During Nick's absence, I'd visit the river every day. The river was quiet and an appropriate place for me to practice my senses. Moreover, I became fascinated by the fish able to camouflage themselves once their predator appeared. Usually, it would be another bigger fish, but there was another animal that caught my eyes. Namely, a turtle.
People usually assumed that turtles were slow, but that guy was pretty fast inside the water. It'd catch a fish or two without many issues, then return to the bank. I could tell it was weary of me, as it'd stare towards me and slowly leave towards the forest. That was a rare sight, since turtles weren't that common. At least that was the first one I've noticed during the stay in the village.
The turtle would return the next day, and another day. My presence no longer made it uneasy, it'd simply eat the fishes at the river's bank. The turtle made me curious, and I decided to observe it a bit more, even after it left. I wasn't sure where it was heading, but that became apparent after a while. The turtle had a hole dug inside the ground, where it would sleep, I assumed. Whether that turtle dug the hole or not was uncertain, though it had some claws able to dig inside the ground.
Weirdly enough, there were no other turtles in the vicinity. Nonetheless, I left the area of the forest as there was nothing to watch. The creature was interesting, but my training was more important. A few more days went by, and Nick finally returned. I couldn't wait to tell him about my understanding of the Art of Stealth.
"So, did you study those pressure points well? You'll be practicing that", Nick said at night. "Forget that for a minute. I've figured out the Art of Stealth!", I said excitedly. "Oooh, what did you figure out?", "There are four aspects of the Art, right? You taught me balance, in order for me to move and position my body well on the ground or any other surface. Then we trained my senses and instincts. This allows me to perceive things and find my way around. Next is judgement, which allows me to judge the environment around me. Then it's the breath, or rather control, which let's me manipulate the environment", I explained.
"Well done. That is precisely what breathing is. I used this vague language so you could figure this out yourself. I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly though. How did you change your way of thinking?", Nick asked. "That's simple, it's all thanks to fish", my words made Nick visibly confused. "I'll explain. There are fish in the river that are able to camouflage themselves in case a predator approaches. Now, not all the fishes can do this. Therefore they effectively manipulate their surroundings, in order for the predator to go after different fish. That is basically control, and that's how I realised", I said.
"Well, I'll be damned. To be honest, people get inspiration from many places. This shouldn't be so surprising, and yet. Of course just knowing doesn't do you any good, does it?", Nick said. "Of course not. Just because I'm aware what is required, doesn't mean I fulfil those requirements. I'm not sure how long it took you to get to the point you are, but I'll try my best to get there as soon as possible", I replied confidently.
"How long it took me? A few years for sure. Though I'd focus on other things as well. Heh, just figuring that out took me much longer than it did for you. You'll manage, now I don't have to worry. What about the pressure points? You memorized all of them?", he asked. "I did, but what's the point. It's not like I could practice that on people during your absence. I don't need trouble at this stage", I replied.
"Of course you'd most probably cripple someone with your shallow knowledge. That's why, you will be the target", he said in a 'as a matter of fact' way. "... So that I become cripple? No thanks?", I replied. "I'm here, no worries. Besides, the fastest way to learn, is to feel. That's what we'll do today", he replied and without any other warnings, 'attacked' me. That was Nick, not some random villager. Escaping was never an option, no matter how unwilling I was.
Nick tapped a few places on my body in quick succession. These were specific pressure points corresponding to certain functions of my body. That much was clear to me. What wasn't clear, were Nick's next words. "If you studied well, you'll be able to figure out what will happen in a few minutes", "Are you insane?", I said while my left hand began going slightly numb. "All you have to do, is tap the same places again. Chop, chop, time's running out", he added.
I tried tapping the places with my finger, but nothing happened. "You missed a few times. This requires precision", he commented with a smile. 'You bastard, this isn't funny', I thought but then quickly focused on these pressure points. The longer this lasted, the more numb my arm became. Finally, after another minute or so, I managed to tap the correct places. The numbness in my arm slowly subdued, and returned to normal.
I stared at him for a second, clearly angry about the whole situation. "You succeeded, so why are you angry?", he asked. "... Whatever, you are here after all. I guess nothing would happen", I said defeated. "Oh, I'm not going to help you though. Don't forget I'm able to reconnect your arms if there's a need. Besides, I've access to some great medicine too. You ain't going to die, though the pain will be real if you can't stop it", he explained.
"Are you insan...", before I was allowed to finish, Nick moved again. "You bastard!", I screamed. "This time it's different. Make sure you tap the correct places, or forget about walking for a day", he said in a sinister voice. There was no choice, it was either success or pain. I preferred success rather than pain.
For the rest of the practice session, I had to deal with pain and some close calls. Nick stayed true to his word, and didn't help me even once. Apparently, this was the fastest way according to him. "By the way, these were the easiest combinations. With time, I'll be increasing the difficulty. You can hate me all you want, but once I'm gone, where will you practice this? Albeit, you can go around villages and randomly kill or attack people. Not that it would matter to me, hehe", he said.
"Well, all is fine and great, but I do have a question. When will you teach me anything about the Art of Hidden Weapons? I mean, my Art of Stealth progressed a lot, and yet the hidden weapons remained nowhere. I know, escape and survival is important, but how can I fight back? How can I take my revenge on that bastard Rand and others?", I asked.
Nick looked at me for a while, and seemed defeated. That wasn't the first time the subject of the Art of Hidden Weapons popped up. "Sigh... Alright, I'll tell you then. Remember the story about the Art, and the story of Endros? My intention was to not teach you from the start. I told you before, the Arts have to be discovered, not taught. Your circumstances were quite rare, if you tried that inside a city, you'd probably die already. They keep a good eye on slaves and servants, because they want to prevent the birth of another master", he started.
"Your circumstances allowed you to embark on that path, where otherwise you'd be dead already. That's why, I didn't want to teach you. If you were to figure this out by yourself, you'd have a chance to become a master. Someone who's skills cannot be underestimated. I suppose you are right though. Maybe I expected too much, you are about twenty years old. Endros embarked on that journey as a kid, you on the other hand...", he added.
His words made some sense, and mastery was a decent achievement, but my mind had a different opinion on that. "Who said you can't learn, even if you were taught before? Were these people so simple minded they couldn't figure stuff out by themselves? You told me something once. You said, 'The older generation makes way for the younger one'. With the younger generation, new skills and ways are created. Just because you teach me some methods and ways to improve myself, does that mean mastery is impossible? Who said so? Maybe these people lacked talent, or resolve to ever reach the mastery".
Nick laughed out loud, then said, "Yea, who said you can't be a master without even trying. You are right, at least based on myself. I've never reached the mastery, because most of my life was spent on my own art, the Art of Medicine. Though this art is hardly easy to master, I'm confident there aren't many people with as much knowledge as me. Perhaps there are none at all. What if all that time I'd spend on the other arts? All masteries are different, hence you are right. Just because you learned, doesn't mean you can't reach a unique mastery".
"Does that mean you will teach me now?", I asked eagerly. "Hehe, yea, I'll teach you. Though get ready, Nex. Before teaching you anything about the hidden weapons, you will learn pressure points. Don't worry though, this exercise will help you a lot in the future. Once you are as familiar as me, hehe, you'll become quite dangerous. Anyway, we will continue this tomorrow. Rest for today", he agreed, but then added, "Oh, and this is for you".
Nick handed to me a bottle of white-ish liquid. "This is the Everlasting Dew, one fifth of this bottle is enough to make someone suffer for life. So make sure this get to the right person", he explained. "Great, with this everything's set. I'll be taking some days off during the wedding, and to top it all off, Rand knows about it. That bitch will finally pay for everything", I said.