"Ser Barristan?" Jon called again with a raised eyebrow as the most famous knight in Westeros looked at him with a dazed look in his eyes.
"Did you say you were waiting for me?" Barrisatan cleared his throat as he asked with a frown on his face, looking uncomfortable for some reason, "How did you know that I would come here so early?" he asked distractedly, his mind still unable to comprehend the sheer coincidence that the boy he had been thinking about, the one because of whom he had spent the whole night without much sleep and having too many restless dreams, somehow appeared in front of him the first thing in the morning.
Now that he looked at him again, the Old Knight could not even remember the exact feature that had given it away to him, made him so assured that he had the blood of a dragon in him.
Because now that he was face to face with him once again, he saw only the North in the boy, specifically the Stark blood which was even more prominent in him than in his half-brother, 'Was it just a trick my mind played on me yesterday? Am I really so desperate that I am forcing my expectation on a random boy who is completely unrelated to them?'
"I did not know that you would come here, Ser, I just hoped that if I came to the only training ground in Red Keep, then I would eventually come across you," Jon answered with a shrug, "And as for the time, well... this is usually when I began my training back in Winterfell, so that was simply a fortunate coincidence,"
"Oh," Barristan slowly nodded, his eyes still looking a little unfocused, before he suddenly shook his head, "So did you need me for something, lad? What can this old man do for you?"
"I thought it would have been obvious why I wanted to meet you, Ser," Jon said with a smile on his face as he tapped the training sword at his waist that he brought along with him, "I am quite sure that I am not the first one to seek you out."
"Definitely not the first one," Barristan murmured with a wry smile on his face, "But usually when they come, they do so with the intention of learning from me, for me to impart on them my 'valuable' skills, but judging from your stance, I take it you are not here for that, are you?"
"Ah, no," Jon said as he sheepishly shook his head, "No offence, Ser, but I think I have passed the young age where I was malleable enough to learn from different Masters and adopt their fighting lessons into my combat system. I feel I have now become too rigid, so I think it would be better for me to see the style that I have adjusted into, to the very end."
"That... is a rare introspection, lad," Ser Barristand said with a raised eyebrow, looking a little impressed, "I do not often see young people with such a clear vision of their skills."
"Well, I have always been told that I am somewhat of an old soul... someone who is too mature for his own good," Jon replied with a helpless smile on his face, "So, it feels good to hear that there are some benefits to that too,"
"I see," Barristan replied, internally agreeing with the assessment of those unknown speakers.
After all, the brat had barely been in this world for little more than a decade and had already accomplished far more than any other man could have done with his whole life, let alone someone around his age.
"So, what did you think, Ser? Will you do me the honour?" Jon asked again as he looked at the knight with anticipation in his eyes, for some reason feeling even more nervous than he had been when he asked Margaery out on a date.
"Is there any particular reason you are so eager to swing your blade at an old man such as me?" Barristan asked as he slowly moved towards the large rack of weapons standing against the wall, while loosening the sword belt at his waist and taking it off to place it against the wall, before he went to pick up a sword that was almost identical to his real sword in length and width.
"Is the reason not obvious?" Jon asked with a tilt of his head, "After all, you are the one whose name will inevitably come up when someone thinks about the greatest warrior alive in Westeros. So, of course, I want to have a good bout with you and see how much I am still lacking before I reach the highest peak," he iterated calmly as if becoming the best of the best was an inevitability.
"Ah, I am sure there are many out there and in here," he jerked his head towards the Red keep as he came back to stand in front of him, "Who would violently disagree with you on that?"
"But there are a lot more who would agree with me, wouldn't you say?"
Barristan stayed silent and scrutinised him for a few moments before nodding his head, "I can agree to your request, and go on a few bouts with you, in fact, I will even try my best to correct any mistakes I see along the way, but in exchange... I hope that you can answer a simple question of mine at the end."
"Oh sure," Jon answered with a bright smile on his face, looking completely unbothered, as he immediately took out his practice sword and began a light warm-up right there, and then to get his blood flowing.
"Are you not afraid that I will ask for some great secret of you, lad?" Barristan asked with an amused look at the quick reply, "Perhaps the recipe of your exquisite mirrors? I heard they sold for quite a fortune yesterday."
"The nobles of Kingslanding would have already worn down your doorstep with a mountain of gifts if you were the sort to be moved by wealth like some of your other brothers," Jon answered with a smile that was not quite a smile, "I hear Ser Meryn is looking to buy his third mansion in his little nephew's name,"
Barristan was not quite sure about the authenticity of this rumour, but knowing the kind of man Trant was, he would not be very surprised if the gossip turned out to be true.
After all, as the commander, he knew better than anyone how simple it was for a Kingsguard to abuse their position, especially in the current era of Baratheons, who were very... laid back about these kinds of things.
Their job was such that they were constantly in a close proximity to the royals, and they also had a considerable amount of authority over the royal guards and the citywatch, so it was easy to see why some nobles would go to great lengths to please some of them and get them on their side.
After all, a few words here and a small compliment there could go a long way to change the fortunes of a small noble family, and that was worth a lot of gold in some people's view.
But Barristan had long since closed himself off to these dirty politics, and even if he saw it he usualy turned a blind, because he knew very well that he was the commander of the Kingsguard in name only, and that the true power lay at the feet of the queen, her brother, and their father, or else if it were up to him, men such as Borros Blunt, and Meryn Trant would have never stepped foot into the sacred brotherhood of Kingsguard.
Shaking his head to clear these wayward thoughts, Barristan's eyes suddenly sharpened as he raised his sword, "If you are done warming up, lad then shall we get started?" he asked with a small smile, unable to deny that he was also very curious to see the prowess of the boy who was said to have killed one of the most notorious pirate king in Narrow Sea, and destroyed his massive fleet all on his own.
Though from what he remembered during the War of Ninepenny Kings, the pirates were usually not very skilled in the art of combat and were more known for their cruelty, or brute strength, and usually won by overwhelming their enemies with numbers.
"I was just waiting for you to say that," Jon grinned as he stopped twisting his torso and stood up straight and slowly raised his sword in an eerily similar stance to the man in front of him.
"Let's... dance." Before the words had fully left his mouth, Jon lunged forward at the fastest speed his body could muster, his sword stabbing straight towards the neck of the Old Knight in front of him.
But as was to be expected from one of the greatest swordsmen alive, the man wasn't fazed in the slightest by the 'surprise' attack, and parried the sword with a simple flick, and then in the same motion counterattacked fiercely, all with the calmness of a still pond.
Watching the sword coming towards his face, Jon also reacted unflusteredly and simply took a step back to dodge, and then, using the momentum of his deflected sword, he went back into the attack with renewed vigour, and unleashed a ferocious storm of attack on the old knight.
Left, Right, Up, and Down!
Jon came at him from all angles, but no matter how fast he was or how much strength he put into his sword, the response he received was as stable as a rock.
Using small, uncomplicated movements, the knight was breaking down Jon's fierce barrage of attack, which was capable of taking down almost 90 per cent of the warriors out there in a few strikes, as if they were child's play.
One of them was an embodiment of youthful rigour, with the strength and speed that represented humanity's peak, while the other was showing instincts and reaction speed that were very much abnormal, as if the old knight's body was making the decisions on its own with no input from the slow brain.
And it's not as if Jon was the only one attacking, as Barristan also sneaked in an attack here and there, making use of every opening that he found.
But Jon was not an easy mark either, and seemed to be on the lookout for all the tricky manoeuvres, feints, and sudden ambushes that the old knight could think of, and dodged them all by a wide breath every single time as if he knew they were coming.
It made the Old knight feel very strange, as if from just a twitch of his muscles the boy could deduce his intentions... which should have been impossible.
Baristan had duelled against many a great opponent before, and of those, the only ones that had given this much trouble in the grounds were either ones with unreal agility, such as Jamie Lannister, or those with the godly technique, like Ser Arthur Dayne.
But this was the first time that he was battling against someone who was still so young, and far from his prime, yet commanded a physique that was no less than most of the top fighters out there, and not only that, his combat system was also a cohesive whole, and the Old knight was barely able to discern any glaring mistakes in it, which was saying something considering even old veteran knights were full of flaws in his eyes.
So in essence, the boy had it all, from flawless speed and agility to a remarkable amount of strength that he was using generously against him, and not to mention a perfect foundation in the basics, which let him fully unleash his potential.
The man had rarely seen a perfect specimen like this before, not since the time of Arthur Dayne, and he could confidently say that not even young Jamie was as good as the boy in front of him when he was his age.
'Now, let's see how long he can last with this,' he thought, choosing to limit his movements to the lowest and slow down his stamina consumption, deciding to wear down the boy to evaluate him fully.
'After all, one was bound to get tired if they kept going at this intensity,'
But alas, he was wrong once again...
As even the boy's resilience was monstrous, and he kept up his ferocious attack for almost a quarter of an hour.
And by this time, even the old knight, who had always trained hard to keep his limbs in top condition using daily gruelling conditioning, could feel the muscles in his arms and legs begin to burn from overexertion.
Thankfully, though, just as his response began to grow a little sluggish, the boy voluntarily took a step back and brought their bout to a momentary halt.
"Are you even a human? I couldn't get a single hit in," Jon panted in between breaths with a pure look of admiration on his face.
During the last few minutes, the boy had been trying his hardest to get just one hit in, but no matter where he came from, the man's defence was like a fortress in front of him, and seemed to have created an illusory sphere of absolute shield around him, not letting his sword even an inch in.
"I should be asking that of you, boy," Barristan replied with a wry smile on his face, as he also tried to get his breathing under control, "What kind of training have you gone through to get such monstrous strength and speed at your age?"
"Just consistent effort and a good diet," Jon answered with a modest smile, but he couldn't quite hide the fact that he was pleased with the compliment.
"Hm," Barristan looked thoughtful for a few moments before he suddenly asked, "Tell me, lad, have we met before? Or have you watched a Tourney that I have participated in?"
"Huh? No... Why do you ask?" Jon questioned with a confused look on his face.
"That is quite strange then," The Old knight murmured with a strange look on his face, "Because for some reason I get the sense that you are very familiar with my style of combat as if we had crossed swords many a time before. It is a very... odd feeling,"
"How could that be? I would have definitely remembered if I ever met you before," Jon chuckled while scratching his head with a perfectly innocent expression on his face, but inwardly he was cursing, 'Damn it! This old man is quite sharp,'
The truth of the matter was that Jon was indeed not a stranger to the Old Man combat system, and in fact, the same could be said for almost all the orthodox methods out there that the top noble warriors learned from their families.
Ever since he had gotten his hands on Frost, and learned to warg inside her for prolonged periods of time, he had been using her to make lengthy trips to all the castles around Westeros to go spy on the finest warriors that he knew of from the books, from Kingsguard such as Barristan, and Jamie Lannister, to Royces in Vale, Martells in Dorne, and all the others.
He watched their bouts, their training regimens, what they focused on, their footwork, and even their preferred diets. Jon did not miss a single thing and extracted all he could from them, and then compiled the best parts of everyone to make them his own.
"Is that so?" Barristan murmured before shaking his head and deciding not to think about it any further.
And for a few minutes after that, both of them just stayed silent as they slowly recovered their spent stamina.
And then, as if they had decided it beforehand, they simultaneously looked up, and Jon smiled as he asked, "Another round?"
"Here I was afraid that you were already done for the day," The Old knight said with a cheeky grin as he once again raised his sword.
"Not even close," Jon grinned back, "And I hope you stop holding back this time, old man, because I know for sure that the greatest swordsman alive can dole out a lot more than just that."
Jon was quite sure of his judgment regarding this, because in the previous bout, the old man had only ever been on the defensive as if he was evaluating a junior instead of coming at him with the intent to defeat him.
And while it was indeed entertaining to strike against a target that provided such a good response, he now wanted to feel the thrill of fighting the top monsters that he had only ever read about in the books.
"Oh, are you sure about that?" Barristan asked with a raised eyebrow, and the knight was not being arrogant here, but he did not think there was much of a chance for the boy to defeat him at the moment, perhaps in the future, when he fully realised his potential, but not now.
And he did not want this bright young man, who was probably the best in his age range, to feel dejected just because an old man used his decades of experience to beat him.
"Of course. Come at me!"
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