Legacy of the Dark Sage

Aillos, his aides, Aella, Ducal, and Eissen, the Golden Dragon Tribe leaders, Ickle and Crei, and Kyran gathered at one corner of the private training room and discussed sensitive matters.

Under normal circumstances, such a discussion would have taken place in a more discreet location, away from prying eyes and wagging tongues. However, Ickle's explanation shed light on the necessity of this impromptu meeting. The match provided the perfect cover, a rare opportunity to delve into the matter without alerting the other tribes.

Ickle's remark piqued Aillos's interest, which was why he agreed to have the discussion there. To provide privacy, he had Ducal create a Sound Barrier around them.

Another reason Aillos was intrigued by what Ickle had to say was his request to include Kyran in the discussion. It did not take him long to guess that whatever Ickle had to say was connected to the real reason behind their off-the-record match request.

After hearing what Ickle wanted to say, Aella, Ducal, and Eissen were surprised. Crei then shared some data from his tablet to shed more light on what Ickle told them.

Aillos did not carry around his tablet, while the one with Kyran was gifted to him by Oceanus, so he could not use it for propriety and security reasons. Thus, Ducal showed them the information with his tablet.

"I had my suspicions, so it really is the case," Aillos muttered after seeing the information. He looked at Ickle and said, "That's why you offered a reward regardless of the match's outcome."

"The match itself is already a reward for us," Ickle replied solemnly. "Thus, I find it unfair if Null is not properly compensated for his assistance."

Aillos smirked and laughed faintly, "Compensate, huh."

He looked at Kyran and asked, "As I said before, I'll let you decide on this matter."

Kyran sighed inwardly in exasperation. He did not expect Aillos to say that aloud because what Aillos did could be mistaken as him showing favor toward Kyran.

Was he not afraid that a strange rumor would spread among the tribe leaders again? The closed-door meeting was just around the corner, and he was giving himself another hurdle to break if such a rumor spread.

In the end, Aillos's intentions did not matter because Kyran had already decided what to say if the reward for the match was mentioned.

"For the reward, I..."

*

The private training room was large enough to accommodate about a hundred people, and the stage was about 500 square meters. It was a luxurious space— much bigger than any private training rooms or halls Kyran had seen before. However, considering the beings using it, it was understandable.

Dragons spar while in their human form to restrict their raw strength. Nevertheless, there were moments when both parties got too caught up in the momentum and morphed some of their original dragon parts— mostly their limbs— right in the middle of their spar.

Sometimes, the dragons even changed back to their original form. When that happened, the training room's size would be too small for them. That was why a similar formation, like the one in the dome, was in place to ensure there would not be any unnecessary casualties when two dragons clashed.

At the moment, Cyneah and Jared were seated on the east side of the audience, while the representatives of the Golden Dragon Tribe were on the west. Meanwhile, Aillos, Aella, and Ducal were seated on an elevated platform at the north end.

Like the matches in the dome, Eissen would oversee the match and thus stay in the arena with the participants.

"The match will begin shortly," Eissen announced, looking toward Anahita and Kyran, who were waiting by the sidelines. "Participants, to the center of the stage."

Anahita and Kyran entered the stage, with the former looking up at the latter with a mischievous grin on her face.

As soon as the two were at a distance where they could talk without raising their voices, Anahita chattered away in excitement.

"You know, it was my first time seeing a real human when your family came here a few months back," she started while shamelessly scrutinizing Kyran. "I was honestly disappointed at how gloomy all of them looked."

As if realizing her words might have come off negatively, she hastily added, "Don't get me wrong, okay? I just found your... how to put it... color (?) gloomy. With all those dark hues on your hair and eyes."

"..."

"Oh, but I like Sisi's eyes; they are very pretty," Anahita cheekily added while looking at Cyneah with a smile. "She is also very beautiful for a human." Looking back at Kyran, she continued, "As you've noticed, us dragons in human form are without flaw."

"..."

Kyran was rendered speechless.

How could someone say that when horns protruded on their foreheads and eyes with slitted pupils?

Then again, Kyran supposed beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or, in this case, a dragon's aesthetic sense of beauty was different from that of a human.

As for Cyneah, she was a special case, so regardless of race or species, she would always be beautiful.

For the record, the above statement was Kyran's prejudice. However, others could not easily refute it because Cyneah's beauty was indeed otherwordly.

"But when you showed up at the banquet on the first day..."

Kyran's thoughts were cut short as he heard Anahita's following statements.

"...I realized a human with such a gloomy appearance can still look very ravishing."

Kyran barely stopped his brows from twitching at Anahita's choice of words, especially when she licked her lips while looking at him as if he were a rare delicacy.

"Please don't eat me in the middle of the spar."

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"Ahahahah!" Anahita burst out in laughter at Kyran's reply. "Don't worry, I'm a vegetarian."

"..."

Did that mean she would eat him if she were not?

On the east side of the audience, Jared shifted in his seat after sensing a strange drop in the temperature beside him. He more or less guessed why it was happening because his enhanced senses allowed him to hear the conversation between Anahita and Kyran. As for Cyneah, she likely heard it, too, since her other senses were naturally enhanced due to her sight disability.

In any case, Jared did not know how to comfort his niece-in-law. Given how he had the same trouble with his sister-in-law because of his brother before, he thought he could say something easily. But he found Cyneah's silence more intimidating than Rin's outspokenness and found it hard to find the right words to assure her.

"As agreed by both parties, participants will only spar with their 'magic armor.' Other magic spells and enhancements are prohibited. Are both of you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then, begin."

Eissen disappeared in the blink of an eye. He used Dragon Steps to step away from the middle of the stage and observe the match from the side.

Anahita and Kyran circulated their magic, and slowly, armor formed around their bodies—gold for Anahita and silver for Kyran.

"You know, I was shocked when you covered your whole body with magic energy in the match earlier," Anahita said while her magic energy surged around her and covered her body. "Yesterday, you did something similar, but there is a difference in the texture... no, rather, the substance (?) of the energy you used then is different than the one today, so I did not really pay much attention."

Her eyes flashed excitedly as she looked at the silver armor forming around Kyran. She said, "You're not using the concept of molding when creating that armor, right?"

Kyran did not respond and only focused on assessing Anahita's armor. After all, this was the real reason they were having this spar.

Anahita did not use the molding technique when creating her armor. Instead, she was morphing her exterior using her internal energy. The concept was similar to what Kyran was doing. However, it was also still a little different because, unlike him, Anahita's current exterior was not real. Her armor was unstable and could have had negative consequences if done haphazardly.

At the moment, Anahita could only maintain this state for a limited time. She tried everything she could to improve this technique. However, because there was no precedence to the technique she was using, she was immediately struck by a wall and could not progress.

Ickle wanted to help her and thought of discussing this matter with Aillos during the Grand Gathering. Supposedly, he planned to open the subject during the closed-door meeting. However, he admitted feeling reluctant to disclose the technique to the other tribe leaders.

It was not that he did not trust them. He was only afraid that others might perceive his motive for sharing the technique negatively. After all, Anahita's technique focused on a dragon in human form. There was no reason for them to waste time on such a technique when they could turn their bodies into gold in their original form.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Ickle knew this; he also had the same sentiment when he first heard it. However, after realizing the potential of Anahita's technique, he could no longer feign indifference. Thus, he decided to support her 100%.

Then came Kyran.

Although it seemed Anahita's idea was no longer a 'first,' with Kyran in the picture, it did not matter. What mattered was developing and improving the technique in a way that could benefit the clan members. By doing this, they could adequately protect themselves while in human form.

Few knew this fact, but the truth was that dragons were more vulnerable in their actual form. That was why they were usually seen in human form. However, they could not fight well in human form because they had little to no combat experience. This was why, in a life-and-death situation, they were forced to return to their original form and risk exposing their vulnerability.