After putting some distance between ourselves and the town, we stopped in a patch of woods.
"Everyone, wait here for me, away from people. Try not to attract anyone's attention. I'll come find you after dawn. Until then, while I'm gone, everyone has to listen to Bo. She has the final say. Does everyone understand?"
I made it back to town without trouble, and when I entered my room, I thought about changing back into myself. Once again, I temporarily lost my sense of touch, but it returned after the transformation was complete. Did this happen because transforming was a painful process?
All my bones and muscles were changing shape, so that made sense. Then I discovered something surprising: I wasn't naked after turning back into a human. My clothes were on me, completely intact. This was amazing; I wondered where my clothes went when I transformed.
I decided to rest for a few more hours until dawn, then fell asleep. As soon as I woke up, I went to Ser Rodrik's house and waited at his door. Half an hour later, Ser Rodrik came out and saw me.
"What happened? Did you see me in a dream? What are you doing here at the crack of dawn?"
"Ser, I'd like to go camping again."
"No!"
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I began repeating silently in my head, Don't be an edgelord, don't be an edgelord. This isn't a webnovel. There's no need for face-slapping. Stay calm. Don't throw a tantrum like a child. If I act irresponsible and immature, he'll treat me like a child.
"Ser, dealing with so many bandits must have proved this: I'm not like other children. There's only one place where I feel free and relaxed, and that's out camping and hunting in the forest. If I thought for even a second that I was in danger, I wouldn't get involved, and no bandit gang could ambush me."
"Why couldn't they ambush you?"
"Thanks to Bo and Erebus. I've trained them as scouts. When I go out, they always circle around me. When they see people, they come to my shoulders and show me which direction they're in. They're how I found those bandits last time."
"How can you teach animals to do so many things?"
"I don't know either. I have a talent for this sort of thing. It's very challenging, and it took me three years to teach it, but I did it."
"May I go now, Ser?"
He put one hand on his neck and the other on his sword hilt, scratching his neck as he began to think.
"All right, you can go, but only for a week."
After getting his permission, I immediately left the castle to meet my familiars. As I approached, they came out of the woods.
It would take us two days to reach the weirwood in the Wolfswood, and it would take me two days to return. Four of my seven days would be wasted. I had to find a way to shorten the journey, but how? One of the biggest reasons the journey took so long was the horse.
Even if I wanted to keep going, I had to take breaks because the horse needed rest. Horses in Westeros could travel about 55 to 65 kilometers (34 to 40 miles) a day. I didn't think horses on Earth could run that long. But I needed them to run faster or longer, or I needed something with better speed or endurance.
At that thought, it was as if lightning had struck my head.
"I'm such an idiot. Why didn't I think of this before? I need something with better speed or endurance. Why look for it when I can give something better speed and endurance?" I slapped my head, annoyed at my own stupidity.
I just needed to dominate this horse, then give it speed and endurance buffs. Since a horse's average speed was 30 to 40, a 2.5-times buff would have little effect, but the stamina buff was another matter. With it, I could cover the entire distance and reach the weirwood in twelve hours.
So I took control of the horse, enhanced it with the two buffs, and set off. Of course, I enhanced my familiars too. Covering such a distance in a single day would have been impossible for Bo and Berus. But our "musclehead" could run that far in a day without buffs.
When we reached the Wolfswood, I had to slow down because my running speed through the woods wasn't the same as the horse's. I could use the Traceless Movement spell to open a path through the woods, but that was a little slow compared to the horse's top speed, so I had to slow down. By the time I reached the weirwood, fourteen hours had passed.
We were all tired after the long journey, so I crawled into my hut and slept for a while.
After a short nap, I got to work, using the Formoheba (mold plant) spell to grow a large stand of trees around my hut so Berus would be safe when I returned to town.
I only needed him to stay here for a few months. After that, it wouldn't be so strange for him to have grown this big. I spent four days shaping the trees and building a wall, but I finally finished. I had one more day before I had to return, and I wanted to use it to gain combat experience. It was time to face my fears. I closed my eyes and entered the training space with my familiars.