Although Jiang Fei had said Redwater wasn't much of a town, Arran still found himself impressed by the sight. It was several times as large as Riverbend, with numerous houses and stores, all featuring slanted black tile roofs.
At first, he was confused by the town's name, but when he saw the reddish color of the river that ran through the town, he understood.
"It's iron," Jiang Fei explained. "There's iron in the hills between here and the mountains, and it turns the river red. Doesn't hurt the taste, though."
Arran nodded, although he quietly resolved he would stick to drinking ale while he was in town. Not that that was much of a punishment, of course.
As they searched for an inn, Jiang Fei made them stop several times to try the dumplings and steamed buns that were being sold by vendors on the side of the road.
"Try this one," she said, thrusting a steamed bun into his hands.
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"They're the ones!" the shopkeeper said. "Came in and spent half a dozen gold crowns, without even haggling. At that age!"One of the white-robed figures stepped forward, a tall woman in her middle years, with black hair and coarse features."I'll take a look at them," she said with an ominous glance at Arran and Jiang Fei.As the woman approached them, Arran instinctively put his hand on his sword, although he understood the gesture to be futile. The woman noticed, and her lips twisted in a mocking smirk."You don't believe that will help, do you?"Arran was about to speak, but at that moment, Jiang Fei cut in."So now Father has sent the Academy after me?" Her tone was harsh, almost as if she was trying to provoke the Academy mages.The white-robed woman frowned in confusion. "Your father? We're not—""I will
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Inside Arran raged a torrent of raw Essence, rushing through his veins like a violent storm. It was more than he could contain, more than he had thought possible.He had taken the ten Realm Opening Pills the moment he understood that Stormleaf planned to kill him, and now, the Essence within them erupted in his body.Taking the pills was a crazy decision, but not one he had taken without thought. Each Realm Opening Pill contained the raw Essence of a defeated Grandmaster, and if he was able to wield that power, perhaps he would have a chance of escaping the situation alive.It was a wild gamble, but it was the only thing he could think of that might give him a small chance of survival."Who are you?" Stormleaf asked. "Were you the one who killed our brothers?"While there was some fear in the faces of his two companions, Stormleaf himself did not seem the least bit concerned. If
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Arran opened his eyes slowly and stared at the white wooden ceiling above him. He wondered where he was and, more importantly, how he had come there.When he tried to sit up and look around, he felt sharp stabs of pain in several parts of his body, and he realized he still had some injuries."Easy, young man," a woman's voice sounded from the back of the room. "You've only just returned from death's doorstep. It'll be a while before you're up again."Hearing the voice, Arran ignoring the pain and forced himself to sit up. When he finally succeeded, he saw a small gray-haired woman sitting on a wooden chair in the back of the room."Not much for listening to advice, are you?" She sighed. "Very well then. I would have suggested you rest some more, but now that you're awake, there are some people who should know about it."The woman stood up and walked out the door, leaving Arran be
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"It tastes like dead rat," Arran said, face twisted in disgust at the bitter taste of the potion.The gray-haired woman scowled. Arran had learned that her name was Doctor Zhang and that she was Lord Jiang's personal healer. Lord Jiang had put her in charge of treating Arran, but to Arran's dismay, her treatments mostly consisted of vile-tasting potions."You're a man. Act like one," she said bluntly.Arran sighed. The woman was right, of course — however foul-tasting her potions might be, he had to admit that they worked extremely well. Between her potions and the technique Lord Jiang had given him, it had taken him just a week to recover from most of his injuries. Without them, he thought, it would have taken months — if he would have recovered at all.He took a deep breath, then swallowed the potion. The taste made him gag, but he managed to keep it down."Good," D
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 34
Thud!Arran groaned as he opened his eyes. Through the window, he could see that the first light of dawn was only just starting to appear. Only half-awake, he dully wondered what had just interrupted his sleep.Thud! Thud!This time, he realized that the sound came from the door. Someone was knocking."Who is it?!" he called out."Time to get up!"Hearing that the voice was Lord Jiang's, Arran hurriedly got out of bed. It had been over two weeks since he had last seen any sign of his host, but after all the man had done for him, the last thing he wanted was to offend him.When he opened the door, he saw Lord Jiang standing outside, dressed in simple brown clothes. Once more he marveled at the sheer size of the man — he resembled a living mountain."Today, we begin your training," Lord Jiang said, smiling brightl