Limits.

She was still confused and a bit fearful, but asked "So, you want to teach me? Make me your disciple?". I nodded, and said "If you can satisfy my requirements, you will become my inheritor". She had to take that in, before she asked again "You will teach me?". I asked "Do you have a problem with your hearing?". She quickly shook her head, and replied "No, no. I thought I was dreaming. Tell me, what do I need to do, in order to become your disciple?". I said "You will have to memorize a book. You will have three weeks to memorize it. If you can do that, I will teach you. If you can"t, I will not. Don"t think that the book will be simple though, it"s going to have 1001 pages".

She was stunned, and stood there for a while. I asked "How many herbs do you know?". She thought about it, and said "Maybe 40 or 60. Not more than that. Why?". I said "You will know soon enough. For now, I will take you back to the village. This time, keep this to yourself, I don"t need too much attention". She nodded, and said "I will". I walked over to grab her, but she instinctively moved back. I shook my head, and grabbed her anyway, then disappeared from that place.

We arrived in front of the village, and I let her go. I said "If I wanted to do something to you, I would do it already. I told you, you don"t have to be scared of me". She looked around, nodded and said "You are fast… It"s the first time, I saw someone so fast". I laughed, and said "Practice. When the book is ready, I will bring it to you. Just beware, you are not allowed to show it to anyone. Alright?". She nodded like a little bird. I smiled, and said "Good. I will see you around", and left towards the training area. I already collected all my things, before I chased after her, so there was no need for me to return.

"I wonder if she is able to achieve that. Although I would like to teach her, I can"t teach someone who has no talent in this field. Although I didn"t have talent, this is different. I"m the one who sets standards this time, not Nick" I thought, and began my practice. Every night, I would sit down in my room, and write the book, that I burned down a long time ago.

Because my memory was excellent now, I could still remember all the details about the herbs in the Thousand and One Herbs book. It would still take me a few days to write everything, and draw all the sketches. "Fortunately I can draw. Otherwise, I would need to use another method to test her" I thought. The days slowly pa.s.sed, and I finally managed to finish the book. "The Thousand and One Herbs book is finally completed. This was tiring" I thought, and headed towards Olav"s house.

When I knocked on the doors, Kara opened them and invited me inside. I said "It"s fine, I came over to give you the book. Like I said earlier, you have three weeks to memorize it. I will test your knowledge after that time". She took the book, and said "I will try my best". I nodded, and bid her farewell. I headed towards the training area, to continue my sword practice.

The three weeks pa.s.sed rather quickly. I made improvements, and was better able to carry out all the attacks fluidly. I could also defend better, and it came more naturally to me now. I spared with Aran more seriously a few times, and learned even more. Although I never used my full power, I still managed to catch some moves that Aran was executing. Aran was very pleased with my training, and said "You are getting better and better. I will teach you some skills soon, as you managed to get the hang of simple attacks. Remember that, everything is derived from basics. Whether it"s stances, or styles. Practice a bit more, and you should be fine".

I nodded my head, and said "For now, I will rest. I still have something to take care of". Aran had no issues with that, and we ended the training for that day. I headed towards Olav"s house, and knocked on the doors. Kara opened them, and looked very tired. I said "Three weeks pa.s.sed today. Can I have the book back?". She nodded and handed me the book. I asked "Did you copy it?". She quickly sobered up, and shook her head. She replied "No, I wouldn"t dare. I already messed up once".

I nodded, and said "Good, then follow me". She nodded her head, and did just that. When I saw no people around, I grabbed her, and left the village. When I put her down, she said "You always grab me like this…". I replied "Don"t think too much about unnecessary stuff. Today, I will test your knowledge". I placed the book in my right hand and froze it, then destroyed it into small pieces.

When she saw the book getting destroyed, her face went a bit grim. I asked "Ready?". She sighed, and replied "Ready!". I began by asking her some simple questions. Stuff like, what herbs could I use, to make poisons or medicines. She answered all the questions correctly, so I increased the difficulty. I asked "What herb or herbs are needed, to cure limb paralysis?". She thought about it for a while, and said "You would need to use Rinse Berry, Loran Gra.s.s and Perch Sprout". I asked "Why would I use these herbs?". She creased her brows, and thought for a while. She then answered "Rinse Berry has the effect to calm the paralysis, while the Loran Gra.s.s helps in muscles flexibility. The Perch Sprout is not really required, but it would help fight the aftereffects of numbness. A person could be brought back to health faster that way".

I said "Interesting. Let"s continue". I asked a few more questions, each harder than the other. She began sweating, when I got to the point where knowing the book, would only help her 50% of the time. She had to extrapolate a lot of things. To my surprise, she managed to answer all the questions correctly up to this point. I asked the final question "The Ethereal Flower, who found it?". Her face changed, and she began panicking. "Of course you can"t know this. This was never written in the book, so how could you?". I was interested in her answer nevertheless.

After a while, she replied "I don"t know, but I have a feeling that this is a fake entry. A flower that grants immortality... Even if someone found it, wouldn"t that mean he or she is still alive? Wouldn"t that person be very famous or something? I know, these are just excuses, so the short answer is, I don"t know… I failed". I smiled, and shook my head. She lowered her head, while I said "You"ve pa.s.sed".

She couldn"t believe it when I said it, and asked "I pa.s.sed?". I nodded, and replied "Yes. The last question I asked, you had no way of answering it. I was only interested in your answer. All other questions were answered correctly. You even gave me better answers sometimes, than I required. This means, you must"ve memorized the whole book". She became elated, and asked "Then… Then… Does that mean, you will teach me?". I nodded, and said "Yes, I will teach you".