Paragon of Destruction

Arran didn't find Snowcloud in her room, but this hardly surprised him.

There were three places where she could be, and of those, her room was the least likely. When he didn't find her at the ingredient stockroom either, he quickly headed to the alchemists' quarters, knowing she would be there.

His assumption proved correct, because before he even entered the alchemists' quarters, he could already hear shouting in the distance.

An unfamiliar voice called out, "Do you have any idea how rare it is!"

Another responded, "I don't care how rare it is! I need it!"

The second voice belonged to Snowcloud, and when Arran opened the door, he found her facing one of the alchemists, a short middle-aged woman with a bookish face.

Both of their faces were red with anger, and they ignored Arran as he stepped inside, the argument taking all of their attention.

"I can't have all my herbalists chasing a single ingredient!" The alchemist seemed on the verge of a breakdown, her voice trembling as she yelled.

"You can, and you will," Snowcloud replied bluntly. "Elder Naran promised your full cooperation, and I will have it."

"But I'm running out of ingredients!" Some desperation now sounded in the alchemist's voice. "If this continues, I won't even be able to create wound salves anymore!"

"Then use the recruits," Snowcloud said. "There are thousands of them, and you hardly need trained skilled herbalists to gather bloodflower root and saint's grace leaves."

It took the alchemist a moment to come up with a response, and before she could do so, Snowcloud used the chance to break off the conversation and turn to Arran.

"So you've finally decided to emerge from your lair?" she asked, walking toward him. He could see there were still some traces of red in her cheeks, but her voice was calm.

"Tuya had me practice with the novices," he replied.

Snowcloud stepped out of the alchemists' quarters, seeming anxious to be rid of the alchemist, and Arran followed behind her.

"So I take it you've discovered the benefits of the Tempering?" she asked as they walked into the hallway.

"I have," he said. "And I owe you an apology for not listening to you. When you said it would increase my control, I didn't think the effect would be quite as large."

She shrugged in response. "I've been keeping busy with other things. Elder Naran had one of the ingredients I needed in his stockpile, and I've sent his herbalists off in search of another. With a bit of luck, I'll have that within a few weeks."

"Do they know about…" Arran began, speaking in a low voice.

"Wait," Snowcloud said. "Let's go to the herb garden. It's usually empty, so we can speak freely there."

She led Arran through a few hallways, and a short while later they emerged in a small walled garden at the back of the castle.

It was easy to see why it was usually empty — it looked like all the herbs had been plundered some time ago, and the only things left now were grass and weeds, growing wildly across the beds of earth that had once held herbs.

They sat down on a small bench in the middle of the garden, and although the area looked to be empty, Arran still sent out his Shadowsight. Only when he was sure there was nobody nearby did he relax.

"So do they know?" he asked again. "That you're looking for a cure for the Patriarch?"

"Only Elder Naran," Snowcloud said. "But he thinks I'm trying to invent a cure myself. He doesn't know I have my mother's recipe. That he's helping is because he wants to win my support for the Soaring Sun, not because he thinks I have any chance of success."

"You don't trust him?"

She hesitated in answering, and when she spoke, it was in an uncertain tone. "I trust Elder Naran, but he's not the only member of the Soaring Sun. There are others who would be less pleased with the idea of curing Grandfather."

Arran frowned. "So you think your enemies are in the Soaring Sun faction?"

Snowcloud shook her head. "I have enemies in all factions, and if my goal was widely known, I would have more. What I don't know is who among them would act against me — and who's responsible for poisoning Grandfather."

"It has to be someone from the Soaring Sun or Waning Moon factions, right?"

Arran still remembered that these were the factions trying to bring change to the Sixth Valley, while the third — the Iron Mountain — comprised the Patriarch's old allies.

"I don't know," Snowcloud replied. "I was just a small child when it happened. But whoever is behind it, the fewer people who know what I'm doing, the better."

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Arran considering the situation and once more realizing just how little he understood of the intrigue within the Sixth Valley.

"You should be wary of Elder Naran," Snowcloud said eventually, her expression thoughtful as she spoke.

Arran gave her a puzzled look. "Didn't you just say you trusted him?"

"I trust him not to betray me," Snowcloud said. "But I also know that he truly believes in the Soaring Sun's cause. He's trying to win me to their side, and if he thinks you're valuable, he will try the same with you. "

At once, Arran understood what she was getting at.

"If I tie myself to the Soaring Sun, the other factions will become my enemies."

"Exactly. And you can't allow yourself to be roped into the conflict between the factions. If you do, you will make enemies far beyond your current strength."

"I'll do my best not to get involved," Arran said, meaning every word of it.

He was well aware that he barely knew what the different sides were fighting for, much less which of them was right — or which had the best chance of emerging victorious. Aligning himself with any of them would be sheer idiocy.

Their conversation continued for some time, Snowcloud repeatedly impressing upon Arran the importance of staying out of the conflict, as well as asking questions about his Tempering.

When he finally returned to his room, evening had already fallen, but he still spent several hours on Body Refinement, then another few studying the seal on his Destruction Realm.

The next day, and the ones after that, he used every morning to train his swordsmanship with the novices.

They were happy to spar against him, eager to learn from what they believed was a master swordsman. Yet the truth was that they were more skilled than Arran was, and while his control allowed him to defeat them, he was the one who learned most from their exchanges.

After the Tempering, the control he had over his body made it shockingly easy to copy his opponents' techniques. He only needed to watch a novice use a sword technique a single time to perform it himself, and usually better than the person he'd copied it from.

With barely two weeks of this, his swordsmanship improved more than it had in all his years before that, and he soon found himself able to give the novices genuine advice — correcting their postures and techniques, with his understanding of his own body letting him know how they should be performed.

Occasionally, Tuya would come over, sometimes just watching their training and sometimes stepping in to give lessons or tips.

While her lessons were invaluable, Arran soon learned that her help came at a price. Whenever she intervened, both he and the other novices would soon find themselves an Essence Crystal or two poorer, with the giant adept appearing not at all ashamed of extorting her students.

Still, it was a price worth paying — especially to Arran, who had an abundance of Essence Crystals.

"Where is Stoneheart?" he asked her one day after he finished his daily practice. "Wasn't he supposed to come to the castle?"

Tuya's expression turned serious at the question. "He lost most of his novices after crossing the border," she said. "Because of that, he lacks the standing to enter the castle. Right now, he's in the camp, and he will remain there until he redeems himself."

Arran nodded thoughtfully. Although he felt some sympathy for Stoneheart, it wasn't much — the tall novice's foolishness had cost the lives of thousands of recruits, and his inexperience would not excuse that.

Moreover, Arran had other things to worry about.

Aside from his daily sword practice, he also spent hours each day on Body Refinement, and then hours more studying the seal on his Destruction Realm and practicing his skill with magic.

Even during this period of peace and quiet, he unexpectedly found himself short on time, struggling to perform all his duties. Yet he knew he could not slack on any of them, so he sought time wherever he could, rising well before dawn and only sleeping after midnight.

It was on one of these busy nights, while he was studying the shadow seal, that he was called to Elder Naran's quarters.

Snowcloud's words still fresh in his mind, he was immediately worried, all the more so because he hadn't seen a sign of Elder Naran in weeks. But as a guest at the castle, he had no choice but to go.

When he arrived at the Elder's quarters, he was surprised to find that Stoneheart was there.

"Good, you've arrived," Elder Naran said when he saw Arran. "Take a seat. There are things we must discuss, and there isn't much time."

"What kind of things?" Arran asked as he sat down on an overly large wooden chair.

"I've found a way for you to regain your strength," Elder Naran said. Then, he turned his eyes to Stoneheart, and added, "And a way for my nephew to regain his honor."