Chapter 211 Unreasonable Demands (1/2)

The short journey to the House of Swords' stronghold was as smooth as it was uncohtblade repeatedly urging Master Kallias to move faster Any attempts he htblade treating him like a servant rather than an equal, much less a superior

Soon, the riuests, Arran had little doubt that he would have attacked Brightblade Even now, it seeht not be able to restrain himself

Yet after the first quarter hour, Arran stopped worrying

Bizarre though Brightblade's behavior was, it was clear that it was intentional He did not know her purpose in provoking the Master, but after half a year of traveling with her, he trusted her judgment — she was often brash, but never careless

Confident that there was a plan — even if he didn't knohat it was — he turned his attention to their surroundings

He had stayed in the restricted section of the Sixth Valley for several months, but most of that time had been spent in the Patriarch's estate But here, in the Ninth Valley, he had the opportunity to look around

The wall that deh the capital, and he soon found that the inner part of the city was completely different from the outer part

For a start, there were far fewer people, and all but a few of thees — and not the kind that sold flatbread by the roadside Most looked like novices, but her ranks, clad in fine robes and wearing well-made swords at their sides

There was far less commerce, too The outer part of the city was filled with shops and stores, but Arran sa of those within the inner part And those few he did see were large and stately, more like small palaces than shops He didn't need to enter to know that both their wares and their prices would h he found the sights, there wasn't much time to look, because it took them barely half an hour to leave the city behind

Outside the city, too, the landscape was markedly different from the outer Valley Where the outer Valley was filled with fields and farms, most of the inner Valley held woodlands, with the occasional manor or estate barely visible fro the hich Arran kneould have to be strongholds belonging to soe enough to alht Yet as they rew sest Houses were nearest the capital

Finally, after nearly two hours, when they reached another of these towns, Master Kallias came to a halt

”We've arrived,” he said in a flat voice, then led theate, the guards took only a glance at Master Kallias, then bowed in respect as they passed This brought a brief shtblade's assault on his dignity, it seemed he was in dire need of some reassurance

Inside, Arran quickly realized that the stronghold more resembled a vast estate than a town While there were plenty of buildings within the walls, there were nuroups of

All but a few of these were practicing swords against each other

Arran appraised their efforts in passing, and found hies was clearly a skilled swordsman Their movements were fluid and practiced, and they reacted to each other's attacks with the kind of instinctive responses that only years of training could bring

Moreover, they switched between styles and techniques with ease, in seamless motions that combined what looked to be at least half a dozen different schools of swordsh he was impressed with their displays, Arran could not help but think there was soht

He pondered what he had seen as theytheir surroundings while his thoughts were still occupied with the training es