Finding Enemies

Arran groaned in frustration. Almost half a week had passed after he'd achieved his breakthrough in the Forms, and he'd ran day and night since then, eager to find opponents to test his skills. Yet despite covering hundreds of miles, he had yet to find even the slightest sign of the opponents he sought.

Instead, all he saw was inhospitable wilderness, filled with long stretches of thorny trees and craggy hills. Occasionally, there were ruins amid the wasteland, as well — worn-down remains of long-abandoned settlements, the few houses that still stood crumbling and overgrown, with those who once lived there long since moved to safer lands.

Had Arran been a treasure hunter or scholar, the secrets that lay hidden beneath these lands might have filled him with excitement. But what he sought were enemies rather than treasures, and of those, there was not a trace to be found.