Legacy of the Dark Sage

'You talked so fluently and disguised almost to perfection that it slipped my mind you are not from here,' the old man said, slightly amused.

'I understand most of your language by now,' Kyran admitted. 'But there are still terms I don't know since no one really talked about them in the first town I've been to.'

'You learned our language by listening to those in the first town you've been to?' The old man asked incredulously.

'Mm,' Kyran replied curtly. He could not tell the old man about him learning some of their language in the Tower of Tribulations after studying so many runes. Thus, he thought it was fine to let the old man think he learned their language through listening through conversations. It was half true, anyway.

The old man chuckled while shaking his head, 'You truly amazed me. It makes me wonder how your brain works.'

'Please spare my brain.'

'Ahahaha!' The old man laughed good-naturedly. 'Alright, going back to your question. It is very simple. If the complete beings have the Anathema, the beast-like folks have the Imon.

'Imon is actually a name of a beast-like folk from ancient times. She was different from most because her stature was small, and her body was too frail. To the beast-like, she was a failure.

'You have to understand, even the smallest female beast-like with decent strength has the build of a burly complete being.'

'Yeah, I noticed that,' Kyran nodded, which was why it was difficult to mistake a female beast-like for a female complete being.

'However,' the old man continued. 'When Imon got pregnant— mind you, up to this day, it is still debated how she conceived— her seemingly small stature child possessed far more strength than the strongest beast-like.'

The old man sighed with emotions as if recalling something before continuing, 'A war broke out because Imon's tribe believed a complete being had defiled her.

'You have to understand that in the past, beast-like were very proud beings and would not allow their people to mingle with the complete beings. On the other hand, they also feared the latter because of their magic.

'That was the only explanation they had on how she conceived a beast-like with a stature similar to a complete being and possessing strength that seemed to have been conjured by 'magic.''

Kyran listened silently to the old man's tale. He was starting to see how the law that protected the beast-like came to be.

'Yes,' as if reading what was on Kyran's mind, the old man nodded and said. 'That war was when the law of the land was formed. The war ended after it was proven that Imon was indeed experimented on by a complete being. That complete being was executed to pacify the beast-like folks, and a law to never harm beast-like was established.

'As for Imon, she was locked up. It is believed she is still alive. But no one truly knows. In any case, Imon's children were killed. But some believed a few escaped and hid. Thus, whenever a small stature beast-like with unbelievable strength appeared, they believed it to be Imon's 'spawn.' Thus, the Imon-spawn.'

'I only asked what Imon-spawn meant, but you told me your plane's history.'

'Ahahaha! I believe it is necessary for you to understand.'

'Point taken,' Kyran replied with a sigh. 'But why is it still being debated how Imon conceived her child if it has been confirmed someone experimented on her?'

'Why not?' The old man shrugged. 'A beast-like's biological structure is different from a complete being. Though it was said she was experimented on, they could not prove how that complete being impregnated her with experimental sperms.'

'Now we're talking biology.'

'Bayo... what?'

'It's an old term from where I came from. Basically, it involved studying living organisms. It had many branches, apparently, but I don't know much about it. I've only read it once.'

Kyran made light of it, but the truth he read about it in the Tower of Tribulations, and his knowledge was vast. After learning them, he only had one chance to apply them, and that was when he was trying to find a way to incubate Savagery's beast eggs.

'I'm starting to want to visit your plane as I get to know you better.'

'Trust me. You wouldn't want to.'

'Ahahaha, because it is chaotic?' 

'Learning the language is a pain in the ass.'

'Ahahaha! Yes, I can see that is truly problematic for an old man like myself.'

Kyran left the bandits' campsite after that.

He traveled for another few hours before looking for a safe resting spot.

When the old man saw this, he could not help but comment, 'I thought you plan on going to the Great Divide without stopping.'

'What do you take me for, old man?' Kyran replied with a huge sweat on his forehead. 'I do get tired.'

'Ahahaha! From the things I've seen you do so far, you gave me the impression 'rest' is not in your vocabulary.'I think you should take a look at

Kyran chose not to reply. It was true he had more energy to spare because of his enhanced body. But after cleaning up the bandits' campsite, he was truly exhausted.

The sad part in this plane was the magic energy in the surroundings was too thin, and he could not replenish his reserves naturally. His natural healing ability also suffered because it required absorbing magic energy.

Good thing the old man did not read Kyran's thoughts then. Else, he would feel the latter was too inhumane for feeling exhausted from cleaning up rather than dealing with the bandits.

The resting spot Kyran found was on top of a huge tree. There was a hollow part in the tree where a branch extended out. He sat on the branch outside the hollow and looked at the sky.

When Kyran left town, it was still nighttime. Since the direction they went to goes backward in terms of time, it was still nighttime by the time he encountered the bandits.

At that moment, Kyran could finally see the sun appearing from the horizon.

The old man also saw this and sighed with emotion. It had been long since he witnessed a sunrise as peaceful as this one and truly appreciated the sight, even when he knew the peace he felt was only an illusion.

On the other hand, Kyran also appreciated the sunrise. He made it a habit of watching and appreciating the plane's sunrise whenever possible. To him, such a scene was a priceless treasure. It also affirmed that he survived another day.

'Old man.'

'Yes?'

'Take a rest. I'll have one of my puppets wake you when we are close to the Great Divide.'

The old man smiled. It was true he was exhausted. He could only keep up with Kyran because of the 'excitement' he felt from watching what was happening around him.

'Alright. Thank you.'

He did not stand on ceremony and lie on the bed prepared for him inside the room. But he did not sleep immediately. He continued to watch the sunrise projected from the orb.

Soon after, he sensed energy fluctuations around Kyran. After a few times, he heard the latter sigh, and the fluctuations stopped.

The old man recognized that fluctuation. It was somewhat different but still had a similar feel, and he knew Kyran was doing that teleport thing.

'What are you trying to do, young man?'

Kyran knew the old man was still awake. Since he was not trying to hide what he wanted to do, he did not wait for him to fall asleep before trying what he did.

'I thought I could warp to her,' he replied with a sigh. 'Looks like I still can't.'

Kyran had tried countless times to warp to where Cyneah was on the first few planes he went to, where Wing's subjects reported her sightings. But after failing a few times and confirming it was likely because she was not there, he stopped trying.

However, this plane was different. The old man practically confirmed Cyneah was there. Thus, he thought he could now warp to where she was. Still, he failed.

It was only an inkling, but Kyran started to believe this was because of something similar to when he could not warp to his home during the first few weeks he was forced to flee.

He already knew the reason behind that was an anti-warp and teleportation formula around the estate's defensive array.

Nolan and his father also had a similar one activated constantly, preventing Kyran from warping to their side.

But what about Cyneah? How come she had one on her? She was proficient in Alchemy, not Array. Or did Nolan teach her without him knowing?

It made Kyran wonder if Cyneah truly did not want to be found, especially by him.

The old man was silent for a moment. He initially believed Kyran was there in search of a very important friend. But the emotion he sensed from the latter's sigh carried far more weight than he imagined. When he commented about taking back his announcement, he did so in passing.

Now, it seemed he had been hasty when he made that.

'Allow me to apologize beforehand,' he told Kyran solemnly.

'What is it now, old man?' Kyran asked with a slight frown.

But the old man did not respond. He closed his eyes and finally succumbed to sleep.

Sensing the old man had fallen asleep, Kyran did not pursue the matter. He had opportunities to ask when he woke up anyway.

With that in mind, he took out one of his puppets to keep watch before falling asleep.