Limits

After my dinner, I checked the body of the dagger user. I wanted to know whenever that guy was using just one or two dagger as the means for close combat or did he use them as hidden weapons. I also wanted to know if he would have any books on him that could broaden my knowledge about hidden weapons, stealth or daggers.

I found the daggers first as they were the most obvious. I took a detailed look and noticed they were mainly created for close combat and had no balance when it came to throwing. The daggers were also created from simple steal, not purified one. This didn't mean those daggers couldn't be thrown but that alone suggested to me that this guy was not practitioner of the Art of Hidden Weapons.

I searched his body thoroughly but didn't find any books or bags. He had a map that was worse than mine and another knife. Probably used to butcher the animals they ate. 'So if he doesn't have any specific skills, then how did they capture Shelly?' I thought. I checked the other corpses too and it looked like this group was full of noobs. They had nothing on them besides their weapons and some trinkets.

I went over to Shelly and said "How did they capture you? They had nothing on them which would allow them to do so. Their skills were also nothing compared to mine. So how did they even manage to injure you?". Shelly started drawing something on the ground. After a while, I figured out what Shelly was trying to say. "So it is like this. You are saying, these were not the people who captured you?" to which Shelly nodded and continued drawing.

I could understand more and more when Shelly completed its drawing. "They were only responsible for transporting you to the village. The other group disappeared long ago and was much stronger" I said to which Shelly nodded. I was a bit worried now but the other group would not be able to find out so quickly. 'We can rest properly today and hit the road tomorrow morning. This way we will be fresh and even in case of ambush, we would be able to hold our ground or escape' I thought.

We went to sleep not too long after as both of us were tired. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the familiar dream of many dark hooded figures fighting each other. 'So my assumption was correct. I need to kill humans in order to have that dream' I thought and then focused on the duel between two dark figures who used their fists as weapons.

'I'm not confident enough to win against the dark figure with a dagger but if my strength here is the same as my strength in reality, I may be able to win against the fist user' I thought and waited for my opponent to materialise.

I didn't have to wait long because my opponent appeared out of nowhere while being equipped with fists alone. The moment the dark figure appeared, it sprinted towards me in order to attack. I stopped thinking about useless things and also ran forwards to meet my opponent.

The first exchange was quite good. I could see the dark figure's attack and evaded, but the dark figure did the same against my attack. We were matched quite well from the 1st exchange. I began to have problems after few exchanges though. The dark figure got faster and stronger as if the more time it fought the stronger it would become.

After fighting for couple of minutes, one of the punches that the dark figure threw, connected and I was blasted backwards. I was surprised myself by the strength the dark figure possessed. I couldn't hold for much longer after getting punched once and died.

When I opened my eyes, the same scene appeared. I tried fighting with my full strength from the very beginning. It was a good choice because my punch connected and the dark figure back stepped couple of times but I couldn't see any visible damage.

The dark figure seemed to be unperturbed by this. I wouldn't let go of that chance so easily. I used my maximum speed and threw couple of punches at the dark figure. It tried to evade but was still too slow and received one of my punches. The dark figure again lost its balance while I rushed and used my legs to attack. The kick also connected and this time the dark figure flew through the air.

When it tried to pick itself up, I was already in front with another kick. I wouldn't give it any possibility of recovery after so many deaths in that stupid dream.

I kicked, punched and so on but the dark figure didn't seem to take any damage, it was as if it couldn't be killed. After a few minutes of fighting at my full strength, I got tired and the dark figure finally had the chance to recover. What happened next, you already know.

The weird thing was that every time I died and opened my eyes again, I was full of strength. It was as if the fight just before I died never happened. I decided to think about it later, this was not the time to be lost in thoughts. The more I fought with such a strong opponent the greater experience I would gain.

A while later, I died 20th time and when I opened my eyes, I was back in reality. Laying in the camp that the group of humans established. I wanted to stand up but I could feel something cold pressing on my neck. I looked down and it wasn't Shelly, it was a hand with a dagger pointing towards my throat. I also felt very weak but I already knew why. I used a lot of strength in that dream I had and therefore, I would need a very good breakfast in order not to die alone.

I was calm because if the person holding that dagger wanted to kill me, I would be dead already. It seems that someone from the 2nd group stayed behind or at least arrived in the morning to check on them. What he or she saw in around the camp area would be no doubt infuriating.

I tried to look to my side but the dagger was pressed harder towards my neck. I said weakly "I need to eat something. Either kill me or let me eat". To which the person holding the dagger flinched a bit as I could feel the slight shaking in the hand holding the dagger.

There was no answer so I called out weakly "Shelly, bring me some food" but I heard no answer either. I got angry a bit and said "If you try to take Shelly again, I can promise you right now. Even if you kill me, I will return and destroy all of you. Not one guy or two. I will massacre the whole village or town that is behind you" and fell silent.