Chapter 287 A Step Into Shadow (1/2)
For several moments, Arran stared at the ominous dark e that it was a connection to a Shadow Realm should have comforted him — he used Shadow Essence every day, after all And yet, even looking at it caused him to feel an almost instinctive sense of dread
Finally, he tore his eyes away froerous is it?”
There was no need to ask whether it was dangerous — just the look of it er, Arran would know the black e made no attempt to conceal the truth ”Very,” he said ”With ain, but I cannot guarantee that either of us will survive There are eneic can har the, Arran found some comfort in Karanos's honesty Had the man intended to lead him to his death, he would likely have tried to downplay the risk
Still, Arran wasn't convinced yet ”What if I refuse?” he asked, his expression calm even as he prepared for trouble
”Then I will let you leave,” Karanos replied ”With what you have seen here, you knoill happen if word gets out —the it to be the truth He had only briefly witnessed Karanos's shard of Living Shadow, but that was enough to know that it was a treasure beyond coet him killed anywhere in the world
Soered within his mind, however If Karanos trusted Arran not to throay his life by revealing the uide hiift or not, Arran was already bound to silence
”Why do you want o inside?” he asked, forehead creased in a frown ”And why do you wantShadow?”
A small smile crossed Karanos's lips, almost as if he was pleased that Arran had rejected his earlier explanation ”The Shadow Real that your Shadowflame Society should know about”
Arran looked at the white-eyed ht you didn't want me to spread word of this place?”
”I don't,” Karanos said ”But you are strong — stronger than an adept has any right to be And strength like that requires resources beyond those a normal teacher would provide Which means you're the personal apprentice of one of the Valley's Elders, or perhaps even the Patriarch”
”The Matriarch,” Arran corrected hiaunt e did not know
”So the old bastard is dead?” An expression of joy flashed across Karanos's face, but it disappeared an instant later, and he continued, ”The Matriarch, then And if you're her apprentice, then you will eventually become an Elder yourself — perhaps even a Patriarch By then, you ”
Once -lived While the plan Karanos had laid out wasn't unreasonable, it would take centuries to co another glance at theat it unsettled hi it almost made him nauseous Yet he had already ht,” he said ”So what do we do?”
Karanos gave Arran a reassuring sh the”To start,” he began, ”you will need to close off all your Realms but Shadow I assume you have a way to do that?”
Arran nodded, then sealed off his Realms and released the Essence his body still held with a few quick attacks at the stars won't work in the Shadow Realm,” Karanos said ”So you'll need to subsist on Essence, circulating it through your body to nourish yourself” Seeing Arran's troubled look, he added, ”Look closely — it isn't too difficult, but it helps to knohat to do beforehand I nearly starved before I figured it out”
He briefly demonstrated a simple circulation technique that was little different fro it for a few moments, Arran nodded Yet even as he practiced the technique, a thought occurred to hi some worry If he needed to subsist on Essence, then they would be gone for a long time
”No h on this side, only days will pass”
”Time doesn't work the same in the Shadow Realm?” Arran asked, surprised He had expected the Shadow Realined that even tis work the sae said ”You will find that it will take you time merely to adjust to it And the sensation…” He shook his head ”It is not a pleasant one”
Arran ignored those last words, unwilling to let hi prepared was good, there was little point to idle concern ”Are we ready to go?” he asked