My new practice with Nick was scary at the beginning, but with time, I got used to it and managed to focus more. Nick was very good with his throwing, but even then, with keen sense, I could pick up on the knives. Sometimes, the feeling of a knife approaching appeared, but not for every knife. The feeling would mostly appear if the knife was more on target, than not.
Nick made sure to aim all around me for most part, but some of his knives were targeted at my leg or arm. That was when that weird feeling would surface. Besides avoiding the knives, I pretty much memorized the Encyclopaedia Herbis and Medical Journal. With these books firmly in my mind, I focused on the recipes, which of course had to be memorized as well.
That gave me more time to practice my senses, and improve in overall. Nick decided I wasn't busy enough, so he threw in another exercise into the mix. Fortunately, it wasn't demanding and seemed really useful. The exercise was similar to that of memorizing my environment after a quick look. Though the exercise helped train my focus, instead of memory and eyes.
It was simple too, and could be done almost anywhere. I simply had to draw one shape with one hand, and another shape with the second hand. He told me to draw a circle, and a square, which seemed easy, but my hands couldn't coordinate themselves. The exercise looked easy, but it wasn't. I spent a lot of time dividing my focus between my hands, only to draw crooked shapes. Though difficult, it wasn't hard to practice a few times a day.
Then the spring finally arrived. My instincts training progressed really well. I learned how to utilise my instincts more, and evade knives aimed at me. Or that's what Nick led me to believe. When he was satisfied with my progress, he finally reveal the secret to our practice. He never threw knives at me, the only thing that would fly at me were stones. Therefore, there wasn't any real danger to that exercise, other than a bruise perhaps.
"Huh? Why did you lie to me then? I really thought you were throwing knives at me". My reaction seemed odd to Nick, he said, "You'd prefer for me to throw knives? Of course it was a lie. You just had to think they were knives for a proper motivation. In the future, when someone attacks you, they won't throw stones at you. Because your mind perceived them as knives, your training progressed quickly. Why are you complaining then? Besides, your senses improved a lot compared to what they used to be. There's still room for improvement, therefore don't stop practicing".
"Then what about the poles? I don't think my instinct can help me cross them", I asked. "Hehe, give it a try", Nick replied and set the poles up for me. "Where did you take them out from by the way? This thing bothered me since the first time", "I'll let you know, once you do this exercise. I'll explain much more than that, so do well, and you'll find out", he replied.
I placed the mask on, and focused. The biggest problem for me was lack of sound. The poles didn't move, and my instincts only reacted when there was something dangerous. Nick on the other hand reckoned there was a way for me to do that blinded. I tried crossing from one pole to another, but missed my step, and fell down.
"Try again. Remember what you learned. Your senses are much better now, most importantly, listen to your instincts", Nick remarked. 'Senses and instincts... What does my instinct say?', as the thought crossed my mind, I could feel something. Something was telling me to jump towards a specific place. I followed the feeling, and my foot touched the top of the pole. Though it was a joyous moment, I lost my balance and fell. "Again", Nick commented.
We spend an hour like that, until I was able to traverse three poles. I didn't make it to the end, but it was something I considered impossible in the past. "You did well. A few days and you should be able to complete that. We'll practice that for longer, so you can get more fluidity going, but, good job Nex", Nick praised me.
"Does that mean we can move on to the Art of Hidden Weapons now?", I asked with great expectations. "Haha, no. You have much more to learn before that", "Huh? I've already spent like half a year on this, shouldn't we at least start towards the hidden weapons?", I complained. "All in due time, have some patience. I told you before, in order to survive, you need to know how to hide and run away. There's no point being strong, if you get surrounded by enemies and die", Nick refused.
"... Alright, you are the teacher. I guess we are mostly done with this exercise, what comes next?", I asked. "Next? You'll learn to judge behaviours. This will not only help you hide yourself, but also battle. You will be watching people, and judge their next actions", he announced. I had to be honest, and told him how that didn't make sense to me, "What do you mean by, 'watch people and judge their actions'? That's just vague, I'm not sure what you mean".
"That's quite simple. I'd like you to watch people during their everyday life, and try to figure out what sort of actions or behaviours they present to you. There's a reason for that, so just do it when you can. I know you work in the smithy and can't see people, but working at my place is different. Once you are free after work, the same applies", he replied. That sounded like a weird exercise to me, but Nick was Nick, and he had his reasons for doing things.
The following day, I tried to look at people just like Nick suggested. Some people noticed, and gave me weird stares, some people were dumbfounded why I'd stare at them. 'I can't continue like this. Someone will come over at one point and smash my face in', I thought. My solution to that was hiding myself where they couldn't see me. The problem with that approach would made me look even creepier, if people were to spot me.
I wasn't sure what he wanted me to look at. People walked, sneezed, or sometimes scratched their ass. I couldn't understand why that'd make a difference, and what it was supposed to teach me. That night, I asked Nick again, "I'm lost, really. Are you just trying to make me into a creep of some sort? You know how many glares, and weird looks I received today? I tried to hide myself, but that felt even creepier. What the hell do you want to accomplish? Just tell me plain and simple".
Nick sighed, then explained, "Alright, I'll tell you. I'm not asking you to be a creep. I'm asking you to see how people behave. In other words, study their behaviour. How they walk, how their bodies move, what sort of steps they take when walking, and so on. The benefit of getting yourself familiar with that is judgement. During fights, your judgement is crucial. If you judge your opponent wrongly, you will suffer. Hence, you'll judge the people walking around", he explained.
"Moreover, you need to learn how to predict actions. If you watch people and their behaviour, you'll be able to estimate their next move. This is also important in a battle. Do you need any other reasons?", he added. "Couldn't you say that from the start? That makes sense now. Since there's no one to fight, I have to watch regular people to learn, right?", "Wow, so you can use your brain. Now go back to your practice. You still haven't mastered the wooden poles exercise", Nick rebuked me.