Chapter 13 Opening a Realm (1/2)

Arran looked at the scroll that lay in front of him It looked much like the ones he had seen before, but this tiave without the aid of Master Zhao

With a deep sigh, he picked up the scroll and began to study it

The characters were coave him his Fire and Shadow Realms The strokes were thinner and sharper, al his pen like a sword, slashi+ng the paper with ink

As he read the scroll, he felt the fale of Essence Now that he was more familiar with Essence, he could sense that the type held within the scroll was lively and turbulent, like a strong autumn breeze

He pondered it for athat the scrollthe Wind Essence froht, somehow created a connection between hiave hihts he gained now ht help him when he tried to open the Wind Realhts he hoped for did not co the scroll

Gradually, he worked his way through it, absorbing the Essence from each character Each time he could feel the Wind Essence within himself for some moments, but each time the sensation would quickly disappear

When he reached the end of the scroll, it crumbled into ashes He swept the ashes from the desk onto the floor, then sat back Now, he kneould co the Realm And before he opened the Realm, he would first have to find it

He closed his eyes, focusing his attention inward

Slowly and methodically, he searched his consciousness for any traces of the Wind Essence he sensed earlier Hours passed as he scoured every last bit of hisWhen he finished his initial search with no results, weariness filled hi his Wind Realet soot into the small bed, he was vast asleep, his mind exhausted from the day's efforts

When he awoke, he looked outside the entrance of the s to see if any food had been left, as Adept Kadir had said He was pleased to find a straw basket containing several jugs of water, a fresh piece of bread, and some dried fruit

He ate in silence, then continued his search

This ti all distractions, and although he did not succeed, he could feel that he was on the right path

While he could not yet sense the Wind Realm itself, he could sense a small disturbance that had not been there before, as if the Wind Real the Essence within his body

On the third day, he finally succeeded Buried deep within his mind, he located the source of the disturbance he felt the day before It was so small that if he had not been familiar with Essence, he never would have been able to sense it

Suddenly, he grasped whytheir first Real a needle in a haystack without even knohat a needle was

No wonder so ht, focusing his attention on the Wind Realm As he probed and prodded it, he found that it was like a tiny void floating within his mind, covered by a thick barrier that seemed to block the Essence behind it

If his other Realate that was nailed shut He could vaguely sense the Wind Essence behind it, but no h the barrier

Frustrated, he opened his eyes He knew that to open his Wind Realm he would have to overcome the barrier, but he had no clue how to do it

Unable to decide how to proceed, Arran looked at the three books that were lying on the table

He picked up one of the books and gave it a quick skiave advice on finding unopened Realms for those who had never sensed Essence

With a sigh, he put the book away and picked up the next one

The second book was inally h it was aimed at people who had not yet opened their own Real it

Some hours later, he put the second book down

By now, he was starting to feel some worry If the last book was as useless as the previous two, he would have to find a way to open the Realh he was confident that he would eventually succeed, he was equally confident that it would take a very long ti aside his worries, he opened the third book and began to read it Not long after, a small smile appeared on his face As he continued to read the se one, and by the tirin on his face

Where the first two books had contained only described Realuide to opening them