I couldn't hear clearly what the people outside were talking about, so I crack open the doors just a bit. With the doors slightly ajar, I was able to make out what the louder voices were saying. "Congratulations old chief", "Come here chief, let us toast the good news". These were the things, I could mostly hear. Something good must have happened to the old man. He was being toasted, and received congratulations. I wondered what the hell happened? I decided to listen a bit more attentively. After awhile of eavesdropping, I managed to hear this sentence. "Congratulations old chief. Now you granddaughter will have bright future in front of her". I wondered, 'What type of good fortune did his granddaughter receive? The whole village is celebrating'. Did she get a large sum of money or something? Was she becoming a disciple of some kind of warrior? Then I heard another person saying, "You granddaughter is blessed! To be able to catch the eye of that young master. Congratulations again old chief". Everything became clear at that point. The woman who chased me around, as if I was her worst enemy, got into a relationship with the so called young master. I understood, why they held a celebration. That so called young master, was from Grasshill Village. It was a big village, at least eight times bigger then the village I stayed at. Besides the size, it was also much more wealthy and prestigious. If she married some kind of young master from there, he future would indeed look bright and promising. The first thought that entered my mind was, 'How can I ruin that'. I wanted revenge. You would want that too. Why? If you were chased everyday and beaten up regularly, wouldn't you want revenge too? The problem was, I didn't know when that so called young master would marry her. I didn't even know if the marriage was proposed in the first place. There was also another, much bigger problem. I was a slave. My movements and possessions were restricted. I was spied upon on almost every step as well. There were a few places, I believed no one tried to spy on me. But these type of places were few. The voice shouting "GET BACK TO WORK", was probably some kind of trusted servant of the Village Chief, or perhaps his relative as well. My worry was that, he wasn't just any ordinary villager. I didn't know if that guy had normal strength, or was as strong as the Village Chief's granddaughter. 'I need to asume the worst case. He is probably not as strong as the Village Chief, otherwise he wouldn't hide himself like that. Therefore it will be safe to asume, he is as strong as that bitch' I thought. I couldn't beat her, therefore beating that guy would be impossible too. 'If the marriage is to take place during the year of my slavery, I can't really do much. BUT, if it's going to happen after that....' I thought. I already had suspicions that they wouldn't let me go. A year from my calculations, would be enough to restore my body to the top condition. If I fished and ate the food provided, it would be more than possible. I was already stronger than before. The tasks I had to carry out, didn't give me much trouble anymore. I had to fake being weaker, than I really was. I was confident I could take on the guy responsible for spying on me, after that one year. 'If her marriage takes place, and it's going to occur after the agreed one year, I will make sure she regrets meeting me!' I thought. I then closed the doors, and went to bed. I still had work to do the next day. Time passed like this. Another four months went by, it was five month since I became a slave in that village. I finally managed to learn the name of the village. It was called Horseplain Village, I also managed to learn the name of the Village Chief, and a few other people. Usually these people were called something like Village Chief or Blacksmith, but they had their names. The chief of the village was called Rand, the old doctor Nick, the blacksmith Grond and Rand's granddaughter Senty. Her two lackeys that were always with her, were called Bill and Greg. My tasks were also changed a bit. At the end of the summer, I had to harvest plants from the field. When that was done, I didn't work on the fields anymore. That didn't mean, I had more free time. I had to help the village doctor with patient treatment. Not only the patients were ungrateful that I treated them, they would also curse me many times. Someone even spat on me once, after I treated his wounds. Nick the old doctor, was a quiet type. He never talked to me about anything, besides what to do and how to do it. I learned loads of useful things though. How to apply bandages correctly, which plants were beneficial for health and recovery, and what types of remedies were used for different symptoms. This knowledge would be very beneficial to me, when I finally left that damned village. I was chased by some brats whenever I went to the river, or while I was still working in the fields. This much didn't change. What changed, was my ability to evade their blows. I improved over time, even at running away. My fishing skills improved a lot too. Every day, I would catch at least few fishes, and improve my body condition steadily. My body recovered a lot throughout these five months. I was still skinnyl, but I felt ten times better compared to when I just arrived to the village. If I were to quantify my strength, I was able to create four Steel Ingots. Whereas in the past, I was only able to create two or maybe two and a half ingots in the same time. I probably wasn't as strong as Senty, but I believed that my strength wasn't very far off. If someone took my looks under consideration, they would probably assume I would die just from one punch. They would be wevy wrong to assume that. 'This is good nevertheless. Although I look weak, it is my advantage. People will assume that I'm weak, and this give me a hidden card' I thought. I also practiced dagger throwing skill every night. I was able to throw two daggers at the same time, while using one hand. The daggers could hit the same place on the target, or two different areas of my choosing. When I threw my daggers one by one, I was able to achieve 100% accuracy. This alone was confidence inducing, but I had to work hard in order to achieve that. I also learned how to hide my daggers better. For that purpose, I used my sleeves. This meant, I could retrieve my hidden dagger, and throw it at the same time. Very useful, if you can't be seen with any possessions. It was already autumn, and the winter would arrive in a few months. My task at the Woodcutter's Lodge changed a bit. They required form me to chop a different type of wood. It was much harder compared to the usual long, and there was a simple reason behind this. The logs of wood originated from Oak tress. They of course didn't change the axe. I still had to use the same old rubbish axe, I got in the beginning. I pretended that I was struggling, after all Oak was much tougher than normal trees. I pretended, because I had to pretend. If that guy monitoring me realised I was actually stronger than what I displayed, they would surely add more tasks to my list. It was the same when I worked at the Workshop. I only created two Steel Ingots everyday. There was one more thing I managed to learn. The so called young master, finally proposed to that Senty. The date of the wedding was set as well. Apparently, they would marry the next year, in the summer. This meant, the one year agreement I had with the Village Chief Rand, would be over. I began planing based on my abilities, but I still required more. 'If I knew how to be invisible, that would be great. Sneaking is something I could use, but there is no one who will teach me' I thought. The only solution was, I had to learn by myself. For the purpose of my training, I needed the village brats, who always chased me like a plague. Although they were no strong, I had to start somewhere. Being able to hide from some brats, would be the beginning. If I could achieve that, I could try with adults, and so on. I decided to try that the next day, after I was done fishing. It was late anyhow. I hit the bed after a whole day of working and practicing. My training required great focus, which in rewturned was taxing on my mind. I had to be incredibly focused, when trying to hit specific target areas. Especially when I was throwing two daggers at once. If I lost my focus, my accuracy fell to around 40%. This was only training, but in real situation, if I lost focus it could cost me my life. 'I need to make this my second nature. That way, even when I'm distracted, I should still maintain my accuracy' I thought. With those plans in mind, I fell asleep.