Chapter 269 Essence Remnants (1/2)
”When we go into the ers e face?”
As Arran asked the question, his eyes remained focused on the path at the far end of the valley Yet whatever threats lay ahead, no sign of them could be seen frohtblade replied ”All you—”
”No,” Arran interrupted her ”You either tell ”
Brightblade raised an eyebrow ”You don't trust me?”
”I've put my life in your hands many times,” Arran said, his voice firer Not when there's no need to And if you trust me, you can certainly tell me e're about to face”
She looked at him for several seconds with an expression that held both surprise and — unexpectedly — approval ”Fair enough,” she said after soer, I suppose I owe you at least a brief explanation of what that danger is”
”Brief is fine,” Arran said ”As long as I knohat I will face”
Brightblade cast a short glance at the path in the distance Then, she said, ”When we venture beyond the Valley's protections, we run the risk of encountering Essence Reave her a blank look He'd never heard the term before in his life
She hesitated briefly, appearing to struggle to find the right words Finally, she said, ”Each ti Essence into the world Most of that harmlessly dissipates into the air once the spell ends, but some small part of it seeps into the earth In most places, it's barely noticeable But near the Valleys, the accu spells is enough to affect the world”
”Affect the world?” Arran asked ”How?”
Brightblade sighed ”You kno plants and ani transforical Essence And with enough of it, soerous We call these creatures Essence Remnants”
Arran's expression hardened as he listened to her, not at all liking where this was going ”Different how?”
”Their bodies are altered,” Brightblade explained ”Their physical shapes are gradually replaced with pure Essence, and they hunger for es, they will attack — and they are vicious enemies, nearly impossible to defeat With bodies that consist ic and weapons”
”Then how do you fight them?” Arran asked
”You don't,” she replied ”Not if you can avoid it You hide your Essence as best you can, and hope you don't encounter them When there is no other choice, starh they quickly recover frorievous injuries But it can buy you the time you need to escape”
Arran's eyes widened as he realized the full extent of what Brightblade had just told him ”And these creatures — these Essence Reh-invincible monsters that are drawn to Essence, with just a few for us? What if they break down the forhtblade in astonishment From what she described, it sounded like the Hunters should be the least of the Valley's worries There was a far ht on the Valley's doorstep
Yet Brightblade merely shook her head ”The Essence Remnants are no threat to the Valleys The Society's for the a concerted attack Behind the formations, there is no reason to fear the beyond the formations”
While Arran had more than a few doubts about whether the formations repelled these Essence Re matter was that they were about to venture past the forhtblade said ”And to h safely, we'll need to take certain precautions”
”Which are?” Arran asked
”For a start, you will need to seal your Realms — even your Shadow Realhtest bit that reer”
Arran did as she said, first using Master Zhao's seal on all his Real up every bit of Essence that remained in his body other than the seals themselves The effort took hi of being devoid of Essence deeply unsettling