Chapter 4: The Donkey and the Horse, an Unbreakable Bond
Chapter 4: The Donkey and the Horse, an Unbreakable Bond
The fragment, like a masterpiece, bore the marks of countless hammer strikes.
Due to its position on the sword's blade, Rain could clearly observe a portion of the fish scale-like hammer marks.
Despite being handcrafted, the overlapping fish scale patterns proved the blacksmith's exceptional skill in forging the greatsword.
Rain had never underestimated handcrafted items; in his previous life, he had witnessed the creation of atomic bomb casings by eighth-level fitters.
It seemed that even the forging techniques in this extraordinary world surpassed his imagination.
"Change!" Bar's shout instantly snapped Rain out of his wandering thoughts.
Wrapping the small fragment in a piece of torn cloth, Rain tucked it into his shirt pocket.
After patting his buttocks and brushing off the dust, Rain stood up and resumed his donkey hoof trimming duties.
[You have assisted in hoof trimming, enhancing your understanding!]
[Your skill in hoof care has improved. Experience gained: +1]
[You focused on learning hoof care for an hour. Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points: +1]
[Your skill in hoof care has improved. Experience gained: +1]
In the evening, after a tiring day, Rain returned to the pages' dormitory, a large communal room designed for easy management.
Each dormitory housed over a dozen pages, and Rain and his best friend, George, were not assigned to the same one.
Naturally, the prime middle spots were occupied by the "pseudo second-generation" pages, while Rain and the other boys slept at the edges of the large bed.
"Rain! Hurry up and sweep the floor, wipe the bed boards and cabinets!" Browbeard commanded, pointing at Rain. According to the schedule, it was his turn to clean.
Rain glared at Browbeard, cursing inwardly, "Damn! I've worked all day, and now I have to clean up after you?"
"What are you staring at? Get moving if you don't want a beating!"
Browbeard, with his eyebrows forming an inverted V, strode forward aggressively and grabbed Rain by the collar.
Rain was about to fight back, but as he raised his hand, he remembered his slender arms and legs and how he was half a head shorter than Browbeard. Starting a fight now would not end well for him.
He thought to himself, "Damn it, this is like a fantasy version of school bullying. Just you wait! I'll endure for now, but I'll show you later!"
But what he said aloud was, "Aren't you looking for a rag? I'll do it!"
Browbeard, hearing this, looked suspiciously in the direction Rain was pointing, where the rag indeed lay. He then shoved Rain aside and muttered, "Get lost!"
Rain picked up the rag and wiped down the dozen or so bed boards, then proceeded to sweep and mop the floor, a series of tasks that left him exhausted.
As he worked, he wondered about the mechanism behind the profession panel triggers. Previously, he had triggered the Blacksmith Apprentice profession while learning how to trim donkey hooves. Was it because he was learning a related skill?
But now, after sweeping, mopping, and wiping tables for over an hour, he hadn't triggered the Servant profession. Was it because there was no such profession as a Servant? Or had he not cleaned for long enough?
After a tiring day, the pages had little energy left for conversation, exchanging only a few brief words before falling into a deep sleep.
Rain, who had been seething with anger earlier, tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His mind was in turmoil.
Rain contemplated ways to quickly change his situation, as he was determined not to endure this life any longer. He wanted to teach Browbeard a lesson!
Ideas flashed through his mind, such as using his academic advantage to create a gunpowder formula and present it to Duke Habsborg.
But upon further thought, he dismissed the idea.
According to the original body's memories, not only the Duke but even the Habsburg Manor's steward held the title of Knight, making them unapproachable for a mere page like Rain.
What about going through the foreman?
Aside from the foreman's reliability, there was the concern that he would report Rain's actions. As the son of a commoner, Rain couldn't explain the source of his knowledge.
Moreover, if any part of his plan leaked, his life might be at stake, for wealth could tempt anyone.
Since this was an extraordinary world, strength was paramount.
The key was to quickly find a way to level up and take the first step towards a better future.
Speaking of strength, that noble maiden was so cool and beautiful!
Rain overheard others addressing her as Miss Kylie.
Was she the Duke's daughter, or a noble lady from another family?
Rain's mind involuntarily conjured up the image of the noble maiden, her graceful and spirited figure accentuated by her tight-fitting hunting attire, especially her firm and perky buttocks.
Unbeknownst to him, Rain drifted into a dream.
The next morning, the pages were awakened at dawn to begin their daily chores.
Today, they continued learning hoof care, but this session marked the end of their hoof trimming lessons. They would have to wait until next month for the next opportunity.
This made Rain feel a bit anxious.
He had finally gotten a golden finger, but the donkey hooves were gone!
"Should I just tell Master Bar directly that I want to try trimming the hooves myself?"
Rain looked at his thin, weak arms and immediately shook his head. He lacked experience and strength, and even if the other party agreed, he would most likely fail to trim the donkey hooves properly.
If he messed things up, it would backfire.
The true second generations didn’t come to the outer courtyard for training all day, which couldn’t help but make Rain a little regretful.
After another day of trimming donkey hooves, Rain looked at the skill—Hoof Care (32/100)—and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. What should he do tomorrow?
Another day passed.
Early the next morning, it was still Bar, standing in front of the two rows of pages, loudly saying, "Today, we will learn how to nail horse shoes! However, before nailing horse shoes, we need to trim the hooves."
Rain didn’t hear the rest of what Bar said.
Trim horse hooves?
This... should also count as hooves!
Feeling slightly excited, Rain quickly flipped the transparent panel to the second page and checked the skill again.
Hmm!
It says Hoof Care, but it doesn’t specify whether it’s donkey or horse hooves.
And, judging from this vivid hoof icon, it should include all odd-toed animals.
Donkeys and horses are family!
However, whether it works or not, it still needs to be verified.
Not long after, Rain and the other pages were led to the northeast corner of the outer courtyard, near the stable.
Seeing the tall horses in the stable, all the pages except Rain couldn’t help but show bitter expressions, making the pseudo second generations, who were on average a head taller, start to complain.
Obviously, donkey hooves were already hard to hold down, and these horses, which were a circle larger than donkeys, would be even harder to fix.
Of course, except for Rain.
At this moment, Rain was looking forward to, excited, and eager to trim horse hooves!
He couldn’t wait to start nailing horse shoes to verify his own guess.
Not long after, the first horse was led out of the stable by Master Bar.
Judging by the size, it should be one of the shorter in the stable, but still a circle larger than the strongest black donkey.
"This is a destrier! We’ll start with the destrier! Come, the first group, Rain and George, come up and hold the hooves!" Bar shouted with a full voice.
Rain and George immediately stepped forward and began to hold the hooves according to Master Bar’s instructions.
Master Bar held the pre-made U-shaped horse shoes, measured the fixed hooves, estimated the approximate nailing range, and then began trimming the hooves with a "click click" sound.
Feeling the trimming was almost done, he nailed the horse shoes onto the hooves.
"The key to nailing horse shoes is first to roughly measure the horse shoes on the hooves," Bar explained while demonstrating.
Rain saw clearly that the horse shoes had seven holes, and Bar nailed seven times.
Each time a nail was driven, the destrier struggled more, and Rain and George had to use more strength to hold the hooves.
After finishing, Bar trimmed the rough edges, completing the nailing of one horse hoof.
After pressing all four hooves of the destrier, Rain, drenched in sweat, suddenly froze!
Just then, a system notification came:
【You assisted in trimming the horse hooves, related comprehension increased!】
【Your skill Hoof Care has improved, Experience Points +4】
【You focused on learning to nail horse shoes for a quarter of an hour, Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points +1】
Looking at the Experience Points rising again for the Hoof Care skill, Rain felt a bit excited inside.
Although he had expected that trimming horse hooves would also increase Experience Points, seeing it made him a little excited.
More crucially, the Experience Points growth rate for trimming horse hooves was much faster than trimming donkey hooves!
Rain found that he seemed to have grasped the key to rapid improvement.
Previously, when he trimmed donkey hooves, focusing on learning for an hour would only increase Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points by +1.
But this time, after just a quarter of an hour, the Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points had increased by one point.
And now, the Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points bar on the right side of the four words showed (8/100).
Rain judged that this was most likely because nailing horse shoes was more relevant to the Blacksmith Apprentice profession than trimming donkey hooves!
Therefore, it provided more profession Experience Points.
Although this was just Rain’s guess, he believed it should be roughly correct.
This made Rain feel a sense of sudden enlightenment.
"This is steady!"
(End of Chapter)
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