บท 154: Is This for Real?

Hours, days and months passed since my arm was attached back. My rehabilitation went well but there was something unexpected that happened to my arm. 'It's probably because those winter season herbs. My arm is now… different' I thought. My right arm was much paler compared to the rest of my body but that was not the only change. Due to the winter herbs used as the replacement for the Trantum Solution, my arm evolved.

It happened two months after I attached it back together. I was fighting bears barehanded in order to exercise my arm properly. When I striked the Silver Bear with my right arm, the spot where it was hit, became frozen. I was as shocked as the Silver Bear but that was not the whole extent of my new hand's power. I noticed that if I were to combine my Domineering Aura with it, the air around me became cold. My arm would freeze a sizable chunk of my opponent's body when striked.

What was weird, was that I didn't feel the coldness in my right arm but when I touched it with my left hand, the arm was very cold. 'This is a blessing but another curse as well. Not only do I have weird dreams, I also have a weird arm. Who would have thought that changing the herbs to the ones I used, would create such effect' I thought as I looked at my arm.

The rehabilitation went even smoother than I assumed. After a month, I could already use the hand normally but not with my full strength. After two month, I was able to exert almost whole of my strength and at this point in time, my arm was like before, except the freezing part of course.

'My strength returned and I have something new that came with it' I thought. This was not the only thing I did past these months. The Natural Path skill was trained to the level that the Blood Figure from my dream shown. What it became when I reached that level was a footwork technique, that I lacked from my skill set.

'The Natural Path skill was originally a skill to escape but now, it can be used not only for escape but for combat as well. This thing has even more applications, it even helped me develop my archery skill quickly' I thought. With the Natural Path skill reaching that level, my Art of Stealth became the most advanced art, I possessed. 'My arm is healed, I can now escape more easily and fight much better in close combat. I should move to the north soon. I will go there in the middle of summer. We will see what north has on offer' I thought and practiced my dagger skills.

When I reached my current level in the Natural Path skill, I placed more focus on the close combat. I had an idea about a technique that incorporated the pressure points as well as speed. 'Normally, I slash with my dagger but this is different. I have no human being to train that technique on but I have bears. Although they are not humans, that will do for now' I thought.

The technique I came up with was to stab with my dagger but at incredible speeds and at different locations. This is where the pressure points part came in. Each pressure point in human body was responsible for something. There were those that allowed for blood to be stopped, reversed or rage forward. This may not seem as much but when the blood is reversed for example, a human would lose all the strength for a certain amount of time. This alone gives loads of possibilities for me. There were pressure points responsible for breathing, and even those that could spell immediate death.

'I memorised those pressure points and even discovered them on my own body. Hitting them will not be easy though. A human opponent, especially a strong one, is not a wooden log that doesn't move and evade my attacks. Humans are also much more intelligent than bears or wolves. Although I practice with bears, this is just the beginning' I thought and continued my practice.

It was already well into the spring. The trees flourished, animals breed and herbs grew. I was moving constantly towards eastern direction, I also travelled a bit north once in a while. Albeit at a slow pace, due to my training. I had no maps, so I had no clue what I would encounter in that direction. This was also a problem. I had no tools with me, I learned to make some medicine by using stones and fireplaces but real tools would be much better. I also needed to find replacement for my strings. 'From what I remember, Nick said that these strings were quite rare. Where do I get new ones then?' I thought as I walked through the forest practicing at the same time.

I lost too many things and even the clothes that Nick left for me were in shambles. I was wearing a set of clothes from one of those guys that followed me north in order to kill me. 'I know I promised Nick not to visit villages or cities but hell, I need supplies! I don't mind even bending that promise a bit but who in the world would live in this part of the forest? There is probably no village or city in that direction whatsoever, especially since this is closer to the north' I thought and mindlessly stabbed with my dagger.

When I heard the "Why are you stabbing the air?" I was lost. "Huh?" I blurted out and turned around. A kid, 12 maybe? years old, stood there as if nothing. I looked at the little fellow and my eyes almost left my sockets "What the…?". The kid, as if nothing out of ordinary happened, asked again "Why were you stabbing the air?". I couldn't answer that, I couldn't say anything due to the shock.

After a long while and another "Are you deaf sir?", I finally managed to respond "No, are you human?" to which the kid looked at me weirdly and said "Don't I look like one? You must be slow in your head mister. I haven't seen you before, are you from somewhere far away?". 'I'm not slow in my head you fuuu…. kid' I thought but I decided not to voice that thought. Instead, I said "What is a kid doing here, alone in the forest?".

He didn't seem happy with me not answering his question and calling him a kid. He said "Hey! I asked first! Besides, I'm not a kid!". '....' What was I supposed to do in that situation? Beat him up? As I was contemplating about that kid, he said "By the way, what the hell do you call forest? This is our village here".

I looked at the kid and asked "The what?". He responded "You are slow indeed. Look in front of you, you idiot!" and pointed a finger at something. When I looked at what the kid pointed, I could only blurt out "How the fuck is this possible?". The kid became angry and shouted "Hey! Don't use bad words. My mama said it is not ok to use bad words".

I had so many questions, I didn't know from which one to start. I asked "How do you survive here?". The kid became all prideful and said "It's because of Warriors. They protect the village. I will also become a Warrior, when I'm old enough". 'Warriors eh? There must be some strong people inside there but the opportunity is just too good to pass' I thought and asked "Can I enter?". The kid was still talking about the pride of the Warriors, which I didn't pay attention to. When he heard my question, he said "Sure! We don't get a lot of visitors. To be honest, almost never. Follow me, I will show you around!". I nodded my head and followed after the kid.

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NOT PART OF THE CHAPTER! PLEASE READ ANYWAY!

The pace has been increased. I skipped the rehabilitation process completely (and gave you general info about what happened past these few months).

Now, I mentioned in the comment section of the previous chapter. There is a pole about the progress of the novel. I will repeat that question here and then tell you what is going to happen. The question for you guys:

Do you prefer for the progress of the novel to stay slower with more details or should I increase the speed and abandon some detail?

Post your comment about whichever you prefer (One comment per person counts only). At the end, the most comments for either faster progress or slower progress win. The comments from the previous chapter count as well (so for those who left something over there, I will count them and you don't need to comment again)

You can chose as I have no problem dropping some details. I will of course write some details still, even if you chose the "faster progress". It's just that the progress will be faster and there will be some other things happening as well.

I encourage you guys to all vote. This is one time offer, however you vote, that is the progress you get. I don't think I can be more fair about it. I'm giving you 2 days to vote as the next chapter will be released on 8th of February (that is UTC +0 time zone). Thanks for reading and your support :D hope to see your votes. (I had to put it here because webnovel + author's thoughts != (doesn't equal) 500 words. The text here is less than 500 words by the way. Go figure)