Dispersing the Mist

This group of people had loads of stuff and things like the head of the man they hunted down, was not something I would need. I also threw away things like weapons that were useless to me. I did keep the heavy sword for myself. The leader guy was also using daggers and although they were of similar quality compared to mine, the daggers I possessed were balanced perfectly. The guy's daggers were not something I would use but because I was short on daggers, I took them. 'One or two more daggers are welcomed at this stage. Even if I have to throw them, they would still be of some use to me' I thought.

With all the clutter stuffed into one bag, I tried burning it. I wondered if it could be destroyed with all those items inside. I started a fire and threw the bag in. I waited and waited but nothing happened to it. 'So the bag is immune to the fire it seems, it didn't burn so it has to be made from some kind of special, fire resistant material'. Although these bags looked ordinary, they were anything but that. I fished out the bag from the campfire and tried to stab it couple of times using my daggers. The dagger didn't even manage to leave a mark on it.

I thought 'I don't know what this material is but even with my strength, I can't destroy it'. I decided to just bury it, leaving it in the open was pointless. I wasn't someone who would leave free stuff for others to collect easily. After that ordeal, I made the fire bigger and threw in all the corpses on top. The smell of burning flesh was very strong and not something I wanted to breathe in. I left the camp to wander around the forest for a bit.

I didn't meet any animals that time, or at least animals that were aggressive. I wouldn't kill things like rabbits or deer for no reason other than food. As I walked through the forest, I noticed a small stream ahead of me. In the stream, I saw some fishes swimming around. Then I saw a turtle swimming around the fishes as well. Memories started to flood in 'I remember when I tried to figure out how to "Avoid the Light" part of the Art of Stealth. This was when I met Shelly for the first time'. Memories of our time together started resurfacing and many of them flashed in my mind. Good and bad times, whatever the times, we were always together.

I returned to the camp and sat near the fire that was still burning. 'I will be 24 soon' I thought. It's been couple of years since I started my journey. With ups and downs, I somehow made it to this point but did I want to reach it? Did I find what I was looking for? Did I enjoy myself?

I asked myself many questions. Everyone I ever cared for died. Even people I had interactions with died either by my hand or by hands of the others. 'I remember Nick telling me to stay away from people and that I will be alone. He said it was my nature. I think I know what he meant now' I thought.

I understood something that day. It didn't matter who we were born as or what environment we were born into. 'We are the sole guides on our path of life. There is no wrong or right path, only the path we make for ourselves. As long as we stay true to our own path… We shall live' as my thoughts ended, I felt peace. I could think clearly now. I felt like, I no longer walked in a maze surrounded by mist. Instead it was just a normal maze, with nothing more but walls that surrounded me.

Something clicked in my head and I was no longer confused about things, I could perceive stuff surrounding me much better. "Wow! my vision got better, I can even perceive stuff around me. I can even tell what the bug on the tree is doing!" I exclaimed. I was shocked at the sudden improvement and thought about it 'Is it because I realised some things? and this is the effect of me doing so? I have a feeling that I was able to see those things all the time but I couldn't see them at the same time. There is no more 'fog' in my mind obstructing that stuff. This must be my true potential!'

I was very excited at the thought. I tested it many times on a lot of different things. Not only my vision improved. My hearing, the sense of touch and smell also improved. The only problem was that I had to adjust to that sudden sharpness of my senses. 'I will need to spend some time in order to fully control those things, just like my strength' I thought.

The excitement soon disappeared and was replaced with desire to train. 'I need to use those weights to grasp the control of my strength properly before anything else. I have a very good idea about future training for my improved senses as well' I thought and went towards my weights to train.

I trained till evening, I then had my dinner and rested. I was a bit too excited to go to sleep and test my dreams out. I thought I would try and think about something useful then hype myself too much. 'My strength should be under my full control soon and I will be able to start learning about the patterns and behaviours of nature again. With this completed, my Art of Steal will be much more completed. I already have a skill that allows me to camouflage myself amongst people. I called It Aura Copy. With this new skill, I will be able to better predict a path of either escape or as mean to get to my target' I thought.

'My Art of Hidden Weapons is a bit behind but has additional skill that I called Stringed Hidden Weapons as well. if I were to add the Wind Daggers as part of the art, there is another skill that completes the art even more' As I thought about it, I felt that there was something missing from my Art of Hidden Weapons but I couldn't figure out what.

I was finally able to relax a bit and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, I was not disappointed. The lone dark figure that always trained by itself, started the training shortly after I arrived or at least opened my eyes. I thought 'It's time to test my new senses!'.