Preparing for war

Brightblade told Arran that his mission had taken him eight years and in this time Snowcloud had managed to become a Master mage and was taken under the tutelage of the Matriarch and that she agreed to this because she was too busy preparing the mages for war. They spent the night talking about what they should do next and decide to only tell the Matriarch about the forms he found and nothing else.

While she trusted the Matriarch mostly, a lot of doubts still remained about the possible spies the Imperium would have in their ranks. It was too much of a risk to expose Arran's mission even to the Matriarch. He decided to give Brightblade a few dozen essence pills to improve her body refinement. The next morning they would go to see the Matriarch and show her his progress in the shadow flame spell and the forms.

They traveled at high speed and by evening they reached the Matriarch. She was a bit disappointed at first thinking his talent is bad to have taken so long to learn the shadow flame spell but when they told her about the recovery of elder Nikias's forms her eyes sparkled brightly. He demonstrated how the forms could be used to learn insights and how those could improve all aspects of power.

After a long discussion, Arran left together with Brightblade and Snowcloud to his mansion. The thought of tasting the food cooked by his chefs again excited him greatly. After dinner, they set a barrier and brought Snowcloud to speed, but didn't tell her too much about the Imperium or the Blightspawn. He gave her the last shadow sword he found in the Desolation together with a few dozen essence pills and the forms.

Elder Nikias's notes explained the proper use of the forms but it would take years to master them even for them. Brightblade decided it was high time Arran should learn some advanced spells, ones suitable for a master. She gave him spells accompanied by her notes. Brightblade estimated it would still be a few more years until the Darians attacked and in the meantime, they should focus on training hard to survive the coming war but even if it started it would take years for things to escalate to the level where Archmages and Lords fought. So in the next five years, Arran decided to focus on learning advanced spells and absorbing nature essence in the barrier where the remnants and demons were trapped.

Though still dangerous the sheer amount of essence would provide him with explosive growth when using his Hungerer bloodline. While he would have liked to spend a few more days with Snowcloud and enjoying good food and comfort he knew it would have to wait. The next day he left again towards Brightblade's mansion but this time alone. He arrived late in the evening and decided he should spend the night sleeping in a comfortable bed because he knew it would be years untill he would have another chance.

He spent the night roasting and drying digger meat because he knew he would not be able to use his magic inside the barrier without attracting remnants. The night passed fast and early in the morning he set off at a fast pace.

Hours later he entered the barrier and decided he should not go too deep. Using his sword he carved a small cave into a cliff and while absorbing nature essence he would study the spells Brightblade gave him and further perfect his mastery of the forms. Time passed quickly and after two months he decided to go out of the barrier and test his knowledge of the spells with some actual practice.

He didn't go too far and spent a few days roasting some more meat and practicing the spells. He learned a more advanced version of shield and also the spell Brightblade used to enhance her body. But mastering them he feared would take years. After a good night's sleep, he returned to the barrier and continued the process in this fashion for the next three years.

By this point, he could use all seven bloodlines at once without any effect on his body. He suspected even Lords would have a hard time damaging his body if they didn't use shadow blades. The bloodlines were beginning to show their true potential and made Arran extremely happy with his progress. Using the Sage`d bloodline he managed to learn the spells Brightblade gave him and even create some new seals using Master Zhao's seals as a template.

He decided to visit Brightblade and check on the status of the war and so he traveled to the mansion once more but this time the trip only took him an hour and that was not even his full speed. Coincidentally he found Brightblade and Snowcloud training there and was pleasantly surprised with their improvements.

They had managed to reach the first step into enlightenment and possessed thousands of insights. Though not true insights and merely seeds they give the girls a huge power boost in all aspects