Arran's first instinct was to flee the castle immediately. Although he did not know how many enemies there were, he knew that once they realized Senecio was gone, they would return. When that happened, Arran would be forced to face them. While Senecio had said he should be able to handle them, he had little interest in finding out if the old man was right. Yet as he looked at the treasures that filled the room, he could not bring himself to leave them behind. There were weapons and armor, paintings, jewelry, scrolls, herbs, metals, and numerous other things. Even if Senecio had probably taken the most valuable items, what was left was still a fortune the likes of which Arran had never seen before. After a moment's hesitation, he began to grab random items from the room, stuffing them into the empty void bag that had once belonged to Stormleaf. He did not bother to inspect the items as he gathered the

The standoff lasted for a while, yet the battle that Arran expected never came. Instead, Panurge suddenly burst into laughter. "Still afraid to face me, old man?" he asked, a wide grin on his face. Senecio did not respond, instead merely giving Panurge a contemptuous glare. Although Arran was relieved that a battle had been avoided, he was still distressed at being dragged into a conflict he wanted no part of, and did not understand in the slightest. "Who are you guys?!" he blurted out. "We," Panurge began, "are what you might call Gods. I am this world's God of Chaos, while my phlegmatic counterpart is the God of Order." "Gods? You?" Arran gave him a doubtful look. He understood well that Panurge was powerful after the confrontation between him and Senecio, but to Arran's eyes, the man seemed far from divine. "I could turn you into a rat

"Son of a bitch!" Arran cursed loudly as the Essence in his hand dissipated once more. Each time, success was just a hair away, yet somehow, every time it evaded him at the last moment. It was impossible to track the passing days within the cell, but already, Arran had spent months trying to master the Windblade spell. And still, he had not succeeded. At first, he had made good progress. Learning how to control the strands of Essence had taken him several weeks, but through effort and persistence, he had succeeded. Weaving them together into a single Windblade was more difficult, but eventually, he had achieved that, too. The only thing left was to send the Windblade flying, and that was where Arran failed. Every time he tried to control the Windblade, it dissipated before it could move even an inch, falling apart like a house of cards. Arran couldn't understand why it didn't wor

The raw Essence of the Realm Opening Pills flooded Arran's body like a river of fire, pain filling every fiber of his being. Yet although his face twisted in agony, there was a near-maniacal grin, too. Finally, he would be free again. He stood in front of the door, waiting for the raw Essence to build up inside his body. Finally, when he thought there was enough, he unleashed it at the door. The burst of power hit the door with a thunderous crash, but to his surprise, it held up against the attack, although there was now a large crack in the door. Essence coursing through his veins like fire, Arran had no patience to spare. Again he attacked, then again. He battered the door with raw Essence, attacking it relentlessly, his mind only focused on escaping. Finally, after a dozen attacks, the cracked door held no longer. Yet another blast of raw Essence hit it, and this time, the Ess

As Arran hurried up the stairs, climbing three steps at a time, he heard the mages he had freed following behind. He paid them little heed. What mattered now was what lay ahead of him. The staircase seemed to go on forever, steeply winding upward, and after some time Arran began to wonder just how far below the ground he was. Although he couldn't be sure, it seemed like he had already climbed half a mile upward, and still the stairs continued. Had his body not been strengthened through Body Refinement, he would have long been out of breath by now, but as it was, he did not even break a sweat. Now, he understood why no one had come after he used a vast amount of Essence to escape his cell. Half a mile underground, it would simply have been impossible to sense for those above. The escaped mages were still behind him, and although he heard some panting by now, he marveled at their endurance. In their cu