Paragon of Destruction

The first thing Arran did was to take care of his wounded shoulder. He rinsed the wound with water, then carefully bandaged it.

Although the wound wasn't too bad — for his Essence-enhanced body, at least — he did not want to take even the slightest risk. He needed it healed, and he needed it healed fast. The region was simply too dangerous to be weak.

This time, he had managed to defeat his attacker. But what if a stronger creature showed up? Or what if he stumbled into a rogue mage? Snowcloud had told him there was little chance of meeting anyone here, but after she blinded him, Arran was reluctant to trust her.

Yet all of that was of later concern. Right now, there were more pressing matters, and the first one was to find out just what he could do using the mist of Shadow Essence he had used to save his life.

He took some time to experiment with the mist, seeing how far it would allow him to Sense his surroundings. The result was somewhat disappointing, though not unexpected.

He quickly discovered that he could spread the mist to a distance of around twenty paces before it became too thin for him to Sense objects within it, but the amount of Essence needed for that meant he could maintain it for just a few minutes.

If he limited the mist to a distance less than five paces around him and kept a close watch on the amount of Essence he used, he could maintain it without draining his Shadow Essence. But if he did that, it was little better than being in a pitch-dark forest with only a dim candle.

Still, even if it was a far cry from what he was supposed to achieve, it was incomparably better than what he had just a day earlier. And not just that — it was a technique of his own, something he had invented by himself.

It was so simple that it could hardly even be called a technique, but it allowed him to Sense his surroundings, and it had saved his life. For that, he figured it deserved a proper name.

After a moment of thought, he settled on 'Shadowsight.' Though the name was perhaps not as poetic or grand as it could have been, he thought it described the technique well enough.

His new technique named, he switched his attention back to the creature he had killed.

Using his Shadowsight without the distraction of battle, he could now tell that it was definitely a bear, but one that was so monstrously large it seemed like an entirely different species.

For a moment, he wondered how the beast had grown that large, and he was reminded of the story Lord Jiang had told him years ago. At the time, he had thought Lord Jiang had exaggerated when he said he had battled a bear the size of a small house, but now, Arran believed it might have been true.

The bear he had just killed wasn't anywhere near as large as the one Lord Jiang had mentioned, but then, it probably wasn't anywhere near as strong, either.

He frowned as he considered the possibility of animals growing larger as they absorbed more Natural Essence, wondering just how large they might grow if that was the case. Would there be animals the size of hills, or even mountains?

Casting the thought of mountain-sized beasts aside, he turned his attention back to the dead bear in front of him. As he did, he could not help but think about the final part of Lord Jiang's story — killing and eating the bear.

At once, Arran knew what he would do.

It was a fitting end for a beast that had intended to eat him, but more importantly, this was the first time he had captured and killed a monster. Until now, he had relied on gifts from others, but this — this was something he had achieved without help.

After a moment's thought, he began to butcher the bear, cutting it into pieces and discarding the entrails and fur. It was hard and messy work, especially with only his Shadowsight to see what he was doing, but after several hours of effort, he finished it as well as he could.

His clumsy work caused him to waste much of the meat, but even so, what remained was still a staggering amount — enough to feed him for months, if not more.

He stashed the meat in one of his void bags. Although he was eager to try it, he worried that the remains of the bear might attract other wildlife, and he decided he should first try to reach the cave again.

Now that he had the Shadowsight technique to aid him, he was less worried about getting lost, which made the search far easier. He still failed to find the cave several times, walking back to the creek after each time he knew he had gone the wrong way, but it took him less than an hour to finally find the cave again.

Back inside the cave, the first thing he did was take a large piece of bear meat, which he roasted using his Fire Essence.

As food, the meat wasn't anything special. It was tough and chewy, with an earthy flavor that did little to please his senses. Although it wasn't exactly offensive either, only someone on the brink of starvation would call it delicious.

Yet the Natural Essence it contained was something different altogether. After only a single bite, Arran could tell that it was many times stronger than anything he'd had before.

He didn't know whether it was because of the beast's power or the meat's freshness, but whatever the reason, it was so potent he could feel the Natural Essence coursing through his body as he ate.

By the time he finished eating, he felt as if his body could explode with energy, and he quickly set to work using Body Refinement to absorb it all.

Fully absorbing it took him some time, but after he finished, he thought he could vaguely feel that his body had strengthened. The sensation caused him some surprise — the last time he had felt a direct effect from Body Refinement had been when he first drank Panurge's wine. Since then, any progress he made had been too gradual to notice instantly.

Yet even as he detected the effects, he considered what Snowcloud had taught him about Natural Essence weakening one's link to the magical Realms. Although he couldn't notice any negative effects on his control of Essence just yet, he was unwilling to take the risk.

Again, he set to work practicing Body Refinement, but this time using Shadow Essence. If Snowcloud was right, the effects of doing that should help balance out his use of Natural Essence, while still bringing some small benefit in terms of power.

He kept it up for several hours until finally, he was too tired to continue. He did not know whether he had achieved a proper balance, but weary as he was, it would have to suffice.

He lay down on the cave floor, too tired to even lay down bedding. Moments later, he was asleep.