“Stay here. I’ll take a piece of its horn, then return here,” Kyran said.
He did not wait for Anette’s reply and already turned, about to leave. However, Anette reached for his arm to stop him at once.
“Wait!” She said with a slight frown. “Are you sure the Quilin’s horn is the rare stone?”
Anette’s doubt was not without reason. Kyran had shown her the image of the rare stone while they were in the tunnel. But she did not see its resemblance to a Quilin’s horn. It had been years since she last saw a Quilin. While the one she saw was small compared to the one here in the ruins, both had horns, so she was pretty familiar with it. Comparing the color and texture of the horn to the rare stone, they were very different. The rare stone had a gradient color from red to violet, with a smooth texture, while the color of the Quilin’s horn was either red, dark red or black with a rough surface.
“I am. I’ll explain it later. This is the best time for me to go there while the mages from the Templar Code has retreated,” Kyran hastily replied.
Anette understood what he meant. Her concern was not because she doubted his judgement but more with the danger of getting close to that Quilin might pose to him.
Suppressing the uneasiness in her heart, Anette made up her mind and rummaged inside her coat pocket.
“Wear this,” she said, taking out a black carved mask from her coat pocket and giving it to Kyran.
Kyran looked at the carved mask. It was a skillfully carved mask of a panther’s face.
“I know you’re already in disguise, but you’ll be using that face to move around freely. It is best to hide your face completely.” Anette explained.
What she said was true. Kyran planned to create more ‘faces’ using his mask so he could have choices depending on the situation. But he also thought of making a full mask to hide his face once he entered the Blue Lotus’s illegal business. At least by doing this, even if something happened that would peel off his full mask, the face-altering mask would still cover his real face. He could not hide his face with a cloth because it was still easy to get used to the shape of his face.
Kyran did not hesitate and took the mask with a short nod.
“Alright,” he said.
He paused for a second to look at the mask and could not help but wonder why his godmother had a lot of miscellaneous items in her coat pocket, like the earplugs and now this mask.
“Please hide in the meantime. I’ll come back as soon as possible,” Kyran told Anette and tied the mask at the back of his head.
“Don’t worry, I know some stealth spell,” Anette assured him.
Kyran replied with a nod and turned his attention back to where the Quilin was. He was at least a hundred meters away behind the beast. Initially, he thought of warping near its forehead and slicing off a part of its horn before warping again. However, he knew getting close to it would not be easy. If it was, why did the first mage of the Templar Code keep its distance and only use his spear to release magic attacks? Most likely, the Quilin had a way to fend from close combat attacks.
Feeling a little disappointed, Kyran heaved a sigh in resignation. The truth, when he read about the Quilins from the Regis Archive, the book only talked about its relation to real dragons and did not mention anything about its ability. It also clearly stated that Quilins were only found in the south, and Kyran, being a young boy at that time, did not bother to find out more. Back then, he always believed he was an average person that would never have a chance to venture out of the Regis Estate.
‘This is not the time to think about those things,’ Kyran thought.
Right now, he had to get near the Quilin and get a piece of its horn without giving away his identity.
Kyran observed the situation ahead.
After the Quilin released a shockwave, it managed to disrupt the Blood Sacrifice Array and was now freed by the paralysis effect is induced. At this moment, it galloped in midair as if in delight and turned to its right, preparing to escape.
An idea popped into Kyran’s mind as he remembered the Quilin’s origin.
Since Quilins were thought to be part lesser dragons, yet no real dragon blood, would he be able to suppress it if he used Draconic Magic?
‘Well, I can’t use my magic so let’s use it instead,’ Kyran decided and finally jumped down from the building.
His decision to only use Draconic Magic was not without reason. Because Draconic Magic, which only enhances his physical abilities, was far more inconspicuous than Void Magic, where he had to summon his purple rings. Besides, even if his eyes changed while using Draconic Magic, it would be hidden behind the mask, so it was not obvious.
As soon as Kyran left, Anette also made her way inside the building while casting a stealth spell on herself. She did not insist on going with Kyran because of her magic. Though Anette had been out of the loop for years, she was actually well known around this part of the empire. She might look different, but she could not disguise her magic. Aside from this, Anette must never be seen around Kyran’s other identities because she was also known to have a relation with the Regis Clan. They might not link Kyran’s other identities to the Regis Clan, but it might implicate them.
One could never underestimate a person’s ability to weave stories. Not to mention, this was the Templar Code’s jurisdiction. Who knew whether they were already in cahoots with the Royal Army or the Royal Family.
Kyran kept his attention on the Quilin as it took flight. He activated the Cloaking Array and increased his speed.
From the Templar Code’s side, the three elite mages regrouped after their hasty retreat and went after the Quilin, while the other mages focused on fixing the Blood Sacrifice Array.
“Hm?” The first mage suddenly felt something strange nearby.
His innate magic was Light Magic. Because every living being that possessed magic emits a form of light energy, by attracting magic energies from the surroundings, it was easy for him to feel any presence within a fifty-meter radius.
However, when he felt the surrounding energies, something felt wrong. He felt something moving. And the reason why he noticed it was not because it emitted light energy but because it lacked one. As a matter of fact, the magic energies around it was not attracted to it but appeared to pass through it.
“Stay alert. I sensed something nearby,” the first mage told both his companions.
The other two could not help but frown at his words. They knew his ability to sense the presence of other living beings, so his words appeared strange to them. What did he mean by ‘something’?
“Another beast? Or an intruder?” The second mage asked.
The first mage shook his head and said, “I’m not sure.”
“Tell me where it is. I can scout the area,” the third mage also spoke.
Contrary to how the third mage was dressed, the voice behind the mask was actually a female.
The first mage shook his head.
“No need. Focus on the mission. We can not keep the Lady waiting,” he replied.
“Very well,” the third mage nodded.
On the other side, Kyran already felt the three elite mages coming after the Quilin. He also sensed their hesitation before ultimately focusing on the beast and guessed they probably discovered him.
The truth, even though he used the Cloaking Array, he knew he could not entirely hide from them. For one thing, his array could only conceal his aura and killing intent. Besides, those three might have other means to detect his presence.
Though Kyran knew this, he was not worried. On the contrary, he welcomed the possibility of them finding him. Because only then could he confirm something.
Right now, he was using the Regis Blessing, a.k.a. Draconic Magic. If they had a magic item that could detect a person’s magic aura or signature with them, they would surely detect his ‘Regis signature’.
But they chose to ignore him, meaning they had not detected it or they did not have a magic item with them. They might not even understand ‘what’ he was. Though he was not sure which of these were the answer, it was enough for him to draw some conclusion.
‘If they felt my presence and knew what I am, they should’ve mobilized the other mages to come after me because I am an ‘intruder’. But thy did not. Instead, they decided to focus on the Quilin. There is a good chance they thought I was another ‘beast’ or an entirely different ‘being’. No matter what the answer is, it is good enough.’ Kyran thought as he stared at the Quilin’s back.
He suddenly had an impulse to release the Cloaking Array while the Regis Blessing was active.
‘Will the Quilin sense the Draconic Magic in me?’ He wondered. ‘If it did, what will it do?’
Kyran could not help but shake his head with a faint smile.
‘What am I even thinking? If I released the array, won’t I be creating trouble for myself by getting the Templar Code’s attention?’
But the feeling within him grew stronger.
With a frown, Kyran felt his Draconic vore and slowly realized his feeling was similar to the feeling he got whenever his Void vore reacted to his predecessor’s memory.
‘Could it be..?’