Legacy of the Dark Sage

Hamish's complexion paled the more he listened to Kyran's strategy. The feeling of failing to execute the plan weighed down his heart. This would be the first time he would have to do something for the Blacksmith Order.

To be honest, he was not pressured by the fact that Chairman Noir was present. In the order, none of them had any thoughts of currying favor or showing off their abilities to get his attention. Because all of them, Array Specialist and Blacksmiths alike, respected Chairman Noir at the bottom of their hearts.

They knew of the hardships he had to endure just to become an Array Master.

Most of all, they knew of Chairman Noir's efforts to have the Blacksmith Order's reputation reach the state it was in now.

If Hamish failed as an Array Specialist of the Blacksmith Order, he was afraid it would tarnish the reputation of the whole order.

Such was human nature after all. If a failure of one member was too great, most people tend to see it as the failure of the faction he was part of.

Add up to the fact that Kyran's reputation was growing, people would love to find something to gossip about.

In this case, Hamish could easily guess that they would somehow find a reason to fault Kyran if he failed in this mock battle.

Though Kyran said the key in this battle was his armor, that was only because he had to survive Matias's attack long enough to launch his attack. And when we say attack, it would all depend on the sword that Kyran enchanted.

Actually, Owen's headgear would play an important role in this. Apparently, Owen's headgear complimented Kyran's weapon.

The coincidence was too uncanny it felt like Kyran planned it all along.

It made Hamish wonder whether the breaking-of-the-sword incident was something Kyran did on purpose to change its composition to ensure it would be the same with the headgear.

His suspicion was further backed by the fact that Kyran was initially in the workstation where the headgear was. There was a good chance he checked the headgear's composition first before meeting up with them.

Err... or not. Kyran did not touch the headgear. One could inspect it with magic sense, but it would take a while to check it so...

Hamish shook his head, pushing the thought out of his head. He had to focus. There was only a few minutes left before they start creating their Array.

"Have you come up with what kind of Array you'll create?" Kyran asked Hamish after concluding his explanation on the latter's strategy.

Hamish looked at him and nodded, "Yes."

Kyran nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright. Don't approach the arena yet." He added at once when Hamish made a move toward the arena.

The reason for the ten minutes break was to give the Courtenay Family time to remove the workstations and create an arena.

"Wait until there is only a few seconds left before going to the arena. This way, they will not have enough time to change their strategy."

Hamish stopped immediately, feeling a little embarrassed, "R-Right."

Noir looked at Hamish with a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Loosen up a bit, Hamish. There is still a couple minutes left."

Looking up at Noir, Hamish reddened slightly before nodding in response, "Y-Yes, Chairman Noir."

Owen lightly hit Hamish's other shoulder and said, "Go show them we are no pushovers."

"Of course!" Hamish replied with a grin.

Finally, when there was only 30 seconds left, the female announcer flew at the center of the arena. While in midair she said, "Representative of both teams for the mock battle, please come to the arena."

As expected, Matias represented the Lumley Family. He jumped straight to the arena, donning a matching red plate and headgear. Even his sword's coating was red, evidence of the Urdium.

Wearing a gloating smile, he looked toward Kyran and said, "Come up here, Tyr. I'll burn you this time."

Kyran replied with a raised brows and said, "Uwa... You say such scary things, young master Matias. But can you really back that up?"

Matias sneered, "Come up and I'll show you—."

Before he could finish his sentence, Hamish already approached the arena.

With a look of determination, he said, "Sorry, young master Matias. This is a team competition between the Blacksmith Order and the Lumley Family. Please don't expect Disciple Tyr is the only member here."

As he said this, he jumped to the arena. The headgear, plate and sword appeared out of thin air. All three items were coated in black.

The moment he did, the timer above appeared. Its numbers were: 30:30.

Matias's face distorted at once.

The two members of the Lumley Family also glared in surprise. Even their coach stood up in his seat. If not for the mask he was wearing, his shocked expression would have been a sight to behold.

"YOU ACTUALLY DARE TO...!" Matias growled at Kyran. "ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY?"

Kyran shrugged and replied, "Please. As Hamish said, this is a team competition. I don't know why you guys think I'll always be the first one to fight."

"You are Chairman Noir's Disciple! Don't you have any pride? Will you let others fight your own battle—."

"What? Fight my own battle?" Kyran cut him midsentence with an incredelous expression. "Does it say that I have to be the one to fight? Besides, being Master Noir's disciple doesn't mean I have to be up all the time. I mean, come on. I fought five matches yesterday, you know."

He rubbed his shoulders as if to show he still felt fatigued from yesterday's matches. But then he smiled slightly before adding, "Besides, if you let me win all the time, even I will feel bad for your people."

Several audible intake of breaths filled the hall and soon after, thunderous angry shouts erupted.

"Know your place! Commoner!"

"Who do you think you are?"

"Arrogant!"

"Don't think you are Master Noir's disciple! No one will be able to protect you once the Patriarch ordered the first son to move!"

"You just got lucky yesterday!"

"'Win all the time?' The other day, if the Mercenary Hall did not interfere, sir Tobias would have finished you off!"

Mimi also gaped at Kyran, speechless.

She had never met such an arrogant man before! While she always saw him as arrogant even when he appeared 'nice' the first time they met, she did not expect his arrogance to be in this level.

No, wait. This was not really arrogance. This was 'Tyr's' confidence in himself.

On the other hand, Millie's eyes glistened in admiration while she looked at Kyran. It appeared, the more Kyran acted this way, the more her admiration for him grows.

As for Noir, Vaness, Owen and Hamish, their expressions were devoid of emotions. The first two because they knew this was not Kyran's real character, while the latter two simply did not know how to react.

Because what Kyran said did make sense and well... he might be mocking the Lumley Family but he genuinely sounded apologetic when he said he felt bad for winning all the time.

"Silence!"

The female announcer's voice reverberated in the hall, silencing the Lumley Family members at once.

It was at this moment, that the timer above the arena turned 30:00. She then said,  "Participants, please start creating your Array."

Hamish, who had stayed silent from the moment he stepped on the arena did not waste time and went to the containers placed at the side of the arena where the materials were placed.

Matias gritted his teeth while glaring at Hamish. Then he looked at Kyran one more time before making going to the opposite side to gather his materials.

Now that Kyran was not the one in front of him, they already failed their objective.

To be honest, they all believed Kyran would do the mock battle simply because of the bad blood they had.

To think he would use the excuse that this was a team competition to avoid fighting him while also not losing face.

'If that is the case, then I'll burn you instead!' Matias thought as he stole another glance at Hamish.

The tension in the hall rose at an incredible height while the two completed their array.

As soon as the timer struck zero, the female announcer lifted her hand and said, "Stop!"

​ Hamish and Matias looked at her, both having completed their array ahead of time.

The timer appeared overhead, with numbers: 30:05.

"The mock battle will now commence. Participants, please get ready, in three... two... one!

"Battle!"

Matias pierced his red sword on the arena ground and a five-meter radius red array appeared.

"I'll burn you to a crisp!" He yelled at Hamish, a blazing red roc appearing behind him.

His headgear, armor and sword burst into flames.

Simultaneously, Hamish knelt and placed his free hand on the ground. A twenty-meter radius light blue array appeared with him at the center.

Shockingly, the moment the edge of his array touched the border of Matias's, Matias's array crackled.

"Field Array, activate!" Hamish shouted.

Kyran smiled. It seemed Hamish fully understood the significance of Owen's headgear and his sword complimenting each other.

Making a Field Array, that could utilize both items was the correct choice.

Field Arrays were pretty similar to a Magus's domain.

Depending on the nature of the Field Array, it would amplify a mage's 'element.' In this case, Hamish created a water-type Field Array, which would immediately counter Matias's Fire element!

Noir, Vaness and Owen also smiled in appreciation especially when they heard gasps of surprise from the audience.

"F-Field Array?"

One of them exclaimed.

The Lumley Family's coach immediately looked at Noir's side.

"You! Since when can your people make a Field Array!"