"Good!"
The Old Knight said and immediately lunged forward at a speed that was completely unlike anything he had shown until now.
He then launched a ferocious string of attacks, which made Jon's previous assault feel as if he were a squire in training.
The sword moved so fast through the air that Jon only ever saw a blur of shadows, and even when he defended himself, their weapons always met in such a way that the knight could wield his greatest force while Jon could only exert less than half of his strength.
It made him feel as if he was dealing with a completely different kind of enemy, as if the previous turtle-style combat of the Old Knight was just an illusion, and this ferocious hurricane in human form was his true self.
He had never been overwhelmed like this before, not even against the mountain, because while Clegane had a giant blade, and his beastly strength working for him, it wasn't of much use against Jon as he was never even able to touch his clothes, but against this Old knight, even the practise sword felt as if it was the deadliest of blade, making Jon feel as if every swing was coming for his life.
Each attack followed the shortest trajectory towards his vitals, and as if he knew the law of levers intimately, the old knight always used the least amount of force to dole out the greatest punishment.
And as if that wasn't all, every strike of his was connected to the next one seamlessly, leaving no space for Jon to breathe in between, and he didn't forget to add all kinds of crafty manoeuvres and tricky ambushes in between, leaving Jon so flustered that he almost bit his tongue.
In the end, barely three minutes into the bout, Jon finally could not withstand this overbearing assault any more and made a small mistake of taking a step too short, and almost in the next moment, his sword was deflected out of his hand, his feet were swept from under him, and he found himself at the pointy end of the sword.
"I lost," Jon said in between ragged breaths, sweat pouring down his face as his chest rose up and down in sharp, uneven rhythms.
"You did," Barristan said calmly as he removed his sword and took a step back, watching the boy pat his clothes and get up.
And what pleased the Old knight the most was that he saw no sign of any disappointment or resentment in the boy; instead, there was only contemplation and quiet reflection on the duel he had gone through.
In fact, Jon was far from dejected by the loss—if anything, he was exhilarated by it, for it had been a long time since anyone had pushed him this hard in a practice bout and defeated him.
As most of the time when Jon found himself against opponents like this, who could hold their own against him, it would usually be a matter of life or death. And this meant that he would have to try his hardest to kill the enemy, and when Jon tries his hardest... his enemies do not survive.
Thinking along those lines, one could even say that he had held back against the old knight, or at least did not use every trick in his sleeve, or else he did not think he would have lost the fight so unseemly... but that would have made the bout redundant, so he did not do so.
In his mind, Jon had divided his fighting ability into three levels, where level one was just his normal base strength, the one he used just now, only utilising his body, and the pure martial skills that he had developed over the years.
Level 2, for him, was simply when he kept Frost placed right above him and used his connection with her to have a god's eye view of the entire situation in the back of his mind, and it had an enormous effect on how he saw the flow of battle and made him feel as if playing a game.
And it was even more of a godly assist when it came to a haphazard melee or a war-like situation where there were too many enemies around to keep in sight, and in those circumstances, having a clear view of your vicinity could be the difference between life and death, whether it be to use your surroundings against your opponents or to help you scout the perfect path to get away.
Then finally comes the Level 3, his so-called trump card, the ability he had unearthed in that life and death battle against the Mountain, the skill Bullet Time.
Speaking simply, it was when he deepened his connection with Frost to the next stage, where he would have all the facilities of his friends' supercomputer-like brain at his beck and call, ready to process every piece of information that his eyes received in excruciating detail.
It was a very overpowered feeling, as if the world had slowed down just for him, and he had all the time in the world to think the best way out of any trouble he found himself in.
And it was this that made him almost invincible against any warrior out there, whether they be a giant like Mountain, or a legendary warrior like Barristan Selmy.
But he was not here to win, he was here to learn and have a little bit of fun... so he never used his cheats.
"Is your rest over, boy?" Barristan's voice suddenly called, and Jon looked up to see the Old Knight smiling, looking almost fully recovered, watching him with a raised eyebrow, "Or do you perhaps need a few more minutes of rest for your weary soul?"
"I hope you do not regret provoking me later, Old man, and come to me complaining about your aching limbs" Jon grinned as he raised his sword once again, "Because I can do this all day."
"Oho, then let us see if you back your big words, lad—"
....
"Why are you still out here?" Jamie Lannister asked with a frown on his face, as he walked towards his nephew Joffrey Baratheon, standing on the balcony, staring down into the training grounds like a bystander instead of being there himself, finishing up his warm-up like he was supposed to.
But the boy either did not hear him or deliberately ignored him as he kept his eyes focused downwards, which ticked off the Kingsguard like nothing else, but just as he was about to berate the spoiled brat, he caught sight of the training grounds out of the corner of his eyes, and finally realised what had caught the boy's attention.
Ser Barristan, Jamie immediately recognised, but it took him quite a few moments to realise that the one who was fighting against him and almost holding his own was that Northerner bastard... and that impressed him more than he was willing to admit.
Not to mention, from the looks of how sweaty their garbs were and how the ground around them had turned a shade darker due to being soaked, this was definitely not their first bout.
"How long have they been at it?" he asked out loud as he turned towards the tall, ugly giant standing silently behind Joffrey.
"Who knows," Hound grunted out with a shrug, but his eyes remained focused down there with an intensity that was very much unlike the usual disinterest and indifference he carried around himself.
"More than two hours, as far as we are aware, Ser Jamie. I asked the other servants, and they told me that they had been here since before sunrise," whispered a timid attendant who Jamie vaguely remembered as a cousin from Lannisport who always followed Joffrey around doing his bidding. "They have been taking small breaks in between before going back into it."
"Hm," Jamie nodded as he turned back to the grounds, and now that he looked closely, he noticed that their bout attracted quite the varied audience.
From his brother, Robb Stark, to Loras Tyrell from Reach, to Brynden Tully, and Edmure Tully from Riverlands, and a lot of other knights and nobles that he never bothered remembering the names of, all of them were quietly standing on the sidelines, having forgotten about their own training, and focusing on this fight instead.
"Fools! They are making a big deal out of nothing," Joffrey suddenly mumbled, jealousy quite obvious in his voice, and then, as if having thought of a clever idea, he suddenly smiled and turned towards the stairs, "Hound, with me."
"Where are you going?" Jamie asked as he grabbed the boy's hand to stop him at the last moment.
"I am going to go put an end to this farce," The boy replied with a smug look on his face, "I need to show them how it is done."
The Lannister knight could easily see the thoughts running through the brat's head.
He must have heard the servant's words about them having been at it for almost two hours, and probably assumed them already at the end of their ropes, and thought that it would be easy for him to grab a victory if he jumped in now.
'Which was a very idiotic idea, considering his skills,'
No one was more familiar with the boy's skill than himself; after all, he was the one who had been teaching him since he was a snot-nosed brat on orders of his mother.
And while the brat had decent talent, he was too lazy and arrogant to truly put in the hours required in the training ground. So no matter how highly he thought of himself, he was, in the end, an above-average fighter who could only ever stand out against those mediocre knights out there, who probably would not even dare to go all out against the prince of the realm.
And even in the short period he had observed the boy, Jamie knew that the Northern bastard would be able to decimate the prince in a matter of seconds, no matter how exhausted he was, and if that happened... well, he did not want to deal with the aftermath of that.
"Your father is holding a tourney in the bastard's name, and your mother also liked the mirror he got for her as a gift," Jamie said after thinking for a few moments, "So I don't think it would be a very good idea if you go down there and humiliate him in front of everyone."
"What? I can't even teach the bastard a lesson just because he brought some trinkets," Joffrey asked with a displeased expression on his face. "He needs to be taught who his betters are, Uncle. We can't just let him prance around like that."
"Isn't the Tourney starting the day after tomorrow. I will enter the Meele this time, and do it in your stead."
"Really?" Joffrey asked with a surprised expression on his face, before he suddenly hesitated, "Can you beat him, though? The brat seems quite good,"
"Oh, that was never in doubt," Jamie replied with a small smirk as he looked down with a snort, "The boy wouldn't last more than a few minutes against me."
///
You know what to do if you can't wait for more...