"Move your legs!" Ser Rodrik shouted.

Jon nimbly ducked under an overhand slash while skipping back to make some space. But Jory, Jon's opponent didn't leave him a chance and immediately sent a flurry of quick strikes while advancing.

Jon kept Jory's body posture as well as leg placement in his field of vision at all times and timely parried two strikes from the right easily, as long as he knew what was coming, he could respond with ample time, but Jory's sword suddenly reversed back after passing him by and the hit was too fast for Jon to respond so he was only able to bring his sword about halfway up and immediately paid for it.

*Wham*

The wooden sword hit the pad on his shoulder and he immediately went down like a pile of loose sand, while losing the grip on his wooden sword.

"Stop!" Ser Rodrik said firmly to Jon when he started to reach toward the fallen sword and moved toward his fallen form.

Jon left the sword and stood up groaning while massaging the new bruise on his body. Ser Rodrik stood looming over him, evaluating his condition, "Do you know your mistake,"

"My footwork," Jon said while taking a deep breath and exhaling all his frustration.

"And what do I always tell you?" Rodrik asked while pressing over the area and making sure that nothing was damaged beyond reason.

"To move my legs," Jon exhaled while looking down, Rodrik had shouted that particular sentence enough times that those words ring inside Jon's head for a long while even after leaving the practice yard.

And it wasn't like Jon didn't want to follow this advice. It's just that he was using all of his concentration to analyze his opponent's posture and using it to predict their next attack.

He was putting all of his brain power into making that calculation an instinct, but that had made it very easy for him to lose focus and, forget the most basic lesson of the yard: Keep Moving.

The only solution to this problem he could see was that he stop doing his Analyze skill, which he wasn't prepared to do as that would make him lose all his progress. So he understood that all he could do about it was persist in it until his mind had gotten used to multitasking and his footwork had become an instinct.

"Exactly Move Your Legs!" Ser Rodrik said sternly before he finished checking Jon, "Alright, you're fine," he gruffly said while gently patting him, "Now get back in there,"

Jon moved to pick up his fallen sword from beside the smug Jory while going over his recent bout inside his head. "And Jon," he turned back toward Ser Rodrick, "Switch your Sword hands,"

Jon nodded silently and took the sword into his left hand before doing a few empty swings to get his mind and body used to the new posture. After warming up, he slowly advanced toward Jory who had moved back to his starting position.

The reason Jon was training with the much older Jory and not with the other young recruits his age where Robb was training was that he already had a very stable foundation in most of the basic forms in which they were training.

And another reason was that whenever he had been placed against them he would easily win, which was not very good for learning. It also didn't help with their confidence or his complacency, or so Lord Stark said.

The most important reason was that there was no one who knew how to duel wield in Winterfell. It was a very rare skill and very few people could ever train in it until they are good enough to use it in battle and survive. So there was no fixed format on how to go about learning it like for the other weapons skills.

The only way Ser Rodrik and Eddard had been able to come up with was for Jon to duel with alternate hands against an opponent until he gets proficient enough to actually dual-wield. And then when he does, they would have him spar against different people and different weapons so that he could come up with a style of his own.

Jon had been quite confident that utilizing both his hands for chores since birth would have made sure that he would have an easy time learning to dual-wield. But unfortunately, he had found out during early lessons that while the strength of both his arms was relatively equal, he still subconsciously considered his right arm to be dominant which made him a weaker opponent while fighting with his left hand.

"Ready to bite dust one more time, Jon," Jory teased good-naturedly.

"I was thinking, maybe it's time for you to taste the ground, it's actually quite delicious," Jon shot back with a grin while trying to keep Jory's whole body in his field of vision.

The second Jon entered Jory's range of motion, he immediately started using his longer reach and faster speed to overwhelm Jon's defense.

It was all Jon could do to dodge and parry, he was still a bit uncomfortable using his left hand to do the maneuvers he was thinking in his mind, so he was having a very hard time defending himself.

The only reason he could last this long was that he moved before Jory most of the time, but Jory had slowly gotten used to Jon's fighting style over their daily spars and had found his weak points. He had started utilizing feints liberally which got Jon quite a few times before he started to recognize them.

Jon was so focused on ducking and trying to find a way to attack Jory instead of perpetually defending, that he forgot the only thing he was supposed to remember.

"Move JON! MOVE!" Rodrik shouted.

"Sorry!" Jon said flustered and immediately tried to move from an awkward position, which turned out to be a mistake as his legs got tangled together *Bam* and he fell very ungracefully.

Jon cursed in a low voice while removing his arms from under him while slowly untangling his legs when he heard a snort, and the second his mind recognized the voice, he groaned and grimaced even further.

When he finally managed to look up, he found Lord Stark standing at the edge of the field looking reproachingly at his side, where Jon's nemesis Lady Catelyn was standing, while hiding her mouth and looking at Jon with mirth in her eyes.

'That's great she's never going to let me live this one down,'

...

Catelyn's been very jealous ever since Jon turned out to be so good in the yard, and because of that every time Jon makes even the smallest of mistakes while training. She exaggerates it while making a funny tale out of it and tells it to Sansa at their meals, usually making Jon into a particularly dull character.

It wasn't like Jon didn't give it back as good as he got. They had quite the prank war going between them. It all started when Sansa was a bit clumsy with a lemon cake and ruined Catelyn's favorite dress. She obviously went to Jon for help in tears and was very scared that her mother will be angry with her, so Jon took a fall for it.

So Catelyn obviously assumed that Jon had done it intentionally and took revenge. Jon woke up the next day to find his shoes missing and when he found them after searching all over Winterfell, they were stuck in horse shit. She didn't need to say that it was her, the smirk on her face was enough for Jon.

Jon got back at her by making her favorite dress disappear and when Catelyn made a big commotion accusing Jon, who immediately presented Eddard Stark as his witness who swore that Jon had been with him all along. In the end, the dress magically reappeared in her room, which made her look stupid. Frost got a small feast as a reward from Jon that night.

Stuff like that kept on happening, sometimes only her portion of food would become incredibly salty, and when she would complain, it would feel like she was whining since every one of us would say that it tasted good. Jon couldn't control his grin throughout the meal which made Catelyn retaliate the very next day.

It had been going like that for quite a while, and at the start, Lord Stark and Robb tried to intervene but when they became the unintentional victim due to picking the wrong side, they ultimately left the two of them alone.

The reason Catelyn had been particularly antsy toward Jon at that moment was due to the incident that happened two weeks. Some time ago she had given birth to Arya, but unlike Sansa, she wasn't a fan of her mother, she would always cry whenever Catelyn carried her and even refused to drink her milk.

Two weeks ago, during a visit from the whole Stark family, to meet the newest wolf, halfway through, Arya suddenly started crying uncontrollably. So Catelyn had gotten really flustered, so they had all taken turns trying to calm her down. At the end of the visit, it was concluded that baby Arya red-haired part of her family and only sleeps soundly when held by either Jon or Eddard which made Catelyn as a mother pretty jealous.

"JON! Come here," Eddard said firmly.

Jon stood up while patting his pants, and walked toward his father. Catelyn turned away in a huff and went toward where Robb had started sparring with young recruits.

"Yes, Father," Jon said while looking at his shoes.

"Are you alright?" Eddard asked worriedly while looking down at him.

"I am fine," Jon nodded sulkily.

"Jon look at me!" Eddard said while putting a hand on his shoulder and when Jon looked up continued softly, "You need to slow down, Jon. You are not going to become proficient at dual wielding in just a few months, maybe not even in a decade,"

Jon looked at his Father in disbelief, if he was trying to cheer him up, then he was doing a very shit job of it, telling Jon that he can't do it even if he worked hard for 10 years was a low blow.

"But... if you persist in it until the end. Then you could become the greatest swordsman of your age, the best of the best," Eddard said before his eyes suddenly gained a nostalgic look, "There was only one dual wielder I met in my whole life and he was a... monster."

"He would be defending with his left hand and attacking with his right one moment, and in the next suddenly both hands would start attacking you. Fighting him was like fighting multiple people with multiple hands at the same time."

"There were five of us and only him alone, but it still felt like he was ganging up on us..." Eddard said while remembering the memory of that day.

In the beginning, there were five of them against him but when Ser Mark Ryswell had killed the old Lord Commander Ser Gerold, it had been six against him alone, but he still cut through them like they were a bunch of unruly young squires and not the best warriors north had to offer, who had been trained in the art of combat since a young age.

"Anyway..." Eddard said while shaking his head and coming back to the present, "You need to take it slow and not rush into it, it shall take a lot of time and effort but I promise you if you ever reach mastery then you would be like that Man,"

"Can you tell me more—" Jon started to say, but was interrupted midway through.

"Hey, Jon! Are you alright," Robb said in concern while coming to a stop before them, "I saw the fall and it looked bad,"

"I am fine, Nothing's broken," Jon smiled reassuringly while moving both his arms to show him.

"Well if you are fine then..." Robb said before his face suddenly puffed up, "You looked so stupid flailing around like that..." and he started laughing while pointing towards Jon, "Even Sansa isn't that clumsy! You should have seen your face... HAHA,"

"Oh, you find my face stupid do you?" Jon said while smiling evilly before suddenly jumping on his brother and started pulling his face, "Let me make your face stupid too,"

Eddard looked at the sky while asking Old Gods to give him some strength before he looked at his son's wrestling before him with a sigh of exhaustion and immediately broke them up, "Enough!" he sternly said while holding one unruly child in each hand, "go get cleaned up and remove you pads you are done for the day. And after that, you are to head straight for the Great Hall,"

Eddard put them back on the floor only after they had nodded. He looked at them running away still bickering with each, before leaving the courtyard with Catelyn toward Great Hall, watching them practice had suddenly made him hungry.

Both the boy's completed their cool-down stretches and put back their swords and pads on the stand, before immediately racing toward the Great Hall.

The entire meal passed with Robb telling Jon about his various bouts and how very soon he would be ready to join him. Jon only kept nodding along unconsciously all the while frequently yawing. He was so tired that by the time the meal was done Jon was half asleep.

The day since Jon had started training in the yard, his daily schedule had become fully packed and he suddenly found himself with very little free time.

After Jon's usual morning meditation, he broke his fast before he had to go to Maester Luwin's lesson. The Maester usually taught them about Geography, History, various Noble Houses of Westeros, etc. And Jon had recently started taking lessons in the Valyrian language, so the usual free time he had when Robb learned the intricacies common tongue was also filled.

"Hey!" Robb said while clicking his fingers in front of Jon and he was immediately startled awake, "You were about to walk into that pillar. Why are you sleepwalking? "

"It's nothing," Jon said airily while moving around the pillar, "Frost woke me up early in the morning, so I wasn't able to have much sleep,"

While Frost was the reason Jon was feeling sleep-deprived. It was not the way Robb probably imagined. About a month ago, Jon started to have occasional dreams about flying and hunting in the wolfswood at night.

At first, Jon thought that they were just regular dreams occurring due to his intense desire to become a warg, but when Frost confirmed that the prey she had hunted the night before was exactly the prey from his dream, he concluded that he had already started having warg dreams. So Jon multiplied his efforts at trying to warg into Frost before going to bed.

Jon ate too much during lunch, which along with his intense morning exercise meant that he was dead tired by the time he reached his room.

'I'll just take a quick nap and...' Jon thought while falling on his bed and instantly fell asleep.

...

I don't know how long I slept but it felt like I had just closed my eyes when something suddenly started poking me in my ribs. I tried to ignore it but it only got more insistent as time went on, so ultimately I had to open my eyes.

"Hmm... what is it frost," I mumbled while rubbing sleep from my eyes. Frost immediately started pecking his beak toward the window, "huh...what's out there Fros— Oh shit, I am going to be late,"

I started panicking and immediately started changing my clothes, and gathering my stuff from around the room, "Old mark is so gonna kill me, that block of ice doesn't tolerate shit," I fretted while tying my shoes. That old man was already so grumpy so I always made sure to never be late or else who knew what set him off and he stopped giving me lessons.

"Aww... Frost couldn't you have woken me up a bit early, the only thing you do during the day is fly lazily anyway—Ow...Ow..." I flinched and shielded my face when Frost started swatting me with his wings, "Alright! Sorry! Sorry! it was my fault," I said while ducking from the overgrown bird, before immediately rushing out of my room.

I dashed straight out of the Winterfell Gates and didn't stop even for a second to take a breath. I completed the journey through Wintertown house in a record time and ran toward the unused path outside town.

"I... I am he...here..." I shouted huffing the second I reached the old hunter's cabin while trying to soothe the stitch in my side, but didn't find the Old hunter at his usual spot which was not a good sign.

The cabin door opened and I looked up hopefully but it was hunter's granddaughters, Emily and Becca, and not the man himself.

"Umm... Mr. Jon," Emily hesitatingly said while coming out of the lodge, with Becca, the merchant's daughter following, "Grandpa went away when you didn't arrive for a while. He said that he would be back after a while,"

"Yeah, Grandpa Mark was very angry," Becca said teasingly, "You're gonna be in so much trouble Jon hehe..."

"Shut up, Becca," I growled at the blonde but the mirth dancing in her blue eyes only increased, so I just huffed before moving to sit on the usual tree stump.

'This is not good, the last time I messed up like this, Old mark had me climb the tree at least a hundred times, he didn't tell me that it was a punishment and not training but my body definitely felt it that night.'

"Come on, go get your stuff, Let's complete your lesson—And stop smirking Becca," I grumbled at them while swearing that I would teach that naughty girl a lesson. Emily immediately pulled Becca inside the hut before she could make any more mischief, they came out a minute later carrying a wooden slate, some charcoals, etc.

"Becca, Show me your homework?" I asked her with a small smile after they sat on the ground in front of me at their usual spot, hoping to get some revenge on the peppy girl.

"Why do you always ask for mine first?" Becca pouted while reluctantly handing me her slate.

"Because Emily is a very good student and always completes her work," I praised the brown-haired who immediately blushed, which made her bright green eyes stand out even more, before turning toward the blonde, "But you on the other hand...Tch...Tch," I shook my head and went back to check her work.

"Hey, what does that mean," She made a wronged face, while Emy's body shook with suppressed giggles.

"This looks completed—surprisingly... You didn't ask for Emy's help, Did you?" I asked suspiciously.

"Of course not!" Becca said self-righteously with pride, "I would never do something like that,"

"That's what you told me the last 5 times you copied from her,"

"That's in the past," Becca said airily.

"Well looks like you dodged extra homework this time," I said feeling a bit disappointed before continuing, "Now, let's pick up where we left off... Umm Emily what was I teaching at the last lesson."

"Mr. Jon you were teaching Becca about Multiplication and adjectives..."

Emily was scarily smart and had already learned all about reading and writing the common tongue as well as simple algebra, So I had already started teaching her old tongue and more advanced stuff that mostly nobles and big merchants learn for administration.

Becca on the other hand didn't have quite as much interest in learning and was more curious about learning how to bash people's heads in. So at the start when she was being difficult to teach, I started incentivizing her by teaching her a trickle of combat lessons every time she completed her homework correctly.

And it turned out that Becca was quite a natural at combat. She soaked all the weapon lessons like a sponge and I would even go as far as to say that she was a prodigy in the spear, a few more months and she could even beat Robb, and while she was about 4 years older than us that was still a big thing.

It was actually quite ironic considering that the hunter's granddaughter Emily didn't like physical stuff much and was into learning while the merchant's daughter Becca, was instead interested in combat and couldn't do the math to save her life.

"Ugh... It's done," Becca said while showing me her work, "Can we do some training now, Please Jon," She said while opening her blue eyes as wide as they go.

"Well let me see..." I said while perusing over her work, "half the answers are wrong or riddled with mistakes and your writing is barely illegible," Becca immediately deflated, "but I guess you did complete it. Fine! go get your stick," I said and Becca immediately ran away, with Emily following after her a bit slowly.

They came back a minute later with Becca carrying a thick wooden stick about her height and Emily with two small wooden daggers.

"Alright, go through the forms I showed you last time,"

"But I wanted to learn a new one," Becca whined.

"Uhuh...Not until you've mastered them," I shook my head, "Now come go through them a hundred times," and they immediately started going through various basic forms I had taught.

I wasn't teaching them any advanced stuff, just making them repeat normal stuff so that they would have a solid foundation.

At first, it was just Becca who trained, but after watching me teach her cousin, Emily had picked up the courage and asked to be taught too, so I handed her the lightest weapon, and while she had not been as good as Becca she was a hard worker.

"No Emily! You need to move your whole body," I said before showing her how to do it, "you need the strength from your hips, not just your arms—Yes! just like that,"

I trained with them for about an hour like that, while Becca only needed to be shown once to correct her mistakes, Emily needed constant guidance. I was just correcting Emily's leg posture when I was startled by a cough behind me. I turned around and found Old mark standing there holding a long package in his arms.

"Old Mark!" I shouted and immediately went toward him, "I am sorry I was late, I fell asleep and—"

He cut me off with a raised hand and just turned around while asking me to follow him.

"We are done for the day girls," I shouted back before following after the old hunter, who was remarkably quick for a man his age.

We walked for a while in silence before I couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "I know that I made a mistake, but I don't think tree climbing is going to help me much anymore—" I stop mid-sentence when we passed through some bushes and emerged into a clearing.

My breath caught up in my throat, the place before me was a training zone straight out of an anime, there were wooden targets stuck on a stick at varying distances and some targets were also attached to ropes, hanging from branches and they moved along with the wind.

"Is this what I think it is—" I asked while turning around and found Old mark had opened the package he was holding. It was a small but sturdy bow perfect for my size, along with a quiver full of arrows.

"You are ready to learn how to shoot," He said gruffly while giving me the bow and arrows.

I took both of them gratefully into my hands, while over the past few weeks he had been teaching me stuff like how to properly string a bow and how to make my own arrows so I had been anticipating it for a while, but I didn't think it would be this soon.

"Well, what are you waiting for," He interrupted me admiring the bow while pointing toward the target, "Get on with it,"

"Yes," I enthusiastically said before taking the right posture and after holding still for a while, shot my first proper arrow. The arrow sailed and stuck at the edge of the target, which made me wide grin widely.

"Don't stop," the hunter snapped, "You are not to leave until you have stuck dead center at least 10 times,"

"Figured as much," I mumbled under my breath and went back into it.

...

By the time I reached Winterfell, I was dead tired and my arms were shaking from exhaustion, I barely lasted through the dinner, and was half dead on my feet by the time I reached my room.

My body protested but I still didn't go to sleep right away, and instead sat on my bed and tried to warg a couple of times before sleeping. I wasn't expecting much as I hadn't succeeded in the last handful of weeks so I was just going through the motion.

About 10 minutes later my mind had been emptied of all thoughts and I was only focused on the picture of Frost inside my mind, I don't what had happened or how I did it but suddenly a pop went inside my head and my sphere of consciousness pierced the needle outside it.

I immediately felt the path to Frost open up and when I went along it, I suddenly found myself leaving my body behind, I felt as If I was occupying a different mind and when I opened my eyes, I was looking through the eyes of Frost for the first time as she was flying over the Wolfswood.

/

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