The Founder

Maelor died in a hospital bed and woke up staring at a character creation screen. Blood of Old Valyria? Sure. Strong, smart, good-looking, a perfect memory of every A Song of Ice and Fire book he'd ever read? Why not. None of it seemed to cost anything. Then he hit confirm, and the system told him what he'd actually paid for: a starting point on the shores of Valyria, where the Doom is still burning four hundred years later. He's thirteen, alone, and the only thing he has going for him is the Founder's System. It wants one thing from him: to build a house. It'll help him do it. It just doesn't care how much it hurts along the way. Before long, he's in chains on a slaver galley, headed for the fighting pits of Meereen. He grows into a giant there, makes friends, makes enemies, and learns the hard way what it takes to stay alive when fifty thousand people paid to watch you die. Getting out of Meereen is only the beginning. Ahead are the Red Waste, Qarth, Yi Ti, and Leng. Behind him, in Pentos, three Targaryen exiles are waiting for a war that's coming whether they're ready or not. Expect: a system that hands out knowledge and rare boons, slow-burn progression, a found-family mercenary company, politics, pit fights and battles, far-east exploration, and eventually dragons. Romance is part of the story once the Maelor is older. I have completed volume one, and I am well on my way to completing volume two.