Legacy of the Dark Sage

"The purpose of the joint military exercise is to assess the Conclave's 'reserves,' while also testing the extent of Tyr's combat and Array knowledge," Kyran explained.

Without giving the Conclave council members to ask questions, he continued, "The Royal Family are already aware of the Conclave's Elite Team's strength. Even if the members change every year.

"A person's progress could only go so far in such a short time, after all. If I remembered correctly, the last joint exercise the Conclave had with the Royal Army was only last year?"

"Yes," Malek replied, not masking the indignation he felt while recalling the answer provided by the Courtenay messenger when they asked why the Royal Family want to have the exercise when if they followed their normal routine, it should happen four years from now.

The Courtenay messenger had replied curtly, "That was a joint military exercise between the Conclave and the Royal Army. This time, it will be between the Conclave and its constituents, against the Royal Family and he Royal Army."

Kyran nodded in acknowledgement at Malek's answer. He noticed the latter's indignant tone and knew exactly why. Truth be told, he would have balked at once if he was told to hold an exercise after only a year.

"Which is why, they now want to assess your reserves. In order to do this, they made sure you guys will not have the time to gather your real forces."

After hearing this, Sigma could not help but slam his fist on the table again. He now realized that the arrival of the four high ranked officers in the Royal Army was only to put more pressure on them and rile them up. To think, he had played right into their palms.

Everything that had transpired was only an act!

Seeing Sigma's annoyance, and the rest of the member's unsightly expressions, Kyran guessed they understood what he meant.

"I've seen what happened," Kyran said with a sigh. He looked at Sigma and said, "Senior Sigma, to be honest, if you did not play along after Head Master Malek's warning, those guys would find a way to take you in custody.

"Their reason is still in line with what they want to do to my clan. If they fail to recruit 'Tyr,' then they will have to make use of you."

Sigma's brow twitched at Kyran's words. A vein also appeared on his forehead and he scowled at him.

"I don't like how you phrased that," he growled. At the same time, frustration reflected in his eyes as he recalled how much Kyran's Array knowledge had improved. It had only been a few weeks but he had already surpassed him!

However, Sigma was not about to admit that. He still had his pride as his 'senior.'

"So, I'm only second choice?" Sigma growled in annoyance.

Avrum looked at him with black lines on his head, "You're angry about that?"

Kyran smiled wryly at him and shook his head, "I did say you and Chairman Noir are originally their target, didn't I?"

His smile turned bitter before adding, "The reason why they went through the trouble just to rile you up, is because they already knew it will not be easy to recruit me. Not because they can't afford me, but because..."

He paused to look at them meaningfully, "They know the Crown Princess can't control me."

A strange silence followed as the Conclave council members tried to make sense of what

Kyran had just said.

Malek already told them about the Crown Princess's possible innate ability and they originally thought the Royal Family's purpose for holding the joint military exercise was to get all their main forces in one place, they find a way to use her ability on them. Once the Crown Princess succeeded in controlling the Conclave's main forces, it would only be a matter of time before the whole Conclave would get assimilated by the Royal Family.

Their guess was not fundamentally wrong. But, apparently, their target was not their main forces but their reserves, and Tyr.

Kyran was not bothered by the silence. He even let the silence drag on because he knew all of them were trying to let this information sink into them.

"Wait," after almost half a minute, Vaness spoke, breaking the silence. He looked at Kyran and asked, "You said, they 'know' the Crown Princess can't control you as if you are 100% positive, why is that?"

Kyran took a deep breath and replied, "Because she tried to use her magic on me in the Blacksmith Order."

He then took this chance to tell them what happened in the Blacksmith Order.

Hearing that the Ylfaen Emperor actually appeared made them realize that the Royal Family had indeed finally made their move.

They only sensed things were changing from the moment the 'improved' Magic Detectors had been implemented. But they thought the Royal Family would not make any drastic movement until all the magic detectors were changed.

Kyran proceeded in telling them how the Crown Princess tried to 'control' him and almost all of them paled, except for Malek and Hugh who only closed their eyes hiding their exasperated expressions.

"So she intend to 'volunteer' in giving first aid to our injured members and place a mark on them?" Malia summarized with an exasperated expression.

She had not met the Crown Princess in person, but she and Hugh had been watching that day through a projection in Stella's quarters. They could only watch what happened in the reception hall and not in the training grounds, but Malia believed she had a firm understanding of the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess did not strike Malia as a cunning person. The former did appear imperious yet somewhat whimsical. Pretty much like their Lord of the Tower.

To think the Crown Princess actually tried to pull such an inhumane act. After all, controlling someone was depriving them of their freedom.

Kyran nodded.

"So what? They think it is easier to control me then?" Sigma grumbled again.

Avrum looked at him and shook his head in disbelief, "You're still hang up on that?"

"It's not that it is easy, but it is possible," Kyran answered Sigma, ignoring his unmasked anger.

"If they detain you, there are plenty of ways to remove your self-awareness making you even vulnerable to Soul magic. Of course, while they do that, they will still find ways to 'recruit' me."

"What did you say?"

"Just now, did you say...?"

Malek and Hugh asked at the same time, both looked at Kyran with wide eyes and even their complexion paled.

The others did not seem to notice anything wrong and looked at them in confusion.

"Head Master?"

"What's wrong, Chairman Hugh?"

It was at this moment that the array on the conference's ceiling lit up and a semi-transparent golden sphere descended. Inside the sphere was Stella, whose long blue dress with white and gold accents highlighted her beautiful light blue eyes.

All the council members stood up and bowed respectfully at her.

Kyran also looked up and their eyes met.

Stella held his gaze as she maneuver the sphere toward Kyran. The sphere disappeared before she landed a few feet away from him.

As if the two had a private conversation, Kyran nodded his head and stepped back a little.

Stella faced the Conclave council members and said, "Both of you heard him right, Malek, Hugh. The Crown Princess does not possess an innate ability to control others. She is using Soul magic to do this."

This time, it was not just Malek or Hugh who reacted, but the rest of the council members.

They did not know about the Queen of the Faes, White Lily's visit and were not privy of the Crown Princess's visit to the Winfrey Ancestral Land, after all. Only Hugh and Malek had been present at that time.

"Soul magic?" They all exclaimed.

Seeing their expressions, Stella smiled bitterly and said, "I'm sorry. At that time, it was not yet confirmed if the Crown Princess would succeed. Now that she had, I... admit I was feeling hesitant to tell you. Because of the special nature of Soul magic, the more people knew about it, the more it is likely for them to know we are already aware of the truth. When that happens, the Conclave will be in greater danger."

"Special nature of Soul magic?" Callan asked in confusion. They knew too little of Soul magic and learning that Stella actually knew something was a surprise.

"Every living creature has a soul," Kyran was the one who replied, "And all our experiences will be imprinted on it. To put it simply, all our memories are recorded in it. As long as the Crown Princess find her way to any of you and touch you, she will be able to see through your soul."

This revelation made almost all of them reel in fear.

They knew Soul magic was powerful since it was Ancient magic and now also forbidden magic. But they did not really expect it to be like this.

If the Crown Princess could see through a person's soul she could differentiate between a friend and a foe. If she found that person was an enemy, then all she had to do was 'control,' that person.

"How do you even know this?" Malek asked.

A couple of months ago, Kyran had almost zero magic knowledge. After returning from his training, he was suddenly this overpowered mage who seemed unrivalled in Array as well.

Could a person really achieve that in a short time? To be precise, in over a week?

Kyran raised his right hand, and a black leather book with gold bindings appeared in thin air. It fell on his hand and he showed the cover for them to see.

Stella's eyes widened as soon as she saw the book. It was a little different, but the title on the covers as well as the faint aura it projected was similar to...

"The book on Ancient Magic."

Kyran looked at her and nodded, "That's right."

Then he looked back at the council members and said, "This book is special. Only those possessing Ancient magic can read its pages. Because the runes in this book will change according to the Ancient magic the reader possessed. In my case, it will appear in Void runes. In Stella's case, it will appear in Time runes. However..."

His brow furrowed slightly as if what he was about to say was something he was hesitant to share.

In the end, he took a sharp intake of breath and said, "I can't tell you how I did it, but I managed to trigger the book to appear in Soul runes. And well.... I happen to know how to read it."

"Y-You can read Soul runes?" Avrum and Sigma could not help but exclaim and gape at him in surprise.

The others were also shocked but they were able to stop themselves from exclaiming.

Kyran nodded, "That's right. I can't go into details. In any case, that's how I know about Soul magic."

Stella fell silent, the truth, she knew about the nature of Soul magic because she 'remembered' it. And thought Kyran did too.

Apparently, the real reason was a very logical one and she admitted to feeling a little disappointed.

This made her frown in confusion.

Why did she feel disappointed?

"Going back to our discussion," Kyran diverted their conversation back on track while storing the book back in his pouch. "The Crown Princess tried to use her magic on me. Not once, but more than once. That is why she was convinced I am 'protected' by someone. While I find the misunderstanding troublesome, it was better than them realizing the reason why her magic doesn't work on me is that I possess Void magic. Apparently, my magic is the only Ancient magic that can counter other Ancient magic because of its nature."

They all fell silent.

This turn of events was unexpected.

To begin with, the Royal Family's plan was too ambitious!

Yet, if Kyran had not been there... what would have happened to the Conclave?

Kyran then smiled and said, "Don't worry, the Crown Princess can not use her magic on everyone. There is a way. The real reason why they want to start with controlling the Conclave's 'reserves' is because she can't control too many mages whose magic level is higher than hers."

They all looked at him in surprise. If this was true, then, as long as they could help their members increase their magic level then it should be alright!