Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran stood up abruptly, looking at his surroundings with caution.

The cottage's array had formulas in place that prevented anyone from the outside to see or hear anything inside its area of effect. There was even an illusory formula that forced anyone getting close to the cottage to change direction. No one should be able to see anything from the inside.

But the soft feminine voice that filled his head spoke to him as if she was looking at him— looking at them.

The 'her' the voice addressed was definitely Cyneah, and thinking about it made Kyran's blood run cold.

Just now, he had been thinking of ensuring Cyneah's safety and suddenly someone was close by who saw her and even knew her.

Apart from this, the fact that the person could see them and even send a telepathic message to him, meant her magic level was high enough to penetrate through the cottage's array. A mage level that was higher than Tritus— a Legendary mage or even a Sage!

"Nar?" Cyneah turned her head in his direction, surprised at the sudden movement. "What is—?"

"Get inside," Kyran cut her midsentence. His voice was stern yet quivered ever so slightly from the uncharacteristic fear he was feeling.

Because of her disability, Cyneah's other senses were sharper, and she noticed Kyran's agitation. It pained her to think she was being a burden again, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and nodded.

Without saying anything, Cyneah stood up and retreated inside the cottage.

As soon as the door to the cottage closed, Kyran's eyes turned dark purple as he activated his magic sense, forming a protective sphere around the cottage.

Since it had come to this, he did not care whether the person outside recognized his magic signature— no, in the first place, the woman already knew about it since she called him 'Void Master.' What he did not care about was the possibility of other people detecting his magic signature.

And while all those who addressed him as Void Master were considered his 'allies,' the fact that he sensed the woman's hostility toward Cyneah through her words, made her his enemy.

[You don't have to look that scary.]

'Who are you?'

[It pains me to see you like this, my beloved Void Master—.]

'Who are you?' Kyran repeated, his voice turning colder.

An audible sigh filled the surrounding, causing a gust of wind to spread toward the cottage.

[The Smithing competition is about to end. It is almost time for the Solo Competition. Let us meet then.]

Kyran's eyes narrowed.

The Conclave's opponent for the Solo Competition today, was the Montgomeray Family, and from this, it was easy to guess the woman's identity.

A Spirit, who possessed a high mage level.

Kyran already confirmed that the woman was not human from the presence she exuded. But confirming it at the same time, knowing there was only a handful— maybe even less—, who possessed a high mage level among them made him apprehensive.

If the woman was not the Queen of the Faes, who else could it be?

After telling Kyran to meet, the voice went silent. It appeared she had already left.

Kyran did not relax though, he spread his magic sense outside the cottage, covering at least a 50-kilometer radius.

When he was sure there was no threat nearby, he retracted his magic sense. Then he waved his hand and a crude-looking puppet appeared before him.

He frowned slightly while staring at the puppet.

At the moment, all of his working puppets were in Starhorn. Three were acting as Conclave members, while the other two that were still work-in-progress, were back in the Blacksmith Order practicing their motor skills by crafting magic items.

Because of the lack of materials for Puppet creation available in the Human plane, Kyran could not complete the rest of the puppets he had in his inventory.

Nevertheless, he could not leave the cottage without leaving another form of protection for Anette and Cyneah, especially now that he knew the cottage's array might not be enough to protect them from the eyes of mages in the Legendary level.

Zephyr was not here at the moment. His errand was equally important so Kyran could not tell him to return, though he was tempted.

The only option Kyran had was to leave one of his incomplete puppets in the cottage.

His limited resources once again gnawed at him. It was exactly because of this that he could not make a big move against the Royal Family. The people he asked to search for his prospective force, had not contacted him yet. As for Gage and Silas, Nolan was the only one who could communicate with them and he was not here.

Kyran doubted Nolan left the communication device to his essence.

'It's better than nothing,' he thought, after hesitating for only a second.

He only needed the puppet to keep watch and defend the cottage for a few minutes until he returned. Besides, the puppet was only a preventative measure.

With the remaining time he had left before returning to the Courtenay land, Kyran adjusted the puppet before him as much as he could.

Back in the Courtenay land, the Smithing competition had already concluded.

As stated in the rules, the winner would be announced tomorrow. Nothing noteworthy happened during the competition. The members of the Blacksmith Order did all their best without holding back. This was one of the things that had been agreed upon during the reflection meeting.

After the competition, the Conclave members gathered and met with the council members for lunch.

They all noticed Kyran's absence.

The acting leaders were informed of Kyran's condition and could only relay the message to the rest to placate their suddenly growing nerves.

Apparently, Kyran's presence had become a ray of light of some sort for most of them.

Finally, Styx and the rest of the mercenaries participating in the Solo Competition made their way to the dome's Function Hall 4.

Previously, there were no Conclave members in attendance during their first Solo Competition against the Lumley Family because most went to watch the Team Competition.

Today, more than half went to watch their match against the Montgomeray Family.

The reason was obviously due to Kyran's performance in the match against the Lumley Family, and at the same time, the Montgomeray Family's performance in the Team and Solo Competitions.

Apart from this, they had won their match against the Royal Army.

Styx and the others entered the locker room. They were surprised to see Kyran already there, sitting on the bench with his eyes closed and arms crossed, as if lost in thought.

"Are you feeling better, Tyr?" Deo asked.

Kyran opened his eyes and looked at them, "I'll manage."

His reply came as a surprise to them. He had always exuded overwhelming confidence that all of them could not keep up, but now, he sounded a little off.

Looking at him closely, he also looked a little pale.

"You look like sh*t," Styx told him and sat on the empty space to Kyran's right.

Kyran looked at him wryly but did not reply.

"We're still doing the solo challenge?" Rake asked while leaning on one of the lockers in front of Kyran and Styx.

"No," Styx replied shaking his head. "We'll do it normally. There is no harm in learning more about the Montgomeray."

"Hm," Deo nodded also sitting on the bench beside Styx. "We have little information on the Montgomeray Family and this is a good chance to gather some."

Rake nodded, "Alright."

Then all of them turned to Kyran who had remained silent during their exchange.

"Do you have anything to add, Tyr?" Styx asked.

They already discussed their course of action on today's competition during the reflection meeting, but Styx still asked Kyran's opinion in case he had anything to add.

"Hm... I guess, just a piece of advice."

"What is it?"

"There's a small chance the Montgomeray Family has asked the head committee for a change in the rules. Be careful."

The three exchanged puzzled looks.

Of course, they already expected this. The Lumley Family did request a change in the rules during the Array Creation competition. But so far, it had only been the Lumley Family and the other two noble families remained silent.

"That's already a given," Styx said as he stood up. He looked at Kyran again and said, "In this round, you'll go last. You f*cking look like you'd faint if you so much as summon your magic, to be honest."

Deo and Rake burst out in laughter.

Kyran scratched his head. It was true he looked pale because he once again used up quite an enormous amount of his magic energy, adjusting his puppet. But his condition was not as bad as how Styx made it out to be.

"I'm good with that," Kyran replied, but then added with a slight smile, "But I have a feeling the Montgomeray Family will not want that."

Deo and Rake raised their brows at his words.

But Styx's eyes only narrowed. He did not respond but truth be told, he also felt the same.