Chapter 370 Breakthrough (1/2)

Arran spent an entirein a blur as he attacked his studies with an eagerness that bordered on fanaticism

He slept twice that month, but other than that, he only paused when he needed to eat The rest of his time all went into study and practice

At soun drilling the other mercenaries in spear techniques, but he paid them little attention

While their focus was on preparing what remained of the Wolfsblood Company for the Desolation, Arran had a different task — to increase his oer

Although the captain hadn't said it outright, Arran had spent enough tiy he planned to use in the Desolation

Thethat they could defeat truly dangerous enemies What they could do, however, was to provide distractions — to create openings for Arran and Kaleesh to exploit

For that task, any strength Arran gained noould be invaluable Not just to hiroup

And so, he'd found a quiet spot a the hills that surrounded the cah from the camp that he could train without disturbance

It was there that he trained and ate, separated from the others to avoid even the smallest distraction And with the ihts, he wasted no ti

Yet for all his efforts, the results proved disappointing

The only real thing the firstyielded was an increase in his skill at using the giant sword His study of Kaleesh's techniques increased his speed, but so little that it would hardly make a difference in battle

Even worse were his results with the Forms and Muna's techniques With those, his endless hours of effort yielded no results whatsoever

He had long believed that progress with the Foran to have second thoughts about that

With all the time and effort he'd put into the Forms, there should be at least so else Yet instead, he'd found nothing

As the days passed, he beca There had to be a technique orthat would turn the useless secrets into so hile

Yet if there was such a technique, he had no idea what it les to find an explanation, the answer remained as elusive as ever

Even so, Arran did not let the lack of results discourage hi, repeating all the different techniques over and over in hopes of finding so — that could help hi passed quickly, and by the end of it, Arran felt as if his

He hadn't slept in weeks, and engrossed in training as he was, he'd skippedthe same techniques

But his , it was as if he'd regressed rather than progressed

With his , the techniques had started to blur together, theall the others

Under norn that he desperately needed rest — which he did

But now, he saw so that made his eyes widen with exciteether, he suddenly recognized the sih they were all different, in a way they were all the sae about the world Yet where he had previously treated the he'd missed — that all these slivers were le, indivisible reality

That was so known to be true, of course, but only at an abstract level Yet now, finally, he thought he saw a gliliht into severing

He spent several hours engraving the co what had taken hiain

Then, when he was confident that he had rass and slept

When he awoke, he did not kno h more likely a day or two Either way, it didn't nized a path to improve it

He set to work at once, again studying the techniques he'd already spent soto learn