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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 144
Arran tried to move and found that his body responded slowly and sluggishly, as if it had been drained of all its power. He could tell that he was lying down — in a bed, he thought — but he had no idea where he was."Finally awake, are you?"Arran opened his eyes and saw Tuya sitting next to his bed, enthusiastically eating what looked to be a roasted leg of meat.His memories were vague and blurry, but he could recall suffering intense pain, feeling as if his body was being burned to ashes and thinking he was going to die."What happened?" he asked, just saying the words costing him a great deal of effort.He sat up, and at once he could tell that his body felt frail and feeble, different from how it was supposed to feel — wrong somehow."And why do I feel so weak?""It seems your Tempering was unusually harsh," Tuya said, finishing the leg of meat and picking up another one from a table at the side of the room. "You should consider yourself lucky."The Tempering. As Tuya mentioned i
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 145
The novice attacked at once, but the blow he struck was so slow and clumsy that even with Arran's diminished strength, he easily deflected it. A moment later, Arran's blade came to a stop against the novice's throat.Arran was stunned. He had defeated his opponent in a single attack, and with such ease that it almost seemed impossible.The novice looked no less stunned than Arran. "How did you…""Pathetic," Tuya said. Then, she extended her hand toward the novice. "Pay up. One Essence Crystal.""Pay up? But I thought…"As the novice fruitlessly tried to escape Tuya's extortion, Arran found himself bewildered at what just happened. By all rights, he should have been defeated easily — even if the novice was slow and clumsy, he was still far stronger than Arran.Yet somehow, Arran's every movement had been frighteningly accurate, with a level of control that was completely new to him."Who's next?" Tuya said, her loud voice putting a stop to Arran's musings. She pointed at one of the nov
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 146
Arran didn't find Snowcloud in her room, but this hardly surprised him.There were three places where she could be, and of those, her room was the least likely. When he didn't find her at the ingredient stockroom either, he quickly headed to the alchemists' quarters, knowing she would be there.His assumption proved correct, because before he even entered the alchemists' quarters, he could already hear shouting in the distance.An unfamiliar voice called out, "Do you have any idea how rare it is!"Another responded, "I don't care how rare it is! I need it!"The second voice belonged to Snowcloud, and when Arran opened the door, he found her facing one of the alchemists, a short middle-aged woman with a bookish face.Both of their faces were red with anger, and they ignored Arran as he stepped inside, the argument taking all of their attention."I can't have all my herbalists chasing a single ingredient!" The alchemist seemed on the verge of a breakdown, her voice trembling as she yell
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 147
"What do I have to do?" Stoneheart asked, his eyes shining with eagerness at the chance to redeem himself.Arran did not share the tall novice's enthusiasm. Although he was still anxious to regain his strength, the benefits of the Tempering made his need less pressing, and he still remembered that Snowcloud had told him Elder Naran might try to entice him to ally himself with the Soaring Sun.Elder Naran glanced at Arran, seemingly waiting for the same kind of response Stoneheart had shown. When it didn't come, he eventually scraped his throat, then spoke."Some weeks ago, the two of you faced an army of Body Refiners. That army still exists. Although they lost many of their numbers to the fire, and more to the adepts I sent to drive them off, thousands still remain, and their leader still lives."He paused briefly, then added, "I am offering you a chance to correct that.""You want us to lead an army to defeat them?" There was a hint of excitement in Stoneheart's voice as he spoke."
Forbidden Sphere 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
Forbidden Sphere 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
Forbidden Sphere 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
Forbidden Sphere 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