4 Chapter 4
It had been a long and ardous search, but, I had found an abandoned mill where I could camp. There was a small river flowing nearby and the hills were quite rocky with a lot of minerals hidden in the caves.
I had food in my inventory that would last me for a month and more than enough stored water in wooden barrels. I could waste enough of it to bathe and wash clothes and still have enough to last me for two months. It was a blessing that same items didn't take more slots.
With my living situation settled, I got busy mining for stone and ore.
I would spend hours on hitting the rocks with my pickaxe, breaking them and searching for any kind of ores to the point of absolute exhaustion. When I wasn't mining, I was cutting trees for timber or looking for prey to hunt.
At every seventh day, I would venture out to scout my surroundings for bandits and predators that could harm me in my sleep. I was not taking any chances.
Another month passed and I reached level 42. I had killed two shadowcats, five boars, three stags and seven bandits. While it was still incredibly tough to kill the beasts given their unpredictability, the bandits were far easier to kill and I got a lot of confidence in my skills after that.
I even looted a bow and dozens of arrows from their stash. Extra swords and knives were always nice to have and the silver stags also didn't hurt.
Using my crafting talent, I built an open smithy and a smelting furnace for myself and extracted raw iron ore from the stone I mined. So far, I had managed to extract seventy iron ingots. It was a long journey ahead of me to forge a sword of my liking.
I fell into a routine of mining, extracting, forging and hunting.
Also, I found another settlement which was bigger than the last one. I was able to sell animal hide for coins and cloth along with things that I couldn't make by myself, such as, salt and pepper, certain fruits and berries and medicine.
Of course, I had grown way taller than a ten year old should due to my stats. I looked like a fourteen year old and so, could get the things I needed without looking too suspicious. To the villagers, I was just a budding hunter.
Back at my shelter, I began practicing my smithing by creating an anvil and other smithing tools. Along with that, I also started practicing my aim at targets placed farther than the other.
I created wooden flanks to deter the animals from entering my shelter and set traps all around my vicinity to catch vagarants who wanted to burgle my shelter in my absence. I was satisfied with my measures, but, I didn't grow complacent.
Everyday, I would set a new trap around me and memorized all the locations of the traps every single morning.
By the end of fifth month of my arrival at Planetos, I had managed to reach level 45. I had mined and smelted around three hundred iron ingots, hundred aluminium ingots, seventy copper ingots, twenty tin ingots and seven chromium ingots.
I forged a lot of arrowheads and throwing knives. With my continuous training, I had managed to shoot at the bullseye seven out of ten times from a distance of thirty meters. It was a long way to go for me to become deadly with a bow, but, I was certainly getting there.
On to my HEMA and Silat proficiency, I had managed to reach Intermediate level after clearing out my fourth bandit camp. My knife skill was about to breakthrough to advanced level along with my hunting and survival skills.
There was no rest for me. It was a race against time. I had to get stronger.
(ACJTF)
Four years had passed since I arrived at Planetos and the progress I had made was... dencent enough.
'Status.'
Name: Allan (Human)
Title: The Hunter, the Savage
Class: Assassin
Level: 60
Health: 260/260
Energy: 260/260
STR: 35
DEX: 42 (192)
FOCUS: 40
VIT: 40
Unspent points: 240
ATK: 582
EVA: 564
SPD: 573
DMG: 602
PHY DEF: 421
Abilities:
Reflexes: 873
Willpower: 826
Fortitude: 642
Vigour: 643
Cunning: 684
Hand to hand: 637
Dagger skill: 871
Sword skill: 781
Spear skill: 728
Axe skill: 715
Hammer skill: 703
Archery: 739
Poisoning: 415
Advanced Silat (56%)
Advanced HEMA (84%)
Expert survival (45%)
Expert hunting (67%)
Expert crafting (89%)
Advanced cooking (32%)
Expert free running (63%)
Expert smithing (23%)
Expert smelting (14%)
Intermediate masonry (34%)
Language:
Expert common tongue (18%)
Beginner High Valyrian (54%)
Skills:
Sneak attack: lvl 14 (Cooldown: 5 sec)
Hide: lvl 14 (Cooldown: 30 sec)
Pummel: lvl 6 (Cooldown: 2 sec)
Assassinate: lvl 12 (Cooldown: 45 sec)
Fast reflexes: lvl 5 (Cooldown: 30 sec)
Quick strike: lvl 5 (Cooldown: 2 sec)
Expose weakness: lvl 4 (Cooldown: 10 sec)]
It was well known by then that I was an expert hunter and was even acknowledged by the local lord who was none other than Walter Whent of Harrenhal. I was always asked, or, more like ordered, to accompany him whenever he ventured out to hunt.
When I got a raven from Harrenhal, I had assumed that he was again demanding of me to accompany him for another hunt. But, it wasn't so.
{Allan the Hunter
Harrenhal is going to hold a grand tourney in the coming days and would require your services. You are to hunt as many boars and stags as you can and deliver them to the castle within ten days.You will be rewarded handsomly for it.
Walter Whent, Lord of House Whent and Lord of Harrenhal}
'So it's that time now...'
Whent was always a little demanding, but, he did also reward handsomely. In four years, I had made a hundred gold dragons just from hunting with him.
I looked into my inventory and it assured me that I had more than enough game to last me for two more years. Fifteen stags and twenty eight boars had been hunted by me alone in the past three months.
So, I wrote in my reply that I would accept the quest, even though it wasn't one.
'The war will start in one year.'
Rhaegar would win the jousting and name Lyanna as the queen of love and beauty. And then, an year later, would abduct Lyanna with half a dozen men and rape her all the way in Dorne.
It was synonymous with a spoilt rich brat who thought he deserved every woman he set his eyes on and his lackies who cheered him on as he abused the girl with whom he was infatuated.
The HBO show's theory was different. According to the show, the two were in love and Lyanna had eloped with Rhaegar and married in secret.
I had no idea which theory was right.
'Do I care? Fuck no! I just want to live. I don't care whosoever dies in the future, no matter how tragic the lives of some people is going to be. This world is barbaric and if I start going around trying to save lives, I'd only doom myself.'
In the end I shrugged and went on with my routine.
'It's not like I personally know any of them.'
.
.
.
'I jinxed it, didn't I? #Flag #RedFlag #Fml #I'mTooOldForThisCrap #nature #livingWithoutInternet #I'mOffTheGrid.'
