Legacy of the Dark Sage

'My guess was right,' Kyran thought after seeing his grandfather's reaction.

After hearing bits and pieces of what happened in the past from Zephyr, and other clues from several sources, Kyran guessed that the red-painted town he and Anette arrived at when they went to the Shaiha to look for the rare stone was the Regis Clan's first land. And the valley, where the temple of the Shaiha had been, was the Dragons' lair.

The distance between the two locations was relatively close, so most believed the town was part of the Shaiha Ruins.

Because the two locations were close to each other, when a demon general attacked the Regis's homeland, the King of the Dragons witnessed the Regis Ancestor's fight. Ultimately, the latter's strong will moved the King of the Dragons, and he blessed him, resulting in the birth of the first Dragon Lord.

"I met a Quilin in the Shaiha Ruins," Kyran replied. "He told me some things he knew."

Aron and Jared were startled by what Kyran had said.

"You..." Aron started, but in the end, he was rendered speechless.

Due to the lack of a historian in the Regis in their early days, there was no complete account of the Regis's history. There were only stories that had been passed down through word of mouth. If not for the first Regis scholar who decided to put those stories in writing, they would have also been lost in time.

The Regis Family realized the need to find their lost history, so they gathered their elite members to do this. Because of this initiative, they found the incomplete tablet in the Regis Terram. After deciphering some of its content, they found where the Regis's first homeland was.

However, by the time they learned of it, the Royal Family had already decreed that newly discovered ruins would have to be surrendered to them.

The Regis Patriarch at that time decided not to pursue the matter, believing the Royal Family would use their old homeland as leverage to keep them under their control.

Alas, though the Regis Patriarch's decision was reasonable, it actually stopped them from discovering the Quilin living there. A real Quilin who likely had the answers to most of their questions, if not all.

"... are you telling the truth? Is he a real Quilin?" Aron asked Kyran.

Kyran nodded. He looked at Max and Reuben and said, "They can attest to it. They tried to kill him because of his horn."

Aron and Jared's brows furrowed after hearing that, and they shot Max and Reuben a sharp gaze.

As a family who has a history with dragons, the Regis Family are very protective of anything pertaining to them. Even if Quilins are only part dragon, they are still the Dragons' offspring. It doesn't sit well with Aron and Jared to hear others had designs of killing one.

Cold sweats trickled down Max and Reuben's backs after seeing Aron and Jared's expressions.

"We never plan to kill him," Reuben explained hurriedly. "Our superiors only wanted to harvest his horn at that time."

"A Quilin's horn is part of their life force. Harvesting it is the same as subjecting him to death," Aron said coldly.

Reuben paled and looked at Kyran immediately for help.

Kyran was slightly amused. Frankly, he only told his grandfather and uncle about the history between Zephyr and the Templar Code in passing. He never expected them to react this way. It made him sweat inwardly, thinking how they would react if they found he turned that Quilin into his Sigil.

Kyran cleared his throat and hurriedly changed the subject, "That matter has been resolved. We can put that aside for now since we have far more pressing matters to discuss."

Aron took a deep breath and nodded, "You are right. First, we have to get everyone to safety."

"Regarding the old array transmission," Kyran looked at Jared. "Have you tried using it before?"

Jared shook his head, "No. We only discovered it recently inside the Regis Terram."

"Then there is a chance it is not working because of the strange magic that contaminated the Inner Walls."

"That's right," Jared agreed. "But previously, we can still activate the array. Now it is unresponsive."

"Since when?"

"Well," Jared paused for a moment before continuing, "We only tried to activate it after the barrier got damaged, so I can't say if it became unresponsive before that."

Kyran fell silent. If the transmission array stopped responding before Ruin damaged the barrier, then the real cause might be Kyran. Most likely, when he saved Zephyr from the Templar Code, he unknowingly destroyed the array.

"Kyran?" Rin, who had been silently listening to their discussion, spoke after seeing Kyran's expression.

Kyran looked up and saw them waiting for him to say something. It only dawned on him that he had been talking to his grandfather and uncle as if they were equals. Thinking back, he also sounded a little impertinent.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly apologized, startling the other three.

Max and Reuben also looked at Kyran in confusion. They were used to Kyran's seemingly, 'bossy' attitude and did not find anything amiss about his behavior, so his apology was a surprise.

"What's with the apology?" Aron asked with raised brows.

Kyran lowered his head at him and said, "I just realized I'm being rude. My questions sounded somewhat blunt."

His answer rendered the three speechless.

After a few seconds, they burst into laughter.

"You are anything but rude," Aron told him with a smile. "Besides, your questions also help us reevaluate our line of thinking."

Jared nodded, "That's right. There were things that seemed obvious, but we failed to see them because we didn't realize we were feeling anxious. A good example is the transmission array. Initially, I thought it was unresponsive due to the strange magic that contaminated the Inner Walls. But thinking about it now, the Regis Terram is considered a different 'space.' So the strange magic can't possibly affect it."

"You don't need to worry about sounding rude. Just speak your mind," Rin said with a smile.

Kyran took a deep breath and smiled slightly, "Got it."

He looked at his grandfather and continued, "Grandfather, please allow me to enter the Regis Terram."

"You are already of age," Aron replied with a smile.

"You may now enter it as you please. However..." He looked at Max and Reuben before continuing, "They cannot go with you."

"Is it because they don't have the Regis bloodline?"

"Because they are outsiders. Unless they receive the mark of the Regis Clan, then they are not allowed there."

"There's no problem then," Kyran replied. Retaining a straight face, he added, "Since they are my Sigils, they are considered to possess the Regis's mark."

Aron crossed his arms in contemplation, "Hm... I suppose it is. Since a Sigil is...."

He suddenly froze after realizing what Kyran had just said.

Jared's jaw dropped as he gaped at Kyran, "My dear nephew. Just what have you been doing after leaving the Regis Estate?"

Max and Reuben shifted uneasily when Aron and Jared's gazes zoned in on them again.

Only Rin kept a calm look as she laughed softly, "It's not like the Sigil can't be used on humans. It's just that no one has tried."

Jared looked at her incredulously, "There is a reason why no one has tried! Taking a human as a Sigil consumes a lot of magic energy, and sustaining their growth requires...."

He looked at Kyran in disbelief, "How are you able to sustain their growth?"

Kyran looked at his uncle with a troubled expression, "Can we talk about that later?"

Aron cleared his throat. Clearly, he was also curious how Kyran managed to turn a human into a Sigil. But his grandson was right. They could talk about that in great detail later.

"He is right," he said while looking at Jared. "Try to contain your curiosity, Jared. We have things to do."

Jared scratched his head.

"Okay, alright," he looked at Kyran and added, "Let's go to the Regis Terram then."

Kyran nodded.

Before they could leave, Rin suddenly called him, "Kyran."

Kyran stopped and looked at her.

"Do you have that with you?" She asked vaguely.

Nevertheless, Kyran knew what she meant and replied, "Yes."

"When we gave it to you," Rin continued. "It is because we never expected this turn of events. But now that you have it and we are still... Never use it, no matter what."

Kyran could not help but frown at what Rin did not say. He had known that when his family decided to let him escape, they were prepared to die. That was also the truth behind his mother's parting words; only when he stayed alive could the clan be saved.

Basically, she was telling him as a 'man' he had the ability to revive his clan even if they all died.

Kyran nodded at her, "I won't."

Rin took his hand, "Promise me."

Kyran was slightly taken aback by his mother's imploring words. But he did not get to answer her because, at that moment, he sensed the device he created that monitors the activity of his puppets lit up inside his pouch.

His eyes widened as he realized which puppet caused the device to light up.

'Neo's in danger!'