Limits

I relaxed for the next few days. The rabbit's leg on the other hand healed properly and it was now able to walk without the cloth and sticks wrapped around it. The medicine it ate as well as the raw herbs, increased the healing process greatly. I released the rabbit on the 4th day. The rabbit was surprised that I just let it go but didn't linger around for fear of me changing my mind.

"Thanks to you, my arm is now attached back together. Live your life to the fullest" I said out loud even though the rabbit was long gone. 'I will have to heal it first and then start the rehabilitation process. It will take a while for my arm to return to the previous state but with the spring approaching, I should be able to find even more herbs' I thought and took out a book. Past those few days, I couldn't really train my skills, even more so my strength, therefore I opted for books. Knowledge was also part of one's strength.

In those few days, I completely memorised the Corporeal Structure book as well as the Nerves and Pressure Points book. They were quite useful and I already had some ideas how I could use the latter for medical purposes. On the other hand, my fighting ability suffered a lot. My close combat was really lacking as well. If I were to compare it with the woman who severed my arm, my skills in that department were pretty much non existent. 'That attack of her… It wasn't done by sheer strength. Was this also an Aura? I mean that Eterian Laly, if that is really her name, said humans have Auras but can Aura attack as well?' I thought.

My Auras couldn't create such attacks, they only possessed certain effects that could increase my pain resistance and instincts for example. This may be possible. Afterall, I only experienced my own auras as well as that Eterian's Ability. I didn't feel any Aura from the sword woman when she attacked normally, it was entirely possible that the final attack was an Aura.

'Even if an Aura can be used this way, I have too much going on now. As soon as I get better, I need to master the Natural Path skill. The blood figure gave me some ideas about it due to its advanced use of my skill. If I'm correct, I should be able to improve it a lot. This would mean that catching me, will be very difficult' I thought and started reading the book in my hands.

I was reading the Bone Treatment Log. This book couldn't help with my case but it was interesting nevertheless. 'It seems that someone who wrote this log, treated a lot of bones with defects and illnesses' I thought. The book described cases such as hollow bone structure, it would mean that the bone had no marrow. This was a very serious condition and quite rare but the person who wrote this, actually managed to heal it and described how it was done.

Another such case was, when the author encountered a patient which seemed to be born without the bones in few of his fingers. The patient couldn't move those fingers whatsoever as there was no bone structure to support that movement. Yet the author claims that he healed that defect after a long time. It took him over a year to implant some bones and carry out the procedures in order for the patient's fingers to work again. 'If what this book says is true, then that author was a bone doctor. He specialised in bones most probably, while he could also do some other procedures as well. Stuff like implanting bones into the patient's body and so on' I thought.

I found the book interesting and read it from cover to cover, stopping only for some food. I had some food stored up in my bag and because I didn't practice anything while my hand was in healing process, it would be enough for one more week. I didn't have to hunt and simply rest.

A few more days passed and I was quite bored. The books I had, were already finished. I decided to spend some time thinking about all my skills and what to do next. 'Besides rehabilitation, I need a plan. I still want to go north, even though it's so dangerous. Everyone I met, said I would die in the north. Just what exactly is there, that it's so dangerous?' I thought.

My thoughts continued 'Going there with my still healing arm, is out of the question. With my rehabilitation, I should practice the Natural Path skill until I'm able to complete the movements of the Blood Figure from my dreams. It shouldn't take me long, I already saw the the Blood Figure do it. Perhaps a few months of time but I still lack in my combat departament. There is the Wind Daggers skill I could practice but it's not going to be easy. Although I incorporated that under the Art of Hidden Weapons, It really is an art on its own. Mastering it would take me too much time. What else can I do?'.

I went through my mind and besides the archery, there was also the Stringed Hidden Weapons which I couldn't practice either. The close combat was abysmal compared to some strong people. I had no techniques like the others. Even though I still remembered the book about fist skills, what good was it against opponents that used weapons?

Poison was a supportive skill and I also needed tools as well as herbs in order to produce a decent poison. 'I have nothing. Wind Daggers or archery is my only option. The problem is, those are not close combat skills. Wind Daggers require daggers which I have very little of. Archery requires bow and arrows, I can make arrows myself or reuse the ones I have but it is a long distance combat. If something comes closer to me and is powerful, I have no way of counterattacking. I can only… Wait!' I thought.

There was a skill I could utilise with my daggers. 'I forgot about it. This was the skill from the book about fist techniques but I can adapt it to my daggers! The book described a skill that utilised speed in order to punch multiple times. It's not really difficult to do when someone is as strong as me and I can do it with my daggers already' I thought. What I had in mind was not that simple thing, the attacking points would become the most important parts. 'This should be a start, a skill in close combat I could use. I will test that later when my arm heals but the real practice will begin after the Natural Path skill is completed. If I had the skills of the Blood Figure from my dreams, I might not have had my arm severed' I thought and laid down. The days ahead would be boring but I was already fired up to try some of the ideas I had.