Legacy of the Dark Sage



Whether it was a good start, nothing happened in the duration that Kyran had rested.

Nahir and the others managed the rest of the things that needed attending themselves. Although Gidan complained a lot, saying Kyran should have helped out since he was the one who got them in this mess, he never really cared much. Besides, all of them agreed that he needed a well-deserved rest after everything he did.

As for Cyneah's condition, the Abbot could not hide it from the others anymore and eventually told them Kyran found her in a not-so-good condition and had to rest.

When Nahir heard this, he flared up, reminding his father that he was Cyneah's fiancé and deserved to know of such things as soon as possible.

The Abbot did not try to refute because he had a point.

Ultimately, Nahir could only reign in his frustration after learning he could not do anything about her condition as well. Even his father could not completely heal her, so what difference could he do?

Still, Nahir could not let this slip. He knew Kyran had something to do with Cyneah's current condition and would not let him off the hook. His thought process might seemed unreasonable, but it was not without basis.

Nahir was convinced that Kyran's silver humanoid dragon form was something that Cyneah helped him conjure. However, she overexerted herself and fell unconscious in the process. His unreasonable accusation was not really wrong, because Cyneah did suffer because of Kyran. But his reasoning was way off the mark.

Cyneah ended up like that when Kyran destroyed the Macabre Glacier's Sentient's manifestation. She took most of the brunt of that move for being the mirror's owner.

Not wanting Nahir to lash out on Kyran unreasonably, the Abbot advised Kyran's people not to tell Nahir when he woke up.

Achim and the others need not telling, though. They considered Nahir as the man who ensnared their Mistress in an unwanted pact, and frankly, they wanted to get rid of him. But they knew their Master would not allow them to fight his own battle. Thus, they refrained from making any move and only kept their opinions to themselves.

When Kyran woke up, Jita had more or less completed the task he gave her. Not wanting to waste time, he checked the herbs and confirmed they could be use as replacement for the herbs in concocting the blood-replenishing pill. The efficacy would suffer a bit, but it was better than not having any at all.

Before Kyran started concocting the pill, he visited the underground cell where all the Armakean Knights and officers were being kept.

The size of the underground cell was almost proportional to the size of the whole HQ. It also had several levels, which was why they did not have any problem accommodating all of them.

While the knights and the officers were still unconscious, Kyran left a mark on them. Those mark were similar to the one he gave Vera once.

Kyran did not use the mark previously because he was afraid to alert the King in case he still had a connection with these knights. But after absorbing Kesiah and learning about the change in the pact the King made, he was no longer afraid. In any case, the mark would not completely remove their ability to make decisions for themselves. They would still have a choice to follow Kyran or not. If they chose to, they would have to obey him and follow Achim or Kesiah's lead. If they refused, then the mark would make them fall into a catatonic state but only for a while. Once Kyran conquered Armakea, he would allow restore their state and give them another chance to choose.

If they still chose not to obey, then Kyran would get rid of them. He did not need stubborn people who could not make a sound decision. In any case, that was something he had to consider in the future. Thus, he put it aside for now.

Besides, he might not need to consider anything if all of them decided to obey him.

After that, Kyran  summoned Kesiah and had her discuss the matter of commanding the knights and the rest of the officers with Achim. Kyran did not want to micromanage them, thus, he let the two handle the rest.

When Achim and Kesiah came to an agreement, they asked Gael to remove the restrains  on every knight and officer. Then they gathered everyone to explain the situation.

The story the two came up with was that, they agreed to form a pact with an outsider to usurp the King. Almost everyone had reservations about the idea, but unlike the knights, the officers were the ones who felt strongly against the idea. After all, they did not want to become cannon fodders for an outsider's cause. 

Gaham, Hohen, and the rest of the knights with high-rank positions thought differently though. They felt the whole thing was surreal. After all, it had not been that long when Achim and Kesiah were at each other's throats. Now, they were suddenly working together and even agreed to form a pact with an outsider. Apart from that, the outsider in question did something to Kesiah. That much they were convinced of. For this reason, they were skeptic of how much of the things she says were her real thoughts.

In the end, Achim and Kesiah gave them time to consider their proposal in joining hands with the outsider.

While the two dealt with the matter of the knights and officers, Kyran busied himself with concocting the blood-replenishing potion. The Abbot also went with him, in hopes of furthering his Apothecary knowledge. Kyran did not mind. He also let Jita remained, thinking that it would not hurt to teach one of his people how to concoct the pill in case he was away and Cyneah's needed more. Of course, this was given that she did not recover after taking in a few pills he made.

It took Kyran three hours to complete the pill concoction. The cause of the lengthy process was more due to the fact he needed to adjust the pill prescription spontaneously. He was using a different herb to replace another, after all. Those herbs might possess the same effect as the ones he needed, but they reacted differently during the concoction process. If Kyran followed the prescription without adjusting to it, he would fail 100%.

"It is my first time to witness someone who could concoct such an advanced and high-quality pill in such a short time… I am speechless," the Abbot could not help but say.

Kyran only gave a wry smile, thinking that three hours was far too long. He decided not to comment on it though because he was already aware his standards could not be considered as such by most people.

"Nahir is with Neah, isn't he?" Kyran asked instead, changing the subject.

"He is," the Abbot replied with a hint of apprehension in his voice. "I can give her pill, if you want."

Kyran chuckled and looked at the old man with an amused smile, "Old man, you seemed to have the wrong impression about us."

"My son… about Cyneah…"

"He doesn't want to rescind the pact, I know."

The Abbot looked at him in surprise. But then his expression loosened and he sighed, "Of course, you'd know. His hostile attitude towards you practically confirmed his intentions."

Kyran scratched his head, "Not really. I think even without the matter with Neah, the two of us will not see eye to eye on most things."

He looked at the Abbot and said, "But putting aside those things, I don't really care what your son believe or think is good for Neah."

"But so long as he believes Sisi is better off being with him then the pact—."

"Can be broken," Kyran cut the older man mid sentence.

The Abbot looked at him in confusion because he sounded very confident just now. He then remembered Kyran knew about Arrays and wondered if he planned to tweak their pact that way.

"If you're thinking about using lost technology to force-remove the pact then I'd suggest you stop. It's impossible. If you do, you'll only end up hurting Sisi."

Instead of commenting on the Abbot's words, Kyran said, "I never really mentioned what my magic is, did I?"

The Abbot blinked at the sudden change in topic. He recalled their talk and indeed Kyran did not mention anything about his magic. He did mention being the Dark Sage's successor, which made him think his magic was similar. Unfortunately, he did not know what the Dark Sage's magic was, as well.

Looking at the old man's expression, Kyran more or less guessed what was running through his head. He said, "There's no need to dwell on it. I can't reveal it to the others, but I don't mind telling you."

He then looked at him skeptically and added, "But I'm surprised you haven't got a clue with all the things you've seen me do."

The Abbot gave him a wry smile, "You can do a lot of things, and even know lost technology. Pray tell, how am I supposed to figure it out with all these clues?"

Kyran chuckled, "Point taken."

He then looked at the old man in all seriousness and said, "There is another reason I had to hide my magic."

"Would telling me cause any problem then?"

"Maybe," Kyran shrugged. "But you'll become a Sovereign soon, so it doesn't really matter whether I tell you now or you discover it later."

"I haven't really decided on ascending…."

"You will ascend," Kyran told him with such certainty, the Abbot was rendered speechless. "I'll help you achieve that. But before that, we'll conquer Somuli and make the Eidums ruler. Thus, even if you ascend, you will not have to worry about other nations bullying them."

The Abbot smiled wryly and nodded.

"It is for this reason that I don't want to ascend."

Because once he ascend, he would not be able to meddle in the Eidums affair.

"Don't worry. Since we're conquering Somuli, I will keep a close eye on it. I am not bound by a Sovereign's restrictions, and can meddle on it anytime I want."

"You… are not a Sovereign?"

"No."

"Then how come you have the ability to travel to another plane?"

A Sage who was on the verge of becoming a Sovereign would become privy to information that would not be normally available to others in their plane. The information was something they receive in the form of an enlightenment and it was a gift by the Lower Realm to those about to become a Sovereign.

Some of the information they received were the basics, such as: Sovereigns were no longer be allowed to meddle in the internal affairs of their plane. Instead, they could travel outside their plane and visit other planes. In the event that they entered a plane with a Sovereign, their level would be suppressed to avoid conflicts. Of course, they could try to take over that plane, but how they did that depends on their own strategy and strength.

Instead of answering the old man's question outright, Kyran replied with another question, "Do you know anything about Ancient Magic?"

As if a light had shone upon his head, the Abbot's expression lit up in understanding.

He knew about Ancient Magic. It was among the few information he became privy to after receiving the gift of the Lower Realm.

Those possessing Ancient Magic cannot be restricted by a plane's magic law. They could not even be controlled by the rules of the Lower Realm. For this reason, they could travel to another plane so long as they had the ability to survive in the space that housed all planes.

Recalling the things Kyran could do, the Abbot finally had an idea as to how he could travel, and even ignore the magic laws of their plane. Adding all that to what Gidan told them, he looked at Kyran incredulously and said, "Don't tell me you… possessed Ancient Magic. No… could it be… the power of chaos, Draconic magic!"

Kyran nearly slipped off his chair at the Abbot's response.