The morning was crisp, wind swept down the stone path as Vayu descended from the academy, his steps slower than usual. No sword at his side, no armor to wear just his eyes, and the task his instructor had given him.
The village market was already stirring when he arrived. Smoke curled from the chimneys of nearby homes, and the soft clatter of crates and laughter of early risers mixed into a quiet mountain symphony.
This wasn't a large marketplace. Just a wide, flattened area near the base of the mountain where wooden stalls lined up like some old sentinels. There were no shouting vendors, no pushing crowds. Everyone here knew everyone by name, because there were 250-300 people in the village.
Vayu walked in with his hands behind his back and stood still for a moment, letting the scene breathe.
A bearded man was stacking fresh trout beside a stall lined with stone carved hooks, his fish glistening with morning frost. Beside him, a woman in a thick leather apron adjusted her stall of freshly cut meat.
Further down, some members of hunter squad were here to get their dull daggers sharpened getting patched their armors some were testing the edges of new knives and browsing through different kinds of stalls, short spears, hunting bows, small axes and a few dull training swords hung neatly behind a rack.
Another nearby table displayed leather goods, tough mountain boots, weatherproof cloaks, and repair kits for tents and coats.
The fruit stall had only what the mountain provided like wild berries, bitter roots, and bundles of herbs wrapped in cloth and some nuts.
the carpenter stall had smooth wooden bowls, spoons, shelves, and planks stacked with care. One man stood alone, arranging chisels, nails, and handles, tools for homes here most goods were for survival, not for luxury.
Vayu stood silently, eyes open.
He remembered what his instructor had said: "Just Watch ,Count ,Observe ,Remember".
And so, he did.
There weren't too many people maybe thirty to forty at most in the entire space. But each one moved with a purpose, no one was here to stroll because the market provided daily necessities, it didn't provided any item of comfort. Vayu started to distribute them into groups their marketing habits.
Two old men came to the carpenter for conversation asked about the chairs they saw and offered fish in return, here they didn't have any currency so most exchanges were done via barter system or field duties.
Field duties was also considered as a exchange because here on mountains growing crops were hard so the whole village took turns to plow, sow seeds, irrigation, harvest and storage. So from every house a certain number of days were allotted for every task so if both sides didn't have what they both desired in exchange they exchanged field duties.
The shopkeeper didn't want fish for the exchange of chairs so he suggested field duty for three days but the old men denied as they both were old .
A pair of young boys examined every practice weapon with shining eyes, poking each other with wooden spears. A girl helped her mother carry firewood, glancing curiously at Vayu as she passed.
He watched.
One woman bartered slowly over leather boots, checking the stitching carefully. A burly man examined wooden fencing tools while also talking to the butcher Vayu noted he was likely repairing something at home.
A young hunter stood by the weapons stall but didn't touch anything. Just observed, like Vayu. Their eyes met briefly, before the boy turned away.
Vayu to observe the situation more carefully found a spot at a height, the market continued on its own rhyme. He began to silently count how many visited each booth, how long they stayed, and what patterns emerged.
First he divided between stalls
Most people stopped at the meat stall.
some bought daily supplies like spices and fruits.
Hunters always went to the weapon or leather stall first.
The carpenter spoke the least but made the most sales as his work spoke for itself.
Then it came to gender
Most men came with a fixed thing in mind, if the deal worked they buy, if not they ask for how many days in field duty if they still didn't liked the number of days they went back home.
Women bargained the most, they noticed every detail finding small mistakes and making the goods value drop and buying it at a lower price, mostly getting what they wanted.
This wasn't a battlefield… yet it was.
Yet most people moved with purpose, attention, Some approached openly, some hesitated, decisions were made, timing mattered. Just like in a fight.
"Learn to see," his instructor had said.
Now he could feel it he was beginning to.
This wasn't a wasted morning.
It was the beginning of a new way to train, as evening approached everyone started closing their stalls. After the market closed Vayu also went back home.
NEXT DAY...
The morning air was brisk as Vayu walked back to the academy. His legs ached from standing and walking through the winding lanes of the village market all day yesterday, but his mind was even more messier, filled with dozens of details he had forced himself to memorize.
He had spent hours just watching faces, listening to conversations. He had counted people, noted vendor setups, and memorized movements. The village market wasn't massive just ten active stalls but each one told a story.
There was a butcher selling wild mountain meat, a fishmonger with a limited morning catch, two stalls for tools and weapon supplies for hunters, a vendor offering boots and stitched tunics, a vendor for house repair materials, one for wooden utensils and furniture, and three selling common mountain fruits, berries, and herbs.
But what struck Vayu the most was the behavior of people. Some came in groups, some bartered fiercely, others lingered and the most odd thing he found was One man, he stood by a tree for hours and bought nothing, That seemed odd.
The market began thinning as the evening started approaching. The villagers knew when evening approached, so did the wild. Predators came down from the heights, and nobody wished to be near the base of the mountain after dark. By noon, the last few vendors had already begun packing up. Putting his thoughts aside he went inside the training hall.
Now, standing in the training hall, Vayu waited in front of his instructor. The man's usual calm and observant demeanor hadn't changed.
"You went to the market?" he asked, not looking up.
"Yes, Instructor."
Before the instructor could reply, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Aspen entered, wiping sweat off his face with a towel. He clearly hadn't expected to see them both there.
The instructor looked at Aspen, then casually asked, "What did you eat last night?"
Aspen paused. "Uh—" this was a very weird question, and he didn't expected that the instructor will ask something like that.
But before he could answer, the instructor raised a hand and turned back to Vayu.
"You what do you think he ate?"
Vayu blinked "Me?"
"Yes think you saw what his mother bought you watched, didn't you?"
Vayu furrowed his brows and began recalling, The stall… the bag she carried…
After a long pause, he spoke. "Fish… she bought fish"
The instructor's expression tightened. "just fish?"
Vayu looked uncertain.
The instructor's voice turned sharp. "If you take this long to arrange your thoughts in a real fight, you won't have a head on your shoulders by the time you figure it out. In combat, observation isn't enough, you need instant understanding of the situation and have to make decisions in seconds. That's the difference between standing tall and lying cold."
He stepped closer.
"You're improving, Vayu. But the battlefield is not patient. The moment won't wait for your thoughts to catch up. You must see, remember, understand and act. When your mind is faster than your opponent's blade, you win before the fight begins."
Aspen had already walked off by then, uninterested. But Vayu stood straighter.
"Yes, Instructor."
The man nodded. "Still you did good now go back and train you must cover up for your holiday yesterday".
And Vayu went back to his training.