Limits

Time passed again. I managed to adjust to my new senses, strength, as well as my right arm. Besides that, I also managed to extract the pure and condensed Serelis from Ophilis Reeds. Because I knew the structure of the herb, I was able to make a tool, which could be inserted into the Reed. The upper end of the channel, which spewed out the Serelis, could now be connected directly with a container. Serelis was mixed with water, because Ophilis Reeds produced both at once. Making a tool, that separated water from pure Serelis, was a challenge indeed. I had to experiment for a long time, before I found a solution.

The solution seemed simple, yet complex at the same time. The tool I made, had to have two channels. One for water, and one for Serelis. But that's the simple explanation. The channels had to be different. Not only in diameter, but in shape as well. The process of discovering this alone, almost made me go insane. Either way, I was now able to collect Serelis, in condensed and pure form.

This allowed me to collect it only. The problem I faced next, was how to store it? My bottles and containers possessed air inside them, so the tool would be useless, if I just extracted Serelis into one of them. I came up with another idea. I needed to remove the air, from inside my containers. It also took me a while, to figure this out. With enough time, I finally managed to do that too. I sealed the container, but left a small hole in the cork. I then heated it up, until all the air inside the container or a bottle, escaped. When that happened, I would quickly seal the cork again, with the use of putty. This allowed me to not only collect, but also store Serelis, without making any contact with air, or water.

This also proved something to me. If Serelis didn't make contact with air, or other substances, it wouldn't dissipate and stay in the container, for a long time. With my theory proven, I started collecting Serelis. Although my pond was small, and I only had few Ophilis Reeds, there was something, I didn't lack. Time.. 'Collecting only a bit at a time, is not really an issue. As long as I do it for an extended period of time, I should gather a substantial amount of it' I thought.

Collection, and storage was not an issue anymore. The issue I had next, was the small quantity of Serelis in each container. I had to let the herb rest, so to say. I did that, in order for the pond to be full of water, and contain Serelis inside. Even though, it would dissipate after a while. This meant, I couldn't collect a whole bottle at once. Not only the collection process was slow, but the Serelis was also crucial, for the other herb's growth. Aliris Plants were depended on Ophilis Reeds. This was due to Serelis, I couldn't just collect all Serelis, that the herb produced. This was the reason, for smaller quantities of pure Serelis, in my containers.

I came up with another idea, which I already used before. I would use a modified tool, that I used for the Serelis extraction. It was modified, but to be honest, the tool was much more simple, compared to my first design. I simply had to make a hollowed needle like stick, and pass the Serelis between the containers. To my surprise, it worked. Although, I had to give it a few tries.

When I tried this for the first time, some air got into both containers, as I did it the wrong way. I learned from my mistakes, and tried again. After a few more tries, I managed to pass the Serelis from one container, to the other. The process was slow, but I was finally able to gather a full bottle of Serelis. 'This is pure Serelis, but that doesn't mean, it has no impurities. I will have to test a small batch of it' I thought. I didn't have the distillery, but I could make one, or at least make a simple one. Because I had materials available to me, it wasn't that difficult. I used two bottles, as my containers. Then, I created some steel pipes, and fixed all of that together, to make a simple distillery.

My goal, was not to make Extracts, but simply check for impurities. I wanted to see, how many of them were inside Serelis. After staring my experiment, I waited for the Serelis in the first container, to evaporate by about half. When it did, I extinguished the flame, and waited a bit.

To my surprise, the first container possessed no impurities. Serelis was pretty much pure, with no bad stuff inside it. This stunned me a bit. What stunned me even more, was the fact, that I made Serelis Extract by mistake. It wasn't anything great, as the tool I created was really amateur. Yet, the effects doubled, after distilling the Serelis.

'This is great! Although I don't have the real distillery, I can still make some weak Extracts from Serelis. I can count them as Prime Extracts, but this will be the weakest Prime Extract, I have ever created' I thought. This was still something to be happy about. I couldn't use my medicine making tools, to create Prime Extracts from Serelis. It would be too complicated, to achieve that. Nevertheless, my research of Serelis ended. I created a long lasting Extract in the end, which I didn't expect at all.

I decided to give it a try. 'After all, Serelis has a mind calming effect only. There shouldn't be any problems, when I ingest it' I thought. I tried with the Extract, as this was the final product. The bottle with Prime Serelis Extract, contained about 20 milliliters of it. This was not a lot, but it was enough, for the testing purposes. I swallowed it, and then waited.

Nothing seemed to happen. I didn't feel any different at all. 'Maybe my mind is already calm, and I don't need to calm it further. It therefore doesn't work' I thought. This could've been the case. My mind was at ease, especially after my blood purification. I passed it off as ineffective, due to circumstances. 'I will test it, when I get back to Obsidian Mountains. Lazar is always worried, so it should work on him. Perhaps I can give this to Harlin as well. This will prove, whether it works or not. At least, I know that it has no side effects' I thought, and left it at that for now.

The adjustment to my new senses, and the small increase in strength, also went along nicely. I was more worried about my right arm. In the beginning, I was careful not to touch anything with it. After some time though, the ice powers started to listen to me. I managed to learn, how to make the hand stop releasing the ice power.

I could finally use my right arm, just like any normal arm… except it look different. As more time passed, my arm transformed into that of a lizard's arm. In the beginning, it look like a human arm, with the exception of the blue colour and scales. Now, my right arm was a bit thicker, compared to my left arm. Not only that, instead of normal human fingers, I had lizard fingers, that functioned like claws. The claws were very sharp, maybe not as sharp as my daggers, but I could still slice stuff up, pretty easily. My new fingers were also much more sturdy, and covered with scales. It felt weird in the beginning, and I couldn't get used to it. My arm looked as if, Frosty combined with it for good, and would never appear again.

'I understood, at least to some degree, Frosty transforming into a tattoo. But completely merging with my arm… is that even possible? And is this reversible? Or is Frosty forever gone, and merged with my arm for good?' I thought. I had loads of questions. It seemed weird to me, that Frosty didn't come out throughout the whole time. That was my reason, behind such theories. It was a theory though, and I didn't want to believe it either. Frosty was the same as Shelly, my family. I didn't want it to become just some kind of object, or just another one of my skills, or powers.

Although worried, I could do nothing about it. 'Waiting seems to be the only option, for now' I thought, and prepared to break through my Inner Limits. For that, I needed the 4th Diagram from the Strength Manual. The 3rd Diagram would not allow me to break through, as the pressure it created on my body, was too small. I needed something that would create loads of pressure, and let me break through it.

I didn't have to use the 4th Diagram. There were other ways, to pressure my body. Lifting something very heavy, would be such example. Yet, the Diagrams from the Strength Manual, were the best for that purpose. Simple weight lifting, would not pressure my whole body. Especially the hidden muscles, that the Diagrams trained. That was why, I was pushing myself to completing the 4th Diagram.

I wasn't very far away though. 'Only one more pose is left, for me to modify. Out of the possible four, this shouldn't take me too long' I thought. I was wrong. I had to spend considerable amount of time, before I finally managed to modify it. "I can finally start! 4th Diagram is ready. I purified my blood as well. My strength, is at the limit too. The Prime Extract from Earth Grabbing Sprout, is ready. Let's see, if I can reach the Inner Limits!" I said loudly to myself.