Chapter 17

[Error]

'What? What the fuck do you mean by error?!'

[Player has reached the physiological, anatomical and genetic limit of his species and of the World. Strength and Dexterity cannot be increased further]

I was aghast.

[Name: Allan Curran(Human)

Title: The hunter, the savage, strongest human on Planetos

Class: Assassin

Level: 63

Health: 260/260

Energy: 260/260

STR: 70*

DEX: 70*

FOCUS: 40

VIT: 40

Unspent points: 219]

'Motherfucker. System, is there a way to increase the limit for my strength and dexterity?'

[No]

"Fuck!!!"

I had been in Winterfell for six months and barely managed to raise my strength and dexterity by one point. I understood that any further grind would be detrimental to my leveling speed and my skills weren't increasing much. So, I began adding points to strength and dexterity, only to be stopped by my own body.

It was early in the morning and my day was already ruined. I stormed out of my quarters and went to the forest to vent my frustration against the trees. With my axe in my hand, I swung hard at the trunk and completely severed it!

Chunks of bark and wood flew away as the tree fell to its untimely death. I looked at my axe in awe, unable to register the amount of power in my body.

'Alright, perhaps my day is not completely ruined.'

I looked at my stats again and distributed the rest of my stat points into vitality and focus.

[Name: Allan (Human)

Title: The hunter, the savage, strongest human on Planetos

Class: Assassin

Level: 63

Health: 975/975

Energy: 969/969

STR: 70

DEX: 70

FOCUS: 149

VIT: 150

Unspent points: 0]

With my mood back to normal, I went back to the castle to begin Lyanna's teaching for the day.

(ACJTF)

"What's it going to be today?" Lyanna asked. Gone were her dresses. Instead, she wore a leather armour over a plain, green shirt and tan pants. I had spent months in teaching her the art of the sword.

Given the size of her body, I taught her how to fight using a Spatha and a spear. Along with that, I taught her how to escape from captivity in different scenarios, how to throw knives and shoot arrows from horseback and how to hunt.

"Today, we'll be hunting a mountain lion that's been killing livestock of poor farmers who line in Winter town. I've tracked it down and this time, it's going to be you who will do all the tracking."

Lyanna took a deep breath and bbegan walking in stride. "Alright! Let's go!"

"... Where are you going?"

Suddenly, her face became pale and she said with uncertainty, "T-To get my horse?"

"Oh, there's no need to trouble your poor horse. Let him rest. We'll be hunting on foot."

"W-What?! On foot?! Why?!"

"I mean, if you want to hunt the lion all on your own and chase it through the entire wolfswood, be my guest. Good luck getting anywhere near it with all the noise the hooves of the horse will make."

Lyanna pouted and said, "You don't have to act like a prat!"

"Then you should start thinking. Your brain is there for a reason other than dreaming of riding away on your horse."

"Hey! I said that one time! One!!"

I began walking away and Lyanna followed me with her sword and her spear in hand.

"Hey! Wait up, you hulking brute! Hey!"

(ACJTF)

I followed Lyanna through the forest, keeping my eyes on her every move and the surroundings. Despite of it being a test and the obvious dangers of venturing into the forest to hunt, I couldn't let anything happen to her. She was the daughter of a Lord Paramount! And my student!

Lyanna was nimble, light on her feet. But, no matter how much a human tries, they would never be as quiet as a true predator of the wild. Her clothes worked well to camouflage her appearance and so did the stripes of mud on her face. Even her weapons were dulled by mud so that the sun's reflection would not reveal her location.

We walked through the forest for hours. It was allowed after Rickard Stark began to trust me enough to leave his daughter's life in my hands.

Stags, boars, distant howls of wolves.. We saw everything until Lyanna noticed a faint print of a paw in the wet forest floor. She looked for a trail and took some time to figure out the path taken by mountain lion.

'She's a little slow to recognise patterns, but, she's making progress.'

The prints led us around for another hour when she noticed claw marks on the trees.

'The target is a cougar. They are excellent climbers and very agile. They don't hunt humans, but, if provoked, even a rat will attack you to save itself.'

The big cat had killed more than dozens of sheeps and ten cows of the farmers in Winter town. It was doing what was in its nature. I felt bad for going on a hunt to put it bown, but, it was an order from Rickard Stark himself.

After Lyanna noticed the claw marks, she began looking at the tree tops as well.

After another half an hour, she finally spotted the magnificent beast. It was sleeping after having eaten its fill which was clear from the animal carcass hanging on the branch next to it.

'If she goes for the kill, she won't be able to do it in one strike. The beast has had its last meal. All I can do is make its death as quick as possible so that its suffering is less.'

I approached Lyanna who was crouching down on the forest floor, contemplating her next move. She noticed me and frowned in confusion.

Staying silent, I tapped my chest and she nodded, backing away.

[Fast reflexes]

With my spear in hand, I took my aim and...

[Assassinate]

The cougar had no chance at all. It didn't even notice the spear whizzing through the air like and piercing right through the side of its head.

*SQUELCH*

Not a single sound escaped the throat of the dead cat. It's dead was as quick as possible.

[You have killed a mountain lion

exp gained: 3400

Expert hunting has reached 100%

Congratulations, you have reached the level of adept in one of your skills.

You have recieved a 'Skill book selection chest]

It was a sombre moment for me and thus, I ignored the notification and moved on to retrieve my spear. Lyanna knew very well that didn't enjoy hunting as a sport. So, she remained silent as I burried the beast.

The walk back slowly improved my mood and we were back to sharing jabs and barbs and joking with each other by the time we arrived back at Winterfell.

"So? Did I do good?"

I shrugged and said, "It could have been better. You only began looking at tree tops after you noticed the claw marks. In the forest, even the skies are dangerous. You still have a long way to go, little lady."

I was expecting another argument, but, to my disappointment, she just scoffed and stomped away to the castle. I went back to my quarters and decided to open the chest.

[Choose one of the following items:

Advanced healing

Advanced tailoring

Advanced old tongue

Advanced dancing

Advanced eskrima

Advanced kendo]

A smile appeared on my face as I looked at the choices. It was obvious what I was going to choose...

(ACJTF)

A/N: Yeah, I'm not so cruel to leave a cliffy.

(ACJTF)

[You have selected 'Advanced healing']

Immediately, knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology, general medicine and general surgery imprinted onto my mind.

It was certainly an eye opener... Such an eye opener that I fell asleep.