Limits

After the dinner we returned to the cave where I started to create poison again. Time flew by like this and the next day, I had all 12 vials full of poison. The potency varied from 79% to 83% and that was mainly due to exhaustion. I created 4 batches one after another. Usually the ones with higher percentage were the first batch from the sequence of four. On the other hand, the batches with the worst potency were the last batches that I made in the sequence of four. Of course 79% potency was still quite good and I figured that with time and experience, I would get better at making this poison.

I then said to Shelly "We will move out now towards the Limestone Village. It will take us about two days worth of travel to get there". Shelly nodded it's head and followed after me. We traveled on the shortest possible route, as usual anyway. I did take under consideration big groups of creatures or animals and in case we encountered one, we would make a detour.

Because mine and Shelly's stamina were very good, we decided to travel through the night in order to get to the village faster. I already killed those hunters and 2 days passed since they were killed. In other words, they may send more hunters to find out what happened or instead to gather the furry deer because the previous group failed to show up. I didn't want that, I needed to exterminate the whole village. I didn't want anyone to see me at all. If someone lived through that and managed to spread that news, I could kiss goodby to any village and probably city as well in the future. I might even be hunted for mass murder.

While traveling under night sky, I noticed something was off. I couldn't see very well and decided to take out the mask which improved my vision. When I put the mask on, I saw something that terrified me. We were currently standing in front of at least 18 huge hives of the gigantic wasps. Cold sweat rolled down my back as we quickly backed up.

If we were to enter that area and we were discovered by the wasps, I didn't think we could outrun that many of them. 18 hives worth of wasps was an unimaginable amount. That kind of army of insects could kill a whole village without a problem. Even couple of villages put together would probably cease to exist, if all those wasps were to attack at once.

We took a detour from that part of the forest. In the morning, I check the map and we were about 6 hours worth of travel away from the Limestone Village. I decided we should rest and besides we needed to carry out this plan during the night. We needed the cover of the night in order to mask our activities. That way less people would be around. Ideally no people would be around.

I still had one vial of the antidote, it was the one that Nick gave to me. I decided to create more antidote beforehand, instead of relying on that one vial in my bag. The recipe for antidote was also written together with the poison recipe. I needed some Grainy Flex as well as Fierce Berry. In order to create the antidote, I had to place those herbs inside a pot and wait for them to "marinate" for couple of hours, then light up the fire and make the mixture boil. When half of the liquid was boiled off, I would need to take out the dregs and pour the antidote into a vial after it cooled down.

The herbs I needed for the antidote were quite common and after looking for a while, I found enough of both herbs to make 3 vials of antidote. The proportions needed to be specific but I could easily make couple of batches at once instead of just one like with the Cloud Haze Poison. I placed the herbs inside the pot with water and rested. I decided to nod off for couple of hours and said to Shelly to guard us while I slept.

Of course Shelly wouldn't say no to that but was still annoyed that I went to sleep while it stayed up. I said to Shelly before I went to sleep "When I wake up, I will be making antidote. You can sleep then". Shelly nodded it's head in understanding and I went to sleep.

Fortunately these couple of hours of sleep went uneventfully and Shelly never woke me up. I woke up and went to check on the pot while saying to Shelly "Alright, go to sleep now. I will do the antidote and after you rest, we will move towards the village". Shelly didn't complain anymore and went straight to sleep.

I checked the herbs inside the pot and it seemed that enough time passed for the herbs to release the needed substances into the water. I made a fire and placed the pot on top of it. I boiled the mixture until only half of the liquid was remaining in the pot and took out the dregs. I then let it cool down for couple of good minutes after which I poured the contents into the vials.

Nicks showed me how to check potency of Cloud Haze Poison as well as it's antidote. I also knew how to check the potency of Vital Liquid. All concoctions whenever poison or medicine had their potency. When I checked the effectiveness of the antidote, it had 81% potency. It was not bad for the little experience I had with this antidote so far.

I didn't rest anymore and decided to do some training in the Art of Stealth. My hiding ability improved since I left the Horseplain Village but I still couldn't figure out the "avoid the light" part. It might seem simple at first because you just have to avoid the light but for humans who depended on light, it was not an easy task. Besides, how would one go about actually achieving this?

Shelly woke up about an hour after I started my training. I asked "Are you ready Shelly?" to which it nodded it's head and we left. We were now heading straight for the Limestone Village. I had more poison than in the Horeseplain Village but at the same time, I lived there for a long time and I knew the village inside out. The Limestone Village was an uncharted territory for me on the other hand, I didn't know the size nor did I know how strong is the person in charge.

There was a possibility that the poison may not work on that person and that would create problems, I would have to dispose of him or her by myself or rather with the help from Shelly. After about 6 hours of travel, I could finally see the village. Fortunately my worst fears were not fulfilled and the village was about the size of Horeseplain VIllage. This should mean that with 12 vials, I would have no problem destroying life in this village. Yet there is always the person who controls the village and if he or she survives, there may be problems. 'I will need to keep an eye for such people, if I see someone resisting the poison, I will have to take them out myself' I thought to myself.

I then said to Shelly "We shall wait for the night time. We will spread the poison around the village from outside and watch for any people who may be able to resist it. We will use 10 vials, this should be enough for this size of a village". Shelly nodded it's head and we waited for the nightfall.