Limits

I started my day as usual. Training using the Strength Manual first, then body and strength control training. I wanted to spend a few more hours in order to practice control and get better grasp of my power. I wanted to figure out the exact amount of strength, I would need when carrying out a specific tasks. Just like before, I used stones ranging from light to heavy in order to adjust my strength output. I did some running and other basic actions that would allow me more control of my body.

Few hour later, I decided to try running the routes from my stealth skill. I wanted to find out how my new strength would affect the time it took me to travel a route. I ran the most optimal route and… it was worse than before. I could run faster, that was true but then, I wouldn't stay hidden. When I tried to be slower, I found that I could be stealthy but my time would suffer.

'When I had full control of my body in the past, every muscle and action was precise but now? I can't control my strength output properly' I thought. This was the sole reason behind the failure. If I ran faster, I wouldn't stay hidden. On the other hand, if I ran at a slower pace, my time would suffer. This proved that I still needed to grasp back the full control of my body, before training anything else.

'This outcome has its positives as well. If I train my body, I will be able to see the dream from yesterday again' I thought. I searched the area for something very heavy. I mostly searched for stones or rather boulders. I needed to learn how to control the top range of my strength, as well as the middle range. I found some boulders that were quite big. Those could be useful but stones were not very precise. The boulders were also shaped in uncomfortable ways. Training with them would be a chore. I needed something better, something new.

Then it hit me 'Why not use trees? Surely, I can bring one down with my strength'. The idea seemed far fetched but on the other hand, a large wooden log could be trimmed to a specific size and weight. 'I don't know if I will be able to cut down a tree using a dagger though' I thought to myself.

My daggers were quite sharp but daggers were daggers nevertheless. I deliberated on the idea for a bit and decided to give it a try anyway. 'If I don't try it out, the idea will haunt me in my dreams' I thought and went around the area while searching for an appropriate tree. I searched for something that I could cut down. I had an ideal candidate in mind, I wasn't searching blindly. The tree had to be quite thick, otherwise its weight would not be enough. If the tree was too heavy, I could always trim it. I couldn't trim stones, thus trees were my next option. The tree had to be thick or had to have large breadth. It should not be tall, shorter were better or at least relatively shorter. I didn't need something like a 50 metres tall tree. I searched and searched and there it was, a perfect tree or at least good enough for my purposes.

To cover the tree's breadth, at least four grown man would need to hung the tree. That was of course at the base, it was much more narrow nearer the top. Its was an average height tree. I would prefer shorter but I took what I was given. I took out my dagger and slashed near the bottom of the tree, I used about 50% of my strength. I wanted to test the hardness of the tree and whenever my dagger would be able to cut it. The dagger left a deep mark on it but it was quite narrow.

'Using one dagger will be too long. I should use two and perhaps do it from two angles. This way, I will be able to cut out a section. The cut out piece will allow me better access further down the trunk' I thought and took out another dagger.

I started slashing my daggers at the tree. The daggers went deeper and deeper as I cut out a piece of wood in the shape of triangle. I continued like this, increasing my strength a bit with each slash. It didn't take me very long to cut through half of the tree. The tree started to move a bit at that point. 'It will probably snap soon, I should do the sides first and let it fall. I can then check the weight and trim it' I thought and slashed at the sides.

A lot more slashes later, the tree creaked and started to topple. I moved away, while waiting for it to fall. "Creak… Creak… Swooosh! BOOM!" the tree hit the ground and the tremors passed through the area. I thought 'This tree is heavy! Fortunately my strength and daggers were enough to take it down. Now I just have to check its weight and cut a few pieces out of it'. The tree I cut had about 19-20 metres in length. I wanted to have a go and see how much it weighted. I didn't think about lifting the trunk from the middle, That would be stupid. From the fall alone, I could guess that the trunk weighted a lot more than I could handle. I wanted to try and lift the bottom end up.

Before I could attempt that, I had to take care of all the branches and whatnot that was still attached to the trunk. Those things were in my way and besides, I didn't need them for my training. It took me a while to clear the whole trunk from those branches but I now had a clean trunk, ready to be tested and cut. I positioned myself at the bottom part of the trunk and lifted. "Hnghh!" I strained my muscles as much as I could and nothing, it didn't even budge. "Whoah. This is very heavy!" I exclaimed out loud. I knew it would be more than I could handle but still, it didn't even budge with my whole strength.

The trunk was very heavy, I found that the hard way. I decided to cut it in about ⅓ and ⅔ parts. The trunk was wider at the bottom and thinner towards the top. I doubted that I could lift the wider ⅓ part of the trunk but I could always trim it some more. I would at least get an idea on how big of a section I would need in order to test different ranges of my strength.

I started slashing the trunk with my daggers again. This time, it was more difficult to cut apart. When I was cutting it the first time, the trunk was in an upright position. The weight of the trunk pressed down while I cut out a section. With time, something had to give way. Now it was different. The trunk was flat on the ground, I couldn't relay on its weight anymore, I needed to cut it all the way through. I slashed and slashed... to a point where ¾ of the trunk was already cut. I came up with another idea 'I can try kicking it. If I kick one half hard enough, I may be able to separate them' I thought. I lifted my leg up and kicked at the shorter half of the trunk. "Booom!" The tree shook a bit but nothing else besides that.

I gave it a few more tries. "Boom!... Boom!... Boom!... Boom!". It might've been a good method to take out some of my frustration but the trunk wouldn't separate. 'The halves are just too heavy' I thought. With that not working, I went back to slashing.

Some more grinding later, I finally managed to separate the trunk into two halves. "Finally!" I exclaimed. 'Right, I wonder If I can lift one of the halves now?' I thought and positioned myself at one end of the shorter trunk. With a sound of strain escaping my mouth "Hungh!" I tried lifting the trunk up. This time, I managed to lift it a bit. Not a lot but at least it was a result. I wouldn't be able to lift the whole trunk but this already gave me some ideas. Now I could better judge the sizes of the pieces, I would need to cut from it.

I decided to cut one piece that would be ¼ of the shorter trunk. This would measure about 2 metres in length. I could later trim the sides a bit and create a decent weight out of that log. The rest of the trunk would be cut into 0.5 metre, 1 metre and 1.5 metre. This would be enough to train my strength at the top ranges such as 80 to 90%. There would be about 1.5 metres of the trunk left, I could make some more precise weights for the 70% ranges of my strength from it. The longer and thinner part of the trunk would also be used. I needed the lower and middle ranges of my strength to be more precise as well.

Before I did any other work, I needed some food. I worked non stop for a long time and was quite exhausted. The meat from the bears I hunted a while back, was running out. I decided to go hunting, after I had my dinner.