章 335: A Surprise

Time slowly passed. Day in and day out, I would make weapons. I got better at it, the more I practiced. Paul was a good teacher too, his knowledge was vast, and he knew exactly how to introduce everything to me. Fox visited me everyday, and as she promised, she brought food every time. I didn't leave the smithy much, only when Fox wanted to go somewhere, or when the smithy was closing, would I leave.

Together with Fox, we moved to Paul's place. He had a huge house, and even a family. I always thought he was a loner, but I was wrong. His wife was very welcoming, especially since she knew who I was. His kids were all grown up, and lived somewhere else. The house was mostly empty, so there was no problem for me and Fox to live there.

We settled in the Imperial City, and I forgot about pretty much everything. I felt like a normal villager, or rather a citizen. I only practiced my energy control, which improved a lot. I was at a crucial stage, where I could almost control it fully. 'I still need some time, but I can already see the effects' I thought. Although I didn't see any improvements in my stealth, this practice allowed me to control everything concerning my body. I could better utilise my strength.

This meant, I got stronger, without doing any real training. 'To think that the body holds so much strength… I wonder how many people got to this point?' I thought. I wasn't sure whether Nick reached this stage, he told me it took him years to achieve the "Avoid the Light" part of the Art of Stealth. Whether this was they way, I wasn't sure.

It was summer again, and my 30th birthday was coming in huge steps. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Paul on the other hand, had different plans. He knew when I was born, so he decided to throw a party. Fox was really surprised that I was already 30 years old. She said with a giggle "You became an old man". I asked "Yea? How old are you then?".

She didn't want to answer, but I was adamant. Finally, Fox admitted she was 28 years old. I laughed while saying "And you tell me I'm old? In two years time, you will be old too!". She shook her head, and said "I'm still young. Younger than you! How sad though, my friend turned out to be some old man. I'm disappointed". She said that in a teasing kind of way, but I lived with her for a while now, and didn't really take it to heart. She really was different, once I came to know her more.

One day, while I was working on a dagger, I felt an intense and familiar Aura coming from not far away. When I turned around to look, I was shocked that it was coming from Fox. She sat there making some clothes, and didn't even realise that. I used my Aura, and shielded all the workers from her Aura. Fox was just sitting there, sewing some material together. She was also humming the song, her mother used to sing to her. Suddenly "Booom!" a blast of wind pushed outwards, but thanks to my Aura, no one was affected.

She didn't even realise what just happened. I retrieved my Aura, while the workers thanked me. They were as shocked as I was. 'She just broke through to her Inner Limits… This proves, we don't need to use any poses. We can break through, under some kind of special circumstances' I thought, and approached Fox.

She was focused on her work, so I called out "Hey, are you alright?". She stopped and looked up with a "Huh?". I asked "Do you realise what just happened?". She looked around, and asked "No? I wanted to finish this blacksmith outfit for you, so I didn't pay attention. Did something happen?". I laughed, and said "You are amazing. Why don't you try your strength out?". She seemed confused, and asked "Why?". I shook my head, and said "You just broke through to your Inner Limits. Shouldn't you be happy?".

Fox dropped the tools in her hands, and froze in place. I smiled, and said "It's true. I had to shield all the workers from your Aura. Try it out". Fox stood up and tried running around. She became faster and faster, until she disappeared. After a while, she appeared in front of me, and hugged me "I did break through! Thank you! If you didn't give me that medicine, I would never be able to do that". I was surprised by her hug, but I guessed that she was really happy, so I said nothing.

She finally woke up, and released me with a "Sorry". I smiled, and said "Don't worry about it. Your breakthrough just proved to me, that we don't need any poses. Although I'm not sure why you broke through, I went through the same thing. In my case it was anger though…". She laughed, and replied "Not saying!". Fox was very excited, and wanted to go around places to celebrate. I agreed because this was really an achievement. 'She broke through at the same age as I did. The difference is, she only took the Blood Purifying Extract once. I guess I had a late start... perhaps' I thought.

I tried finding anything, not to feel useless and mediocre. Either way, we celebrated that day, and I even paid for the stuff. She was surprised that I had money, so I explained "You know, I made so many weapons, and a lot of them were very decent. When they got sold, I received some profits". I wasn't really wealthy, I only earned around 116 Gold Coins, for all the weapons I made. The worst part was that, I almost spent all my money in one day. 'I only have 14 Gold Coins left. I'm poor again' I thought.

Fox was really happy that day, and she enjoyed herself a lot. She also thanked me a few more times, but I told her not to mention it. We returner to Paul's home in the evening, and called it a night.