Limits.

The next morning, I checked my surroundings stealthily . I did that in order to check whenever the group that followed me, was still there . I looked for a while and didn"t spot them but I wasn"t convinced yet . "It might be a sham, they may have left or are pretending they did . I need to continue this charade for a while longer" I thought and packed my staff to continue my journey north .

I was traveling at a slower pace compared to the past . I wasn"t getting very far every day but I continuously traveled and so the distance to my destination got shorter and shorter . Of course I didn"t want to arrive there just like that . I wanted to practice my skills beforehand but if I had no choice and they still followed after me, I would have to do just that .

I only had about a dozen of my daggers left . I couldn"t use my daggers as throwing weapons lightly . Especially fighting against a group of strong opponents . I didn"t know their skills either but they had advantage in numbers . Close combat would be difficult as well . That was why I wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs . You don"t fight the fights you can"t win .

In the afternoon, I found a group of wolves, still the usual normal wolves . I wondered "Where the h.e.l.l are all the variants?" . I didn"t see one for a long time now and this seemed a bit suspicious . Although it struck me as weird, I was happy nevertheless . Fighting variants would mean that I had to expose my skills and if that group of humans still followed after me, I would be in even greater disadvantage once they attacked .

I used wooden spears and whatnot to take care of the group of wolves . The group consisted of 4 wolves anyway, I wasn"t worried about being injured or dying . I made it look as if I was struggling with that group, just to let them know I wasn"t that powerful . Of course provided they were still trailing behind me . I traveled and hunted when necessary for few days and didn"t notice them hiding anywhere . I decided to test that .

I went into the forest and disappeared between the trees . If they were watching that, they would surely find it surprising and maybe even try to find my location . I didn"t need for them to really chase after me, just expose their location, of course provided they were still there . I waited for a while, then about 30 minutes pa.s.sed . I saw no response . I thought "Maybe they can see me?" I returned to my camp to pack my stuff and then sprinted into the forest . I went into stealth immediately and ran further north . After an hour of running at my full speed while staying in stealth, I hid at the top of a tree and waited patiently .

I went into the forest and disappeared between the trees . If they were watching that, they would surely find it surprising and maybe even try to find my location . I didn"t need for them to really chase after me, just expose their location, of course provided they were still there . I waited for a while, then about 30 minutes pa.s.sed . I saw no response . I thought "Maybe they can see me?" I returned to my camp to pack my stuff and then sprinted into the forest . I went into stealth immediately and ran further north . After an hour of running at my full speed while staying in stealth, I hid at the top of a tree and waited patiently .

One hour, two hours, 4 hours and nothing . I released a sigh and thought "OK, so they finally left . Now I just have to travel as far as I can in one night, I can then resume my training" . I sprinted through the night leaving as little tracks as I could . When the sun raised over the horizon, I stopped to rest and thought "Now I can finally focus on my training" . I made a camp nearby and rested till afternoon .

Because I met these people, I now had to find a new place to train my new skill from the Art of Stealth . I had to repeat the same process and again find the most suitable route that would take me to the same destination .

This time, I chose a large boulder as my destination . It was about 10 minutes away, if I ran in straight line . Of course, I wasn"t interested in running at full speed in straight line, instead I needed to do it at optimal speed while staying hidden . Soon after, I selected my 1st route . "Hmm, about 17 minutes" I thought after traversing it . It was one of the fastest routes I could find but then again, I had to try many in order to have something to compare them .

This time, I chose a large boulder as my destination . It was about 10 minutes away, if I ran in straight line . Of course, I wasn"t interested in running at full speed in straight line, instead I needed to do it at optimal speed while staying hidden . Soon after, I selected my 1st route . "Hmm, about 17 minutes" I thought after traversing it . It was one of the fastest routes I could find but then again, I had to try many in order to have something to compare them .

I ran and ran and ran like crazy . Forwards and backwards, each time using a different route . Some routes took me 20 minutes to run while some took 16 or 17 . I never managed to go below 16 minutes mark . It was due to the lack of objects that would allow me to hide my presence . I contemplated and compared the routes again, finally choosing one that was most optimal .

"I have my route . Next step, improving it!" I thought . Although I started from the most optimal route and focused on improving that, I would try to improve other routes as well . This would help me with the familiarisation process of the skill . If I learned how each leaf, gra.s.s blade, flower, pebble and whatnot behaved while I traveled, I could then use those small details to improve my route . I would also be a step closer to mastering the skill of calculating the best route . There was one more reason . It was to learn the behaviour of nature . I was doing the same thing when I learned how humans behave . The more people I watched and studied, the better able I was to predict what they were going to do . This same thing is at least ten times harder when it comes to nature .

For one, I had to watch not one ent.i.ty or object but the whole route . Human was just one ent.i.ty and calculating behaviour based on muscle movement, facial expressions or state was much easier to do than figuring out what a blade of gra.s.s would do . Plants or rocks didn"t have muscles or facial expressions . This was the reason why it was so hard to predict the behaviour of nature .

I ran the route many times and managed to memorize it like the back of my hand but it wasn"t enough . Simple memorisation would improve my time for sure but that was not what I was after . I took a break in order to eat something and then decided to train my body . I now had a bag with the same effect as the bags I owned in the past .
For one, I had to watch not one ent.i.ty or object but the whole route . Human was just one ent.i.ty and calculating behaviour based on muscle movement, facial expressions or state was much easier to do than figuring out what a blade of gra.s.s would do . Plants or rocks didn"t have muscles or facial expressions . This was the reason why it was so hard to predict the behaviour of nature .

I ran the route many times and managed to memorize it like the back of my hand but it wasn"t enough . Simple memorisation would improve my time for sure but that was not what I was after . I took a break in order to eat something and then decided to train my body . I now had a bag with the same effect as the bags I owned in the past .

I didn"t know the maximum capacity of the bag but I was about to find out . I stuffed as many heavy things inside as I could, until the bag would take no more . When I tried to lift it, the bag was very heavy . It was heavy to the point that my past training with weight paled in comparison . I tried to put the bag onto my back but it was already difficult to lift it . I decided to take out some of the rocks and make the bag weight less . I thought "This bag seems to be capable of fitting more stuff inside than my previous bag . Probably because the one from Nick was old and this one is newer" .

I placed the "still heavy but not to the point of crushing me" bag on my back and started my body training . As usual, I started with the modified diagram first . With the weight on me, the duration I could stay in the pose suffered a lot . I was able to stay only 8 minutes in the 1st modified pose . As for the 2nd pose? Measly 4,5 minutes . I expected that already so I wasn"t disappointed . I also knew that I didn"t carry any weight on me for a long time, my body would need to adjust to it again, even though I was stronger compared to the past .

I carried on with my training until the evening . After dinner, I relaxed for a while and tried to modify the 3rd diagram . When I got tired, I went to sleep . I hoped that this time, I would dream the dream of the talking dark figure .The next morning, I checked my surroundings stealthily . I did that in order to check whenever the group that followed me, was still there . I looked for a while and didnt spot them but I wasnt convinced yet . It might be a sham, they may have left or are pretending they did . I need to continue this charade for a while longer I thought and packed my staff to continue my journey north . I was traveling at a slower pace compared to the past . I wasnt getting very far every day but I continuously traveled and so the distance to my destination got shorter and shorter . Of course I didnt want to arrive there just like that . I wanted to practice my skills beforehand but if I had no choice and they still followed after me, I would have to do just that . I only had about a dozen of my daggers left . I couldnt use my daggers as throwing weapons lightly . Especially fighting against a group of strong opponents . I didnt know their skills either but they had advantage in numbers . Close combat would be difficult as well . That was why I wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs . You dont fight the fights you cant win . In the afternoon, I found a group of wolves, still the usual normal wolves . I wondered Where the h.e.l.l are all the variants? . I didnt see one for a long time now and this seemed a bit suspicious . Although it struck me as weird, I was happy nevertheless . Fighting variants would mean that I had to expose my skills and if that group of humans still followed after me, I would be in even greater disadvantage once they attacked . I used wooden spears and whatnot to take care of the group of wolves . The group consisted of 4 wolves anyway, I wasnt worried about being injured or dying . I made it look as if I was struggling with that group, just to let them know I wasnt that powerful . Of course provided they were still trailing behind me . I traveled and hunted when necessary for few days and didnt notice them hiding anywhere . I decided to test that . I went into the forest and disappeared between the trees . If they were watching that, they would surely find it surprising and maybe even try to find my location . I didnt need for them to really chase after me, just expose their location, of course provided they were still there . I waited for a while, then about 30 minutes pa.s.sed . I saw no response . I thought Maybe they can see me? I returned to my camp to pack my stuff and then sprinted into the forest . I went into stealth immediately and ran further north . After an hour of running at my full speed while staying in stealth, I hid at the top of a tree and waited patiently . One hour, two hours, 4 hours and nothing . I released a sigh and thought OK, so they finally left . Now I just have to travel as far as I can in one night, I can then resume my training . I sprinted through the night leaving as little tracks as I could . When the sun raised over the horizon, I stopped to rest and thought Now I can finally focus on my training . I made a camp nearby and rested till afternoon . Because I met these people, I now had to find a new place to train my new skill from the Art of Stealth . I had to repeat the same process and again find the most suitable route that would take me to the same destination . This time, I chose a large boulder as my destination . It was about 10 minutes away, if I ran in straight line . Of course, I wasnt interested in running at full speed in straight line, instead I needed to do it at optimal speed while staying hidden . Soon after, I selected my 1st route . Hmm, about 17 minutes I thought after traversing it . It was one of the fastest routes I could find but then again, I had to try many in order to have something to compare them . I ran and ran and ran like crazy . Forwards and backwards, each time using a different route . Some routes took me 20 minutes to run while some took 16 or 17 . I never managed to go below 16 minutes mark . It was due to the lack of objects that would allow me to hide my presence . I contemplated and compared the routes again, finally choosing one that was most optimal . I have my route . Next step, improving it! I thought . Although I started from the most optimal route and focused on improving that, I would try to improve other routes as well . This would help me with the familiarisation process of the skill . If I learned how each leaf, gra.s.s blade, flower, pebble and whatnot behaved while I traveled, I could then use those small details to improve my route . I would also be a step closer to mastering the skill of calculating the best route . There was one more reason . It was to learn the behaviour of nature . I was doing the same thing when I learned how humans behave . The more people I watched and studied, the better able I was to predict what they were going to do . This same thing is at least ten times harder when it comes to nature . For one, I had to watch not one ent.i.ty or object but the whole route . Human was just one ent.i.ty and calculating behaviour based on muscle movement, facial expressions or state was much easier to do than figuring out what a blade of gra.s.s would do . Plants or rocks didnt have muscles or facial expressions . This was the reason why it was so hard to predict the behaviour of nature . I ran the route many times and managed to memorize it like the back of my hand but it wasnt enough . Simple memorisation would improve my time for sure but that was not what I was after . I took a break in order to eat something and then decided to train my body . I now had a bag with the same effect as the bags I owned in the past . I didnt know the maximum capacity of the bag but I was about to find out . I stuffed as many heavy things inside as I could, until the bag would take no more . When I tried to lift it, the bag was very heavy . It was heavy to the point that my past training with weight paled in comparison . I tried to put the bag onto my back but it was already difficult to lift it . I decided to take out some of the rocks and make the bag weight less . I thought This bag seems to be capable of fitting more stuff inside than my previous bag . Probably because the one from Nick was old and this one is newer . I placed the still heavy but not to the point of crushing me bag on my back and started my body training . As usual, I started with the modified diagram first . With the weight on me, the duration I could stay in the pose suffered a lot . I was able to stay only 8 minutes in the 1st modified pose . As for the 2nd pose? Measly 4,5 minutes . I expected that already so I wasnt disappointed . I also knew that I didnt carry any weight on me for a long time, my body would need to adjust to it again, even though I was stronger compared to the past . I carried on with my training until the evening . After dinner, I relaxed for a while and tried to modify the 3rd diagram . When I got tired, I went to sleep . I hoped that this time, I would dream the dream of the talking dark figure .