Chapter 109

We walked back the way we came from but this time we were at the bottom of the cliff . Sh.e.l.ly was still grumpy about the whole experience of climbing down but I knew its mood would improve as soon as we got our lunch .

The bottom of the cliff was not all that different compared to the top . There were still trees, shrubs and small animals running around . So far, no visible changes were apparent . We traveled like this till afternoon when I decided it was time for break and some food . I said to Sh.e.l.ly "Let's go deeper into the forest and get something to eat . I don't have much left in my bag and your bag is already empty" . Sh.e.l.ly nodded its head and became a bit more cheerful .

Because we were following the cliff back to the place where we saw the fog, we didn't explore the forest yet . This was a good opportunity to check it out . We went into the forest and only 10 minutes later we encountered a group of animals . 'This is bad' I thought and said to Sh.e.l.ly "Do not make a sound, let's back away" . The group of animals we encountered were bears but not just any bears, all of them were silver in colour . Moreover there were 16 of them in that group .

We backed away from that place and continued further north along the cliff for a while . We then entered the forest again in order to search for something to hunt . This time, after about 15 minutes, we encountered another group of animals . Boars and all of them vere variants . All of the boars were yellow except one . The one that other boars were gathered around was white and twice as big as the yellow boars . I thought 'What the h.e.l.l did we get ourselves into?' .

No wonder there were no maps available for this region . First of all, it was hard to get here, maybe further down south or extremely north the cliff finished and there was a path down but these parts would be hard to map out, especially with those type of enemies popping out like common gra.s.s . I had a theory why those animals would thrive like this . Up there on the cliff, humans had their own settlements and so hunting was a common thing . The animals were not able to develop properly there . Although we could find variants and sometimes a group of them, it was not something that could compare with this place .

No wonder there were no maps available for this region . First of all, it was hard to get here, maybe further down south or extremely north the cliff finished and there was a path down but these parts would be hard to map out, especially with those type of enemies popping out like common gra.s.s . I had a theory why those animals would thrive like this . Up there on the cliff, humans had their own settlements and so hunting was a common thing . The animals were not able to develop properly there . Although we could find variants and sometimes a group of them, it was not something that could compare with this place .

'There is no hunting here and therefore these animals are left alone without the need to hide, migrate or breed like crazy to fill in the s.p.a.ces . These animals were allowed to developed and so I expect for this to be even worse if we were to continue further inside the forest' I thought .

We went further north to test my theory and when we entered deeper into the forest, we again saw a group of animals . This time they numbered less than previous times and the variants were black bears . This group was manageable and quite easy to hunt with our current skills .

We killed all 11 black bears . I quickly butchered them and as soon as I was done, we left that place . I didn't want to encounter a group of silver bears or worse . About an hour of travel away from the place we encountered the group of black bears, we set up a camp and finally had our dinner . While we were eating, I said to Sh.e.l.ly "I know it was supposed to be our holiday but I think it will have to stop" . Sh.e.l.ly looked at me and I think it expected what my next words are going to be . I said "It is time to train hard . If we want to survive in this place, we have to get stronger and finding a way out with our current skills, could bring us even more danger" .

We killed all 11 black bears . I quickly butchered them and as soon as I was done, we left that place . I didn't want to encounter a group of silver bears or worse . About an hour of travel away from the place we encountered the group of black bears, we set up a camp and finally had our dinner . While we were eating, I said to Sh.e.l.ly "I know it was supposed to be our holiday but I think it will have to stop" . Sh.e.l.ly looked at me and I think it expected what my next words are going to be . I said "It is time to train hard . If we want to survive in this place, we have to get stronger and finding a way out with our current skills, could bring us even more danger" .

Sh.e.l.ly seemed to agree with my words and nodded . I continued "I know I said we should travel and forget about the training but the time to play is over . If we had more strength, situations like the one that happened on top of that cliff would never occur" . I then said "I have to perfect my skills and you have to get even stronger . Being able to kill one or two silver bears alone means nothing here . We have to be able to tackle a whole group of them by ourselves" .

Sh.e.l.ly nodded seriously and from that point on we decided, it was time to stop playing around and return to our training . We had a good night rest and then started our training in the morning . I practiced both my body and skills, while Sh.e.l.ly would carry around loads of weight on its back together with the vision sealing mask attached on its face .

I started my day from the usual training . First doing the poses from 1st and 2nd modified diagrams and then strength training . The bag I was carrying, although heavy, was no longer a problem and I could practice my skills at the same time . In the afternoon, we tried to go and hunt something . It took us a while to find a suitable group we could hunt . It wasn't that there were no animals, the problem was the complete opposite . Not only were these parts of Great forest heavily populated with animals, the animals were very strong at that .

Sh.e.l.ly nodded seriously and from that point on we decided, it was time to stop playing around and return to our training . We had a good night rest and then started our training in the morning . I practiced both my body and skills, while Sh.e.l.ly would carry around loads of weight on its back together with the vision sealing mask attached on its face .

I started my day from the usual training . First doing the poses from 1st and 2nd modified diagrams and then strength training . The bag I was carrying, although heavy, was no longer a problem and I could practice my skills at the same time . In the afternoon, we tried to go and hunt something . It took us a while to find a suitable group we could hunt . It wasn't that there were no animals, the problem was the complete opposite . Not only were these parts of Great forest heavily populated with animals, the animals were very strong at that .

After over an hour of searching, we found a group of boars that were of the yellow variant . There was no other variant in that group so we decided to hunt it . Sh.e.l.ly attacked by ramming the group of boars and I finished off anything that tried to run or simply was left out . We took our game back to the camp and had our dinner . After dinner it was time for skill training . In the past, I was practicing the Stringed Hidden Weapons and my plans didn't change . Although I trained my body now as well . I would spend the rest of my time practicing the art before any other skill .

This went on till evening when we had another meal . I wondered 'I trained my body and skills today, what type of dream will I have? Will it be the one with the dark figure talking away or the other where the dark figure trains? Or perhaps combination of both?' I didn't know the answer but I knew the dream would appear .

I closed my eyes after a while and felt my consciousness starting to fade towards the land of dreams .

We walked back the way we came from but this time we were at the bottom of the cliff . Sh.e.l.ly was still grumpy about the whole experience of climbing down but I knew its mood would improve as soon as we got our lunch . The bottom of the cliff was not all that different compared to the top . There were still trees, shrubs and small animals running around . So far, no visible changes were apparent . We traveled like this till afternoon when I decided it was time for break and some food . I said to Sh.e.l.ly Lets go deeper into the forest and get something to eat . I dont have much left in my bag and your bag is already empty . Sh.e.l.ly nodded its head and became a bit more cheerful . Because we were following the cliff back to the place where we saw the fog, we didnt explore the forest yet . This was a good opportunity to check it out . We went into the forest and only 10 minutes later we encountered a group of animals . This is bad I thought and said to Sh.e.l.ly Do not make a sound, lets back away . The group of animals we encountered were bears but not just any bears, all of them were silver in colour . Moreover there were 16 of them in that group . We backed away from that place and continued further north along the cliff for a while . We then entered the forest again in order to search for something to hunt . This time, after about 15 minutes, we encountered another group of animals . Boars and all of them vere variants . All of the boars were yellow except one . The one that other boars were gathered around was white and twice as big as the yellow boars . I thought What the h.e.l.l did we get ourselves into? . No wonder there were no maps available for this region . First of all, it was hard to get here, maybe further down south or extremely north the cliff finished and there was a path down but these parts would be hard to map out, especially with those type of enemies popping out like common gra.s.s . I had a theory why those animals would thrive like this . Up there on the cliff, humans had their own settlements and so hunting was a common thing . The animals were not able to develop properly there . Although we could find variants and sometimes a group of them, it was not something that could compare with this place . There is no hunting here and therefore these animals are left alone without the need to hide, migrate or breed like crazy to fill in the s.p.a.ces . These animals were allowed to developed and so I expect for this to be even worse if we were to continue further inside the forest I thought . We went further north to test my theory and when we entered deeper into the forest, we again saw a group of animals . This time they numbered less than previous times and the variants were black bears . This group was manageable and quite easy to hunt with our current skills . We killed all 11 black bears . I quickly butchered them and as soon as I was done, we left that place . I didnt want to encounter a group of silver bears or worse . About an hour of travel away from the place we encountered the group of black bears, we set up a camp and finally had our dinner . While we were eating, I said to Sh.e.l.ly I know it was supposed to be our holiday but I think it will have to stop . Sh.e.l.ly looked at me and I think it expected what my next words are going to be . I said It is time to train hard . If we want to survive in this place, we have to get stronger and finding a way out with our current skills, could bring us even more danger . Sh.e.l.ly seemed to agree with my words and nodded . I continued I know I said we should travel and forget about the training but the time to play is over . If we had more strength, situations like the one that happened on top of that cliff would never occur . I then said I have to perfect my skills and you have to get even stronger . Being able to kill one or two silver bears alone means nothing here . We have to be able to tackle a whole group of them by ourselves . Sh.e.l.ly nodded seriously and from that point on we decided, it was time to stop playing around and return to our training . We had a good night rest and then started our training in the morning . I practiced both my body and skills, while Sh.e.l.ly would carry around loads of weight on its back together with the vision sealing mask attached on its face . I started my day from the usual training . First doing the poses from 1st and 2nd modified diagrams and then strength training . The bag I was carrying, although heavy, was no longer a problem and I could practice my skills at the same time . In the afternoon, we tried to go and hunt something . It took us a while to find a suitable group we could hunt . It wasnt that there were no animals, the problem was the complete opposite . Not only were these parts of Great forest heavily populated with animals, the animals were very strong at that . After over an hour of searching, we found a group of boars that were of the yellow variant . There was no other variant in that group so we decided to hunt it . Sh.e.l.ly attacked by ramming the group of boars and I finished off anything that tried to run or simply was left out . We took our game back to the camp and had our dinner . After dinner it was time for skill training . In the past, I was practicing the Stringed Hidden Weapons and my plans didnt change . Although I trained my body now as well . I would spend the rest of my time practicing the art before any other skill . This went on till evening when we had another meal . I wondered I trained my body and skills today, what type of dream will I have? Will it be the one with the dark figure talking away or the other where the dark figure trains? Or perhaps combination of both? I didnt know the answer but I knew the dream would appear . I closed my eyes after a while and felt my consciousness starting to fade towards the land of dreams .