Limits
chapter-167

The closer I got to my destination, the gloomier the climate became. It was summer still but the temperatures dropped a bit. The days seemed to become shorter, while nights longer. I was still in the forest but the atmosphere was… different. I could now see the dividing line of sorts, where the forest finished and what followed it, was wasteland. The creature also thinned out. I could see less animals but more beasts like Flaming Silver Wolf or Flaming Grey Bear.

As I walked through the forest, my instincts flared up about something. I looked around but didn't see anything. My suspicion was, that another Raptor was trying to sneak up on me. I walked forwards but paid attention to the surroundings. My guess was half correct, it was a creature that was trying to sneak up on me but it wasn't a normal Raptor.

I attacked immediately and uncovered the stealth of the creature. What I saw, was a Black Raptor but this one seemed weird and out of place. It was covered in some kind of oily black substance and its eyes were red. 'This is not a normal Raptor, it's either a variant or something must've happened to it' I thought and released a barrage of attacks on my enemy. The Black Raptor died quickly but what followed was too shocking to wrap my mind around. The black substance that covered the Raptor, began to move and detached itself from the creature.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" I exclaimed and threw another dagger at it. The liquid thing was unperturbed by that and simply condensed into one large blob. What followed after, was something straight out of horrors. The blob grew eyes but not just one or two, no. It was covered in eyes that looked elongated and with red irises.

The blob looked at me and then jumped towards me, as if to swallow me. I evaded quickly and distanced myself away from the creature. The blob like thing, was not very fast fortunately and was slowly making its way towards me. 'What the hell is that thing? That Raptor over there is a normal Raptor, with the multicoloured skin. Is that thing some sort of parasite?' I thought.

My thoughts continued 'Physical attacks don't seem to work on that thing. I could try fire, maybe this will do something'. I started distancing myself and gathering some materials to make a torch. A while later, I made a torch and lit it. The creature stopped when it saw fire and didn't approach anymore. 'So, it is scared of flame. This is good. Otherwise, I would have no other ideas how to destroy that thing' I thought and started approaching the blob.

The moment I walked towards it, the blob tried to move back. It's speed was slow, so I approached faster and struck it with the burning torch. The creature screeched and burst into flames. The eyes started moving around and seemed to show signs of pain and panic. The blob burned very well, until almost nothing was left. "Just what the hell was that thing anyway?" I asked myself out loud.

In the least, I now knew its weakness, as well as the fact, that it could act as a parasite. It looked creepy nevertheless, with all those eyes and everything. I examined the remains of that blob. The substance was like oil mixed in with water. It had no corrosive properties, I decided to gather some of those remains. At this stage, I wanted to study everything in details. The more I knew, the better my situation would be.

'No wonder Flaming Variants can survive here. These things are scared of fire' I thought and moved towards north. I decided to call that thing Fluid Gazer, due to its form and those creepy eyes, that popped up out of nowhere. I was still a day or two away from that sort of dividing line. Although the forest started disappearing, the greenery was still apparent but that was only to the point of that dividing line. Anything beyond, lacked green or any other vibrant colour. Everything was dull and gloomy.

I was now on guard at all times. 'If a creature such as Fluid Gazer exists here, then what type of monsters would an actual north contain?' I asked myself. After about 30 minutes of walking, I noticed a pack of Black Bears but on closer inspection, it was a group of infected bears. I steered clear of them, I didn't want to waste my time, burning 13 of those Fluid Gazers.

Although I didn't want to fight, I still decided to make loads of torches. 'Better to be prepared than cry later' I thought. Making torches didn't cost me anything but time and I had loads of that on my hands. I could see some dying trees over the border in the north but 'Who knows what type of trees are these? If a creature such as Fluid Gazer is possible, than a monster tree should be as well' I thought and collected wood for torches.

I wanted to make as many as I could. Besides, the torches were light and even a thousand of them would not amount to much weight. I spent the rest of the day making torches. At the end, I was sick of it but I did manage to create around 340 of them. 'This should be enough… I hope' I thought and built my camping site on a tall tree.

In this environment, I wasn't going to stay on the ground, where those Fluid Gazers were roaming. The next morning, I resumed my journey. I met some more animals infected by the Fluid Gazers. I had to fight some of them but the torches I made earlier, were of great help. The infected animals would run away, when a few Fluid Gazers burned to death. 'I used 5 torches, which is not a lot. I still have plenty' I thought and continued on my way.

In the evening, I arrived at the visible dividing line, between the North and the Great Forest. This looked like two different worlds combining, with a straight line separating them. "This looks so weird. All the grass and whatnot, simply stops at that line. No greenery passess through that border, even a centimetre!" I exclaimed out loud.

I took a step forward, to cross that line. "Boom!" Something like a cold wind, hit my face hard and made me stumble back. "What the hell was that?" I asked myself. I tried again but this time, I expected that blast of cold wind. "Boom!" I was more prepared this time and didn't stumble. When I fully crossed the line, I could feel sudden drop in temperature. The wind sounded like whispers, agonising whispers that would haunt me, even in my dreams.

"This place is as creepy, as it can get. It's also very weird. Crossing that line, made the climate change so suddenly. The skies are dark, with no stars visible. Is that dividing line something special? Like a barrier of some sorts?" I said to myself. I crossed the line again and returned to the edge of the Great Forest. The atmosphere changed back, to the one I was used to. I could see the stars as well. 'This is very weird. One step and the whole environment changes' I thought and crossed the line again to enter the North.

I took a few glances around me and said to myself "Welcome to the North, I guess" then marched forwards.