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!"
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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
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 59
At the end of the hallway, Arran found a great hall, circular and about a hundred paces across, with a domed ceiling that hung at least sixty feet from the ground.The hall was completely empty, as bare as the cells had been, but on its side, Arran could see five large doors.The doors superficially resembled those that barred the cells in the hallway, but these were twenty feet high and half as wide, each barred with a dozen steel beams that were held in place by large steel locks.At once, Arran understood that behind these doors also lay prison cells, but that they were made to hold prisoners far more powerful than those he had seen in the regular cells.He headed to one of the doors, intent on opening it. If the prisoners here were stronger, perhaps they would be of use when he tried to escape the dungeon.While the locks on the cells in the hallway had been easy to break, he
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 60
As Arran hurried up the stairs, climbing three steps at a time, he heard the mages he had freed following behind. He paid them little heed. What mattered now was what lay ahead of him.The staircase seemed to go on forever, steeply winding upward, and after some time Arran began to wonder just how far below the ground he was. Although he couldn't be sure, it seemed like he had already climbed half a mile upward, and still the stairs continued.Had his body not been strengthened through Body Refinement, he would have long been out of breath by now, but as it was, he did not even break a sweat.Now, he understood why no one had come after he used a vast amount of Essence to escape his cell. Half a mile underground, it would simply have been impossible to sense for those above.The escaped mages were still behind him, and although he heard some panting by now, he marveled at their endurance. In their cu
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 61
After bursting out the door, Arran found himself in what looked to be a large, walled courtyard. Although there were clear signs of battle in the form of bodies and damaged buildings, there weren't any enemies present as far as Arran could tell.Without having to face the attack he had been expecting, Arran almost felt lost as he headed into the courtyard to take a better look at the surroundings. There was no trace of any living Academy guards, and the gate in the wall had been twisted into a ruined mess by some frighteningly strong force.While he remained watchful, it seemed as if the four prisoners from the most heavily locked cells had completely wiped out their enemies.Behind him, he could hear the freed prisoners flooding into the courtyard, their voices low but excited. Some sounded fearful and others eager, but none of them sounded the least bit calm.There were well over a hundred now, and
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 62
Arran followed the short woman as she led him back inside the prison building, a long line of escaped prisoners trailing behind them.Some of the prisoners looked unhappy with the sudden change in plans, and Arran couldn't blame them — after the conditions they had to endure within the walls of this building, it was only natural that they had little interest in going back.A handful of them actually didn't follow the group back inside, instead running out of the gate and leaving the walled area behind.Their screams only lasted some moments, but that was enough to tell the other prisoners what was waiting for them outside the walls. No others left after that.Understanding that beyond the courtyard lay only death and that the courtyard itself offered little protection, the remaining prisoners hurried back inside.With a thought, Arran directed the bushy-bearded mage from th
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 63
"Watch out!" Arran yelled.Windsong barely dodged the fireball, but the prisoner behind him wasn't as lucky. Before the man had time to look shocked, he was dead, a head-sized hole burned through his chest.Arran rushed toward the Academy mage who had launched the attack, a terrifyingly strong fighter with a hard face and snow-white hair. And, if Arran was right, one of the few Grandmasters who still fought on the side of the Academy at the prison.Their initial attack had been unexpectedly successful. Before the Academy could mount a defense, Arran, Windsong, and the prisoners who accompanied them had overrun the guards' quarters, taking down hundreds of unprepared enemies while losing less than two dozen of their own.Without delay they had forged ahead to the officers' quarters, attacking with enough fury that it seemed as if they really were intent on finding and fighting the enemy commanders.