Paragon of Destruction

Arran and Darkfire left the estate not long after Elder Batu. While they had months of travel ahead of them, there wasn't much they could do to prepare — Arran already carried multiple void bags filled with food and supplies, while Darkfire had only his sword, an armored coat, and some clothes.

Now that Darkfire had opened his Realms he was able to use void bags, but since he had none of his own, Arran gave him the one that had belonged to Stormleaf. He filled it with food and other supplies, adding some of the remaining treasures from the Herald's stronghold as well.

Darkfire accepted the gifts reluctantly. Although he seemed excited at having a void bag of his own, Arran could tell he felt uncomfortable at the help he was receiving.

"My debt to you grows larger every day," Darkfire said. "At this rate, I won't ever be able to repay it."

"There are no debts between friends," Arran replied. "Besides, having someone to watch my back is more valuable than any treasure."

In truth, there was more to it than that.

After the year Arran had spent alone in a dungeon cell, simply having someone to talk to was a luxury he treasured. If some small gifts could help prevent Darkfire from dying to some random misfortune, then he would gladly part with them.

They did not hurry in their travels, instead using the time to train together. Being recruited into the Shadowflame Society might be easy enough, but after that, they would travel beyond the border, where dangers abounded.

Darkfire made steady progress in his magical abilities, and with Arran's guidance and Jiang Fei's notes, it took him only a month to form his first Windblade.

At this, Arran could not help but feel some slight jealousy. Even if he was glad to see his friend progress this rapidly, he was reminded of how much longer it had taken him to achieve the same feat.

Still, he quickly rid himself of the thought. With Darkfire as a friend and ally, any progress Darkfire made would benefit both of them.

As they traveled, Arran also shared Lord Jiang's food and Panurge's wine with Darkfire, who was astonished at the Natural Essence they contained.

"No wonder you're so strong," Darkfire said with a baffled laugh. "Even princes would be lucky to have just a fraction of all this."

To Arran's surprise, Darkfire's power rose rapidly in the weeks that followed, to the point where he closed much of the gap in strength between Arran and himself.

Arran had previously been able to match Darkfire in combat by relying on his superior strength, but now, he found himself struggling to keep up. Even if he was still somewhat stronger, the difference just wasn't large enough anymore to make up for Darkfire's expertise with the sword.

One night, Darkfire suddenly stopped in the middle of a training session.

"There's something we need to discuss," he said, looking serious.

"What is it?" Arran asked.

"Your Body Refinement techniques aren't good enough."

"Not good enough?" Arran frowned thoughtfully. Seeing Darkfire's rapid progress he had already begun to suspect that there was a problem with his own techniques, and it seemed Darkfire had the same thought.

"Your techniques… they're too wasteful," Darkfire said. "Most of the Natural Energy you consume is squandered. With how many natural treasures you consume, you should be ten times as strong by now."

Suddenly, Arran understood. His techniques had been created by Lord Jiang, who seemed to have an endless supply of precious natural treasures. Rather than using the Natural Essence in them efficiently, the man simply consumed more of them.

"You have better techniques?" Arran asked, curious to see if he could learn something useful.

"I do, but…" Darkfire hesitated. "They're Society secrets. The punishment for sharing them with outsiders is death."

Slightly disappointed, Arran nodded. "Nothing we can do about it, then. I'll just have to wait until after we're recruited."

Darkfire remained silent for a second or two. "To hell with it," he said finally. "I'll teach you. Just don't let anyone know about it."

"Are you sure?" Arran asked uncertainly. "I don't mind waiting."

"You can't wait," Darkfire replied. "Nine out of every ten recruits die in their first year beyond the border. We need every advantage we can get."

With that, Darkfire deemed the issue settled. In the weeks that followed, he began to teach Arran his Body Refinement techniques, which turned out to be wholly different from Lord Jiang's.

Initially, Arran had some trouble with the new techniques. The ones he knew relied on consuming copious amounts of natural treasures, yet the techniques Darkfire now taught him seemed to be centered around slowly drawing Natural Essence from the outside world, then thoroughly absorbing even the slightest shred of t.

Even if the principles were the same — circulating Natural Essence around his body and directing it to his muscles, bones, and organs — Darkfire's techniques required far more care and control.

Yet after just some weeks, the training began to have an effect. Even if Arran was far from mastering the techniques, he sensed that he was already absorbing far more of the Natural Essence in the food and wine than he had previously.

As a result, his strength increased far more rapidly than before. And although Darkfire still held a slight advantage in their sparring matches, Arran was once again able to keep up with him.

Consumed as they were with training, Arran and Darkfire barely noticed the days pass. Even if much of their time was spent walking through the endless plains and hills that lay before the mountains, their real attention was on the mornings and evenings, when they would train and spar.

After some months of travel, they were almost surprised when they reached their destination — a vast city named Hillfort, just a few days' travel from the entrance to the Sixth Valley.

At a glance, Arran could see that it was several times the size of Eremont, with countless thousands of buildings centered around a large, barren hill that rose above the rest of the city. Atop it stood not a fort but what looked to be a palace, and Arran could only guess that the fort for which the city was named had been taken down long ago.

The city had no walls, but then, it didn't seem to need any. Just its sheer size and the proximity of the Sixth Valley should be all the protection it required.

"I think this is it," Arran said, feeling overwhelmed at the city's size. "Any idea where we should go?"

Darkfire shrugged, looking as bemused as Arran felt. "I suppose we'll just have to take a look."