Limits

First and most important rule about fighting against Formations, was movement. Stopping in one place spelled disaster, especially against so many people. Even though I used the Art of Stealth, there were too many Formations appearing. I even tried Illusions, but they were quickly shattered against the plethora of attacks. I could read their eye movements, but they were able to create a few Formations at once. This allowed them to corner me, and the damage started mounting up.

I used whatever I had, but restricted myself to Auras only. My daggers couldn't damage Formations. Even if I infused my daggers with Auras, the effects wouldn't be that great. With Aura Dagger in each hand, I slashed, stabbed and threw them like crazy. I even used the Forms from the Art of Hidden Weapons, but with Aura weapons.

Not even ten minutes passed before I dropped to the ground. The Lizards stopped their attacked abruptly, and rushed towards me. "I'm… fine… I still have energy", I said. They insisted that I take the medicine, but I refused. "My life… is not in danger. I... just need to rest". They gave me some space, while I used my energy to mend my body. 'This is difficult, I can't last very long against such concentrated attacks', I thought. Although that was the case, I had no intention of stopping there. The more I pressured myself, the better. It always worked like this for me. If I lived peacefully, I would simply stagnate.

'I wonder if that is the reason Humans have such a hard time reaching Primal Limit. Those that don't constantly seek danger, and try to improve themselves, there is no challenge in their lives. There is no reason for them to improve', I thought. Hence I had to do this, I had to make it harder on myself. Become someone they had to listen to, whether due to respect or fear.

We continued that bloody training for days on end. I forgot how many times I got knocked unconscious, how many wounds my body was riddled with. Only thanks to my medicine, I was able to keep my body in one piece. No one else would be able to repeat what I did, not without the drive, medicine and skills I possessed. The training though, it paid off. Although facing the three teams at once, was no doubt difficult and bordering on impossible, I began adapting.

I relied more on my instincts, rather than pure skills. My senses developed with each passing session. My Auras grew, and thickened becoming more reliable and stronger. I learned to utilise my Domineering Aura much better. The Sleeping Blade Forest, a form I used during the battle of Sedon, I could now target multiple locations at once. This helped me greatly, especially since a lot of Formations appeared on the floor.

Even though the amount of Aura daggers I was able to create with my Domineering Aura, was nowhere near the time my Unyielding Aura awakened, each dagger had enough strength to destroy a minor Formation. If I could use my Unyielding Aura as I pleased, the three groups wouldn't stand a chance at that stage. My Bloodlust Aura became more intense too. With all those countless defeats, I was rather pissed to be honest. No one likes to lose. Moreover, no one would like to be beaten half dead, as well as lose multiple times. This actually reminded me of learning together with Irwin.

Besides my Auras and senses, my strength didn't really advance any further. I didn't arrive at the wall to Primal Limits yet, I was still far away from it. I simply focused on evasion, speed and ability to quickly dispose of Formations, rather than strength. Being strong was nice, but it became secondary. I might've been able to overwhelm a few Formations with my body alone, but facing an unknown number of Bramans? This was not a viable method. I had no clue what Bramans were capable of. Just because they had knowledge of Formations, that didn't mean they were weak physically. Humans could become warriors, Formation masters, doctors and so on. There was no incentive to believe Bramans focused on Formations like Grey Lizards did.

I was getting a bit worried too. Alicia was still not done with my new equipment, and I had no clue what was going on in the outside world. I wavered between visiting Obsidian Mountains and staying with Grey Lizards. Ultimately, I decided to stay. Without the proper gear, I wouldn't be able to do much, even if something was happening. There was the possibility, no one came to Obsidian Mountains yet, which would waste my time. Time I could better spend on training, than running around.

That was when the bad news came. During my training, Tulin rushed into the area, with a few other Lizards. We stopped immediately, enquiring as to what happened. "You were right about those Bramans! They already scouted the seal. We were able to chase them away, but they know about it and they were probably trying to spy on us", Tulin said. This was bad indeed. "Where is Alicia?", I asked. Tulin replied, "She locked herself in her room. Most probably to finish that weapon and armour of yours. Hatmandor doesn't respond, you can't leave without your stuff, and we don't know what is going on outside… This is hopeless".

I calmed everyone down, "It does look bad, but we still have time. From what you just told me, Bramans will require some sort of preparations. That means, we can still do something about it. Let Alicia finish the weapon and armour, don't disturb her. As soon as I have that, I will head to Obsidian Mountains. From there, we can march towards Bramans".

Tulin agreed, but before he left, I asked him about the Formations used for the entry and exit to the base. "You want something like that, but portable?", he asked. I nodded, "Yes, if we could move between places quickly, that could help out a lot". He shook his head, "That is impossible. The Formations required to achieve this, are complicated and large. No ordinary item could hold them, and besides the distance you could travel wouldn't be that great". I asked, "What if you used Elements? Could you increase the range?". He thought about it, but before he answered, another Lizard did that for him. "It is possible. If we collect the Elements required and make the Formations bigger, while adding supplementary Collecting Formations… The answer is yes, it is possible".

Tulin argued, "Although possible, the amount of work and time to set up even two such Formations would be staggering. The war would end before we could potentially set up something like that. This would in turn make it useless, not even mentioning the fact we would have to leave our home". I replied, "Perhaps it is now, but who knows about the future. You are right, for now it would be useless to do that, but keep that in mind for the future".

He didn't seem to take my words too seriously, and left instead. 'This war will end sooner or later. If each city had such Formation, then travel as well as information channels would improve tremendously. No matter, I still need to wait for Alicia. There's nothing else I can do but train, make sure I'm as good as I can be', I thought and asked the Lizards to resume our training.