Talent, Cannibal

"Your Grace, please do not grieve. Tears are bad for your health." The steward of the House with the Red Door humbly closed the door to the sickly Ser Willem's room, then watched Viserys Targaryen and his sister leave.

It must be exhausting, putting on such an act. Viserys thought. His violet eyes concealed a maturity beyond his years.

The Red Door House had already entered a stage of undercurrents and hidden schemes—the contest between Viserys and the steward.

The servants had long planned to seize the funds under Willem's care. Once Ser Darry breathed his last, they would throw the three of them out.

Viserys had to do everything he could to stop that process. This was the first step in changing his fate.

The steward was acting, but wasn't Viserys doing the same?

Viserys played the part of a humble, cautious, and friendly exiled king. That was what a transmigrator did best.

The servants ate it up, and consequently paid even less attention to these half-grown children.

If we're going to retake Westeros, we can't do without swords and dragons, Viserys thought as he held Daenerys's hand.

Restoring the kingdom was not something that could be accomplished with mere words.

There was no hope for living dragon eggs at present, and Viserys had no idea where House Targaryen's vault of dragon eggs had been hidden.

In the year Rhaegar Targaryen was born, the royal family had extravagantly used seven dragon eggs and Wildfire in an experiment, resulting in the tragedy of Summerhall. The "Kinslayer" Aegon and "Dragonbane" Aegon had also attempted to hatch several dragon eggs.

Yet when the Targaryen Dynasty fell, every dragon egg vanished without a trace.

Even the dragons that appeared again in the future would be hatched from the three fossilized dragon eggs belonging to the fat Magister Illyrio.

Putting dragons aside for now, he should consider his own strength.

His greatest problem at the moment was his lack of martial power. Ser Willem was at death's door, the loyal sworn men had long since died out, and mercenaries were difficult to trust.

As for Viserys himself, his personal combat ability was rather lacking as well.

For a warrior to stand out, it ultimately came down to three things: social standing, Talent, and early education. Scholarship for the poor, martial arts for the rich. The path of knighthood required not only sweat and Talent, but Gold Dragons.

Viserys's birth was exceedingly noble, and his Talent was good, but his early education had been terrible.

He had already wasted several years in King's Landing, and the six years in Braavos had been almost entirely squandered. He had naturally started later than others and learned far less.

The most driven people in Westeros often began gradually receiving page training at five or six, then squire training, until they became knights.

The supreme genius Daemon Blackfyre had become a knight at twelve. Even the later-blooming geniuses all emerged at fifteen or sixteen.

Yet Viserys was already fourteen and could still be considered, at best, half a raw recruit.

As he walked down the corridor, Viserys suddenly stopped. He sensed a tremor in the air before him.

Then a translucent information panel unfolded within his field of vision, crystal clear.

As the panel opened, lines of information flowed before Viserys.

[Viserys Targaryen]

[Age: 14]

[Class: None]

[Reputation: A Landless King Few Care About]

[Charisma: High]

[Companions: None]

[Attributes: Strength 1.1, Toughness 1.3, Agility 1.2, Spirit 1.4.]

[Special Talent: Unknown (Panel activated; one Talent skill reward granted)]

Viserys was overjoyed. His cheat had arrived.

Next came allocating points. Open up for me.

As a miserable transmigrator, if he did not want to repeat his predetermined misfortune, then there was only one path: relying on a cheat.

Beside Viserys were two people blessed by fate: Rhaenys, the "genius Skinchanger," and Daenerys, the "Mother of Dragons." He had often felt out of place because he was not talented enough.

This sudden joy was like a flame, causing Viserys's once-dim dream of restoring his kingdom to burn anew.

Without Talent traits, it truly was difficult to defy fate and change one's destiny.

The confusion, fear, and worry that had plagued him for so long finally found a chance to erupt at this very moment.

Possessing strength was what humans desired most. This was especially true for Viserys, with danger already looming close at hand.

Robert Baratheon was something of a brute, while Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark both possessed the spirit of knights, upright and honorable. If it were only these men, Viserys would not have had too much trouble.

But Tywin Lannister, Littlefinger, Varys, and even Renly were all ruthless figures willing to use any means necessary.

Viserys's promise beside Ser Willem's bed had partly been meant to comfort his tutor.

But now, perhaps he really could return to King's Landing and sit upon that ugly Iron Throne, forged by dragonfire and covered in spikes.

Viserys noticed an unopened "?" card in his Talent tab.

Filled with anticipation and unease, Viserys watched as the activated panel caused the card to flip over at once.

The image on the card showed a savage dragon, black as charcoal with miserable green eyes. It seemed inherently evil.

[Talent: Cannibal (Gain improvements through eating. Consuming magical creatures may grant even greater increases.)]

Is this Talent a tribute to that infamous dragon-eating Cannibal? Viserys thought.

As the most ferocious wild dragon, Cannibal had once fed on the corpses of dead dragons, newborn hatchlings, and dragon eggs.

Viserys felt that knightly training could also improve his attributes, but that would be far too slow.

Cannibal's skill, on the other hand, was clearly a shortcut.

As its name suggested, Viserys needed to stack his attributes by eating.

He did not currently have the conditions to waste dragon eggs and hatchlings like Cannibal had, so Viserys decided to start with the food in the kitchen.

Viserys first sent Daenerys back to her room, then entered the kitchen himself.

He looked over the dazzling assortment of ingredients and half-finished dishes. By the standards used to host a king, it was somewhat shabby. But for an exiled king, it would do.

The kitchen was filled mostly with seafood. Beef, mutton, pork, and venison were comparatively scarce because Braavos had a thriving fishing industry.

There was smoked sturgeon, pickled crab, plump oysters, and more.

Braavos's rocky reefs meant it had no livestock industry, while its mining trade depended on iron, tin, lead, and other metals from the nearby mainland.

Cattle, sheep, and vegetables were also transported from Braavos's territories on the mainland, making them relatively more expensive.

This differed from Westeros. Westeros still operated under a feudal estate economy, and many lords had their own manors, forests, and the like.

"Your Grace." Since Viserys had often come to the kitchen lately to experiment with delicacies and even cook meals himself, the cook was no longer surprised.

After all, grand meals across the Known World could not do without butter, spices, cream, icing sugar, and such. The people of Volantis also could not do without beets. Eating too much of it was truly unbearable.

Viserys could cook a few dishes himself as well.

The cook merely assumed that the exiled king had completely lost his fighting spirit and turned instead to pursuing delicious food. After all, the kitchen was the domain of common folk; a noble young lord like him ought to be practicing with swords and spears.

Viserys saw the concealed mockery in the cook's eyes. Perhaps they already believed he no longer mattered. Soon he would be driven from the Red Door House, so what did it matter whether he ate one more bite or one less?

Then let us see who gets the last laugh.

After the cook left, only Viserys remained in the kitchen. He ignored her disdainful expression and began eating.

Sturgeon, crab, oysters, cake—Viserys sampled a little of everything.

He found that none of it seemed to have any effect, until he finally tasted the Sea Snail meat. The fresh, juicy Sea Snail had a somewhat rich flavor.

The moment the Sea Snail meat entered his mouth, Viserys felt it transform into a pure force, warming his entire body.

[Strength Attribute ↑]

Viserys was ecstatic, so he devoured the Sea Snail meat in a whirlwind.

To be safe, Viserys repeatedly tried other fish, crab, and shrimp, but none provided any improvement.

It seemed the Cannibal Talent truly existed, but it was rather picky.

Sea Snails were a specialty of Braavos. Besides producing dark purple dye, they were also an expensive ingredient.

People simply valued them more for their commercial worth and were reluctant to treat them solely as a delicacy. Even Viserys could not gorge himself on Sea Snails in Braavos.

If he ate them every day, Viserys felt he would eat himself into poverty.

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