35 Clothes Maketh the Man

My work as a blacksmith began the following day. Grond was there, and he already began one ingot. I didn't disturb him during the process, and instead began mixing my own batch. The smithy was big enough for both of us to work at the same time, and we weren't in each other's way. After creating one ingot, I noticed Grond taking a break as well. "Can I ask you something? Since we are both blacksmiths now, how about you teach me how to make and repair tools?", I asked.

"What will that give me in return?", "Simple, you are the only blacksmith who can make or repair tools. I'm sure the hunters need sharp swords and whatnot. If you teach me, your burden with such tasks will lessen. I can do some of these repairs, and you'll teach me in exchange. Not a bad offer, right?", I proposed. Grond didn't even think about it, "Hehe, yea, that's not a bad offer. Sure, I can show you how to cast, sharpen and such. As you said, in exchange, you'll do some of the repairs yourself. Watch me closely when the time comes, I'll explain as much as possible. For now, we should focus on the ingots".

I nodded, and returned to work. Nick was convinced I had some talent when it came to smithing. I was a bit doubtful of that, but decided to try anyway. The more skills and knowledge behind my belt, the better. Moreover, Grond agreed just like Nick predicted.

Before the noon, I went to have my lunch at the tavern. With two ingots done, a break and food were necessary. "What do you want?", the woman behind the counter asked a bit rudely. I didn't pay her any mind, and simply checked what they had on offer. "I'll take this meal, with some apple juice", I said after a while. She continued to stare at me for some reason. "What? Any problems?", I asked calmly. "No", she replied reluctantly before leaving to prepare the food.

'Now that I think about it, I'm still wearing those rags... Damn', I thought. That totally escaped my mind when talking with Rand. I was so used to the rags on my body, I didn't even ask about them. 'I'll have to go after my meal. As a villager, it looks rubbish if such a guy walks around and is a blacksmith', I figured.

After my lunch, I headed to Rand's house, where the same old woman opened the door. "What is it?", she asked. "I need to speak with Rand, it's quite urgent", I replied. She remained silent for a bit, but then invited me inside. "I know the way", I said and headed straight upstairs. *Knock*, *Knock*, "Come in", Rand invited. "Hmm? Did something happen?", he asked confused.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you for a set of new clothes. You know, walking like this around the village. It's not the best", I replied. "... You do have a point, but clothes cost money", he said. "Oh give me a break... Alright, if you want to be that stingy, deduce my day's wage for a new set. Though the clothes need to be new, in that case", I replied. "Alright, go to the tailor in the village, and show her this. She'll give you a fresh set of clothes", he replied while handing me a piece of paper. The note simply asked the tailor to provide clothes for me, and was signed by Rand.

I headed straight to tailor, where a middle aged woman greeted me 'politely'. "Here, this is from Rand. I require a new set of clothes, as no doubt you can see", I said while passing the note to her. "Fine, take off the top. I need to measure you", she said. After a while, she shook her head, "I don't have anything that slim. You'll have to do with something else", she said. "I don't mind, so long the clothes are new and fresh", I replied. She gave me a set of fresh clothes, as well as new boots.

With my new clothes, I looked and felt much better. 'Though it's not much, the fabric alone doesn't feel like a rug. Alright, back to work, I guess', I thought before leaving the tailor's shop. The rest of my day passed uneventfully. After my work and a dinner, I decided to test out my hiding skills. There was a perfect target to test that out.

"You two still together? How nice", I said to the two lackeys at their usual spot. "Get lost, or you'll get it", one of them replied. "Now, now. I'm sure you two are great together, I'm not judging", I taunted a bit more. "Bastard, you think being a blacksmith now will save you?", the other guy asked. "Save me from what? You two? Hahaha, do you even lift?", I said with my finger taunting him to come after me. "Get this bastard!", as expected, he couldn't take it.

I ran towards some buildings, and tried to hide myself in the shadows. Using the balance, observation and my senses, I sat there quietly waiting. "Where is that bastard?", "How should I know, he was just here. He must've turned the corner". After that exchange, they tried to find me behind the house, and didn't realise I was just next to them. 'I'll play with you a bit more', with that thought in mind, I threw a stone in their direction.

"Huh!? What was that?", one of them asked. "That bastard must be hiding somewhere. You go this way, I'll check this side", the other one replied. They walked past me a few times, but couldn't locate me. I wasn't invisible, but they couldn't see me for one simple reason. I always stayed outside of their view, even if they searched around my place of hiding. "Whatever, we'll get that bastard another time", "Yea, this is a waste of time. Let's go", they agreed to leave.

'Nick was right, albeit these two are just some village idiots. I'm not sure if that would work against hunters. I'll need to practice this a lot more', I thought. That made me wonder how good would my skills be, if my breathing as well as judgement were great. 'I'll worry about breathing later, for now, I'll focus on watching people. Once I'm able to predict their actions, hiding will be even easier'.

I spent the rest of my day watching people. The best place for that was tavern, since loads of people visited. Whether it was the villagers after work, or the travellers and merchants that came to the village. The atmosphere reminded me of my past, and the amount of time I'd spend in a tavern. I'd get drunk everyday, or at least until my money ran out. 'That's behind me, I'm no longer a drunkard', I thought.

Drunken people behaved unpredictably sometimes. They'd stand up for no reason to shout a few words, or almost get into a fight because they spilled their drink. The tavern allowed me to experience these behaviours while being sober, and there seemed to be patterns. I tried to find such patterns, and based on those, predict actions. Though it was a fresh idea, it was better than simply watching the people.

The sun hid itself behind the horizon, which meant it was time for me to leave as well. "How was your first day at work? Oh, and you got new clothes too?", Nick asked when we met up. "The work's nothing different from before. I can manage four ingots at this stage without much of an issue. As for the clothes, yea, it escaped my mind last time. Nonetheless, these are my new clothes", I replied. "Anyway, are you ready? If you find the herbs quickly, we'll have more time to practice", "Yea, yea. I'll go look right now", I replied while leading the way into the forest.