Limits

I went to sleep straight away, after that day's events, I just wanted to rest. The dream I had of the Dark Traveller, repeated itself for 20 times, as I listened to the words spoken. I had figured out the meaning of couple new words. This was thanks to the words, I already translated.

The words I translated were, Rin which translated as "In", Tar which translated as "Fall/Falling", Thatos which translated as "Yet", Hal which translated as "Great/Supreme", Nroh which translated as "To" and Adis which translated as "And". With those new words, my understanding of the Ancient Language advanced. I was that much closer to figuring out the whole language and the whole speech of the Dark Traveller.

In the morning, I started my work with the arrow shafts again. I got better at it, the more of them I created. It was also my profession in the past, so it was easy for me to learn new stuff in that trade. At the end of the day, Woody was impressed with my work and said "You are not half bad. Did your parents teach you that profession?".

I answered "No, I learned it from the age of 16. I'm nowhere near your level of skill though". Woody said "Just do this for one more day and I will introduce you to another job, which is a bit more difficult. I'm sure you will be able to handle it". I nodded my head and took a rest. It was evening already and although I wanted to go out and see the village properly, I was kind of discouraged due to the past events.

I decided to stay in and rest properly. The next morning, I started my work on the arrow shafts again. By the mid afternoon, Woody approached me and said "You can stop now. This amount should be enough for the warriors to use for a while. Let me show you, your next task". Woody took a piece of wooden log and started cutting and shaving it. After a while, I could see a specific shape emerging.

'What is this supposed to be?' I thought to myself and watched. It looked like a wooden plate but it was perfectly flat and round. It seemed like a plate but it was smaller than the usual plates. When Woody finished the wooden plate, he turned around and said "This is your next task". I looked confused and said "Making plates? How is that more difficult than making arrow shafts?".

Woody smiled and said "This is not a plate. Here, hold it". I took the wooden plate and checked it in details. I saw nothing extraordinary at first but then, I noticed balance and not just any balance, it was balanced perfectly in every direction. It was quite thin but I could place it, in a standing position and it wouldn't fall or roll. It's flat side was also balanced.

Woody saw my expression and said "This is not a plate for food or anything like this. It's a target for practice. Do you want me to show you how it works?". I handed the "target" back to Woody and nodded my head. He said "Follow me outside". I went outside with Woody and he took out a bow from somewhere. He passed me the target and said "Throw it as hard as you can upwards. I will shoot it down".

I took the disk and said "Are you sure? If I use my whole strength, I don't think you will be able to hit this target". Woody laughed and said "Try me boy". I nodded my head and prepared to throw the target as hard as I could. I swung my arm with my maximum strength and released the target into the sky. "SWOOOSH!" It flew so fast that I could barely keep track of it.

Woody that stood next to me, quickly notched an arrow into the bow and shot it, without much of a thought. "Swooosh!" The arrow travelled even faster than the target I threw and incredibly, hit the target that was very far away from us. The distance was at least 500 metres! The target was not only pierced but due to the arrow striking it, it went even further, then fell down somewhere far away.

I exclaimed "Wow!". Woody put away his bow and said "As I told you, these are targets for practice. This will be your job from now on". I turned towards Woody and said "Can you teach me?". Woody was confused and said "I already showed you how to create those targets. With your skills, it shouldn't be a problem". I shook my head and said "I'm talking about your archery. You are much better than that Eterian, I met a while ago".

This time, Woody was surprised and said "You met an Eterian?". I said "Yes, She taught me some archery and explained some other skills she was proficient in. Although, this didn't end well. She betrayed me later… I don't want to talk about it". Woody became quite serious and said "You should've killed her". This is what I didn't understand. In the beginning, she was quite nice and did taught me some skills. Her betrayal was unexpected but I guessed that she wanted to live as well. This of course didn't mean, I forgave her but I could understand her logic. I decided to ask "Why do humans want to exterminate Eterians so badly?".

Woody responded "For those specific reasons. I don't know what she said to you but they are master manipulators. We lived in peace in the past and we even had an alliance against another race. They betrayed our race and stabbed us in the back, together with our enemies. Those were hard times for us but we managed to survive and later exterminate loads of Eterians. The hatred is passed down, I don't know how you can be unaware about all of this".

I answered "I come from a relatively small village, it's called Freemount Village. It's probably very far away from here. I don't know a lot of things, I also promised not to visit any cities or villages if possible, before I master my skills. I already sort of broke that promise. I need supplies in order to continue, that is why, I had to visit your village"

Woody seemed shocked and said "Freemount Village? Interesting. How did you get all the way here then?". I said "I travelled. I was green in the beginning but with time, I gained experience and skills". Woody seemed to think about something and said "I have to think it through, I will give you an answer shortly". I nodded my head and said "Sure. I better get back to carving then".

I went inside and started my work. The task of creating those wooden targets was truly more difficult, compared to arrow shafts. Although it was more difficult, it wasn't something I wouldn't be able to make. After trying for a few times, I managed to complete one target plate. By the evening, I made dozens of them. I decided to have some rest and go outside. I didn't want to sit inside the hut all the time and I could just avoid the central part of the village.

I wandered around the streets of the village aimlessly, lost in my thoughts. I thought about the strange runes and the large stone in the central plaza, as well as the event that took place over there. I thought about my home, the Freemount Village and my parents. One thought didn't give me rest. 'Why would Woody be interested in my home village? Does he know where it is?' I asked myself. He also seemed to change his attitude about me, when he heard that I'm from that village. 'Something doesn't add up here. Is Woody hiding something from me?' I thought. Of course we weren't friends or anything and there were probably loads of things he never told me. Although he didn't have to tell me anything, this seemed like he supressed some stuff on purpose.

As I walked, I stumbled upon a familiar person. It was the Village Chief. The weirder part of it was, that he seemed to be waiting for me. I stopped walking and asked "Can I help you with something?". He looked into the night sky and said "I don't know. I wonder that myself".