Limits

The next morning we resumed our travels. The world had much to offer as I learned throughout my journey. Yet what I knew right now, was nothing compared even to what Nick experienced. Like the lights the last night, it was something I never saw. Although Shelly doesn't talk, it probably never seen that kind of thing happening either.

The Silent Pass was still couple of days of travel away. I decided not to get distracted anymore and increase our speed. We passed through a river that day and Shelly went in to have a swim. Although we lived near a waterfall that fell to a river below, Shelly didn't get many occasions to swim due to training but mostly due to weather. It was very cold in winter therefore it was rare for Shelly to swim. Now that it was much warmer and the river was there, Shelly got a chance to swim and it took that chance. Shelly was a turtle afterall and swimming was in its nature.

Later in the afternoon we encountered the hives of large hornets we saw in the past. I wasn't about to go through their territory so we took a detour. These creatures were not dangerous separately but none of the large hornets moved individually.

Later we encountered a group of wolf variants which I never imagined was possible. A group of 11 black wolves was a nightmare to encounter. The wolves were not very keen to let us go just like that, even though we tried to make a detour. We had to fight.

If this happened couple of months before, we would probably die today. Now it was different. I carried that weight on me all the time and trained my body both in reality and in dream, my strength increased throughout that period. Maybe not by much but I was still carrying the weight on me. I used my daggers to fight while Shelly would use its mouth. Although Shelly was very fast when it gained momentum, it could only go in straight line at that speed, it couldn't make sharp turns.

Shelly would use that speed but only to attack with its mouth. Its ramming attack became used less frequently as Shelly began to plan more. I fought in close combat. My aim improved but I still lacked in skills against fast enemies. My calculations and unpredictability weren't there yet, besides I always wanted to polish my close combat skills. After the incident with the group of humans, I fought in close combat whenever I was in a fight.

I still practised the Stringed Hidden Weapons as well as throwing and even bow shooting but my close combat could only be practiced when I had an opponent. The harder the opponent was the better for my improvement. If I were to fight against weak opponents, I wouldn't be able to learn anything new.

Although 11 black wolves would be deadly in the past, today it was manageable and not life threatening. When most of the wolves died and some escaped, I extracted the meat with very precise movements then we left that place. My butchering skills also improved due to the sheer amount of animals I had to butcher. I now knew every join, bone and part of the common animals, I could debone them without even looking.

We traveled like this for couple of days. Hunting, training and resting at night. When we finally reached our destination, I was amazed at what I saw. "So this is Silent Pass?" I said out loud in astonishment. The silent pass was an actual pass between two cliff sides that were as tall as hills. The pass itself was not very wide, if couple of humans stood next to each other with their arms extended, the pass would fit about 6 of them.

The walls looked like I could scale them but it would be dangerous and I had no experience with that in the past. This was the first time I saw cliffs and this tall at the same time. From the distance, I could see large birds flying at the top of the pass. There were also nests high up on the cliff face, supposedly homes for those birds.

I never saw those birds before. They were quite large, about half the size of a grown man. I also didn't know whenever these birds would attack us. When we encountered bigger animals they were usually aggressive. The ones not aggressive were herbivore or had passive nature which meant that as long as we don't intrude on their territory, they would not actively seek to attack us.

When we got closer to the entrance of the pass, I noticed strong winds that blew through the pass. The currents were also unpredictable. Sometimes wind would blow from the top, sometimes from the back and sometimes even from below. 'This place is perfect for my wind training!' I thought. Not only would I be able to learn how to predict the wind or in other words feel the wind but this place could also help with my next step of my training. After I could predict the wind, I would use my daggers and wind currents for them to become unpredictable.

I said to Shelly "We shall stay here for a while, I didn't expect that kind of great environment for my training to be here. I need to take advantage of that". Shelly nodded but it wasn't very impressed with that place. Shelly treated it as almost any other place but with more wind.

I was a bit worried about the birds but when we entered the pass, the birds actually didn't bother us. I though 'I think that as long as I don't try to climb the cliffs, the birds will leave us alone. Although they may be carnivore, they may have a specific pray that they hunt and eat'. With that, I went outside the pass to create a shelter in which we could stay couple of days. It wouldn't be as sophisticated as the previous one but it would have to be more protective than those we used to build just for one night.

Shelly helped out with the shelter as usual and we retired for the rest of the day after we had our food. The next morning I would start my new training regime. Although I didn't want to jump between different skills because I would never master either of them, this opportunity was too sweet to pass.

I wanted to find out if this environment was good enough for me to learn how to find wind and perhaps how to use it to my advantage with my throwing daggers. 'If it works, I could always return here when it was the time to master my Wind Daggers Art' I thought. This was the name I chose for this new skill.