Chapter 393 Finding Enemies (2/2)

Although it had been years ago, he re even a single Realhtspawn suffered such pain endlessly, it made sense that they would welcohtspawn only a brief glance, however As curious as he was about them, his attention was immediately drawn to their leaders — two Reavers, both of thehtspawn, the Reavers showed no sign of being in agony And although Arran was too far to hear their voices, their conversation seemed little different from one between normal humans

Hidden amid a patch of trees, Arran observed the Reavers for several minutes, curious to see whether they would detect hih he was only a hundred paces away and hadn't used his Shadowcloak, the creatures seemed oblivious to his presence

Finally, he decided he had seen enough With a thought, he cast a Shadowcloak Not to hide himself, but to see whether the Reavers would Sense it

The Reavers' reaction was immediate Both of the creatures stood up at once, eyes instantly scanning the area where Arran was hiding between the trees

The result did not surprise Arran He had long suspected that Reavers ht Sense Shadow Essence, and now, that suspicion was confirmed

Of course, he still hadthe area in a thick cloud of Shadow Essence was a sih matter, and once he did that, the creatures would be all but blinded, leaving Arran free to strike from the shadows

Yet he did not do so Instead, he let go of the Shadowcloak spell, and as it dissipated, he stepped out fro hihtspawn's eyes turned to hi howls of alarm sounded, he drew his sword

The first tihtspawn, it had been a desperate battle, with Arran struggling to protect himself and his allies The second ti his enemies' confusion to cut them down unseen

But this time was different This time, he faced the creatures head-on, with no intention of either hiding or fleeing He needed to tein with the blood of these Blightspawn

His appearance caused a briefhis enemies, as if they didn't quite knohether he was friend or foe But then, with a shout froed forward, rushi+ng at Arran like a pack of starving wolves at an injured goat

Arran, however, awaited theht hand as he gathered Shadow Essence in his left And when the creatures had crossed half the distance between theesture

A fountain of blood instantly erupted frohtspawn, its body easily pierced by the Shadowstrike Arran had cast And even as the dying creature collapsed to the ground, another two fell beside it

Then, the group of Blightspaas upon him

If their con of it They attacked without even the slightest concern for defense, howling in rage as they threw themselves at Arran

It was a scene ainst the creatures, but this time, the outcoht calhtspawn's attacks with an almost casual ease Yet where Arran's opponents failed to even touch him, his attacks weren't so easily avoided Each attack he made was as precise as it was vicious, and each time he struck, one of his enehtspawn lay dead, their ferocity no h dozens ainst the Living Shadow blade

It was a battle only in nahter, as one-sided as it was bloody None of the Blightspawn could match Arran, much less threaten him, and he cut them down like rats

When half his foes were already defeated, he Sensed a sudden surge of Fire Essence Finally, the Reavers had joined the fight

A e of e spheres of white-hot fire that erupted into flahtspawn around hiony as they were burned

When the attack finally ca since disappeared, and their charred bodies layfroration that had been unleashed upon them

Yet when the sure, unhares to his clothes and hair

He cast an alance at his left hand — the source of the Shadow shi+eld that had so easily withstood the full er, he hadn't expected his defense to be quite as effective as this

A small briefly crossed his lips, and then, he turned his eyes to the two Reavers

Both the creatures stared at hi, their jet-black eyes wide as they silently faced Arran

Ato attack the other But as they stood in silence, Arran Sensed that the two final ene to replenish their depleted reserves

Naturally, this was sole fluid leap, appearing next to the nearest Reaver an instant later And as he landed, he struck two blows — one with his blade, and the other with ic

The creature next to hiround as its body collapsed And as one Reaver died, the other grabbed at its neck, trying and failing to steround

The wounded Reaver stared at Arran, its alien eyes filled with a mix of panic and confusion Briefly, it appeared as if the creature was trying to speak, but whatever words it had to say were lost a moment later, as it joined its companion in death

When the last Reaver died, Arran cast a ponderous look at the battlefield He'd known his strength had initude of the iress Rather, it was as if he'd crossed some previously unknown boundary, with years of effort in studying the For off all at once

But while he knew he had made a major step, he had yet to find out just what it meant — and what other steps could follow behind it Those were both things he should find out sooner rather than later

As he retrieved the aate theunwanted attention, these were things that could not wait

Just then, as Arran was about to htspawn to recover their amulets, as well, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his cal Shadoord had Sensed so nearby — a person, or perhaps a creature That alone wouldn't be cause for concern, but Arran hi And that could only , they were powerful enough to be dangerous

He took a brief look at the area around him, then quickly retreated to the patch of trees where he'd hidden earlier There, he halted, fixing his eyes on the opposite side of the pond, beyond which the stranger now approached

Although he'd faced the Blightspawn and Reavers without fear, a feeling of unease filled his heart as he stood and waited Whether friend or foe, the thought of so from his Sense so completely made him clench his jaw in apprehension

Still, he knew he could not leave Not without finding out who — or what — was co Even if he had to flee, it would be better to knohat he was fleeing from

The as a short one Barely a ure stepped into his view, just two hundred paces away A man, it seemed, dressed in simple brown robes, his shape neither particularly tall nor unusually broad

The sight caused Arran a er was no monster, but his relief disappeared as quickly as it had cole dismissive look at the battlefield, then immediately turned his eyes to Arran — and even at this distance, Arran could see that the man's eyes were co, the figure raised his hand and shot off a thick bolt of lightning that shi+ed to cast a Shadow shi+eld, but he ht as well have tried to stop an avalanche with a sheet of paper His Shadow shi+eld, which had easily resisted the coth of two Reavers, was torn apart in an instant And then, the bolt of lightning slammed into Arran's chest

The attack hit with terrible force, sending Arran flying a hundred paces before he violently crashed into the ground Pain inored it and scraht of fighting his attacker did not even enter hisevery shred of power his body held as he frantically made his escape

This was an enemy he could not match