Limits

I spent one more day collecting herbs for Frosty, then made an Extract from them. Nick didn't really teach me about Extracts, because this usually required loads of herbs. Creating an Extract from one herb, would yield pretty much nothing. On the other hand, when the medical properties, were mixed with other herbs, the medicine or poison was enhanced.

That is what Nick usually did, when creating medicine. Although most of my knowledge came from Nick, I was not him. I found my own way of creating medicine and poison, and that was an Extract. Nick also knew about Extracts, but was not eager to use them. 'I sort of understand why. Nick always studied different combinations of herbs, and created new recipes. Making Extracts from one kind of herb, was not something he couldn't do. It was simply pointless, for him to spend so much time and resources' I thought.

But I didn't have to study and come up with new recipes. Nick already provided them for me. Therefore, I had much more time, to go into other branches of the Art of Medicine. 'Nick was wrong, to some extent. Extracts can be mixed to make medicine or poison as well. The effects, are stunning' I thought.

The best example, were the unknown herbs, that the Avians gave to me. I made an Essence from Blood Reeds and Earth Grabs, the effects were extraordinary. This taught me, that all herbs could be processed like this, but not all herbs reacted the same. 'Some herbs might not release their medical properties to a certain extent, due to lack of supporting herbs. This is where my Extract Path and Nick's Classical Path, can be combined' I thought.

That was the exact thing, I was testing with all the water herbs. I wanted to test out, if I could get a better Extract, depending on the method I used. There were only two methods. One was to cook the herbs, without any supporting herbs, and receive a specific amount of Extract. Or use supporting herbs, which should allow the properties of the herb, to be gathered fully, with little waste. The process was not fast. I had to test out, how much medical properties the herb releases, when heated to a specific degree. This meant, that I had to repeat the same process many times, but increase the temperature gradually. Then, I had to compare that, to the Extract created with the help of supporting herbs.

After two days of experimenting like this. I finally found the optimal solution. The solution concerned the herbs with water element only, as I didn't know how well it would work with other herbs. But, I proved my assumption. When I combined both styles of Extracts and Supporting Herbs, I received greater results. I didn't need to use as many herbs, in order to get the same amount of extract, when using supporting herbs.

This meant, that I could make strong Extract from rare herbs, without using many of them. 'I used up about half of what I collected. I need to gather more, and make some food for Frosty' I thought, and went back to collecting herbs.

The next day, with enough Extract that contained the water element, I headed towards the north again. 'This should be enough for Frosty. At least for the time, I want to spend in the North' I thought. Frosty didn't eat a lot, I always wondered why? Ultimately, not every creature had to eat a lot, in order to live. I was also under suspicion, that Frosty somehow got energy from my right arm. 'Although it seems far fetched, Frosty always wants to stay... inside? My arm, I guess' I thought.

I could arrive at the border within one day, but I decided to spend one last night in the Great Forest. 'If everything goes well, I will not see this place for a long time' I thought. I had enough food, to last me around 3 months. I planed to find out, if the Flaming Horses were edible or not. If not, I could always search for other creatures, or perhaps ask Crow. Crow was born in the North, therefore he had much greater knowledge about that place, than I did.

The next day, I arrived at the familiar bordering line, that separated two different worlds. With a small step, I crossed the border and entered the North again. "I'm back. Time to explore!" I said out loud, and released all the strength stored in my legs. "BOOOOM!", I sped through the Wilderness, towards my destination.

'At my full speed, I should be able to arrive there in about 3 "days"' I thought. No creature that lived in Wilderness, was a threat to me. With my Half Step of the Outer Limit broken, I would soon join the ranks of creatures, that already arrived at the wall of the Inner Limit. Although all creatures had Outer and Inner Limits, not all creatures were equal.

I possessed a huge amount of strength in my body, which could be compared to the Leader of Corpse Dogs. It also specialised in strength, but for example Crow, was not as strong as me. His specialisation was stealth. 'Every creature experiences different improvements' I thought. Even the Eterian woman, wasn't as strong as me. She specialised in some sort of power, that she possessed.

I ran through the Wilderness, and thought about some things. The first stop I did, was when my energy ran out. I had to replenish my energy by resting and eating. I did just that, then continued towards Obsidian Mountains. I had no interest in viewing the sights, I already went through that route. A long while later, I stopped again and replenished my energy.

After my 3rd stop, I finally arrived at the Obsidian Mountains. The temperature started to slowly rise, the closer I got to the Volcano. On my way, I spotted one of those Lava Sludges, and decided to test something out. I called out "Frosty, come out. I have something for you to do". Frosty appeared in front of me as always, and waited for instructions. I said "See that Lava Sludge? I want you to kill it. If you can't, then just run away, alright?". Frosty took a look at the Lava Sludge and nodded its head.

'It seems to be full of confidence. We will see about that' I thought, and waited for Frosty to approach the Lava Sludge. Frosty walked over to the Lava Sludge without any fear. It even walked around it for a while and showed me faces, that seemed to convey "See, I can do this!" and "you were so scared of it!". 'That bastard must've already encountered these creatures before. That is why it knows, that those creature don't attack passerbys' I thought.

The Lava Sludge completely ignored Frosty. Only when Frosty attacked with its Ice Breath, the creature wanted to react, but because Frosty's attack landed first, a lot of mist was created. I thought that the sludge will be fine, but I was wrong. The Lava Sludge became solid rock, and didn't move anymore.

I was a bit stunned and came closer. I examined the Lava Sludge. Although it was still hot to touch, it no longer responded. I looked at Frosty with confusion. Frosty started explaining, using the usual arm motion, but then remembered something and decided to show me differently. Frosty showed its Ice Breath again, then pointed at some rock on the ground.

I said "I know that it turned to rock, that is not what I'm confused about. I just don't know why, it would turn so fast into a rock? Shouldn't this take a long time? It was made out of lava after all". Frosty shook its head, and pointed at the Volcano in the distance, then at the wastelands, that we came from. After a while of motioning and showing me stuff, I finally figured out, why the Lava Sludge changed into a rock so fast.

"So, it was because of the difference between the temperature? In other words, these creatures need the lava and hot temperature, in order to live. If the temperature drops too much, it will turn into a rock, or die pretty much. Is that it?". Exhausted, Frosty finally nodded its head. I said "That's interesting. How do you know all this? Have you been here before?". Frosty nodded again, then jumped onto my shoulder, but didn't change into the tattoo. It pointed at the Volcano, and motioned for me to stay away.

I asked "Is something dangerous there?". Frosty nodded again. I asked "What about the area around the Volcano? Is that alright?". Frosty nodded again, and changed back into the tattoo this time. 'Alright. It seems that Frosty visited this place already. No wonder it knows about Lava Sludges. Either way, Frosty said to stay away from that Volcano. Not a bad idea, I don't want to get burned to a crisp yet' I thought, and decided to explore the outer area, in more details.