2022-10-26 13:10:22
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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 117
The man led Arran and Snowcloud through the city at a quick pace, but although he seemed both friendly and polite, Arran could not help but notice that a few paces behind them followed half a dozen guards. If they weren't exactly prisoners, it was clear that they weren't free to go, either. But there was no point in worrying about that. For the time being, all they could do was follow behind the well-dressed man, and hope that he wasn't leading them to imprisonment — or worse. Within the city, Arran knew, any attempt to escape would likely end in disaster. As they moved through the streets, Arran looked around and found himself impressed by what he saw. Goldhaven was clearly a wealthy city, with wide streets, large stone buildings, and numerous shops and stores. The crowds were thick, and although most of the people Arran saw looked to be merchants and traders, he could also see many wearing the armor of mercenaries or bandits, and more than a few who were dressed like mages. Thei
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 118
Lord Sevaril gave Arran a bemused glance, then turned his attention back to Snowcloud. "You haven't told your companion about your mission?""He's my recruit," she answered. Then, some color appearing on her cheeks, she added, "And no, I haven't yet told him everything.""Told me what?" Arran asked. He could tell that the issue was an important one, but he still had no idea what Snowcloud and Lord Sevaril were talking about. Nor, for that matter, how they even knew each other."You should tell him," Lord Sevaril said, his expression serious. "Ill-mannered though he may be, if he is to accompany you, he should know the dangers.""What dangers?" Arran obviously knew that even traveling in the region was dangerous, but it was clear that what Lord Sevaril was talking about was something far beyond the normal risks travelers faced. And anything that someone with the power to hold a city in the borderlands feared was something that Arran knew would be cause for concern.Snowcloud hesitated
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 119
Lord Sevaril and Snowcloud descended the stairs, with Arran warily following a few paces behind them. Lord Sevaril's casual death threat had not come as a complete surprise to Arran — knowing Snowcloud's secrets obviously carried risks — but it had served as yet another reminder of his precarious situation.The fact of the matter was that he had no powerful backers or allies. If any one of the powerful mages he encountered decided to kill him, there would be nobody to avenge his death. If he was to rely on anyone to protect him, it would have to be himself, and for that, he needed to become more powerful. But gaining power required time and resources, and right now, he was short on both.A few floors below the chamber where they had first met Lord Sevaril, the man left the staircase and stepped into the hallway, coming to a stop before a heavy wooden door at its far end."This is the ingredient storage room," Lord Sevaril said to Snowcloud. "You'll find that I have made a fair effort
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 120
Arran got up at first light, already feeling excitement at his plans for the day. If all went well, in just a few hours he would have enough Essence Crystals to last him months, perhaps even years.Even so, he did not follow his urge to rush into the city straight away. Instead, he spent several hours going through his belongings once more, depositing everything he was willing to sell in Panurge's void bag — the only one he had that was large enough to accommodate it all.He went over the mass of items several times, making sure that it contained nothing he might need or want in the future. He also set aside a portion of the gold and jewelry, knowing that it would be foolish to part with all of it.Still, when he finished, the bag with goods he hoped to trade held a staggering amount of treasure. With this, he thought, he should be able to get all the Essence Crystals he would need for the foreseeable future.When he was finally satisfied that he had sorted out everything as well as h
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 121
Arran sat in silence as Master Xu kept a suspicious eye on both him and the bag. From his expression, it almost seemed as if he feared that Arran could snatch the bag and run off at any moment.If that was indeed what the fat man feared, he was entirely right to worry. The thought of fleeing had crossed Arran's mind more than once since the man had arrived, and the only thing that kept him from actually doing it was the certainty that he would be caught.Perhaps, he thought, things would not be as bad as he feared. Although the bag held what would be a staggering sum of treasure to most people, to someone as wealthy as Lord Sevaril the amount should still not be outrageous.But then, Arran also understood that Lord Sevaril's affection for Snowcloud did not extend to him. And if the man wanted to take Arran's treasures, it would be a simple matter to have Arran disappear.Time passed slowly for Arran as he found himself torn between hope and worry, but the truth was that he simply did
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 122
Both Arran and Lord Sevaril were quiet during the carriage ride back to the castle, Arran still thinking over the events of the day, and Lord Sevaril engrossed in his own thoughts.Now that he thought he understood the true purpose of Panurge's food, Arran was convinced he had been on the losing end of the deal. He had sold Lord Sevaril what amounted to an army of Body Refiners at a price of less than a quarter Essence Crystal per soldier, and although Arran had little idea of the value of soldiers, he suspected it lay far above what he had received.But then, Arran had no use for an army — he had neither soldiers to train nor lands to conquer, and the thought of leading a band of brigands or mercenaries did not appeal to him in the slightest. His only goal was to increase his own strength, and for that, the Essence Crystals were infinitely more valuable than the food had been.And when he considered the matter, he was certain that even if his treasures were worth a higher price, ther
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 123
Just opening the door to the treasury took Lord Sevaril some time, and Arran could tell that the door was protected by some sort of magical mechanism, though he could not see exactly how it worked.That Lord Sevaril bothered with such defenses even here, in his own tower, could only mean one of two things. Either he did not trust his own men, or he had such treasures to protect that doors did not suffice to protect them.Arran hoped it was the latter. If so, perhaps there would be something good to be had.Of course, he wouldn't be too greedy. Even if Lord Sevaril had said Arran could pick an item of his choice, he wasn't so naive as to think he could just take anything.As Arran thought about how to best handle the situation, Lord Sevaril finally finished disabling whatever magical defenses protected his treasury, and the massive steel door suddenly swung open."Follow me," Lord Sevaril said in an eager voice. Without waiting for Arran to respond, he stepped through the doorway.Arra
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 124
As Lord Sevaril showed Arran the rest of his treasures, the man's mood soon seemed to improve, and before long he was once more bragging about the items in the treasury. Shocked though he might be by Arran's revelations, it appeared that boasting about his riches brought him at least some comfort.Arran, on the other hand, found himself unimpressed by most of the treasures. Although there were plenty of them, few seemed to have any useful powers.There was a staff that could create Force Shields with the user's Essence, but the shields were weaker than those Arran could produce himself. There was a small green rod that could heal injuries, but when Lord Sevaril bragged that it could heal a broken bone in days, Arran knew his own Body Refinement techniques were more potent.Each time he thought he had found something truly useful, soon after there followed an inevitable downside that negated much of the item's value.Most of the items, it seemed, converted all kinds of Essence into a s
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Chapter 156
True to Snowcloud's word, she had them leave the castle at dawn.Stoneheart and Tuya saw them off as they departed, offering them wishes of good fortune on their travels, along with several small gifts.Tuya gave Arran fifty Essence Crystals, which she said was a token of gratitude for his help in disposing of the army. Arran accepted it gracefully, not bothering to point out that she'd taken twice as much for the armor he'd used. Tuya, he suspected, would have been able to easily handle the matter herself had she wanted to.Stoneheart, on the other hand, had little to offer but his gratitude. The tall novice had last his own void bag in battle months earlier, and it appeared that Elder Naran had confiscated all the belongings of the novices they'd defeated in battle.The giant Elder himself, finally, did not appear. From what Snowcloud said, he'd locked himself away weeks earlier, and it seemed that
Chapter 155
"You idiot!" Snowcloud looked at Arran with tear-filled eyes. "I thought you had died!"Arran didn't respond. She had repeated variations on the same words at least a dozen times in just the past half hour, and by now, he understood there was nothing he could say that would make a difference.When he returned to the castle, he had expected her to be angry, even furious. What he had not expected was for her to hug him while nearly crying her eyes out.In Arran's view, this was considerably worse than anything he'd been prepared for. Her anger, he could weather. But this, he had no idea how to handle. It was clear his absence had hurt her, and that she had spent the weeks he was gone in worry, fretting that he had died or been captured.He had apologized, of course, but it seemed an apology wasn't what she wanted. As for what she did want, Arran had no idea.Part of him blamed Ston
Chapter 154
"Our town is called Riverbend," the woman said, her voice anxious. "I am the mayor."Arran spent some moments in thought. While the village — it was far too small to be called a town — shared a name with his old hometown, the two places were thousands of miles apart, and other than being next to a river, they seemed to have little in common.Still, the name reminded him of the life he had left behind. Even if he did not regret his decision to become a mage, he wondered what things would have been like had he stayed in the real Riverbend. Calmer, probably, and certainly less bloody.Arran shook himself from his thoughts. He had more important matters to handle."What about them," he said, gesturing at the soldiers. "What are they doing here?"Before the woman could respond, one of the soldiers stepped forward, a stocky, middle-aged man with dark skin and several old scars on his face."You gonna kill us?" Although the man's expression was cautious, there was no fear in his eyes. It see
Chapter 153
In the days after the battle, Arran hunted the escaped soldiers with grim determination. Deadly though the battle had been, many survivors had managed to flee, and thousands of them now filled the woods surrounding the camp.After just three days, he had already killed more soldiers in his hunt than he had killed during the battle, and even if most of the temporary strength of the Blood magic dissipated quickly, he could feel that there were permanent benefits, as well.Perhaps he wouldn't be able to shrug off major wounds the way he had right after the battle, but any small wounds he sustained healed easily, and his strength had more than doubled.Several times, groups of soldiers tried to ambush him. They did not live to regret the mistake. Arran's Shadowsight allowed him to see through their ambushes easily, and even if most of the strength of the initial battle had dissipated, Arran was strong enough to crush them effortlessly.More troublesome were the ones who neither fought nor
Chapter 152
Stoneheart braced himself for Arran's Battering Force attack, throwing up what seemed to be a shield of Wind Essence.Before the attack could hit him, however, it smashed into its actual target — the Shadowcloaked mage who was heading toward Stoneheart with a raised sword in his hands.The attack hit the mage squarely in the back, sending the man flying into Stoneheart's shield. Stoneheart staggering back from the force of the impact, while the mage crashed heavily to the ground.The force of the attack proved enough to break the mage's concentration, causing his Shadowcloak to fail. With a brief flicker of light in the air, the short, fat man suddenly became visible to the eye.Despite taking a direct hit that should have incapacitated him, the mage got to his feet immediately, and without even a second's hesitation, he turned to Arran and shot a stream of white, lightning-like fire from his hands. It hit Arran in the leg, burning straight through his armor and leaving a fist-sized h
Chapter 151
The mage's thunderous words immediately set the entire camp in motion, and within moments, Arran's Shadowsight told him that hundreds of soldiers were beginning to move into the woods, with many more following behind them.It was exactly what he had hoped would happen, and he could not help but feel excited at seeing his enemies fall into the trap so easily. While he had prepared for the possibility that they would see through the ruse — it was hardly subtle, after all — it looked like everything would go according to plan.His spirits rose further when he realized that his enemies' advance was chaotic, lacking any sort of organization. Rather than progressing in tight ranks, as he imagined a real army would, they moved forward in a disorderly mass.Their sloppy advance allowed Arran to continue attacking in much the same way as he had before, striking quickly and furiously, then disappearing into the woods again before they could respond.Several of the soldiers had the presence of m
Chapter 150
Arran put on the armor as quickly as he could, but it still took him more time than he would have liked. Between his coat, the helmet, the gauntlets, the gorget, the greaves, the cuisses, and all the other parts, suiting up was a slow affair, and that was hardly the only downside of wearing full armor.The quality of the armor was impressive, all the more so because Tuya had managed to find in just a few hours during the dead of night. All of it was enchanted, and it fit him better than he had any right to expect.Even so, wearing it made him slower and affected his balance, and when he put on the helmet, it immediately restricted his vision. To any other mage, the sacrifice would be far too large for a little added protection.But Arran wasn't like other mages. The control he had gained from the Tempering easily compensated for the bulk and weight of the armor, and in the dark of night, his Shadowsight would be far more useful than his eyes.When he finished suiting up, whatever part
Chapter 149
"I think we're getting close," Stoneheart said, looking at the six dead men on the ground in front of them.They had already spent the better part of two weeks in search of the army, and although they had come across several scouting parties, there was little sign of the main force.The region was hilly and densely forested, and the terrain made it far harder to find the army than they had anticipated. In such an environment, they could have easily passed within a mile of their enemies without ever noticing.Initially, they had thought they could simply capture a few scouts and wring information from those, but the scouts fought with an almost religious fervor, choosing death over capture. And when they finally caught one alive, the man bit off his tongue before they could make him speak.After that, they had stopped trying to capture their enemies alive.Still, even if the scouts they found would not talk, they knew they were getting closer. Just in the past two days, they had encoun
Chapter 148
"What did he say, exactly?" Snowcloud looked at Arran intently as she asked the question.They were sitting in her quarters, which Arran could not help but notice were far nicer than his own. While he had a single room with just a bed and a desk, Snowcloud had three full rooms to herself, including a bedroom, a small library, and the well-furnished sitting room they were currently using. Not that he was jealous, of course — although a bit more space would be nice.Arran quickly told Snowcloud about his meeting with Elder Naran and Stoneheart, and the offer Elder Naran had made them.When he finished speaking, Snowcloud frowned, seeming taken aback by the idea. "He wants the two of you to face an entire army together?""I assume he wants me to defeat the army, and Stoneheart to defeat their leader," Arran explained. "With the Blood magic, the soldiers' numbers won't make much of a difference to me.""But it's an entire army," Snowcloud objected. "With thousands of soldiers."Arran shoo
