Chapter 281 A Break (2/2)

To face stronger ene, but foes who could kill without ever revealing thee hiic — he would have avoided e, and rather than avoid this terrible neer, he spent several weeks carefully practicing it

He had seen the spell in action when Snowcloud's grandfather used it, and although he suspected the old ht to boost its power, he kneell just how devastating it could be

Without any bad habits to unlearn, his progress was far quicker than it had been with Flamestrike and Shadowcloak Just a feeeks of intense practice were enough for hiood level of familiarity with the spell

Finally, he had coht hi, but in the end, he had succeeded

Yet now, he would have to decide what to do next

He still needed to build a foundation for his other Realms — Wind, Force, Earth, and Stone — but even if he could find the willpower to spend another year retreading his steps, he lacked the tihtblade had said she expected him to finish in under two years, after which he was to head toward the Hunters' lands And with tensions in the borderlands already running high, Arran knew that even two years would be tight — it wouldn't surprise hihtblade had expected

Moreover, he was supposed to study the books Brightblade had given hih all he knew about them was that they contained information on seals, he had little doubt that they would prove both challenging and tiht, he rejected the idea of starting work on the books right away

After the , histhe last feeeks of practice, his focus had faltered more than once, and further ould only increase the burden

Before anything else, he needed rest, and enough of it to restore his drained reserves

Yet although he needed rest, he had no desire to waste several weeks doing nothing at all He needed so, to take his lanced at the cave at the end of the valley, and a srin appeared on his face

In truth, he'd already decided to explore the tunnels theShadowflame He had wanted to do so ever since he found the him back had been the task he had to cooal, he could no longer contain his curiosity If the tunnels led to the starht be danger along the way, but then, with great danger caet the chance to put his new skills to use

He unsealed the cave with delay, spending half an hour carefully re the wards he had placed and the rocks he had used to block the way Then, he broke through the daed wall at the end of the cave and stepped into the dark cavern

At once, he was filled with a sense of excite It wasn't just the possibility of finding treasure that attracted hier that attracted hier came experience and the chance to truly hone his skills The strength he had, he largely owed to the threats he had faced along his path And while ht hiain the power to protect himself

Inside the cavern, he carefully inspected the area with both his Sense and his Shadowsight When he found nothing, he used so he hadn't already found

The large cavern in which he stood was coray and bare The only thing of note were two dark tunnels, leading to his left and right

He thought for a rin on his face, he ventured into the darkness, eager to find whatever it was these tunnels held