The way back

While running back towards Knight's Watch having his shadow cloak activated Arran was deep in thought. He wondered if he had done the right thing in leaving, he really wanted to gain the rest of the bloodlines and the way to truly master them from Lady Merem but knew that too much greed would only lead to his death.

He had already got more than he had dreamed when first embarking on this mission and had been on death's door multiple times already. He didn't want to test how much his luck would hold because he already attracted too much attention from both the Church and the Imperial Knights.

The Archon was no fool and seeing Arran's power rise to that of a Lord could not be explained in front of him, not when he was supposed to have the corrupted Hungerer bloodline eating away at his foundation. The pills the Archon gave him could explain some of that but not nearly enough.

A week's travel went by fast with Arran only stopping in the evening for food and rest. His shadow cloak spell had progressed by leaps and bounds from when he first came into the Imperium, being now able to maintain it for days with little to no effort and only creatures such as the Blightspawn or the essence remnants being able to sense him now. But thankfully his shadow sword could sense them far in advance.

He felt so much better now after leaving the Desolation, though most of its effects were nullified by his Destruction essence its effects on his magic still remained strong and the eerie feeling of the Desolation still lingered in his mind. Much remained unknown about it still and Arran wondered what monsters the Blightspawn held in his ranks, the Champions able to even face and kill the Darian Gods though mostly by overcoming them with great numbers. He wanted to see them for himself but knew that such a wish would only bring him death. He remembered the glimpse of the future Panurge had shown him and the Titan that Crassus had fought to death and wonder if the Blightspawn had similar monsters. Perhaps when he would be powerful enough the answers would come to him in one way or another. The future was bleak and he knew he needed power.

Without power, he would only be a leaf in a hurricane. He made a wide detour around Knight's Watch not wanting to be spotted by either the Darians nor the Blightspawn and thankfully he could avoid them both with the help of his shadow sword's senses. Finally, months later Arran returned to the ancient battlefield where he picked up the forms. He was not strong enough then to reach its center and find elder Nikias's void ring then but now the unbound essence was merely a nuisance and held no threat.

A day later in the center of the battlefield, he managed to find a few void rings, most likely belonging to elder Nikias and his most powerful disciples. Arran took them and retreated to a remote valley a few days travel from the battlefield to check the contents of the rings. A few hours later a huge smile was plastered on his face when he discovered the complete forms in one of the rings.

If the knowledge contained in the forms he had before was a lake this knowledge was as vast as the sea. It would take Arran years to study and master the complete forms but he had no doubt it was worth the effort and bring him power rivaling Lady Merem.

His next step would be to return to the city of Amydon and see if Karanos had returned and if not decide what he could do about the portal to the shadow realm. He knew destroying it was still above his reach but perhaps he could seal it using master Zhao's shadow seal.

Progress through the landscape was slow because he avoided the roads and the days blended together, with daytime focused on running and night on training. He chose to focus on the forms but also on mastering his Destruction essence. Progress was slow but brought Arran joy. He knew his life would have been so different without his Destruction realm. He would have lived and died in his small village but he would have known his mother.

She had left him when he turned five and his Destruction realm manifested because she thought her absence would keep him safe. His memory of her now only a flicker, it filled him with regret. Would he even recognize her if he saw her on the street?

These kinds of questions plagued him for hours before he decided regrets served no purpose. The weeks passed by and finally, he reached the mountain containing the city of Amydon. He slowly descended into the tunnels and it was completely undisturbed. No sign of Karanos nor of the remnants from the shadow realm. After a few more days and he finally reached the portal between worlds. He still remembered the feeling of dread when he first laid his eyes on it and some of that still remained.

The threat it posed on his world was great and it also served as a warning of what the future could hold. If when he first entered the shadow realm he was too weak to even stay alive without the help of Karanos, he knew that things were different now. While the massive essence remnants still possed a threat he could now easily avoid them.

He decided to go again into the shadow realm and search for Karanos but also take advantage of the time flow difference to master the forms. There was no going back on this decision because while risky it was his best chance to gain the power he needed in the coming wars. He went through the portal and found himself flooded with shadow essence but unlike the last time, he quickly circulated his own massive reserves of shadow essence and regained his senses. He quickly found a secluded cave and started practicing the forms using his shadow essence. The process was hard at first because of the sheer amount of shadow essence around him but perseverance proved key and slowly but surely as time passed by his mastery over the forms and his shadow essence grew. He found no signs of Karanos and decided to stay far away from any possible encounter with the essence remnants.

Decades went by and he now held hundreds of true insights with thousands more on the verge of mastering While monsters like Crassus and Lady Merem were still far beyond his reach, Archmages and Lords were not much threat to him now. His shadow essence now had an almost unlimited supply and he knew he had reached the Grandmaster level.

A few more years passed by and he managed to erect a barrier using his shadow essence, strong enough to keep the foreign essence at bay and mask his presence even if essence remnants walked close. He started training his Destruction realm again because he knew it would be his strongest weapon if mastered. Decades went by and what was first a small amount of essence that barely moved with his comands, now become a force to be wrecked with. While still in gaseous form and not even rivaling his fire realm in density its destruction power was almost mind-boggling. Even starmetal would disintegrate before it like a butterfly's wings in a fire.

If before the thought of facing Lady Merem in battle terrified him now he knew few could stand in his way. But even this was not enough to make a difference in the coming wars he knew, so he kept training for what he could only guess was more than a century and by this point, his Destruction essence was beginning to turn from a mist to liquid, the sign of a master. He wanted to train further if possible but knew that any further progress would come slow and time was limited. He needs to reach Brightblade before the start of the war against the Darians. He took down the barrier and noticed the much heavier darkness that was the sight of winter.

A few minutes later he was once again in front of the portal and stepped through it back into his world. Though sad about Karanos there was nothing he could do about him and decided to use a barrier to seal the portal from outside. While not a perfect solution is was all he could do for now he knew.

Unlike the last time he had left the void ring holding his digger meat and the remaining essence pills outside the shadow realm and after inspecting it he knew it was a wise choice. He cooked a massive portion of meat with his fire essence and ate as much as possible.

The pills also proved invaluable to regaining his physical strength and appearance and he spent the next week eating and retraining his senses. While he was no longer overwhelmed like last time it was still uncomfortable at first. He wasn't sure how much time had passed in this world but he knew the war had not started yet by looking at the token from Brightblade. But he no longer wanted to waste time and left Amydon.

Though his physical strength had not improved in the shadow realm his speed had grown massively due to his insights. He could now affect reality he realized the way the Lords did. It only took him a week to reach the mountain range where the barrier held the essence remnants and demons in place and if the first time he entered the barrier with Brightblade the essence felt heavy if was now baptizing his every cell and filling him with power. The Hungerer bloodline was voraciously absorbing the natural essence and he wished this feeling would never stop. He now had no fear of the essence remnants and suspected he could even use his Destruction realm to kill them but would do no such thing. They kept the demon numbers in check and defended the empire from any would-be invaders.

Every hour of absorbing essence had almost the same effects as taking one of Roshan's pills and Arran knew this place would be great for increasing his power further but he was short of time right now so he traveled fast while avoiding the remnants on his path. Two days later he found himself leaving the barrier and going down the mountain path toward Brightblade's mansion.