Legacy of the Dark Sage

With the Beast Hunt event taking place on the Small Island in the southern terrain of the Courtenay land, the Courtenay Family prepared five medium-sized ships to carry members of each faction who wanted to watch.

Crystal orbs were scattered all over the island, which acted as surveillance that projected feeds on a translucent panel on every ship.

Because the Courtenay Family released the beasts to be hunted for the event late last night, they deployed a golden translucent barrier to prevent them from escaping. A Magic Interference Array covering the whole island was also deployed to avoid any form of magic from entering the island.

The array was put in place to prevent outside interference. Though both sides were expected to play by the rules, there was no telling if a third party would disrupt the event.

Nevertheless, both sides could scout the area using projected feeds from the surveillance orbs scattered over the island before entering.

While the exercise between the Conclave and the Royal Army in the last two events concluded without any problems, the Beast Hunt event was slightly different. After all, they would be dealing with live beings this time.

The beasts used in the Material Gathering event could not compare with those in the Beast Hunt. The beasts range from medium to large-sized and included three legendary beasts released at the island's heart.

The rules for the Beast Hunt event were simple.

Each side must capture as many beasts as they can in six hours. After which, the score will be tallied according to the points corresponding to the level of the captured beast. The side that received the highest score would be declared the winner.

Still, hunting for six hours was taxing to the human body, even to the most physically fit mage. Thus, a special rule had been included wherein they could end the exercise early: If any team managed to subdue one of the three legendary beasts on the island, then the event would end with the side who subdued the legendary beast as the winner.

Last night, Styx suggested taking on one of the legendary beasts. The Conclave Council Members and the rest of the acting leaders all agreed. It was the best action to take if they wanted to continue dominating the whole event.

Kyran received the details of the Beast Hunt's strategy after returning to his quarters last night. Afterwards, he went to Neo's room and adjusted his programming to support Styx's strategy.

Not to brag or anything, but Kyran was confident Neo alone would be enough to subdue the legendary beast. However, that was not part of the plan. He did not want to draw attention to Neo and expose his identity as a 'puppet.' Thus, he made sure to limit the level of magic Neo could summon.

Neo also specialized in short blades and hand-to-hand combat, which was good for scouting.

After completing the adjustments in Neo's programming, Kyran made his preparation for the Array Competition against the Courtenay Family.

Half an hour before the start of the Beast Hunt, the participants for the Royal Army and the Conclave were ferried to the island's dock by the Courtenay representatives.

During the trip, both sides started feeling each other out.

Styx, leading the Beast Hunt, sensed something was a miss while observing the Royal Army members. For one thing, the ones participating in the Beast Hunt looked unfamiliar.

Both sides were given information on each other's members participating in every exercise. As the leader of the Solo Competition and the Beast Hunt, Styx made sure to memorize the information about the Royal Army members they would be up against.

However, the five members they were with now seemed different.

'No, that's not exactly right. It's them, alright. But something seems different about them,' Styx thought, correcting his train of thought.

"Leader."

Styx turned to his left and looked at the young man who called for his attention.

The young man was about six feet tall with dark hair and brown eyes. He wore a black coat over brown leather armor.

This guy was a representative from the Conclave named Neo.

Styx found the guy's information to be pretty average.

They both use Earth magic, except Styx was an Abjurer, and Neo was an Elementor. This arrangement was good in its way. At least they could have different assignments during the hunt.

Apart from this, though Neo's magic ability appeared average, he was the only one among them who possessed an innate ability which was good in scouting: Stealth.

In Styx's opinion, Neo might be the key player to win the Beast Hunt today.

"What is it?"

"I received a message from Chairman Noir," Neo said, taking out a dark purple disc under his coat.

Styx's eyes narrowed.

The Blacksmith Order did not send any members to participate in the Beast Hunt. Obviously, it was due to the fact that the next Array Creation would happen in the afternoon. But they would still help gather intel before the event starts and relay it to them.

Recalling this made Styx's mind wondered toward Kyran.

Yesterday, Kyran did not attend the meeting to rest. Styx wondered whether resting for one night would be enough for Kyran to recover and be able to compete in the Array Creation.

Pushing the sudden thought to the back of his mind, Styx took the disc from Neo and scanned his magic sense inside to check the message.

His expression suddenly turned grim upon reading its content. He closed his eyes to mask his emotions and replied to Neo, "Thanks."

Neo nodded and took the disc back from Styx before turning to leave.

Styx took a deep breath and avoided looking toward the Royal Army's side.

The intel that Chairman Noir had sent did not include information on the beasts they might encounter inside the small island. Instead, it was an updated intel of the Royal Army members.

Previously, the information about them mentioned they were all Master mages. But now, it appeared three of them had been promoted to Grand Masters, and the other two were already half-step toward becoming Grand Masters.

The Royal Army did not give their real information from the start. It never crossed their mind that these five had made a breakthrough before the beginning of the exercise. Because mages who had only made their breakthrough would usually lie low to slowly get used to their new mage level, they would not recklessly join in a taxing event like beast hunting and end up damaging their body.

Styx smiled bitterly as a thought crossed his mind, 'It seems the Royal Army will also use the same strategy. Aim to subdue a legendary beast.'

His guess was not without basis. First, since their members consisted of three Grand Masters, it would be easier for them to take on a legendary beast. Second, the Royal Army had been on a losing streak against them (early this morning, it had been announced that they had won the Smithing Competition), and it would not be a surprise that they wanted to showcase their strength in today's exercise.

And to be honest, with the Royal Army's lineup, it was almost inevitable that they would win.

After all, the Conclave did not have a Grand Master in their lineup. Even Styx was only half a step to becoming one.

Just as Styx was adjusting their strategy in his head, Neo came to him again and said, "Leader."

"What is it?"

"Uhm... I received a message from Disciple Tyr."

Styx frowned slightly and looked at Neo.

"I didn't know you have his contact detail."

"I don't, he is using Chairman Noir's channel."

"Ah, right," Styx smiled wryly. After being around 'Tyr' these days and seeing him in action, Styx had unconsciously forgotten that he was Chairman Noir's disciple.

"And? What did he say?"

"Err... well..."

Instead of giving the disc to Styx and letting him read its content through magic sense, Neo replied in a voice loud enough for the others to hear.

"Disciple Tyr said that one of the legendary beasts has been sighted at the coordinates 345, 421. He said it is a baby Echidna and wanted us to aim for it because he wanted its blood."

Styx's brow twitched as soon as Neo finished saying his piece.

How could he not realize that this was Kyran's plot to mess with the Royal Army?

His thought was soon confirmed as he noticed the Royal Army members exchanging glances before standing up and moving to one corner of the ship to talk.

Styx looked at Neo with a blank expression and said in a low voice, "You did that on purpose."

Neo scratched his head, "Uhm... Disciple Tyr told me to say it like that."

"You realize those guys are not easily fooled by what you said, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why bother?"

"Disciple Tyr said, as long as we ruffle their feathers, then everything will go according to plan."