Chapter 245
Brightblade's review proved to be exactly what Arran had expected .
She spent three days going over every spell and seal he had learned, evaluating his progress in excruciating detail . And whenever she encountered a gap in his knowledge, she smugly corrected the Matriarch's oversight .
That her main concern was with one-upping her old friend was obvious, but Arran benefited all the same . Even if he had initially been reluctant to spend even yet time learning magic, he soon discovered that Brightblade's insights were extremely helpful .
She was every bit as knowledgeable about magic as the Matriarch, and if her lessons weren't quite as structured and organized, at least she did not have him study past nightfall .
Still, Arran rejoiced when they finished with the last of the spells .
Brightblade might be more pleasant as a teacher than the Matriarch, but after a month of working incessantly on the useless spells and seals, he desperately needed a change of pace .
Fortunately, Brightblade appeared to sense his exasperation, and when Arran completed his work on the final spell, she said, "Take the evening off . Tomorrow, we'll practice some swordplay . "
At this, Arran breathed a sigh of relief .
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He spent the evening doing little of anything . While he experimented with his Destruction Realm for a bit, he did so without pushing himself . He casually turned a dozen rocks and two old enchanted swords to dust, then abandoned the pursuit for the time being .
Instead, he read the Earth Realm Scroll, then used Destruction Essence to quickly open the Realm . If nothing else, at least it could do this — no small benefit, since it would have taken him days or even weeks otherwise .
He awoke at dawn the next morning, then spent the day practicing swordplay with Brightblade .
Facing her was both challenging and enjoyable . He struggled to match her even if she hid most of her strength, but the exertion did him good . And when he went to bed that night, it felt as if much of the stress from the previous month had been washed away .
The remaining days, she instructed him in the Shadowflame spell and several simpler variants of the Shadowcloak spell .
While he was supposed to learn these things from Anthea and Oraia, Brightblade correctly surmised that the Matriarch had left Arran little time to focus on other matters, and she resolutely set to work on correcting that .
Brightblade's help proved invaluable .
With her guidance, it barely took him a day to learn the Shadow spell to conceal objects . And while the spell itself wasn't especially useful — it only worked on small objects, and only if they didn't move — it was more progress than he'd made in a month of training with Oraia .
The Shadowflame spell, however, proved a different matter . While Brightblade's explanations certainly helped his understanding of it, the spell was frustratingly complex . Even after his improvements over the past month, he knew that his current level of skill was far from enough to learn it .
And that was only half the problem . The other half was that the spell required him to merge Shadow and Fire Essence, and no matter how often he tried, the task seemed utterly impossible .
When he told Brightblade of this, she nodded in response . "It's impossible," she confirmed . "But with enough practice, even the impossible can be achieved . "
Her cryptic words were of little help to Arran, but he kept practicing all the same . He had experienced the Patriarch using the spell, and from that, he knew it could be done .
And then, the week came to an end . They left shortly after dawn on the final day . Arran had expected that Brightblade would want to make full use of every hour she had available, but when he asked her about it, she shook her head .
"Some rest will help you," she explained . "Rhea's methods are effective, but pushing you too far will only slow your progress . "
Naturally, Arran had no objections to this decision . Whatever rest he could get, he would gladly take .
They traveled back into the Valley at a casual run, taking several breaks to eat along the way . Without a need to hurry, Arran took his time to enjoy the scenery as they journeyed through the Valley .
Away from the capital, the Ninth Valley was mostly forest, allowed to grow wild everywhere but on the roads . Only the occasional mansion or estate could be found in the area, and in several hours of travel, they only encountered a handful of other travelers .
It was a pleasant environment, to Arran . The densely populated parts of the Valley still filled him with a sense of unease, and if this wasn't exactly a true wilderness, it was close enough to
They parted ways near the capital, with Brightblade returning to the House of Swords as Arran made his way back to the House of Seals .
Arran arrived at his mansion not long after, the guards at the gate bowing politely as he entered the walled gardens .
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