Chapter 279 A New Foundation (1/2)

Half a year of constant training had finally brought Arran the beginning of a foundation in ic, and with that first step behind him, he found that the difference it made already surpassed his expectations

Without a proper foundation, he had beeneffort and energy on even the si no a could fix

There was only one way to address it, which was to start fro and properly learn the basics

Arran had ic felt entirely different frole to command Essence Now, he could wield both Fire and Shadoith little more effort than it took to wield his sword

Yet he wasn't done yet

His training had changed the way he controlled ic, but he had only applied it to the Forms And while the For, the true test of his progress would be his ability to cast co the two most difficult spells he knew — Flamestrike and Shadowcloak

He had learned both these spells already, but he had done so without a strong foundation As a result of that, the versions he'd ued his spellcasting, relying on brute force rather than skillful co he would have to fix, and if his suspicions were correct, doing so would not just make it easier to cast the spells but also make the spells themselves more effective

He started with Fla the two, and he had known it longer than Shadowcloak Hopefully, that wouldit an easier one

And so, for several weeks, he painstakingly taught hi his newfound control and insight to learn it properly

As expected, the process was much easier than it had been the first time Back when he had first learned the Flath to force the Fire Essence to follow his will, and every step of the way had been a struggle

But now that he knehat to do, progress caht, it was like learning how to punch In the past, he had been like so on brute strength to make up for his lack of technique And now, it was as if he was finally learning how to put his full body into each strike

This was exactly the sort of thing a good teacher would have corrected early on in his training, of course

Yet Master Zhao had departed long before Arran was ready to begin learning the basics of ic, and after his departure, Arran had spent years with little guidance in using ic

He had finally found the teachers he so desperately needed, but by then he had already built himself a foundation that was rife with errors And with a weak foundation, his ic skill was like a house built on quicksand, unsteady at best

But he had finally addressed that problem, and the results were undeniable

When he finished relearning Flamestrike some weeks later, he was amazed to see how different it was from the version he had previously used It was like an entirely new spell — easier and more efficient, with a power far beyond that of his earlier version

With this version, he could easilyadept's attack That still wouldn't do as er useless in battle — not unless he faced an opponent who shared his resistance against ic

Arran was excited to further test this newfound power, and with a quick thought, he headed to the cave at the back of the sh and twice as wide, stretching a good hundred paces into the mountain — and here, he could unleash his full poithout fear of being noticed