Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran would be lying if he said he was surprised about the Golden Dragon Tribe's request. At the same time, it was still something he did not expect. It might seem contradicting, but he supposed what he considered unexpected was how they wanted to keep it off the record.

Others might not think it was strange after what Kyran did in that day's match. Anyone would not want an official match against him if the chances of defeat were more than 50%. It would leave a bitter taste for their tribe's history or something like that.

But the one requesting an unofficial match was not just anyone. They were noble and prideful dragons. From this, their reason for it was not as petty as not wanting to taint their tribe history's good record. If this was the case, then the tribes Kyran defeated that day would have already done something to remove the black record of their tribe.

"I will let you decide," Aillos said while looking at Kyran. "If you accept, I will tell you the rules they suggested for the match."

Kyran raised his brows in confusion, "Should you not tell me that first before I make a decision?"

"I don't want your decision to be influenced by the match's rules."

"If you say it like that, you're making me want to accept it just because I was curious about the rules."

Aillos leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "I never think of you as such a person, are you?"

Kyran inwardly clicked his tongue in exasperation. Aillos had a knack for testing how he responded to certain situations in a teasing way. It was frustrating because that meant he still saw him as a child.

Then again, compared to Aillos's age, Kyran was indeed a child.

In any case, Kyran knew Aillos gave him the free will to accept or decline the request because he wanted to see how he would react to an off-the-record match. No matter how one sees it, Kyran would not benefit from such a match.

Kyran chose to participate in the spar matches not because of Aillos but because of his family. It pained him to admit, but because of the weak performance of the first few members of his family that came to the Higher Realm, the dragons looked down on them badly.

And only by performing to his best in all his spar matches could he show these dragons that they should not label them as weak just because of some earlier weak performances.

For the past few weeks after Kyran's arrival, some of the dragons that initially looked down on them or did not even care about their existence started to change after the incident of the new array formation. Though the change started because of the new array formation Kyran proposed, the ones who worked on it the most were Raya and the others.

Rae took the lead, but he only supervised them and helped out when a calculation failed to connect to a formula.

The point was that the dragons who witnessed the Array Knowledge of the Regis Family started to change their opinion of them. They began to realize their potential rather than see them as weaklings because they came from the Lower Realm.

Kyran also wanted to participate in the spar matches for another reason. However, that was a discussion for another time.

"I will accept, then."

"Reason?"

"The Golden Dragon Tribe has one of the clan's most powerful innate magic and influence. I need to establish a good relationship with them."

"Says the person who showed hostility against one of their members during the Tower of the Ancients hunt."

"..."

Kyran did not refute. He could not because Aillos was right. But could he blame him? Kyran was annoyed at Thorn's attitude toward Cyneah. Nothing big happened between Kyran and Thorn because Ladon managed to keep the latter in check. However, an awkward tension would not have been there between them if Kyran had ignored Thorn's attitude in the first place.

"I think Thorn was out of line then, Lord Aillos. Though he is not romantically attracted to Sisi, his action can lead to misunderstanding if seen from an outsider's perspective."

Aillos and Kyran stopped short at Ducal's unexpected remark. The two looked at him incredulously, making him feel somewhat uneasy.

"Did I say anything wrong?"

"No," Aillos replied with an amused expression.

On the other hand, Kyran only had one thought: 'He also called Neah 'Sisi'?' He was genuinely amazed at Cyneah's ability to make anyone, even dragons, like her without much effort. He should not be surprised because he had witnessed how her essence— Haylee— won the favor of so many people by just being there.

Now that she absorbed her back, this trait— which likely was an innate ability— should have been amplified.

"Fortunately, the one you'll spar with is Anahita and not Thorn," Aillos immediately veered the discussion back on track. He then waved his hand, sending the parchment in his hand to Kyran's direction so he could read the rest of the request's content.

Kyran took the parchment and read its contents. A small smile slowly tugged at the corner of his lips as he said, "Are they serious about this?"

"Ickle is not one to make light of such a request," Aillos confirmed.

Ducal was curious about the request's contents, but he did not ask them to share it in case there was delicate information that should be kept confidential between the participants involved.

As if sensing Ducal's thoughts, Aillos said, "The rules of the match are nothing complicated. It's just that... I suppose the objective of the match itself seems strange."

"Objective?"

Kyran nodded, "They want us to use only the reinforcement nature of Draconic magic and fight using our combat techniques."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"A pure melee match, then."

"Yes," Kyran replied. "But the strange part here is they want me to fight while using the 'silver armor.'"

Ducal frowned slightly, "Why?"

Aillos chuckled, "That's the question, is it not?"

"Golden Dragons can reinforce their body, making them as hard as gold," Kyran contemplated aloud. "They can also summon gold and turn them into magic weapons or attack..."

"That's right. Their innate magic is nothing flashy, but it can become formidable when combined with the Draconic magic."

Kyran did not comment on that. He knew someone who could use 'gold' and make many things with it by simply combining it with other 'elements,' so he was aware of how formidable it could be if used in a certain way. Though Golden Dragons could not use different elements, the Draconic magic's nature evens that.

"Either they are afraid of you using Chaos magic and did not want the spar to end one-sidedly, or because they have another unknown reason, their condition does seem strange."

"Is it?" Aillos said with a faint smile. "The way I see it, they wanted to test something."

Kyran sighed and leaned back in his seat, "I thought so, too. If not, they will not add this last condition." Explore stories at empire

"Last condition?"

"Yes," Kyran nodded. He looked at Ducal before saying, "Regardless of who wins the match, they want me to think of a reward."

*

Aillos prepared a private room in the training hall for the match. As for the audience, there were only a select few, including Aillos and his Aides, the Golden Dragon Tribe representatives, and from Kyran's side, Cyneah and Jared.

Aron and Cade could not come because they were managing the new Array Formation. In fact, Aron had already entered the formation, and Cade was assisting those who left the formation to consolidate the magic energy they had absorbed.

Thorn looked toward Cyneah and Jared with a slight frown. He did not want to come and watch the match, but because all of their tribe's leaders were there, it would seem strange if he did not go with them. Also, he did not want Anahita to tease him about being infatuated with Cyneah, so he had no choice but to come.

"You look like you wanted to go over there."

Thorn heard Anahita's teasing voice from his left side. He turned and glowered at her, saying, "Focus on your match."

Anahita shrugged, "The match has yet to start. Besides..."

She looked toward the other side where Aillos, the Aides, their patriarch, second-in-command, and even Kyran were. "They are still discussing the reward, I think."

Thorn traced where Anahita was looking, and his frown deepened after seeing Kyran. He would be lying if he said he did not feel anything after seeing the latter. As a matter of fact, he felt very annoyed. But rather than being annoyed at Kyran, he was annoyed at himself.

Thorn watched all the spar matches thus far and was shocked at Kyran's potential. It was not only him who was shocked. However, there was a big difference between him and the others who started to see Kyran in a different light.

The others did not know the things Kyran did in the Tower of the Ancients— Thorn did. And because of that, he knew that what Kyran had shown thus far barely grazed half of what he could do— maybe even less.

As if sensing their stares, Kyran perked up and looked in their direction.

Thorn did not mean to, but he inwardly caught his breath when his eyes and Kyran met. Before he could do or say anything, however, the little pest beside him waved back with an excited grin on her face, "Let's have a good match, Null!"