“It does not sit well with me that you have to do everything. Even if it was you who destroyed the Tower’s defensive array, this matter must still be resolved by us.”
“Didn’t you want to teach me a lesson because of what I did here? What are you saying now?” Kyran asked, looking at Sigma in doubt.
Sigma scowled, but he replied, “I’m done enacting your punishment. Your broken arm is proof.”
Kyran raised his brows. He was about to comment that having his arm broken was a low price for what he did, but he stopped himself. He did not want to start an argument with this guy. And since he accepted the identity of Noir’s disciple, he was not going to pretend to be friendly with the Blacksmith Order. He wanted to build a good relationship with them. After all, he would need their help once he started creating his own magic weapon.
But Sigma’s sudden change made Kyran uneasy. As if the big guy was plotting something.
Sensing Kyran’s doubt, Sigma added, “And we have already agreed to have a partnership. But with you doing all the work, can we really call this a partnership?”
Kyran pondered for a bit before accepting Sigma’s argument. Although most of the Conclave council members brushed off this point during the meeting because they would be providing the items Kyran would need on his trip, it did not mean that some of them felt it was not enough. Given Sigma’s upright character, Kyran understood where his concern.
“You also mentioned that the person who will help you is not here, and he may not arrive in time, so-.”
“I’m sorry, senior Sigma. I really can’t take your offer,” Kyran interrupted.
Sigma’s scowl grew fierce as he grunted, “You-!”
“Don’t get me wrong. I said I can’t because if you guys have a way to monitor the army’s movements, especially their high-ranked officers, it means the army has its methods too. If they find out that you suddenly appeared in the South when you were just in Starhorn a day ago, what do you think will happen? And don’t even tell me you can use transfiguration magic and change your appearance.” Kyran continued seeing Sigma was about to say something. “Transfiguration magic has duration and can’t be used continuously. If you plan on not hiding your appearance when he hunt, if something happens and someone sees you with my real face, it will cause a lot of problems.”
Sigma glared at him, but he did not reply. Kyran’s reasoning was correct. He did think that too, but.
Kyran felt Sigma’s hesitation, and he could not help but sigh. This big guy was really true to his character. From the short time he met this guy, he already had an idea of what moves him.
“Did Stella want you to convince me not to go alone?” Kyran asked and turned his attention back on the pond.
Sigma remained silent. It annoyed him how this rascal could understand the whole picture with little clues. His observation skills and ability to read deeper in a situation showed that Kyran was raised unconventionally.
The Regis Clan had their own military school, but they still let him attend an outside military school. Why would they do that? The answer was simple. They already taught Kyran what they could teach, and now they wanted him to learn more from the outside.
“I appreciate her concern and your willingness to help. But it’s unwarranted.”
“The Lord is only-.”
“I know. She has a mission to keep me alive. Don’t worry, I’m not suicidal. I have a reason to stay alive,” Kyran interrupted him again.
Although it irked Sigma how Kyran interrupted him twice, he was not that offended. Besides, he understood what he meant.
Finally, after a few seconds of silence, Sigma heaved a sigh of resignation and said, “Fine. But I still want to help you even if the Lord did not ask me. Although you are only going to pretend to be the Chairman’s disciple, you are now part of the Blacksmith Order. As the president, I have to do what I can to help my people.”
Kyran sighed. This guy was really stubborn. He really did not need any help in hunting the forest beasts. Because he was not that familiar with the mutated beasts’ abilities, even if the Conclave provided that information, he preferred to test them alone.
Given Sigma’s character, Kyran doubted he would willingly follow his instructions. As far as he knew, Sigma only listened to Stella, just like the psycho bastard.
Sensing that Sigma would not leave until he agreed, Kyran finally relented and said, “Okay. I get it. If you want to help, you can but not by coming with me.”
Sigma’s brow creased, but he did not say anything and urged Kyran to explain.
Kyran turned and looked at him. He said, “You’re a Transmuter right?”
“What about it?”
Kyran smiled, “Teach me the concept on how you transmute your magic into weapons. It will help me a lot if I can learn that before I go hunting.”
“You? As a Transmuter?” Sigma looked at him in disbelief.
Kyran looked back on the pond and replied, “Well I am not sure I can become one given the nature of my magic. But I reckon if I understand how you do it, maybe I can come up with my own way of transmuting my magic.”
Sigma crossed his arms and thought for a few seconds. He slowly nodded his head and said, “Hm. It is more convenient to transmute your weapon than bring ordinary ones with you. Apart from ordinary weapons can leave physical evidences, the amount of weapons you can carry in your space storage is also limited. Not to mention, maintaining the weapon takes too much time.”
‘Limit on space storage? I didn’t know that,’ Kyran thought.
So far, his space storage had so many things, yet he felt he could still put a lot more. He even had a feeling he could put the body of three medium-sized forest beasts once he got them.
Of course, he did not say this. It might raise questions that even he did not know the answer to. Besides, this pouch was a gift from his uncle. He would never doubt its origin.
“Alright, you have my word. I’ll teach you.” Sigma agreed.
“You can also be my spar partner while I try it out,” Kyran added.
Sigma’s expression became sour. He remembered the ‘spar’ they had earlier and could not help but sweat.
He cleared his throat, which he belatedly realized had gone dry, and said, “Sure.”
Kyran nodded with a slight smile and turned his attention back on the pond.
“After my lesson with Master Noir, two days from now, we can start.” He said.
“Alright. You best be prepared,” Sigma agreed. Finally, he turned his back and left the gazebo.
Kyran chuckled. He initially thought he would have trouble dealing with Sigma. Now, he realized it was pretty easy.
‘At least that’s one less thing to worry about,’ he thought and looked at the night sky.
His expression turned serious as he thought of Nolan.
‘I hope he does return before I leave. Him around will make hunting those beasts easier,’ he thought.
After staying at the gazebo for almost half an hour, Kyran left. He did not return to the banquet and instead went straight to the training ground.
=====================
The following morning at the Tower of Conclave, everyone resumed their work normally. It was evident that every employee was in a much better mood as they worked on their daily work; everyone except for Stella, who could not sleep a wink that night.
The reason was, of course, Kyran.
When Kyran left the banquet, Stella restrained herself from going after him. She could not very well leave the banquet being the Lord of the Tower. Besides, he already told her to be careful about treating him because it might cause misunderstandings.
There was also her conversation with Malek before the banquet.
Her conversation with Malek went like this: Stella insisted that Kyran be seated close to her during the banquet. But Malek reminded her that Kyran would come to the banquet as part of the Blacksmith Order, and he needed to be seated with Noir and Sigma. Still, Stella insisted and ordered Malek to make an exception, and she would introduce Kyran as a guest of honor.
When she introduced Kyran and found he was not seated to her left, Stella’s mood started to go wrong. And when Kyran acted too respectfully when he addressed her, she had the urge to flip the table.
Of course, she only thought that, and she knew he had to act the part of being Noir’s disciple and could not possibly act brazenly toward her. In the end, she could only look at Malek spitefully and made a mental note to talk to him for ignoring her order after the banquet.
But Stella ended up forgetting the ‘talk’ with Malek because Kyran did not return to the banquet, nor did he returned when it ended. The last straw was when Kyran did not appear in her chambers after waiting for almost two hours for him.
Before she panicked, however, she thought of something and went to the training ground.
Sure enough, Kyran was in one of the smaller training rooms and was immersed in training.
Stella could only sigh in defeat and decided to wait until he completed his training.
A training that ended up all night.
It was not until early morning that Kyran stopped his training to clean up.
When he went out of the room, he was not even surprised when he found Stella outside the training room. Meaning, he already had an idea she was there!
Heartless, the guy was cruel.
Anyway, Stella’s days went like these the following days.
Kyran, on the other hand, got busy getting used to his magic. On the second day of his training, he finally understood the limitation of his warp ability. So his arrangement with Noir to learn about arrays started early.
Of course, Stella made them use her study to change the flow of time.
Because the enchantment Malek used on Kyran to alter his appearance during the night of the banquet would only work once and had a time limit, Kyran, Noir, and Sigma also worked on the prototype of the mask during this time.
When Kyran completed his Array study, as agreed, he met up with Vaness’s people to transport the materials.
The people from the Chamber of Commerce were surprised to meet Noir’s disciple. They heard about him before but never met him in person. They even thought he was not real. Now that they met the man, they were amazed at how easily he created the array to transport all their materials.
The next day after Kyran successfully transported the materials, he started training with Sigma on transmuting his magic.
For the next two days, he trained with Sigma. At the same time, he was waiting for Nolan to return. However, he was left disappointed.
Finally, the day he had to leave had arrived.