Without taking his attention away from Byron, Kyran took out another bottle of energy replenishing potion and down it in seconds. His brows lifted when suddenly the wound on Byron’s back slowly healed.
Kyran had seen a similar scene before when a Regis apprentice succeeded in taming a beast. After the Sigil integrated successfully into the beast, their physical body would improve. If they were wounded, then they would heal.
The back of Kyran’s hand glowed, and slowly a mark of two intertwining dragons forming a circle, with a number one at the center, appeared.
‘It worked,’ Kyran thought with a smile while he looked at the mark.
This mark was proof that he had a Sigil and the number at the center was the number of his ‘tamed’ Sigil.
Byron slowly stirred in his sleep, and he soon opened his eyes.
“Argh…” he groaned as he slowly got up. “My head…” he rubbed his throbbing temples and tried to recall what had happened.
“Good. You’re awake.”
Byron jolted back when he heard someone speak to his right. He looked at the man in black as his memories from earlier rushed into his head.
“Y-You! What did you do to me?” He asked and pointed an accusing finger at him.
Kyran frowned slightly. This reaction was not what he expected. When his family tamed a beast, they became docile as soon as the beast woke up, and some even became affectionate.
‘Docile is fine, I don’t want this grown man fawning over me,’ Kyran decided.
“Is that how you act in front of the person you’ve submitted to?” Kyran asked coldly.
Byron felt a sudden chill run up his spine after seeing the man in black’s eyes.
“Sit properly,” Kyran ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
Byron replied and immediately sat and faced the man in black.
“Ack!” The moment he did, he froze in mortification after realizing that he answered without meaning, and his body moved on his own.
Seeing the obvious mortified look on Byron, Kyran chuckled. It would seem, a human Sigil would obey his words but still retain their self-consciousness. This behavior was unexpected and might bring trouble to Kyran if he was not careful, but it was okay. He did not want an autonomous Sigil. Come to think of it, maybe beasts also retained self-consciousness after performing the Sigil, but they immediately warmed up to them since there was no longer a threat to their lives.
But humans were different. They tend to overthink, making them wary of other people’s motives unless they prove they could be trusted. That proof, however, depends on each individual. This reason was why some trusted others easily and got fooled a lot of times. It was rare to meet a person whose sensitive to other people’s real characters.
Kyran studied Byron, who was looking at him in apprehension.
Getting into the Blue Lotus was crucial to Kyran’s plans after leaving the Tower of Conclave. He had to be careful in dealing with this guy.
First, he needed to get this guy to trust him.
“What I did to you is insurance. Since you agreed in submitting to me, I had to make sure you will not betray me,” Kyran started.
Byron’s brow creased slightly, and he said, “Is it similar to a Soul-binding Oath?”
“Yes.”
Byron’s expression turned ugly, but he did not say anything.
“Your soul is not bound. But your life is in my hands. If you do anything that would harm me, you will die. If I am displeased with you, I can kill you in one word.”
Byron shivered at how blunt the man in black said these words.
“My words are absolute. If I ordered you to do something, you will do it. Of course, I won’t order you to your death because I will also suffer.” Kyran added when he saw him paled again.
This guy changed color too fast. It was a little funny.
“In return, I had to share my life force with you. Didn’t you notice your wounds are now healed?”
Byron’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at his back. Sure enough, the pain in his back was gone. The man in black said he suffered a skin avulsion. Upon seeing the huge opening on his armor, Byron’s throat went dry just imagining how bad it was. He also remembered the pain and felt cold sweat run down his back. This man shared his life force, and in return, Byron was healed. How terrible was this man’s healing ability?
“I will know if you’re lying to me. Or if you’re hiding something, so I suggest you answer well when I ask questions.”
“I understand,” Byron replied at once. This time he answered because he meant it.
Byron was still alive, so this man was reasonable. As long as he did not give him a reason to kill him, he would be fine.
“I said this earlier, I’m in a hurry, so try to make it brief. Tell me the real reason why you have to hide your identity.”
Byron took a deep breath. He was already convinced that the man was not part of the Royal Army’s Special Ops, so he did not mind telling him what he knew. Besides, he seemed uninterested in harming the Blue Lotus.
“The truth, the magic residue we felt that attracted us to go deep into the ruins and found the underground grove was fresh. We feared that someone else already found the ruins and hadn’t claimed it yet so we kept searching. And soon we found traces of the Royal Army.”
Kyran’s eyes narrowed. So the underground grove was already found by the army. If that was the case, then the army should block the entrance to the ruins.
Seeing the man in black’s thoughtful expression, Byron nodded and continued, “We feel something was off, so we checked again. Finally we found a transportation array. We don’t know where it leads to, but we know it was an array setup by the army. It is also well hidden, and we only found it by luck.”
‘Meaning they setup the array to return in the ruin instead of publicly claiming it. The reason was simple, the army wanted to hide the ruin’s existence. From whom? The mass? The fanatics? Or the Royal Family?’ Kyran wondered.
He knew that the Three Noble Families had more power over the Royal Army, and thus, the most likely reason they wanted to keep the grove’s existence was to hide it from the Royal Family. But he could be wrong. Right now, he lacks an understanding of the overall situation within the Royal Army. The Conclave’s record he read only had an overview of its different relationships.
“So the army wanted to hide its existence.”
Byron nodded in agreement.
“That’s what we thought too. Anyway, we need to hide our identities in case if we are found we will not implicate the Blue Lotus.”
Hiding their identity while using the hunters to explore and excavate the stones was reasonable if the army was involved. It was the same tactic the army used when they requested a bounty on his head.
Kyran suspected that the army was doing something behind the Royal Family’s back. He had this suspicion after reading through the report Stella gave him during the meeting with the Conclave. This information proved his suspicion.
“The Royal Family hated the Void Master so much, but the Royal Army is hiding a grove that is related to him.” Kyran sneered. “Hypocrites.”
Byron blinked. He felt the man’s words held so much weight. Then he realized he didn’t call the Void Master the ‘Dark Sage’.
‘Could it be that this man…?’
His eyes gleamed in anticipation. Then he remembered the man mentioning that he should listen to him because he was a fan.
“Sir!” Byron exclaimed and looked at the man expectantly. “Are you also a-a follower of the Void Master?”
“No.”
Byron almost fell at the abrupt denial of the man.
“But-.”
“I’m his successor not a follower.”
…
Sounds of Forest crickets filled the silence.
…
The sound of forest crickets got louder.
Kyran’s brow twitched, looking at the dumbfounded look on Byron’s face.
“What?”
“EEH?”
Both of them said at the same time.
Byron’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets in his delayed shock.
He met a few followers who arrogantly proclaimed they were the Void Master’s successor, but it was his first time hearing a self-proclaimed successor say it with a deadpan expression and tone.
“If you shout again, I’ll kill you.”
Byron immediately covered his mouth. Then he cautiously approached the man and said in a low voice.
“Sir, if you say that, even in front of a follower, they will be hostile towards you.”
Kyran sighed. He did not tell Byron his secret on a whim. It was intended. If Byron knew who he was, it would be easier for him to trust him.
“You don’t believe me?”
Byron leaned back with black lines on his head. If he answered honestly, he would die. It might be interpreted as a silent acknowledgment if he didn’t respond, and he would still die.
How would he reply?
Not waiting for Byron to answer, Kyran stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not. Right now, we need to leave. I’m not sure how many bandits there are left but they have an annoying detection array all over the forest and I really can’t be bothered to deal with all of them.”
“Bandits?”
Kyran looked at Byron and saw his blank expression. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Those guys I killed are likely to be bandits that roam around this forest.”
“Bandits?” Byron repeated as he absentmindedly looked back to the area where the corpses were lying around.
“Those guys were bandits?”
“I’m really going to kill you if you say that again.”
Byron covered his mouth again.
This guy was hopeless.
“No!” Byron suddenly blurted while shaking his head.
He turned his attention to the man in black and said, “Aren’t those guys from the group who was trying to-ah!”
He stopped abruptly. If this man in black was not from the group his employer had warned him, and those guys who ambushed them were bandits, did that mean he jumped to conclusion and almost put all their men in harm when he decided to make a detour?
“I MESSED UP!” He shouted.
“Shut up!” Kyran hit the top of his head.
“Ow!” Byron touched his head and winced, feeling a lump growing there. This man had a terrible fist!
“There might still be bandits around, if you keep on shouting you might draw their attention!” Kyran hissed.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Kyran sighed. Was this man really the right-hand man of the leader of the Blue Lotus? He was starting to have doubts whether he did the right thing in making him his first Sigil.
“Let’s go.”
Byron nodded and stood up, and followed the man.
As they made their way out of the forest, Kyran asked, “Your people how are they?”
He was not worried about them, but if they were still alive, he did not want to be seen walking around with this guy.
“They already escaped and are on their way to Leycombe. I stayed behind planning to finish off those guys so they could not report back to their boss and plan another ambush… at least that was my intention.”
“Good. I’m going to Nhadal and you’re coming with me. Just send a message to your second in command to wait for you until then.”
Byron’s eyes lit up. “You mean you will let me go?”
Kyran looked at him, “I need you to do something. Once I’m done with my business, I will find you.”
“Um. I don’t mean to be secretive but finding me will be troublesome. Our communication channel is being monitored. Even my personal channel is linked to my employer…”
“I have my ways. Just stay away from places with strong prohibition cause it would take some time.”
Byron frowned a little, not understanding what he meant. But he refrained from asking because he was afraid it would piss him off.
“I understand.”
“Also, do you know transfiguration magic?”
“I do.”
“Change your face before we enter Nhadal.”
“Okay. Um, sir. Can I ask a question?”
“What?”
“What is your name?”
Kyran stopped and looked at Byron.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to!” Byron hastily added.
“It’s fine.” Kyran replied with black lines on his head.
This guy was big but easily intimidated.
“I can’t tell you my name yet. For now, call me Nar.”