Limits

It was now autumn, the leaves were falling down from trees and the weather got more chilly. After practising with the puppets for this long, I finally managed to control two puppets with one hand. This allowed me to control four puppets with my both hands and there was just the last step left of controlling five puppets with both of my hands.

Although this was last step of the training that Nick told me about, it was not the last step for me. I then had to learn how to control 5 daggers with both of my hands and later the final step for me would be to control 10 daggers with both of my hands, which would mean to control one dagger with one finger.

That day, Nick came over and I explained to him the plans I had for this village. I said "Today at night, I shall proceed with my plans. The weather is a bit chilly but the weak winds in the air will help me spread the poison, I also calculated the time for the poison to take effect for the whole village and it should be around 20 minutes".

Nick prised my plan and said "Good, then everything is set". I then said to Nick "Yes, all is prepared and I will start well into the night. There is also some stuff I need to do before I leave the village, like making more daggers from the ingots in the blacksmith's workshop and taking some valuables from Rand's mansion". Nick nodded his head, he then coughed out some blood and said "I would die in about 2 days anyway so going away like this should be appropriate". I looked at Nick with sad expression and though 'It's a shame he can't live more, I'm sure he could've taught me much more'.

Nick then said "When you spread the poison come over to my house, I shall impart all the inheritance to you" after which Nick left. I knew that the next time I will see Nick will be the last time we see each other. I woke Shelley up and said "Go to the river and have a big meal as we will be busy in the night. I will need you to help me with the poison". Shelly nodded it's still sleepy head and went out to hunt for some food.

I made sure that all the items necessary for the plan were prepared and ready. I had 6 vials of the Cloud Haze Poison as well as 3 vials of the antidote. I planned to kill everything in this village with exception to me and Shelly. Even Nick would die from the poison as this was his wish. He also said to me to burn his body when he died and then leave the village.

I was not concerned with normal villagers or even the ones that were a bit stronger, to live through the poison. There were two people who might survive. The first one was the lumberjack who lived outside the village so I would need to dispose of him before I spreaded the poison. The other person who might survive was Rand, not because he lives far away from the village but because he was much stronger than ordinary people.

Because he was much stronger, I increased the amount of poison to 6 vials instead of 3. This would make better chances as the potency would be much more severe. I would also monitor Rand, and if he manages to live, I shall kill him myself.

With all that prepared, I awaited the night time where I would sneak out and claim the first target of this plan, the lumberjack. Meanwhile Shelly returned after about an hour and was full. I had already prepared one vial of antidote for Shelly and I would give it to Shelly just before we release the poison. I also had one vial for myself. I would leave the 3rd vial just in case, if I or Shelly needed some more.

In the evening, I checked all my daggers and went out to kill the lumberjack. He was a lonely man that lived outside the village. People usually called him Jack due to his profession, lumberjack. I never learned his real name but that didn't matter to me. He would be dead anyway so why learn about dead people.

When I arrived at his house, I noticed the light inside. I thought 'He should still be up as it is still evening, I need to wait a while'. It didn't matter much if he saw me or not but I wanted to do this properly and like a professional. This means that Jack would not be able to know who killed him or when, he would simply die.

After about an hour of waiting, I saw that the light inside the house has gone out. I creeped up to the window and saw that he went to sleep. 'Good' I thought and entered through the door. I could faintly see the outline of a sleeping lumberjack on the bed and the reeking of alcohol in the air when I entered. I swung my arm and the dagger passed straight through Jack's head. He made no noise whatsoever.

Just in case, I went over and check for vital signs. The body was still warm but there was no pulse nor signs of life. I retrieved my dagger and left the house. This was the only person who would die a painless death in this village. It was also mostly because, he never did anything to me other than giving me dull axe for chopping wood. The rest of the village will die quite a painful death.

Back at my house, I saw Shelly already waiting for me. I said "We shall now proceed with the plan. I will need to plant those vials around the village so follow me to the location of the poison I want you to release". Shelly nodded its head and followed me outside.

I went to the first location which was not far away from the village entrance. I place both vials down in a silent corner and said to Shelly "Follow me, this is not the location I want you to stay at. You will stay at the next location". Shelly nodded its head and continued to follow. The next location was at the north of the village, which was the furthest point of the village and therefore the most distant. I would be able to take care of two locations while Shelly would take care of the northern location.

I placed both vials with poison on the ground and said to Shelly "This is where you are going to stay. I will give you the antidote in a minute but before that let me explain. When I leave here, after 5 minutes you will use your claw to pierce the top of both vials. So you have to wait a bit and then pierce both vials. When you do that go back to our house and I shall meet you there". Shelly nodded its head in understanding but looked a bit worried.

I said to Shelly "Don't worry, I too have antidote. I have more just in case as well". Shelly nodded and its concern disappeared partially. I said to Shelly "I will give you the antidote now. The whole vial should be enough for couple of hours, so we have nothing to worry about". I opened the vial with antidote and gave it to Shelly. It drank all of it and then I said "I will see you in a while" and left. I still needed to travel to the 3rd location and release the poison there as well as travel to the 1st location and release the poison.

When I arrived at the final location only about 3 minutes passed. When I placed the vials down, I immediately opened them and went towards the 1st location. On my way, I took out the antidote and drank the whole vial. At the 1st location, I was a bit more than 2 minutes later but that was fine because I would not be able to open all of them at the same time anyway.

I returned to my house, where I saw Shelly already waiting there for me. I asked "Is it done?" to which Shelly nodded its head. I then said "Good, follow me. We shall go visit Nick and then make sure everything is dead. After that we will leave the village for the night as this cloud can stay for longer due to the use of more than 1 vials". Shelly nodded it's head and followed after me.