The Final Stretch

Relearning Shadowcloak proved every bit as much of a challenge as Arran had expected it to be.

It was a difficult spell to begin with, and unlike Flamestrike, it needed to be maintained constantly. This provided plenty of opportunity for Arran to fall back into the bad habits he'd grown accustomed to over the years, and maintaining the proper technique required constant effort.

He struggled for well over a month, but he refused to let himself be discouraged by this slow progress. Eliminating flaws that had festered for years would take time, and no amount of complaining would change that.

Instead, he persisted with stubborn determination, set on correcting his past mistakes. Whenever he noticed himself slipping into old techniques, he would immediately stop his casting and start anew, paying extra attention to those parts of the spell that had given him trouble.