Chương 323: One Crafty Fox

The night passed uneventfully. I got some sleep, but in overall, I didn't need as much sleep as I did in the past. Fox was still not around, so I exercised a bit, made fire to roast some meat. While roasting the meat, Fox came out and shook her head. I said "We still have quite a long way to go. Do you want me to help you break through?". She just stood there, and asked "What type of thing, did you get your hands on this time?".

I replied "I didn't have any, at the time we met in the North. I have some left now. The medicine will improve your strength. Besides that, it can help you to break through to your Inner Limits. This time, the process is not painful. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about". She replied "Really? I tried to break through a few times, but I couldn't do it. If it can help me… Are you sure you want to give it to me?". I took out the leftover Zenith Earth Grabbing Extract I had, and threw it to her. "There's around 30 mililiters of it left. Drink it, and try to break through".

She nodded her head, and retreated back to the tent. After she drank the Extract, Fox returned and began making poses. These poses were different, compared to Finch's. 'Wait a minute! I also know a set of poses!' I thought. The Modified Strength Manual, was about poses as well. 'Maybe its purpose was not to train the body, but try to break through?' I thought. I used it to train my body, and even modified it. 'Does that mean, I will have to modify the 5th Diagram, before I can break through the Half Step?' I thought.

I contemplated on that for a while. 'No, I broke through without the use of modified diagrams. This should mean, it's possible to break through with, or without their use' I thought. Still, modifying the 5th Diagram was not a bad idea. Sooner or later, I would need that diagram anyway. I woke up from my thoughts, when Fox's Aura intensified. I could easily withstand the pressure this time, Fox was not as strong as Finch after all.

I waited, until Fox's Aura disappeared, and she lost all her strength. She was about to fall. I appeared next to her, and caught her. 'She failed' I thought. Fox was very weak, this was rather normal. All her energy was depleted. I carried her back to the tent, and laid her in the bed. She said weekly "I'm sorry… I failed". I shook my head, and replied "Don't worry about it. You can always try a second or third time. Rest a bit. We can continue our journey, when you feel better". She nodded lightly, and fell asleep.

I wasn't really surprised about the outcome. If breaking through to the Inner Limits was that simple, the older generation of Savala Village, would achieve that a long time ago. I retrieved my mask, and placed it on my face. I could see the Floating Orbs again, but they were different colour. Most of them were brown or green. 'Hmm, these Orbs don't get attracted to me either. It seems only the Black Orbs are attracted to me... ' I thought.

I deliberated on that, until I came up with one conclusion. 'It must be because I have no affinity with the other Orbs. Yet somehow, I have an affinity with Black Orbs. If my guess is correct, it's probably because of the Dark Traveller' I thought. I didn't have any dreams for a long time already. I wasn't sure, if I would be able to see that hazy figure once more.

I gave it a rest, and took off the mask. 'There is no point trying anything with the Orbs, I have no affinity with. I can test some things out during the night, that's when I saw the Black Orbs' I thought. Instead, I practiced my Sixth Form. A few hours passed, until Fox finally woke up and joined me outside. I stopped my practice, and asked "How do you feel?". Fox was still a bit sleepy, but managed to reply. "I'm much be… What happened here?!". She saw the aftermath of my training. I was bored from using my attacks on thin air, so I used them on trees. 'Maybe I went a bit overboard…' I thought, as I looked at the destruction I caused.

The open area we were in, was rather small originally. After my sword practice, we could easily fit 30 such camps. Provided all the cut trees were cleared. I smiled, and said "Yea, nothing happened. I just, you know... Anyway, since you feel better, we can be on our way". She just shook her head, and began collecting all the stuff. I tried helping her, but she pointed at the cut trees laying everywhere, and said "I will do this alone". 'It's not like I'm some sort of walking disaster though…' I thought, and let her be. Fox took care of all the cleaning, after which we left.

As we travelled through the forest, I asked "Do you want to spar with me? You can always pick some stuff up. Besides, I can also learn a thing or two about close combat". She thought about it, and replied "If you promise not to throw your daggers, and use your Aura. Otherwise, I will always lose". I agreed to that, because I wanted to improve my close combat as well. Besides, Fox was not my opponent, if I used the Arts or my Aura.

Fox took out two daggers, and positioned herself. She wielded my old dagger, and the new style, created from Black Steel. This looked kind of odd, so I asked "You want one more?". She replied with a laugh "How about this? If I win, you will give me the dagger". I asked "What if I win?". She ran at me suddenly, and said "You have to win first". Fox used her Aura to disappear in front of me. 'Her stealth is good, the Aura helps here a lot. But, this is not the Art of Stealth' I thought, and swung my hand backwards. "Clang!", the sound of metal colliding reverberated through the air.

She was still under stealth, which was promising. I sensed another attack coming, this time from my left. "Clang", "Clang", "Cling", "Clang". I deflected all her attacks, and said "This will not work on me. Even if I can't see you, I can still sense you". She didn't appear, but changed her movements. I decided to end this. When Fox attacked one more time, I didn't deflect it. Instead, I evaded it, and made a grab for her.

'Huh?' I thought, as I grabbed nothing. Fox's words came from behind "You lost", then she appeared. I laughed, and said "Good fight. You used my senses against me. Although I didn't take it seriously, I'm still impressed". She took back her dagger from my neck, and said "Yea right. You lost, hand one dagger to me now". I smiled, and threw my dagger to her. "No wonder you are called Fox. A little trickster, that a fox is".

She asked "Wanna have another round? This time for nothing". I laughed "You are crafty indeed. Let's have another bout then". We sparred like this for a while. Fox was able to win a few more times. This was because she was very tricky. Her stealth was too good for my bare eyes to see through. The Aura she had, complimented her stealth by a lot. Although Fox wasn't really my opponent, I also learned a few things anyway. For one, blind trust in my senses, was a bad thing. Even more so, if I fought against Eterian. 'Eterians proficient in illusions, could mess up with my senses. I can't trust them all the time' I thought. There was only one thing, I could trust. It was my instinct. I wasn't sure if an illusion could affect it, but I was sure of one thing. My instincts would only kick in, if my life was in danger.

We travelled like this for a good month. We had some fun while sparring. I learned a few things about close combat, and even tried applying some of my sword training to that. This actually worked pretty well. The basics of a sword wielding, included Reverse Hold. That was mainly the Style I was using for my daggers. We also talked about the past, and even a bit about the Imperial City. Fox already visited the city a few times, so she knew her way around. She told me that the Imperial City was huge, much bigger than Ortava. There were loads of adventurers and travellers visiting that place, and that I could buy or order anything I wanted. She didn't tell me too much, as her response to some of my questions was, "You will see". I was still getting more and more excited, about the prospects of the Imperial City. 'There will be loads to see, and I will try to find my sword as well. I can't wait to arrive there' I thought.