Legacy of the Dark Sage

Geir looked at Alta, his heart filled with hope that she would be elated at the thought of her soul thread being fixed. However, her blank expression was a stark contrast to his anticipation. It was as if she didn't care whether her missing soul thread could be fixed or not, a reaction that left him puzzled.

Geir's grasp of the situation was astute and precise.

When Kyran proposed fixing Alta's soul thread in exchange for something, her initial reaction was not one of resignation. Instead, she chose not to set her hopes too high, in case his method failed. This was not a sign of defeat, but a testament to her unwavering resilience in the face of uncertainty.

Alta didn't even inquire about Kyran's requirements, as she harbored little faith in his method. After all, dealing with soul threads was a precarious matter. Kyran might have a connection with the Dragon Clan, one of the oldest clans before The Fall, and possessed an abundance of magic knowledge in both realms. However, that alone didn't guarantee their ability to fix removed soul threads.

If they could do that, then The Emperor would not have used that method to punish her because doing so was equivalent to forcing the Blade Dancer Clan to turn their backs on him and seek refuge by allying themselves with the Dragon Clan.

While it was true that the Dragon Clan was considered part of The Emperor's faction, they were not subservient to him. They remained true to their moral code and would only follow The Emperor's order if it did not clash with their beliefs.

The Emperor was also aware of it, which was why he was very careful about giving the Dragon Clan an order. He did not want to expose the latter to the other clans and have them gain favorable views.

In any case, Alta might not be knowledgeable about Ancient Magic, but at the very least, she was aware that the Dragon Clan's Draconic magic had a destructive nature.

How could magic with such a nature be able to fix a missing or removed soul thread?

Kyran was actually aware of Alta's doubts. He could not blame her for thinking he was relying on the Dragon Clan to fix her soul thread. This was because he never gave them a solid answer or explanation about his identity and connection with them.

The only ones in the know were Oceanus and Leif.

Kyran could have said something to assure Alta. But he did not. The reason was quite simple. It was too soon for him to trust her about Cyneah.

To be honest, Kyran admitted it was too soon for him to offer Alta a fix to her condition. It had not been two weeks from the time he saved the Blade Dancer Clan from certain destruction, after all.

However, helping Alta recover had been part of Kyran's initial plan, and he still wanted to push through with that. He needed to get her to feel gratitude by giving her a new lease on her future as a mage to ensure she would not think of betraying him.

Kyran thought of this all for the sake of the task he wanted Alta to undertake after she recovered.

It was not just Alta. Kyran needed the Blade Dancer Clan as a whole to establish his new force properly.

Though he was still keeping his identity a secret at the moment, Kyran did plan on telling them the truth. However, he still had reservations, especially when he had yet to force Tehila to remove her mask.

To be honest, Kyran preferred it if there had never been a mask to remove from Tehila in the first place and that she was simply a shrewd person as Alta said about her. Kyran would not mind that especially if her shrewdness was because she only wanted to secure a better future for her house.

So far, all the things Kyran learned about Tehila from Alta made him see her that way. However, the way Tehila was willing to do anything for her house was still concerning.

This was because Kyran sensed that Tehila had not completely accepted the Blade Dancer Clan's current arrangements and was already plotting something behind the scenes.

If Kyran's mark had worked, he would not be worrying about those things. But because he sensed that Tehila might have a way of dismissing the mark's effect, she could only be acting subservient right now. Once her plans were ready, she would stab him in the back when he least expected.

In any case, Kyran wanted to eliminate anyone who might threaten the new force created to oust the Emperor.

"I can't go into details," Kyran told Geir and Oceanus after a moment of silence. "But I'll eventually explain everything. In the meantime, I trust you two would not breathe a word about it to anyone else."

"Of course."

"That is a given."

"Thank you. I'll leave matters here in your hands."

Geir and Oceanus nodded their heads in affirmation.

With that, Kyran looked at Alta and beckoned her along as he made his way toward the doors.

"You're leaving now?"

"It is better to leave while everyone is still resting."

Kyran and Alta left the Blade Dancer Clan and made their way to the portal location.

When the two approached the marshland's periphery, Kyran sensed a familiar presence and could not help but frown.

Alta also noticed the presence as her stoic expression was replaced by displeasure.

"Why are you here?" Kyran asked as soon as he stopped a few meters before the familiar presence.

The person before them was none other than Leif, and judging from her geared-up attire, she was aware of their destination and planned on going with them.

Leif raised her brows innocently, "Why are you even asking? You're the one who said I am a hostage, right? So you can't just leave me behind."

Kyran's frown deepened. However, he did not try to refute her words because she was right.

"Hostage?" Alta repeated with a slight frown.

Leif looked at her with a smile that did not meet her eyes and replied, "You don't have to worry about the small details."

"If you're coming, that's fine. But I did not ask you to return because I thought you'd want to stay with your father."

"Oh my," Leif smiled at Kyran, feeling somewhat touched by his uncharacteristic thoughtful words. "Were you worried that I might reject your offer to return? That's why you'd taken the safest route by letting me stay?"

"..."

"Don't worry," Leif smiled sweetly and said, "You know very well what my father thought of you, so he would not mind me going with you."

There was a short pause bordering on awkwardness that followed before Kyran replied curtly, "Suit yourself."

He then entered the marshland without looking back to see if the two had followed.

Alta and Leif exchanged looks before following Kyran.

The journey back to the portal was uneventful, with the beasts living in the marshland choosing to stay hidden. However, it was unknown if the beasts chose to hide because they could not be bothered by the three or because they remembered Kyran and Alta from before and the carnage they left in their wake when traversing through the marshland.

"You seemed to know your way around here," Alta could not help but say as she followed behind Kyran.

"..."

"..."

Kyran chose not to respond while Leif furtively looked at him.

For the record, Alta was still unaware that Kyran was the black mage. He might be wearing all black, but as far as she remembered, the black mage had dark hair rather than blonde.

On the other hand, Leif did not know what the Blade Dancer Clan knew about Kyran's identity, so she observed his reaction instead of saying something. She did not want to say something that might not align with what he told them after all.

"You haven't gone out to explore the surroundings. So you must've read the exploration team's report to heart."

Fortunately, Alta had not connected Kyran to the black mage and came up with her own assumption.

"I have to understand the terrain if I want to use this plane as a base."

"I suppose that's true. Fortunately, we already have more information about this plane since we have prior exploration experience here."

"I know."

Alta did not find Kyran's answer strange because she believed the clan head, Geir, had already told him about it.

Meanwhile, Leif looked at Alta's profile in disbelief. Kyran practically confessed to Alta about him knowing about the time her clan had been there, but she did not even get it.

Leif found Alta's unexpectedly oblivious side quite amusing.

After that short exchange, they continued their journey in silence once more.

A couple of hours later, they finally arrived at their destination.

Kyran did not dally and immediately placed a device at the bottom of the portal leading to the Tower of the Ancients. The portal was still physically there, but it did not emit any magic energy, and cracks were visible on its surface.

All of that changed the moment Kyran activated the device he placed at the bottom.

The cracks on the portal's surface repaired themselves as vitality started to return to it.

This surprised Alta and Leif.

Alta was surprised because she did not expect Kyran's Array Knowledge to fix a destroyed portal. On the other hand, Leif was surprised because she expected Kyran just to touch the portal, and it would return to normal using his magic. She did not expect him to use Array to fix it.

After almost half an hour, the portal looked as if it was never destroyed.

"This portal will only work once. Both of you can get in first," Kyran told them.

Instead of following his words, however, Alta looked at him with a serious expression and asked, "Are you sure you want us to go in first? Are you not afraid that we'll do something there and catch you off guard the moment you enter the portal?"

Unfortunately, Leif had no intention of following Alta's lead and said, "What are you even saying? Do you think you can catch him off guard?"

Without waiting for Alta's response, Leif entered the portal.

Meanwhile, Kyran simply looked at Alta oddly before saying, "Don't waste time and go in. The device will only last for another minute."

Alta's brow twitched slightly at Kyran's indifference and Leif's cheekiness. In the end, she did not say anything and entered the portal.

Once Kyran was sure the two had crossed, he took the device he placed at the bottom of the portal. The device was actually just for show to hide Kyran touching the portal and reactivating it with Void magic.

Fortunately, he only needed a small amount of Void magic energy to reactivate the portal. Otherwise, he might aggravate his magic cores again.

Kyran returned the device to his storage pouch and entered the portal as well.

As soon as Kyran passed through the portal, its emitted vitality disappeared instantly, making it look dead again.