Limits

Days passed, or rather time passed. I left the territory of the Voltars, with a much better understanding of the wind. I could now predict it much better, but I was nowhere near using that, for my Wind Daggers skill. In front of me, the Wilderness spanned again. This reminded me of the conversation I had, with all the people in Great Forest. 'All of them said, that the North is dangerous, and that I will die. I wonder why they said that? I also saw none of those Flaming Silver Wolves, or Flaming Grey Bears here. What the hell happened with them?' I thought.

I couldn't figure it out. On one hand, people told me how dangerous it was, on the other, I found a few dangers lurking in the North, but the Wilderness was rather peaceful. There were loads of races living here, and while some were hostile to humans, I met some of those, who were friendly or neutral. I couldn't figure out, why these people feared the North so much?

I took a look at my map, and though 'I'm about half way there. These Atols live very far away though. I wonder why they hate Avians? After all, the distance between these two races, is quite big' I thought, and continued my journey. My Aura training was coming along nicely. Although I couldn't figure out, how to create a new Aura, I at least improved my existing Domineering Aura. I could now restrict my Aura, to a 1 metre radius. The Aura was so strong, that whenever I went hunting, and fought in close combat, the weaker creatures near me would pretty much freeze from fear.

I also encountered new creatures along the way. I didn't know the names for most of them, but I noted some provisional names, in order to have something. 'I will have to ask about them. Someone who lives in those specific parts of the North, will surely know what those creatures are called' I thought. One of such creatures, was a sort of Lightning Dog, that I found in the territory of Voltars. These dogs were extremely fast, but didn't look like Voltars. They had white fur, and electricity circled around their whole body. They were quite short, for the creatures of the North. About half a metre tall, and no more than a metre long.

But these dogs were unimaginably fast. Although not hostile, their speed surpassed even mine with the Boost Formation. I also saw another creature on my travels. It was a large grey creature, that Lazar told me about. These were Ognars, a bull like creatures, that towered over the landscape. They were at least 4 metres tall, and as Lazar said, they lived in groups. I tried hunting one, and although I managed to kill one, the rest of the group almost killed me. Fortunately, due to the size of these creatures, their speed suffered a bit, and they were slower than me.

I had to run away, as taking on 6 of those creatures at the same time, would end badly. They chased me for a while, and then finally gave up. I returned later, and collected the meat of the Ognar I killed. Just one Ognar, provided me with enough food, to last me a long time. Besides Ognars, which I already knew about, I also met some weird flying creatures. They looked like mosquitoes, but were as big as a humans.

Not only could those things fly, they were quite fast, and lived in a swarm. The swarm I encountered, contained about 30 of them. They were hostile on first sight. They would attack anything, but themselves. They were suicidal as well. No matter how many of them died, they would go after their prey, till the last one dropped. I had to run, and throw my daggers or use my bow, in order to kill all of them. I decided to just avoid them next time. I named them Annoying Flies provisionally, as I was quite annoyed at that time.

There was one more creature that I encountered, and it was hostile as well. These things were nasty. Although I only encountered two of such creatures, every time I fought with them, I was always barely able to escape its attacks. The creature had four legs, like a dog or a wolf, but the legs were very long and hairless. Thanks to that, the creature could run at incredible speeds, but it had a weakness. It was not agile. Not only that, it had very sharp claws at the bottom of its legs. These claws made marks in the ground, when the creature simply walked. When the creature began to run, they would slice up the rocks and whatnot, that just happened to be underneath those claws. Besides the long legs and claws, it had a large body with no hair. Its head was that of an ugly dog, but bigger and again with no hair. It looked like a creature, from a book of horrors.

The strength of that thing, was nothing to scoff at either. The creature would sometimes use its claws to attack, and sometimes it would try to bite me. I saw rocks being smashed underneath its teeth. Although it had no fur or hair, its skin was quite tough. When I tested out the creature with my arrow at full strength, it only penetrated the creature a little bit. I killed it thanks to the improved daggers, that were made from Black Steel. Even with my strength, it was hard to achieve. I decided to call that thing Scrambler, for now.

My journey continued without much of a hustle, when I cleared the Voltar territory, and its vicinity. No other creatures appeared much, besides some Corpse Dogs, and those Annoying Flies. I was a bit stunned, that I saw Corpse Dogs here, but then, where were they not present. Almost as if, the Corpse Dogs were the same, as rabbits and deer inside the Great Forest. They were everywhere. 'I wonder if Corpse Dogs have their own city, or territory as well. The map I got from Harlin, does not specify that. I'm certain of one thing. There must be something, and it will be under the ground' I thought.

The Corpse Dogs, especially those that broke through the Half Step of the Outer Limit, possessed intelligence. Not only that. If that Leader of Corpse Dogs I blew up, could serve as an example, then they could create an underground colony. 'If all the Corpse Dogs, that exist in the North got together… what type of army would that produce?' I thought. I wasn't sure, if the amount of Yellow Dust still underneath the Vulture Cliffs, would be enough to exterminate them.

Those were just the passing thoughts, and from what I already saw, this should not happen at all, or anytime soon. As I trained, travelled and conversed with Frosty from time to time, I finally saw a change in the horizon. I checked the map, and thought 'So, this is my destination I guess. Well, it looks different, I give them that'.

What I saw over the horizon, was the territory of Atols. I was surprised to be honest. Because the amount of greenery over there, was plentiful. This place could be mistaken, for a part of the Great Forest, and not the part of Wilderness. Yet here it was. 'This might've been a good choice. If I can get loads of herbs over there, I can create a lot of medicine. Not only would I be able to restock my own supply, I could also help Crow out' I thought. With large steps, I headed towards the destination, that seemed very promising from afar.