Limits

While eating the breakfast, my thoughts drifted towards the dream from the previous night. 'This type of dream never happened before. Why the hell was there a copy of me and made from my own blood nonetheless' I thought. The dream was weird to begin with but what the blood figure said was also true. 'I'm weak and there is no doubt about that. That Eterian played with me however she wanted. The woman with the sword was also toying with me. I know that if she was serious, I would be long dead' I thought.

My thoughts continued as I took another bite of the meat. 'The aura from my dream, it was the same Unyielding Aura I had previously. It only activates under certain conditions. It didn't activate when the sword woman was chasing me. Why? My life was in danger so why wouldn't it awaken?'

I had no answer to that question. I also didn't know what specific conditions must be met in order for that aura to awaken. 'The last time the aura activated, I released great pressure onto the blood figure. My Domineering Aura could do no such thing to the blood figure. I know I was pissed at that time and I had enough but are those the conditions? Are there more?' I thought.

'I need to master my skills, I need to reach the "Avoid the Light" in my Art of Stealth and I also need to "Become the Hidden Weapon" in my Art of Hidden Weapons. With those mastered, my skills will be on another level. Maybe they will become something even more extraordinary than the skills of that sword woman' I thought as I finished eating the last bit of roasted meat.

"Nick told me that mastering those arts will not be easy, he was right but I haven't given up yet. Before I can continue any of that, I need to repair my right arm. I lost a lot of my fighting ability due to lost arm. I believe in Nick and his words. If he said that attaching back an arm is possible for him, I will also accomplish that" I said to myself.

Done with my breakfast, I decided not to train anything at the moment. I didn't want to use up my energy for something that would bring no benefits and may injure my arm even more. I stood up and started moving again. It was winter season and many herbs would not be available for me to find. There were some that I needed and that survived through the winter but there were three herbs that only appeared in spring or places that were warm all year round.

'The winter will still last for over a month. I don't know if I have that much time but where do I find the missing herbs? It's not like I can actually change the seasons by will' I thought. If it was already spring, I would not have that problem but it wasn't. I wrecked my brain and decided to search for warm places. I thought caves would be a good example. With that in mind, I went on a search for the needed herbs.

In the afternoon, I managed to find some herbs that were specifically required for Trantum Solution but the rarer herbs were nowhere to be found yet. I travelled further, in hopes to find something. In the evening, I made camp near a big tree. 'Last year, I had to build a shelter with Shelly in order to survive the winter. Now I can sleep outside and although I am cold sometimes, the coldness doesn't seep into my bones like it used to in the past. This is good, I don't have to build a temporary shelter and waste more of my time thanks to that' I thought.

I sat down near the fire. It took me a while to lit it, I then placed some meat on sticks to roast it. I ate much less compared to before. Part of my arm was missing and I didn't train during the day. My energy consumption was not as great as it was in the past. I didn't know if I would have any dreams that night. I knew that the Dark Traveller would not appear because I didn't train anything. What I was worried about, was the dream about fighting against my own blood.

I tried to figure some stuff out before I went to sleep. 'What if I can't find the herbs I need. I can't wait for the winter to finish. What else can I do?' I thought. With many things running through my mind, an idea was suddenly born in my head. 'What if I try to replace the herbs with those that have similar effects? Would it be possible to create the Trantum Solution with alternative resources?' I though. I didn't know that but if I could accomplish this, then the herbs available only in spring and warm places would become unnecessary. 'I have to give it a try. Everything at this point is worth a try' I thought and sifted through my memory, I was searching for herbs that could be used as replacement to those rare and seasonal herbs.

'There are some that can act as a replacement. Some are available in the winter too. I should search for them as well. At this stage, anything goes' I thought and decided to give it a rest for that day. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, it was morning. 'Whew, no dreams as it should be. Right, back to my search' I thought and packed my stuff, then I hit the road again.

I walked through the forest and looked attentively at anything that was a plant. I walked like this for a long while when I spotted a group of boars. 'Not good, there are couple of Yellow Boars as well as this stupid White Boar in that group. I should avoid them, no need for unnecessary trouble at this point' I thought and changed the direction. The memory of a White Boar calling for that Black Mammoth was still fresh in my mind. I didn't want to take any risks. Facing the Black Mammoth now would be disastrous and I had no way of predicting whenever my Unyielding Aura would awaken or not.

I took a large detour and thanks to that detour, I managed to find one of the herbs needed for the Trantum Solution. 'This is the replacement herb called Winter Needle Weed. It has some of the properties I will need in order to create that solution. Good thing that this herb grows in larger quantity' I thought and harvested all the Winter Needle Weeds growing in that area.

'I need 4 more herbs, I have the rest. If going by replacements those should be much easier to find. One of the replacement herbs I need is the Sponge Mushroom, it grows on old trees. This allows the herb to survive the winter but also propagate in spring and summer. It is more like a parasite to the tree and that is why it can be found on old trees. There is also the Spiral Pinecone. Technically it is a fruit of a tree but a specific tree that can only bare those fruits in winter. I haven't seen that tree in the forest lately but it should be here somewhere nevertheless.The Snowy Grass is very hard to find, not only does it grow in places where snow is plentiful, it grows under the snow as well. To find it, I need to strain my vision as much as possible, it's very easy to miss but it isn't that rare. The last herb that could be used as a replacement is Glacial Lotus. This replacement is actually not that bad at all. Quite rare and grows on water that is freezing. It can't be a river but a pond or a lake , I have to keep my eyes peeled for that as well' I thought of all the herbs that were needed.

Those were only replacement herbs and should not be as effective as the original herbs 'Who knows, maybe it will work. It's worth a try. Otherwise, I will just have to deal with it in a different way'. It wasn't that I was entirely out of options. I could further preserve the part of my arm in my bag, by using herbs. There was a problem with that method as well. 'If I apply a lot of medicine and try to prolong the "freshness" of my cut part of the arm, the medicine may make it very hard for me to connected it back to my body. I don't want to do this until I'm certain that I have no other means available' I thought and continued to search for the herbs.

I wasn't able to find any herbs that could be used to make Trantum Solution but I found some herbs that could be used as the numbing poison. Although it was a poison, it was not life threatening in small doses and it could be used for the exact purpose of numbing my arm. 'I need those herbs anyway. Finding them now, will save me from looking for them later' I thought. Late in the afternoon, I decided to stop the search and make camp again. 'The search will take a while, then I have to test it on animals. Hopefully, I get a working solution, otherwise I'm in deep trouble' I thought as I laid down and closed my eyes.