I didn't believe in those fairy tales. 'A flower that can grant you immortality? Of course it is some kind of made up story, to make people search for it in vain' I thought to myself. Nick then said "This concludes the test. You did quite well actually. Only one wrong answer. Of course you would have more wrong answers, if I were to ask more questions". I nodded because I knew it was true. I didn't memorize the whole book, there would be loads of questions I wouldn't be able to answer. Nick continued, "Read this book a few more times, before the next week. Next time, I will be asking more difficult questions. You should start reading the Medical Journal as well. After all, these are basics in the Art of Medicine". He of course wanted me to learn as much as possible, but I just didn't have enough time. 'I can do nothing about it. If not for those tasks, I would be able to improve much faster' I thought. Nick then asked "What about your training with the wooden poles? Made any improvements?". I smirked while replying, "Want me to show you?". I didn't wait for his answer, and stood in front of the shortest pole. With one swift jump, I landed atop the pole, and stayed there. "Oh, so you finally figured something out. Told you, you just have to think about it". I tried moving to another pole, but that was something I couldn't do yet. I fell down as always. Nick nodded, then said "Not bad. Although you can't move between them yet, there is progress. Let me give you a hint". This was rare, him giving me hints was something worthy of a celebration. He continued, "Although you found your balance, this is not the correct solution. To put it plainly, you just have to become one with the poles". 'Be one with the poles? What..?' I asked myself. Nick again told me to think about it, then left. 'I have no idea what that hint is about. Be one with poles... Like, how am I going to do that?' I asked myself. I decided to give it some more thoughts later. Nick usually spoke in some kind of roundabout manner. The simple test was taken care of, so I returned to my daily struggle. Throughout the next week, I read books mostly. The Medical Journal, which I didn't touch before, explained how different illnesses and diseases formed. The book also described some methods of treating such ailments, and even what herbs could be used in the process. The book was much thinner comparted to the Thousand and One Herbs book. This I was happy about. Yet the book contained mostly words, and little to no pictures. I had a hard time memorizing all those details and whatnot. My training with the wooden poles advanced a bit forwards. After thinking about the hint Nick gave me, I figured out what he meant. The trick was to learn the balance of other objects. Every object had its balance, and all actions affected that balance. In other words, if I became one with the poles, I could maintain a certain balance and jump to the next one. This was easier said than done. The exercise required from me, to find the balance of those wooden poles, but that wasn't all. It actually required from me to learn how to judge balance of other objects. If I learned that, I could repeat the same thing on any sort of object I so wished. That was the purpose of this exercise. After that week, Nick again tested my knowledge. This time, he tested me from both books. The questions he asked about herbs, were mostly answered correctly. Out of the eight questions he asked, I answered six of them correctly. But my knowledge of Medical Journal, was abysmal. Out of the six questions he asked, I only answered two correctly. Nick seemed a bit disappointed, but what could I do about it? The timeframe was short, and I had little time left because of those tasks. 'I just have to read it more. If I read it repeatedly, I will memorize the whole book sooner or later' I thought. In result, a month passed. I grinded with the poles every day, trying to understand how to judge another's object balance. I read like crazy, as if I was about to devour those books. The results, spoke for themselves. The winter was almost upon us. Days got shorter, while nights longer. It rained more often, and the nights were cold. On that day, Nick decided to test my advancements. "Although I saw some stuff here and there, I want to see the full extent". He was of course referring to my training with the wooden poles. Without any words, I jumped atop the first pole. I then moved to another, then the next one and the next one. I jumped down, when I reach the last pole. This was the result of my constant drive to improve. Nick nodded his head satisfied, and said "You did great. It actually took me a bit longer to do the same thing. It seems you are much more disposed for the Art of Stealth, than I was". What I did wasn't perfect though. I still made mistakes sometimes, but with some more time and practice, that would be eliminated. Besides that, I managed to memorize about 80% of the Thousand and One Herbs book. As for the Medical Journal, maybe about half. I focused mostly on the herbs. When I memorized most of them, I returned to the Medical Journal. Nick was happy about my Art of Stealth performance, but not really satisfied about my Art of Medicine. I told him "You can't have it all. Some people learn things faster, some slower. It's just how it is". He gave up on the idea of pushing me to improve faster, and told me with a sigh. "Just read them at your pace. When you completely memorize both books, we will move on". I nodded to that, because I didn't intend to do it any other way. My tasks changed a bit too. I no longer had to visit Nick to do my task. That time was replaced by the work in the Workshop. I worked till around 4 o'clock, which was shorter than before. But I also got one break only. They didn't lose much. Due to the constant food supply, my strength returned. Not only that, it improved by a lot. I was surprised myself. I had a clue why such an improvement. That boulder with rays of moonlight, was one of them. The constant labour, was another. When my body finally recovered, it packed more strength than ever, even though I was skinny. Even Nick was astonished, when he checked up on me couple of times. He even asked if I practiced something secretly, but my answer was "No". It was thanks to Nick's check ups and his medical knowledge, as well as the knowledge of my own past. Somehow, my muscles transformed. I was in conctant lack of food, yet I had to do these tasks everyday. My muscles adjusted to that somehow, and evolved. When enough food was introduced, my muscless could regenerate. With regeneration, came much more strength. 'Although I'm happy to be this strong... I wouldn't want to go through that again' I thought. I could take on Rand's granddaughter Senty, or perhaps even the guy who always spied on me. But, there was no need for me to do that just yet. There was one weird thing about all that. My appetite... I could eat... and eat. All the meals provided by both the Village and Nick... I could eat more than that. Especially after work and practice. 'I just have to accept it now. Fortunatelly, I'm not going around hungry anymore' I thought.