Legacy of the Dark Sage

The matches on the third day of the sparring event went by as usual. Tribes with disputes to settle, like the Naga Dragon Tribe and Hydra Dragon Tribe, proceeded well, and their differences were resolved, leaving a sense of satisfaction on both sides.

Some talents who sparred with Kyran on the first day made another appearance, fighting against a different talent. A few, like Ambros and Dilitrio, also sparred against each other.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Unlike the first day, the matches on the third day were what they were used to. There was no time limit because the matches typically ended in less than five minutes. Nonetheless, the audience, regardless of their tribe, was entertained and was even reminded of a spar's true purpose.

Two people sparred so they could assess their strength and gain combat experience against people with different magic abilities. It should not be used to bully others or as a pretense to a conspiracy.

Because more matches were scheduled on the third day, the event ended almost the same time as it did on the first day. Aillos also gave a short closing remark before ending the sparring events.

Of course, even if the three-day spar matches ended, the young talents could still compare notes with each other until the last day of the Grand Gathering. However, since it was no longer part of the event, they had to use the palace's training hall for their matches.

This was also because, on the last day, the dome would be off-limits to everyone except the representatives attending the closed-door meeting that would take place there.

As agreed, Kyran and Anahita met for another coaching session. Cyneah and Jared accompanied the former, while Thorn and a few other young talents from different dragon tribes came to watch the latter.

In fact, news of the two sparring yesterday had already spread among the young talents. Fortunately, their tribe leaders ignored the rumor and only allowed it to circulate among the young talents.

Anahita was initially apologetic to Kyran because she did not expect the news of their session would spread so fast. However, Kyran did not mind and even preferred it because he wanted to share as much knowledge he knew of Draconic magic as he could with the young talents of the Dragon Clan.

After all, if they could influence and boost each other's understanding of Draconic magic, their overall strength would have a visible improvement.

That result was something Kyran would welcome anytime.

Meanwhile, a few tribe leaders on good terms with Ickle and Crei came to them and inquired about the rumored unofficial spar. They might have decided not to do anything but that did not mean they were not curious about what happened. Besides, there was a mention that Ickle offered to compensate Kyran so he would accept the request.

Ickle did not hide the truth and told them what happened. However, they were surprised when the matter of the compensation was mentioned. This was because Ickle confirmed that there was indeed a compensation offered, but Kyran did not accept it. Instead, he asked Ickle to let him have complete sway on how to teach Anahita.

In any case, Ickle and the other tribe leaders gleaned a lot from yesterday's event. If they included what Aillos said about organizing a large-scale training camp or that Kyran would represent his family in the upcoming closed-door meeting, then it was clear that the two were up to something and that it involved something big.

As to what they were up to, obviously, it had to do with the current state of affairs in the Higher Realm.

Frankly, Ickle was not the only one with such thoughts. The other tribe leaders, regardless of whether they knew or believed the events of yesterday happened, also had ideas of what Aillos had in mind.

Ultimately, all of them came up with the same conclusion:

Aillos intended to prepare the clan for war. This was already confirmed based on his remark during the banquet. However, unlike their initial understanding that the war was to show their stance to every clan in the Higher Realm who wanted to covet Kyran's Draconic core that they would protect him no matter what, it was different. Instead, Kyran himself was crucial to the war.

His role was not to be a damsel to be protected. Instead, he was someone who could be the very key to the war's success. And it was not because he could use genuine Draconic magic— which was Chaos magic.

And on that note, the fourth day of the Grand Gathering ended with all tribe leaders anticipating tomorrow's closed-door meeting.

*

The coaching session took longer than Kyran expected. Since there were more talents who joined in, deeper insights about how to use Draconic magic were discussed in greater detail.

Initially, the other talents still had reservations about the things Kyran told them. But it did not take long for them to realize how deep his understanding of Draconic magic was compared to them.

In particular, Ladon, who also joined the session upon Thorn's invitation, gained a lot of insight. He also realized that the real reason Kyran was now knowledgeable than them with using Draconic magic was because of his apparent insatiable thirst to learn something new.

Kyran's rare innate ability that allowed him to understand concept and apply them in real life with ease, also gave him a huge advantage against them.

It did not take long for those young talents who listened to Kyran's explanation and attentively watched as he demonstrated the concepts that he knew using normal magic spells or combat moves to change their view of him. They soon realized that his strength was real and comparable to the best talents amongst the current generation of dragons.

Because of this, they no longer harbor thoughts of testing Kyran again. In fact, they could not wait to tell their tribe leaders and fellow tribe members of the things they learned from him. They even thought of clearing the misconception their fellow talents had of Kyran.

Regardless of what these talents had in mind, Kyran did not really care. He was more concerned about how the tribe leaders would react during the closed-door meeting when Aillos finally dropped the bomb.

No matter.

There were only a few hours left before the meeting would commence.

*

Early morning the following day, all tribe leaders and their second-in-command went to the dome for the closed-door meeting.

The dome's interior was changed to accommodate the meeting. The arena was removed and was replaced with an enormous round table that could cater more than 200 attendees. At the north end of the table, two highchairs, reserved for Aillos and Ames, could be seen. There were also four seats on each side that were reserved for the eight Aides.

Apart from these seats, the tribe leaders and their second-in-command could seat anywhere. Not assigning their seats was actually something Aillos did to prevent anyone from thinking he would play favorites. Because in his eyes, all of the tribes were equally important to the clan. No one could be above than the others because all of them had their specialties that were beneficial to the clan.

The tribe leaders and their second-in-command took their seats according to who got there early. This became an unspoken rule for them and all of them respected it.

For this reason, none of them could voice discontent if another tribe chose the seat near the aides— like Kyran for example.

Most of the dragon tribes were already aware that Kyran would participate the meeting to represent his family. They did not know why he was chosen as the representative, but apparently the Regis Patriarch and successor had something important to do and could not attend. In fact, none of them had seen them after the banquet on the first day of the Grand Gathering.

Kyran sat on the fifth seat to Aillos's right. He did not know about the tribes' unspoken rule of first come first serve on the seats. Instead, Ames insisted that he arrive early than anyone to avoid taking a seat at the back.

Kyran kept a straight face while watching more of the tribe leaders and their second-in-command arrived. Not all of them chose the seat close to Aillos's or Ames's. However, whether they did this because they preferred it that way, or because they discreetly wanted to keep a distance from Kyran was unknown. Regardless of where they chose to sit, all of them glanced at him furtively.

"I don't think we have been formally introduced."

A tribe leader, whom Kyran recognized as the Earth Dragon Tribe's Patriarch, Velctor, greeted. Behind him was a woman who was eyeing Kyran with furrowed brows.

Kyran stood up and nodded his head in greeting before answering, "Patriarch Velctor, of the Earth Dragon Tribe."

Velctor raised his brows in amusement, "Seems like you have done your research."

"Lady Ames grilled the information on me. She said not to make a fool out of her because I was ignorant."

Velctor laughed at Kyran's reply and said, "Yes. I can imagine her doing that."