Limits

I experimented with Lears for a long while. I managed to figuring out how to kill them, while not destroying the whole thing in the process. The answer was simple, and not simple at the same time. I could simply freeze them. Of course, I could do that, and it took me a while, just to try it out, but others might not have much luck. With the Frozen Lears in hand, I severed all the blade like legs from it, and took a proper look at its mouth.

'Hmm, how do I extract those teeth?' I thought. I tried with my dagger, and to my surprise, the whole teeth formation simply became loose, and fell out. 'What the?' I thought to myself. "This can't be so simple though. What if I try that on live Lears?" I said out loud. Soon after, I caught another one, and tried out my idea. It didn't work. My dagger was a lot sturdier than Lears' teeth, so they all got destroyed, and the creature died with a burst.

'These things are so delicate, while their looks tell a different story though' I thought, and went around collecting, and freezing Lears. When I caught about 20 of them, finding more of them, was no longer that easy. I decided to leave that cave, and headed towards the east, with the help of my new map. I was about 3 maybe 4 days of travel, away from the Golem's territory.

'I wonder what those Golems look like?' I thought, as I walked. Besides the usual training, and speaking with Frosty. I also decided to think more, about the 4th diagram from Strength Manual. My medical knowledge advanced a lot, thanks to the books I got from that Eterian. I could see some ways of modifying the diagram now, which I couldn't spot in the past.

'Still, it will take me a long time to finish it. Besides, I will also need to incorporate an Aura to that diagram. I don't know if my Domineering Aura will work' I thought. Besides that, I also resumed my Aura training. I found that, I could keep condensing my Aura again. The reason should be, due to me breaking through that Half Step of the Outer Limit.

As I walked and trained, 4 days passed in a flash. On the horizon, I could now see a large mountain. According to the map, it was called Berant Mountain, and it was the exact living place of Golems. 'This mountain is huge. As big, if not bigger, than the volcano I saw at the Obsidian Mountains' I thought. The mountain was still far away in the distance, but there were some small mountain like hills, in the sandy areas around me.

Because some of them were on my way, I visited one in order to find more Lears. It seemed that I hit a jackpot. The caves were literally crawling with Lears. I had no issues catching them, and soon I got around 150 in my bag. 'For now this should be enough. When I need more, I can always enter one of the caves' I thought. Some more walking later, I could see something moving towards me.

When I finally saw what it was, I could barely believe it. 'Am I seeing things? Or are some sort of stones and rocks, walking towards me?' I thought. These were not normal rocks or stones. They were about 3-4 times as tall as human could be, they had 4 arms and large, flat faces. Every part of that creature's body, was made from rocks or stones. It looked weird, to say the least. Their speed was not very fast, and they seemed to be pulling something behind them. On a closer look, I figured that it was some sort of cart. It was full of what looked like Lears.

I moved towards them, while they slowly made their way towards me. We finally met halfway, and the rock spoke "A human, and not any human. It is you. How can we help you?". I said "It seems that you know about me, which means that you guys must be Golems, right?". The large creature nodded its head, and said "That is true, we are the Golems, the masters of the Eastern Desert. Is there a reason for your visit, human?".

I said "I came to explore the east. I've been to Obsidian Mountains already, and this seemed to me like the next logical destination. Besides, as you know, I can't really go west". The large Golem nodded, and said "That is correct. We are not hostile to humans, as you already know. Some humans are even in our Capital, if you want to go there, you can travel with us". I was intrigued, and nodded my head. "I shall follow you then. If you need any help, just ask" I said. The large Golem nodded his head as well, and said "Let us be on our way then".

We slowly made our way, towards the Capital City of the Golems. I assumed that it was situated at the same place, where that huge mountain was. I was not wrong, because when I asked about the City, the large Golem answered. "Yes, the Berant Mountain is our home. Inside, the Capital City Varent is located". I looked at the cart full of Lears, and asked "Do you eat them?", but the Golem shook his head, and said "No, we sell them. A lot of creatures come to us, in order to buy them. These are our collection grounds".

I got a bit worried, and though 'I should probably keep quiet, that I just took more than a 100 of them, for myself. They shouldn't be able to know about that anyway'. Changing the topic, I asked "What other creatures are here?". The Golem responded "There are the Sand Scorpions. They are as large as you humans, and contain deadly poison. Although for us, it is ineffective". He then continued "In the deeper parts of the sands, you can sometimes encounter creatures called Rotworms. These creatures are quite big, bigger than us Golems, and can swallow you whole. Usually, when you see a pit in the desert, avoid it. There may be a Rotworm inside that pit".

'The eastern part of the North, is quite interesting, but also dangerous. It's a good thing, I encountered these Golems here. If I didn't know about those Rotworms, I might've been eaten alive' I thought. As the journey continued, I saw one such Sand Scorpion, trying to get closer to us. It probably wanted to eat some Lears, that were on the cart. But when it saw the whole group of Golems, it quickly ran away.

'It seems that Golems are quite powerful, in their own land' I thought. Although this was the case, the Golems were quite polite, and very easy going. 'It also seems, that being neutral is their natural disposition. They simply don't want to engage in other people businesses' I thought. This might've been mistaken with weakness, but how would they survive here, if they were weak. As the journey would be long, I decided to train again. Before I did anything, I asked "Is it alright, for me to train myself a bit?". The Golem responded "Suit yourself, we have no issue with that. If the pace is too fast, we can always rest". 'Not only are they easy going, they are quite lazy too, hehe' I thought, and said "It's fine, we can continue at that pace". The Golem simply nodded.

I decided to practice my Pressure Dagger skill, and while I was at it, I also tried to condense my Domineering Aura. The Golems were surprised, when I released the Aura next to them. One of them said "Your Aura is strong human. You must be a good warrior". I never really received such praise, so I didn't know what to say. I simply said "Thank you", and continued my training. They didn't really care beyond that. The Golems slowly pushed the cart full of Lears, as we went forwards. The next stop, was Varent.