Chapter 234 The House of Seals (1/2)

The next day saw Arran depart from the House of Swords well before dawn, so the dark road It wasn't the early hour that bothered hiht, he could easily find his way even during the darkest night

Rather, whatanother two days studying ic

The previous four days hadn't been nearly as bad as he feared If anything, they had been more productive than he initially expected Reasonably speaking, he had absolutely no reason to complain, and plenty of reason to be excited

Yet despite his encouraging results, he found that studyingswordsmanshi+p ever had

Physical exercise drained his body, but afterward, he'd always feel satisfied with the results Magic, however, drained his mind And if there was any satisfaction to be had froress, he was too exhausted to enjoy it

And that was after just half a week of studying, with a full year still ahead of hi for it but to endure Perhaps things would get better once he got used to the unfamiliar activity

And even if his aptitude for studying failed to iht that a year was hardly a long tiht, after all

The thought wasn't quite enough to reassure him, but it would have to do

He had avoided seriously devoting hi tihtblade's commands, he understood that he would ulti the task seriously And if he didn't, he had little doubt that he would eventually pay a hefty price for it

He didn't allow hi so would change nothing, other than causing him worries he didn't need

Instead, as he traveled across the dark road leading to the capital, he used Shadow Essence to practice the For Shadow Essence produced no visible results, but it was a good exercise, both to learn the Forms and to is came as easily as he would have liked, and a few hours of additional practice each day would go a long way in helping hi like this meant the ti he had quickly realized would be an issue in the year to cofro And if he had to do so every day, he would need athat tiht, finding the wide streets still quiet While there were already a decent nues about even at this early hour, the capital was large enough that a few hundred people on the streets hardlythe road to the House of Seals proved easy As the largest House in the Ninth Valley, the way toward it was clearly marked — a broad paved road that was lined with trees,it

Arranto practice the For Shadow Essence, his efforts drew no attention, and he got nearly an hour of training in before he finally reached his destination

It was half an hour after dahen he reached the House of Seals, and with a single glance, he realized that the stronghold was vast — er than the other Houses he had visited

Its thick, high walls stretched to either side of the gates as far as the eye could see, but despite the walls' height, at least a dozen tall towers could be seen stretching up from the city behind thes in the capital, and Arran had little doubt that there would be ate, meanwhile, itself was at least as ih and twice as wide, it looked like it was h

Although there presently were no aruarded, with half a dozentravelers, and several dozento enter uninvited would not have an easy time of it, that much was obvious

But Arran did not have to worry about that, and he approached one of the guards

”First tie When Arran answered in confirh explanation of where to find the initiates' training facilities

Although the directions seemed needlessly detailed, Arran discovered that they were no ate some moments later

If the House of Flaantuan The road ahead of the gate led to a large city that featured dozens of large towers, and on either side of it, training grounds stretched far into the distance, large stretches of land filled with parks and gardens in between thelance, it looked as if someone had combined the House of Swords, the House of Flae enough to hold half the Valley's hold, Arran immediately hastened his step He'd believed he ell in tiuard's directions, he suspected he would have to hurry not to be late — his destination was on the southwestern end of the stronghold, alate