Limits.

I looked at Crow, and he took out a bag full of money. He asked "How much do you want?". Harlin was a bit surprised, but answered nevertheless "I will need around 200 Black Hals. If there are any leftovers, I will return them of course". Crow took out 200 Black Hals, and pa.s.sed them to Harlin. Harlin then said "I will get the materials, as soon as I can".

I then said "I will need one more thing. Do you know what distillery is?". Harlin shook his head, and answered "No. I have no idea". I pa.s.sed him the drawing, and said "This is the distillery. I need this, and I need this badly. From what I know, this is a special made equipment. I don"t know who makes this, but I need one such tool". Harlin took a look at the drawing, and said "I don"t know anything about it, but I can ask around Arangard when I visit. What is this tool used for?".

I said "For experiments. People who study stuff like herbs or plants, properties of liquids and such, should know about it. It"s a tool for some experiments basically". Harlin nodded his head, and said "I will look around for it". With that done, I bid farewell to all my friends, and returned to the inn. After dinner, I went back to my room and trained the control of my energy.

Few days pa.s.sed. I went back to Alice, to collect the first mask, which would be used for Crow"s training. The mask was completed, and it looked… weird. It had very small holes for eyes, but not for the mouth or nose. Not that I could see a nose, on Crow"s face. The mask was mostly blank, but had some design elements around the cheek areas. It looked like some sort of flame, or perhaps a specific design that look like flame. Other than that, it was grey.

When I asked about the second mask and my set, Alicia said it wasn"t finished yet. She told me to come back in a week or two, then the other stuff would be ready. I had nothing against that, and left her house, after saying goodbye. I went straight to Lazar"s place, and met up with Crow.

"That is the special item, I was talking about". Crow took the mask, and asked "A mask? What"s so special about it?". I said "Put it on, and activate it. You know how to use Formations right?". Crow laughed, and replied "Of course I know! Watch this!". He placed the mask on his face, and activated the Formations.

After a while, he took the mask off, and said "You are a monster. I know perfectly well, why this mask exists… but still, this is cruel". I said "Don"t worry so much. You can activate one Formation at a time. That means, you can seal your sight alone, and train other senses. The same with hearing and smell… You can smell stuff, right?". Crow looked at me, as if looking at an idiot, and said "Duh? Why couldn"t I smell stuff?". I replied "You don"t have a nose, so… Anyway, that is for the beginning. When your senses develop, you will use the full potential of this mask".

Crow nodded, and said "That is what I meant. You are a monster, and so are your ideas. Well, I already started, so why stop, right?". I smiled, and said "Let"s train your hearing first. We can then focus on other senses. When you reach a satisfactory standard in all three, the rest will be up to you. I will be leaving by then". Crow nodded, and placed the mask on. He said "Say something". He said that, to probably test if I wasn"t joking, about the Formations working separately. I said "Stop playing around, and find your way through the maze of poles".

I took out the poles, and with swift movements, placed them around the room. The training went on like this, until Lazar came back. There was still no news from Harlin about the materials, or the distillery. Lazar on the other hand, was already thinking about ways to improve Harlin"s network. He was hardworking, and always did what he could, to carry out the task. His new goal, took it to the next level though. He became absorbed by it. Fortunately, not in a bad way.

Time slowly pa.s.sed. I trained the control of my energy every day. Crow trained his senses, while Lazar was getting familiar with the inner, and outer workings of Harlin"s information network. Harlin on the other hand, didn"t return for a while now. "He probably searches for that distillery. I don"t think that getting the materials, would be this difficult for him" I thought. A few days later, Harlin finally returned. He pa.s.sed the materials to me, and said "Do you even know how hard it is, to get any information about that distillery of yours?".

I replied "I know about it, and even Atols know about it. How hard can it be?". Lazar replied "It"s like a trade secret. I had to pay 20 Black Hals, just to get that information". I nodded, and said "Just deduce that from Crow"s money". Crow asked "Why? You became poor overnight?". I smiled, and said "That mask of yours, costed 150 Black Hals". Crow immediately shut up, and didn"t say anything else. I asked Harlin "So, did you finally managed to find it?".

Harlin nodded, and said "Yes. As you mentioned, it is a special order. But not just anyone can place it. This involves Hatmandor". I was a bit confused, and asked "Hatmandor?". Harlin nodded, and said "Yes. Hatmandor is a special place. This is the place, where money we use originates from. They created a lot of different things. Stuff like Sand of Time, is one of their designs".

I said "I visited pretty much the whole North, I never saw, or heard about Hatmandor. Where is it exactly?". Harlin shook his head, and said "It"s not here. It"s an island, further north. No one has access there, if not invited. Maybe some Royal Lizards visited that place, but I know no one who did". "Interesting", I replied. I then continued "Can you still get that distillery?". Harlin nodded, and said "Yes, but it will cost you". I asked "How much". Harling looked at me seriously, and said "430 Black Hals".

"That is a higher price, compared to what I had to pay in Apium… Whatever, I still need it" I thought. I took out almost all of the money I had left, and gave them to Harlin. I said "This is 330 Black Hals", then looked at Crow. Crow realised what I meant, and sighed. "Alright, alright. I will add 100 to that. You know, you could"ve just taken all of that money before… I feel like you are robbing me", Crow then pa.s.sed 100 Black Hals to Harlin.

I said "Get it as soon as you can. I don"t know how long, I will have to wait for it". Harlin nodded, and left to buy the distillery. I asked Crow "Do you know anything about Hatmandor?". Crow nodded, and said "Not much though. I too knew that they are located on the island, and that they made a lot of inventions around the North. I also know one more thing. They are like the owners of the North. I don"t know the details, but everyone is trying to please them". I nodded, and though "Hatmandor…". A smile appeared on my face, and I said "Who knows, maybe we will meet them in the future". Crow seemed confused, and didn"t know what I meant, but I didn"t extrapolate.