Chapter 161 A Long Wai (1/2)

Just as Arran expected, the strength of the Essence that lingered in the city grew stronger as he cah he was prepared for the increase, he hadn't expected its sheer nitude

At about a mile from the heart of the city, the violent pressure of the Essence had grown so strong that even the ruins and rubble seeround was covered in a slass

Arran ather some of the material, but without any success Neither his fists nor the starmetal sword — his only weapon that could withstand the Essence in the area — left even the slightest scratch on it, no ave up on acquiring the glassy material, but instead decided to leave his sword out in the open while he trained It didn't seeatively affected by the hostile environment, and perhaps it would benefit in some way

Now that there were no e buildings that rose fro what looked like a sea of glass Everything else had been obliterated cos had weathered the cataclysh they had been at the very center of it

That could only ave Arran hope that they ht still hold treasures

Yet if Arran's hopes of treasures at the heart of the city increased, his hopes of actually reaching it grew di day

Each day, he would spend hours sitting amid the invisible but violent Essence that filled the city, absorbing it and using it to strengthen his body, like a blacks steel But however effective the training th of the Essence that surrounded hier as he calass stretched aa quarter of it took Arran teeks, with the second of those only yielding a hundred paces of progress

That left hi distance, which was plainly impossible — if his instincts were correct, the final stretch would take hi that caht, but no matter how much he pondered it, he could not think of a way to increase his resistance to Essence any faster And without increasing his resistance, there was no way he couldheavily injured, or even dying

Discouraged, he headed out of the city for the first tih there were still teeks left, Snowcloud ht already have returned, and if she had, Arran would not delay her any longer While further training in the city would definitely benefit hi her wait if he could not achieve his goal

Leaving the city only took hie of the city several ti sessions, and froe of the formation

When Arran arrived outside the city, he was unsurprised to find that Snowcloud wasn't there There were still teeks to go before they were supposed to meet, and her task was far from an easy one

What did surprise him — and unpleasantly at that — was that his Sense was much weaker than it had been before he entered the city Afterthe screams of pressure within the city, he found that he now had trouble observing the world of whispers that existed outside it

Still, he was confident that once he left the city for good, his Sense would rapidly recover There were no signs of per accustoain