Legacy of the Dark Sage

The dome fell into a tense silence as soon as Eissen announced the setting for that day's spar matches. Apart from the leaders of the dragon tribes seated at the hovering platforms, the audience was surprised by the announcement.

It wasn't that the audience was against the matches. In fact, all dragons were eager for it, as the previous day's matches had become so predictable that they suspected it was a ploy to showcase the Regis Family's talent, Kyran.

Not everyone in the audience was thrilled about the new setting. Kyran's supporters, including his people and family, were on edge. They were also somewhat disappointed by the Dragon Emperor's approval of the free-for-all match. They didn't expect Lord Aillos to favor Kyran, but they had hoped for some conditions to give the latter some leeway.

After all, he was not just facing off against regular beings but dragons, not to mention several at a time; even if they were in human form, which limited their moves at some point, their stamina was still more remarkable compared to humans.

Kyran might have proven his mettle at yesterday's matches, but he was given a five-minute break to rest in between. This was different from a free-for-all match that could go on for an hour or so without rest.

Come to think of it, Kyran might not even last half an hour if all the dragon talents decide to attack him together as soon as the match starts.

Meanwhile, the arena was enhanced to ensure all participants could move around without worrying about its dimensions. An array formation that included expansion, magic shockwave absorption, and auto-restoration was added to ensure that the arena would not be destroyed the moment the participants clashed.

"All participants will now enter the arena."

As soon as Eissen said this, several pillars of light appeared, scattered all over the arena.

The number of pillars far exceeded twenty, and if one were good at counting really fast, they would arrive at a total of forty-two pillars.

Forty-two talents would participate in today's free-for-all matches.

Most of these participants received two or three spar requests against other talents. Some actually received only one request, but since the opponent they requested to spar with received two or three requests, they were expected to participate.

There were very few cases wherein the talent did not receive spar requests. However, they were advised to participate since their opponent received more than one spar request.

Lastly, there was one special case where the participant did not even send a spar request. But since he received several, he had to participate.

This special case was obviously Kyran.

All patriarchs and their second-in-command had their full attention on the arena. Most of them were amused at the number of participants. They expected the number to reach more than fifty since there were a hundred tribes who attended the Grand Gathering.

However, it appeared that the majority of these tribes wanted to play safe and did not join those tribes, which caused the change of the spar setting that day.

"None of the tribes to which the talents who fought yesterday belonged are present," Ickle noticed after a quick scan of the participants in the arena.

Crei nodded with a slight frown, "Although the talent who will participate is different, it is confirmed that more than ten tribes sent a rematch request."

"It is likely the Lord's way of preventing accidents in today's match," Ickle remarked with a chuckle. "The other tribes probably did not expect this."

"I believe those who conspire for a free-for-all are betting that those tribes who sent a rematch request will have their talents participate in today's match. Since they are the tribes the new Dragon Lord had trouble with yesterday, they probably wanted to take advantage of that."

"True," Ickle agreed. "However, their thinking was too shallow. Did they think the Lord had not anticipated it? In any case, I looked forward to the matches tomorrow."

Crei looked at Ickle in confusion and asked, "Tomorrow, Patriarch? Not today's?"

Ickle leaned back on his chair and sighed in exasperation, "As much as I have a high evaluation of the new Dragon Lord, facing forty-one talents and surviving is simply a tall order. It will already be an accomplishment for him if he lasted ten minutes."

"Ten minutes..." Crei repeated wryly. "I don't even think he will last five."

Ickle chuckled and looked at Crei with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Do you want to make a bet?"

"Spare me, Patriarch. I don't share the same insight as you on things like these. I still have a long way to go," Crei replied with an uneasy laugh as he tried to avoid agreeing to a bet.

"Don't be a spoilsport. I will not ask for an unreasonable request. Moreover, if you win, you can also ask any request."

Crei paused momentarily, contemplating his patriarch's words, before finally agreeing, "Alright."

The Earth Dragon Tribe's patriarch and second-in-command, Velctor and Orena, respectively, were also having similar discussions. The only difference was that Velctor believed that Kyran could last until the end of the match, but Orena believed otherwise.

"You have such high expectations about that human, Patriarch," Orena commented with a slight frown. "I get that his performance in yesterday's matches was truly unexpected. However, if he had fought without rest, the result would have been different."

Velctor shook his head at Orena's straitlace beliefs. He said, "If he were not given time to rest, the matches yesterday would have disgraced us."

"..."

"Then again, I do think that this free-for-all setting is a disgrace to us that I dare not admit our kind is capable of."

"...I also think the same," Orena agreed, which was a rare event for Velctor.

Seeing the amused look on Velctor's face, Orena scowled and said, "Is it that strange that I find the other tribes' conspiracy a disgrace? I also think it is not good to gang up on one human just because there are speculations around him having two innate magic."

"That I agree," Velctor replied. He then paused, realizing something, and immediately rephrased his words, "—I did not mean that I find you being agreeable, strange, but the ganging-up-on-one-human."

Orena looked at him blankly and replied, "I know. You did not have to explain."

"In any case," Velctor veered the discussion back while clearing his throat. "While I find young Dilitrio's remark yesterday alarming, I chose to believe in Lord Aillos's timing. I know he will not hide that the new Dragon Lord has dual innate magic for no reason."

"No matter his reason, just the fact that that human possess two innate magic is already a threat to the clan. I find it... distressing."

"Him possessing dual innate magic has yet to be proven," Velctor reminded Orena. "Don't speak as if it is already a given. If others heard you... you might cause a ripple effect."

Orena did not reply. Instead, she glanced furtively over the other tribe leaders near their platform. Though all of them were looking at the arena, there was no telling if they were also trying to eavesdrop on the conversation of the other tribe leaders near them.

With a sigh, she said, "I will be careful."

"Hm," Velctor nodded, satisfied with her response, and turned his attention back to the arena.

The pillar of lights had gradually dimmed, making all the participants more visible to everyone in the audience.

"Before we officially start the match," Eissen continued and looked sternly at the participants in the arena. "I will now announce the condition of the free-for-all's conclusion."

He paused before returning his attention to the audience and said, "The conditions are: the match will conclude if only one participant remains. However, if the match exceeds two hours from the time of its start, then all participants who remain by then will be declared as the winners."

The moment Eissen announced the conditions, some of the dragons reacted. Surprisingly— or maybe unsurprisingly— some tribe leaders were among them.

"The time limit of two hours is included to ensure that the objectives of the spar matches are to be respected. Since we are on that note, allow me to remind everyone what the objectives of the spar matches are."

Eissen's eyes glowed as his expression became solemn.

"Spar matches are meant for the rising talents of the clan to compare notes. Apart from that, the matches are intended to be used as a way to conclude a dispute between two tribes."

He then looked toward the platforms and gave all the tribe leaders a meaningful look, concluding, "Spar matches are not to be used as a means to conspire against another clan member."

The dome immediately fell into a deep silence at Eissen's reminder. None of the dragons dared say anything or react to it because it was evident that his reminder was a message from Lord Aillos himself.

The audience and the tribe leaders were not the only ones silent after hearing Eissen's words. All participants also felt the real intent of those words and who was the real one who said them.

Kyran was likely the only one who did not look threatened. In fact, he was looking toward Aillos's platform with a bitter smile. He appreciated the latter's support but worried about the tribal leaders' stance once the close-door meeting began. Hopefully, they would not cause trouble once Aillos told them the truth.

After Eissen confirmed that everyone in the dome, especially the tribe leaders, got the message, he loosened his pressure and smiled at them. From the amiable smile on his face, one would not even think he was threatening the audience or the tribal leaders just a moment ago.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Let us now start the match," he announced.