Legacy of the Dark Sage

Avrum was initially nervous about teaching Kyran, a genius unlike him, about poison magic. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Kyran was remarkably down-to-earth when learning something, a quality that made him more approachable than Avrum had expected.

Kyran was not afraid to ask questions that might sound stupid to others, nor was he timid about requesting Avrum to perform magic that others would find absurd.

In the end, it was not just Kyran who grew from the learning experience; Avrum also underwent significant growth, which he did not expect but welcomed nonetheless.

While the two were busy, Cyneah did not stay idle. She took that chance to visit everyone she knew in Somuli. Of course, she did that after telling Kyran her intentions. He did not stop her and even gave her ready-made Array items that allowed her to teleport to his side at any time.

She could use the token he gave her since he had already repaired it— with added features— but he insisted on using it only in an emergency.

In any case, the ready-made Array teleport item was enough to use around Somuli. Besides, with Nachum's all-seeing eyes, Cyneah's safety was assured. He could also intervene without worrying about any negative outcome since she was an outsider and fell under his responsibility as the plane's Sovereign.

Nachum initially offered to go with Cyneah, but she told him she would be fine on her own since he had other things to do.

Fortunately, Somuli has undergone considerable development over the past years. With the lost technology no longer being monopolized by Armakea and with Kyran's people, along with Noir and the Array Specialist with him, teaching the Somulians about Array, it did not take long for them to utilize it.

One lost technology that was implemented almost immediately was the Transportation Array. Because of it, people could now easily travel between cities, towns, and even kingdoms. Security measures were implemented for those entering or exiting a Transportation Array. Unfortunately, there were still a few cases where complete beings caused problems with beast-likes.

Cases like those were dealt with immediately. After all, each kingdom still had to abide by the beast-likes' rights, which the plane's law had in place.

There were still many things that needed to be addressed, like the beast community and the lawless valley, Howling Pass, but those things took time to resolve.

Anyway, those were things to be discussed at a later time.

As Kyran expected, Axil and a representative from The Coven came to Somuli after sensing his presence. It just so happened that Axil had just arrived at the Guardians' satellite headquarters, which they had built outside Somuli.

With respect to Kyran's request, Nachum asked Axil and The Coven's representative to stay outside Somuli and wait for Kyran to finish what he came there for.

Axil did not mind since she was already familiar with Kyran's character. As for The Coven's representative, it was hard to tell what was on her mind because her facial features were reminiscent of a doll carved from marble.

And so, a few days passed by...

*

Aillos stood outside the periphery of the Regis Terram in the Dragon plane. One could easily guess his mood because of how he was glaring intently at something up ahead.

Since a special barrier protected the Regis Terram, only a select few could see what was inside. At the moment, Eissen, the Aide who accompanied Aillos, was among the few exemptions and knew that the latter was glaring at the gate.

Obviously, Aillos was not picking a fight with the gate but was waiting for someone to appear there.

That someone was obviously Kyran, who left yesterday and had not returned yet.

"How many more minutes?" Aillos asked without looking at Eissen.

Eissen found Aillos's voice sounding normal; however, that made him shiver even more because that meant Aillos was teetering on the edge of exploding.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"There is still half an hour left," Eissen replied, glad that his voice did not quiver and expose his uneasiness.

Aillos took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "That punk. Does he plan to arrive at the last minute and make a dramatic entrance?"

"..."

Eissen tried not to imagine it, but when Aillos spoke his thoughts aloud, he recalled Ames's flair for dramatic entrances and wondered if her descendent inherited that.

Of all the things they could inherit... why that?

Before Eissen could try to appease Aillos's mood, a massive magic fluctuation exploded inside the terram. He immediately turned his attention back to the terram and saw the swirling dark purple vortex at the center of the gate crackling with magic activity. Soon after, three silhouettes emerged, with Kyran at the front and Cyneah and Jared following behind.

Sensing Aillos and Eissen outside the barrier, Kyran looked up and smiled wryly, "You did not have to go through the trouble of checking if I can return on time."

Aillos glowered at him and said, "There is less than half an hour left before the second day of the spar matches starts; why did it take you that long to return?"

"I had to deal with some unfinished business in the Lower Realm," Kyran replied truthfully as he, Cyneah, and Jared made their way out of the terram. "But it's not like we're late. I know there will be enough time to get to the dome.

"You do," Aillos admitted. "However, some changes in today's matches happened, and I want to talk to you before the activity starts."

"Changes?"

"Yes," Aillos replied with a sigh. "As much as I want to refuse their request, it will be hard without telling them the truth."

"What did they request?"

"They wanted a free-for-all setting in today's match."

"F-Free-for all?"

Cyneah and Jared exclaimed in surprise.

"L-Lord Aillos, such a setting... is obviously a trap..." Jared added nervously.

"I know," Aillos agreed. "But if I disagreed, it would seem like I was protecting Kyran, which I am not."

"Such a bold request..." Kyran replied with a light laugh. "Were there even any spar matches that I'm not included?"

"As for that," Aillos paused and looked at Eissen, who had already taken out his tablet and was checking a document.

"Last night, we received 37 spar request withdrawals and 64 new ones. Those new ones were spar requests that involved other talents. However, eight rematch requests were also received, and among the tribes that requested it were the Earth Dragon Tribe, Venom Dragon Tribe..."

Eissen listed six more tribes that Kyran had fought and ended up with a slightly critical injury. Although the match ended up in a draw, because of the implemented time limit, those tribes likely felt dissatisfied about the result. They did not show it during the match but were displeased nonetheless.

"Because some new spar requests involved fighting the same talents with a different tribe, a free-for-all setting can be justified. As for the remaining requests, they can be arranged the following day."

"We received complaints on how unfair the matches yesterday were," Aillos added after Eissen finished listing what happened yesterday. "With you being attacked by all tribes.

"Of course, those complaints were not meant to show favor on you, but rather, so we can accept their request for a free-for-all." Continue reading stories on empire

"Yeah, I guessed as much," Kyran muttered with a thoughtful look.

The complaints and the 64 new spar requests were all staged to force Aillos to accept the free-for-all setting. Since the other dragons disliked how the tribes ganged up on Kyran on the first day, and a new 64 spar request that did not involve him was received, they did not want to drag the matches until the third day, setting up a free-for-all for the second day was a good choice.

However, the problem with that setting was that the moment the match started, they could not stop it until one participant stood victorious. How the match would proceed was also something that Eissen, as the primary judge and referee, could not intervene. That was why the setting was a trap; if all participants decided to attack Kyran first, no one could complain because it was within the rules.

"There is only one move we can do to avoid falling into the trap," Aillos pointed and looked at Kyran meaningfully.

Guessing what Aillos wanted to suggest, Kyran immediately shook his head and replied, "There is no need to avoid the match today."

Aillos furrowed his brows, "There is also no need to take the risk."

"There is no risk," Kyran replied with a smile. "Besides, I know their purpose in suggesting a free-for-all is to confirm the rumors."

"There's also that," Aillos agreed with a sigh. "As much as possible, I want you to avoid using Void magic, but if you want to participate in today's match..."

He stopped midway through what he was saying after seeing Kyran shaking his head.

"I won't use the Void again," he affirmed. "I'm sorry I could not properly hide it when I was forced to use it against Dilitrio, but that won't happen again."

"From what I understand, you still have trouble using your Draconic magic. Why are you going to take the risk of not using Void then?" Eissen found Kyran's response strange and asked.

Kyran looked at Eissen in surprise. He did not expect the latter to say something that might be interpreted as him being worried for him.

As if reading Kyran's mind, Eissen cleared his throat and said, "It is dishonorable to underestimate your opponent. You need to give your all to show respect."

"That argument is too weak, given I did not show everything I have in yesterday's matches."

"...Yesterday's matches don't count since your opponents also went easy on you."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Aillos, Cyneah, and Jared looked at Eissen blankly because they found his argument unreasonable.

"In any case," Kyran ignored Eissen's ramblings to avoid getting sidetracked. "I'll participate in today's free-for-all. Since they wanted to test me, I'll show them what I'm capable of."