My days looked monotone again. I woke up, practiced and ate then read a book before going to sleep. Like this, almost two weeks passed. I made some improvements with my improved Natural Path skill. The prints that I was leaving were not as deep anymore. This suggested to me that my initial thoughts were correct. Everyday, I strived to get better at it and implement the theory behind Illusionary Path into Natural Path skill.
The relations with Laly dropped a bit. She came couple of times to chat but I simply said "I'm busy". She stopped bothering me when I was training and only came in the evening. I also managed to master the Long Range Shooting skill. I decided to call it that way, when I mastered it. I was now able to choose any target that was about 300 metres away and hit it every time. Although not all arrows were hitting the dead center of my target, about half of them did.
With my archery practice completed, I went to Laly and said "I'm done with that technique. I have 100% accuracy now. What is the next technique in line?". She looked at me a bit coldly and said "I will show you" and we went outside. She took out her bow and said "Next technique is Rapid Shooting. Watch me do it". She pulled out one arrow, notched it onto the bow and shot it almost immediately. She immediately pulled out the next arrow, shot it and so on, until 5 arrows flew through the air and hit the same target. She said "This is Rapid Shooting. When you master it, come back to me" and she left.
I didn't care if she was happy with my approach to her or not. She showed me what was next and I didn't need her for anything else. I chose a target that was about 100 metres away. I wanted to start easy in the beginning but I also planned to later increase that range to 300 metres. 'If I'm able to hit my target at 300 metres, 5 times in a row every time, this should be considered as mastering that technique' I thought to myself and started my practice.
This technique was actually much harder than shooting a single arrow. I had much less time to think about stuff and therefore my aim was all over the place. I thought 'I should do it slowly first. When I adjust myself to multiple shots, I can always increase the speed of shooting. This way, I will progress much more easily compared to doing everything at once'.
With that in mind, I started shooting again. I did it slowly as I wanted to get the feeling for it first. With the archery practice taking all of my afternoon and a bit of evening, I ate my late dinner and returned back to the cave. I was too tired to read that day, I simply went to sleep. In the morning, I resumed my practice again.
The daily grinding resumed and another two weeks passed. I got used to the Rapid Shooting and was now able to shoot 5 arrows continuously at the target located 100 metres away. I decided it was time to move on and practice on a target further away. The next step for me was, 200 metres. I tried shooting continuously but because I had little time for predicting the natural behaviour at my target, most of my shots missed again.
'I have to slow down again. With some more grinding at slower speeds, I should be able to have a 100% accuracy' I thought and continued my practice. In the evening, I read the Corporeal Structure book. I was already at the 5th chapter. The 4th chapter was about Bones. Mostly about bone structure and possible defects. The book also explained the weakest and strongest bones in human body. The leg bones are some of the toughest bones in human body for example. These bones are supporting the whole weight of a human and are very durable. On the other hand, the spine is one of the weakest bone structures. If the spine is damaged, it can leave the human paralysed or even lead to death.
The 5th chapter of the book was about Vital Organs. This included heart, liver and lungs. It described their anatomy as well as possible defects. The chapter also explained different methods of checking the state of the organs in a human body. Those ranged from the colour of the urine to frequent coughs and occasional pains. 'The information in this book seems really basic but at the same time, I didn't know about half of these things' I thought after finishing the 5th chapter of the Corporeal Structure book.
I laid down in my bed comfortably and closed my eyes. Laly was no longer in my room. She would be there when I wake up in the morning but she didn't visit me anymore. I had nothing against that either. It was creepy and annoying that someone watched me as I go to sleep. Past those couple of weeks, I've been also able to translate a few more words from the Dark Traveller's Ancient Language.
The words Ra, Fhin, Trevas and Proh could possibly be translated as "Yes", "Now", "To travel or Travel to" and "From" respectively. I knew that Trevas must've meant "Travel" as I already figured out the word Trevak, which meant "Traveller". The other words were harder to figure out but I believed them to be translated correctly.
There were still loads of untranslated words but I wasn't about to give up. 'With time, I will be able to completely translate whatever that Dark Traveller is talking about and then who knows, maybe I will be able to figure some stuff about the figure from my dreams' I thought and fell asleep.
When I woke up the next morning, I saw something unusual. Laly was not there in her sleeping state, after what I assumed a night of absorbing my aura. 'Well, not my problem. She said not to worry and I shall do just that' I thought and went outside the cave. The 3rd modified diagram I practiced every morning also improved my body a bit past those couple of weeks. I was now able to last 5 minutes while in the pose.
Although I was happy, I was also a bit stunned when I reached the 5 minutes mark. 'It seems I hit some kind of wall and I'm not able to progress even one second past the 5 minutes mark. This is weird, it never happened before' I thought. My thoughts then continued 'Normally, I could strain my body to last that 1 second but when I reach that 5 minutes mark, my whole strength collapses pretty much. Does that mean I don't have enough strength to continue?'.
Me lacking strength to continue was possible but I decided to train that diagram every morning anyway. 'I may not be able to progress past the 5 minutes mark but it still helps develop my hidden muscles due to the pressure the pose creates' I thought and started my practice.
With that and my breakfast out of the way. I focused on my skills next. My Natural Path skill was also improving. I managed to leave more shallow footprints in the snow. The footprints were still visible but the depth was at least half of that when I started. 'This improvement is not bad at all. With some more training, I should be able to leave no footprints at all or very faint ones' I thought.
There was one problem though. Although this method would allow me to leave no footprints, I wasn't stealthy due to those erratic and quick movements. 'When I master this part of the skill, I should work on the stealth part. If I'm able to accomplish that, I think that my Art of Stealth will become the most advanced art I possess' I thought and continued running like crazy.