Starting with Upgrading Traits

The strings of characters before his eyes were precisely what gave Jon the confidence to head south.

Different colors represented different qualities.

At present, the best was the blue Swordsmanship trait.

When Jon was little, he had practically clutched a sword all day before he could even walk properly.

On top of that, he had worshipped the "Young Dragon" since childhood—a Targaryen king who had achieved great deeds at a young age—so he had trained diligently in Swordsmanship.

At only fifteen, his Swordsmanship had already reached blue quality, with even a distinct hint of purple within it.

By Jon's estimation, purple-level Swordsmanship was roughly equivalent to that of a first-rate swordsman.

But he did not intend to use such a precious upgrade opportunity on Swordsmanship.

Not to mention that he could quickly turn it purple through his own efforts; wasting an upgrade on it would be a terrible loss.

Even a first-rate swordsman could hardly face more than a dozen enemies at once.

Especially when he was not even wearing armor.

Unless he was that legendary swordsman, the Sword of the Morning.

Archery was even less viable. He had not brought a bow or arrows when he left the Wall.

Besides, he could not possibly shoot his former companions with a bow.

As for Skinchanging, it meant Jon could transfer his consciousness into Ghost's body, but he would be completely unable to move during the process.

So that would not work either.

After thinking it over, there was only one option—[Gods' Eye].

Simply put, it was a map cheat.

The difference was that Jon could not only "see" the surrounding terrain and the distribution of friend and foe.

If they were close enough, he could also grasp some information about his enemies.

His mind would naturally formulate the most suitable strategy as well.

For now, Jon could only "obtain" information about things within two or three hundred meters, as far as his eyes could see.

But Jon knew that once he upgraded it, he would be able to assess the situation more accurately and across a wider range.

Although his location had most likely already been pinpointed, the encirclement had yet to take shape.

He could still find a weak point and break through.

He did not hesitate for long before upgrading the trait directly.

The next second, a description related to Gods' Eye appeared before him.

[Gods' Eye—Soldiers need only charge toward their lord's banner, but officers must analyze the clash between enemy and allied formations. A true commander, however, holds the land beneath his feet within his breast.

If he could look down upon the earth like the gods, then with an army in his hand, there would be little difference between him and a god.]

Very soon, the pale green trait turned a deep, seawater blue.

Jon felt the changes brought by the upgraded trait with delight.

It felt as though there were a radar in his head. As he looked around, the terrain within roughly a kilometer became crystal clear to him.

He could even sense approximately how many people were in each direction!

"This is only blue. If it were purple, I should be able to sense a much wider area, and with far greater precision."

Jon could not help wondering, What if its level keeps rising?

Combined with the cheat's description of the trait, would it not be like having the entire map revealed?

On the battlefield, he could keenly sense the enemy's weak points and seize the right moment.

If that day truly came, he would definitely become a renowned general of Westeros.

Defeating many with few would become commonplace.

But now was not the time to think about such things. Finding the right direction and escaping came first.

"Six or seven people to the east, three to five to the north, three to the west... Hm? There seems to be one more person to the southeast. A ranger?"

Jon's expression grew increasingly solemn as he realized this.

As the elite of the Night's Watch, rangers were almost ghostlike figures to the Wildlings Beyond the Wall.

Their personal combat skills were beyond doubt.

What was more, they did not lack food. Their condition was certainly better than Jon's, and they had horses and armor as well.

That man was directly in Jon's path. Charging ahead would be no different from courting death.

Thankfully, Jon knew the Night's Watch well. Otherwise, if someone else had received this cheat, they would have run straight into him and gotten themselves killed.

Since he could not charge directly ahead, he could only take a detour in another direction.

There were too many people to the east. Perhaps they were not particularly strong and would fail to catch him, but the chances of exposing himself would increase greatly.

There were about the same number of people to the west and north, but if he went west, he would likely be driven toward the sea, and the space available for him to maneuver would steadily shrink.

So the only direction he could choose was north.

Breaking out north was equivalent to striking a return blow.

That kind of tactic was difficult to guard against in the first place, and Jon believed his chances were good.

He beckoned, and the snow-white Direwolf came to his side.

"Ghost, I need you to scare their horses from up ahead. Just howl from a distance, then run immediately. Understand?"

Ghost swished his tail, licked Jon's hand with his wet tongue, and headed north.

"Jon—"

"Jon, where are you?!"

"Jon, it's Grenn!"

The careless Grenn shouted loudly, only to be stopped by Pyp beside him.

"Grenn! If you shout like that, do you think Jon will still come our way?!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Pyp was thoughtful and meticulous. Jon had always been the leader of their little group, and he was also of noble birth.

Pyp believed that if Jon truly had nowhere left to turn, he was unlikely to seek their help.

It was all because of his pride, but Pyp had not received much education and did not know how to express his concerns to Grenn.

"Anyway, you can't shout like that. And don't use your own voice!"

"Don't use my own voice?"

Grenn scratched his head in confusion, completely unable to understand what Pyp meant.

"You two!"

Pyp and Grenn turned around and saw the Night's Watch soldier accompanying them glaring at them warningly.

Pyp stopped talking to Grenn and continued searching for Jon.

Just as they were preparing to search farther ahead, someone suddenly ran over and said,

"Quick, follow me! We've found that deserter!"

Grenn and Pyp's hearts tightened, and they hurried after him.

Pyp paused when he realized they were heading north—toward where Alliser was!

A quarter of an hour earlier, Alliser had been searching from north to south for Jon's trail.

Then he suddenly heard a wolf's howl. After listening closely, he recognized it as the cry of a Direwolf!

And everyone knew that Jon had a Direwolf with snow-white fur.

In private, he had thought about skinning Ghost and making himself a fur coat.

Alliser immediately ordered his men to chase in the direction of the howl.

But a wolf's speed through the forest was not something warhorses could match, and it quickly vanished without a trace.

"You damned beast! Sooner or later, I'll skin you alive!"

Alliser watched the white phantom disappear among the trees. He rode beneath a large tree, only to soon spot that white figure bounding through the forest again.

The white Direwolf even struck a provocative pose, scratching himself right in front of Alliser.

This only made Alliser burn with even greater fury.

As he approached Ghost, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

Just as he moved toward Ghost, he suddenly felt something crash down from above, knocking him straight from his horse.

By the time he reacted, both his arms had already been bound behind his back.

Alliser panted heavily and twisted his head around. When he saw who had attacked him, he snarled furiously,

"Jon! You little bastard! Maester Aemon has already written to Winterfell. Even if you go back, there's only death waiting for you!"