Chapter 49: When Strings are Attached

The next morning I went to the workshop as usual. I needed to stay low for couple of weeks in order to strip myself of any suspicions Rand may have about me. He may also watch me from somewhere, although I was more aware of my surroundings now due to the training I did and I knew Rand had no skills similar to that of Nick. He might still try to watch me for a week or two, maybe even a month. That was why I would do the same as usual for a month, this way Rand would be led to believe that I really had nothing to do with it.

Even if he asked other villagers about me, he wouldn't find anything so I didn't have to worry. I produced the ingots till the afternoon, then went to the river with Shelly for some more food and then I would practise my art of hidden weapons as well as read the Great Scriptures of Evil Medic before going to sleep.

Time went by like this and a week went past. I managed to gain some proficiency in the art of hidden weapons, my training with retrieving a dagger from anywhere on my body progressed quite a bit. I could now run, jump and do other things while retrieving daggers from any part of my body. I could only do one dagger at a time though and I needed to be able to pull out more daggers at once.

That day Nick visited me to check on my progress and trained with me using the puppets. When I displayed my newly learned skills, Nick was impressed. I then said to Nick "I have an idea for a new skill" to which Nick was even more surprised and asked "What type of skill?". I said to him "It's a skill for the art of hidden weapons. I noticed that you are using strings to control the puppets and I also noticed that 5 of them is your limit, which would mean, You need 2 fingers for each puppet". Nick was a bit surprised and said "Yes that is correct, Good lad. You figured it out".

I then continued "The new skill I thought of is to use those string and attach them to daggers. I can then learn to manipulate 10 daggers, 1 dagger for each finger. This would allow me to attack at closer range but with incredible speed and I wouldn't have to worry about retrieving my fallen daggers as the string would allow me to retrieve them automatically".

Nick was in awe for a while and then replied "I never thought of such thing. The second training which I wanted to teach you today will help you immensely to create such skill!". I asked a bit confused "How so?". Nick replied "Because the next training is manipulation. It is the same thing I'm doing with these puppets. The reason for this training is to learn how to control things but also train your fingers and hands to be more flexible".

He then continued "I never heard of anyone trying what you just said. If you can learn the control and make your fingers flexible than learn how to manipulate daggers in fight..." Nick took in a gulp of air and continued "You would have already surpassed me in the art of hidden weapons. Especially close combat".

I was speechless. 'Was the skill that I thought of this amazing?' I thought to myself. I asked Nick "That is great but where do I get these strings? Or how do I make them?". To that Nick said "You can't make them, this is an item of inheritance. I got these strings from my master, he got it from his and so on. Those strings are very durable and once I pass away, you will inherit those strings. It is one of the inheritances I will leave for you".

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I was a bit confused 'Some strings are inheritance?' I thought and then asked Nick "Isn't that weird to have some string as inheritance?" to which Nick replied "No, because they are essential in order to teach the art of hidden weapons. Otherwise, normal strings would not be able to do it. These strings are special, not only they are very durable like steel but also very flexible, so far I was not able to find similar strings".

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He then continued "Maybe what you thought of was the original intention of the strings. Maybe because of time the knowledge about that was lost. Perhaps the previous masters decided to hide some truth or perhaps it was forgotten and they passed it as inheritance due to the durability and flexibility which was perfect for the 2nd training".

Nick then continued "It's good you were able to figure out something new. That is how the art of hidden weapons should be learned. Now, I will impart to you the second training. You will learn how to control these puppets and practice with them to learn control and train your fingers to be more flexible".

Nick then said "I will show you how it's done and explain the method behind this as we don't have much time. I would much prefer for you to figure this out by yourself but, we will make an exception". I nodded my head in understanding and Nick showed me the techniques involved with the puppet control as well as how I can improve my flexibility.

After Nick's demonstration, I had another idea pop into my head and so I asked Nick about it "Can I use this technique to actually make my whole body more flexible?". Nick gave me a deep glance and said "Another good idea boy. Yes... It might be possible. The technique would need some adjustments to be usable for the whole body.... Hmmm, wait couple of days and I shall try to make those adjustments but for now focus on the technique and train your control and flexibility. Don't forget to train the other aspect as well. If you reach the stage where someone proficient can't see how you took out a dagger, that will mean you've mastered the 1 stage".

I nodded my head and continued my training while Nick left. The technique was a bit complex. I had to move my fingers in certain ways and apply certain amount of pull on the strings to be able to manage the puppet. As for using the puppet for fighting it was too cumbersome. The puppet would move if done properly but the strength behind the blows would be non existent, that was why it was only used for training. Making the puppet move and dodge was much more simple than make it attack. Nick simulated attacks with the use of the puppets but they could do no damage to me even if they had weapons. It would be waste of strength. On the other hand, daggers were light and if I threw them while using the string to retrieve them, this changed the whole notion because the potential for attacking was many times higher than using a puppet.

I spend the rest of that day practicing with the puppet. It didn't go well, I needed to get accustomed to the strings tightened to my fingers and also learn to move them in specific manner to make the puppet advance, retreat and dodge. I was using only one puppet at one time and I had to use both hands to try and control it. Nick had enough string to control 5 puppets and that would be more than enough if I were to control my 10 daggers in the future.

The next morning, I went to the workshop as usual and did my 3 ingots. I still collected leftovers and when I had enough leftovers, I would produce an ingot which would belong to me. Out of 1 ingot I would be able to cast 2 daggers. I already had 10 of such daggers for a long time now but because Nick insisted that I make much more, I didn't stop making them and now I had 16 of them.

By the time Nick and this village is gone, I should be able to have about 25-26 daggers. That was only through leftovers and I didn't plan to go on leftovers all the time. 'When the time comes I would take anything I want from this village!'

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