Whenever I tried to get close to him, he swung his sword from side to side. If he could not swing it, he pushed me away. He was toying with me, and it was infuriating. Being weak really was a sin. I needed to become stronger; it was like having a giant standing before me. This was the gap between an adult and a six-year-old child. I stood no chance in a real fight, but he was playing with me and looking down on me.
I tried to attack again, and he pushed me back with his sword. This time, I jumped backward and rolled along the ground, as though his shove had made me lose my balance and fall. As I rolled back up, I threw the sword in my hand. In that instant, he was a little surprised as he deflected my sword. I slipped past his guard and stabbed his leg with the wooden dagger I had made myself. Just as I was about to stab his stomach, I felt his sword against my neck. He had recovered his stance so quickly. All I had gained from that surprise attack was a wound on his leg, while I had nearly lost my head.
He put his sword on the rack, looked at me, and said, "You didn't disappoint me. Well done." He turned to Rodrik and motioned for him to follow.
(Eddard Stark's POV)
"That last move of his was truly surprising. It wasn't a particularly clever move, but he thought of it and pulled it off as a child. He immediately realized I was playing with him and that he stood no chance in strength, endurance, or speed. Usually, a child would get angry at that point and charge in a rage, but he stayed calm throughout the fight. He was both composed and cunning in combat. Nothing like his father. He truly is a monster. We also need to teach him what honor is. He's too shrewd for a child. Without proper guidance, he might go down a dark path."
"Rodrik, from today onward, make sure he works hard and gets better food with meat at every meal. If we're going to raise a master swordsman, we should do our best to feed and teach him. Have him spar with the older boys at least twice a day, too. When the time is right, you'll know when to let him face the youngest squires. If you have the finest steel, you need to hammer it and temper it with the fiercest flames."
"Yes, my lord. I'll see to it at once."
If we raised this child well, he might become the sword of the North.
(Protagonist's POV)
It had been a difficult fight, but I felt as though I had almost grasped something. The feeling I had gained from that fight was marvelous. I could feel the 5x Experience Skill working, as though I had fought the lord five times in a row. If we fought again, I might do a little better.
"Aermir, come here." I ran over to Ser Rodrik.
"From now on, you won't train with Robb and Jon. I'll train you at other times instead. You can rest today. Starting tomorrow, we'll train for four hours after breakfast and another four after lunch."
That meant I needed to get up earlier so I could train my magic.
"Boy, why aren't you answering?" He smacked the back of my head.
"Yes, Ser Rodrik."
I returned to my room and began training my magic. My basic elemental magic was improving every month. I had discovered that I could use six elements. Ranked from weakest to strongest, they were: Jelmio (wind)-Iēdar (water)-Jelmāz (lightning)-Perzys (fire)-Suvion (ice)-Tegon (earth), all in the form of ball spells. The wind ball was essentially a light shove, too weak to do anything.
The water ball was six centimeters in diameter, but at least it could distract an enemy or make them recoil. The lightning was actually very dangerous, but I could not aim it. After half a meter, it would fly off in a random direction. The fireball spell had become useful. It still could not kill an enemy, but a hit to the head could frighten, repel, and blind them.
The ice ball was powerful because of the blunt force behind it, but it was much more fragile than the earth ball. The earth ball was currently my strongest spell and the deadliest one I had. Imagine a six-centimeter stone striking any part of the body at tremendous speed. I was trying to increase its lethality by adding spin and giving it a pointed shape.
For now, I could make it oval, but I could not sharpen it or add spin. If I could shape it into a spike, or at least a bullet, and add rapid spin, it would become one of the most powerful single-target spells.
As for the other aspects of being a druid, such as herbalism, rituals, and spells, I did not know them yet.
I could count as a beginner or mediocre herbalist, since I had worked for an herbalist for four years in college to support myself.
I knew several hundred herbs and their effects, but I did not know whether the herbs I knew existed in this world or what they were called.
I had two hypotheses about ritual magic:
The first was that I needed to create rituals myself while continuing to learn this magical language.
The second was that, like the language, ritual magic would appear naturally in my mind once I was strong enough.
As for contracting a spirit beast, I knew I simply needed more mana. I could feel my bond with Blue drawing ever closer. I had named the little bird I bought Blue. Yes, I knew it was not a creative name. So what? I liked it.
After training my magic for a few hours, I tried to understand the Infinite Training Skill, but I could not seem to make it work.
I thought it would start working once I obtained a spirit beast, since that mysterious being had said that both my spirit beast and I could train inside it.
I really did not understand this skill, and I had also thought of two more applications for the Identification Skill.
To assign numerical values to my strength and speed, I only needed to set my own speed and strength to 1, then find people faster or slower than me and identify their attributes.
If I witnessed their speed or felt their strength, the Identification Skill could automatically calculate their values.
Of course, it was not completely reliable, because the speed and strength I saw or felt were only what my opponent allowed me to see or feel.
For example, if an enemy had five times my strength but only used twice my strength, I would only know that the enemy had twice my strength. I would not know they had five times my strength until they used it. All this made me realize something about the Identification Skill: it was far more powerful than I had first thought.
I had learned all those mathematical and physical calculations and methods in high school and college, but I only vaguely remembered them. I had that knowledge, but I had forgotten half of it. That meant that as long as I had learned and understood it back then, I did not need to retain that knowledge for the skill to work.
When I entered the kitchen, I saw the staff preparing dinner. They were preparing a deer. Hunting in the lord's forest without his permission was forbidden. People tended to avoid poaching so they would not lose a hand for it.
I climbed onto my stool and sat down. I could sit on it by myself now. Bris saw me and brought over my food.
"Hello, dear. I really don't understand why you want to become a knight so badly. Couldn't you choose a less dangerous job?"
"I want to become strong so I can protect everyone." When I finished speaking, she began to smile and handed me my food, saying, "Heaven must be very pleased with you, letting you have meat at every meal from now on."
It was a plate of venison stew with carrots and vegetables resembling yams. It tasted good, the best food I had eaten here. I polished it off immediately, but I still wanted some potatoes. Yes, there were no potatoes or rice here.
This month of training had been a nightmare, but I was beginning to get used to it.
Two hours of strength training. After that, two hours of sword swings, followed by two hours of rest. During that time, I needed to rest and eat lunch, and then came the interesting part: sparring.
During afternoon training, I trained with the older children. They were usually two or three years older than me. I won some and lost some, but I was improving. Now I had managed to defeat someone I had previously lost to.
I felt I could not keep going like this. Not because it was difficult, but because it was not very useful to me.
I needed time to train my magic, and I wanted to learn smithing. I had always watched forging shows on television and wanted to try it, but I had never had the time. I also wanted to learn archery. Rodrik had taught me archery, but only occasionally.
As I grew older, I needed more free time. So, after that afternoon's training, I went to see him.
"Ser Rodrik, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead, boy."
"Ser, could I train a little less?"
"Why? Is it too hard?"
"No, but I want to do other things, learn and understand lots of things, so I need time for them."
"What do you want to learn?"
"Well, archery, smithing, hunting, reading, writing, and lots of other things."
"Ha ha, you want a great many things, but isn't it better to master one thing than to know a little about everything?"
"For ordinary people, yes. But you know I'm not ordinary. After seeing all the other children older than me, I know I'm different."
"You have a point, but my lord ordered me to train you properly. We need his permission."
"But I don't want to train with a sword all day."
He grew serious and said, "Lad, don't forget who you are or who you're speaking to. We may give you some leeway, but don't be arrogant."
The next day, I saw the lord inspecting the grounds, so I ran over and bowed to him.
"Ah, little Aermir, how are you, my child? How is your training going?"
"Very well, my lord. I've been working very hard at swordsmanship. Ser Rodrik can attest to that." Ser Rodrik nodded approvingly.
"My lord, if you would permit it, I would like more freedom over how I spend my time."
At that, he looked very disappointed and a little sad.
"Didn't you once beg me for a chance to become a knight? Do you want to become a knight while slacking off?"
"No, my lord. I'm not asking for time to slack off. I'm asking for time to learn and train in other things."
"What other things?"
"Things like archery, smithing, hunting, reading, and writing, my lord."
He looked surprised and stared straight into my eyes before saying, "I agree, but on one condition. You must not neglect your sword training. Rodrik will keep a close watch on your progress. If your swordsmanship slips, I'll forbid you from doing any of those things."
"Yes, thank you, my lord." Having received the answer I wanted, I bowed, thanked him again, and ran off.
Rodrik turned to the lord and asked, "Are we spoiling the child by letting him have his way like this, my lord?"
"He may be a child, but most of the time, he doesn't act like one. More importantly, he can look me in the eye without any fear."
Rodrik asked in confusion, "My lord?"
"You know my sons don't dare look me straight in the eye, yet he can. He has no fear of adults at all. Have you ever heard him complain or grumble about anything childish?"
"Now that you mention it, no, my lord. He never does those things."
"Exactly; if we restrain him, he won't mind running off to do what he wants. That's how fearless he is. You can't hold a bird too tightly, or you'll smother it. You need to hold it just right, so it feels comfortable and safe. Then, when the time comes and you open your hand, it won't fly away."