Bow and sword

Gary had only just arrived and did not know who this white-haired man was.

"Yes, sir."

Seeing that Gary seemed nervous, the white-haired man smiled. "It's all right. Injuries are normal during sparring. You don't need to worry so much."

Gary breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought the white-haired man meant to stand up for Theon. Fortunately, he had been worrying over nothing. "Sir, did you need something from me?"

Just then, Robb and Snow came over as well.

His face full of delighted surprise, Robb clapped Gary on the back and laughed. "Luke, you're so strong! I have a feeling you're going to achieve extraordinary things!"

Then he introduced the man to Gary. "Oh, right. This is Ser Rodrik Cassel. He's Winterfell's master-at-arms, mainly responsible for training recruits. He teaches us in his spare time, too."

Winterfell's master-at-arms?

Gary could not help searching his memories. Was there someone like that in the show? Hmm, I really can't remember such a minor character.

Rodrik Cassel stepped forward and squeezed Gary's arm, astonished. "Such slender arms, yet so much explosive strength? Were you born with it?"

It came later. This is the result of absorbing the White Walkers' energy.

Unfortunately, he could not tell that truth. Gary feigned shyness and lied. "Yes, I've always been very strong."

"That's a good thing. That gift could give you a limitless future." Rodrik Cassel was tremendously excited, as though he had discovered a piece of the finest uncut jade.

Robb grew interested as well and asked, "Luke, what other special skills do you have?"

Gary considered for a moment before saying, "When I lived with the Wildling tribe Beyond the Wall, I was an outcast. I had no friends or teachers. But I did teach myself archery over a few years of hunting."

Robb reassured him, "It's all right. With Ser Kesso teaching you from now on, it's not too late for anything."

Rodrik Cassel took a wooden bow and an arrow from the nearby weapons rack and tossed both to Gary. "Show me."

Gary caught the bow and arrow, drew the empty bow a few times, then nodded in satisfaction.

This bow has a decent draw weight. Just what I'd expect of Winterfell's military equipment.

He looked at the wooden targets on the other side of the training yard and asked awkwardly, "Ser Kesso, do you want me to shoot a target?"

Rodrik Cassel frowned. "What's wrong? Is it too hard?"

"No," Gary said seriously. "It's too close. Too easy."

The wooden board was only eight or nine meters away. Hitting the bull's-eye would not be difficult at all.

Rodrik Cassel stroked his beard. The training yard was used to train recruits, so naturally there were no particularly challenging wooden targets.

He looked around, then pointed to a stone direwolf in the distance. "That direwolf statue is at least thirty meters away, and its mouth is only a narrow slit. Are you confident you can hit it?"

It's only a stationary target. What's difficult about that?

Gary did not answer. He simply nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and aimed at the distant statue's mouth.

Whoosh.

The arrow shot from the wooden bow and flew straight toward the distant direwolf statue, striking squarely inside its mouth.

Rodrik Cassel's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. "Good, very good."

Snow and Robb were surprised as well.

"Luke, your archery is almost as good as Theon's!"

"No, Theon has Ser Kesso teaching him, but Luke taught himself. He's much better than Theon."

Gary scratched his head sheepishly. "When I hunted in the forest, most of my targets were moving. Stationary targets like this are too easy for me."

Rodrik Cassel picked up a fragment of a wooden shield and hurled it into the air. "Then try this!"

Snow hurriedly took another arrow from the quiver beside the weapons rack and tossed it to Gary.

Gary understood and nocked the arrow, drawing the bow again.

Crack!

The arrow pierced the moving piece of wood, and both fell to the ground.

Rodrik Cassel could not help praising him loudly. "Good! Well done! You're more gifted than Theon. But hunting and warfare are fundamentally different. If you want to become a proper master archer, you still have much to learn. You started too late and badly need a good teacher's guidance. I'll find a chance to speak with the lord and find you a good teacher."

"Ser Kesso, apart from my father, who in Winterfell is better at archery than you?" Robb asked incredulously.

Rodrik Cassel gave a few dry coughs to hide his embarrassment. "No one within the castle, naturally, but outside Winterfell, that isn't necessarily the case. Across the North, there are many people better at archery than I am."

Delighted, Gary immediately bowed to Rodrik Cassel in thanks. "Thank you, Ser Kesso."

Rodrik Cassel had great hopes for Gary's future and spoke with absolute confidence. "With your talent, you'll certainly make a name for yourself in the North."

For the rest of that afternoon, Rodrik Cassel intended to teach them new sword techniques.

In practice, however, he spent most of his time teaching Gary alone. Gary was a complete novice at swordsmanship; even his grip needed correcting.

The other two had already been learning swordsmanship for almost two years. Tactfully, they went to the other side of the training yard to spar, leaving this rare opportunity for "private instruction" to Gary.

Soon, the sun sank in the west, and it was time for dinner again.

Since Eddard had left the castle and had not yet returned, his wife, Catelyn, was the only one present at the dining table on the first floor of the Main Castle.

Under her hostile gaze, the bastard Snow did not dare sit at the table. He obediently picked up his dinner and went back to his room to eat.

As Snow's roommate, Gary naturally stuck with him. He took his dinner back to their room as well.

"Snow, the lady seems to really dislike you. Is it because you're the lord's bastard?"

"Yes."

Snow's expression dimmed a little. He felt deeply inferior because of his status as a "bastard."

Gary could not understand it at all and complained, "It's been seven years, and she still hasn't let it go? That's seriously petty."

He knew the truth of Snow's birth. Snow was not Eddard's bastard, but his younger sister's son.

But he could not tell Snow the truth, because at this point in time, King Robert was still alive. If Snow's parentage got out, he would certainly die. Not even Eddard could protect him.

"Luke, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

Snow swallowed his last bite of food and suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

Gary actually considered it seriously for a few seconds. "Me? I'll probably travel around the world. Be a free-roaming adventurer?"

Although the Three-Eyed Crow had once recreated the sights of places across Westeros for him in dreams, those had ultimately been dreams, not reality. Gary still wanted to see the real thing for himself.

"You don't plan to stay in Winterfell?" Snow was a little surprised. "You're better off than I am. The lady doesn't dislike you, so you can stay in Winterfell. Only by staying here, with House Stark supporting you, can you have a good future."

Who says that old woman doesn't dislike me? Didn't you see her stare at me right after she looked at you? She practically rolled her eyes into the sky.

Besides, you're only seven, aren't you? Is such a heavy topic appropriate? You're really precocious.

Gary gave no definite answer, merely smiling. "What about you, Snow? From the sound of it, you're going to leave Winterfell someday?"

Snow already had an answer in his heart. "I want to go to the Wall and join the Night's Watch with Uncle Benjen."

So it really is that...

Gary sighed inwardly and asked, "Why? The conditions there are harsh. It's not a good place to go."

"I'm not afraid of hardship." Snow shook his head, his eyes shining with longing. "Uncle Benjen told me the Night's Watch doesn't care about your birth. Only your ability."

Gary frowned deeply. It seemed he had still underestimated the weight of the word "bastard." Was the main reason the protagonist Snow insisted on going to the Wall ultimately his status?

But you're too naive, kid.

Even if you join the Night's Watch, you'll still be House Stark's bastard in everyone's eyes. Nothing will change. As long as your name is Jon Snow, you'll always be a bastard.

Still, Snow would have opportunities of his own after joining the Night's Watch.

As his friend, Gary did not intend to interfere. "Then give it a try. If you stay in Winterfell, you'll never become its lord. But at Castle Black, perhaps you really could become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."

Snow blushed shyly. "Luke, you're exaggerating. Lord Commander of the Night's Watch? How could I... possibly do that? My biggest dream is to become First Ranger, like Uncle Benjen."

First Ranger-that's Castle Black's second-in-command. Not bad. You're quite ambitious.

Gary smiled without saying anything and affectionately patted his head.

Snow looked up in confusion. "Luke, why do you like patting my head so much?"

"Because it feels nice," Gary said with a smile.

"Does it?" Snow raised a hand and pinched his own hair. "Doesn't all hair feel like this? What's so nice about it?"

Silly boy. It doesn't feel nice on my hand. It feels nice in my heart.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked outside the door. "Luke, Snow, are you asleep?"

Snow recognized the visitor's voice. "It's Robb. Why has he come?"

He rose from his seat, opened the door, and let Robb inside.

The moment Robb entered, he told Gary excitedly, "Luke, Father agreed! He's going to hire an excellent archery teacher for you."

Gary raised an eyebrow. That fast? "Robb, are you sure?"

"Of course. I heard it all." Robb sat on Snow's bed and grinned teasingly. "But I never expected someone so gifted at archery to be so hopeless at swordsmanship."

Gary admitted it. Ser Kesso had worked hard teaching him all afternoon, yet had only managed to teach him a few moves.

"Robb, I keep feeling that a one-handed sword is too light. You know how strong I am. A one-handed sword might not suit me."

He thought of his other self in another time and space. Hadn't that King of the White Walkers wielded a two-handed greatsword?

Robb and Snow understood what Gary meant. "You want to learn to use a two-handed sword?"

Snow deliberately glanced at Robb, then told Gary, "Luke, two-handed swords aren't as simple as you think."

The difference between a one-handed sword and a two-handed sword was not merely an extra hand on the hilt. They belonged to two entirely different schools of swordsmanship, with vastly different methods of attack.

Compared with the extremely widespread one-handed sword, a two-handed sword not only demanded exceptional physical ability but also cost several times as much. Few commoners or minor nobles were willing to learn to use such a relatively uncommon weapon.

Teachers of this kind were exceedingly rare. Even money would not necessarily secure one.

"All right, I'll teach you." Having heard Gary's "wish," Robb decided to grant it.

"You'll teach me?" Gary froze.

Snow explained, "House Stark has an ancestral greatsword forged from Valyrian steel-Ice. It belongs to the Lord of Winterfell. Robb... will be its future owner, so Father privately teaches him House Stark's two-handed sword techniques."