Chapter 264 Effor (1/2)

Arran spent the re a proper host Yet after the Matriarch's announceloom and worry, and as supposed to be a celebration ended up ht spot was the food As always, Arran's cooks had done better than anyone could reasonably expect, and several Elders subtly inquired whether he would be willing to part with theenerous price, of course

Arran politely but firh he re at hisas they remained Even with the Matriarch's orders, it wouldn't hurt to give the Valley's es an additional reason to help hi conversation with hishe hardly had a natural talent for, but he acquitted himself of the task as best he could And if he didn't exactly win any new friends, at least he got through the banquet without offending anyone

Still, he was glad when the evening ca, he much preferred the latter

That was a fortunate thing, too, because, at the Matriarch's orders, his training resurounds had not yet finished and many students had yet to arrive, she made it clear that she did not wish hian once more

There were about two hundred students in total, with as ether — even for teachers as skilled as the Valley's Elders, that would have been too much to handle Instead, they visited their various teachers in groups of one or two dozen, spending several hours studying a particular discipline beforeon to another teacher

Arran was the lone exception to this Although he spent half his tiroups of students, many of his teachers also provided hiuidance every week, to address the ic

That proved no needless luxury Now that he had other students to compare himself to, Arran soon discovered that his acco at best

While he wasn't the worst a the novices, there were many whose skills far surpassed his own As for the adepts, there was no need to even ap that existed between his skills and theirs

This apparent disparity between Arran's skill and his privileges initially caused soh none dared show any hostility, it was obvious that they could not fathoe a student would be chosen as heir to the Matriarch

Arran recognized that he could not allow this resentment to fester Even if it did not cause probleerous — especially if he were to succeed the Matriarch one day

Unwilling to let this continue, he approached Jovan near the end of the first week

”Have the other students visit ht,” he said ”All of them”

”Lord Ghostblade?” His steward looked at hi session,” Arran explained ”And I would like the others to join in”

Any doubts the others had about his abilities disappeared that night, with a series of sparringhis fellow students exactly what the difference between a warrior and a ical skills exceeded his made little difference His skill at shi+elds was sufficient to close the distance between hi adept, and once he closed the distance, the fights invariably ended in seconds

Few of the students were left uninjured that night, but Arran's display had its intended effect After that night, none still questioned his talent, and if any of them still felt resentment, they hid it carefully

There was an unintended effect as well, however, with the de many of the other students to develop an interest in swords lessons froan to appear when Arran instructed his servants in swordplay

Soent students in swordses in the group Rather than being de their weaknesses exposed, they were zealous in addressing the their swordplay with every bit as ic

Arran had previously believed that their skills owed as an to suspect he had been wrong

The realization helped hiic was mediocre at best, but if the real difference between the strong and the as effort rather than talent, then he had the ed by both this new realization and his htblade's duel, he set to ith all the passion he couldto waste even a

Each day, he awoke before dawn, then studied until the fall of evening And although the evenings were his own, he spent those on training as well, either practicing his sword skills in the training grounds or retreating to the dungeons to practice his h his body

Though the schedule he set for himself was brutal — even ht of co never occurred to him

With as uidance of both the Matriarch and the Valley's Elders, he had an opportunity that others could only dreah his relentless efforts left him weary, he would not waste the chance before him

If the other students studied hard, he would train harder Each day, he studied until hisuntil his body reached its limits as well

Those few hours he did not spend either studying or training, he sat in the hot spring, eating dragon meat as he recovered froh to fully fend off the ever-encroaching exhaustion, but any weariness he felt, he wore like a badge of honor, a token that he was doing all he could