When Arran looked, he saw that one of the black-robed Shadowblood novices had jumped into the arena, sword already drawn.
It was a brown-haired young man, tall and with an athletic build. He had an eager look on his face, bordering on manic, his eyes shining with lust for battle.
"You're trying to build a name fighting only weaklings? Pathetic! Try fighting me, instead! Or are you afraid?"
It was clear that the Shadowblood novice was trying to goad Arran into attacking him, but Arran wouldn't fall for it just yet — if he was going to have a real fight, he wanted something to show for his troubles.
"What's in it for me?" Arran responded, keeping his voice calm despite the situation. "If I defeat you, what do I get?"
"You think you have a chance of defeating me?" The Shadowflame novice sneered at the suggestion. "Fine. If you win, you can have my sword."
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Forbidden Sphere Chapter 74
The group of Shadowblood novices looked at the woman with some hesitation. Even if she was dressed simply, her calm confidence even when faced with mages suggested that she wasn't just a random person."Who are you?" one of them finally asked, a young woman with large eyes and a pouting face."Who are you to ask?" the woman replied."I'm a member of the Shadowflame So—" the novice began."You're a novice," the woman interrupted her. "A novice who mistakenly believes he has enough status to impress others. "The young novice looked at her angrily, but still, she held her tongue, wary of the woman's identity and status."Well?" the woman said, with a cold look at the group of novices."Well what?" the novice said, some uncertainty in her voice."Why are your insipid little faces still staring at me?" The woman's v
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"Stupid?" Arran gave the woman an annoyed look. "What the hell was I supposed to do? Let that bastard kill me?"Lady Ellara shook her head. "Of course you had to defend yourself. But did you really have to cripple him?""If I hadn't, he would have been back in the fight a moment later," Arran said."But you were stronger than him," she replied. "Even if he got up again, wouldn't the result have been the same?""Stronger? Me?" Arran let out a mirthless laugh. "The moment he began to use magic, I was only a single mistake away from death. You're a mage, how could you not see that?""I'm not a mage," Lady Ellara said. "I'm just the Governor's sister. There's not a thing I could have done if they had decided to attack, although I'm sure my brother would have sent them a strongly worded letter had they killed me."At this, Arran frowned, finally understanding the
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 76
After Arran and Darkfire left the Governor's office, a servant escorted them to the guest quarters, which turned out to be an otherwise empty building with a handful of bedrooms, a dining room, a sitting room, and several bathrooms.Once they arrived, several other servants brought them food and drinks, then departed, leaving the two of them alone in the dining room.For some time, Arran and Darkfire sat in silence, eating their meals while drinking the Governor's fine wines.Finally, Darkfire spoke."You can use magic," he said, a complicated expression on his face."I can," Arran replied."You didn't tell me."Even if Darkfire didn't sound angry, Arran could hear some disappointment in his voice, and he knew Darkfire's trust had been hurt by Arran's failure to tell him earlier."I would have told you," Arran said, "
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"You can help?" Darkfire gave Arran a doubtful look. "With my Realm?""I can," Arran said confidently. "Just wait a moment…"It didn't take him long to find one of the Realm Opening Pills he had left in his void bags, and after taking it out, he held it up between his fingers."Know what this is?"At once, Darkfire's eyes went wide. "Is that… a Realm Opening Pill?!""You're familiar with them?""I know they're used to open Realms," Darkfire said, his eyes focused on the pill as if it was a precious gem. "I've never seen one with my own eyes, though.""It's yours if you want it," Arran told him. "With that, you should be able to open your Realm tonight."An astonished look came over Darkfire's face, and for several moments, he said nothing "I can't accept it," he finally said, his expression pained. "It's
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"You did what?!" Darkfire's stared at Arran in disbelief."I took ten of the pills," Arran said again. "At the same time."They sat on the top of a hill about a mile from the estate, taking a short break from training. Ever since Darkfire had opened his Realms two weeks earlier, he had trained relentlessly, with Arran helping as best he could."What the hell made you think that was a good idea?!" Darkfire looked like he had just seen a goat sprout wings and fly up into the sky."It was either that, or get killed by an Archmage," Arran said, shrugging. "At least the pills gave me a chance.""And you survived.""Clearly."His shocked expression finally easing, Darkfire burst into laughter. "That Archmage must've had quite the look on his face, being defeated by a novice.""Initiate," Arran corrected him. "I only learned
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As Arran waited for the group to reach them, his only comfort was that there was no immediate attack.But then, he realized that there was no reason for them to attack straight away. Even if the woman was completely powerless — something he strongly doubted — the novices were strong enough to not need surprise attacks against Darkfire and himself.With some luck, he would be able to take one of them in a fair fight. If Darkfire managed to keep another busy long enough for Arran to finish the first, perhaps they could barely defeat two of the novices — and even that would require a great deal of luck.But now, there were five Shadowblood novices before them, not counting the crippled one. There simply was no amount of luck that would allow them to overcome those odds.They waited in silence, neither Darkfire nor Arran feeling the need to speak. Whatever was going to happen, they woul
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 80
Arran and Darkfire left the estate not long after Elder Batu. While they had months of travel ahead of them, there wasn't much they could do to prepare — Arran already carried multiple void bags filled with food and supplies, while Darkfire had only his sword, an armored coat, and some clothes.Now that Darkfire had opened his Realms he was able to use void bags, but since he had none of his own, Arran gave him the one that had belonged to Stormleaf. He filled it with food and other supplies, adding some of the remaining treasures from the Herald's stronghold as well.Darkfire accepted the gifts reluctantly. Although he seemed excited at having a void bag of his own, Arran could tell he felt uncomfortable at the help he was receiving."My debt to you grows larger every day," Darkfire said. "At this rate, I won't ever be able to repay it.""There are no debts between friends," Arran replied. "Be
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 81
"Just how big is this city?"Darkfire groaned in frustration, and Arran felt much the same. They had already spent several hours exploring the city's seemingly endless streets, and yet, Arran knew that they had barely seen a fraction of it."Let's find a decent inn first," Arran said. "After that, we can take our time exploring the city."They decided on an inn named The Golden Pig. Large and fairly clean, it was more expensive than most inns they had found so far, with a crowd of merchants instead of the mercenaries, caravan guards, and Shadowflame hopefuls that filled most inns.Unconcerned with cost — he already had enough gold to last a lifetime — Arran got them the two largest rooms in the inn, then paid some more for clean bedsheets.After they settled in, they headed back down to the common room, where they approached the innkeeper. As soon as he spotted them,