39 Smart Creature

Nick tortured me with those pressure points each and every night. The difficulty rose more and more, until I wasn't able to cope. One time, my arm's veins burst, which made me scream in pain. Nick didn't lift a finger as promised, though he gave me medicine. That one incident made it clear, Nick was serious, and each mistake meant more pain.

One night, after overcoming one of the more difficult combinations of pressure points, Nick pointed something out to me. "Why does that turtle stare at you each time it visits the river?". "Huh? What turtle...", I began. The turtle he was talking about, was the same one I'd watch while it caught some fish. Because of the exercise and daily work, the turtle simply escaped my mind.

Before Nick heard my explanation, he quickly caught the turtle and brought it back. "Mah, maaaah!", the turtle moaned. "Give it a break, it did nothing to you", I said while taking the turtle away. "Don't worry, he's not going to hurt you... Anyway, here, you can go", I said and placed the turtle back on the ground. "You talk to animals now?", Nick asked with a grin.

"Ha, ha, great job, I approve. Anyway, I found it when visiting the river. That's the only turtle around as well, so it made me a bit curious. Then it escaped my mind because of the training", I explained. "This turtle seems weird though", Nick added. "I've no idea what you are on about. What's so weird about a turtle? It's not like they don't live in the wild", I said.

"Perhaps, but that isn't really normal", he said while pointing at the ground. "Huh? Why aren't you leaving?", I asked surprised at the sight behind me. The turtle was still there, but this time it stared at Nick. "I don't think that's a wild turtle", he said. "Are you going senile old man? Maybe it's just scared because of you? After all, you caught it so fast", I replied. "You are going senile, moron. No matter how we look at it, this isn't a normal behaviour of a wild animal. Moreover, this guy can understand us", he explained.

The idea of a turtle understanding us was ludicrous. "... I'll skip the part about it understanding us, and ask this. How can you tell this isn't a wild turtle?", I asked. "Really? Have you seen wild animals acting like that? How about you go talk with a bear or a wolf, let's see how that pans out for you... Haah, whatever, I'll make this even easier for you. This turtle shouldn't be here, and before you ask another stupid question, let me answer. Yes, turtles do live in the forest, but this turtle doesn't live in these parts of the empire", Nick replied annoyed.

"So where does it live?", I asked confused. "These guys live next to a large lake... about two months away from here. Do you seriously believe a turtle could make that journey, with wolves, bears and other creatures roaming around?", he replied. "How do you know that?", "That's even easier. I've been to that lake, and I've seen many of these turtles around. You said this is the only one here, then it must mean it's not wild. The owner of this turtle must've kicked the bucket, hence it was left alone to fend for itself", Nick explained.

I looked back at the turtle still hiding behind me. "Can you really understand us?", "Mah!", the turtle replied to my surprise. "See, told you. Someone picked it up, and for a reason. You don't know this, but there are creatures in this world that are born different. You may say these are variants, and can appear amongst any sort of creature. Sometimes it will be very intelligent or crafty, or maybe it will be much stronger than others. That's the same with people, right? You have people that are more muscular and stronger than others. You have people that are shorter or taller. The same applies to animals", Nick explained.

"That makes sense... So this turtle is intelligent, and learned our language from the previous owner?", "That seems to be the case. Who knows how long this turtle lived with that person, and how it was treated. Seems to me it likes you for some reason. Did you give it anything?", Nick asked in reply. "No, not really. I do like animals though", I said then looked at the turtle. "You can go, he's not going to chase you. I'm sure you can make the river your new home. Just don't get too deep inside the forest, okay?", I said while using my hand to pat it's head.

The turtle left slowly, while Nick shook his head. "What's wrong now?", "Nothing, it's just my own thoughts. Anyway, you shouldn't really call your teacher an old senile man, should you?", he replied and rushed at me with his finger. 'Agh! I hoped he'd forget, and let me off', I thought but there was no escape.

For the next few days, Nick made sure to pinpoint the knowledge of pressure points on my body. Though dangerous and painful, the progress was indeed incredible. Though he mentioned he wouldn't teach me all combinations, he made sure to include all my pressure points in the multitude of combinations executed on my body.

"Because there are many ways to use this, I can't really show you everything and make you memorize it all. We don't have that much time. Therefore, you will take this", he said while handing me some notes on the subject. "This contains a lot of combinations and effects, as well as which functions of the body the points correspond to in greater depth. The Medical Journal only mentioned the pressure points, and some benefits or detriments when blocked. This will expand your knowledge", he explained.

"Does that mean we are moving on now?", I asked hopeful, and sick of being hurt all the time. "Hahaha, yes, this concludes the practice... for now. We will go over those once in a while. We don't want you to forget, after all. Now, you will learn the hidden weapons. In order to do that, you need a weapon. Since you were going for the dagger before, design and make one for yourself. Though let me warn you. If you design some rubbish, I'll be sure to stick it up your ass. That dagger will be the one you'll use", he replied.

"... I'm not a blacksmith though. Yea, I can make some basic shapes thanks to Grond, but...", "You are overthinking this. Let your instincts and body dictate the shape, then you can cast it. Didn't you make wooden daggers before?", he advised. "Alright, I'll try my best", I agreed. "Good. Now, before we start any proper training, there's something else you can focus on while working on your weapon. Namely, flexibility or dexterity of your fingers and arms. You'll use this", he added and took out a small metal rod.

"Alright, what sort of practice are we talking about?", "It's simple, just play with it like so". Nick demonstrated how flexible, and nimble his fingers were when playing with the metal rod. The rod flawlessly travelled between his fingers, and sometimes he'd even throw it in air before catching it with another finger. "And while you are at it, try hiding and retrieving the rod. We will work on that later, but it's good to get some movements done in advance". He demonstrated that as well. The rod would simply vanish from his hand, and sometimes appear again, or appear in his other hand.

After the demonstration, the metal rod was mine to play with, but of course there was no way for me to repeat what Nick did. I tried on our way back, but the rod would simply fall to the ground. "Hehe, it takes practice. You'll get there eventually", Nick said with a smile.

The following day, I'd practice with the rod whenever there was a chance, but also think about the design. Nick told me there would be no night practice until my new dagger was ready. That gave me time to think and work on some designs at night. Of course the wood was easy to carve, but there was no design in my mind. 'I only saw a handful of daggers in my life, and they looked normal to me. What am I supposed to design then?', I questioned myself.

One wooden dagger after the other, the designs were simple and pretty much copy of what I've seen in the past. 'This won't do. I can't copy things all the time. Just as Nick said, if I'm unable to create my own, how could I even master any of these Arts?', I said to myself. The dagger was supposed to be for me only. My preferences, my ideas.

With new resolve, I began carving again. If something felt off, I'd discard the dagger and make a new one from scratch. If it didn't look right, I'd discard it. Though the process took me a few days, I came up with the final shape, and therefore form of my dagger.

My dagger looked unusual for sure. On one hand, it resembled a hunting knife. On the other hand, a dagger with a blade curved upwards a bit. The daggers from my memory were always double edged, and my wasn't an exception. The difference was that the top edge only extended to the mid point of the blade from the tip. From the mid point to the handle, I got the idea to carve saw like teeth. With the exception of them being curved backwards, instead of being straight. The handle itself had no guard. After all, that dagger was mainly for throwing. The handle was also thin, and with a slight hook at both sides for better grip.

"I believe this is the design. All that's left is to cast it", I said to myself. That was really the easiest part. I could easily make a mould, and cast it. I couldn't make it from purified steel though, since they kept close eye on our supply. Taking the materials for regular steel was fine, especially since one of my tasks was to make or repair tools and weapons. No one would say anything. It was a shame, but steel was good as well. 'Tomorrow, my new dagger should be ready. I can't wait to go to work, hehe', I thought before going to sleep.