CHAPTER 5

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Even though this is an enormous castle with countless animals inside, it is a daunting task for 5 years old to catch one of them. Almost everything is feral here. Even the mangy dogs and cats look like dire wolves and lions. It took me nearly 5 hours to corner a terrier-looking small dog.

"Come on, good doggy, come here. Big bro will give you this bread; come here." When the dog saw it was cornered, it started to growl and bear its teeth. Because it looked like it would attack if I got close. I tore a piece of bread and threw it in front of the dog. It stopped growling and started to smell the piece of bread. After deciding it was food, the dog began to relax a bit. It started to look at me and the bread on the ground. After seeing I wasn't trying to get close. It ate the bread on the ground. The dog started to look around for another piece after seeing I had one in my hand. All of its focus was collected on the bread in my hand. When I moved the bread, it kept following it with its head. It was hilarious to see. I extended my hand it started to get close while sniffing. It ate the bread in my hand, and I started petting him.

"Good boy" let's see if I can make a connection. I focused my mind and only thought of establishing a connection. Mana inside me started to move, but it felt like I was trying to reach the other side of a giant chasm. I kept pushing with my mana, but I was starting to feel drained. My mana was not enough. But I realized something after one attempt. I had my conjectures about how to make a connection and what caused the failure. Is this the effect of 5x skill? I felt like the animal was too big.

I set my eyes on the sky and shouted, "Does every skill you gave me have to be useless at the start!!!" Do I have to tame a squirrel or a mouse as my first animal?

Waw waw

When the dog started to bark, I stopped contemplating. "What? Do you expect me to give you more food? "Sorry, I don't have any more food." It really looked like it understood me. It stopped barking and looked around, then started running into the alley. I need to start with the smallest animal I can find. The good thing is at least the 5x is working just fine.

"I think I'll love this 5x skill more than any other." I should go back to the keep.

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When I got back, someone jumped on me from the corner." Got you!!" we fell to the ground, and he started to mount on top of me, then said, "Will you yield?"

I was shocked for a second. When I calmed down, I realized it was Robb Stark that tackled me.

"That is cheating, Robb."

"No, it is not. A knight needs to be prepared for everything." He got up and reached his hand to me.

I took his hand and swept his leg, and he fell right next to me, and we started to wrestle on the ground. Our strength was close to each other, so we could not pin each other to the ground. After several minutes we lay on our back, breathing heavily on the ground.

Robb turned to me and said, "You made the right choice by giving up."

"You gave up first!"

He got up and said, "No, I did not. You did!"

"No, you did!" we did this a few more times and decided it was a draw. It is really tiring to act like an average 5-year-old.

POV CATELYN STARK

My lord husband and I were standing on the balcony and looking at the front yard. Then I saw them, and my boy was playing with that common boy again. I turned to my lord husband and asked, "My lord, does he need to play with that common boy? I don't think it is proper for a highborn to be friends with smallfolk."

"It is proper in The North, that common boy's father saved my life. The only reason you have a husband and your children get to know their father is his father died instead of me. In The North, the life of highborn and smallfolk is a bit more blurred. Winter is coming, and we shouldn't waste our time with such things. If he has half of his father's talent in the sword, he will make a good soldier for our son, and if he shows the same grit as his father, he might even be knighted."

I looked at them from the balcony and said, "if it is what you want, it shall be." I know I'm being a bit harsh to the boy; I'm not heartless. I pity the boy because he became an orphan at such a young age. Most likely, he won't even remember his parents when he grows up.

POV MC

Robb and I played for a few hours, and after that, I retreated to a quiet place in the backyard because I realized something. I have wrestled with him for at least 2 hours, but I didn't feel like I gained 5x wrestling experience. Is it because I wasn't focused on wrestling and just having fun. To test my hypothesis, I got up and took a long branch. I held the thing like a sword and started hacking it and swinging with it for two hours. Nothing happened, as I thought so. This time, I held the branch straight and started to do a vertical slash while focusing on the training. I kept swinging for a few hours. Then it came. That feeling of comprehension. Yes, it was minuscule because of the little time I trained, but it was there. It was minimal, but it was there. I was learning. So, it only activates if I focus or contemplate something. If I do something mindlessly, it will not work.

"Hmm, like the other skills, the intent is important." If there is no focus, it will not work.