Chapitre 56: Windblade
"Son of a bitch!"
Arran cursed loudly as the Essence in his hand dissipated once more. Each time, success was just a hair away, yet somehow, every time it evaded him at the last moment.
It was impossible to track the passing days within the cell, but already, Arran had spent months trying to master the Windblade spell. And still, he had not succeeded.
At first, he had made good progress. Learning how to control the strands of Essence had taken him several weeks, but through effort and persistence, he had succeeded. Weaving them together into a single Windblade was more difficult, but eventually, he had achieved that, too.
The only thing left was to send the Windblade flying, and that was where Arran failed. Every time he tried to control the Windblade, it dissipated before it could move even an inch, falling apart like a house of cards.
Arran couldn't understand why it didn't work.
According to both Adept Kadir's manual and Jiang Fei's notes, the hardest part of the spell was forming the Windblade. After that, it should be easy to control — Jiang Fei only gave it a single sentence in her notes.
Yet every time Arran tried it, he failed miserably. It was as if the Wind Essence itself resisted his control.
Sometimes he would stop practicing the Windblade spell to work on his Body Refinement or practice the Shadow seals, and there, his progress was better. In less than a month, managed to form a complete Shadow seal for the first time.
He would have been ecstatic if it had happened at any other time, but now, it almost seemed like a cruel joke. He was finally able to seal and hide his Realms, but he was stuck in a dungeon cell with no one to hide them from.
As the final part of the Windblade spell still eluded him, he sat down, intent on figuring out what it was that caused him to fail.
Thinking about the issue, he tried to understand what it was that made the final part of the spell so easy for others, but so difficult for him.
After some time, a thought struck him.
While Jiang Fei was more skilled than Arran, in terms of raw strength she was far weaker than he was. Naturally, when she learned the spell, she had been practicing with strands of Essence far thinner than his.
Arran wasn't a complete fool, of course — while trying to learn the Windblade spell, he had limited the amount of Essence he used to a small fraction of his true power. But was it enough? The only way to find out was to try.
Once more, he formed a Windblade from Wind Essence. This time, he used only the smallest amount of Essence he could, going so far as to draw Essence away from his hands as he worked the spell.
It was like trying to manipulate thin strands of spider silk, and unused as he was to working with such minute amounts of Essence, the spell collapsed several times as he tried to form it.
Yet he persevered, and when he finally formed a full Windblade a few hours later, he let out a gasp of surprise.
It worked.
In the air hung a tiny razor of Wind Essence, invisible to the naked eye, fully under Arran's control.
Heart pounding in excitement, he sent the miniature Windblade soaring ahead, making it turn and twist as it cut through the air.
When he finally let go of the Windblade, it immediately dissipated, and he grinned in delight. Finally, he had done it. He had cast his first spell.
He glanced at the door, but then he shook his head. Trying now would be pointless. First, he would need to increase the size and strength of the Windblade.
With that, he set to work.
In the weeks that followed, he gradually strengthened the Windblade, with each attempt increasing the amount of Essence he used in forming it.
His progress was slow but steady. Each time he channeled more Essence into the Windblade, he would fail several times, struggling to control its power. But each time, with some effort and practice, he would eventually succeed.
After a month, he could form a Windblade the size of a greatsword, and he decided it was finally time to put his new power to the test.
Eager with anticipation, he stood about ten paces from the door. While he could already create a Windblade in the blink of an eye, this time he took it slowly, taking his time to gather Essence, then shaping it into the strongest Windblade he could control.
When it formed, the Windblade was so strong that it was no longer fully invisible. Instead, it shimmered with power, like the heated air above a fire.
He took a deep breath, readying himself for the attack. Then, gritting his teeth in effort, he sent the Windblade soaring toward the door, a high-pitched whistle sounding as it cut through the air before it.
Clang!
A loud noise sounded as the Windblade hit the door, striking with enough force to cleave through granite. Immediately, Arran rushed over to see what the effect had been.
His heart sank upon seeing the door. While he had managed to leave a mark this time, it was only a hair-sized scratch, barely even visible.
He sat down on the floor with a sigh. The Windblade had been his last hope, and he had purposely avoided using it against the wall until he felt confident in its strength, afraid that trying sooner would only leave him discouraged. Yet it was no use. Even now, he was still unable to do any true damage to the door.
Perhaps, if he kept training the Windblade, he would eventually be able to use it to break out. He was still unable to control it when he used all his Wind Essence, and he knew he could strengthen it further with more time and practice.
But that would take years if not decades, and even then the outcome was far from certain. Worse, the food Lord Jiang had given him would not last anywhere near that long, and he would likely starve well before being able to break out.
At last, he understood that he only had one choice left.
With a sigh, he took out Panurge's void bag. He had long avoided this moment, but now, he knew that he was out of options.
He hesitated for only a moment before binding it. Despite his previous wariness, he could no longer bring himself to care about the consequences. Months of imprisonment had worn down his worries, and now, all he wanted was to escape.
He examined the bag after binding it, instantly amazed at the sheer size of the interior. Where the void bag Master Zhao had given him was the size of a large room, this one was something else entirely — vast enough to fit several farms, and then some.
Equally surprising were the contents. At least half the space inside the bag was taken up by endless stacks of food, meat, fruits, and vegetables, and what looked to be several thousands of wine bottles.
Panurge had said there was enough food to last a decade, but this… this looked like it could feed a village for a century.
After Arran recovered from his shock over the mountain of food, he examined the rest of the void bag and found that other than the food, it was nearly empty, containing only a small chest and a large cabinet.
He looked inside the cabinet first, and saw that it was filled with pills and potions. Most of these he did not recognize, but his eyes widened when he saw that there were four Realm Opening Pills. These, he grabbed instantly, adding them to the two he had left after the battle against Stormleaf.
Finally, he opened the chest, where he found three scrolls. One of them, he knew, would be the Force Realm Scroll, while the other two should be spell scrolls. He took the scrolls, then put them in his own void bag, unwilling to start studying just yet.
He sighed again. It was done — he had accepted a gift from Panurge, and there would be no turning back.
Despite his misgivings, it felt like a load had been lifted from his shoulders. There would be consequences, but he could not bring himself to worry about those right now.
For the moment, all he could feel was relief at knowing he had a path to escape from the dungeon cell.
After he made the decision, he took two bottles of wine and a big stack of food from Panurge's void bag. Today, he would feast, and tomorrow, he would start working towards his escape.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
TomVanDyke
TomVanDyke I added a new cover. Please let me know if you like it.
Oh, and if you made it this far: thanks for sticking with the story!
Chapitre 57: A Way to Escape
Arran awoke with an aching head and a sore body, still feeling the tingle of Natural Essence within him. He sighed, knowing that he should have expected a gift from Panurge to have unforeseen consequences.
The food was normal enough. Although it contained a small amount of Natural Essence, it was less potent than the food Lord Jiang had given him, and he could eat it without issue.
The wine, on the other hand, was something else entirely. Both ridiculously potent and loaded with Natural Essence, just a few sips had left him feeling intoxicated and trembling with energy, and he had soon been completely hammered.
Of course, that was not just because of the first few sips — the two bottles he had drunk afterward had not helped, either.
For an hour or two, Arran used Lord Jiang's circulation technique, until finally the soreness disappeared and he finished absorbing the last of the Natural Essence.
After that, he sat down on the hard floor and got out the three scrolls. The first one he looked at was the Realm Scroll. Already knowing what it would do, he put it aside for the moment. Instead, he looked at the two spell scrolls.
As he examined them, his attention was caught in an instant. One described a spell named Battering Force, and the other a spell named Force Shield. A quick glance at the contents confirmed that the spells would do what the names suggested, and he knew that both would be incredibly useful if he mastered them.
He put the two spell scrolls away and picked up the Force Realm Scroll again, more eagerly now that he knew some of its uses. After a deep breath, he began to study it carefully.
Less than an hour later, he finished working his way through the scroll, and it turned to ashes in his hands. This did not surprise him — by now, he was familiar with how Realm Scrolls worked.
Having finished the Realm Scroll, he now had a Force Realm. But of course, he hadn't opened it yet. Doing so would still be weeks of work, if not more, unless he took a Realm Opening Pill.
At that thought, his eyes lit up, and he realized that he finally knew how to escape.
He hurriedly took out the Realm Opening Pills he had in his void bags. With the two he had left from Master Zhao and the four from Panurge's bag, there were six in total.
That should be enough, but with a thought, he searched the treasures he had taken from the Herald's stronghold. He had looked through those when he first arrived in the cell, searching for something that might help him escape the cell. When he found nothing useful, he had left the treasures untouched, all but forgetting about them.
Now, he searched furiously, overturning the void bags with the treasures, and carefully sifting through all the items inside.
Two hours later, he had another three Realm Opening Pills, for a total of nine. That, he thought, should be more than enough.
He was about to take the pills when he was struck by a sudden thought. After he burst through the door, what would he find outside?
With Panurge's tricks, he was certain that he would not be able to simply away — there had to be something more behind the door, whether it be tricks, traps, or enemies. Yet if he took the Realm Opening Pills and used their power to break down the door, he might be left unconscious for days.
He put the pills away with a sigh, then sat down to think. He needed a plan.
For a time he sat in silence, brow furrowed as he considered his options. Just bursting through the door with the power of the Realm Opening Pills was tempting, but even with his strengthened body, he could not be certain that he would be in fighting condition afterward.
A better option was using several pills to break open his Force Realm, then learn the spells Panurge gave him. But would it be enough? Using Windblade, he was only barely able to scratch the door, and his Wind Realm had been forced open by a dozen Realm Opening Pills.
After a moment of doubt, he rejected both choices.
The first was far too dangerous, while the second might not work at all. And if it didn't, raising his power far enough to bring down the door might take years.
He thought it over, then reached a decision.
He would strengthen his body until he was confident that he could withstand multiple Realm Opening Pills without losing consciousness, and then, he would blast down the door. And during the time it took to strengthen his body, he would also study both the Force Spells and the Windblade spell.
Decision made, he set to work.
The first thing he did was to take a single Realm Opening Pill, both to open his Force Realm and to test how well he could withstand it.
It didn't take long before he could feel the familiar pain of raw Essence flooding his body, but he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, intent on enduring it. It was bad, but not as bad as he expected — clearly, his training in Body Refinement had paid off.
The pain finally subsided some hours later, and as it did, a grin appeared on Arran's face. He had succeeded in staying awake despite the pain, with his body still well enough to fight. Achieving the same feat with multiple pills would be more difficult, but now, he knew it was possible.
Force Realm opened, he examined the Force Essence that now flowed in his body, and he was surprised at its power. He could sense that it was different from the other types of Essence he had. Somehow, it seemed stronger, as if its power was more focused.
He tried using it, sending out a blast the way he did with Fire and Wind Essence, and the effect surpassed his expectations. If using Wind Essence was like blowing out a candle, then using Force Essence was like hitting it with a hammer.
At once, he understood just how powerful Force Essence would be once he mastered it. Yet despite his excitement, he put the thought aside. His first goal was to strengthen his body.
As he sat on the floor, he took out two bottles of Panurge's wine, putting one on the ground next to him and taking the other in his hand. He took a large swig, and instantly, he could feel the effects — intoxication and Natural Essence both flooding his body.
This time, he was prepared, and he began to use Lord Jiang's circulation technique, drawing the Natural Essence into his body while simultaneously using its power to fight off the intoxication.
By the time he drained the second bottle, nearly two hours had passed, and he was exhausted. Still, he felt some excitement as he knew it had worked — he could already feel the Natural Essence from the wine strengthening his body.
Satisfied, he went to sleep, knowing that his true training would begin the next day.
In the months that followed, he quickly fell into a routine of alternating Body Refinement with magic practice, only pausing when he needed to sleep.
Panurge's wine made his progress in Body Refinement even faster than it had been before, and using his experience mastering the Windblade spell, he managed to gain a basic grasp of both Force spells in under two months.
The power of the spells was as astonishing as the Force Essence itself.
Using Battering Force, he was able to focus Essence to a degree that was impossible even with Windblade, giving it far more power for the same amount of Essence. Had his Wind Realm not been so monstrously strong, he might have decided to neglect his practice with Wind Essence altogether.
Where Battering Force was a devastating attack, Force Shield was at least as impressive a defense. As the name suggested, it allowed him to form a shield of Force Essence, and from what little testing he could do by himself, he was confident that it would easily stop weapons and at least some magic.
More months passed, and eventually, Arran's progress began to slow.
While he knew he could advance further, both in magic and in Body Refinement, he also knew that from now, each step would take longer than the last. Still, he persisted, even if he could feel that his time in the cell was coming to an end.
One day he awoke, and he knew that the time had come.
He still wasn't confident in his ability to face whatever lay beyond the door, but there was no use in worrying about the unknown. He had spent close to a year preparing and training, locked in the cell. If that wasn't enough, then he would die. So be it.
Setting aside his remaining doubts, he walked up to the door. Then, he took the Realm Opening Pills in his hand — five of them, each containing the condensed Essence of a Grandmaster.
He swallowed the pills at once, then gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain to come.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
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