Chapter 39: The Terrifying Leap of Transcendent Feats
The Red Keep's training yard was normally reserved for guardsmen, knights, squires, and even the Kingsguard during their daily drills.
Podrick knew exactly where it was, but he had no intention of going there.
A pale morning mist clung to the ground.
So close to the river and the bay, King's Landing was always damp—the wind carried the briny tang of seawater, sharp and unmistakable.
The sun had yet to rise.
Under the dim crimson glow of the Red Comet, Podrick slipped out of the Hand's Tower and descended toward the barracks.
Behind it lay a modest open space.
Though "open space" was generous.
Tyrion's entire host had been crammed into this area last night—dozens of tribesmen, hired swords, and their mountain of gear. Piles of armor, battered shields, sacks of grain, tents, tools, and plunder from the Green Fork were strewn everywhere.
Even after an entire day of hurried cleanup, the place still looked like a battlefield.
Podrick didn't mind the clutter.
Weaving between crates and scattered equipment, he stopped before a chest-high reinforced wooden crate.
He lifted the side latch.
Inside was a chaotic collection of metal—dented half-helms, chipped longswords, broken axes, warped spearheads. All scavenged from the dead.
Exactly what he wanted.
Nodding with satisfaction, Podrick lowered the lid and moved to the side of the crate.
He crouched, braced both hands against the iron-banded grips, found the center of balance—
—and clenched his teeth.
With a chorus of clattering metal and straining wood, he lifted the fully loaded crate clean off the ground.
But he wasn't done.
Still clutching the heavy box, he shuffled toward the crate beside it—another identical chest. Carefully, he set the first one down on top of the second.
Only then did he release his breath and step back, chest rising and falling but not exhausted.
Standing before the towering stack—nearly twice his own height—Podrick couldn't help the grin spreading across his face.
"Transcendent Strength is insane."
"Just one point… just one point between 9 and 10—yet the difference is like heaven and earth."
A crate nearly a meter tall, just as wide, and well over a meter in length—stuffed full of iron—should have been impossible for a twelve-year-old boy to lift, let alone carry and stack.
But he had done it.
Easily.
And the frightening part was that he didn't even feel strained. Just… aware he had lifted something heavy.
He didn't dare imagine what his physical capabilities truly were now.
One thing was certain:
With Strength at ten, he should not be capable of such feats.
Not unless the "Transcendent" tag was more monstrous than he'd expected.
He summoned the panel again.
---
[Name: Podrick Payne]
[Age: 12]
[Level: 18 (533 / 1710 EXP)]
[Status: Noble – Squire]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Strength: 10 (Transcendent)]
[Agility: 10 (Transcendent)]
[Constitution: 10 (+2) (Transcendent)]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Perception: 7]
[Charisma: 7 (Special)]
[Luck: 9 (Special)]
[Status: Energetic, Euphoric]
---
"Three attributes at Transcendent…
and they're the three that matter most for combat."
"No wonder the difference is this terrifying."
He blew out a shaky breath.
But what truly made him tremble wasn't the raw numbers.
It was the feats he'd unlocked because of them.
Not the attributes themselves—
—but the monstrous abilities that came after.
"Those feats… those are what make this broken."
He could grow.
He could train.
He could become stronger.
But gaining feats—breaking the human limit—
that was what made him truly deadly.
So now, with only a handful of free points left, he had to plan very, very carefully.
If every breakthrough gave him something so monstrous…
then he needed to maximize every drop of benefit.
And his eyes naturally drifted toward—
Constitution.
With the [Endurance] feat already giving him a passive +20% boost, investing into Constitution was simply too efficient to ignore.
It was the foundation of the body—bones, muscles, organs, stamina, everything.
And he already had an unusually high base of 8.
Without hesitation, Podrick had dumped half of his remaining points into Constitution.
And in an instant, his Constitution reached the fabled threshold—
10 — Transcendent.
What followed hit him like a hammer:
His Constitution wasn't merely Transcendent.
Because of the [Endurance] feat, it effectively surged to an absurd Twelve.
For a moment, Podrick swore he could feel his bones tightening, his muscles hardening, his blood burning.
As though he were being reforged.
As though he were awakening.
As though his mortal shell had been shed and rebuilt anew.
And then—
the new feat had appeared.
A feat so terrifying that he almost yelped aloud in ecstasy.
[Iron Body].
---
[Iron Body]
Your body's density and bone hardness are five times that of a normal human.
You gain immense resistance to magic, curses, and all negative effects.
You are immune to stiffness; your durability is enhanced.
You possess extraordinary defense against blades, blunt weapons, piercing, tearing, crushing, and all other physical harm.
Your bodily structure will continue to refine itself as you grow, approaching perfect optimization.
Your stamina regeneration skyrockets.
You resist fatigue, toxins, disease, and all Constitution-related debuffs.
[— Note: I have an iron body. What part of that is unclear to you?
Do you really need me to rip open my shirt and show you?]
---
"Iron Body… gods, now I actually want a red cape on my shoulders."
Podrick chuckled to himself.
Strength + Constitution, both Transcendent…
At this point, he wasn't comparing himself to ordinary men.
He was approaching the mythical tales of his previous life—
Heroes who could lift mountains, tyrants who could break shields with their bare hands.
He didn't know how close he was to that legendary "Overlord" of the old stories,
but at this pace…
He'd catch up someday.
His grin stretched wider.
"And that's still not all.
Agility also broke the limit—and that feat is just as insane."
Previously, his Agility had been a modest 7.
But with the 1 point gained from leveling up,
plus the 2 remaining free points,
his Agility leapt all the way to 10 — Transcendent.
And the reward for that breakthrough was—
[Flowing Motion].
Podrick's eyes sparkled as he read the description again.
---
[Flowing Motion]
Your movements and reactions have surpassed mortal limits.
You may, within certain conditions, break the barrier between actions.
When one action ends, you may immediately initiate another, regardless of normal restrictions.
This includes—but is not limited to:
• Two consecutive attacks
• Two consecutive spells
• Double evasions
• Other action combinations ordinarily impossible for humans
[— Note: Don't forget to weave autos between your strikes.
Stack those passives.
Then strike again.]