Chapter 42: The Old Man's Secret
***
"How bad is my sickness?" asked Grabert, feeling the serious expression Vlad was giving off from his cold appearance.
"Not bad, not good either, just there in-between. It's called Arthritis and it is a sickness that comes from old age which makes your joints and bones weaker."
"Right, this explains why I feel my body is so weak as of late. Is there a cure to this?"
"Unlike my sight that I can't cure, dealing with Arthritis is rather trivial. You'll just have to follow my treatment to the point and you'll see improvements in no time."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I can assign you some plants to use to alleviate your pain for starters, but I now remember there is an alchemical medication for this. I just lack the plants required to build it, since I don't expect to craft ointments on my journey."
Hearing this, the old man, Grabert, got filled with spirit, but out of curiosity, he asks Vlad about the core of this sickness, assuming it was something from nowhere.
Nevertheless, it was a question that shouldn't have been asked.
"Curious as to why? Simply, you are a stiff old man who doesn't like to move around much. That's the biggest problem besides what goes on inside your body. To put it mildly, your body lazed its functions and started to harm you."
Once Vlad mentioned that, Grabert looked at him with confused eyes, as if not understanding much of what was said, and with a relaxed tone, he made some excuses for himself, for the lack of activities.
"You know, young man. At my age, I have to take things slowly. Unlike you, youngsters, I do things slowly."
"Yes, I know that, and this is why you shouldn't allow your body to start entering a break. You have to constantly use it, since it is like clock gear. If you don't lubricate the mechanism properly, those gears will start eating one another, and it is a viable analogy for our body."
"I see."
The old man was left without words against this young man standing to his right, who gave off a charming personality to himself.
"Anyway, I will not nag you. I feel it is a waste of my energy and also for my patients. So I will prescribe you some ways you can attempt to fix your sickness, and if you want something extra, I can make an ointment for your swelling."
"I guess you need help with regard to that?"
Vlad nodded his head, telling the old man with a shrug.
"I've just arrived in Jade Town, so I don't know if you guys have herbalists or markets that sell plants."
"We certainly do have a large variety of plants in Athkatla. I'll take you around town, if you want. In such a way, I start working on alleviating this annoying sickness." responded the old man, making Vlad chuckle at the end.
"The pig isn't fattened in the last few days."
"Hahh, I guess."
Vlad took his time to talk a bit with the old man while waiting for Titania to return before taking off with Grabert toward the Market to buy the required plants for the anti-inflammatory ointment he wanted the old man to use.
Time flew, but Titania was still playing around, now messing with some kids, moving around their toys, acting like an imp in those moments, however from nowhere a loud noise was heard, highly pinched.
*WHISTLE*
She heard a long whistle that spread around the square, to the point where she turned her attention to a tall young man who watched in her direction.
'Time go move on? Che, I wanted to mess with those kids a little bit more.'
Thinking that, she reluctantly departed from the playground, flying in Vlad's direction, and once she landed on his shoulder, an old man watched with shocked eyes.
"This is the person you were waiting for but who didn't return? A little person?"
"She is a Fairy." commented Vlad, rising from his seat, while Grabert took his grandson, greeting Titania in a shocked state.
"Young miss, sorry for the trouble."
Meanwhile, Titania had no idea what was happening, and she looked at the old man and child with confused eyes, before hearing the old man say something to Vlad.
"I'll tag along with you if you don't mind. I just have to leave this brat home, to his parents and afterwards I will be free." mentioned the old man in a casual tone, which made Vlad react in the same manner.
"Sure, after you." agreed Vlad, beginning to follow old Grabert in the direction of his house which was rather close to the center.
"Surprised that I live in this well-fared district?" asked old Grabert with a smug face while turning his head at Vlad whose face remained unchanged, of a cold indifference.
"Mister, you forget that he is blind. Those shows of wealth don't work on him. But I will tell him what your house looks like." replied Titania after she saw that Vlad remained silent, with his expression being indifferent.
Facepalming himself, the old man opened the gates of the courtyard and welcomed his two guests inside. He later went toward the house with the child, while Vlad walked around the courtyard where Titania began describing to him everything surrounding him.
"There's something close to that Oak Tree, an open building with a chimney, a lot of tools and something of a round stone placed on a wood gadget."
She continued describing what could seem to be a Blacksmithing Forge, which made Vlad open his eyes, walking toward this building and moving his hands around the tools, sharp or dull that it scared Titania.
"What are you doing!! There are sharp tools here." said Titania, trying to make Vlad back away from the forge, but it all failed.
The Wallachian Prince, remembered fully the feeling of stepping inside a hot-burning forge, where the Saxons of the Duchy under his rule were forging weapons for his Cavalry. Moving around this forge, even if he was blind, there wasn't a point where he stepped wrong, or cutting himself.
"Let's see the Grindstone and if my polishing skills have forgotten about me."
"You know how to use that thing?" asked Titania, who stood on Vlad's shoulder, only being able to watch him walk slowly toward the Grindstone and took a seat.
"Obviously, a knight has to learn how to sharpen his sword. I will do some polishing on that scrap metal."
Touching the fine grindstone, and moving his legs to see if there was a pedal mechanism for turning the wheel, his left hand was checking his surroundings, which made Titania confused.
"What are you looking for?"
"The bucket with water."
"Ohh, that. I saw it here."
She took off from his shoulder and landed on his head, pulling his hairs like she was controlling a blind horse, until he stumbled on the bucket, beginning to laugh sarcastically at how close it was.
"I really hate being blind."
"You have me, Vlad. Don't worry, I'll help you around with those small things."
Nodding his head, where a smile proceeds on his cold face, returning back to the seat and touching the grindstone again.
"How does this thing work?" inquired the curious Fairy, who didn't remember seeing such a gadget in her life.
"Watch."
Saying that, Vlad took out a hairpin from his hair that started morphing into the basic form it initially held when it was inside the lake of Galena Mountain. Moving it around with swift wrist movements, it gave off some wind-slashing sounds from the cuts he was executing.
Placing the sword on his lap, what followed next for the polishing process was him wetting the stone, and starting to pedal on the turning mechanism.
"That's how the grindstone works, little Titania."
The Fairy nodded her head in a studious manner, watching Vlad approach the sword closer and closer on the grindstone in a specific angle, but suddenly stopped which confused her, but with a closer look she noticed the black blade of the sword vibrate.
*Buzz*
It was the first time she saw Vlad communicate with the spirit inside the sword she watched over for god knows how long, and seconds later, Titania heard Vlad remark with a cold voice.
"What do you mean you don't have to be polished? Stop being foolish and let me sharpen you."
*BUZZ*
"Scrap metal, I am your master. Just be good, and you'll see how good you'll feel after this polish. You think I am some peasant that never touched the grindstone in his life?"
'Stupid sword, 43 years of training myself where I learned all the common techniques and weapons. Including sharpening. How do you think I could kill so many enemies in such a swift manner? I polished my swords so fine, that it could bisect a man in one swift cut.'
*Buzz*
Feeling a string of emotions from the sword, that were mocking him in an arrogant manner, as if to tell him. 'Indeed, you are a peasant who doesn't know anything.'
It was up to his interpretations, but in general he nailed correctly all the comments the sword was throwing at him, but minutes later the sword quieted down when Vlad made a nasty remark about the sword.
'Scrap metal, remember. Unlike that former master of yours, who left out a fancy story about you, and even left you inside a nice place, I am different. I can throw you in the crevices of a mountain where not even a bird would attempt to check. So be quiet, and enjoy the process.'
Titania saw the manner the sword stopped vibrating which happened in an instant, and what ensued next was Vlad beginning to touch the black blade of the sword with the grindstone.
His right leg that was activating the paddle mechanism was moving in an alert way, turning the grindstone so fast that he was worrying the wood structure of the grindstone would break, but luckily it was still standing without giving off cracking sounds.
*Metal polishing*
Placing the sword on the fast-spinning wheel, with a careful, diligent manner he started polishing the sword, showing a dead cold seriousness in those moments, a thing that the old man, Grabert noticed when checking around for what his guests were doing at his old forge.
"Pst, mister. Can you explain to me what Vlad is doing?"
"Hmm?"
Grabert was confused when hearing the voice of a woman on his left ear, but noticing that it was the Fairy, he chuckled, remarking with an assertive way.
"That boy's skills are well mastered. Similar to my polishing skills. All of his movements are balanced, not rushed at all."
Watching from outside with Titania, Grabert's eyes were on the black blade which gave off a cold aura about it, however the sword shape was particularly unique, judging it to be the work of a great craftsman.
Comparing his works with the sword Vlad was holding, it could be similar to comparing scraps with a masterpiece.
After about 10 minutes, Grabert saw Vlad get on his feet murmuring something, while the sword vanished from his hand, creating another string of questions to ring inside his aged mind, and once Vlad appeared before him, he only commented on his polishing skills.
"That wasn't a bad technique at all. Maybe a bit outdated, but in general it does the job."
"I see, if I regain my sight, for sure I will learn a new technique. You don't mind that I used your grindstone, right?"
"Not at all, I have retired from forging."
Not lingering too much on empty talk, Grabert took Vlad toward another part of Jade Town, and from the distance, he had to walk and the cold shadows created by the trees around, it gave him the leads that he went to a secluded part of the city.
"I hope Harl will tell you about his experiences as a blind person. Since he usually doesn't like talking with people."
"No problem, I have my own ways of making people talk in case they don't want to speak." remarked Vlad with a comment that made Grabert laugh, taking it as a joke, but Titania knew what Vlad was referring to.
The group arrived in a part of Jade Town that had a small amount of houses, a part of the city that was more forested than the heart of the city, where all the eyes could see were trees.
Getting deeper in this part of the city, Vlad from far away could hear a voice that got louder with each step he was doing, following Grabert's lead.
"GODDAMN IT! I MESSED THE BINDING AGAIN! THOSE EARRINGS WILL NOT DO IT!"
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! WHY DOESN'T MY CLICKING SOUND WORK FOR THOSE SMALL DETAILS? I CAN'T SEE SHIT SO SMALL!"
Hearing this comment, Vlad opened his eyes, and hummed with interest, while Grabert coughed, a bit, telling the young man.
"Usually, he doesn't have such a spoiled mouth. Something must have happened to his work."
"Sir, I don't care. Why should I care how one speaks, if it doesn't affect me?"
"No, I was just preparing you. You might hear that old blind cursing you for no reason, especially if he is angry."
"Sure, no problem. My tolerance levels are quite high for fools."
Once the group arrived at a cleared patch of land, a small house was revealed, while not far from the house was a smaller building that had some smoke coming from the chimney.
Titania began whispering to Vlad everything she could see, panting for him an image of what she was seeing, until Vlad raised his finger to stop her from talking, exactly in the moment the cursing old man threw another bomb.
"WHO'S THE IDIOT WHO CAME TO BOTHER ME? HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU GUYS TO LEAVE ME ALONE?"
"Brother Harl, is me Grabert."
"Ohhh, you should say so from the start. Come in. Do you want to check my work and tell me if it is decent to be sold?"
"... I guess, I've got nothing better to do. However … "
"That's good, come in, come in."
"However, I brought a young friend with me. He has an interesting story, just like yours."
"Bah, a story better than mine? Who is he, old man Greenwood who went on the Grand Line?" commented the old man from the small building, not bothering himself to exit, expecting old Grabert to step inside.
Coughing a bit, Grabert stepped forward, followed by Vlad, and soon after stepping inside the building, an old man with long white hair, tied in a loose way, sat down on a chair close to a working table holding some small tools.
His appearance was rather pleasing, with his eyes closed, making Titania feel this old man was similar to Patrick, an extravagant old man.
*Click*
*Click*
*Click*
Vlad's keen-hearing picked up the tongue clicks coming from the man standing about 5 meters away from him, and he was surprised to hear the old man's remark, sounding rather arrogant.
"Grabert, haven't you said you brought one guest? I can see 2 guests."
"Right, nothing can escape you, brother Harl. There's also another small guest, but I didn't think you could pick her up."
*Click*
"Ye, I can tell, it sits on that guy's shoulder. A woman." responded the one Vlad presumed to be Harl, the blind one with the ability to see.
"You can see?" asked Vlad with his voice trembling a bit.
*Click*
The old man made a distinct tongue-clicking sound, which confused Vlad, but what mattered to him was not his confusion, but instead the answers to his incurable blindness.
"Yea, what about it? Are you here to mock me like the other idiots from the town?"
"... I don't intend to do such a low thing. Especially to someone I can understand its suffering."
"Heh, can you understand me? Bullshit. No one with sight can ever understand a blind. Piss off, little shit. I am not in the mood to talk with strangers.
I welcome you out."
The old craftsman was quick to judge, and he didn't even allow Vlad to introduce himself properly, instead, it was Grabert who jumped in to put Harl at peace.
"Wait, wait, brother Harl. Don't rush to conclusions. This young man's name is Vlad Dracul, a doctor from Picodras Island. Besides being a doctor, he is also blind."
The old craftsman immediately opened his eyes, who Titania could see were white, unlike Vlad's abyssal eyes that didn't seem to be suffering anything like Harl, and with an attitude shift, he asked Vlad a simple question.
"From birth? Or you've lost it step by step?"
"Trauma to the head." responded Vlad in a calm manner, which made old Harl shake his head, sighing to himself.
"And you've made it from Picodras to Athkatla? By yourself? I guess that small woman on your shoulder helped you."
"Indeed, I had her help in this journey of mine."
"Sir, you are wrong, Vlad could journey out by himself with no problem. He just allowed me to come with him on this journey of his." added Titania, giving out her thoughts as she saw it, about the journey and from what she learned about Vlad.
Harl clicked his tongue, without Vlad or Titania knowing the reason why.
"Grabert, you can go to my house and take some wine. Water my plants a little bit while you are at and leave me alone with this young man. Secrets between blind people."
"Ohoo, finally you aren't a piece of shit and return some of my favors."
"Yea sure, piss off." retorted the old man, waving his hands at the elder, making the whole scene a comical act.
Nevertheless, once Grabert went out from the small workshop, Harl crossed his hands at his chest, and while tapping his finger to his arms, he inquired.
"Why have you journeyed out from that far place?"
"Does it even matter?" replied Vlad, being concise in his answers.
"It does. It tells me about who I am speaking with. Unlike that old man you've met, I don't care about your profession of being a doctor. Doctors never helped me once in my life, so I could care less."
"What I care for is the dreams of people."
"This journey is in search of a cure for my eyes. I want to reclaim my sight."
"Good, and what makes you think I can give you your sight?" asked Harl, with a smirk on his face, which Titania could see in full.
"I know you can't get my sight back, but you can teach me your technique for being able to see. I know there is something out there which can improve, aside from the walking cane."
"Yes, a dog. Which in a manner you've already got." commented Harl, throwing an insult, which made Vlad's abyssal eyes turn cold, and swiftly the atmosphere inside the workshop room shifted.
"Repeat what you've just said."
"What, you don't like my analogy?"
Vlad took out his hairpin, which morphed into a Kilij, and while the old man was clicking his tongue, he could feel the presence of a weapon appearing from nowhere which had him whistle, impressed.
"Let's cut to the stupid rattle, since I don't have all time in the world to exchange insults with a stupid peasant. Tell me your technique, and I will leave you alone without hurting you."
"Me, a stupid peasant? Bahaha, at least I know how to see. But you?"
*Click*
"You are still a little shit, who requires the help of others to move around."
Not caring too much about the insults received, Vlad began pondering about what the old man was doing, and that specific clicking sound his mouth was doing, which in his mind the biggest "WHY" was asked.
'Why does he do that? Clicking his tongue? Let's try and see what it does if I mimic that sound.'
He rarely ever clicked his tongue, but it was mostly a trial and error task that he began doing, until the first click that was similar to old Harl's got out.
"I guess you aren't dumb, you just got unlucky not to see dolphins in your life."
Still pondering in his mind, Vlad suddenly stopped as if he froze down, and with a hiss, afterwards he nodded his head, concluding with a cold voice.
"Does it work with other sounds apart from tongue clicking?"
*Humming*
Vlad started humming while he placed his hands in front of his mouth, which to Titania that was closer to him, sounded louder, which confused her, but to the young man, it was like giving water to a thirsty traveler.
The old man only gave off a small smile, and remarked with a bored tone.
"Piss off already if you figured out my technique. Is not that hard once you know what to look for. This is how dolphins use their clicks to find their prey, it sends a sound wave that bounces back once hitting a target."
"Also, it doesn't really work with those tunes of yours. I've tried this method for about 10 years, and it always fails. The best method after 50 years of practice is to click your tongue in a sharp, loud manner."
"How couldn't I think of that?"
"Because you are dumb?"
Vlad ignored the old man and morphed the Kilij back into a hairpin that he inserted into his long hair, moving around the workshop while starting to click his tongue.
Slowly but surely, while concentrating his keen ears he made out the shape of the objects around him.
"I can see the difference between just using my presence and perceiving the objects surrounding me."
"Well, I guess it's rather easy after spending 8 years of training your hearing and mental world to visualize various objects. While not seeing with your own eyes, this will do.
Old man, I will not bother you anymore, but if you want to tell me something I should be aware of in regard to this technique, do it now."
"Meh, just go drown yourself, for all I care. Leave me alone, already."