28 The Balance of the Deaf

Throughout the autumn, we focused on mostly knowledge of herbs, human anatomy and of course my balance practice. With great persistence and sweat, the practice paid off. I was able to move between the poles without falling, albeit my speed wasn't comparable to Nick's. "We can consider this a success. Do you feel any difference?", Nick asked.

"You mean with the poles? Well, yea, I'm aware how they behave and can adjust my balance based on that", I replied, but that wasn't what Nick tried to ask. "I mean here, on the ground. Just run to that tree and back, then tell me", he said while pointing at a tree in the distance. I complied, and ran towards the tree. '... What the?', the sudden change in my movements caught me off guard.

"So you noticed now. That exercise is universal. In other words, once you learn to balance yourself properly, you'll do that over any terrain. Of course this improves your movements, and ability to defend or attack. Steady balance is a must if you want to hide yourself. Each move needs to be calculated, just like you had to figure out how a pole would behave", he explained.

I didn't notice that until Nick pointed it out. My body got used to maintaining balance so much, this made my walking, running and even jumping feel different. Thankfully, in a good and stable way. "You'll practice further with a twist. We'll use the poles as usual, but this time, you'll be wearing this", Nick said while handing me some sort of cottons. To say I was confused would be an understatement, "So, what am I supposed to do with this?".

"It's simple, stick that really well inside your ears. Then we'll continue your practice", Nick replied. With the cotton in my ears, Nick seemed to be saying something, but no voice came out. I took the thing out of my ears and asked what he said. "That means it works. Just put that in, and practice", he said.

With the cotton back in my ears, I resumed my training. *Pak*, "What the?...", I said to myself while picking myself up. I wasn't sure how, but my balance vanished like Nick's farts in the wind. "Why is my balance so bad?", I asked Nick after taking the cotton out. "I wonder why...", he played innocent. I couldn't believe some simple cotton would make me fall like that. I tried again, then again. The result were the same.

"Why? I know ears are responsible for balance in a way, but how can this affect it so much?", I asked while showing Nick the cotton. "I'll tell you, if you manage to get it to the third pole. Work hard", he replied. Without much of a clue, my training continued.

That night, I couldn't stabilise myself on the second pole. The results were always a fall. 'The weird thing is, I can stay on the first pole, but once I jump... Does that mean jumping is affected by hearing?', I asked myself. That was something the Medical Journal didn't describe. I knew ears were responsible for some of our balance and orientation, but nothing was mentioned that being deaf would affect it so much.

"How's your new training?", Nick asked with a smile. "This cotton, it doesn't block the sound alone, right?", "Oh, seems you figured something out. Go on", Nick replied excited. "Our ears are used for balance, but more for the orientation and posture. You added something onto those cotton balls. Something that messes up my ears, and therefore disrupts the balance", I laid out my theory.

"Not bad, that's pretty much it. See, you can use your head sometimes. Yes, these cotton balls are coated in special oil. They seem dry, but once inside your ear, they'll disorientate you. I'll even tell you which oil is used, it's called Greaf Oil. You can make it by grinding Wild Flax Seeds, Green Reed Seeds and Pollen Birch Seeds", Nick explained.

"Why do you want me to practice like that though?", I asked. "For obvious reasons. You need to know how to judge your balance without your ears. This isn't the last step either. Next will be your sight", Nick replied. "What? But that's impossible!", I complained. "Just because something seems impossible for you, doesn't mean it's impossible for everyone", Nick said, then took out a scarf. He even let me examine it, then tied it over his eyes.

What happened next was the impossible becoming possible. Nick moved from one pole to another, without using his eyes. My jaw hit the ground from shock. 'How is that even possible?', I asked myself in disbelief. "As you can see, it is possible. You'll learn to do this as well, but of course we need to make your senses sharper. First, will be your senses of sight and smell. Then we'll take away your sight, and enhance your hearing as well as smell... I suppose a real mastery would be sealing all of your senses, and still carrying out this exercise. Though, I'm not able to do it myself", he explained.

I nodded without further complaints, placed the cotton balls back in my ears, and continued my training. The next day, Rand came with a visit to the smithy. "Grond says you are quite useful here in the smithy. You can make two purified steel ingots. From now on, you don't have to carry the water in the morning. You'll go straight to work here", he announced.

"Two ingots is already difficult. That thing is hard as hell", I replied. "Perhaps, but with more time, you can make more. You do receive better quality of meals after all. I'm not going to waste it on something pointless", he said firmly. "What about the doctor? Am I supposed to help there as well?", I asked. "Only for two or three hours, besides, it's hardly a tough job. Your breaks remain mostly the same. If you do well, I might think about improving your conditions", he said before leaving.

The job at Nick's place was the most important to me. Practice on real patients was the best way to learn. When someone broke a finger, or twisted their ankle, Nick shown, and then explained the procedures. This helped me understand everything better, and later on allowed me to take care of such patients. Serious injuries, like broken arms or legs were rarer unfortunately. Nick would go to great lengths explaining each time a patient had such injury, but I wasn't ready to do it by myself. Deep cuts, and similar injuries were my responsibility though.

My body recovered enough for me to create three ingots during the day. Though a bit taxing on my body, if they provided appropriate food, the balance would equal out. 'This seems to me that Rand will try to keep me here. If I can make three ingots, this should be valuable enough for them', I figured.

Grond himself was probably able to create three maybe four of them in a day. For most of my stay in the village, he'd disappear during my work, but lately, he'd be more present than ever before. My guess was that the purified steel ingots were selling well, and they made good money of off them. Otherwise, they wouldn't try to produce as many of them as possible.

One thing bothered me, 'If they want as many of those ingots as possible, why didn't he make me work at the smithy for whole day? Did Nick say something to him?', I asked myself. That had to wait until night, where Nick could provide some answers.