Arran looked at the scroll that lay in front of him. It looked much like the ones he had seen before, but this time, he would have to open the Realm it gave without the aid of Master Zhao.
With a deep sigh, he picked up the scroll and began to study it.
The characters were completely different from the ones on the scrolls that gave him his Fire and Shadow Realms. The strokes were thinner and sharper, almost as if they had been written by someone using his pen like a sword, slashing the paper with ink.
As he read the scroll, he felt the familiar tingle of Essence. Now that he was more familiar with Essence, he could sense that the type held within the scroll was lively and turbulent, like a strong autumn breeze.
He pondered it for a moment, understanding that the scroll must be infused with Wind Essence. Drawing the Wind Essence from the scroll into his body, he thought, somehow created a connection between him and the Wind Realm.
He gave himself some time to think about it, hoping that any insights he gained now might help him when he tried to open the Wind Realm.
To his disappointment, the insights he hoped for did not come, and he went back to studying the scroll.
Gradually, he worked his way through it, absorbing the Essence from each character. Each time he could feel the Wind Essence within himself for some moments, but each time the sensation would quickly disappear.
When he reached the end of the scroll, it crumbled into ashes. He swept the ashes from the desk onto the floor, then sat back. Now, he knew, would come the most difficult part: opening the Realm. And before he opened the Realm, he would first have to find it.
He closed his eyes, focusing his attention inward.
Slowly and methodically, he searched his consciousness for any traces of the Wind Essence he sensed earlier. Hours passed as he scoured every last bit of his mind, but he found nothing. When he finished his initial search with no results, weariness filled him.
He understood that finding his Wind Realm would not be a matter of a single day, and he decided to get some sleep before he continued. Just moments after he got into the small bed, he was vast asleep, his mind exhausted from the day's efforts.
When he awoke, he looked outside the entrance of the small building to see if any food had been left, as Adept Kadir had said. He was pleased to find a straw basket containing several jugs of water, a fresh piece of bread, and some dried fruit.
He ate in silence, then continued his search.
This time, he focused his efforts on calming his mind and ignoring all distractions, and although he did not succeed, he could feel that he was on the right path.
While he could not yet sense the Wind Realm itself, he could sense a small disturbance that had not been there before, as if the Wind Realm was affecting the Essence within his body.
On the third day, he finally succeeded. Buried deep within his mind, he located the source of the disturbance he felt the day before. It was so small that if he had not been familiar with Essence, he never would have been able to sense it.
Suddenly, he grasped why most initiates had such trouble opening their first Realm. Just finding it would be like locating a needle in a haystack without even knowing what a needle was.
No wonder so many of them failed.
He abandoned the thought, focusing his attention on the Wind Realm. As he probed and prodded it, he found that it was like a tiny void floating within his mind, covered by a thick barrier that seemed to block the Essence behind it.
If his other Realms were like opened gates, then this Realm was like a gate that was nailed shut. He could vaguely sense the Wind Essence behind it, but no matter what he tried, he had no way to get through the barrier.
Frustrated, he opened his eyes. He knew that to open his Wind Realm he would have to overcome the barrier, but he had no clue how to do it.
Unable to decide how to proceed, Arran looked at the three books that were lying on the table.
He picked up one of the books and gave it a quick skim, but was disappointed to find that it only gave advice on finding unopened Realms for those who had never sensed Essence.
With a sigh, he put the book away and picked up the next one.
The second book was marginally more helpful. It described the nature of Realms, and although it was aimed at people who had not yet opened their own Realms, he did gain some small insights while studying it.
Some hours later, he put the second book down.
By now, he was starting to feel some worry. If the last book was as useless as the previous two, he would have to find a way to open the Realm by himself. Although he was confident that he would eventually succeed, he was equally confident that it would take a very long time.
Setting aside his worries, he opened the third book and began to read it. Not long after, a small smile appeared on his face. As he continued to read the small smile gradually turned into a large one, and by the time he finished the book, he had a broad grin on his face.
Where the first two books had contained only described Realms, the third one contained a simple, step-by-step guide to opening them.
Now, he knew what to do, and it did not seem overly difficult: all he had to do was attempt to draw Wind Essence from the Realm, and over time, the barrier would be weakened.
Despite being tired, he immediately set to work, closing his eyes and directing his concentration to the unopened Wind Realm.
Once more he felt the barrier, but this time, with the book's guidance, he tried to draw Essence from it. If the book was right, the pressure would gradually wear down the barrier, and eventually, the connection would open.
At first, little happened. He could only barely sense the Essence behind the barrier, and it did not seem to respond to his efforts to draw it inward.
For several hours he tried, and eventually, he could feel a slight sliver of movement emanating from the barrier, as if the Wind Essence behind it was pressing against it.
The book had said this was supposed to happen, and he immediately felt encouraged.
In the hours that followed, he kept up his efforts. Yet hours turned into days, and the progress he made was minimal. Nonetheless, he kept trying, hoping to see more progress.
He slept when he grew tired and ate when he was hungry, but other than that, he spent all his time trying to push through the barrier.
Several days passed, and although he made some progress, at his current pace it would take him months to pierce the barrier. That might be acceptable for someone else, but Arran had already opened several Realms, and he was growing more impatient by the minute.
Opening his eyes, he abandoned his efforts. There had to be a faster way, he thought.
When he took Master Zhao's Realm Opening Pill, it had opened his Realms in a single night. Back then he had known little of magic and had not understood what happened, but now, he hoped that the experience might give him the insights he needed.
He remembered that after he had taken the pill, it had unleashed a wild energy that had surged through his body, causing him excruciating pain, but also breaking the barriers that blocked his Realms.
At once, an idea entered his mind.
The energy the black pill released must have been Essence, and if it was Essence that tore down the barriers before his Realms, could he not do the same thing with his Wind Realm, using the Essence from the Realms he had already opened?
He immediately set to testing the theory, throwing all the Fire Essence he could muster at it. To his disappointment, the barrier barely even budged. It was like trying to break through a wooden gate by throwing pebbles.
Having failed with Fire Essence, Arran tried Shadow, though he held little hope of success. His connection to his Fire Realm was stronger than the one to his Shadow Realm, after all.
As he expected, Shadow did even less than Fire.
His thoughts turned to his forbidden Realm. He had a far weaker connection to it than he had to his other two Realms, and he lacked the control to even expel its Essence from his body. If Fire had failed, then his forbidden Realm would almost certainly be useless.
Still, there was no reason not to try.
Closing his eyes once more, he focused his attention on the Essence from his forbidden Realm. Like before, it resisted his control, and only with great effort was he able to direct a small sliver of it to the barrier blocking his Wind Realm.
To his astonishment, the Essence pierced through the barrier as if it did not exist, tearing through it like a sword through paper.
Within moments, most of the barrier was gone, and he could feel Wind Essence flowing into him. Heartened by the unexpected success, he increased his effort, using the Essence from his forbidden Realm to clear away what little remained of the barrier.
When he finished, he was panting from the exertion, but a smile adorned his face. He had succeeded, and it had taken him less than a week.
He could already sense the newly opened Wind Realm releasing its Essence, and he knew that soon, he would be able to draw upon it freely.
Once more he closed his eyes, this time to inspect the Wind Realm.
He was delighted to find that his connection to the Wind Realm was only slightly weaker than his connection to the Fire and Shadow Realms.
A thought occurred to him. If he could use the Essence from his forbidden Realm to take down the barrier, then could he not also use it to broaden the connection?
With a push of effort, he directed some Essence from his forbidden Realm to his Fire Realm, trying to force it to open further. Despite his best efforts, nothing happened. He tried again for his Shadow Realm, then for his Wind Realm, but the results were the same — absolutely nothing.
He sighed wistfully. It seemed the Essence from his forbidden Realm was only useful in clearing the barrier, and could not further broaden and strengthen the connection.
Despite that, he was anything but disappointed. He had just opened a new Realm, and although he had feared it would take him months, he had accomplished it in less than a week.
He stood up and took a last look at the small cell, then stepped outside, finding that it was already dark.
A spring in his step, he hurried off to inform Adept Kadir that he had succeeded.
