Legacy of the Dark Sage

Haylee's sapphire blue eyes glinted in amusement as she looked at Kyran.

He was absolutely right.

Disciple Tyr was originally a mercenary of the Mercenary Hall before becoming Chairman Noir's disciple. But Haylee had to admit she had forgotten this fact, and most likely Vera and Rhys too because there had not been any recorded noteworthy achievement that Tyr did as a mercenary.

The only reason they knew of him was that he became Chairman Noir's disciple.

"Not anymore," Haylee muttered under her breath as she smiled slightly.

Kyran's movements were not extravagant but the mere fact he was able to subdue Rhys, a Brigadier General with a number of battle experience under his belt, showed Kyran was not an ordinary mercenary.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Malek, Noir, and Sigma looked at Rhys sprawled on the floor with an indifferent expression. Internally, however, their minds reeled the moment Kyran hit Rhys with his staff.

Based on Tyr's official record, he was a Mercenary whose weapon of choice was a long staff and an innate strengthening magic. From this information, it was safe to say that he was a very ordinary mage with only his good looks as something to take note of.

As for having a puppet at his disposal, they agreed with the story that Tyr found an intact puppet from one of his mission before he became Noir's disciple. As a matter of fact, the puppet was the reason how Tyr and Noir met.

From Chairman Hugh's recommendation, Tyr went to Chairman Noir to ask for his help in fixing the puppet. Noir was fascinated by the puppet's intricate array system that he agreed to help Tyr without the latter having to pay. After the two met several times, Noir found that Tyr had a talent in Array. Thus, after the puppet was fixed, Noir offered Tyr to be his disciple, which the latter accepted without second thoughts.

This story was something Malek had thought of and was only possible since there had been no information revealed to the public on how Tyr became Chairman Noir's disciple.

Malek was also confident that once this story was leaked, most would believe it because of the puppet's story. The reason why it was never revealed was obviously that it was a very rare relic that would definitely be coveted by a lot of people.

As to Tyr's sudden decision to reveal it, they came up with the excuse that after Tyr had gone on a special mission to strengthen himself under Chairman Noir's arrangement, he was now strong enough to protect the puppet's secret as well as defend himself. His battle strength had improved by leaps and bounds, making him strong enough to contend with those people below a High Master.

Of course, Tyr's magic level still remained at the level of an Adept. But because of the things he had encountered during his special mission, he could contend with others who had higher magic attainment levels than him.

While Malek and the rest thought of Tyr's background story, they did not expect Kyran to actually defeat Rhys in such a domineering manner. It was only the first clash for goodness sake.

It was true that Rhys was only a Master mage which supported Tyr's background story but... did Kyran have to overwhelm the poor guy?

Even if there was supposed to be a magic limiter in place Kyran should have held back... no wait, the magic limiter should have limited Kyran, not Rhys! Was Rhys really that weak? Kyran was not even using his real abilities!

This sprung the questions in Malek, Noir, and Sigma's minds which were, was Kyran even trying to camouflage his own magic? Could he actually camouflage it? Would he not be in trouble if he could not and kept on flaunting such domineering pressure? Actually, how was he able to change the color of his magic array? As far as they knew, his magic arrays were purple.

On the other side, Vera looked on in shock, while the glow in Haylee's sapphire blue eyes burn more fiercely.

It was no secret that Array Specialists ended up becoming Abjurers. However, from how Kyran carried himself, he was by no means an Abjurer. Most likely, once he became a Master mage, he might end up creating a new mage specialization that combined the use of a puppet and melee combat?

Haylee giggled inwardly. Now that she thought of it, Tyr's innate magic was Strengthening magic. Could it be that he used strengthening on his staff to counter Rhys's flames? He might have also been using strengthening in his body to amplify his physical strength.

"Interesting," Haylee muttered under her breath. Her desire to have Kyran grew each second.

"Argh..." Rhys groaned and was about to stand when Kyran stomped his feet directly on top of the former's head.

"UGH!" Blood sprayed out on the floor as Rhys's head was once again buried on the floor.

"Stay down," Kyran told him as he stabbed the staff on the floor close to Rhys's head.

Then he seemed to have recalled something and he said while lifting his feet off Rhys's head, "Ah, that's right. You're supposed to test my array ability right? Sorry, sorry."

Rhys who almost lost consciousness earlier snapped awake after hearing Kyran's derisive tone. His blood boiled as his magic energy surged inside him.

"Burn, you punk!" He growled.

A five-meter red magic array formed on the floor with Rhys at the center and a sea of flames burst out, its height reaching seven meters.

As soon as the flames erupted, Rhys forced himself up and jumped out of the magic array's area of influence. Since he was the one who summoned the flames, he was not hurt by the flames. However, he still cut a sorry state after suffering from Kyran's attack. Right now, his face was filled with blood and it even looked as if his nose was broken.

Seeing Kyran vanish inside the sea of flames, Vera heaved a sigh of relief. Then she stopped short and thought, 'D-Did I just sigh?'

Belatedly realizing how relieved she felt to see Rhys successfully counterattack was not a good sign. It almost seemed as if she was worried Rhys would be defeated in one attack.

Noir and Sigma, on the other hand, could not help but look at the sea of flames worriedly.

The magic limiter inside the semi-transparent barrier lessened the fatality of any magic attacks done inside, however, it did not mean one would not sustain any injuries. Even if Kyran switched to using his real ability to overcome this attack, his abilities would also be reduced. The Blacksmith Order's uniform was resistant to fire elements given how their people dealt with fire when crafting items. But natural flames were still different from magic flames. There was no telling if Kyran would sustain long-term injuries if those flames did burn through his flesh.

While the two wore worried expressions, Malek's expression remain unmoved as he stared at the sea of flames. Actually, he appeared unmoved but if one looked closely, they would see that his eyes reflected disdain. As if he was looking at someone within those flames that he found extremely annoying. He definitely could see something beyond the sea of flames that he was disdainful of.

Rhys spat out a bloody broken tooth as he glared at the sea of flames. He had been surprised by Kyran's momentum just now which caused him to lower his guard. Earlier, he said he would not give Kyran any handicap. However, he admitted that subconsciously he still underestimated him.

'I'll pay you back tenfold for humiliating me,' Rhys thought through gritted teeth.

He smacked his fists together and a red magic array formed between them. It erupted into flames that enveloped his whole arms. Apart from this, his huge torso doubled in size ripping his upper clothes in the process. As of this moment, he looked like a demon with fiery arms.

Rhys's usage of his innate magic was something an Enchanter could do.

Enchanters were mostly support-type. They specialized in illusions or charms. Illusions mostly attacked a person's sensory perception, while charms attacked one's internal perception.

Apparently, Rhys chose to specialize as an Enchanter rather than an Elementor. By using an Enchanter's ability to charm one's internal perception, he amplified his body's structure after infusing it with one of his fire magic's characteristics. In this case, he used the fire's intensity to increase his body's structure.

A combat mage that specialized as an Enchanter was not exactly unheard of. What made Rhys a little different was the fact his innate magic was an offensive type. Making him an Enchanter with an explosive momentum.

"I'm not done with you!" Rhys growled as he charged inside the sea of flames.

But.

WHOOOSH!

Even before Rhys neared the sea of the flames, a tempest erupted from within the sea of flames.

Normally, a tempest would have amplified the flames. However, this tempest appeared to have a suction ability that drew in the flames.

"What?" Rhys exclaimed in surprise.

Haylee and Vera also looked at the sea of flames in alarm.

At the eye of the tempest, a golden array rotated as the sea of flames got sucked in.

"That's a small array formation!" Vera exclaimed. She had already believed the ability to create array formation on the spot was the puppet's special ability. She did not expect that Kyran could do the same.

To be precise, Kyran's array creation was faster than the puppet!

On the other hand, Haylee's lips tilted to one side. No one would be able to guess what thoughts were currently running through her mind.

As the sea of flames lessened, Kyran's figure became visible.

Contrary to their expectations, there was no indication of Kyran being hurt by the sea of flames. He even appeared as if he was having the time of his life from the slight smile on his face.

This was why Malek looked a little annoyed because he had seen Kyran take his time sweet time before activating the array he conjured almost in an instant.

"Phew," Kyran heaved a sigh dramatically, and even wiped away a non-existent sweat off his forehead. "That was close. A second too late and I might end up getting roasted. Good thing I have such a god-like speed in array creation."

As soon as Malek, Noir, and Sigma heard Kyran they could not help but look on with dull expressions.

Tyr's character was becoming more arrogant by the minute. It was the exact opposite of how Stella had defined Tyr's character! What would she say if she found out?

"Tsk," Rhys ground his teeth.

He did not miss the snide tone in Kyran's remark.

It appeared, that the magic limiter placed inside the semi-transparent barrier had lowered his magic attack's fatality by a lot. If not, Kyran would not be left unscathed.

Reigning in his annoyance, Rhys continued his charge.

By the time Rhys was only three meters away, the sea of flames had mostly been consumed by the golden array that Kyran created, revealing the haughty look on the latter's face.

"RAWRGH!" Rhys roared as he stomped his feet on the floor.

The floor cracked from his weight as he propelled toward Kyran. The additional momentum from the stomp ignited his fists' flames as he closed in on Kyran.