Arran stood amid the carnage, panting in exhaustion. All told, the battle had taken less than two minutes, yet he had expended every bit of energy in his body.

Now that the fight was over he became aware that he was injured, and after inspecting his body he was startled to find that there were more than a dozen injuries all over his body — burns, cuts, and bruises, none of which he remembered sustaining.

Although Arran was hurt, his armored coat had taken most of the damage, and with a quick glance he could see that it was ruined beyond repair. Still, better the coat than him, he thought.

It took him some time to catch his breath and slow his racing heartbeat. As the excitement of battle wore off, a deep sense of weariness set in, but he did not allow it to take hold of him just yet.

He felt fear, too. During the fight, there had been no time to be scared, but now, he understood just how close he had come to dying. Although he wanted to believe that he had survived through his own skill, he knew that he owed much to luck.

Once more, he was reminded of the need to get stronger. Even if he had been lucky this time, there were limits to luck, and he'd be a fool if he believed his luck would last forever.

He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. Right now he had other things to take care of, and after that, he would need rest.

After a short search, he found his sword, which had been torn from his hands when he used it to block a fireball. He was relieved to find it unharmed, although it was covered in the blood of those he had slain. He carefully wiped it clean before sheathing it.

Next, he searched through the belongings of his enemies, taking their weapons and the void bags of those who had them. He did not look at the bags' contents as he took them, deciding that there would be time do so later.

After taking the valuables off the Redstone men's bodies, only the Academy mage was left. He approached the man's corpse with some hesitation, some part of him still fearing that his defeated enemy would somehow suddenly rise again.

Yet when he looked at the mage's body, he understood that the man was well and truly defeated. Where his head had been there was now only a bloody pulp of blood and bone and brains, and Arran was shocked at the damage he had done in his desperate assault on the man.

He shuddered as he remembered the fight. By all rights, the mage should have defeated him, and easily at that.

Yet in that crucial moment, when Arran had attacked bare-handed without the slightest hesitation, the mage had wavered, and it had cost him his life.

There was a valuable lesson there, Arran knew. In battle, even the briefest moment of doubt could prove fatal against a decisive opponent.

Resisting the urge to gag at the sight and smell of the mage's corpse, Arran searched the body, finding a slender sword and a void bag. He took both, then stood up.

Just as he got to his feet, a voice sounded behind him.

"Are you all right?"

Arran spun around, sword drawn in an instant. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Captain Yang.

"You're injured," the man said, worry clear on his face. As he approached, his eyes went wide with shock. "Your face!"

With a frown, Arran touched his hand to his face. Instantly, he winced in pain as he felt that the left half of his face was badly burned. He could not recall being injured like that during the fight, but then, all his attention had been focused on defeating his enemies.

"I'll take you to a healer," Captain Yang said. With a look at the bodies strewn across the charred battleground, he added, "I'll have my men bury the bodies."

Arran was about to say he didn't need a healer when he suddenly felt his legs go weak beneath his body. He only barely managed to remain standing, but it seemed his injuries were far more severe than he had realized.

"Come," Captain Yang said, "I'll help you."

They slowly made their way back to the town, Captain Yang supporting Arran as they walked.

"That was horrible," Captain Yang said after a time. "Even during my time at the Shadowflame Society, I never saw anything like it."

Instantly, Arran all but forgot about the pain. "You were a member of the Shadowflame Society?"

"No," the man replied. "I never made it past the selection."

Just then, a call sounded. "Captain!"

As they approached the town, the guards Arran had seen earlier came rushing toward them.

Their first concern was with Captain Yang, and only when they saw that he was unharmed did their attention move to Arran.

"Help me get him to my house," Captain Yang said. "And one of you go fetch the healer."

———

Although Arran's injuries were serious, with the help of Lord Jiang's circulation technique he recovered rapidly. Within a week, his wounds were all but healed, and even the burns on his face and shoulder were almost completely gone.

"It really is something," Captain Yang said, shaking his head in wonder. Arran had stayed at the man's house while he recovered, and several times a day, he would come to check on Arran's recovery.

"What is?" Arran asked.

"You," Captain Yang answered with a laugh. "With your wounds, I half expected you to be dead within the week. But now, just look at you — it's as if that battle didn't even happen."

"It's a technique I learned some time ago," Arran said. "But some days ago, you said you tried to join the Shadowflame Society. Any more you could tell me about that?"

"There's not much to tell," Captain Yang replied. "Two ago, I went to one of the border cities, hoping to join the Shadowflame Society. I spent a good two years there, hoping to get selected." He sighed. "It never happened, so in the end, I came back here."

"Selected?" Arran asked. "How does that work, exactly?"

"It's simple," Captain Yang said. "The border cities are full of people hoping to join the Shadowflame Society. Every once in a while, one of the members will appear and recruit a few dozen of them. But why are you so interested?"

"I'm actually hoping to join the Shadowflame Society myself," Arran said.

"You?" Captain Yang gave Arran a puzzled look. "But you're already a mage. Why would you want to join them?"

"I have my reasons," Arran replied. Although he liked the man, he still did not want to share his secrets. "But that selection you mentioned… how does it work? How do they decide whom to recruit?"

"It depends on who's doing the recruiting," Captain Yang said. "Some take only the best fighters, while others prefer healers and herbalists and the like. I once saw a scribe get recruited — scrawny little girl, wouldn't last a second in a fight." He scowled. "But she got in, and I didn't."

Arran nodded, a frown on his face. Before, he had assumed that joining the Shadowflame Society would be a simple matter of asking, but now, it seemed it might not be that easy.

"Think I have a chance of getting in?" he asked.

"You?" Captain Yang laughed. "Strong as you are, I imagine you could walk right in if you wanted. Though I still don't see why a mage would want to join."

Arran felt some relief at this. While it remained to be seen whether the man was right, his confidence helped soothe Arran's worries.

"I could take you with me," Arran said with a thought. "If you still want to join, I have ways to help you grow stronger."

"A decade ago, I'd have taken you up on that," Captain Yang replied with a chuckle. "But my adventuring days are well behind me."

Arran nodded, although he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. As far as company went, he could do worse than Captain Yang.

"There is another favor I have to ask of you, though," Captain Yang continued.

"What is it?" Having spent the week as a guest at the man's house, Arran figured the least he could do was hear out the request.

"There's a group of bandits about two weeks' travel west of here," Captain Yang said. "They've been attacking merchants and traders for the past few months. There's a few dozen of them, too many for my men to handle."

"You want me to take care of them?" Arran asked.

Captain Yang nodded. "If you could, I'd be in your debt. There's no mages among them, as far as I've heard, so you should have an easy time of it. And it's along the road to the Shadowflame Society, so it shouldn't take up too much time."

Arran gave it some thought. "I'll take a look," he finally said. "I can't promise anything, but if there aren't any mages with them, I'll make sure they won't bother any travelers again."

Captain Yang smiled broadly. "That's all I was hoping to hear," he said. "But first, you should make sure you're fully recovered. Another week or two wouldn't hurt."

"I'll be ready to leave in a few days," Arran replied.

Even if he enjoyed the soft bed and warm meals, he was anxious to be on his way again, all the more so after his most recent battle. The more he experienced the more he understood that he needed strength to survive, and there was little strength to be gained from resting in comfort.

Another two days, he decided, and he would depart.