Chapter 266 A Ser (2/2)
”Halt!”
The word put an immediate stop to the chaos, with the novices who still re in place The others, ot back to their feet,fresh bruises
Arran let his Shadowcloak dissipate, and after a brief glance at his defeated eneave him a flat stare ”That's not what I had in mind”
”That's why it worked so well,” Arran replied ”And either way, it's a win”
”Don't worry, you've earned your crystals,” Brightblade said ”But let's give this another try — this tiave it a ht, then nodded ”Very well”
He returned to the wall unhurriedly, then turned toward the novices once more Even at this distance, he could see that their enthusiasin!”
Before Brightblade had finished the word, a thick earthen wall shot up fro the novices' attacks as he rushed forward
A barrage of spells tore through the wall in moments, but already, Arran had put up a Force shi+eld The shi+eld collapsed as quickly as the wall, but the brief delay brought Arran forth another few dozen paces, and behind it followed another shi+eld — Wind, this time And when that shi+eld failed, another earthen wall burst froround
This wasn't an effort Arran couldthe three hundred paces between the wall and the novices only took him a few short breaths
This ti, and their discipline failed as soon as he fell upon theroup collapsed into chaos, and it took only moments before half of Arran's opponents were defeated
Uninterested in seeing her students receive another thrashi+ng, Brightblade called out once ht came to a stop once htblade
This tiressed even ood teachers to help me,” Arran replied truthfully
”From what I hear, you've put in considerable effort yourself, as well,” she said
There was no need for either of them to mention that Arran's victory owed ainst the novices at his own estate — the Houses'students — he wouldn't have fared nearly as well
”But let's try this again,” Brightblade continued ”Without you using ave her an incredulous look ”That's iic Not without getting hit, at least”
Of course, if he were to rely on his resistance tothe novices would be sih to harhtblade wanted to share with the world just yet
Brightblade, however, merely raised an eyebrow and extended her hand toward Arran An instant later, he felt a shi+eld of Essence take shape around him
”This protection should h for you to break through the attacks”
Arran gave her an uneasy frown ”If I do that…” He glanced at the novices, then continued in a low voice, ”The strength I'll have to use will draw attention”
Brightblade gave a dis in response ”You're heir to the Matriarch, and the Valley is filled with stories of you — no fehich far surpass anything you're capable of actually doing You're well past the point of having to worry about drawing a little h to convince Arran, but with a sh, he headed back to the wall
This time, the novices looked at hian Any hopes they had of scoring an easy win against the Matriarch's heir were long gone, and now, they mostly see
”Begin!”
The ground cracked under Arran's feet as he leaped forward, the first volley of spells passing har leaps that tore the ground where he landed, he crossed three hundred paces in barely two breath's time
A few of the novices' spells still hit hihtblade's shi+eld And as the novices saw him approach, their faces filled with fear Their ranks broke al before he could even reach the the fight before Arran had the chance to strike even a single one of his opponents
With the battle having come to a premature end, she turned her attention to the novices
”This is what you are training to face!” she called out, a harshness to her tone that hadn't been there before ”When you fight the Hunters, this is what you will fight! And if you break like this, each of you will die!”
She gestured at a nearby adept and curtly instructed the , then turned her attention back to Arran
”Let's find a quieter place to talk,” she said, no sign of the anger she had shown the novices on her face
”Was that your plan, then?” Arran asked as they walked off together, Brightblade's two guards following a dozen paces behind the your students?”
”It's part ofwe have to a Hunter in the Valley If war breaks out, it will help the students to knohat they'll be up against” She gave hih with how ood an exath had increased should be no surprise — even if he had spent the past year focusing his efforts on onto taste a bit stale, that did little to reduce its effectiveness
”But there's anotherbest discussed in private”