"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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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 28
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Arran raged at Jiang Fei.They were back at the inn, and it had been over half an hour since Stormleaf had left. They had patiently waited until they were certain they weren't being listened to, but now, Arran could finally vent."I was thinking a little lie was better than letting us get killed," Jiang Fei said flatly."A little lie?!" Arran was dumbfounded. "You agreed that we would travel with him! What are we going to do? How can we stay hidden if they're right there with us?!""It was the only choice," Jiang Fei said. "Even without finding Realms, we were too suspicious. And the Academy…" She sighed. "They would rather kill a few innocents than risk letting an enemy escape."Arran wanted to protest, but he thought she was probably right. Still, it took him some moments to calm down. When he finally regained his composure, he thought
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 29
"A proposition?" Jiang Fei asked."I assume you have at least one Realm, even if you haven't opened it yet," Stormleaf said. "I can offer you a way to open whatever Realms you have."Jiang Fei looked at him in shock. "You can do that?"Stormleaf smiled at her, then reached inside his robe. When his hand appeared again, he was holding a small black pill.Immediately, the eyes of the other two Academy mages went wide with shock."Elder Stormleaf—" the middle-aged woman began to speak, but Stormleaf silenced her with a gesture."Is that… a Realm Opening Pill?" Jiang Fei asked.The question seemed to take Stormleaf by surprise. "You know more about magic than I had expected, Miss Jiang," he said. "Although I suppose that's to be expected from a daughter of the Jiang Clan.""I have heard of them, although I ha
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 30
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
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 31
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
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 32
After Jiang Fei left the room, both Arran and Lord Jiang remained silent for a while, studying each other. Arran found that even though he had only just met the man, he already liked him.Unlike most of the mages he had met so far, Lord Jiang seemed open and straightforward, with little taste for secrets and deception."Are you the leader of the Jiang Clan?" Arran finally asked.Lord Jiang laughed. "I haven't held that title in a thousand years. These days, my only job is to prevent those Academy dogs from getting any ideas." He sighed in disgust. "They really have been getting too bold for their own good these past few centuries.""Are we safe from them here?" Arran asked. He understood that after the deaths of three powerful Academy mages, people would certainly come looking for those responsible."For now, you have nothing to fear from the Academy," Lord Jiang said. "They like
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 33
"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
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 35
Arran found Jiang Fei in the flower patch next to her cottage, sitting on a small spot of grass and studying a thick book.She turned her head as she heard him approach, and when she saw him, a frown instantly appeared on her face."Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked. Raising an eyebrow, she added, "And why are your clothes wet?"Arran flushed with embarrassment. His training with Lord Jiang had left him soaked with sweat, and in his rush to tell Jiang Fei the news, he had not thought to change his clothes."I've been training with Lord Jiang," he said, deciding to divert her attention right away."You've been training? But you haven't fully recovered yet! You should be—" Suddenly, her face went pale. "You've been training with Uncle Bear?!"Arran nodded. "He's teaching me a Body Refinement technique."Jiang Fei looked like she ha