweat on his face. "The warehouse by the old tannery," he finally choked out. "Black door with the red mark. Please, STOP!!!"
Arthur held the man's gaze for a long moment, then pulled the dagger free. The man slumped against the wall, clutching his ruined hand. Arthur wiped the blade on the man's tunic and considered his options. He wondered if he should just kill him.... or maybe he should take the opportunity to see what Hamon did in combat. The description had told him that it was lethal to creatures of darkness but not much about how the effects worked on people.
He decided to test it.
Better now than when his life might be on the line.
He focused on his breathing again, drawing air in deep and realising it slowly, holding it, then pushing it out and on and on again in a rhythm. After a few breaths the yellow sparks started along his arms and chest again. He forced it to his hands and looked as the yellows sparks danced around them. Arthur smirked as he thought about how cool magic was.
The man stared at it, his eyes wide with fear. "What is that? Stop. Please stop! No don't touch me! No please! NO!"
Arthur put his hand to the man's chest and let the Hamon hit him. The man flinched hard at first, but then his face relaxed slight as the energy flowed in. It seemed to calm him, his breathing slowing and even easing the pain in his hand. Arthur intensified it, pushing more energy through his palm. The man started to scream again, his body jerking. Arthur intensified it once more and the man went limp, slumping unconscious against the wall.
Arthur hummed as he took the dagger out and stabbed it into his neck. Blood flowed hot over his fingers, but Arthur just wiped them on the man's cloak. He then stood up as he contemplated what he just learned. Hamon did not seem to be lethal to people, at least at the lower levels. It could knock someone out if he focused hard enough though. But its simplest form seemed to have calming effects, maybe he could combine it with his Massage skill and amplify the minor healing effect it has.
'Something to think about...' he thought to himself. He cast those thoughts away for another time. He now had to go and deal with Rudge.
____________________________________
Rudge slumped in his wooden chair at the head of the room, his fingers drumming on the armrest while he chewed a tough strip of dried meat that he had pulled from his pouch. The last week had worn him down in ways that he could not shake off, and his anger had been stacking up layer by layer ever since that brat Arthur started cutting through his men. Over a dozen of them were gone now, good fighters who had followed him for years, and all of them had fallen to one damn kid.
That loss left holes in the gang that other crews in the city noticed right away, they had started pushing into territories that Rudge used to control without question. Raids came more often, and his men had to fight harder just to hold what little they had left. It humiliated him in front of everyone who looked to him for leadership, and every time he thought about it, the rage boiled hotter in his gut.
He leaned forward now and fixed his eyes on the cloaked figure who stood across from him, a dog sitting quiet at the man's feet. Half a dozen of his remaining men lounged around the room on crates and benches, the conversation had already turned to the news the stranger brought.
"You're sure this information is real?" Rudge said as he chewed on the dried piece of meat.
The cloaked man nodded once and spoke in a gruff voice that carried no doubt. "I can guarantee it."
Rudge threw his head back and laughed loud enough that the sound bounced off the walls, every man in the room joined in with their own rough chuckles. He spat on the floorboards right after, the glob landing with a wet smack. "Disgusting. He's just like those dragon fuckers." A few of the others laughed harder at that, slapping their knees or nodding along.
Rudge wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned forward again, his eyes narrowing on the cloaked man. "So tell me, why do you hate the brat this much?"
The man shifted his weight but kept his face hidden under the hood. "That is my business. Now do what you promised and make him suffer. Kill his bitch wife too."
Grom, who sat closest to Rudge on a bench, grinned wide and cracked his knuckles. "I'll take care of any ladies we find."
One of the others, a wiry guy named Joryan, snorted and called out, "Try to leave some for the rest of us, eh?" The room erupted in laughter again, the men hooting and slapping each other on the back.
The cloaked man said nothing in response. He turned without another word and whistled, which made the dog rise to follow him out the door into the night.
Rudge watched them go and then settled back in his chair, his mind turning over plans while he stared at the flickering lantern on the table. He thought about the best time to hit Arthur's orphanage, maybe late at night when most of them slept... he imagined dragging the brat out by his hair. He thought about breaking every bone in the kid's body slowly, one crack at a time, and then burning the whole place down with the orphans still inside so they screamed while the flames took them. He pictured cutting pieces off Arthur while the others watched, and he smiled to himself at the idea of leaving the brat alive long enough to beg. The thoughts rolled on, each one darker than the last, and he savored them while the room quieted down.
A sudden knock came from the back door, drawing him from his thoughts.
Rudge jerked his chin toward Grom. "Go answer it."
Grom grunted and pushed himself up from the bench, his bulk making the wood creak as he lumbered into the next room.
Rudge leaned back and listened while the half dozen men left in the room started talking among themselves. Jory spoke first, his voice low but excited. "Can you believe it? The kid's been fucking his own sister this whole time."
Another man, Cal, laughed and shook his head. "No wonder, ya know I always thought they looked too alike." The others jumped in with their own cracks, calling Arthur every name they could think of and making crude gestures while they laughed.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Then Grom's voice exploded from the next room, a roar that shook the walls, followed by a shout that got cut off.
Everyone sat up straight, their hands going to weapons. Heavy thumps echoed firm the next room, like bodies slamming against wood, and then the wall between the rooms burst inward in a shower of splinters and dust. Grom crashed through the wall on his back, his massive frame crashing onto the floor while blood sprayed from his neck. Arthur rode him down, the hidden blade buried deep in Grom's throat.
The impact shook the room, and for a split second everything froze as the men stared.
Arthur yanked the blade free with a twist and drove it back in, again and again, each thrust punching through flesh and cartilage ruthlessly. Blood gushed out in thick squirts, soaking Grom's shirt and pooling on the floor. Arthur shoved off with both feet standing up as he faces everyone.
Rudge surged to his feet, his face twisting with rage when he saw Grom's eyes go blank. "Kill him!" he bellowed.
Arthur rolled to his feet in one smooth motion and drew his sword Sunset from the sheath on his back. The blade caught the lantern light and even seemed to drink the light from it, causing it to shine an orange hue. Arthur brought it up just in time to meet the first two attackers.
Joryan came from the left with a short axe raised, and Cal swung a spiked club from the right. Arthur stepped into Joryans swing, his body turning at the perfect angle so the axe head glanced off his blade with a clang that sent the weapon spinning away. In the same movement he redirected Joryans momentum, using the man's own weight to pull him forward and off balance. Sunset flashed across in an arc, the edge slicing through Joryans throat before the man could recover. Blood jetted out in a hot spray that painted the wall red, and Joryan dropped with both hands clutching the gaping wound while he gurgled and fell.
Cal's club came down hard where Arthur had stood a heartbeat earlier, but Arthur pivoted on his heel and let the heavy weapon whistle past his chest. The force carried Cal forward, and Arthur met him with a short thrust that punched Sunset through the man's side under the ribs. He twisted the blade on the way in, feeling it grate against bone, then ripped it free in a sideways cut that opened Cal from hip to spine. Guts spilled out in wet ropes, and Cal collapsed face first into the mess with a wet thud.
The next man, a stocky fighter named Ben, charged straight in with a longsword. He hacked down in a powerful overhead blow that Arthur caught on his crossguard, the impact jarring both of them. Sparks flew where steel met steel, but Sunset held without a scratch. Arthur shifted his grip and used Ben's downward force against him, guiding the blade past his shoulder while he stepped inside the man's reach. With a quick snap of his wrist he drove the hidden blade up under Ben's chin and into his mouth, the Valyrian steel punching through mouth and brain. Ben's eyes rolled back, and Arthur kicked him off the blade so the body hit the floor hard.
Two more came at once from opposite sides. One carried a pair of daggers and lunged for Arthur's legs, while the other swung a flail in wide arcs aimed at his head. Arthur dropped into a crouch that let the flail pass over him, he caught the dagger man's wrist as it stabbed upward. He twisted hard and the dagger fell from numb fingers. Sunset swept in the same instant, severing the man's tendons behind both knees so he screamed and toppled forward. Arthur rose and met the flail wielder, turning the next swing aside with a flick of his sword that wrapped the chain around the blade. He yanked hard, pulling the man close, and drove Sunset through at the collarbone. The sword sank deep into the chest, piercing lung and heart, and when Arthur pulled it free blood frothed from the wound as the man sank to his knees.
The last of the half dozen, a lean man who had grabbed a shortsword from the wall, circled warily and looked for an opening. He feinted high and then thrust low toward Arthur's thigh. Arthur read the move and shifted his weight, letting the blade skid off his chest plate with a screech. He countered with a backhand slash that caught the man across the eyes, the edge parting flesh and bone in a clean line. The archer staggered back blinded, blood pouring down his face, and screamed as he swung wildly. Arthur stepped inside the arc, grabbed the man's sword arm at the elbow, and brought Sunset down in a chopping motion that took the arm off at the joint. The severed limb hit the floor still clutching the sword, and before the archer could collapse Arthur spun and drove the blade through his open mouth and out the back of his neck. The body went limp and slid off the sword.
Rudge stood alone now amid the bodies of his former men, his own heavy axe in both hands, he breathed hard while he glared at Arthur. He roared and charged, swinging the axe in a swing that forced Arthur to leap back. The blade bit into a crate and splintered the wood, but Rudge wrenched it free for another swing. Arthur ducked under the follow-up and felt the wind of it pass over his head, then slashed across Rudge's forearm. The cut opened skin and muscle, but Rudge powered through and brought the axe down in an overhand blow that Arthur parried. The impact numbed his arms, but Sunset held, and he twisted away to avoid the backswing.
They circled each other and Rudge lunged again with a series of heavy chops. Arthur gave ground at first, deflecting each strike but then he saw an opening when Rudge overextended, and he stepped in close to slash across the man's thigh. Blood welled through torn pants, but Rudge snarled and bashed the axe haft into Arthur's shoulder hard enough to stagger him. The flat of the blade caught Arthur's cheek on the follow-through, opening a shallow cut that burned and bled.
Rudge grinned through gritted teeth and spat blood of his own. "You little fuck. I'm going to gut you slow, and after that I'll visit that sister of yours. I'll fuck her bloody till she begs."
Arthur's eyes widened at the mention of his sister, his grip tightening on Sunset.
Rudge saw it and laughed. "That's right, you fuck. I know about your sick degenerate little marriage to your sister. When everyone else finds out, they'll thank me for killing you."
Arthur's face went cold, all expression draining away, and he attacked without a word. He moved faster than before, closing the distance in a blur. Rudge swung the axe to meet him, but Arthur slipped inside the arc and redirected the haft with a twist of his body. Sunset flashed up and caught Rudge across the chest, the edge slicing through leather and flesh in a long line that sprayed blood. Rudge roared and swung backhand, but Arthur ducked and cut across the knees. The blade bit deep into one leg and Rudge stumbled.
"YAHH YOU FUCK!" Rudge roared before he swung again wildly at Arthur.
Arrhur easily deflected the blows before he pressed onto the attack and feinted high and then spun low, bringing Sunset in a wide horizontal sweep that caught both of Rudge's legs just below the knees. The blade sheared through bone and muscle clean, and the legs toppled forward while Rudge's torso crashed to the floor in a spray of blood.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! MY LEGS MY LEGS!!! FUCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!" Rudge screamed as he stared at the stumps that pumped blood onto the boards.
Arthur stepped over him and looked down without emotion. "You really should have kept your mouth shut... now look at you."
He reached down and grabbed Rudge by the jaw, forcing the mouth open wide. Rudge thrashed and tried to bite, but Arthur easily overpowered him and brought the hidden blade up. He slid the Valyrian steel along the tongue, cutting slowly until the muscle came free in a wet chunk. Blood filled Rudge's mouth and poured out as he gurgled and choked on screams.
Arthur released the jaw and moved to the arms. He grabbed Rudges ace and hacked through the right elbow first, the blade severing joint and bone so the forearm dropped away. "STAAHHPP MMMMMMMMMM STAHHHPPP PLIZZZ!!!" Rudge's screams turned to wet howls. The left arm followed, cut off at the shoulder in two strokes that sprayed blood across the floor. Then Arthur drove the hilt of Sunset into each eye socket, twisting until the orbs burst and fluid ran down Rudge's cheeks.
Rudge writhed on the ground, limbless and blind, his mouth a bloody ruin that could only produce animal sounds.
Arthur knelt and placed his palm against Rudge's chest. He breathed deep and channeled Hamon through his hand, the energy rippling in waves that seared flesh and cauterized the wounds. Smoke rose from the stumps, and the bleeding slowed to a trickle as the ripple burned the vessels shut.
'It seems my intent matters most when I use the Hamon...' Arthur thought to himself as he stood up and watched Rudge scream, his face blank and cold. He did not move for what felt like minutes, just stared at the twitching wreck on the floor. Then something shifted inside him, and he blinked hard.
He looked at his blood-soaked hands and felt sickness rise in his throat at the sight of what he had done. But the moment Rudge mentioned harming Mira, something had snapped, and the rage took over completely.
It was not hard to understand why.
He had made a choice before he came here.
He had used the heritage token before he walked in and taken the risk that came with it.
────────────────────────────────
[HERITAGE TOKEN CONSUMED]
Path Selected: Valyrian Heritage
────────────────────────────────l
[TRAIT UPGRADED]
Blood of Valyria —> Blood of the Dragon
Description:
You are the Blood of the Dragon, the blood of old Valyria runs in your veins like the dragon lords of old. Magic is in your blood but beware, like a dragon your blood can run cold when what is yours is threatened.
[NEW COMBAT ATTRIBUTE UNLOCKED]
Magic: 1
[TRAIT GAINED]
Dragon Dreams
Description:
Everyone dreams, but not everyone has magic running through their veins, your dreams mean more though whether they are positive or negative is not known.
[COIN FLIP RESULT]
Heads
A powerful positive trait has been bestowed.
[POWERFUL TRAIT GAINED]
[The World] (Stand not incl.)
Description:
You have gained the power to stand above the flow of the universe. This trait allows you to exert control over the passage of time.
• Time Stop: You can momentarily freeze the world around you. While time is frozen, you alone may move and interact with your environment.
• Scaling: The duration and frequency of the time stop scale directly with your Magic stat.
Current Limit: 1 heart-beat (approx. 0.5 seconds).
Warning: Frequent use causes extreme physical and mental exhaustion.
────────────────────────────────
It seemed even without getting a negative trait he was much more prone to some unhinged behaviour. But honestly if this was the price for the ability he got then he would take it a hundred more times.
A smile formed on Arthur's face as he sheathed his sword and left the building to head back home.
(AN: So rudge has been dealt with and Arthur is now pretty OP. I'd like an apology from all the haters who called him weak. Tbh I had a trouble deciding the powerful trait, whether I wanted it to be ASOIAF related or something just powerful. I ended up narrowing it down to either a book on Animagus magic, King Crimson, The World or beast mimicry like the guy from MHA has. But each have their own problems which honestly would be annoying for both me to write and you to read. Anyway he has the world and he now has magic. Hope you enjoyed.)
Support if you can.
Patreon.com/captainalfie78works