The office of Malek was located in a room one floor below Stella’s office at the south tower.
Unlike Stella’s office, Malek’s office also served as his quarters. Although he had his own quarters at the main tower, because he had to deal with many things regarding the Conclave’s businesses, he had a small bedroom built at one corner of his office.
To Malek, it was more convenient for others to reach him at the south tower than the main tower. Because the Lord of the Tower resides at the main tower, a prohibition was installed around the premise that forbids anyone from entering without an issued clearance token.
This clearance token also had a level of accessibility. For example, a level 3 clearance meant they were allowed to enter the main tower’s courtyard. A level 2 clearance token allowed a person to enter up to the main tower’s foyer, and a level 1 clearance allowed a person up to certain floors inside the tower.
So, if someone had to find Malek at the main tower, they had to have an issued level 2 clearance; else, they would not be able to enter.
For the record, Malek had a level 1 clearance which allowed him to enter up to his quarters only. He could not go to the floors where the Lord of the Tower resides or frequents.
Anyway, Malek preferred to stay where he could easily access his data and files. After all, his files were records of the Conclave’s wealth. Something that he enjoyed seeing the most.
However, what Kyran did a few days ago greatly reduced the Conclave’s ‘wealth’, and Malek was very displeased. When he reported this to Stella a few days back, she casually replied to deduct all expenses from her own share.
Did she think it was that simple?
No. Of course, not. And Stella also knew that. After all, she was the Lord of the Tower, and she was taught about the Conclave’s businesses since she was little. Malek knew she trusted him to make proper adjustments so their businesses would not be affected.
Sometimes, being trusted was very trying.
Malek placed his quill on the table and took a deep breath after finishing the last document of their dealings with the Chamber of Commerce that day.
He looked at the small clock at the corner of the table and mentally calculated that it had been almost an hour from when he spoke to Stella.
He pushed back his chair and stood up. He walked over to his left, where the window was located, and he looked out. From where he stood, he could see the tip of the northwest tower. And somewhere closeby was the training ground.
Earlier, when Stella casually told him that Kyran was training, an idea flashed in his mind.
However, Malek realized immediately that his idea might not be possible to execute if Kyran was training in her quarters because of his clearance restriction. So he subtly inquired about Kyran’s exact location. When she answered that he was at the training ground, Malek was unsure whether to be happy, surprised, or annoyed.
Surprised because he was not aware that Stella left the main tower. Normally, the soldiers stationed outside the main tower would inform him if she left. This was part of their security protocol. However, he did not receive any report. This meant only one thing, and that was the reason for his annoyance.
Stella made use of the transmission array to take Kyran to the training ground.
Malek was annoyed because the Tower’s transmission arrays were exclusive to the Lord of the Tower. Only in special cases where they had to transport someone to the infirmary who was critically ill or wounded, or when they had to escape from an enemy invasion, were others allowed to use it along with the Lord of the Tower.
Stella was really treating Kyran as a special case ever since his arrival.
This caused Malek to put his idea into action. He immediately sent a message to Sigma and told him about Kyran’s location.
He knew Sigma wanted to teach the boy a lesson because Stella had no plans on punishing him for wrecking the Tower of Conclave. He also felt the same way, but he could not directly disobey her.
Of course, Malek knew Stella would be displeased if she found out what he had done. But he was prepared for her punishment.
Malek just wanted to remind Stella that she was the Lord of the Tower, and she must not show any leniency on anyone who harmed the Conclave regardless of who they were.
====================
“You’re dead, rascal.”
The moment the scarred man spoke, two light-brown magic arrays circled his gauntlets. Immediately his gauntlets glowed, and an additional semi-transparent thick coating enveloped it.
Kyran’s brow creased as he looked at the semi-transparent coating on the man’s gauntlets.
‘That’s not…a molding technique, is it?’ He thought.
“I’ll have you pay for what you did,” the man growled and dashed in Kyran’s direction.
Knowing how heavy this man’s punch was, Kyran activated the Regis’s body tempering technique. Instead of avoiding, he dashed and met the man’s attack with his own.
The man grinned when he saw Kyran coming toward him.
When their fists collided, it created a shockwave that immediately put cracks on the floor around them.
“Is that all you’ve got?” The man taunted, and suddenly, his magic pressure erupted.
“Wha-!” Kyran was thrown back a few meters from the force.
He crouched down and instantaneously punched the floor to break his momentum.
The man, however, did not stop his attack and was already running to Kyran. A small light-brown magic array appeared a few feet before him, and a square boulder with a depth of at least one and a half feet came out. He stopped just in front of this boulder, and shifting his weight; he punched the boulder.
The moment the man’s fist landed on the boulder, it crackled and turned into a big unibit and sped toward Kyran.
Seeing this, Kyran’s eyes widened. The speed of the unibit was too fast for him to evade completely. If he blocked it with his arms, even with his improved defenses from the Regis’s body tempering technique, he was sure that the unibit would destroy his arms.
Because he knew the man’s identity, Kyran wanted to refrain from using his magic. After all, if he wanted to work with the Conclave, he had to reconcile with its members.
‘No time to hesitate!’ Kyran thought.
Gritting his teeth, he finally roused his magic.
Instantly, his magic integrated itself with the Regis’s body tempering technique. The void scales appeared and formed a protective arc in front of him.
Before the unibit collided with the void scales, Kyran prepared to jump back. However, the unibit did not disintegrate the moment it hit the void scales. Instead, the unibit started to rotate and crackled at the spot where it landed.
“What?” Kyran exclaimed and stared in disbelief as his void scales started to show signs of breaking.
“I know what your magic can do,” the man said disapprovingly. “Did you really think I don’t know a way to break your magic?”
Before Kyran could react, the man disappeared from his field of view again.
At the same time, the unibit successfully penetrated his void scales. His eyes widened as the unibit went straight for his head.
At that moment, Kyran was thrown into a situation where he had to choose whether to focus on the unibit or find the man. But, given the speed of the unibit, even if he chose to deal with it, he would not be able to dodge unscathed.
As for the man, his speed was something that Kyran’s eyes had not gotten used to yet. Even if he wanted to locate the man, he would not be able to deal with the man while dodging the unibit.
Kyran tried to do two things at the same time earlier to prepare for situations like this. However, he had yet to master it, and at the moment, he had too little information about the man’s abilities.
‘Don’t overthink!’ Kyran thought and moved his head slightly to the left and barely dodged the unibit. However, the unibit still grazed his cheeks, and he immediately felt a searing pain spread from where it hit.
Then.
“Don’t be too full of yourself.”
The man said with a sneer as he appeared on Kyran’s left.
“You’re too slow!” The man added in disappointment and directly hit Kyran.
‘Tsk,’ Kyran gritted his teeth. He lifted his arm to block the man’s fist.
Crack!
“Argh!” He groaned as he felt the bone on his arm crack from the force of the man’s punch. He was flung to the side and hit the wall with a loud bang.
Kyran fell face-first on the floor.
Before the wall crumbled, the array formation drawn on its surface lit up and started to repair itself.
“Don’t sleep yet. We’re not done here,” the man said and dashed to Kyran’s position.
Before Kyran could get up, the man already arrived in front of him. He bent a little to hold his head and lifted him.
“Argh!” Kyran screamed in pain as the man’s grip tightened.
Using his good arm, he tried to pry the man’s hand off his head.
“Humph,” the man frowned. “The Lord said you almost killed the Head, but I think you had just gotten lucky.”
Kyran struggled to break free from the man’s grip.
“Now, I’ll show you that messing with the Conclave was your biggest mistake.”