Legacy of the Dark Sage

After agreeing on how Axil would send images of the tablets, Kyran returned to his room in Eidum’s Border HQ.

Frankly, Kyran intended to see the tablets in person because there might be a trick of some sort that would allow the tablets to translate themselves. He thought this because the book about Ancient Magic that Stella showed him before had this ability. However, the runes available on it were Draconic, Soul, Time, and Void. But since Kyran could not leave Somuli, he settled with the images. In any case, he could still check if he could read the runes on those tablets, even if it were only an image.

Dusk left after that. Kyran was once more surprised that Dusk did not bother to ask what he and Axil discussed. Dusk also remained respectful to her even after ending the call.

Kyran then took Dusk to the outskirts of Armakea’s border, and they parted without much ado there.

Kyran did not warp nor use the token to return to the borders. He took that chance to wander in Armakea’s wilderness to gather herbs and other materials he could find. He did this not because they were running low on supplies but because he wanted to replenish his personal resources.

When Kyran returned to Armakea, Achim’s and Nahir’s groups were preparing to head out.

Since they had won over the knights and most officers from the last fight, their next action was to make a follow-up attack and destroy the fort. Of course, they planned to take all supplies in that fort before destroying it completely. Hopefully, the officers who stayed behind that fort had not asked for more reinforcements from other forts.

Before they left, Kyran showed the gold parchment to both Achim and Kesiah. They were both members of the Royal Family, thus, he reckoned their blood could make it work.

Given that everything Deception told him was true.

Achim and Kesiah were a little skeptical because the parchment did not look anything special.

Kyran thought so, too.

He had checked the array formulas on the parchment, and theoretically, it should function as Deception had said. However, there was no indication that it required special blood to activate, nor was there any formula that allowed the one who activated it to specify its target.

Kyran did not try to activate the parchment because he saw a hidden tracking formula while reviewing its array formation. After going through the whole formation, he confirmed that the tracking formula only monitored those who used the parchment. Unfortunately, Kyran could not determine if the tracking information would be transmitted to an outside source unless the parchment was in use.

In any case, Kyran did not care if Deception could track who was using the parchment. As long as the one who activated it was Achim or Kesiah— Achim because Deception gave it to him; and Kesiah, because a scenario wherein Achim gave it to her was possible. As to why Achim would gift Kesiah the parchment when they were supposed to be rivals, Kyran would just let the two come up with a story.

Kyran did not force Achim and Kesiah to try the parchment. Even though they were his Servants and a simple order would make them do anything he willed, he did not do it. Though the parchment’s function would help them spy on other’s whereabouts, its activation was too ambiguous, and the one it came from could not be trusted.

Besides, if Kyran really wanted to make use of the parchment’s function, he could make a new one. Since there was no real urgency, he let Achim keep the parchment for now.

Kyran checked on Cyneah after Achim and Nahir left the border. Her condition had improved, but she still showed no signs of waking. This worried him a great deal. When he asked the Abbot’s opinion, he only said that she might have only been very exhausted, which was why she had yet to wake up.

In the end, Kyran had no choice but to let the Abbot, Oded, and Yalen care for Cyneah while he left for another task. Since there were still a few days before Axil could send him the images of the tablets, or Chrysanthemum could provide an update on her task, and Achim and the rest were on top of things in their plans to destroy the rest of the forts and increase their military strength, Kyran decided to do some scouting of his own.

With all that had happened, Kyran wanted to know the current situation of every nation. He heard a little of what the other Sovereign faction’s representatives were up to, but he wanted to know if there were any big changes happening in each nation— particularly the Kingdom of Cretea, Land of the Eidum, Armakea, and even Howling Pass. Kyran was also curious about who Deception was after she dared enter the Armakea territory.

After weighing all these things, Kyran decided to retrace Deception’s tracks and look for that person she was after. Then he let Gael continue looking for humans in Howling Pass, as well as have a few of his Shadow Minions gather information in the Kingdom of Cretea and Land of Eidum.

Kyran ventured deep into the forest of Armakea without activating his Concealment Array. Because of this, no beast tried to get in his way. A few docile beasts dared go near him, but they would only observe him for a while before going on their way.

For the next few days, this had been Kyran’s routine. He would receive an update from Gael every now and then, but so far, none of the information his Shadow Minions gathered was really informative. The only information they gave that piqued Kyran’s interest was Deception’s appointment as the Sovereign’s Aide.

Deception had already told them about it, but knowing what she said was true was still surprising.

In the Land of Eidum, though, Kyran confirmed that the news of the Abbot’s appearance at their border had not spread. It made sense since none of the Eidums had left the border to share the news. There were other witnesses, but now they were all allies. They would not spread something that might invite trouble.

At least, Kyran believed the Armakea Knights and even their Officers were better at keeping secrets.

As for those outsiders who might have seen the Abbot, Kyran did not think they would spread the news themselves. If they did, they would only help Flos’s side by letting them know that the Abbot was there.

Kyran felt that those outsiders would likely use what they knew about the Abbot to gain an advantage. Fortunately, there had been no incident that would provide them an opportunity to exploit their knowledge.

As a matter of fact, after Kyran appeared as a silver humanoid dragon at the borders, the outsiders stopped observing the situation there. Then again, from what Dusk said about how the leaders of the other Sovereign factions were in a state of panic because of what the appearance of the silver humanoid dragon symbolized, Kyran more or less understood why those outsiders could no longer be bothered to observe a war between small nations.

Four days later, Kyran still failed to find any traces of the person Deception was after. On the contrary, Achim, the rest of his Servants, and Nahir and the rest of the Eidums took down another fort. They also managed to increase their number to thirty— nine Knights and twenty-one Officers.

Only a few more than Achim and Kesiah could have a company, each full of Knights.

After another day of unfruitful tracking in the Armakea’s forest, Kyran decided to return. He also wanted to check on Cyneah.

Kyran had Jita concoct Cyneah’s pills, but according to her, Cyneah’s condition seemed to have improved a lot, but she still showed no signs of waking.

On his way back, Kyran found a few plants he had not seen in the Eidums and Armakeas’ inventory. He checked them and found their uses. After which, he carefully dug them up and placed them into one of his storage rings.

Kyran believed with these plants; he could concoct a potion that would allow Cyneah to regain consciousness. He knew her condition differed from when she fell into a coma and that her soul was intact. If not, she would have felt cold, and everyone around her would have already panicked. She was their Saint, after all.

Since that was not the case, Kyran believed he could force her to wake up. It might sound a little cruel, but frankly, he had an inkling she herself did not want to wake up.

With this in mind, Kyran searched the forest for more plants and herbs he could use.𝔬𝗏𝓁xt.𝒸𝑜𝓂

“I have my doubts, but you truly seem to know your Alchemy.”

There were few things that could surprise Kyran, much less catch him off guard, and this was one instance. He turned to look in the direction where he heard the voice and was surprised at how close that person was.