Chapter 392 Master of Shadow (1/2)

Arran awoke early in the , well before the break of dawn And as he awoke, a broad smile appeared on his face alreat step forward he'dthe Forms

His first instinct was to pick up where he left off iet started on his training right away, he forced himself to eat a hearty breakfast as he considered the path before him

That he must master the Forms was obvious What was less obvious, however, hether he should focus his efforts on swordsic

Only the former would be useful immediately While it would be impossible to conceal the effect of the Forms on his swordsmanshi+p, the Forh that the difference would be all but impossible to discern

In other words, he could display the effect on his sword skills with relatively little danger His rapid progress would doubtless raise soh that there would be ic, on the other hand, was a different ress he made in that area would have to reht have precious few opportunities to use it in the Desolation

Yet at the sa his most important hidden cards If he was faced with an enemy he could not defeat or was forced to flee the Imperiuic

He considered the matter for some time, but finally, he decided to pursue both While that would inevitably be slower than focusing on just one of the two, he had equal use for both ht, approaching the probleht help deepen his comprehension

Decision made, he quickly stood up and readied hiathering Shadow Essence in the left

Then, he set to work on training

The first day brought rapid progress After just a few hours, Arran no longer looked like a child swinging a sword for the first ti a smoothness and fluidity they had lacked before And if he couldn't quite match his normal level of skill just yet, he kneas only a matter of time before he surpassed it

Yet if his swordsic was nothing short of staggering

Arran had always felt that he had little talent forwith leaps and bounds Because although truly unifying all his insights was still beyond hih to make his spells faster and e could be seen in his Flamestrike — or Shadowstrike, rather, since he now used Shadow Essence to cast it

The previous day, he had been overjoyed just to see the spell cause a barely perceptible gust of wind But now, after only a single full day of training, it had already grown strong enough to fell sle strike

Those results far exceeded Arran's expectations He'd expected progress, but nowhere near as fast as what he was seeing It alic incorrectly, and had only now discovered the proper way to use it

Years earlier, when Anthea told Arran that Elder Nikias and his students had been the Ninth Valley's ainst the Irain of salt

He had always believed the Forirl's beliefs were clouded by her blind faith in the techniques she'd learned from her teacher

Noever, he couldn't help but suspect that she had still underestirew stronger during the week that followed

With each day of training, Arran'sever hts increased

That progress wasn't lih to allow hier than his Force shi+elds had ever been, and even his control over his Shadowsight increased

What pleased Arran most, however, was the improvement to his Shadowcloak

Of all the spells he knew, there were none he valuedthat allowed him to travel unseen, to strike his foes before they could defend themselves, and — if necessary — to escape those enemies he could not defeat

Yet in the Ihts and Lords had Living Shadoeapons, likely allowing the Shadowcloak in the I him

Noever, Arran's Shadowcloak was steadily i it would be far more difficult even for those with the means to detect Shadow Essence

It wasn't quite enough yet that Arran would dare to use his Shadowcloak near Knights — much less Lords — but even so, he kneould reduce the risk of hi discovered And if his Shadowcloak continued to improve, perhaps it would eventually beco as Arran's progress inobstacle

During the first few days of training, his skill at using the Forreatly But then, even as his ress at a robust pace, his advances in swordsround to a halt

At first, he'd believed that perhaps the Forms weren't suited for physical combat — that perhaps he'd been mistaken about the similarity between the Forms and the Darians' techniques, after all

Yet after giving it soht, he quickly rejected this idea

Now that he was growing more familiar with the Forms, he could see the sihts use, and he knew that they were ulti the proble as he tried to uncover the obstacle that was blocking his progress And finally, he realized what the issue was — his sword style

The sword style Arran used was one he'd crafted himself, with the hts into binding and severing