Limits.

I went to sleep straight away, after that day"s events, I just wanted to rest . The dream I had of the Dark Traveller, repeated itself for 20 times, as I listened to the words spoken . I had figured out the meaning of couple new words . This was thanks to the words, I already translated .

The words I translated were, Rin which translated as "In", Tar which translated as "Fall/Falling", Thatos which translated as "Yet", Hal which translated as "Great/Supreme", Nroh which translated as "To" and Adis which translated as "And" . With those new words, my understanding of the Ancient Language advanced . I was that much closer to figuring out the whole language and the whole speech of the Dark Traveller .

In the morning, I started my work with the arrow shafts again . I got better at it, the more of them I created . It was also my profession in the past, so it was easy for me to learn new stuff in that trade . At the end of the day, Woody was impressed with my work and said "You are not half bad . Did your parents teach you that profession?" .

I answered "No, I learned it from the age of 16 . I"m nowhere near your level of skill though" . Woody said "Just do this for one more day and I will introduce you to another job, which is a bit more difficult . I"m sure you will be able to handle it" . I nodded my head and took a rest . It was evening already and although I wanted to go out and see the village properly, I was kind of discouraged due to the past events .

I decided to stay in and rest properly . The next morning, I started my work on the arrow shafts again . By the mid afternoon, Woody approached me and said "You can stop now . This amount should be enough for the warriors to use for a while . Let me show you, your next task" . Woody took a piece of wooden log and started cutting and shaving it . After a while, I could see a specific shape emerging .

"What is this supposed to be?" I thought to myself and watched . It looked like a wooden plate but it was perfectly flat and round . It seemed like a plate but it was smaller than the usual plates . When Woody finished the wooden plate, he turned around and said "This is your next task" . I looked confused and said "Making plates? How is that more difficult than making arrow shafts?" .

Woody smiled and said "This is not a plate . Here, hold it" . I took the wooden plate and checked it in details . I saw nothing extraordinary at first but then, I noticed balance and not just any balance, it was balanced perfectly in every direction . It was quite thin but I could place it, in a standing position and it wouldn"t fall or roll . It"s flat side was also balanced .

Woody saw my expression and said "This is not a plate for food or anything like this . It"s a target for practice . Do you want me to show you how it works?" . I handed the "target" back to Woody and nodded my head . He said "Follow me outside" . I went outside with Woody and he took out a bow from somewhere . He pa.s.sed me the target and said "Throw it as hard as you can upwards . I will shoot it down" .

I took the disk and said "Are you sure? If I use my whole strength, I don"t think you will be able to hit this target" . Woody laughed and said "Try me boy" . I nodded my head and prepared to throw the target as hard as I could . I swung my arm with my maximum strength and released the target into the sky . "SWOOOSH!" It flew so fast that I could barely keep track of it .

Woody that stood next to me, quickly notched an arrow into the bow and shot it, without much of a thought . "Swooosh!" The arrow travelled even faster than the target I threw and incredibly, hit the target that was very far away from us . The distance was at least 500 metres! The target was not only pierced but due to the arrow striking it, it went even further, then fell down somewhere far away .

I exclaimed "Wow!" . Woody put away his bow and said "As I told you, these are targets for practice . This will be your job from now on" . I turned towards Woody and said "Can you teach me?" . Woody was confused and said "I already showed you how to create those targets . With your skills, it shouldn"t be a problem" . I shook my head and said "I"m talking about your archery . You are much better than that Eterian, I met a while ago" .

This time, Woody was surprised and said "You met an Eterian?" . I said "Yes, She taught me some archery and explained some other skills she was proficient in . Although, this didn"t end well . She betrayed me later… I don"t want to talk about it" . Woody became quite serious and said "You should"ve killed her" . This is what I didn"t understand . In the beginning, she was quite nice and did taught me some skills . Her betrayal was unexpected but I guessed that she wanted to live as well . This of course didn"t mean, I forgave her but I could understand her logic . I decided to ask "Why do humans want to exterminate Eterians so badly?" .

Woody responded "For those specific reasons . I don"t know what she said to you but they are master manipulators . We lived in peace in the past and we even had an alliance against another race . They betrayed our race and stabbed us in the back, together with our enemies . Those were hard times for us but we managed to survive and later exterminate loads of Eterians . The hatred is pa.s.sed down, I don"t know how you can be unaware about all of this" .

I answered "I come from a relatively small village, it"s called Freemount Village . It"s probably very far away from here . I don"t know a lot of things, I also promised not to visit any cities or villages if possible, before I master my skills . I already sort of broke that promise . I need supplies in order to continue, that is why, I had to visit your village"

Woody seemed shocked and said "Freemount Village? Interesting . How did you get all the way here then?" . I said "I travelled . I was green in the beginning but with time, I gained experience and skills" . Woody seemed to think about something and said "I have to think it through, I will give you an answer shortly" . I nodded my head and said "Sure . I better get back to carving then" .

I went inside and started my work . The task of creating those wooden targets was truly more difficult, compared to arrow shafts . Although it was more difficult, it wasn"t something I wouldn"t be able to make . After trying for a few times, I managed to complete one target plate . By the evening, I made dozens of them . I decided to have some rest and go outside . I didn"t want to sit inside the hut all the time and I could just avoid the central part of the village .

I wandered around the streets of the village aimlessly, lost in my thoughts . I thought about the strange runes and the large stone in the central plaza, as well as the event that took place over there . I thought about my home, the Freemount Village and my parents . One thought didn"t give me rest . "Why would Woody be interested in my home village? Does he know where it is?" I asked myself . He also seemed to change his att.i.tude about me, when he heard that I"m from that village . "Something doesn"t add up here . Is Woody hiding something from me?" I thought . Of course we weren"t friends or anything and there were probably loads of things he never told me . Although he didn"t have to tell me anything, this seemed like he supressed some stuff on purpose .

As I walked, I stumbled upon a familiar person . It was the Village Chief . The weirder part of it was, that he seemed to be waiting for me . I stopped walking and asked "Can I help you with something?" . He looked into the night sky and said "I don"t know . I wonder that myself" .