Legacy of the Dark Sage

Though Kyran told Auto-one he'd make the missing materials, the truth was he was not confident of doing that given his current condition. He had rested enough and gained enough strength to stabilize his Draconic core with Shaiha's assistance. However, creating materials from nothing would require his full concentration.

He was unsure if he could do that properly while keeping his Draconic core in check.

Despite Kyran's current lack of confidence, the urgency of the situation was palpable. The new array had to be created without delay, as the. magic energy of Coelus's corpse was turning more malevolent withy. Any further delay could render Aillos's barrier inadequate, leading to a catastrophic leak.

The potential impact on all dragons and quilins was a terrifying prospect, and the threat of them losing their sanity was looming large.

Kyran could feel the influence on his Draconic core, a testament to the importance of Shaiha's assistance. Her presence in his sea of consciousness was not just important, it was crucial. If she had not been there when the influence first invaded his core, it would have been his consciousness that was evicted instead of hers.

As for the matter of his Void magic energy rampaging, it eased down a bit after passing through the special space where the Tower of the Ancients fell. However, the fact that his Void core was damaged was still there; thus, he needed to be very careful when using Void magic.

Fortunately, True Void seemed to have eased down on spreading Void magic energy all over the Higher Realm. This made it easier for Kyran to circulate his Void magic energy. But circulating his magic energy better did not lessen the pain he felt whenever he used Void magic. His magic core was still damaged, and he could only endure it until it got fixed.

Not wanting to worry Auto-one, Myst, Raya, and the rest of the Regis, Kyran entered the tent before creating the materials.

Shaiha understood what Kyran intended to do and did her best to assist him. Because of this, Kyran did not experience any problems. However, he noticed a great decrease in magic energy within Shaiha. If she wanted to regain her original form, she would have to absorb a huge amount of magic energy again.

Kyran could only inwardly express his gratitude toward Shaiha. He admitted being annoyed at her for always peering into his thoughts— not that they could do anything about it. But he was also grateful to her, especially during those times when he could not properly circulate his different magic energies.

Shaiha whirred inside his sea of consciousness as if to tell Kyran that she gracefully accepted his feelings of gratitude.

This brought Kyran a small smile while creating the materials Auto-one requested.

Normally, Kyran could create normal items from nothing in less than an hour. However, as the item rarity increased and the required quality grew, it would take him much longer to create.

With Kyran's current condition, the time it took to create the materials tripled. But it was better than not being able to successfully create them. If he failed, they would have to find a way to secure the item through a different channel, and that would waste a lot of time and effort.

Half a day later, Ducal and the other dragons seemed to have sobered up after being shocked by Kyran's words. Some of them even viewed the latter's statement as being arrogant because there was no way he could make those materials.

But those dragons soon received an internal blow to their vanity when Kyran left the tent and passed Auto-one all the missing materials.

On the other hand, Myst, Raya, and the other Regis did not react much because they believed their Young Master could produce them just as he said. In any case, they continued working on the array as if nothing major happened.

Myst and Raya, however, were eyeing Kyran. Even if the other Regis did not notice a change in Kyran's condition, the two spotted it as soon as he got out of the tent. They had the urge to make him go back to the main palace and have the Dragon Emperor allow him to see the Young Mistress so she could heal him back into shape.

However, they managed to stop themselves because if they made a fuss over it, the other Regis would be worried, which might cause them to lose concentration.

Ducal and the other dragons were also present. Myst and Raya knew it was not good to show any weaknesses in front of them. They might act cooperatively at the moment, but that was only because the Dragon Emperor asked them to. After the new array was completed, there was no telling what they might do.

While Kyran and the rest worked on the new array, something big was brewing in the Dragon Clan's main palace.

Aillos announced a grand gathering of all dragons and quilins within two weeks. He also mentioned that he would make an official announcement regarding Ames's other family during the gathering.

When the announcement reached the younger generation of the Dragon Clan, they were all excited and could not wait for two weeks to pass.

The only ones who remained indifferent to the news were Ladon and Thorn. The Dragon Emperor's announcement did not give them any detail that could allow them to draw any conclusive idea as to his real purpose in having a grand gathering. But Ladon and Thorn were different. They were made to swear not to tell anyone what they knew until the Dragon Emperor made the announcement himself.

Thus, they could only keep their mouth shut.

Since they had an idea of the grand gathering's purpose, Ladon and Thorn felt foreboding. Although the recent events in the Higher Realm greatly influenced their sentiments, they knew that after the grand gathering, the Dragon Clan would never be the same again.

"What do you think, Ladon?" Thorn asked while they read the Dragon Emperor's announcement through their tablets.

Ladon sighed and solemnly said, "We'll just have to prepare for the worst."

"'Prepare for the worst?'"

A dragon in a female human form with similar features as Ladon, except her hair and height were shorter and her physique more delicate, repeated while looking at Ladon with a wry smile.

"That's a little surprising. You, talking about preparing for the worst," she added with a light laugh.

The young lady was Anahita, another promising talent from Ladon's tribe.

Ladon immediately replaced his solemn expression with a gentle smile and said, while looking at Anahita, "We can never be too sure. You know the rumors circulating around after what happened to the Blade Dancer Clan."

"I still think that is another one of The Emperor's propaganda to paint our clan in a bad light in front of the other clans. He's probably pissed that he could not take you two when he visited a few weeks ago."

The news of the Emperor's unannounced visit to the Dragon Plane—albeit only outside the plane— was known by all. It was impossible not to know when his pressure enveloped the whole plane and almost hurt the younger dragons.

Apart from that, with the dragons' keen senses, it would be impossible for them not to know why The Emperor came. They learned he demanded to take the Dragon Clan's representatives in the recent Tower of the Ancients hunt. However, the Dragon Emperor refused, which angered The Emperor.

In any case, because of what happened, all capable dragons had an unspoken agreement to train further and prepare for the time when the Dragon Emperor gave a declaration.

In a sense, most dragons were already preparing for the worst. It was just that there were still dragons like Anahita who did not think the current state of the Higher Realm would result in the worst.

"Enough yapping," Thorn growled as he walked ahead of them, "If we don't move fast, we might end up using the outdoor training grounds. I hate training there with all those eyes watching all the time."

"Ahahaha!" Anahita burst out in laughter. "Since when do you care about others watching you train? Besides, I think they will only be interested in watching if you and Brother Ladon will spar."

Thorn stopped to glare at Anahita, but he did not say anything and simply strode off.

Anahita found Thorn's behavior strange. In fact, she noticed a big change in his attitude after returning from the Tower of the Ancients.

She looked at Ladon, who kept to himself while following them from behind.

"Brother Ladon," she called. "Thorn is acting strange."

Ladon only smiled at her and said, "You're imagining it."

"Actually, you're also acting strange."

"..."

"Did something happen in the Tower of the Ancients?"

"..."

Anahita frowned as she thought of something and said, "Does it have something to do with that woman?"

Ladon's expression turned cold as he said, "That is a rude way to address her."

"..."

Ladon smiled again and added, "Anyway, nothing has changed. We simply wanted to train. Besides, we haven't integrated all the things we've learned in the Tower yet."

Anahita paused while she scrutinized Ladon for a moment. Ultimately, she chose to feign ignorance and said, "Fine. I'll pretend that nothing has changed for now and wait until you two are ready to share your thoughts."

*

After Raelia learned the truth about what had happened to her clan, she decided to stay in the Dragon Plane with Alta. She also wanted to meet Kyran because she had heard a lot about him for about half a year.

Ames did not mind Raelia's stay, and Aillos also agreed. He deemed it better to have her near where he could also keep an eye on her rather than allow her back to Lucian's side.

Although it would benefit them to have her close to Lucian and have her report back to them about his activities, Aillos knew it was like a double-edged sword, especially with Raelia being part of the Blade Dancer Clan, whom Lucian decided to discard.

Still, Raelia was not allowed to roam around the main palace. She could only stay in Ames's mansion. In a way, it did not matter to her because she needed to recuperate.

For the record, Aillos did not offer to have Cyneah heal Raelia. The latter's loyalty might not be completely on Lucian's side, especially after what happened to her clan in his hands, but that did not mean they could trust her. More importantly, Aillos knew how valuable Cyneah's existence would be in the following months.

Five days later, the magic energy inside the Regis Terram fluctuated, and Ames, who was standing guard inside, could not help but grin.

"Finally... you guys took your time, huh."

A similar gate appeared from the other side of the gate Kyran and Myst created, and a somewhat familiar face came into view.

"We apologize for the wait, Lady Ames. We'll be crossing over in a moment," Cade greeted with a slight smile.