Chapter 14

When Arran reached the training hall, he found no one inside . Of course there was no one there, he thought — he did not know the time, but the sky was dark and the monastery grounds were empty . It would be either very late at night or very early in the morning .

He briefly considered heading to the cottage where Adept Kadir lived, but then rejected the thought .

While he was eager to show Adept Kadir his newly opened Wind Realm, he very much doubted the man would appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night .

After a moment’s thought, he headed to the room where he had stayed before he was sent to the Realm Opening Cell . It was in one of several buildings that housed the monastery’s initiates, and as he entered he took care not to wake the others .

He found his own room empty, with the bag that held his belongings placed in a corner . The room itself was not much different from the one where he had opened his Wind Realm, but it was more spacious and less austere, with a larger bed and several drawings hanging on the walls .

Although he wasn’t tired, he decided that he should try to get some sleep . The next day, he thought, would be a demanding one . Adept Kadir would certainly want him to test his new Realm, and after that, he would probably have to spend most of the day training .

He got in the bed, closing his eyes and pulling the blanket over himself .

Although he had planned to sleep until morning, after only a short time he found that with the excitement of opening a new Realm still fresh in his mind, sleep would not come easily .

As he lay in the darkness his thoughts kept turning to his newly opened Realm, and he was impatient to use it and discover what it could do .

Finally, accepting that he would not be able to sleep that night, he got up and took a seat at the small desk that stood in the room . He took a candle and put it in front of him, then used a sliver of Fire Essence to light it .

After that, he set to work, trying to draw his Wind Essence into his hand, the same way he did with his Fire Essence before throwing fireballs .

At first, his progress was slow . Although he had a fair amount of experience in using Essence by now, the Wind Essence was still new and foreign to him, and he struggled to control it .

Yet as he continued to try, his control over Wind Essence improved steadily, and after less than an hour, he succeeded in guiding it into his hand .

Eagerly, he began work on his next step, which was to use Wind Essence to extinguish the candle .

His first few attempts failed, and once, when he thought he had succeeded, he realized after a moment that he had accidentally blown out the candle while huffing in exertion .

More attempts followed and soon he succeeded, for real this time . Holding his hand half a pace away from the candle, he produced a small gust of wind that blew out the flame .

He lit the candle once more and repeated the feat . This time, success came a little faster . Again he tried and again he succeeded, faster still .

Barely half an hour later, he was able to draw out the Wind Essence in just a few breaths’ time . That was still nowhere near as fast as he could draw out his Fire and Shadow Essence, but the speed of his progress astounded him .

Encouraged by his rapid achievements he wanted to try drawing out a larger amount of Essence, but he knew he could not do so in his room . Not without risking waking the others in the building, at least .

With a thought, Arran got up, then quietly left the building, heading back to the training hall . The sky was still dark and the grounds still empty, and as he expected, there was no one in the training hall .

It was dark inside, and he used Fire Essence to produce some light to find the torches that hung from the walls . As he lit them, an idea entered his mind .

He took a position about three paces away from a lit torch, then focused his attention and gathered all the Wind Essence he could in his hand .

When he had mustered as much as he could, he launched it at the torch, using the same technique he used for fireballs, using Wind instead of Fire Essence .

The torch flickered as if a slight breeze had hit it .

It wasn’t much, but Arran was encouraged by the sight . He remembered how slow his progress had been when he first used Fire Essence, and he could tell that this time, his experience would allow him to advance much faster .

In the hours that followed, Arran’s control of Wind Essence increased with leaps and bounds . He succeeded in extinguishing the torch at three paces, then at five paces . Eventually, he managed to blow out the torch at ten paces, and he could feel that he was close to his limit .

Already, he knew that the Wind Realm would prove invaluable the next time he saw combat . Even now, using it would allow him to throw an opponent off balance, if only for a moment .

The memory of his battle against the bandits was still vivid in his mind, and he understood that in a fight, a moment’s stumble could be the difference between life and death .

He was about to make a final attempt to extinguish the torch when suddenly, a voice sounded .

“When did you open your Wind Realm?”

Arran turned around with a start, finding Adept Kadir behind him . He did not know how long the man had been there, but from the serious expression on his face, Arran could tell that he had seen enough .

“Last night,” he answered .

“You opened your Wind Realm in less than a week, and after a single night, you can do… that?” Adept Kadir gestured at the torch .

“I practiced most of the night . ” Arran knew it wasn’t much of an answer, but there was nothing else he could say . Without telling Adept Kadir about his forbidden Realm, there simply was no good way to explain his rapid progress .

“Did anyone else see you?” Adept Kadir asked, a hint of worry on his face .

Arran shook his head . “I was here by myself . “

“Good,” Adept Kadir said . “We must see Grandmaster Windsong . Immediately . “

“Immediately? But I thought Grandmaster Windsong and Master Fireheart were, eh, indisposed?” Arran still remembered what Adept Kadir had told him a week earlier .

“Indisposed or not, this cannot wait . ” Adept Kadir’s expression was grave . “If this gets out, the Academy…” He shook his head, as if he was unwilling to finish the thought .

Arran silently cursed his own carelessness . Just a few weeks without Master Zhao at his side, and he had already done something that could have drawn the attention of the Academy .

For now, he was not overly worried — both Master Zhao and Windsong already knew about his forbidden Realm, and it seemed he could trust Adept Kadir not to inform the Academy .

Yet he understood that if he was to escape the Academy’s notice in the future, he would have to be far more careful .

With a sigh, he followed Adept Kadir out of the training hall .