Chapter 4

The arrival of the tax collector was greeted by almost the entire village. The gate was opened and about twenty fighters of various classes rode in on horseback, escorting an empty tribute wagon. It is noteworthy that even the Warriors among them wore leather or, at best, chain mail armor. I already knew that full plate armor was extremely expensive and not many could afford it, although there may have been other reasons for its low popularity.

The head of the village, the local Priest and the innkeeper came out to them with a wide smile on their face, and soon they went to feast and rest. I already knew that even on horseback the path to Rent was not close and not safe, so it's not surprising that they were going to rest in the village. After looking at them a little, people began to disperse and I followed their example. Taxes in the form of various goods of the village were collected in advance by the head of the village, a little later the head of the village will report and if the collector is satisfied, the loading will begin.

Soon, Derek and several other peasants who managed to get the first level before the age of twenty left the village. Later I learned that there are magic and warrior guilds in the kingdom. Everyone who reached the first level was required by law to register with one of the guilds. Obviously, this was necessary primarily for control. The villagers did not have this opportunity, so, among other things, the task of the local librarian was to enumerate all members of the class system and their levels. For the most part, only criminals and rioters refused to register with guilds, so if it turned out that you were 2nd or higher level but not registered, you could receive various punishments up to the death penalty.

A couple of days after Derek left, I went to the master as usual, but outside I saw my former "friends" which were waiting for me. At first I used them to get information, and later I stopped paying attention to them altogether and they obviously did not like it. While Derek was around, they did not bother me, but now that he left, they decided to teach a lesson to the traitor. There were only three of them, local growing troublemakers that Jack had been before.

These punks had no idea how to fight properly and brandished their fists with their eyes closed. I dealt with all three without any problems, having caught a couple of cuffs from me, they burst into tears. Of course, I was not going to harm them seriously, otherwise unnecessary problems could appear. I suddenly thought that this is a good way to practice. Of course, these guys were useless, but as a warm-up they could do well.

- Stop whining! - I shouted and waited for them to calm down.

- From now on, you must meet me every morning at the same place, and the one who does not come will be a coward and a mama's boy. Any objections?

After waiting for confirmation, I went on. Fights between children did not happen often, but not infrequently. Some of the neighbors looked at us with interest. One of the spectators was Anna, whose big eyes seemed to shine even in the light of day. Looking at her, I even smiled slightly, her expression was too comical.

The next day, not only three former friends were waiting for me, they took a couple more people with them and in total there were five of them. Apparently they seriously intended to take revenge on me. In addition, the news about the meeting place clearly spread, few adults were observed, but at least a dozen of punks of different ages pulled up.

The five had clearly discussed the "strategy" in advance and now they swooped down on me at the same time as one. Although it was evident that some were still a little "lagging behind" and were not eager to fight. I was 14 and my body was not too different from the rest. If they piled on and grabbed me all at once, then hand-to-hand combat skills would be useless. So I had to run around a little, looking for a convenient opportunity.

Confusion immediately began in their ranks, two even collided and, entangled with each other, fell to the ground. Having guessed the right moment, I calmly walked away from the first client who ran at me like a bull on red. Apparently his task was to catch and hold me. But when he was already very close to me, he stretched his arms forward and closed his eyes with a warcry. I almost laughed out loud, stepping aside, I tripped him and while he was digging the ground, I was already focusing on the rest of the trio.

Two of my old friends hit me with their fists. I shifted towards first of them to avoid being hit by the other. I managed to redirect his hit with one of my arms, meanwhile my second fist hit him in the nose. True, the second guy continued to swing his fists in my direction, so I did not have time to react and he still managed to hit me once in the area of ​​the collarbone, although the blow was not too painful. Turning to him, I punched him too. This time I hit hard enough and in the face to immediately neutralize the attackers. Still, the other two were already moving in my direction and I didn't have time to play with them.

True, the remaining two sharply lost momentum after they saw trio of their friends on earth, and two of them had their noses broken. But I nevertheless decided that it is worth paying proper attention to these last two guys, otherwise their friendship with the others may suffer. Of course, I was already easier with them, once again there was no point in breaking faces.

In my past life, I fought quite often. An older brother who beat me regularly until I fought back. At school, too, he regularly struck up fights and it happened even after. I did not go to boxing for a long time, so I could not be called a master of combat, but I had enough experience in street fights.

When I made sure that the punks were not going to persist, I said the same thing as yesterday. I understood that if there were already a dozen of them, then it is likely that they would simply beat me up, and even five people was an overkill, if they were a little smarter, I would not have coped. But I was not afraid to be beaten, in fact, not all fights in the past ended well for me, but I did not see anything terrible in getting hit in the face, sometimes a few good hits in the face can actually help, no matter how strange it sounds.

The next day, the number of children among the spectators again increased, but to my surprise there was only one kid at the site of the alleged fight. His name was Russell. Like me, he did not differ in physique and was as tall as me. An ordinary country boy, his face was very serious and his eyes were determined, as if he was going into mortal combat. And he was exactly the one who got properly hit in the face before, although he managed to punch me once. I refrained from laughing so as not to offend his determination.

- Where are the others? - I asked, looking around. The other two former friends were nowhere to be seen.

- They won't come. Today it's just me. - said Russel

Initially, I just wanted to practice again, but looking at Russell I changed my mind. In this world, I needed friends, followers, or subordinates. I doubted that I could achieve much alone. The classes were different and each had its own characteristics. Even the tax collector was accompanied by various classes, which was a prime example of the effectiveness of this approach.

I didn't mock Russell's determination; on the contrary, I tried to push him in the right direction.

- Very brave of you, you are a real Warrior. Let's start training. Attack - sounded a little pathoc, but effective.

There was no point in beating him. I was practicing diffirent moves, then I told him to get up again and again, and he got up.

- Never close your eyes, never take your eyes off your opponent.

- Don't wave your arms like an idiot, stop!

I showed him the basic boxer stance and punches, after which I told him to train in his free time. Not that I was even a beginner boxer, or could be called a coach, but it was still better than the way he was waving his arms now.

Russell was a little distracted, but seemed to be trying to follow directions. Even the fans were quiet, not understanding what was happening. Anyway, after the briefing, I patted him on the shoulder and went about my business.

The next day, the audience already decreased, apparently they were disappointed by the lack of a massacre. As before, there was only Russell so I took a little time for him. I still need a sparring partner, at least I can train my punching bag myself.

After another week, I learned how to make arrows, at first all this was interesting to me, but over time, the same monotonous work began to get bored. Considering that I never made it to the first level, I decided to take up blacksmithing. Of course, the local blacksmith was only good at making tools for the local population. Well, after the last experience of communication, he was not eager to contact me. But then the bow master came to the rescue, together with whom we were able to persuade the old blacksmith to give me a chance.

First of all, I was interested in the possibility of making iron versions of Sai, this weapon was probably one of the easiest to make and it did not require alot of materials. Of course, I also learned how the local homemade oven works.

When I was preparing to go to the blacksmith the next morning, Anna turned to me.

- Brother, teach me how to fight. - at the end of her request, she already sounded quiet and uncertain and was staring at the floor.

Wow, she called me brother. I was usually the villain, but apparently got promoted.

- Ask your mother if she will allow it, then I do not mind.

Mother was there, so she heard everything perfectly. Grumbled a little, she nevertheless agreed, but of course she warned me that if something happens to Anna, she would rip my head off.

Now the two of us went to meet Russell. There were almost no spectators today and the excitement passed, so we practiced calmly. Both got homework and we went our separate ways.