2022-09-29 13:00:28Arran's stay at Captain Yang's house had lasted longer than he had intended. While his wounds had healed quickly at first, recovering fully wasn't quite as fast as he had expected.
In the end, he remained with Captain Yang for a little over two weeks, enjoying both the man's hospitality and the calm and quiet of the small town where he lived.
By then his wounds had healed fully, and he knew it was time to go — even if he wouldn't have minded staying another few weeks.
He left after saying his goodbyes to Captain Yang, leaving behind some gold despite the man's protests. After two weeks at his house and the help Captain Yang had given him in facing the Redstone men, Arran figured he owed him at least that much.
The start of his journey was quick, without any unforeseen delays or unwanted encounters. Nor, for that matter, was there any rain, and the clear skies soon lifted Arran's spirits.
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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 51
They stood in the large hall of the castle where Senecio had just defeated the monstrous creature. While Arran still felt some fear as he looked at the man, he understood that if Senecio wanted to harm him, there was little he could do about it.So far, however, the old man had shown little sign of hostility."Come," Senecio said, "while we talk, we can seek out the Herald's treasures. I imagine there should be some things worth taking."Arran followed the man, unsure of what to expect. While his previous encounters with the Academy had ranged from unpleasant to deadly, Senecio seemed entirely different."Now," the old man said, "you must be wondering why I haven't killed you."Arran nodded. When he had first seen Senecio's white robe, he had thought his final moments had arrived. That the man"The Academy hunts those with forbidden Realms," Senecio said, "bu
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 52
Arran's first instinct was to flee the castle immediately. Although he did not know how many enemies there were, he knew that once they realized Senecio was gone, they would return. When that happened, Arran would be forced to face them.While Senecio had said he should be able to handle them, he had little interest in finding out if the old man was right.Yet as he looked at the treasures that filled the room, he could not bring himself to leave them behind.There were weapons and armor, paintings, jewelry, scrolls, herbs, metals, and numerous other things. Even if Senecio had probably taken the most valuable items, what was left was still a fortune the likes of which Arran had never seen before.After a moment's hesitation, he began to grab random items from the room, stuffing them into the empty void bag that had once belonged to Stormleaf. He did not bother to inspect the items as he gathered the
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 53
Arran followed the man away from the castle. For a time they walked in silence, with Arran following a short distance behind the man he had thought was one of Captain Yang's guards.Several times, they encountered patrols, but after a wave of the man's hand, the patrols hurried past, almost seeming afraid. With some concern, Arran realized it wasn't him they feared."Who are you?" Arran finally asked.Now that he got a better look at the man, he was certain that he was not just a guard. There was a certain confidence in his manner, bordering on arrogance, that reminded Arran of Lord Jiang and Master Zhao.The observation filled him with unease. He had joined the man on the belief that he could easily defeat him if needed, but now, he was beginning to suspect that he had gravely underestimated the man's power."Call me Panurge," the man said.The name sounded
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 54
The standoff lasted for a while, yet the battle that Arran expected never came. Instead, Panurge suddenly burst into laughter."Still afraid to face me, old man?" he asked, a wide grin on his face.Senecio did not respond, instead merely giving Panurge a contemptuous glare.Although Arran was relieved that a battle had been avoided, he was still distressed at being dragged into a conflict he wanted no part of, and did not understand in the slightest."Who are you guys?!" he blurted out."We," Panurge began, "are what you might call Gods. I am this world's God of Chaos, while my phlegmatic counterpart is the God of Order.""Gods? You?" Arran gave him a doubtful look. He understood well that Panurge was powerful after the confrontation between him and Senecio, but to Arran's eyes, the man seemed far from divine."I could turn you into a rat
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 55
Arran awoke with an aching head and an unsteady body. It took him some moments to recall what had happened, but when he remembered, his eyes immediately went searching for Panurge."Good. You're awake."Arran turned his head toward the voice, and he couldn't suppress a scowl when he saw Panurge. The man was back to his human form, and there was an amused smirk on his face.As Arran looked around, he saw that the floor he was sitting on was made from smooth gray rock, but other than that he saw nothing but darkness, without even walls to be seen."Where the hell did you take me?!" Frustrated as he was, he made no effort to be polite."Tsk, tsk. Your manners really are lacking." Panurge gave Arran a gleeful look, seeming quite pleased with the situation. "I spare your life, and this is the treatment I have to endure?""Spare my life? I didn't do anything!"
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 56
"Son of a bitch!"Arran cursed loudly as the Essence in his hand dissipated once more. Each time, success was just a hair away, yet somehow, every time it evaded him at the last moment.It was impossible to track the passing days within the cell, but already, Arran had spent months trying to master the Windblade spell. And still, he had not succeeded.At first, he had made good progress. Learning how to control the strands of Essence had taken him several weeks, but through effort and persistence, he had succeeded. Weaving them together into a single Windblade was more difficult, but eventually, he had achieved that, too.The only thing left was to send the Windblade flying, and that was where Arran failed. Every time he tried to control the Windblade, it dissipated before it could move even an inch, falling apart like a house of cards.Arran couldn't understand why it didn't wor
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 57
Arran awoke with an aching head and a sore body, still feeling the tingle of Natural Essence within him. He sighed, knowing that he should have expected a gift from Panurge to have unforeseen consequences.The food was normal enough. Although it contained a small amount of Natural Essence, it was less potent than the food Lord Jiang had given him, and he could eat it without issue.The wine, on the other hand, was something else entirely. Both ridiculously potent and loaded with Natural Essence, just a few sips had left him feeling intoxicated and trembling with energy, and he had soon been completely hammered.Of course, that was not just because of the first few sips — the two bottles he had drunk afterward had not helped, either.For an hour or two, Arran used Lord Jiang's circulation technique, until finally the soreness disappeared and he finished absorbing the last of the Natural Essence.
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 58
The raw Essence of the Realm Opening Pills flooded Arran's body like a river of fire, pain filling every fiber of his being. Yet although his face twisted in agony, there was a near-maniacal grin, too.Finally, he would be free again.He stood in front of the door, waiting for the raw Essence to build up inside his body. Finally, when he thought there was enough, he unleashed it at the door.The burst of power hit the door with a thunderous crash, but to his surprise, it held up against the attack, although there was now a large crack in the door.Essence coursing through his veins like fire, Arran had no patience to spare. Again he attacked, then again. He battered the door with raw Essence, attacking it relentlessly, his mind only focused on escaping.Finally, after a dozen attacks, the cracked door held no longer. Yet another blast of raw Essence hit it, and this time, the Ess
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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
