"Ughh." The black haired youth groaned out as he slowly opened his eyes, showcasing his bright blue eyes. The youth slowly sat up on the ground and stretched his hand as far as he could, causing resounding cracks to be heard from his back. Ruffling his hair for a bit, he looked around to see where he was located, and he understood that he was in some kind of forest and that it was night time.
The youth closed his eyes and mumbled under his breath "Gifts."
Just as he said that, a light blue screen appeared in his mind with information on it. He slowly started to read through the screen as this was something he should do as per the instructions that he got before he woke up from his sleep.
[Congrats! The Akashic Records Have Given You Rewards For Creating A Legend That Is Recorded In The Akashic Records!
Name: Nathan Drake
Primary Job: Archmage
Secondary Job: Warrior
Speciality: Dragon Heart, Enhanced Condition
Akashic Records Hopes That You Will Try To Create A New Legend In This New World!
Good Bye!!]
As soon as he finished reading, the blue screen disappeared from his mind and when he opened his eyes they were glowing brightly for a few seconds. When the brightness died down, his eye contained vast knowledge about magic and battle. Shaking his head, he thought to himself 'I was just a small time mercenary in my first life, and in the second life I was a legendary archmage who only tried to recreate the things that I had seen in some broken dreams. Now I know that those were only things that I created by copying the magic that I had seen in shows in my first life. Well, thanks to that, I got a third chance with my head containing two lifetime worth memories.'
When he got up from the ground, he saw a little rabbit looking at him from some distance away. Smiling at the rabbit, he turned around and started to walk in a different direction. As he was walking through the forest, he sent out a pulse of mana from his body like a sonar and started to get the layout of the entire forest. At the periphery of the mana radar, he sensed four men fighting a boy who is trying to protect a girl from the men.
"Well, how cliche can it get? A fight on the road, a hero gets there and saves them from their doom." Sighing, he took off in the direction of the group at his maximum speed, which allowed him to reach the group within seconds.
The three men were wearing fur coats with a stone axe and hammer in their hands, only the one fighting the boy had an iron sword with him. The girl and the boy on the other hand were wearing an expensive dress and leather armor, that indicated they are someone rich in this world. Steeling his heart, he used the first bit of magic and conjured an axe and a round shield using magic. He knows that he can take those four men easily with his magic, but first he needs to understand what kind of world he is living in to use it as freely as he did in his second life. Extending his hand backwards, he threw his axe right at the head of the man carrying the iron sword.
"Ambush! The kneelers are here!" One man with a stone axe shouted as the man with an iron sword crumbled to the ground giving the boy a chance to breathe.
With his shield in front of him, he ran at the one who shouted and hit him in the face with all his strength, which made his neck snap backwards, killing him. When Nathan looked towards the other two men, they were running away from him as fast as they could. Squinting his eye, he took the stone hammer from the man he had just killed and threw it at one person knocking him down, and threw his shield on to the other one knocking him down too.
Looking back at the boy and girl, he noticed that the boy was aiming his sword at him with vigilance. Seeing that he smiled at him and told him as he raised his hands slowly in a non threatening manner "Don't worry, I'm not with them."
"I know that, but you're a stranger." The boy said.
Nathan nodded his head and said with a smile "Good, you should keep that attitude up."
Seeing that he was still not putting down the sword, Nathan said "I'm Nathan Drake, now that you know my name, I'm not a stranger. So..... "
He didn't finish as he sensed a group of men coming on horses towards them at a fast pace. Squinting his eyes, he told them "There are about twenty men coming here on horseback. Do you want to defend against them or run?"
"It's all right, they're Stark men. They're here to find us." The boy said as he lowered the sword from aiming at Nathan as he saw men on horseback coming towards them.
Nathan lowered his hand and picked up his axe and walked towards where his shield is and picked it up too. As he placed the shield on his back and the axe on his side, he thought to himself 'Stark men? Does that mean this is the World of Ice and Fire, and right now I'm in the North, the largest Kingdom of Westeros? And does that mean the kid is a Stark?'
Looking at the kid, he asked "Hey kid, what is your name?"
Turning to look at Nathan, the boy said "I'm Benjen Stark, and don't call me a kid, I'm thirteen years old."
Nathan nodded at him, and watched as the Stark men got off of their horses and checked up on Benjen and the girl while asking some questions while looking at him warily. He didn't mind it as he was preoccupied by something else 'Is he the Benjen Stark from the show or is he someone else entirely?'
He was brought out of his musings, when he heard Benjen call out to him "Ser Drake! Please come with us, my father will want to meet you."
Nodding his head he whistled out and suddenly a black stallion came out of the forest straight to him, which surprised the Stark men as they took out their swords readily, thinking that the horse was a threat. It was only animal conjunction magic that he had used many times in his second life. As the horse touched his chest with its nose, Nathan rubbed its face with his hand affectionately.
"It's good to have you back with me, Obi." Nathan mumbled out as he touched its head with his forehead. Then, he climbed over Obi and guided him towards the group.
Benjen was slack jawed at Nathan as he was riding the biggest stallion that he had ever seen, and he can see that their horses were getting restless because of the black horse. Looking at the slack jawed Benjen, Nathan said "You might wanna close your mouth, or something might get inside your mouth."
Benjen quickly closed his mouth and gave a sheepish smile, as the girl with him giggled as she was riding with him. Clearing his throat, he said "Well, you can follow us to Winterfell, Ser Drake. The Starks won't forget someone saving them once, the North always remembers."
"As you say." He started to follow them as they departed from the spot where he had saved Benjen and the girl. He was surrounded by the Stark men with Benjen and the girl, so he started to speak with both of them "I know Benjen's name, but I don't know yours."
Blushing for a bit out of embarrassment, she told him "I'm Lysa Locke."
"What were you guys doing at a place like that all alone?" When he asked that, both of them started to blush furiously and some of the men that were surrounding them started to laugh out a little.
Nathan only quirked his eyebrows as he understood what they were doing at a secluded place like that, but still he looked at them for an answer. Benjen, who saw that Nathan was still waiting for his reply mumbled out "We were fooling around for a bit."
Hearing that from his mouth, Nathan started to laugh out loud "Hahahahaha"
Which made the rest of the men go into a howl of laughter too, and that made Benjen and Lysa go crimson red. The rest of the ride to the Castle was in silence, with some occasional laughter slipping out of Nathan and the men, as they looked at the pitiful state of Benjen and Lysa.
When they reached Winterfell, Nathan saw one man and a teenage girl standing at the gates with two guards and when his eyes fell on the large castle he muttered out unconsciously "Magnificent."
"Isn't it? I love our castle so much!" Benjen said as he got off from his horse and helped Lysa to get down.
Nathan also got down from his horse, and told his horse in whisper "Be a good boy, and try to behave. We are in an uncharted territory."
*Neigh* Obi, neighed out in agreement and went with the stable boy with the rest of the horses.
Nathan watched as Benjen and Lysa walked towards the stern faced man with a guilty look. As soon as Benjen reached the man, he bowed his head and said "I'm sorry uncle Ellard. I shouldn't have ran off to the forest with Lysa."
"Ya damn sure shouldn't have. Do you know how worried your sister and I were?" Ellard barked out, then looking at Lysa, he said "Lady Lysa. You know Benjen from childhood, and know his antics well, so why did you entertain him by going with him?"
"Because we are going to be married soon, and I wanted to spend some time with Benjen before he wed me." Lysa said with a sheepish smile.
Sighing at that answer, Ellard looked at Nathan and noticed that he was standing above six feet in height and with a lean body that contained more power than a muscular man. Narrowing his eyes, Ellard asked "Who is this man?"
"He's Nathan Drake. He saved us from the wildlings, single handedly." Benjen introduced on his behalf.
Nodding at Ellard, Nathan introduced himself with a bow "I'm Nathan Drake, my Lord."
Observing Nathan a bit more, Ellard noticed a blood stained single handed axe and round shield on his back. Nathan was also wearing light armor made out of leather that he hadn't seen before. Clearing his throat, he said "Rise." As Nathan raised his head and was looking at Ellard, he continued "I am Ellard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. I thank you for saving my nephew and lady Lysa. For now, let's go into my solar to delve into more intricate details."
"As you say my Lord." Nathan agreed, but right then Ellard took a piece of bread and salt from the plate that a girl brought in the meantime and gave it to Nathan.
Understanding what Lord Ellard wants from him, Nathan takes the bread then dips it in the salt and eats it in two bites. As he chewed on it he thought 'This doesn't taste as good as the breads in my first life. I should reinvent some cooking methods in this world.'
Nodding at Nathan, Ellard showed the girl standing next to him and said "This is Lyanna Stark, my niece and Benjen's elder sister."
"Nice to meet you, my Lady." Nathan bowed to Lyanna and she curtseyed back to Nathan.
"Follow me then, Benjen and Lysa go with Lyanna, I'll talk to you later." Ellard told them and he walked into the castle followed by Nathan. When they entered the keep, Benjen and Lysa went in a different direction from his with Lyanna.
When they reached the solar, only Nathan and Ellard remained as the guards were standing outside under the orders of Ellard.
Looking across at Nathan, Ellard asked "Who are you? I have never heard the name Drake in the North, so where are you from? And why do I feel so calm around you?"
Raising one eyebrow, Nathan asked "Lord Ellard, as I have said before my name is Nathan Drake. I'm not from the North, but from a faraway land that I can't even go back to as it has ended a long time ago and I'm the last one from my lands. It's similar to the North, and we called ourselves Nords. As for the calming presence, it's simply the magic radiating out of me."
At that, Ellard's eyes went wide in surprise as he heard the man utter the words that had been forgotten by them for ages, magic.