Limits

The dark figure stood in front of me but didn't talk. It struck me as odd and different. It would always talk so why wouldn't it do so now? I then shouted towards the dark figure "Hey! are you finally going to give me a break?" but the it just stood there. I started to move toward the dark figure at a slow pace, as if testing the grounds.

When I was couple of metres away, I noticed movement from the dark figure. It didn't punch me or kick me, it simply did something over and over again. I was shocked at what I saw and though 'Just what the fuck is this thing doing exactly! It just arbitrarily decided to train right now and that's it?'.

'But why the hell did it change again? It is not attacking me anymore and simply trains something. Just… Why?'. The dark figure was training something weird at that. It would jump like a frog or run on all fours as if it was some sort of animal. It would also walk slowly in a very weird pose and even roll on the ground like a wheel.

I thought 'Why did it change? That is the fundamental question. What happened for it to change?'. After a while of thinking and pondering about it, I began to suspect something. 'It's a bit weird that this dark figure starts to train something when I decided to train in reality' my thoughts then continued 'If that is the case, what if I start training my skills instead of strength. Would it change again?'

Although I couldn't be certain for now but I wanted to test it and know immediately. "Yet I'm in the dream right now and I don't know how long it will take for me to wake up. If that is the case then why not train as well? I might just do it while I wait for the dream to end".

I started to train as well. I stretched for a bit first in order to warm up my muscles. I then tried to do one of the exercises that my father used to do in the past but the moment I started the real training, the dark figure immediately stopped and ran at me. I was stupefied and again didn't know what was going on. I soon found out. The dark figure kicked me and I died.

When I opened my eyes, I was not in a dream anymore. Instead I was laying on my bed. I screamed loudly "Just what the fuck is that dream!" and woke Shelly up, who had no clue as to why I would shout such stuff first thing in the morning. 'This damned dream is playing tricks on me. I need to change my training to skills instead of strength and we will see whenever the dream changes as well' I thought and got up from bed.

I practised the 1st modified diagram as usual and then took a rest before practising the 2nd modified diagram. After that, I did my training with Stringed Hidden Weapons even though I still carried that whole weight on me. Later on, I trained with Shelly using the puppets and then we hunted after which I trained in the Stringed Hidden Weapons skill again.

I didn't do any exercises that day, of course besides the diagrams from the Strength Manual which I always did anyway. Late in the evening, I finished my training and went to bed. 'Let's see if this dream changes again' I thought and soon after fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, the dark figure was standing in front of me talking away. "This…" I didn't know what to say and how to describe that situation. The dream indeed changed to the one I always had. The familiar feeling of dying and listening to the dark figure speaking away was now bewildering. 'Then does it mean that if I do stuff like play on some instruments whole day, the dream would be different again? This is preposterous!' I screamed in my head.

I couldn't focus at all on the dark figure and the words it spoke. I simply died 20 times and woke up in my bed. I thought 'Let's think about this rationally. If my actions affect what is going to happen in my dream, then does that mean it has some kind of deeper meaning. Maybe the dreams are much more than just dreams'. When It came to skills, the dark figure would first talk and then kill me with a skill.

When I trained my body on the other hand, the dark figure from my dream would train all the time in some weird ways. I could walk, talk and so on but the dark figure would simply train. Yet when I wanted to train as well, it attacked me immediately. 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' I thought and suddenly, I got an idea.

'What if I try to repeat the same exercise that the dark figure does, would it attack me then?'. I couldn't replicate the skills of that dark figure when it came to my original dream but doing the same weird poses was not that difficult to copy. I formed a new plan where I would return to my strength training and when it was time to sleep, I would repeat what the dark figure did. 'We will see what type of effects will this have' I thought and got out from my bed to start my day.

After breakfast I did the usual morning training, I then fed Shelly and trained with it using the puppets. I added another puppet to make 3 but my control of them was quite poor so I decided to just stick with 2 puppets. After training with Shelly, I went out for a run. I decided to do 30 minutes of running on my legs then rest and another 30 minutes of "running" but this time on my arms.

My muscles got used to the weight a bit already. I ran for 30 minutes and felt that I could go on some more. I still decided not to go that far and do it systematically. I rested for about 30 minutes and then tried to do running using my arms.

I as a human being, was not adapted to walking on my arms, especially with the weight I was carrying. I couldn't maintain the proper balance when I tried to move. It was actually much harder than just walking. I decided to change the 'oh so weird' arms running into walking. When you were born, you had to learn how to walk first in order to run.

It was the same in this situation. I used my arms as, well arms not legs. Therefore my balance upside down was affected greatly and I first needed to learn how to maintain my balance and learn to walk. I could then change this to running.

I trained like this till afternoon when I called for Shelly in order to go and hunt something for our dinner and breakfast. Shelly came running and it seemed that the mask was not very effective for Shelly anymore. Although during the puppet training, It would struggle due to my control skills but running around the shelter and areas near it, posed no problems for Shelly.

I also wanted to try something new when hunting this time but I first wanted to make sure that the group we encounter is not deadly. Like this we traveled deeper into the forest in search of prey.