Chapter 18

280 ac

POV NED STARK

When Rodrik and a maid came into my solar, I was leaning on the wall and looking at the fireplace. They started waiting for me to speak to them. This child needs to be raised as a true north man. Should I take the permission I gave him to train on other things? Would it be better for his sword training?

"Rodrik, what is Aermir doing with his free time, do you know?"

"I saw him play with your sons and train his archery at the range, my lord. Other than that, people usually see him at Godswood or the library, my lord."

Then the maid raises her hand, and I signal her to speak.

"My lord, I sometimes see him play with his ravens in his room."

"He has ravens?"

"Yes, my lord, he found them in the Godswood as chicks and raised them."

After hearing that, I thought he was still a child and needed playtime too. I sit down at my table and then look at the maid.

"I have punished Aermir for something, and he is to be locked in his room for a moon. At this time, he is to be fed only two times a day, consisting of bread and water; bringing his food to his room is going to be your responsibility. You cannot pass this responsibility on to someone else; this is your first priority for the moon. Of course, no one is going to open up the bread to see if there is meat inside of it."

When I said that, her eyes grew with surprise.

" Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, my lord."

POV MC

When I reached my room, the soldiers stood in front of the building my room was in so that I wouldn't leave it. From now on, I have to be ready; I was too naïve to think everything would be okay just because I have talent. No, in this world, status means talent, and status means power.

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So, I must reach higher and higher, but I must start somewhere. This made me realize I can't be content with only being a good swordsman. I have to be good at everything I do. I have to be the best at everything. I have to get powerful fast. The thing that will make me the most powerful is not the sword but the mana.

I have to work on it more, but there is a drawback. The majority religion in this continent, the seven, bans magic and declares it devils work, so I must be careful about showing myself. I can't do magic out in the open until I’m %100 sure I can protect myself against them. I can't go to Godswood to train for a month, but I can still use my most useless skill, infinite training skill.

It is a pocket space of 4m x 4m room without anything inside, but at least I can use all the spells I want, and no one will know. But first thing first, I need to connect with Erebus. I come next to it and try to take him into my hand then he tries to bite me.

"HEY!!! Don't be an asshole; it has been a bad day already." When I get angry at it, and shout. He looks at me, raises his wings, and challenges me while cawing.

"Okay, then, I won't play with you; I will only play with Poe. Come, Poe, let's play."

I got up from the chair, sat on the bed with Poe, and played with her. Because my back is turned at Erebus, he can't see anything, and ravens are social and curious creatures. When he gets near me, I get up, go to the other side of the room, ignore him, and only play with Poe. If I try to forcefully catch it and bond with it, it will resist. I don't have enough mana to make a forced connection with a raven. I think I would need, at the very least, 45 mana to make a forceful connection, and I only have 31 mana.

I kept doing what I was doing for the next 2 to 3 hours, and Erebus kept getting angry about it. Ravens are really smart creatures. I think I heard in a documentary that they are as smart as two-year-olds. Sometime later, Erebus came beside me and started pulling my clothes to get my attention. I turned to him and offered my hand again. This time he came closer to me and then jumped on top of my hand. After that, I held him in two hands and started bonding. This time I feel the mana move more smoothly, and I know what to do and when to do things.

I love 5x; It is like I did many bondings. I even know why the first one took so long and spent so much mana. I spent at least five mana for no reason other than impatience. When Poe pulled back, I should have waited a few seconds to let her adjust, but I never let that happen, so because of that, I spent more mana and more time pulling her back.

This time I was patient. It ended at least several minutes early, and I spent four mana less. But I realized something I can't just keep bounding with other animals. My soul has a capacity; I can feel It. Right now, I don't have space for another creature. I would say my soul space is at %80. But I realized one more thing. I have close to 3 times better sight. As I thought, every connection provides me with a buff.

Rest of the day I spent training my mana. First, I trained inside the space for around 3 hours because I could only stay there 6 hours a day. After spending all my mana, I needed to get out so I wouldn't waste my limited time inside. After that, I plan to take a nap to fill my mana. Then I went in again for 3 hours around the evening when I was getting ready for physical training so I wouldn't get rusty. Brise comes inside the room, bringing me my food.