While a world-shaking incident was happening outside the Misty Forest, inside the forest, the remnant souls could only look at the smaller semi-transparent sphere that was suspended near the edge of the ravine leading to the Chaos Palace.
[Monarch…]
They all called out in concern while they looked at the crouched silhouette inside the sphere.
[There is no response from Lord Azaloth.]
A remnant soul beside the leader said.
[It cannot be helped. We can only do our best to protect the Monarch.]
The leader replied with a hint of determination in his voice.
[Yes!]
The rest of the remnant souls replied in unison.
===================
Kyran slowly opened his eyes. His vision was slightly blurred, and his body ached all over. He did not know when he passed out, but it was not surprising. It was his first time feeling that excruciating pain, after all.
Kyran tried to move his body but found that he could not move apart from feeling in pain.
‘What…?’
As soon as his vision cleared, he studied the scene in front of him. He just hoped he did not fall off the ravine or made a huge mess around the forest.
However, as soon as the scene appeared before him, his expression turned blank.
‘Where… am I?’
The scene in front of him was different from what he expected.
He remembered being in pain while he was in the forest near the ravine, and he was surrounded by the remnant souls of the Dark Sage’s subordinates. So he was expecting to see a scene of the aftermath.
But, right now, he was suspended at a vast white space where five huge orbs floated above.
‘Suspended?’
Kyran belated realized that he was neither standing nor lying down. He was not even sure which was up or bottom because there was no ceiling nor ground. He was not afraid, though. Although he could not see the ground, he believed he could not fall to his death.
‘This… Where the hell am I?’ He wondered in confusion. He racked his brain, trying to remember every detail that happened before he ‘appeared’ in this place.
He was at the Misty Forest, trying to figure out the situation with all the remnant souls, and then he had doubts about the Dark Sage’s past. Suddenly, all kinds of emotions erupted inside him.
Kyran was positive that the emotions he felt that time were not his. It most likely belonged to the Dark Sage.
After that, his magic went out of control.
Kyran’s brow creased as he remembered how Stella talked as if he was the Dark Sage’s reincarnation at times. He did not believe that.
But after feeling those emotions, Kyran admitted to having some doubts. Because why would he feel them if he was not the Dark Sage’s reincarnation?
[You’re not.]
The voice spoke so suddenly that Kyran thought his heart would jump out of his mouth, which was his first. He had been trained to be alert in every situation so few could surprise him. And even if he were surprised, he would not have such an exaggerated response.
“Whose there?” He called out and tried to turn around.
A huge sweat appeared on his head right after his attempt because he could not move his body apart from his eyes.
[Ahahaha.]
The voice’s laughter echoed in the vast white space.
Kyran frowned.
The voice was deep but had a gentleness in it. It also sounded familiar, but Kyran could not remember where he heard it before.
[Cannot remember this voice? Well, that is a little sad. You can’t even remember how your voice sounded?]
“What?”
Kyran wanted to say he did not sound that ‘gentle’, but realized that the voice read his thoughts.
[Ahahaha. You’re so easy to tease.]
“You-!”
Suddenly, a figure formed in front of Kyran.
The figure’s height was similar to him. However, his body was a little skinny, and his hair was long.
As soon as the figure finished forming, Kyran’s eyes grew wide as he stared at ‘him’.
The figure was wearing a white hooded robe with purple accents, and his long ash-colored hair fell down his back. His eyes were like the clear blue sky, and he had a very pleasant smile on his face.
But what surprised Kyran was that this ‘man’ in front of him… looked like an older version of him, and yet not really him, which was really confusing and pretty insane, in his opinion.
“How…?”
The man smiled at him, “Finally we meet.”
Kyran’s expression turned solemn as he stared back at the man. He said, “Are you…?”
“But it is too soon,” the man interrupted.
Kyran frowned. Before he could ask further, the man turned his back on him and looked at the five orbs floating above.
“You are not supposed to come here yet.” He said.
“Yet? What do you-.”
“Do you know what those orbs are?” The man interrupted again.
Normally, Kyran would be pissed after being interrupted twice. However, he was not right now. Besides, he vaguely knew that this man would not give him a proper answer no matter what he asked. At least, not ‘yet’.
Since the man appeared to have something to tell him, Kyran decided to play along and looked at the orbs. This time, he took his time to study them.
Four of these orbs were floating in each direction around the fifth orb at the center. Two of the orbs had colors; one had a purple shade, while the other had silver-gray. The other two orbs, however, were almost transparent. And the orb at the center had a mixture of silver and purple as if both colors were trying to occupy the orb but could not completely dominate the other.
Kyran pondered for a moment. Given the color of one of the orbs, he guessed that it was probably a representation of his Void Magic. While the other one, well, he was not yet sure. But given its color, it might be a representation of his Regis technique. As for the other three, it left him confused.
The man looked at him and smiled. He nodded as if in agreement and said, “Correct. Those two orbs are the representation of both your magic.”
His words made Kyran frowned. He never considered the Regis technique to be magic.
“Ahahaha,” the man suddenly laughed and said, “If it is not magic, then what is it called?”
“The Regis Technique. I have taken a drop of dragon’s blood so I can use some techniques of a dragon.”
“Then let me ask you, what do you think those techniques are called if a dragon uses it?”
Kyran fell silent. The man’s question was a trick question. Obviously, if a dragon used it, then it was not a technique but draconic magic.
The man raised both his brows at Kyran as if to say, ‘See, what did I tell you?’.
Kyran’s brow twitched. It was annoying how the man knew what he was thinking. He felt exposed, and it left a very unpleasant feeling.
“Well I’m not a dragon, so I can only refer to it as a technique. Besides, Grandfather told me Draconic Magic can only be used if a Regis has bonded with a dragon.”
“Correct,” the man agreed with a slight nod.
“I don’t have a bond dragon.”
“Don’t you?” The man replied with a knowing smile.
Kyran looked at him in confusion. If he was correct about this man’s identity, he probably had no idea of the current state of the world.
“I don’t know what era you are from, but in my time, dragons no longer exist,” Kyran replied.
The man only looked at him in silence.
After a moment’s pause, the man took a deep breath and looked at the floating orbs again.
“Then tell me, how come you have the draconic core?” He asked.
‘Draconic core?’
“These orbs, are called Magic Cores. Normally, a person with magic affinity possess only one core.”
Kyran frowned. It was his first time hearing about the Magic Core. He did not encounter it from the books he read at Stella’s study. But he did not think the man would lie to him. Besides, even if it was not mentioned in the books at Stella’s study, it did not mean it did not exist. It might only be that this was not available in her collection. Or he probably did not read the book where it was explained.
“Don’t worry. It is not that it was not mentioned, but it is because, most people don’t understand it and only referred to it as magic reserves.” The man told him.
Kyran’s eyes brightened. If these cores were what they normally refer to as magic reserves, it made sense how his magic would appear inside. But Kyran had an inkling that this man’s definition of the Magic Core differed from what they knew about magic reserves.
“I do not blame you. When you hear the term magic reserves its meaning was very self-explanatory. If there is limited energy around us, as long as a mage had enough magic stored in his magic reserves, then he can still use his magic.”
When the man answered Kyran’s doubts, black lines appeared on his head.
“Can you not do that?” He asked.
“Ahahaha,” the man only laughed.
Kyran stared at the man’s back.
When the man laughed, Kyran could not associate him with the person he thought he might be.
“It is amusing how you are more concerned by the fact that I know what goes inside your head, than the fact that you have five magic cores.” The man commented and looked at Kyran in amusement.
Kyran’s eyes widened after just realizing this. He then looked at the magic cores above and said, “Yeah. You’re right.”
The man chuckled and said, “Then shall we talk about what happened to you and how it is related to your Magic Cores?”