2022-10-26 13:19:51
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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 126
Arran worked through the night, then into the next day, foregoing breaks and sleep as he absorbed Essence Crystals one after the other. With each new Essence Crystal, he could feel his affinity to Essence growing stronger — more and more, it felt like his Essence was part of him, rather than some alien substance he could only barely manipulate.After just a day, Arran had finished absorbing the Purified Essence of close to a hundred Essence Crystals, and the effect left him marveling at how much his control of Essence had improved.Previously, it had been like writing a letter while holding the pen with only his elbows, and looking back now, he was almost amazed that he had managed to succeed in casting spells at all.But now, things were completely different. He could feel that the Essence was truly his to control, to be used however he wanted, and the awkward clumsiness he had always felt while wielding magic was rapidly melting away.He finally began to understand the real differen
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 127
"I take it you found most of the ingredients you need?" Arran asked, continuing to absorb Purified Essence as he spoke."I did," Snowcloud replied. "Only the final five ingredients remain. Finding three of those will rely on luck, but for the other two, I know where to look.""So where are we going?" Arran asked. With how little he understood of alchemy and herbalism, there was no point in asking what the remaining ingredients were. He knew that even if Snowcloud told him, the names would mean absolutely nothing to him."The remains of the Eidaran Empire," Snowcloud answered. "About two months' travel northwest from here.""The Eidaran Empire?" Arran had never heard the name before, and the thought of there being other empires still felt odd to him. To his mind, there was only one true Empire."Until a few decades ago, it was one of the largest and most prosperous powers west of the border region," Snowcloud said. "Then, one day, it collapsed into civil war. All that's left now is cha
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 128
"We'll talk about the Essence Crystals later," Arran said. "First, let me take a look at that wound."Snowcloud nodded, wincing as she gazed down at the arrow sticking from her leg.As Arran inspected the wound, he saw that although the arrowhead was embedded deeply in Snowcloud's thigh, it did not look like it had struck the bone."I'm going to pull out the arrow," Arran said. "Are you ready?""Do it," she said, clenching her jaw.Carefully, Arran took the arrow firmly in his hand. Then, with a single quick movement, he pulled it from Snowcloud's leg.She cried out in pain for a moment, gasping as the sharp arrowhead sliced through her flesh once more on its way out."All done," Arran said. Then, he took a bottle of water from his void bag and carefully cleaned the wound. With the arrow gone, it didn't look nearly as bad — though it was deep and oozed blood, it seemed like a clean cut that should heal well enough."I'll take it from here," Snowcloud said, taking out a small flask fro
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 129
In the weeks following their departure from Goldhaven, Arran quickly discovered that training with Snowcloud was far more arduous than he had anticipated.Although they had done some training together before they visited Goldhaven, after the progress Arran had made with the Essence Crystals, it seemed that Snowcloud now thought he was ready for more rigorous instruction.They spent most of their days traveling, but even as they walked, Snowcloud made Arran practice his spellcasting with a constant slow barrage of attacks at whatever happened to be on the side of the road.Occasionally she would give him tips and pointers, but more often, she would scold him if he paused his practice for more than a few minutes.And sometimes, she would launch sudden attacks, giving Arran only a moment to defend himself with a Force Shield. The attacks were never strong enough to cause serious harm, but the burns and bruises they left were sufficiently painful to motivate him to learn quickly.The cons
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 130
"We could just go around the village," Arran said, looking at the smoke floating up into the sky. "Whatever happened to the village is long over, but those who did it might still be there."Even if he was curious to see what had happened to the village, perhaps the wiser choice would be to just avoid it altogether. It wasn't his first instinct, but then, his instincts rarely led him away from danger."We can't," Snowcloud replied with a small shake of her head. "If the village was attacked, we can get a sense of who's responsible." In a softer voice, she added, "And there might be people still alive.""All right," Arran said, not needing much convincing. "We can take a look, but give me a few moments to prepare first."Wary of going into danger unprepared, he changed into the black armored coat he got from Lord Sevaril and belted on his starmetal sword. With his Duskcloak within reach as well, he figured he would have a good chance of escaping even if there were a dozen strong mages i
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 131
They walked toward one of the small fires and sat down around it, the young woman taking a seat next to Stoneheart."How did you end up in such a state?" Snowcloud asked. "And where are your other recruits?"Stoneheart let out a pained sigh. "It all began after we left the Valley. Just a few days from the border, that venomous bitch Amaya—" He paused and shot a look at Snowcloud, seemingly worried that he had offended her."She deserves the title," Snowcloud said. "Continue.""She ambushed us when we had only barely left the Valley," Stoneheart said, his expression somber. "We didn't have a chance."Snowcloud raised an eyebrow. "You were defeated by Amaya? For all her cunning, I never figured her for much of a fighter. How did she manage that?""She wasn't alone," Stoneheart replied. "There were two other novices with her, both Waning Moon scum, along with their recruits. Against three mages and near a thousand skilled fighters, it was a miracle that any of us managed to escape.""You
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 132
Arran felt a moment of apprehension when Snowcloud asked him what to do. He was anything but a strategic genius or a seasoned commander, and he felt a moment of doubt at his ability.Yet after the series of disasters Stoneheart's group had suffered, it was clear that they could not be trusted to lead — perhaps they had learned from their defeats, but Arran wasn't willing to take that risk. Not when his life was at stake.Snowcloud, meanwhile, knew even less of tactics than Arran did. For all her power, she lacked experience in real battles. And, seemingly aware of her limitations, she had now put the burden on Arran.Arran clenched his teeth, suppressing his anxiety. Of all of them, he was probably the best choice to come up with a strategy — something that did not bode well for their chances."The clearing," he said, turning to Stoneheart. "Does it have any exits other than the valley?"Stoneheart shook his head. "The surrounding hills are too steep, and the woods too dense. Perhaps
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 133
Arran led Stoneheart several hundreds of paces into the valley, where he found a spot for the oversized novice to hide in. Within the dense thicket, the raiders shouldn't notice him even if they passed within a few feet."Remember," Arran said. "Don't attack until you hear the sounds of battle."He had already said it earlier, but repeating the command couldn't hurt. If Stoneheart attacked too soon, the whole plan would fall apart."Got it," Stoneheart said. "And good luck.""Same to you," Arran replied.He quickly headed back, seeking out a hidden position halfway between Stoneheart and the clearing at the end of the valley. Here, he would be able to see if the raiders paused to gather their numbers before they entered the clearing.If that happened, it would be a disaster. His only choice would be to wait for the entire group to begin their assault, then attack them from behind. There might still be a chance of victory even then, but he knew it would come at a heavy cost.As he wait
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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
