Chapter 12 The Wind Realm (1/2)

Arran narrowly dodged the sword slashi+ng at his head, then countered with a quick thrust to his opponent's chest His opponent parried effortlessly, in a single slash knocking Arran's sword aside and striking Arran's ribs

He staggered backward, rubbing the painful spot where he had just been struck

”Demon's balls!” Arran cursed ”Brother Amar, how do you do that?”

”Just a bit of luck, Brother Wei An,” Initiate Guha said Grinning, he added, ”Luck, and a slow opponent”

It had been over a week since Adept Kadir had told Arran he would ask Grand for a Wind Realm scroll, but the man had not broached the subject since then

Moreover, since that first day, there had been no sign whatsoever of either Master Zhao or Windsong, and Arran had been left with nothing to do but practice with the initiates

At first, Arran's initial display had brought him a fair amount of attention from the other initiates, but they were disappointed to learn that Adept Kadir would not allow Arran to use Essence while training with the, but Arran soon discovered that the other initiates practiced sword techniques that used Wind Essence, and few of theainst an opponent who could not use Essence

The only exception had been Initiate Guha, who had been ic skills

Since then, he had spent his days sparring against Initiate Guha

Arran had done well in their first few fights, but Initiate Guha had soon picked up on Arran's techniques, and after that Arran had been lucky to win a single ht

Nevertheless, sparring against Initiate Guha had benefited Arran as well, as he was forced to adapt his techniques to counter his opponent's peculiar fighting style

Arran scowled ”I bet you're using Wind Essence again”

Initiate Guha laughed Of course, he hadn't used Wind Essence in their fight — the one tile blow to defeat Arran

At thatapproached thelance ”Sister Fei Fei,” he said ”You'd better not be here to steal noring initiate Guha ”Adept Kadir has called for you”

Arran felt his iven a Wind Reallared at Initiate Guha ”Perhaps if you spent a little less tiic”

She turned back to Arran ”Followbut friendly, and they walked the short distance to Adept Kadir's office in silence

Arran breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped inside and closed the door behind hih he could not begin to guess why

———

”Ah, there you are,” Adept Kadir said when he saw Arran enter ”Have a seat”

Arran sat down, then asked, ”Has Grandive me a Realm?”