[Chapter Size: 3042 Words.]
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Jon Snow POV
Northern Kingdom, FrostRoar City, Lands of the Glovers, 289 A.C., at this very moment.
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After the declaration of the duel and the confirmation of acceptance by the mysterious boy, the place turned chaotic. People couldn't believe that everything had escalated into a fight between young Lorenzo Frotniid and the mysterious boy. While Lorenzo Frotniid had a confident smile on his lips, Jon remained calm. He calmly stood up and began to walk towards the doors with the gray pigeon on his shoulder. The crowd quickly cleared a path for him. Lord Frotniid soon followed behind the boy.
When they reached the outside, the crowd that had formed outside backed away after hearing what was about to happen. The young lord had no idea, but most of the people here were disgusted with the challenge. The boy was smaller than him; this was a rather cowardly act. Jon was quite surprised by the crowd that had formed, but soon his thoughts were on that spoiled teenager, walking into the middle of the circle. He turned to look at the situation while the young lord had a sadistic smile on his face.
"What is this?"
"Stop that horse!"
"Whose nag is this?"
"This horse shoved me!"
Shouts were heard as a yellow-brown-haired and somewhat ugly-looking horse passed, pushing everyone in the crowd as it made its way to the center, where Jon and Lord Frotniid were.
Jon soon saw Panis coming his way. The horse responded to his mental call as soon as it heard its master calling. He needed his horse when he heard the challenge. Jon calmly waited for the horse to reach him, drawing everyone's attention.
Young Frotniid was astonished by this because this boy seemed to command animals, something unbelievable and unprecedented for the overwhelming majority of people. Only a few people could witness a warg, and most of them are beyond the Wall.
With the horse by his side, Jon walked to the horse's side and pulled out a short sword. It wasn't of good quality, but he found it in a weapons store, quite suitable in weight and size for an 8 namedays old boy. Jon drew the sword confidently, making a noise of metal scraping through the air, and examined his weapon in the next few seconds with it raised.
Seeing the boy's behavior in front of him, young Frotniid couldn't help but build doubts about this fight, but soon these thoughts vanished.
"I've been trained since I was 6. I may be hated by the commander of the guard, but still, he had to admit that I have talent with the sword. A brat can't beat me, even if he can use these witchcrafts with animals." He said to himself mentally.
On Jon's side, there was something similar.
"He's not a fully developed adult. I can fight this little shit and win." Jon said to himself.
Turning his face, Jon moved his head to the raven and nodded, confirming something in front of the bird's eyes.
The raven, understanding what Jon meant, spread its wings and soon flew away before everyone's eyes. The teenager in front of him turned pale when he heard this and showed extreme hatred in his eyes as he stared at Jon.
The gray raven passed by Caraxes in the air but didn't stop as the large white eagle was eager to descend and help the boy. However, Jon prevented it from getting involved in this mess, communicating that everything was fine and that he could handle it. Panis stepped aside and went to the side. The audience seemed to enjoy the strange horse, while the boy was horrified by Lorenzo Frotniid's actions.
If he thought he could prevent Jon from sending that letter by winning the duel, he was wrong to stop the boy or, much less, to defeat him.
Jon saw the store employees at the second-floor windows watching the duel. The sadistic boy came out of his pale state when Ducken, the commander of his guard, asked if everyone was ready. In Jon's eyes, Ducken seemed like a decent man so far. Unlike the other guards, he was a smart man. He even recognized Jon's identity when he looked at him, and the boy knew it. He knew it from the respectful gaze directed at him, obviously turned towards his father, as he had seen on several occasions in Winterfell.
He was sure his father would be very happy to have a man like him in Winterfell, as, from his posture, he could tell the man was as skilled as Jory. However, Jon could only apologize internally to his father. He would try to bring this man under his wing. Even as a child, he told himself that he wouldn't miss the chance after this confusion.
Looking at the teenager, who drew a very sharp short sword, he saw his hateful gaze still directed at him. Jon said he would give a fight to this little lord that would mark him for the rest of his life.
The boy's blood, which didn't seem to be just wolf's, wanted to hurt his enemy. He felt both cold and hot, something strange, a feeling different from anything he had ever felt. It was as if his blood were screaming to massacre all his enemies mercilessly. He had never felt so much anger in his life as he did now in front of his enemy.
Jon could already hear his heart beating and feel his body burning in ice and fire. His determination grew when he saw the gaze of hatred and confidence in his opponent, as if the result had already been decided. Jon wanted to break that look of disdain and confidence; he had a smile as if the fight would be quite easy for him because he was fighting someone "weaker" than him.
'The sadist thinks he can hurt me; I'll make it an unforgettable day.' Jon gave a small smile with anger.
The crowd was silent at this moment; everyone held their breath when they saw the two boys about to fight with sharp swords. Ducken seemed concerned, but still initiated the fight. The mayor's son wasted no time and ran towards Jon to use his more developed body as an advantage. He wanted to see this mysterious boy who had humiliated him since he entered that store screaming for mercy.
Reaching Jon, who moved his feet to secure his position, expecting the attack, Lorenzo Frotniid approached and soon raised the sword, delivering a vertical cut. Jon saw that he could be arrogant and cruel, but he had some posture in the duel.
'I bet Ducken trained him; however, there are many recruits in Winterfell who are better, whom I faced daily after I distanced myself from Robb.' Jon thought.
Wondering in his thoughts, Jon didn't know what his opponent was thinking now, but young Lorenzo Frotniid was confident of his victory. He had been training with Ducken every day for 2 years; defeating a child 4 years younger would be very easy for him without considering defeat as an option in his view.
'I'll kill him here for humiliating me, you damn brat!' Thought the sadistic boy.
However, what happens when your opponent, even though quite young, is more skilled than your own master? Jon may have a small body, lacking in strength and agility, but his technique surpasses Ducken in his current state. He could easily lose to Ducken, but only due to the age and developed body difference.
Jon looked at the cut that was coming his way, knowing he could match the opponent in terms of strength. Jon tilted the sword to a position that would make the enemy's slide off.
*CLANG*
The sharp sound of metal was heard as the crowd sighed with the first contact of the duel. Jon deflected the blade with a little difficulty, but when the blades collided, it generated a louder noise than he imagined, heard by the entire crowd. The more expensive blade scraped diagonally, following Jon's sword position, and Lorenzo Frotniid's blade went to the right, hitting nothing but empty air.
Jon saw how his opponent intended to kill him and was so confident that he didn't bother to maintain basic posture. This made him create an opening with the improper positioning of his feet as the blade slid to the side, leaving his chest unprotected.
Not wasting time, Jon went on the offensive. The sadistic one really intended to hurt him, and why wouldn't he do the same? He stepped to the side, not letting the teenager regain his fighting stance, which at this moment, was desperate with the posture break, and Jon knew he was feeling the danger.
Jon quickly moved his feet as the opponent tried to protect his chest in despair. But Jon didn't comply with that position and spun his body so fast that the movement to gain momentum shocked the people around with the blurry image of Jon spinning in front of the opponent. They only heard the air tearing, and blood was sprayed into the air a moment later.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lorenzo Frotniid screamed with all his might as soon as he felt the unbearable pain. Everyone went pale at the sight of the hand in the air and the young lord losing his hand to a child in a sword duel with just two movements.
The main fighters in the place knew that now, the arrogant Frotniid had no chance of winning against the boy, while the boy wasted no time ending the fight, injuring him permanently. With the hand falling to the ground and blood spreading, the mayor's son was now begging for someone to stop the bleeding and the pain. Jon looked at it with satisfaction; he might not be sadistic, but the memories of the past, along with the other animals, disturbed him a lot. He wanted to give that arrogant one a taste of what he did to his animals.
Jon was until recently a boy who thought himself useless in this world, a sin-born, as Lady Catelyn managed to instill this thought in his head for many years. He, for a while, believed that people's places were determined by birth and had their destiny bound in an immutable way. However, after touching that tree, he realized that people can have a chance to control their destiny, regardless of their birth. The right thing is to judge someone's actions, not their birth. The gods gave us free will, so Jon was determined to create his path, regardless of whether he was born to a lady with noble blood or to a prostitute from a brothel.
While Jon was lost in his own thoughts, Ducken saw some guards putting their hands on some hilt of their weapons. "What are you doing? This was a duel; young Frotniid wanted this fight with steel. Drop the damn weapon and take the young lord to the maester in the mansion now; I'll handle the confusion here." Quickly, Ducken prevented the guards from advancing on Jon and instructed someone to get a cart and send the teenager to the maester. He knew that his command would make Lord Frotniid extremely angry for doing nothing to the boy who hurt his son, even risking his dismissal, although he knew that killing young Jon Snow could cause even more problems. He sighed, thinking that his career ended in House Frotniid, but he couldn't let Lord Stark's son die here and walked over to Jon.
Approaching, the boy looked at him while the crowd was in an uproar at this moment, many questioning what would happen. "Young Stark, I know everything that happened here, and what you did was in self-defense and fair legally. But people are too proud, and that won't stop House Frotniid from trying to retaliate for this humiliation today, as your father is the head of a vassal house to the Glovers, even if it is small." After hearing this, Jon nodded.
Whether he liked it or not, this happened in his territory. Jon looked at him and sighed. "I know that too well, Ser, but anyway, this won't end well for the mayor of this city. In the letter I sent by raven, I informed Lord Stark about all the corruption schemes in this house; I'm sure the Lord of Winterfell, in turn, will pass it on to the Glovers for an investigation." Jon said and saw the surprised look on the soldier's face and continued. "I'm sure it won't end well for the people associated with this, so I fear even for you, Ser." Jon saw the conflicted look of the young commander and continued. "But I know you are innocent of all these intrigues. I would like to offer you to join me and my adventures. Food, medicine, and money will not be lacking." Jon said a little shyly, as he is not used to saying such things.
The soldier looked at him for several seconds and sighed. Ducken really took the proposal into account; Jon seemed like a fair and mature boy after he saw the situation unfold. Despite appearing cruel by cutting the boy's hand, he seemed only to be defending himself with the same coin as his opponent. Young Jon had money, and more importantly, he was the son of Eddard Stark. He didn't hesitate to have the chance to go to Winterfell, as he always wanted, if he stayed with the child. "I will accept your offer, little Jon. When do we leave? The situation can get dangerous for you here." He finally decided. "Don't you need to prepare yourself?" Jon asked with a grimace. "I don't need anything else; I have few things. And if I go to Lord Carlen Frotniid's mansion, I'll be stuck there until things are cleared up. And as you said, you've already reported them to Winterfell. So I want to stay far away from that place now." Ducken replied, and Jon nodded in agreement with his logic, while watching Lord Frotniid's soldiers leave. Jon readjusted his hood that almost fell in the fight, while everyone was whispering and pointing at him after all that confusion. "Can you prepare my carts? I'm in a bit of a hurry." Jon said to the frozen manager; he wanted to leave at this moment. "Of course, my lord, we'll prepare your carts as soon as possible!" He said, coming out of his stunned state and quickly issuing commands as they loaded the carts. For a moment, he thought he could keep those 7 gold coins, but now he saw that he wasn't dealing with someone ordinary and with strong connections to Winterfell if that scene with the bird was true.
20 minutes later, the carts were ready, and Jon climbed onto one of them. He found it strange that the place wasn't surrounded by guards, as he expected something like that and feared, as the situation would become very difficult for him to get out of the city. But apart from a few men who seemed more interested in watching his movements than attacking.
Jon wasted no more time, with Ducken, he climbed onto one of the carts full of cages and went to William's shop accompanied by Ducken in another cart and Panis following alongside, keeping an eye on his surroundings with Caraxes in case he saw anyone trying to attack him.
People looked at him and whispered to each other. Jon never showed his face, but he heard mentions of the legend of little Jon along the way. He couldn't help but feel the adoring looks now, and he could see more than 100 people at the same time looking at him like that. He was still a child in this situation, feeling quite uncomfortable with the stares.
Seeing him arriving, William said he heard about the commotion and was still stunned. There were 4 carts waiting for them outside the shop. Jon asked William to take one, and Jon himself would make the other horses follow them.
Both men accompanying him, William and Ducken, by this point, were already used to Jon's strange abilities with animals, so they trusted the boy, as surreal as his claims were.
Ducken was surprised by William's situation, but what caught his attention the most was the amount of materials in the carts. There were construction tools and an entire blacksmith in two carts.
Now passing through the city path under the gaze of all the curious people, Jon, William, and Ducken in 3 carts were heading towards the west gate while another 3 carts followed him without a driver.
Jon looked at his acquired products and smiled with satisfaction. He was very happy with everything he got, although he couldn't get the books he intended to buy. He still managed to hire two men, get the things he needed the most, and a good number of animals, with the addition of 12 horses and at least 50 birds!
Looking at the birds, he didn't regret spending so much gold on them. Just with that raven he sent to Winterfell, he could send a few words to Arya. "I have to name that little guy when he comes back," Jon murmured softly.
Jon was pleased with the other 50 birds. He could use them as sky watchers and swift messengers. So it was a good investment, spending those 7 gold dragons, which was money he found in the forest on the way to FrostRoar.
Looking to the side, he saw a cage on the cart's bench; there was a black bird lying at the bottom. He was satisfied that he saved that mistreated bird from that sadistic creature. Jon was sure Caraxes would be happy with his new companion; he sighed and continued on the way, knowing he could use his powers, but healing magic consumed a lot of energy, and he was in a dangerous territory. He wanted to reach the forest before starting to heal that girl.
They continued as people looked at all those carts with curiosity after the news spread, but so far, no one interfered with Jon's path as he was heading west of the city.
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