Limits

I waited for an opportunity, to collect all my herbs quickly and leave. I knew that Atols tended to their fields still, but they didn't have to spend a whole day, before they went to rest. I watched them for a while, and waited. Soon, all the Atols ended their work in the fields, and left to get some rest. 'Now or never' I thought, and started collecting my herbs. I only took the herbs from my field, and I took all of them, without leaving anything.

As I was about to finish, Ulon walked over, and asked "What are you doing? You don't want the herbs anymore? If you didn't have the time, we would tend to the field for you". I shook my head, and said "I need to leave". Ulon still didn't understand, so I sighted and replied "Soon, I will not be welcomed here. You are a good guy, you should become the new Fraction Leader". Ulon seemed confused, when I said that. After a while, he realised something, and asked seriously "What exactly did you do?".

I said "Your Leader, she was not a pleasant person. I killed her, there is a reason for it, but Atols will not listen. Therefore, I'm taking what is rightfully mine, and leaving". He became angry, and asked "Why would you kill her? You helped us so much, and she even rewarded you? Why did you have to betray us?". I looked at the grey sky, and said "It's your leader who betrayed me, she betrayed you as well. Florin was corrupted, and was willing to do anything, to get what she wanted. I didn't accept her offer, so she tried to force me".

He thought about it for a while, and asked "So what now? I don't have the strength to stop you. Even if I raise an alarm, I will probably die. So what exactly, do you want me to do?". I replied "Become the Fraction Leader. I told you already, she needs to be replaced, and you are not such a bad choice". He started thinking about it, while I continued "I don't intend to kill anyone else. She tried her luck, and died. Other Atols were usually very kind to me, I don't hold your race in contempt, but the politics of your race, are not that simple. Think of something, and become the Leader".

I harvested the remaining herbs, and started walking outside. From behind, I heard "Is it really true, what you said?". I stopped, and replied "Yes, I have no reason to lie. If I wanted to kill more of you, we wouldn't be speaking right now. I chose to leave peacefully, instead of crashing out of Apium. There is no need, for unnecessary blood spillage. Do as you wish, as most probably, I will not appear here again".

I then left the Apium, and decided to find a place in which I could stay. A place away from races, cities and villages. Simple cave, or a shelter in the Wilderness. I wanted to study and train in peace. I also needed get some rest, from all these people. 'When I'm ready, I will resume my journey' I thought, as I walked further away from Apium.

I headed west. I didn't have to worry about Avians or Yagarothes, as this would be north-west location. Avians were located in the south-west, the distance between us would still be huge. I walked, and walked through the Wilderness. Time slowly passed, as I arrived at the northernmost part of my map. 'So this is the sea?' I thought.

In front of me, spanned a large blue sea. I could see something in the distance. It looked like an island. 'So, there is more indeed. This island is further up north, maybe this is my true destination. Maybe this is where I'm supposed to go?' I asked myself. The distance between me and the island, was huge. I could barely make it out from my location. I wouldn't be able to just swim there. 'I need a ship, and looking at those waves, not just any ship' I thought.

If I built a simple ship, it would break, before I could arrive at the island. 'I will need a proper ship. Building that, would take me too much time though. Besides, I never built a ship before' I thought. The only solution, was to use someone else's ship. Whenever it was in the north, or back in the Endrosian Empire. 'I will have to return there anyway. I want to explore the human cities as well. I also want to find out, where the Imperial City is' I thought.

I decided to make a camp, near the sea. It was something, I didn't encounter before. The sea allowed me to calm my mind. When I watched the waves crashing onto the cliffs below me, I felt weirdly at peace. Building a shelter, was very simple for my at this stage. I used my weapons to chop down some trees, and made some planks. With the small hut standing near the cliff's edge, I could finally relax a bit. This time, I didn't have to worry about holes, or about the coldness. There was no rain, snow, or seasons in the North. I wondered about the borderline, and where it extended. When I was still in the Great Forest, I could easily see the borderline, that separated the North from the South.

'In this place, this is not so apparent. I can't see any bordering line, and the grey clouds still extend towards the horizon' I thought. I wasn't about to go down the cliffs, and check that out. There was no shore, at the bottom of the cliff. The waves were simply smashing into the cliff. I decided not to worry about that, and spent my time on training, as well as examining the herbs that I had. I also had loads of Zenith Blood Yarn Extract, which I didn't ingest yet. I left it, until I reached the wall of my Inner Limits. I would drink it, when I was at the point of breaking through it.

My strength improved over the time, while my skills developed more. I had peace and quiet in that place, and no one ever disturbed me. Besides training, I studied the herbs that I got from Apium. I already knew the herbs, which I used to grow in my field. This meant, that I didn't need to study them. I focused on Ophilis Reeds, and tried to figure out, how Serelis' lifespan could be extended.

It took me a while, but I managed to figure some things out. The herb had a weird structure inside. It was hollow, with a few tubular channels, that circled from the top to bottom. One channel connected to the stem, while the other to the top of the herb. The weird thing was, that the plant didn't contain anything else. There didn't seem to be any other part of it, that would be responsible for water or Serelis production.

When I examined it more, I figured out what it was. 'So, the herb has another part to it, it's just that, it's very small and hard to notice' I thought. It wasn't one part per se, but a whole structure. When one looked closely, there were needle like hairs growing around the channels. These hairs were blue in colour, but not light blue, they were deep blue. 'This must be the core of Serelis, and water production. When the herb is planted, either energy, water or whatever, will go through those channels, and absorb the Serelis from those needle like hairs. The produced water and Serelis, would then emerge through the plant at the top, and spread through the whole outer structure. That is the exact reason why, this herb has a limited lifespan. When the hairs are gone or they become used up, the plant will no longer produce water or Serelis' I thought.

This was important discovery. 'If I could plant these things, and make a small lake using those herbs, I might have a way of collecting the Serelis, in concentrated form' I thought. I decided to give it a try. I had some seeds already, so I only needed water, fertiliser and an empty lake.