Practice

Arya angrily kicked the wooden door. "Sansa was saying bad things about you. I don't want to talk to her anymore."

Sansa was saying bad things about me?

Gary affectionately picked Arya up. "Arya, what did Sansa say to you?"

Arya shook her head. "She wasn't talking to me. She was talking to Mother. She said you were dangerous and told Mother to drive you out of Winterfell."

Gary's gaze darkened, and he asked gravely, "What did Lady Stark say?"

Arya thought back for a moment before answering, "Before Mother could say anything, I started arguing with Sansa. You're so much fun. How could we drive you away? Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."

I'm that much fun?

Gary looked down at the little girl in his arms. "Arya, aren't you afraid of me?"

Arya asked in confusion, "Robb and Snow aren't afraid of you. Why should I be?"

"Haven't you heard? I broke Theon's arm, and yesterday, right in front of you..." Gary paused and pinched Arya's little cheek. "You're really not afraid?"

"No. Snow said you would protect me." Arya tilted her little head. "Won't you?"

Gary smiled. "You're so adorable. Of course I'll protect you."

Arya Stark was his fourth-favorite character in the show. Over the years he had followed it, he had practically watched her grow up.

"Mm." Arya nodded as though it went without saying. "Then come out and play with me."

Gary raised his left hand. "Look, my hand is injured. I need to stay in my room and recover. Go play on your own. I'll come with you once it's healed."

Arya squeezed Gary's leather glove. "You're hurt too? Did Theon get revenge? Hmph, I'll go get him back for you!"

She wriggled out of Gary's arms and went downstairs in high spirits.

With a rueful smile, Gary shut the door and returned to his room. He wrapped Dark Sister in animal hide again and hung it at his waist alongside his coin pouch.

After what had happened with Theon, he now carried both items with him even when he had no use for them.

He considered for a while, then went downstairs to borrow a wooden bucket from the kitchen. After filling it with water, he carried it back to his room.

Gary planned to spend the time ahead practicing his control over mana. He removed his glove and placed his index finger in the water.

"The goal is to form a layer of ice just one centimeter thick."

A wisp of mana slowly seeped from his fingertip...

Clink.

The entire bucket of water instantly froze solid, leaving not a single drop of liquid.

Scowling, Gary threw the ice out the window. He hurried downstairs with the empty bucket and brought up another fresh bucket of water.

"Failure is nothing to be afraid of. Again."

After dinner, Snow returned to the room.

"Luke, something really strange happened today. There was a lot of ice floating in the moat. It's summer. Where did all that ice come from?"

Snow sat on the edge of his bed, looking at Gary in utter puzzlement.

Gary lay weakly on his bed, his left hand trembling nonstop. Unwilling to discuss the subject, he asked about Snow instead. "How did training go today?"

Snow flopped onto his bed and swung his short legs. "Arya came looking for us not long after you left at noon. She kept making a fuss, so we had no time to practice at all. Speaking of which, that little thing really seems to hate Theon. She kept throwing pebbles at him..."

Gary: "..."

"Wait, Luke! Was all that ice down there from you practicing magic?" Snow finally made the connection and shouted as he sat up.

Gary rolled his eyes and said feebly, "Keep your voice down. Didn't I tell you to keep it a secret?"

Snow lowered his voice. "Luke, no one else saw you, did they?"

Gary glanced at the open door and complained, "What good does just lowering your voice do? Shut the door first!"

"Oh, right."

Snow ran to the doorway and pulled on the edge of the wooden door...

Crack!

He stared blankly at the half-plank in his hand. "Luke, I think the door's broken."

The wooden door had relied on two iron strips, one at the top and one at the bottom, to hold its structure together. Now the top strip was gone, and the wooden planks had deteriorated with age.

When Snow pulled on the plank at the edge, he snapped it off.

Gary held back his laughter and answered with feigned seriousness, "I can see that. We'll find someone to fix it tomorrow."

Snow returned to his bed in embarrassment. "Then shall we talk about something else?"

"Let's sleep. I'm exhausted." Gary felt that he had overdrawn his mental energy, and his head hurt badly. His body was utterly exhausted too, and his eyelids were heavy.

"All right."

As the stars wheeled overhead, a month quietly slipped by.

Gary practiced Archery every morning and mana control every afternoon during that time.

Though he had made some progress, he still needed to work hard.

He also occasionally strolled around Winterfell with Robb, Snow, and the others. Life was fairly pleasant.

Sansa remained the same, always avoiding him and having no contact with him. Only young Arya came to see him from time to time, chatting and fishing with him.

Today was the day their teacher Lari left Winterfell.

Gary, Snow, Robb, and Theon arrived early at Winterfell's southern gate to see their teacher Lari off.

"Children, every one of you has considerable talent. Your future achievements will surely surpass mine. If you have the chance someday, come find me in Karhold. All right, there's no need to see me any farther."

Lari mounted his horse, waved goodbye to Gary and the others, and rode away.

"Goodbye, teacher!"

After seeing Lari off, the children returned to the Training Yard together.

They had practiced archery for a month, which also meant they had gone a month without practicing swordsmanship.

To shake off the rust, Robb and Theon picked up wooden swords and began sparring.

Gary knew nothing about swordsmanship, so Snow had to demonstrate each move for him.

In terms of one-handed swordsmanship alone, Snow was the best of the four. Robb's advantage lay in practicing everything and being able to do it all.

As for Theon, he had previously been the best at Archery, but now that the exceptionally gifted Gary was here, he could only settle for second place.

"Luke! Come on! Let's go fishing outside the walls!"

Outside the Training Yard, Arya waved as she bounced up and down.

Snow confiscated Gary's wooden sword and said, "Go on. You can practice some Archery outside the walls. That's better than wasting time here."

Gary's face darkened. You little brat. So practicing swordsmanship is a waste of my time?

"Hurry up, Luke! Come here!" Arya urged.

Gary glared at Snow, then walked helplessly toward Arya. He was still grateful to her. If she had not stood up for him, he probably would have been sent to live with someone outside the walls long ago.

When Sansa had complained about him, Lady Catelyn had indeed been tempted. As the eldest son, Robb had no way to defy his mother and could only turn to his father for help.

Who would have thought Eddard would choose to remain neutral? He did not want to fall out with his wife over Gary either.

Thankfully, Arya had come through, refusing to eat to protect Gary. Only then had Lady Catelyn abandoned the idea.

That was why Gary doted on the little girl, often going out to hunt some game and preparing special meals just for her. Or he would play with her and secretly teach her Archery.

Originally, he had only meant to repay her kindness. He had never expected Arya to grow increasingly attached to him. Meanwhile, her relationship with her older sister Sansa deteriorated further.