The wind swept down from the burning peaks of Valyria, carrying the scent of sulfur and dragonfire. Atop the black-stone walls of Edrion Kārtys, Aerion Vórenyx stood in silence, eyes fixed on the horizon where rivers of lava met the Smoking Sea. The red sun hung heavy in the sky, bleeding light over jagged mountain ridges. This was a land of power and doom — and it would burn. He knew it. He could feel it.
Aerion was five years old in body, but far more in soul. His reincarnated mind — once that of a man from another world — had accepted this world's brutal majesty. He had died in fire once. He would not do so again.
The System Unfolds
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]Mount & Blade: Valyria EditionWelcome, Aerion Vórenyx.Initializing stats, background traits, and ancestral bloodline modifiers…
Race: Valyrian (Lesser Nobility)Bloodline Bonus: +10% to Magic Resistance, +5 to Charisma with DragonlordsTrait Unlocked:Reforged Soul – Retains knowledge from a past life.Background: Reborn Warrior (Earth Origin)Class Path Selected: Commander / Master of Arms
Primary Stats:Strength – 6Agility – 7Intelligence – 10Charisma – 9Endurance – 5Magic Affinity – 6Leadership – 5
Skill Trees Available:[Combat], [Tactics], [Smithing], [Magic], [Trade], [Persuasion], [Engineering]Inventory: EmptyCompanions: NoneTroop Slots: 0/10Perk Points Available: 1
Aerion dismissed the floating window from his vision with a mental command. He had no time to waste — not when the Doom crawled ever closer, unseen, beneath the ground.
He would become a commander of men, a smith of dragonsteel, a rider of flame, a wielder of arcane arts. All before the world shattered.
The Library of Wyrmglass
That morning, his father summoned him to the ancient tower built from translucent black crystal — the Wyrmglass Library. The tower stood beside a lava moat, its bridges sealed by enchantments passed down from High Valyria's prime. The books within dated back to the founding of Old Valyria itself.
Lord Vaelar Vórenyx, a stern man with golden eyes and streaks of silver hair in his beard, waited beneath a dome of glowing glyphs.
"You've shown signs," Vaelar said in High Valyrian. "Strange focus. Sharpness in your gaze. You read before you could walk. And now you ask me of metallurgy and the dragonbone trade. Explain yourself."
Aerion bowed his head. "I am Vórenyx by blood," he said carefully. "But more than that by fate."
Vaelar stared hard. Then — surprisingly — he laughed.
"Good," he said. "You speak like a son of fire. You will begin formal training — swordsmanship, tradecraft, ancient tongues. You will learn the arts of the blood. And the tongue of gold."
"The tongue of gold?"
"Persuasion," his father said, eyes narrowing. "The weapon more dangerous than dragons."
Aerion bowed again. His Persuasion Skill Tree unlocked in his mind.
[Skill Tree Unlocked: Persuasion]New Skill: Silver Tongue – +5 to negotiations with nobility and merchants.
He smiled slightly. This world would not break him.
Lessons in Flame and Steel
The coming weeks were brutal — and glorious.
Aerion rose before the sun, trained with sword and spear under the grim knight Ser Morros, a sworn sword who once served the Targaryens before returning to Valyria. His muscles ached, his palms blistered, but the Combat Tree began to grow.
[Combat Skill: Swordplay Rank I unlocked]+2% Attack Speed+2% Parry Success Chance
He studied with Maester Thalon, a half-Valyrian scholar exiled from the Freehold's central academies for "dangerous translations." From Thalon, Aerion learned of draconic anatomy, magical theory, and the hidden heresies of the Valyrian priesthood.
He earned his first point in Magic, though spells still lay far out of reach.
[Magic Skill Tree: Initiated]Trait Gained: Magical Curiosity – Slight resistance to magical influence.
In the dark of the forge, he learned from his uncle Queldor, a smith with burn-scarred arms and a sharp eye for ore. He saw how dragonbone was shaped, how obsidian was tempered, and how Valyrian steel was not forged — but summoned through blood, ritual, and will.
[Smithing Skill: Basic Forging Unlocked]Trait: Metal Memory – Forging speed increased by 10% for non-magical weapons.
Aerion saved his perk point. Something told him he'd need it later — for something big.
The Cult Beneath the Mountain
One night, in the caverns beneath Bloodstone Hold, Aerion ventured where children were forbidden. The magma tunnels were vast, echoing with molten whispers.
He heard chanting — words in a forgotten tongue.
Hidden behind a curtain of smoke, he saw robed figures in crimson. One of them wore the mask of a wyvern. Another bore a dagger made of obsidian veins pulsing red.
They were the Cult of the Deep Flame — a secret cabal that worshipped something older than dragons, older than fire. Something alive beneath the molten stone.
"The fire shall cleanse all sin," the wyvern priest intoned. "The Doom is not a tragedy. It is the great reckoning. A flame baptism for the weak."
Aerion's blood chilled.
He knew the Doom would happen — but this was the first confirmation: someone wanted it. Someone planned it.
He backed away, silent as a shadow. But one of the robed figures turned.
"You there," a female voice whispered. "The boy. The watcher."
A rush of heat. A wave of dread. Something brushed his mind.
[Perk: Reforged Soul resisted mental probing]
He fled — sprinting through the smoke-filled passages until he emerged into cool night air, gasping, sweating, alive.
A Taste of Power
Aerion sat in his chamber that night, cross-legged before a black-iron candle burning with blue flame. His hands shook. His mind raced.
Then the System prompted him:
You have survived your first encounter with true death.You have unlocked your first Companion Slot.You may summon one loyal follower.Use your perk point?
Aerion didn't hesitate.
[Perk Point Used]Companion Unlocked: Kaelar, the Echo of Steel
The air shimmered — and beside him appeared a ghostly figure in half-plate, a phantom knight of another era, forged of memory and will. His eyes were hollow stars. His voice echoed with steel.
"I live to serve," the echo said, kneeling.
Kaelar, Echo of Steel – Level 1Type: Bound WraithRole: Bodyguard / SwordmasterTraits: Undying Loyalty, Silent Blade
Aerion breathed in sharply.
Now… he had more than knowledge. More than system advantages. He had a secret ally. A blade in the dark.
Shadows of the Dragonlords
At week's end, the banner of House Morlaen — one of the Forty Dragonlord Houses — appeared over the hills. Their envoy rode with twelve dragons circling above, one black as soot with red lightning crackling in its wake.
Lady Rhaelyra Morlaen descended upon Edrion Kārtys in shimmering white robes, her eyes burning with golden fire.
She was here to speak to Lord Vaelar — but her eyes lingered on Aerion.
"You have a strange aura, boy," she said, kneeling before him. "Your flame does not burn like others. It twists."
Aerion bowed politely. "I am my father's son."
She smiled coldly. "We shall see. The Freehold watches."
[Charisma Check Passed]Lady Rhaelyra's disposition: +5 (Curious)
After she left, his father closed the doors of the great hall and summoned the house council.
"They know," Vaelar said. "Not everything — but they suspect our line carries secrets. We must move carefully."
Aerion watched the fire dance in the hearth. The time for caution was passing.
He had a plan.
Aerion's Hidden Agenda
That night, Aerion wrote in Valyrian script upon a scroll he would later burn:
Find the Vault of Qel'ratha — the rumored forge-temple beneath the ruined isle of Soryanax.
Discover a new source of dragonsteel before it is monopolized.
Forge his first magical blade before age 10.
Recruit a sworn brotherhood — mercenaries, exiles, bastards, and hidden mages.
Create a fleet — to be hidden on the distant shores of the Summer Sea.
Unlock Magic Rank II — and begin manipulating flame.
He had fifteen years.
And he would not die with Valyria.
End of Chapter 2