Limits

We left the Dead Forest, and moved towards the east. East was much more dangerous, at least according to Crow. I didn't intend to go to the Obsidian Mountains straight away, especially with both of my hands steal healing. I just wanted to move as far away from the Vulture Cliffs, as possible.

I was planning to make a camp, after a few "days" of walking, where I could heal up properly and recover my strength. We could then move to the Obsidian Mountains, and check out what that place looked like, as well as, what creatures we could expect there.

We travelled for a long time, until I couldn't see the Dead Forest. The Sludge Factory, was barely visible as well. 'This is a good spot, to camp for a while. When my arms are healed, we can go to the Obsidian Mountains' I thought. The medicine I had with me, allowed me to heal my arms very quickly. I still needed to exercise them slowly, in order for them, to return to the previous peak condition.

I did some light training in the beginning, then increased the pace, until I reach my maximum output. I didn't know how much time passed, but I knew that I had enough food, to last me a bit less than a month. 'This much food, might not be enough to survive in the Obsidian Mountains. Although, I only want to check the place out first. If there is nothing edible there, I can always return, and go to Great Forest in order to hunt' I thought.

The weird thing was that, I had no dreams anymore. The Dark Traveller didn't appear in my dreams, nor did I have any dreams at all. Even if I trained all day, nothing happened during my sleep. 'This is just too weird. The Dark Traveller gave me knowledge about the Ancient Language, then the dreams disappear? Just what the hell?' I thought to myself. It would be fine, if it was same old dream, but to get none? No amount of training, seemed to change that.

'I had these dreams for years now, yet this never happened. Whenever I trained my body or skills, I would always have those dreams. Did the dreams finish? Maybe they couldn't go infinitely. I always assumed, that those dreams will be there, no matter what. What if I was wrong? But then, why would the Dark Traveller say, that this is just the beginning?' I thought, and asked myself many questions.

I didn't understand. Why would it change so much? It worked the same way, for such a long time. I couldn't figure it out, but I got an idea how to find out. Frosty already returned to my arm, as a tattoo. I called out "Frosty! Come out". Frosty transformed quickly and stood in front of me. I asked "When I go to sleep, could you see any black Aura around me? Or some kind of dark mist?", but Frosty shook its head.

'So if I don't have that Aura, does that mean, I will no longer have those dreams? Then why would the Dark Traveller tell me, it was only the beginning? It doesn't make sense' I thought. I was lost in my thoughts for a while, and snapped out of it, when Frosty again changed back to the tattoo on my arm.

'There is no point wondering about that now' I thought. The dreams helped me a lot, but I couldn't seriously hope, that they would last forever. With that in my mind, I moved towards the Obsidian Mountains. According to my map, I still had a long way to go. My destination this time, was twice the distance, compared to the distance from Dead Forest to Vulture Cliffs. Because I had nothing better to do, I decided to train, while on my travels.

I already broke through the Half Step of the Outer Limit. This meant, any exercises I did, should now improve my body. I returned to my routine from the past. Whenever I woke up, I trained using the modified diagram, then trained my skills. I was on a constant move, and food was short, so I didn't train my strength that much. On the other hand, I made some improvements with my Pressure Dagger skill.

The North was really a wasteland, so finding any opponents, was not easy. There were some Corpse Dogs, once in a while, but those things were not even able to move fast enough. Like this, I started imagining my opponent, and used my skill on thin air. The opponent was Nick, not because I hated him, but because I knew a lot about his skills, and the way he used them. I could always imagine that much better, than a figment of my imagination.

I remembered that Nick, told me about such thing in the past. 'Nick once told me, that some experts can imagine their opponent, and train like this. It seems, I'm able to do it as well' I thought. It wasn't that hard to achieve. I knew Nick very well. Besides, he was the one who taught me most things. With my own improvements and the memories, I could simulate how Nick would move in my head. My attacks missed most of the time. I always found that, Nick would move in a weird manner or disappear, before my attacks could reach him.

With time, I got better at it, but it lacked something. 'Although I knew Nick very well, I don't feel any hatred, evil or rage towards him. Maybe that is where I'm going wrong?' I thought. Nick was not my enemy, but a friend. Shelly was the same. There were no people, who I knew really well. I knew some stronger opponents, especially those, that I felt a lot of hate for. But, I usually didn't know much about their skills, or ways they fought.

'That woman who severed my arm… I know her skill but not much else. That Eterian… This could work' I thought. The Eterian fought with me, and the fight was still fresh in my memory. I had many interactions and couple of duels with her. I also knew that she would betray, in order to live. 'I kind of know her character, and the type of creature she is. I also know, what skills she has. I don't think that I have to mention the hatred, I feel towards that bitch. This may actually work' I thought.

I decided to give it a try. I imagined the Eterian, standing in front of me, trying to kill me. It was hard. I couldn't do it whatsoever in the beginning, but the more I tried, the clearer her image became. After a long time, it felt as if I was really fighting against her. My imagination, could've never done the same with Nick. 'So, it turns out that in order fo this to work, I have to really hate someone, or something. With this, I can practice my skills better' I thought.

But! This was not a solution to everything. It was true I could practice, but there was no diversity. It meant that, if I meet her again, I would be better able to predict, what she was up to, and better able to harm her. But, it wouldn't work on anyone else. 'This type of imaginary training is good, but also bad. I'm imagining only 1 person or creature, as my opponent, while there are many different creatures and people. The same stuff, wouldn't work on that Sword Woman. The reason is simple, she has different set of skills, and different style' I thought.

The skill to imagine your opponent and improve oneself, seemed like a great idea. This type of training, had a hidden bad side though. When overused, it could actually do more harm than good. 'I will do this moderately. Just so, I can increase my proficiency with the skill, and take a more objective look. Learning how to deal with one person or creature, then using that same tactic broadly, will eventually lead me to my own demise' I thought. With that, I headed east and trained, just like in the old days.