Chapter 370

Arran spent an entire month doing little but training, his days and nights passing in a blur as he attacked his studies with an eagerness that bordered on fanaticism .

He slept twice that month, but other than that, he only paused when he needed to eat . The rest of his time all went into study and practice .

At some point, he noticed that the Kaleesh and Sassun had begun drilling the other mercenaries in spear techniques, but he paid them little attention .

While their focus was on preparing what remained of the Wolfsblood Company for the Desolation, Arran had a different task — to increase his own power .

Although the captain hadn’t said it outright, Arran had spent enough time studying the man’s manuscripts to know what strategy he planned to use in the Desolation .

The mercenaries were strong, but not so strong that they could defeat truly dangerous enemies . What they could do, however, was to provide distractions — to create openings for Arran and Kaleesh to exploit .

For that task, any strength Arran gained now would be invaluable . Not just to himself, but to every single person in their group .

And so, he’d found a quiet spot among the hills that surrounded the camp, surrounded by trees and far enough from the camp that he could train without disturbance .

It was there that he trained and ate, separated from the others to avoid even the smallest distraction . And with the importance of his task imprinted in his thoughts, he wasted no time on anything but training .

Yet for all his efforts, the results proved disappointing .

The only real thing the first month of training yielded was an increase in his skill at using the giant sword . His study of Kaleesh’s techniques increased his speed, but so little that it would hardly make a difference in battle .

Even worse were his results with the Forms and Muna’s techniques . With those, his endless hours of effort yielded no results whatsoever .

He had long believed that progress with the Forms was a simple matter of time . But now, finally, he began to have second thoughts about that .

With all the time and effort he’d put into the Forms, there should be at least some result by now — a hint of progress, if nothing else . Yet instead, he’d found nothing .

As the days passed, he became more and more convinced that he was missing something . There had to be a technique or method he lacked, something that would turn the useless secrets into something worthwhile .

Yet if there was such a technique, he had no idea what it might be . And despite his struggles to find an explanation, the answer remained as elusive as ever .

Even so, Arran did not let the lack of results discourage him .

Instead, he redoubled his efforts in training, repeating all the different techniques over and over in hopes of finding something — anything — that could help him .

Another month of training passed quickly, and by the end of it, Arran felt as if his mind was on the verge of breaking .

He hadn’t slept in weeks, and engrossed in training as he was, he’d skipped more than a few meals, his every waking moment spent endlessly repeating the same techniques .

But his manic efforts had yielded no results . If anything, it was as if he’d regressed rather than progressed .

With his mind weary and exhausted from countless hours of training, the techniques had started to blur together, the memory of each tainting all the others .

Under normal circumstances, he’d taken it as a sign that he desperately needed rest — which he did .

But now, he saw something else . Something that made his eyes widen with excitement .

As the different techniques blurred together, he suddenly recognized the similarity between them . Though they were all different, in a way they were all the same, as well .

Each contained a sliver of knowledge about the world . Yet where he had previously treated them as separate skills, he now understood the one thing he’d missed — that all these slivers were merely different aspects of a single, indivisible reality .

That was something he’d long known to be true, of course, but only at an abstract level . Yet now, finally, he thought he saw a glimpse of the truth behind it — a glimpse of the world he’d seen when he gained his insight into severing .

He spent several hours engraving the comprehension in his memory, fearful of losing what had taken him so long to gain .

Then, when he was confident that he had memorized it as well as he could, he lay down on the grass and slept .

When he awoke, he did not know how much time had passed . Hours at least, though more likely a day or two . Either way, it didn’t matter — now that he had recognized a path to improvement, there was little that could keep him from exploring it .

He set to work at once, again studying the techniques he’d already spent so much time trying to learn .

Yet this time, barely an hour had passed when a wide grin appeared on his face .

Finally, he’d found what he had earlier failed to recognize .

Each of the techniques in both the Forms and in Muna’s series of movements held the hint of a different insight, and each was created specifically to learn that insight . But now, he saw that each offered instruction on all the others as well .

The knowledge was hidden deep within the techniques, but it was undeniably there . For both sets of techniques, their individual elements offered instruction on all the others — instruction that was to be studied as a whole rather than a set of parts .

And now that Arran properly understood this, his progress came like an unstoppable torrent .

It took less than a week before he saw his first results . He’d already spent countless hours studying the techniques, and now, the insights hidden within them came to him easily .

The insights he gained were shallow, barely even worth the title, but the sheer number of insights contained within the Forms and Muna’s techniques was staggering .

Best of all, even if these insights were still undeveloped, Arran knew he now had a path toward deepening them . It would take time and effort, but with the broad foundation he’d gained so suddenly, he would be able to develop these inchoate insights into proper ones .

Just the thought of that was enough to make him tremble with anticipation . If he could turn these shallow insights into proper ones, he knew he’d have the strength to face Knights .

Because he now truly understood the Knights’ power — they had a wide sea of insights like the ones Arran had gained, albeit far deeper .

Yet with the foundation in place, it was only a matter of time before Arran’s insights grew as strong as theirs . When that happened, his true insight alone would be enough to grant him an insurmountable advantage .

Driven with anticipation, Arran spent the weeks that followed studying the techniques ceaselessly . And although his initial rate of progress soon slowed down, he was amazed at the results .

It was as if every aspect of his swordplay improved all at once . His speed, the power of his strikes, his agility — all of these saw small but noticeable improvements .

And the same held true for his magic . Although he did not dare to use anything but Shadow Essence in the Imperium, he could tell that every single part of his magic had improved .

It was almost like he’d become more talented overnight — at everything .

In a way, he thought, that was exactly what had happened . What the shallow insights gave him was an instinctive understanding of the world, and that understanding applied to nearly everything he did .

Excited as he was at the long-awaited breakthrough, he’d almost forgotten about the purpose of his training and the journey that lay ahead . And so, he found himself surprised when Kaleesh visited his small camp .

“If I hadn’t known any better,” the captain said as he approached, “I would’ve thought you’d died . “

“I was training,” Arran replied . “Though I think I may have gotten a little carried away . “

“Indeed,” Kaleesh said . “You could do with a shave . ” He made an ugly face, then added, “And a bath, for that matter . “

“Is that why you came?” Arran asked . “To remind me to bathe?”

“It certainly seems necessary,” the captain said . “But no . I came here because today, our weapons should arrive . Which means that tomorrow, we will depart . “

“It’s been three months already?” Arran said, frowning . “I thought we had more time . “

“Three months, to the day . ” Kaleesh glanced at the small clearing, where Arran’s endless practice had left the grass withered . “I hope you’ve made good use of your time?”

“I have,” Arran replied, unable to stifle a smile . “My progress has been better than I expected . “

The captain nodded in approval . “Good . The stronger you are, the better it will be for all of us . “

Arran glanced at him, then asked in a careful voice, “What about you? Any progress with your study of severing?”

At this, Kaleesh let out a small laugh . “It’s only been three months . Gaining my insight into speed took me half a century, and I expect that severing will be no easier . ” He shrugged . “Power requires patience . But let’s head back to the camp . The blacksmiths should be here within the hour . “

Arran gave him a nod in response . “Think they’ll have everything you need?”

“I assume they will, with so great a reward at stake . ” He looked at Arran, and added, “They should have something for you, as well . Something that will be most useful . “

“Oh?” Arran gave him a curious glance . “What is it?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the captain replied . “But do take a bath before they arrive . The Darians already think us outsiders barbarians as it is . Let’s not fuel their preconceptions any further . ”