Legacy of the Dark Sage

"Head Master Malek," Haylee called while still looking at Disciple Tyr. "Can the people in the arena see us?"

"No. The glass panels are enchanted. In the arena, these panels will look like ordinary walls. Only when the enchantment is disabled will they be able to see us," Malek replied with an indifferent tone.

"I see," Haylee replied with a smile. Then she added, "I'd like to meet them now."

Malek lowered his head a little and replied, "Very well."

With that, he turned and left the room. The moment he left, the curtains moved and covered the glass panels again.

At the same time, in the arena, as soon as Malek left the VIP area, the three, Noir, Sigma, and 'Tyr' heard his voice telling them.

[They took the bait. I'm coming downstairs.]

In an instant, Sigma let out a huge sigh as his shoulders slouched.

Noir's stern expression also relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief.

Only 'Tyr,' who was of course Kyran, remained looking at the VIP area. He could not really see inside the VIP area. However, because of his magic sense, he could clearly sense where each of the guests was standing. He even recognized that the woman he fought back in the forest was also there.

The reason why Kyran was intently looking at the VIP area, was that he sensed someone was looking at him. They already knew Malek and the guests had arrived and were inside the VIP area watching their 'little show.' So sensing someone watching them was normal. Kyran was also not bothered at first. Only after he started examining his puppet that he sensed one of the guests' gazes had turned different.

Earlier, that person only looked at him curiously. But after a while, it turned into a piercing gaze as if that person was trying to read through him. He even felt his soul tremble.

Of course, the only reason why Kyran realized the gaze changed was due to the fact that his internal magic energy suddenly kicked into gear. It meant that person's gaze was embued with magic.

'A gaze that could read through a person's soul...' Kyran's brow furrowed. He suddenly remembered Stella seemed to want to tell him something about the Crown Princess earlier.

His frown deepened as a thought crossed his mind, 'Don't tell me...'

"Oi, junior. Do we really have to put on such a show?"

Sigma's voice snapped Kyran out of his own thoughts. Looking a little disoriented, he looked at Sigma. He adjusted his mindset almost in an instant and replied, "Yes."

But then Kyran's expression turned a little uneasy recalling how Sigma addressed him.

After Kyran finished the Tower of Conclave's defensive array, Sigma had started to call Kyran 'junior.'

Kyran did not mind at first. But then it had begun to sound like a pet name of some sort that he felt a little awkward. Sigma still sounded gruff yet his voice would soften a tad bit when he called Kyran 'junior,' it was a little scary.

Noir sighed and shook his head slightly, "I also feel it was a bit excessive. But I kind of understand your reasoning."

Kyran looked at Noir and could not help but appreciate the older man's sensibility.

Noir was one of the oldest members of the Conclave High Council and probably already realized what Kyran did not want to tell them. Instead of feeling disgruntled by this fact, he chose to trust Kyran and did not say anything about it.

"Thank you for going along," Kyran thanked Noir.

Noir looked at him with raised brows. But then he smiled kindly and did not say more.

His actions were a subtle acknowledgment of what Kyran had guessed.

Sigma immediately snorted and crossed his arms, "Shouldn't you be thanking me? I am the one who had to work hard in flaunting my skills and attacked your little 'bait' in a very convincing manner."

Kyran turned to him with raised brows, "What work hard? You were enjoying it."

"Huh?" Sigma growled at him.

Noir chuckled at their exchange as he turned to look at the puppet still kneeling on the ground. His expression suddenly turned solemn as he recalled what had happened that led to this 'little show.'

Earlier, the three of them watched the events that happened at the tower's main gate from Malek's office.

After confirming that it was indeed the Royal Army who had come, Noir and Sigma became a little nervous. Their nervousness became more apparent when Lt. General Reid mentioned he was leading the convoy of the Crown Princess.

Kyran sensed it and understood their concern.

To be honest, it would be strange if Noir and Sigma would not feel nervous. After all, they were not sure what level of mages were still inside the three carriages.

On the other hand, Kyran was not really worried about the people inside the carriages. At most, he only counted nine mages. He was actually more concerned with the unknown yet somewhat familiar aura he sensed, which he now knew was from the Crown Princess.

Still, it was not why Kyran thought it was normal for Noir and Sigma to feel nervous. It was because he sensed a group of people who had a far higher mage level than those inside the carriage 'watching' them from a distance.

Not wanting to alarm the rest of the Conclave members, Kyran did not tell them about this group and formulated a simple strategy to ensure this group would not make any moves against the Conclave.

His strategy was the 'little show' they just did at the training ground's arena.

Kyran looked at the crowd and sighed.

The crowd was actually made up of a few people only while the rest were only projections. To make these projections appear real, Kyran used the peculiar stones which he found back at the Misty Forest, as the core of the projection array he created.

The stones were called the memory soul stones. Its name was a little misleading, especially the memory part, but the function of the stone had nothing to do with memory souls. The stone could detect and mimic the magic energies of living things in its surroundings. It was the reason why the stones reacted to the plant's magic energies when Kyran was in the Misty Forest.

Because the stones could mimic magic energies, they would glow a certain color depending on what type of magic energy they detected. It was for this reason that the stone Kyran held back in the forest glowed multiple colors. And the silver and purple glow it emitted consistently, was based on the magic energy the stone detected within Kyran.

Using these stones, Kyran managed to create almost real human projections that emitted magic energies. Of course, he would still need people for the stones to detect and mimic magic energies, that was why there were real people sitting on the bleachers.

As for the reason why Kyran wanted the guests to see a crowd in the arena; it was to let them know the Conclave had a number of battle-ready mages. If something happened, the Conclave would be able to respond well.

Not to mention, Sigma, whose magic attacks left a deep impression, there was Noir and the mysterious Disciple Tyr who had a 'puppet.'

Kyran did not want to reveal his puppet too soon. However, he thought of an idea and finally made up his mind.

If True Void was awake and could read Kyran's thoughts, he would have already shouted reprimandingly how Kyran was an opportunist.

Apart from this, once the army saw the puppet, it would make them wonder if there was only one or if there were actually more.

But Kyran's main purpose of showing the puppet was to get the army interested in its technology.

Even Noir and Sigma were shocked when they found Kyran had a puppet. And though they did not harbor any ill-intent toward Kyran, they could not deny the fact that they had wondered what would it be like to mass-produce a puppet.

"The show has only started," Kyran reminded Sigma as he looked at his puppet. "Next is to convince them."

Noir looked at Kyran, "They will definitely try to recruit you."

"That's good too."

Sigma's brow furrowed, "Are you serious?"

Kyran nodded and did not elaborate. He already talked to Malek about his thoughts.

"You said the Royal Family has designs on usurping the Conclave, so you believed their first target is to sow discord by recruiting members of the Blacksmith Order that are not bound to the Conclave?"

It was Noir who asked this.

Kyran shook his head, "I honestly thought they would target the Mercenary Hall first. That's why I asked Stella to hide Chairman Hugh."

Noir nodded his head in agreement, "The Mercenary Hall's mercenaries are not really bound to the Conclave, although they are required to assist, especially those with special positions when the Conclave asked for them."

"The mercenaries are still considered the Conclave's military strength," Kyran replied in agreement. "If the Royal Family employs mercenaries and even offers them handsome rewards, who's to say their loyalty will not waver?"

"Humph," Sigma snorted. "Do you think the Conclave's offer is not as good as the Royal Family?"

"As far as I know, the Conclave is currently in the red because of the tower's defensive array," Kyran pointed.

Sigma's brow twitched, "And whose fault is it, huh?"

"I already paid enough, right?" Kyran replied sighing inwardly.

Noir chuckled at them.

"All in all, it seems they did not start with the Mercenary Hall, but the Blacksmith Order," he said immediately turning the subject back on track.

Kyran did not reply. But his expression turned grim. He actually thought of a possible reason why the Royal Family wanted to start with the Blacksmith Order, and the reason made his heart beat uneasily.

Because the reason had something to do with why the Royal Family was now working closely with the Royal Army. Not to mention, why the woman who was supposed to be part of the team 'guarding' the Regis Estate had appeared next to the Crown Princess.