Chapter 40

Spring pa.s.sed and with it came the summer . The day of the wedding was about a month away from today's date . I already had both poisons and I learned new things in all the arts I trained . In the art of stealth, I managed to uncover some of the secrets of the "avoid the light" skill that I observed from some of the fishes . I wasn't able to find the exact method but watching the fishes everyday gave me some ideas .

The best guess I had was the way fish moved and absorbed the light . Because the fish made many changes in a second, it was able to adjust to the light in such a way that it became less visible or at least it's scales were not illuminated . The fishes couldn't disappear like Nick did . He could meld into the shadows and I could not feel his presence at all .

The fishes in the pond I created only knew how to avoid the light to make themself not stand out . But that was already improvement . I learned that if I make loads of changes in my movement, I could then become less visible or rather more plain to others . That in itself is a type of stealth . The less you stand out the better it is for you, if you want to be stealthy .

Putting on black clothes or whatever will make people suspicious but if you can actually become like a pebble on the road people will not notice you naturally . I decided that this was a path worth exploring and trying out . Of course it was not the answer to the problem I had . I need to find other inspirations and maybe animals or phenomenons that would allow me to accomplish the "avoid the light" part of the art .

I released all the fishes in the pond as I could learn nothing else by studying them . The weird thing was, the turtle went out of the water when it saw me releasing the fishes and walked over . I wasn't scared of a turtle . With my strength, I could destroy it with one punch and I had daggers on me as well .

On the contrary to what I thought, the turtle came over and stared at me . Of course I knew turtles can't talk and therefore I looked at it and wondered 'What does it want?' . The answer came unexpected really, it laid down and yawned . I got confused even more and wondered 'What the h.e.l.l is this turtle on about?' . I decided to just leave . My study with the fishes were done and the turtle could now do whatever it wanted .

When I walked couple of steps, I could hear the turtle moving and then walking behind me . 'What the h.e.l.l is going on?' I thought to myself . I looked at the turtle and said out loud as if it could understand me "Are you following me?" to my surprise the turtle nodded .

When I walked couple of steps, I could hear the turtle moving and then walking behind me . 'What the h.e.l.l is going on?' I thought to myself . I looked at the turtle and said out loud as if it could understand me "Are you following me?" to my surprise the turtle nodded .

Just this action alone blew my mind . 'This turtle understood me!' I screamed in my mind . I tried again "Why do you want to follow me?" to which the turtle made some sound, then opened and closed its mouth couple of times . I was shocked again . 'This turtle can really understand, it tred to answer! I think he is trying to say that he wants to go with me' . I said to the turtle "If you want to go with me, then come" and I left the river .

I sometimes looked back and saw that the turtle was always behind me . When I entered the village, many people wanted to get the turtle for its meat . The turtle would stand next to me in that situation and I explained that it belongs to me . The villagers were not really happy and some tried force but after knocking out couple of them, they stopped interfering .

All the villagers knew I was no longer a slave and I could fight back . I was quite strong in their eyes because I did all these jobs and also became a blacksmith . While I was walking in the village, I thought to myself 'The food should not be a problem, it eats one or two fishes a day . It can hunt by itself, I would just have to be there to make sure no people harm it . It can sleep in my house so again no problem with that… I should get some hay for it to sleep on, the fields outside the village should have plenty of that' .

I went to the fields and gathered some hay . Then I went back to my house and laid the hay in one corner . I said to the turtle "This is where I live, so if you want to follow me you will stay here" . To my surprise the turtle nodded its head and went towards the hay to lay down . It seemed to be comfortable on the hay and so I left it there and went back to my training with stealth .

I went to the fields and gathered some hay . Then I went back to my house and laid the hay in one corner . I said to the turtle "This is where I live, so if you want to follow me you will stay here" . To my surprise the turtle nodded its head and went towards the hay to lay down . It seemed to be comfortable on the hay and so I left it there and went back to my training with stealth .

I tried to apply the movements that the fish was making into my own movements . I tried to be ordinary . I noticed that it was impossible for me to do the same thing as a fish . I had to figure out a different way .

I experimented with that thought for couple of hours before I came up with an idea . I needed to move in such a way that resembled the person or people I tried to avoid . For example if some villages that were farmers were walking around, I would have to become a farmer and blend with them . This didn't mean that I needed to look like farmer or work as one . It meant that if someone looked at me, they would a.s.sume I was a farmer because of the character and behaviour . I called it "Aura Copy" skill . If I could copy the aura or the person I wanted to become, I would be able to avoid being suspicious because people would just a.s.sume I was a simple worker or something like that .

I would need to learn gestures, the way certain people walk, how they behave, how they talk and so on . All of that would create something I called aura . All groups of people had different auras for example farmers had specific aura and guards had a specific aura as well . If I learned to copy them, I could become anyone . That way no one would suspect me .

It wasn't the "avoid the light" type of skill but it would be useful nevertheless because it would allow me to blend in without any cover or shadows . I went out to the fields to examine the behaviour and what not of the farmers . Farmer was a popular profession and if I could learn how to imitate the aura of farmers, I would be able to fool loads of people .

I would need to learn gestures, the way certain people walk, how they behave, how they talk and so on . All of that would create something I called aura . All groups of people had different auras for example farmers had specific aura and guards had a specific aura as well . If I learned to copy them, I could become anyone . That way no one would suspect me .

It wasn't the "avoid the light" type of skill but it would be useful nevertheless because it would allow me to blend in without any cover or shadows . I went out to the fields to examine the behaviour and what not of the farmers . Farmer was a popular profession and if I could learn how to imitate the aura of farmers, I would be able to fool loads of people .

This would take awhile to learn all the habits and such, therefore I was in no rush . Late in the afternoon, I returned to my house and awaited Nick for the training in art of hidden weapons . After about an hour of waiting, Nick finally showed up . He was confused as to why there is a turtle sleeping on hay in my room and so he asked "What's up with this turtle?" to which I said "I used it to figure some things out in the art of stealth . I already have an idea how to proceed with a new skill" . Nick was still confused and asked again "Yes, but what is it doing here?" to which I said "When I finished with my stuff at the river, it went out of the water and followed me . It can actually understand human language! I asked it if it wanted to follow me and the turtle nodded" . Nick was a bewildered as much as I was when I found out that the turtle could understand me . Nick then said "So it understands human speech? That is not unheard of when it comes to smart animals but to find such here… Anyway, now you have a pet . Take care of it well . Usually these pets are rare and can help their masters a lot" .

I said to Nick "It's just a turtle, what can it do besides eating and sleeping? Even if it can understand what I say, there is no advantages to that" . Nick retorted "That is not true . If you train it well, it can be much more useful than you think . Just find the best uses for this turtle . In other words, find its strengths and weaknesses, then train it accordingly" .

I nodded my head . Nick was more knowledgeable than me so he was probably saying this for my own benefit . We then started the training in the art of hidden weapons . I could now hit the puppet sometimes with one dagger but I was not using one . I had to aim at 3 puppets at the same time and throw my daggers at 3 targets simultaneously .

It was very hard to do so but thanks to the constant training and Nick's nagging, I had some improvements .

Spring pa.s.sed and with it came the summer . The day of the wedding was about a month away from todays date . I already had both poisons and I learned new things in all the arts I trained . In the art of stealth, I managed to uncover some of the secrets of the avoid the light skill that I observed from some of the fishes . I wasnt able to find the exact method but watching the fishes everyday gave me some ideas . The best guess I had was the way fish moved and absorbed the light . Because the fish made many changes in a second, it was able to adjust to the light in such a way that it became less visible or at least its scales were not illuminated . The fishes couldnt disappear like Nick did . He could meld into the shadows and I could not feel his presence at all . The fishes in the pond I created only knew how to avoid the light to make themself not stand out . But that was already improvement . I learned that if I make loads of changes in my movement, I could then become less visible or rather more plain to others . That in itself is a type of stealth . The less you stand out the better it is for you, if you want to be stealthy . Putting on black clothes or whatever will make people suspicious but if you can actually become like a pebble on the road people will not notice you naturally . I decided that this was a path worth exploring and trying out . Of course it was not the answer to the problem I had . I need to find other inspirations and maybe animals or phenomenons that would allow me to accomplish the avoid the light part of the art . I released all the fishes in the pond as I could learn nothing else by studying them . The weird thing was, the turtle went out of the water when it saw me releasing the fishes and walked over . I wasnt scared of a turtle . With my strength, I could destroy it with one punch and I had daggers on me as well . On the contrary to what I thought, the turtle came over and stared at me . Of course I knew turtles cant talk and therefore I looked at it and wondered What does it want? . The answer came unexpected really, it laid down and yawned . I got confused even more and wondered What the h.e.l.l is this turtle on about? . I decided to just leave . My study with the fishes were done and the turtle could now do whatever it wanted . When I walked couple of steps, I could hear the turtle moving and then walking behind me . What the h.e.l.l is going on? I thought to myself . I looked at the turtle and said out loud as if it could understand me Are you following me? to my surprise the turtle nodded . Just this action alone blew my mind . This turtle understood me! I screamed in my mind . I tried again Why do you want to follow me? to which the turtle made some sound, then opened and closed its mouth couple of times . I was shocked again . This turtle can really understand, it tred to answer! I think he is trying to say that he wants to go with me . I said to the turtle If you want to go with me, then come and I left the river . I sometimes looked back and saw that the turtle was always behind me . When I entered the village, many people wanted to get the turtle for its meat . The turtle would stand next to me in that situation and I explained that it belongs to me . The villagers were not really happy and some tried force but after knocking out couple of them, they stopped interfering . All the villagers knew I was no longer a slave and I could fight back . I was quite strong in their eyes because I did all these jobs and also became a blacksmith . While I was walking in the village, I thought to myself The food should not be a problem, it eats one or two fishes a day . It can hunt by itself, I would just have to be there to make sure no people harm it . It can sleep in my house so again no problem with that… I should get some hay for it to sleep on, the fields outside the village should have plenty of that . I went to the fields and gathered some hay . Then I went back to my house and laid the hay in one corner . I said to the turtle This is where I live, so if you want to follow me you will stay here . To my surprise the turtle nodded its head and went towards the hay to lay down . It seemed to be comfortable on the hay and so I left it there and went back to my training with stealth . I tried to apply the movements that the fish was making into my own movements . I tried to be ordinary . I noticed that it was impossible for me to do the same thing as a fish . I had to figure out a different way . I experimented with that thought for couple of hours before I came up with an idea . I needed to move in such a way that resembled the person or people I tried to avoid . For example if some villages that were farmers were walking around, I would have to become a farmer and blend with them . This didnt mean that I needed to look like farmer or work as one . It meant that if someone looked at me, they would a.s.sume I was a farmer because of the character and behaviour . I called it Aura Copy skill . If I could copy the aura or the person I wanted to become, I would be able to avoid being suspicious because people would just a.s.sume I was a simple worker or something like that . I would need to learn gestures, the way certain people walk, how they behave, how they talk and so on . All of that would create something I called aura . All groups of people had different auras for example farmers had specific aura and guards had a specific aura as well . If I learned to copy them, I could become anyone . That way no one would suspect me . It wasnt the avoid the light type of skill but it would be useful nevertheless because it would allow me to blend in without any cover or shadows . I went out to the fields to examine the behaviour and what not of the farmers . Farmer was a popular profession and if I could learn how to imitate the aura of farmers, I would be able to fool loads of people . This would take awhile to learn all the habits and such, therefore I was in no rush . Late in the afternoon, I returned to my house and awaited Nick for the training in art of hidden weapons . After about an hour of waiting, Nick finally showed up . He was confused as to why there is a turtle sleeping on hay in my room and so he asked Whats up with this turtle? to which I said I used it to figure some things out in the art of stealth . I already have an idea how to proceed with a new skill . Nick was still confused and asked again Yes, but what is it doing here? to which I said When I finished with my stuff at the river, it went out of the water and followed me . It can actually understand human language! I asked it if it wanted to follow me and the turtle nodded . Nick was a bewildered as much as I was when I found out that the turtle could understand me . Nick then said So it understands human speech? That is not unheard of when it comes to smart animals but to find such here… Anyway, now you have a pet . Take care of it well . Usually these pets are rare and can help their masters a lot . I said to Nick Its just a turtle, what can it do besides eating and sleeping? Even if it can understand what I say, there is no advantages to that . Nick retorted That is not true . If you train it well, it can be much more useful than you think . Just find the best uses for this turtle . In other words, find its strengths and weaknesses, then train it accordingly . I nodded my head . Nick was more knowledgeable than me so he was probably saying this for my own benefit . We then started the training in the art of hidden weapons . I could now hit the puppet sometimes with one dagger but I was not using one . I had to aim at 3 puppets at the same time and throw my daggers at 3 targets simultaneously . It was very hard to do so but thanks to the constant training and Nicks nagging, I had some improvements .