Gustaff's eyes almost popped out of their socket as he stared dumbfoundedly at the projection showing Kyran's progress.
Of course, the cause of his shock was the path Kyran chose.
Gustaff's heart pounded nervously in his chest as all sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind. He did his best to quench his curiosity because, as a discreet man, he should not pry on such a delicate subject. Aside from this, Kyran was clearly related to the great master Cade. With such an uncanny resemblance to master Cade, Gustaff would be an idiot if he didn't realize who the kid really was.
It was common knowledge that Cade had a son. Although his son had never appeared in public, there were a lot of speculations of how good his genes were. It was to be expected. After all, Cade's wife Rin was known not only as a talented Summoner but also for her unparalleled beauty.
Given all these facts, Kyran's strength was bound to equal or even surpass his parents.
But the strength Kyran possessed far exceeded Gustaff's expectations; just reading the rune on the path Kyran chose made his scalp go numb in fear.
Right at this moment, Gustaff was having an internal battle with himself. If he let his curiosity get the best of him, who knew what kind of safety measures the Regis would do to make sure he kept his mouth shut.
Not to mention, Nolan was right beside him! With his deep relationship with the Regis Family because of Rin, he would definitely not let any threat come in the way of Kyran.
Alas, Gustaff should not have followed them. He only did because he found Kyran's age too young to enter the tower, and he worried that Nolan might be bullying him. But now that he suspected Kyran was Cade's son, he found that maybe Nolan was not bullying him but Cade. To be accurate, the whole Regis clan.
While others applaud the Regis's strength and righteousness, Gustaff knew another side of them. The Regis was full of bullies. They did not bully others but their younger family members.
Kyran's presence here might be what the Regis planned, and Nolan was here to keep an eye on him.
Gustaff knew all of these. However, his innate ability did not want to cooperate with him. If he did not voice out his questions, Nolan would get cursed.
He could still remember the first and hopefully the last time he accidentally cursed Nolan. It was an experience he did not want a repeat. Because unlike those who he had cursed before that ended up in misery, it was him who ended up in complete hell because of Nolan's vengeful side.
Gustaff slowly took a deep breath and put on a calm expression. Finally, he asked, "N-Nolan, why did he choose the Void path?"
Too bad the quiver in his voice betrayed his calm facade.
Nolan kept his attention on the projection. However, internally he could only sigh at his rotten luck. If he had not personally proven Gustaff's trustworthiness, his head would have rolled when he witnessed Kyran choosing the Void path.
Such an occurrence was actually out of Nolan's expectations. First of all, when he first entered the tower, he was not transported to a white room. Second, while he was also given a choice to choose a path, there were only three options. Last, and the most unexpected thing, they actually understood the runes written on the tablets!
Nolan was also perplexed that the paths presented to Kyran were 'magic.' In his experience, the choices he had were directions: Right, Center, and Left.
With this event, it had further proven that the tower dealt with each person that entered differently.
"The answer's obvious," Nolan answered Gustaff's question. He was not planning to give him a direct answer. Besides, Gustaff's annoying ability could be countered as long as you answer him. It was up to you if you wanted to answer completely. Of course, Gustaff's curiosity must be quenched or else he would end up asking more questions.
"Actually, I don't quite understand," Gustaff replied.
Yup, Gustaff's curiosity must be quenched.
"Nar was given nine choices. I failed to catch the rest, but I noticed the runes represented different kinds of magic. In my experience, I was given two choices, Combat or Debate," he continued.
"It's just my guess, but does those magic mean he needed to choose a magic path among those? If that is the case, then why Void? Is it…" Gustaff hesitated only for a second before asking, "Is it something the Regis asked him to choose?"
Nolan's brow furrowed. He finally looked at Gustaff with an incredulous expression before saying, "You're overthinking. They would not have known that the kid would be given those choices."
Gustaff's eyes widened in realization after hearing Nolan's reply.
"You're right. But still, why would he choose such a scary path?" He insisted.
"As I said, the answer is obvious," Nolan repeated with raised brows.
Before Gustaff could voice his doubts, Nolan continued, "Because that is the path he had to choose."
He looked back on the projection and added, "As for the other choices presented to him. Honestly, I am also unsure. But I know for a fact that kid has two innate magic."
"Two?" Gustaff exclaimed, his eyes bulging in surprise.
A mage wielding two magic was not surprising. The surprising fact was having two 'innate' magic. One should understand that wielding other magic was different from having two innate magic. The difference in the magic output of these two was like comparing water coming out from a faucet to water coming down a huge waterfall.
Nolan sneered at the undisguised surprise in Gustaff's voice. Internally, he was relieved to know Gustaff failed to read all the runes in the nine tablets.
Just thinking of the questions Gustaff would ask if he read the rune with the Draconic path gave Nolan a severe headache.
"Gustaff," Nolan suddenly said with a grave expression. "Whatever it is you see or hear, keep it to yourself. I don't want to kill someone I've known for a long time."
Gustaff's expression turned solemn. He even flinched at Nolan's blunt words. Others would have faltered if they talked about killing someone, especially if that someone was right in front of them. However, Nolan did not even bat an eye.
"I don't mind swearing a Soul-Binding Oath if it will make you feel at ease," he told him sincerely.
"No need," Nolan replied with a slight smile. He had ways to deal with him if it ever came to that.
Gustaff sighed and shook his head slightly. He looked back at the projection, which still showed the white room, except Kyran had already left.
"You have one troublesome disciple," he commented while giving Nolan a side-glance.
Nolan immediately frowned and replied, "He's not my disciple."
"No? Back there, you said—."
"I'm just trying to make a point," Nolan cut him in midsentence.
"Alas, you had me there," Gustaff said and shook his head. "Ah, well, given his real identity. I understand why you personally went with him. If the great master Cade is the one who accompanied him here, they will attract so much attention even if they are in disguise."
Nolan only replied with a grunt.
Gustaff already knew too much about Kyran. He must not know about the Regis's situation as well.
The two might appear to have conversed for a long time. But actually, it was only a few minutes.
They waited for the projection to change scenes. Probably to where Kyran was transported to. However, even after waiting a couple of minutes, the projection only showed the white room.
With a slight frown, Nolan sighed as a thought crossed his mind. It appeared that the tower would only show them the after results. He already knew that they could not possibly observe Kyran's training because of the time difference inside the tower and the outside, but he thought they would at least see some of his progress.
The eight golden tablets that Kyran did not choose descended back to the floor. The tablet with the Void rune remained, and currently, it was giving a faint golden light.
"Looks like we'll have to wait for a bit," Gustaff said with a laugh.
As soon as he said this, the golden tablet with the Void rune emitted a blinding golden light.
Once the light had faded, they found Kyran on his knees, panting heavily. His face was smeared with dried blood and black soot. And his clothes were tattered with a few scorched areas all over.
Nolan and Gustaff immediately frown.
Kyran had just started, and yet he already looked pitiful. Just what kind of training did he encounter?
Back inside the tower, Kyran panted as he slowly grabbed his left arm.
'Damn it, it's broken,' he thought bitterly, recounting the events of what happened after he was transported.
Five days ago…
As soon as Kyran saw the six pairs of red reptilian eyes, he instinctively activated the Regis Blessing and jumped.
However.
"Wha—?"
All hell broke loose as the medium-sized beasts in front of him, which resembled a giant lion with a blazing red mane but with a snake-like head, pounced at him simultaneously.
Kyran, who was in the process of jumping back, realized the lack of power boost from the Regis Blessing was immediately slammed down by the nearest beast.
"Argh!" Kyran exclaimed in pain as he slammed on the ground.
Cracks formed from the impact, and Kyran was also pushed down at least half a foot deep on the ground.
The beast's huge paw pinned him in place. Its claws were grazing Kyran's body.
RAWRGH!
The beast roared at Kyran's face and was about to bite off his head.
However, it was at this moment that Kyran's eyes turned reddish-purple as he activated his Void Barrier.
A round purple barrier expanded from Kyran, completely obliterating everything it touched. That included the six beasts that were planning to eat him alive.
These beasts did not even have a chance to scream as the purple barrier passed through their body, and they disintegrated into nothingness.
Kyran released his barrier as soon as he was sure that all the beasts were destroyed, and he knelt on his knee.
He immediately felt a stinging sensation on his shoulders and leg.
'Damn it!' Kyran cursed through gritted teeth.
He felt very frustrated right now but not because of what happened.
It was because he realized something grave.
'I can't use my Draconic magic!' Kyran thought.