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
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"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,
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When Arran stepped back inside the waiting chamber, he was met with the gazes of several dozens of fighters.No longer engrossed in battle, he finally had time to wonder why so many people wanted to fight him. He'd defeated numerous opponents already, and it seemed unlikely that these newcomers would fare any better."You can't leave yet!" one of them said, a young man with ruffled brown hair and a thin face. "We haven't fought yet!""Give it a rest, rookie," an older man said. "It's not like you had a chance, anyway.""I still could've learned something," the young man replied, looking dejected.Hearing those words, Arran suddenly understood why opponents kept coming long after it was clear they had no chance of winning. Even if they knew they would lose, they likely thought they could improve their skills by fighting someone they believed to be a master swordsman.
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Although he had already traveled the route earlier that day, Arran's return to the inn still took him some time. Navigating the city's many narrow streets proved even harder at night than it was during the day, and once more, he had to rely on directions from passersby to find his way.When he finally arrived at the Golden Pig, it was already past midnight, and inside, he found the common room filled with a lively crowd of people in various stages of inebriation. Although it wasn't quite as rowdy as a common inn or tavern would be, it seemed even the respectable merchants at the Golden Pig weren't above enjoying a drink or three in the evening.At once, his eyes searched for Darkfire, and he found his friend in a corner of the common room, sitting behind a table with a large mug of ale and an annoyed expression.When Arran approached him, he looked up, a wronged look on his face."They threw me out a
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The guard looked at Arran and Darkfire suspiciously. "You were invited by the Governor?" he asked, some doubt in his voice."We were," Darkfire said. "So are you going to let us in?"The guard didn't answer, instead whispering something to one of the other guards, who quickly entered the gate.Some moments passed in silence as Arran and Darkfire waited. Finally, a man emerged from the gate. Dressed in a blue silk robe and with his black hair elegantly coiffed, he looked like a high-ranking official or noble."Darkfire and Ghostblade?" he asked, a practiced smile on his face."That's us," Arran said curtly, slightly annoyed at the wait."Excellent," the man replied with a nod. "I'm the Governor's steward. Please follow me inside."He stepped inside the gate, Arran and Darkfire following close behind him.Within the wal
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"Is something funny?" the young woman next to Arran asked, giving him a questioning look.Arran coughed several times, only partly succeeding in stifling his laughter. "My friend may have done something stupid," he said, his attention focused on the Governor's daughter as she entered the dining hall.Now that he got a better look at her, he saw that she was really quite beautiful — her flowing brown hair framed a well-proportioned face, and her dark eyes were large and alert.When she noticed Darkfire, her eyes lit up, and she immediately approached him, seemingly unconcerned with what the others in the hall would think.As she reached Darkfire, she cast a glance at the man who was sitting next to him — a wealthy merchant, judging from his elegant robe and slightly pudgy physique."Move!" she said in an unexpectedly firm tone that caused some looks of surprise among t
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Just getting out of the city took Arran frustratingly long, with the crowded and narrow streets making it slow and difficult to find his way.Yet after a time, the streets got less busy and the houses grew sparser, and finally, he found himself outside the city.Here, the roads were much quieter than the streets had been, though there was still a good bit of traffic, with farmers and merchants bringing goods to and from the city.As Arran made his way north, he relaxed a bit, enjoying the sunny countryside while thinking about the weeks that lay ahead.From what he had heard these past few days, he now understood that the situation in the Sixth Valley was far more complicated than he had expected. With several factions fighting for power, choosing the wrong novice to join could be disastrous — deadly even.Yet so far, Arran had only seen a handful of Shadowflame novices in