Limits

The next day, I did my tasks as usual and went to the river. I caught some fishes and didn't change my position like in the past but stayed in the same place to cook my fish. When the fish was done and I was about to eat it, I could hear some noises traveling towards my direction. I grabbed the fish and started devouring it. After a while I noticed couple of youngsters about the age of 16, coming towards me.

I was good at eating, especially since I had a huge appetite. So devouring the fishes I had was a piece of cake. When the youngsters noticed me, they immediately charged at me. I of course wouldn't stay still and ran away. I didn't want to run away completely, I wanted for them to search and that was my real objective.

If there was no one that could teach me how to hunt. I would learn that myself! If there was no one that could teach me how to sneak, I would also do it myself! I hid behind the bushes and stayed quiet. When they arrived, one of them was at an angle which exposed my position. He shouted "There he is!" and other two added "Get that slave!"

I ran away again to hide in different area. I played like this with them for good 30 minutes, when they got tired and voluntarily left. I was kind of disappointed. I mean a bit of difficulty and they already gave up. Although they found me every time, I wasn't discouraged. I had to learn by myself, no one was there pointing out to me what I had to do. I decided to think about it more after my training with the throwing daggers at my house.

At my house, I trained furiously with the wooden daggers. I wanted to get to the point where I could throw 5 of them at once and all would hit different areas or if I wanted all would hit the same area. At this moment I could only do that with two daggers. It might seem that if I could do it with two then I could quickly learn to do it with three but that is a misconception.

Holding two daggers in my palm and throwing them at the same time was my limit. If I had three, then the accuracy of the other two would be off as well. By off I mean I would miss the target. This was annoying me constantly. I didn't know how to improve on that, what could I use to increase the accuracy as well as the number of the daggers I could throw at the same time? I thought about it hard and the only thing I could come up with was nibliness. If my fingers were nimble enough, I could use them to launch another dagger or two.

I tried it couple of times and it was difficult. My fingers were not nimble and flexible enough. I wondered how to make my fingers more flexible and nimble. I couldn't figure anything out and so I left it there. I still had time and if I tried to rush things, it would only do more bad than good.

The training ended up shortly after that. I wanted to think about the sneaking aspects before I hit the bed. As far as I could think, there were couple of things I needed in order to sneak properly.

First. My steps needed to be light. By that I mean I couldn't make noises when I walked. This could be practiced and I already had an idea in my mind.

I could practice using twigs, sand, leaves and glass. If I littered the floor in the house and tried to walk carefully, I could with some practice, learn how to be noiseless. It wouldn't be hard to gather all these materials. I could find twigs pretty much anywhere and leaves? Well it was autumn, there were fallen leaves everywhere as well. Sand was even easier to find and glass? Also easy. The people of the village drank a lot of alcohol, therefore finding an empty bottle wouldn't be that difficult.

I decided that this would be my plan for tomorrow. If I could get these things and practice on them, I would be able to learn a thing or two when it comes to being noiseless.

Second. I needed to be traceless. Thinking about this, I would train this while being noiseless as well. If I could move in a way that didn't create footprints and disturbances not only would I be noiseless but also traceless. That's like killing two birds with one stone!

Third. I would have to learn how to blend in. Clothes were a good idea but I couldn't wear clothes for every type of environment. Besides I had only one pair of clothes and it was already on me. I would have to find a way to deceive people somehow. To make myself invisible. Staying still is one way but also not being flashy is another. If someone is not looking for you then there are less chances they will see you. I needed for someone to look for me and not be able to find me. I would have to train that at the river. I needed people for that and who else could help me other than my fans? Who went after me wherever I go. With those plans in my mind I went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up as usual and went to do my tasks. When I had a break I would collect some sand, twigs and whatever I could on my way back to my house. Villagers stared at me sometimes but they always stared and although rules stated "I could have nothing on me besides the things I needed for the task I was doing" No one would actually say anything about twigs, sand or leaves. Glass was more dangerous but they didn't seem to care that I collected some bottles.

After I returned from the doctor's house and ate my dinner I went to the river again. Not just for fishes but also for experience. They would probably have weird face expressions if they actually knew that I wanted them to find and chase after me, so that I can practice my skills. I did some fishing and ate my second dinner but there was nothing. 'What the fuck?" I thought. Usually they would be all over this place but now? Not a single soul in sight.

I was afraid a bit that they gave up and will not come here anymore. I decided to investigate that, so I returned to the village. I noticed another commotion when I entered the village. When I got closer I saw a person kneeling and the old chief Rand holding a sword to that person neck. Then I heard him say "You have two choices. You become a slave here and I will let you live. After five years, you will be free to go. Or I kill you right now."

The kneeling person's head lifted and I saw a woman with a scar on her face that made her look not that pleasing to the eye. She gritted her teeth and answered "Fine! I will do it as long as you keep your promise!" It seemed she wasn't stupid enough to waste her life completely. In her place I would choose 5 years of slavery than instant death. In 5 years you can develop or form plans in case you wanted to escape. It's loads of time to plan stuff out. The village chief said "Good. If you try to run, you are dead, if you try to harm anyone, you will face severe punishment. If you want food, you will have to do the tasks we assign to you." So it was the same bullshit lecture he gave me but this time it was not on paper but spoken out loud. Rand then said something that got me sweating "You will live with the other slave, we don't have houses to just give out. But first follow me, I will give you some items you will need".

'SHIT!'

I thought to myself. If she is going to live in the same house as me, all my plans will go to waste. I rushed to the house and started to take down all the stuff related to my training. I cleaned up everything and laid on my bed, awaiting the arrival of the uninvited guest.

While waiting I thought about my training. Where should I continue it? At the river? What if someone sees me and besides today was special, tomorrow I'm sure those young villagers will again chase me. There was also this guy who shouted "GET BACK TO WORK" every time my break got too long. He was probably monitoring me and I never actually saw him. He must be good with sneaking but it's not like I can learn from him. He wouldn't teach me anything.

There was one place I could think of. Blacksmith's workshop, I was alone in there and if I finished two ingots very fast I would have time to practice my throwing skills. But I was there for only 2.5 hours so even if I managed to finish the ingots in hour and a half, doing the training for an hour daily would be a little to short… WAIT! That's it.

I had a plan now and when my thoughts reached to that point I could hear the doors to my house opening.