(Male protagonist's POV)
Everyone was preparing to head to the Wolfswood. I went to the lord's solar to speak with Lord Stark and Ser Rodrik.
"My lord, I came to discuss something with you."
"Go ahead, Aermir. What is it?"
"My lord, I ask that you not tell the knights about my ravens."
"Why? If they don't know, you'll have a huge advantage."
"My lord, anyone I encounter outside won't know about my ravens. If you saw a raven on a branch or in the sky, would you turn to look at it again? No one would notice."
"Hmm, all right, you're right. We won't tell them. But we need to level the playing field a little. You'll get fewer arrows, then, and you'll need to make them count."
"Yes, my lord."
"I'd like to see these famous ravens. Can you take me to see them?"
"If we open the balcony door, I can whistle them in."
I opened the balcony door and whistled. A few seconds later, two ravens flew in through the doorway and landed on my shoulders.
"Didn't your ravens have white feathers on their foreheads and wings?" Ser Rodrik asked.
"Yes, they used to, but those feathers all fell out as they grew." Of course, these two ravens weren't Bo and Erebus. If Ser Rodrik saw their current size, he would certainly mistake them for monsters.
The last time the people of Winterfell had seen them, they had been seventy or eighty centimeters in size. These two ravens were sixty or seventy centimeters. Ser Rodrik couldn't really tell the difference, since he hadn't been very interested in my ravens. These two were the largest ravens I could find in Bo and Erebus's murder.
Lord Stark walked toward me.
"I daresay these are the largest ravens I've ever seen. One could say you're far better than Maester Luwin at training and raising ravens."
The next day, Lord Stark, Ser Rodrik, many other knights, and I headed to the Wolfswood.
Ser Rodrik approached me and said,
"As you wished, twenty young knights will enter the forest after you and try to ambush you. The lord and I will follow them at a short distance to observe." Then he turned and began inspecting the weapons we would use.
"I don't want anyone seriously injured. This is a mock battle. Some of you may get hurt, and accidents may happen, but be careful. If you break anything, I'll kill you." All the knights began laughing, and then he continued.
"You'll all use blunted steel swords and arrows wrapped with strips of cloth, so be careful, and show this brat that he still has a long way to go before he can measure up to you."
All the knights raised their swords and cheered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
He turned to me and said,
"As for you, you'll get twenty-five arrows. What do you want for close combat?"
"I don't think I'll need anything for close combat, but better safe than sorry. I'll take a sword and a dagger."
"You can go in when you're ready. Once the sand runs out, they'll come looking for you."
The hourglass in his hand wasn't large; I thought it would last about five minutes. I began running toward the forest at full speed. Once I was a little farther from them, I used Volhen Keli (Aspect of the Cat) and İnanis Motu (Pass Without Trace). I didn't need a strength buff yet, but I needed to move quickly without leaving tracks.
After running for about five minutes, I crouched behind a clump of tall grass. Winter was beginning now, and the forest was bitterly cold, but there wasn't much snow on the ground, since the snowy season hadn't arrived yet. I could clearly see the vapor that formed with every breath I took.
"Promodynes (Find Animal), humans."
As soon as I cast the spell, I could clearly sense the positions of everyone moving toward me and their distance from me. Thanks to Pass Without Trace, they wouldn't find any trace of me. They were all blindly advancing in one large group.
Ser Rodrik thought I had underestimated the knights, but I was the one being underestimated. There was no other explanation for approaching me in such an absurd formation. They were all laboring under a huge misunderstanding: they weren't the hunters here. I was the real hunter, and I had twenty rabbits to hunt.
As my level increased, the Promodynes (Find Animal) spell grew stronger too. Now I could sense animals within three kilometers, and the effect could last an hour.
I worked out a little plan in my head, then began circling around their left flank. There were about a hundred meters between us. At that distance in the forest, none of them could see me, but thanks to my enhanced eyesight, I could see them as though they were right beside me.
"Aspect of the Ox, volhen gryves (Aspect of the Bear), Eludo Jelmio (Warding Wind)." Once I had all my buffs, I began approaching them.
With ordinary arrows, I could hit them from seventy to eighty meters away, but the cloth-tipped arrows cut my range almost in half.
Before leveling up, I would have needed to get within thirty to forty meters, but thanks to my level increase, my elemental control had improved. Now I could use the wind element to increase my arrows' range. I still couldn't infuse my arrows with mana, but I could add some range by creating a wind tunnel in front of me.
This wind control had two drawbacks. First, it lasted too briefly, only a few minutes; second, I could only use it while standing still. For two mana points, I could gain nearly twenty meters of extra range. I thought it was worth it.
I moved within sixty meters, drew three arrows from my quiver, and fired them one after another. Two hit their targets, but the last one missed.
"He's on the right! Two down! I need help!"
The knights began issuing orders to one another and started surrounding me. Of course, I wouldn't let them succeed. I immediately began running away as hard as I could. They tried to follow me, but the distance between us kept growing.
One of the biggest reasons they couldn't catch me was the plants and roots on the ground. They tripped over them, but I didn't. When I approached a root, it buried itself in the soil. When I approached tall grass, it parted to open a path for me. I loved being a Druid. After ten minutes of pursuit, they grew tired and stopped chasing me.
Of course, I wouldn't let them rest easy. As they tried to catch their breath, I circled around their flank again.
(Tom Hall's (knight) POV)
"How is he so fast? He runs as fast as a rabbit. If I catch that brat, I'll teach him a lesson."
"Shut up and rest. We need to chase him so the others can flank him and keep him too busy to cope."
"Come on, he just got lucky. We'll catch him next time." Why were they underestimating him so much? If this were a real battle, he would certainly have killed two of us quickly and effortlessly. If I hadn't tripped, that last arrow would definitely have hit me.
I stood up and said,
"Why are you underestimating him so much? My cousin is Winterfell's best scout and tracker. Ser Rodrik once sent him to track Aermir and keep him safe, but he lost Aermir's trail as soon as they stepped into the forest. Does that sound familiar to you? We're not the hunters, you idiots! We're the prey, and he's hunting us. We have to start taking this seriously, or we'll lose to a ten-year-old child!"
"Brother, why so serious? Relax, we'll catch him." The moment he finished speaking, an arrow struck his forehead.
"Owww! Damn it!"
This time, I wasn't lucky either. An arrow hit me in the chest too. He was going to eat us all for a snack.