Chapter 300 Redhill (1/2)

The journey to the battlefield took Arran twothe way

After suffering the oppressive darkness of the caverns and the Shadow Real the open sky and wide lands around him filled him with a sense of freedoht sun, the challenges ahead no longer seeers this world held, it also held life that the Shadow Realm had lacked

And where there was life, there was opportunity

Arran's spirits were further raised by the steady recovery of his strength The borderlands were rich in food to nourish his body, and with the help of his sword, finding it was a si cothy process, but he had already regained much of what he had lost in the Shadow Realood spirits, too Arran had decided to leave his Real the relative safety of the borderlands to strengthen his bond with the shile he still had the opportunity

He would have to seal all his Realms but Shadow once he neared the Hunters' lands, and that would slow his efforts draht await hi a connection to his weapon as he could get

The connection strengthened only slightly, but if nothing else, at least the weapon appreciated the constant stream of Essence

Yet that would be valuable too, Arran thought He was still a long way off froht prevent any unpleasant surprises

He spentthe towns and villages that were scattered across the borderlands

This reduced the chance of unwanted encounters with Hunters or es, and in the wilderness, the wildlife was far richer in Natural Essence There were plenty of anith for centuries, and Arran happily reaped the fruits of their efforts

Still, he visited sohtlyale, he asked the locals subtle questions about the state of the borderlands

Most of thee for a drink or two, and what they told him confirmed what Kimon had already told him back in Amydon

The overt tensions between the Ninth Valley and the Hunters had lasted barely a year, with a few unlucky es and the Hunters had reduced their numbers in the borderlands, and with that, the ru war had soon died down

Of course, Arran knew better than to believe this was any sort of true peace

More likely, both sides had withdrawn their strength to prepare for the war to coht take a few years yet — or so he hoped — he had little doubt that the wheels of war had already been set inshort

About teeks' travel frohtblade had iven Arran, he noticed a sudden change in his sword It was as if the blade Sensed sonize

He had so, and a week later his suspicions were confirmed when he Sensed it himself

There was a low buzz of Essence in the air, chaotic and diffuse, as if soic lay ahead

Arran inized what it was — the unbound Essence of the battlefield, released in the devastating battle that had taken place over half a century earlier

It was similar to what he had experienced years earlier in Uvar, except here, no one had created a formation to seal off the battlefield from the rest of the world

Had Arran not already been faht have bothered hier But he'd spentto tune it out, and now, it was barely even a distraction

Yet it was a sign that he was getting close to his destination, and he kneas time to conceal his Shadow Realm and seal off the others

The battlefield bordered the Hunters' lands, after all, and he could afford no mistakes so close to his enemies' territory