For the next few days, all I've been doing is suffering physically, mentally, while learning the village's language. Just boring things you know? But the food was good though. I couldn't whine about it.
I also did a little side quest. You see, in that village, there was a single horse. It was the village chief who possessed it. So, when I could, physically could, I mean. And I started playing with it, feeding it and all. But it was the most unfriendly being in that village... It would just bite or kick me if I wanted to ride it.
*Member of the crowd: Sir! You're not progressing, we have things to do after here!*
Okay okay! Let me go back to my story.
When I healed, I immediately did what anyone else would do... Make weapons!
I like the sense of priority of that guy. ( I'd definitely do the same.)
There was a blacksmith in the village, to my absolute enjoyment! One day, I decided to ask Lingo to bring me there and help me discuss with him, since I wasn't fluent yet.
We walked there... actually, it was pretty far. I guess that village was pretty big.
He walked five kilometers— to go to another village. He still doesn't know he travelled to another village every time he went to that blacksmith. Horrible sense of distance and surrounding awareness.
When we arrived, he was working, and it was that cliché scene where he works, we interrupt him and then he says : " Oh, hello! I didn't hear you coming. What can I do for you ? " Ahaha.
Lingo explained to him that I wanted a sword, but I had more things to ask, so I just drew them on the ground.
I drew a Katana. It's a sword from my world, which has a curved blade. I also drew a medieval-style two-handed Long Sword, because why not? Brass knuckles too, and a leather armor.
SPOILER!!! Nah, I'm joking. But to be honest with you, he'll get a good use out of them.( I hope the foreshadowing was subtle, don't blame me for being impatient, he's doing everything but going to the best part.)
The blacksmith said " twelve Zonas ". Honestly, I was completely broke. I was basically having everything for free: food, housing, language lessons even. I had to earn money, but never through hunting. I was too scared of the medicine...
I told him I'd pay in the following days. He said yes, so, no worries to have.
I asked Lingo if there was work, and he mentioned his uncle's farm in the village. That was perfect.
Now that I think about it, everyone was related to Lingo, I hope his family tree isn't a circle...
So, that's how I got my first job. However, it was the first time I was signing for something beyond me.
All day, just work, work, work. I was literally doing the work of a tractor, and I'm not even joking. I almost worked as much as an influencer!
Pfff ahahaha! Sorry, influencers, strays happen!
I was paid a Zona per day, but I didn't work every day. Oh, by the way, in that village, a week was equal to four days, compared to ten here.
I eventually had the twelve Zonas in... Eighteen days I think? I don't quite remember anyway.
I returned to the blacksmith with the money and gave him half, since he wasn't done yet, as he was also the blacksmith of a military in another village. But my Long Sword was already finished! He gave it to me and I just started swinging it excitedly. It was really heavy, I actually never touched a sword before, and it was a magnificent feeling. He told me he was out of leather for my orders, so I had to bring my own leather.
However, this definitely wasn't like in my world. I couldn't just walk to a store and buy some leather. I had to kill the animal myself, or ask someone to do it, and do the whole job of skinning it and all.
Luckily, I had almost been killed by the perfect animal before. Since they didn't throw the skin after killing animals, I could ask my few friends to give me some leather.
That's what I did, and gave it to him.
*member of the crowd: You did all of this the same day ?*
No, oh. It's impossible.
It took weeks, I'm just too tired to talk about the time frame.
I remember there was a day where I decided to spend the day at his shop. I mean, I was still an introvert, all I was doing was playing with rocks while listening to him beating the metal. I even helped him, but I was too weak for that. He wasn't big, but he definitely was muscular and had stamina. Nothing of the two was a quality of mine. I eventually let him continue, it cool—hot, actually, since it was sunny and there was an oven too. I didn't do it after that, I don't really handle the heat well. Don't use this statement against me.
One day, I was going to his shop, and saw cute girls. Too bad I was still traumatized by their kind. I hope they liked my fit though. I was wearing a leather vest, leather and tissue pants and I made wooden shoes. I was so cool back then.
Hum... Do I even need to criticise it? Just imagine and keep the answer to yourself...
So, after some time, he eventually finished my order.
Anyway, it was only a parenthesis. I went to him and took the stuff. But I just remembered... " Void ? Even if you've been there for a moment, do you think bringing many weapons to the village will be well regarded? " . I decided afterwards to tell Makemba, the blacksmith, to keep them for the time being. Maybe someday I'd need them.
After that day, I regularly came to pick the Katana, which was straight by the way, since he obviously didn't know how to make the curvature, and the brass knuckles every time we'd go to the lake to swim or take water.
Ahhhh! Finally the interesting part. Took seven business years to arrive there.
Someday, strangely, when we were walking, we were chatting and all... And we saw in the horizon, a large group of people. When I say large, I mean twenty to thirty people arriving.
They were all dressed in black clothes, from top to bottom. Couldn't even see their eyes. I just was amazed and said : "Ahaha, hey! They look like the antagonists of the movies I've told you about! " , but when I looked back, nobody was laughing. Actually, they were on their guard, focused. Lingo had the bow out, other had their blades out. I realised they were dead serious.
I was like " Oh, are we actually fucked? ", then Lingo told me to gear up, so I wore the brass knuckles on the right fist, and pulled out my katana from my back—bad placement by the way, really hard to use quickly.
The men told the women and kids to start calling reinforcement. We could have ran to the village too, but letting them occasion to follow us and plunder our village wasn't the best option. So, we were seventeen without the women and kids. We were waiting impatiently for some cold fists exchange.
When they arrived, we just started brawling.
The first who came, I gave him the most afterlife-friendly brass knuckles punch and he went down. However, what I didn't know, is that this shit hurts! Nobody told me I'd hurt my fingers while using them! And the adrenaline wasn't even acting enough. I was feeling it!
Welcome to the real world. No joking. Pure suffering.
The second took a knee to the face, a headbutt and a few blows on the ground.
When looking around, I saw a guy being held from behind by the arms, and another man in black was ready to stab him. I had to help, but when I dashed to him, I just fell on the ground and saw stars. I didn't know what happened.
Ahaha! He took the cleanest right hook I've ever seen! That guy in boxing would have done a good job, too bad, wrong world boy. ( Am I talking too much ?)
When I looked up, I saw a guy trying to stab me with his short sword. Thankfully, another guy from the village saved me by kicking him in the side of the face and finished him off on the ground.
The fight eventually ended by a victory on our side. No casualties, but almost all of us were wounded. Mama Ngala was already laughing, I could feel it!
*member of the crowd: The fight was that short? I feel like you're forgetting to tell some other scenes, aren't you?*
Yeah but no. It's a group fight. You don't fight everyone at the same time. You generally focus on a single person actually. But to be honest with you, I think I might have been knocked out longer than I thought and missed many parts. Maybe I had a concussion or something like that. It's not important anyway.
We made sure to plunder them, ahaha. We took the money, they weren't very rich too. We also left them in their underwears hehehe. Fabric clothes don't spawn out of nowhere in a village with no cotton ahaha!
We left them on the side of the "road", and fled. No dead, of course.
Eventually, we went back and saw the reinforcement.
Wait, now that I think about it. The people from that village— no, that whole geographic area—are always late. I don't know why. No matter which village you go to, it's always the same, even in towns. I guess it's a global cultural behaviour.
So, we saw them and they accompanied us back home. But when walking, I just felt something on my back. And you know that sensation when something is wrong but you don't know what? It was exactly that. I asked someone to look, and I had a gigantic slash mark on my back. When I say gigantic i really mean it. It started from my left shoulder to my lower back on the right. It was probably one of my most painful injuries. Far from the worst , but still in the top. And I was really bleeding too. Thankfully, it was superficial. I even have the scar. If you could actually untie me, I could show you.
—No, we won't. Keep talking.
Pfff, not even an ounce of compassion. Can I at least have some water?
—*sight* Alright, bring him some water.
Thanks.
So, we arrived to the village and we celebrated. There was a beautiful party, singing, dancing, food. It was so good. After that, we all screamed and cried at Mama Ngala's place. I still hate that medicine to this day. It was the most effective medicine I've had, but it was too painful in my opinion...
I then asked Lingo who these men were. He told me " These are the men in black, a group of bandits who comes often to plunder here. It's the first time we resisted them. We did it because of pride, the pride of not dying before an outsider. " Which was actually cool, but I felt a little excluded too, but heh, didn't matter.
At the end of that day, I did what I was doing every time: pee, reflect, pray and sleep. P.R.P.S.
And that's how I got my second scar.
He had many things to learn. And he had to learn them quickly. Serious things were about to start.