After Lord Jiang's feast, Arran noticed an immediate change in his abilities. Even without using the circulation technique, he could feel that he was stronger and faster than he used to be. The difference wasn't a small one, either — it was as if he had achieved the results of years of training in a single night.
When he did use the technique, he found that it was easier to maintain and control than before. Using it still wasn't exactly simple, but as the weeks passed he progressed rapidly, learning to use the technique to increase his strength when needed.
Although there were no more feasts like the first one, Lord Jiang served them rare medicinal foods every day, and Arran could feel that they were helping his body grow stronger. Sometimes, Doctor Zhang would bring Arran and Jiang Fei potions as well, and even if their taste was always vile, they seemed to further increase Arran's strength.
A few weeks after the feast, Arran was able to run a mile in the time it took Jiang Fei to count to eighty, and jump a distance of thirty feet without too much effort.
Better still, he knew this was only the beginning. Every day, he could feel himself getting stronger, and every day, his control over the Natural Essence in his body improved.
Jiang Fei progressed as well, albeit at a slower pace than Arran. She did not seem to have as much talent for Body Refinement as she had for Essence manipulation, and although she didn't skimp on her training, most of her free time was spent practicing her abilities with magical Essence.
They sparred daily, sometimes using swords, sometimes staves, and sometimes just their bare hands. With the body refining techniques, Arran held the advantage when it came to strength and speed, but Jiang Fei made up for it with the use of Wind Essence.
Even now, Arran knew that if Jiang Fei were to really use her mastery of Wind Essence against him, she could defeat him with ease. Yet with every passing day, the gap between them was growing smaller.
As the weeks passed and Arran spent his time in training, Lord Jiang also finally returned Arran's belongings to him, along with Stormleaf's void bag.
He was dismayed to find that his father's sword had not survived the fight against Stormleaf. Half the blade was gone, from the looks of it having been melted by the Essence he had unleashed that night. While the sword itself was nothing special, he still felt some grief at losing the only keepsake he had of his father.
Almost as disappointing were Stormleaf's possessions. Lord Jiang said the man had been an Archmage, yet the treasures in his void bag were noticeably less valuable than what Master Zhao had given to Arran before he departed.
Most valuable were a number of spell scrolls, all of them describing Wind spells. After some thought, Arran gave the scrolls to Jiang Fei. While he also had a Wind Realm, for the moment he was unable to use it, and Jiang Fei was far more interested in Wind magic than he was.
She was ecstatic to receive the scrolls, and Arran knew he had made the right decision.
Within Stormleaf's bag, he also found a large number of alchemical ingredients. These were completely useless to him, as he had no knowledge of alchemy — nor any interest in learning it, for that matter. He gave the ingredients to Doctor Zhang, who seemed quite pleased with the gifts.
The following day, she handed him a potion in thanks. It tasted even worse than the usual ones, but after drinking it Arran felt a warm glow in his body that lasted for the better part of a week. When it passed, Arran could feel that the potion had helped further strengthen his body.
Beyond that, Stormleaf's void bag just held some clothes, weapons, and gold, all of which Arran unceremoniously stuffed into his own bag.
On the whole, his time at Lord Jiang's estate was peaceful, if perhaps a little dull. Each day he would awake before dawn, then train until sunset. He would only pause when he needed to eat, and he would only stop when he needed to sleep.
Beyond Arran's steady progress in training, few things of note happened. Every once in a while Lord Jiang would show him new techniques and occasionally he would make a small breakthrough, but other than that, every day was exactly like the last.
Slowly, weeks turned into months, and Arran was starting to get used to both the routine of training and the feeling of safety he had at Lord Jiang's estate.
After his arrival at the Academy many months ago, he had constantly felt like he was hunted, with potential danger lurking behind every corner. Now, for the first time, he was at ease, not having to worry about anything but his training.
"Do you want to visit Silvermere?" Jiang Fei asked Arran one afternoon.
"Silvermere?" Arran knew that the city lay just a short distance from Lord Jiang's estate, but so far, he had not set foot outside the walls of the estate. "Why?"
"I'm bored," Jiang Fei said, looking slightly embarrassed. "We've spent half a year here, and ever since we started training, we haven't taken a single day off."
Had it already been half a year? After a moment's thought, Arran realized that she was right. Absorbed in training as he was, time had slipped by without him noticing.
"I suppose we could go," Arran said. In truth, he was also starting to feel a bit bored with his daily routine, and he wouldn't mind a day off. "But do you think Lord Jiang will allow us to go?"
"I've already asked Uncle Bear," Jiang Fei said, beaming. "He said we could go whenever we wanted."
Arran nodded. "Alright then," he said. "When do we go?"
"Tomorrow," Jiang Fei replied instantly. "If we leave at dawn, we can spend most of the day in the city. I've never been to Silvermere before, but I've heard it has some of the best restaurants in the Empire. Oh! And there are famous tailors as well! We could…"
While Jiang Fei talked excitedly about all the things she wanted to do in the city, Arran's thoughts wandered to his own interests.
"Are there any good weaponsmiths in the city?" he asked. "And armorers?"
Jiang Fei scowled. "We're not going to spend the day looking at toys for you to play with." After a moment, she sighed, then continued, "But yes, Silvermere should have some of the finest weaponsmiths and armorers in the Empire. It's one of the Jiang Clan's most important cities, after all."
Arran nodded, feeling some excitement at the thought of finally replacing the things he had lost during the fight against Stormleaf. Even if he didn't need weapons or armor while staying with Lord Jiang, it would be good to be prepared for whatever might happen in the future.
This time, he decided, he would buy some truly fine armor, and the best sword he could find. He definitely needed a good bow, too, and maybe a spear would be useful to have as well…
By the time he went to bed that night, the list of things he wanted to buy contained enough weapons and armor to equip a small army.