Legacy of the Dark Sage

The story Caelan told Kyran was not that long. It only took him about two hours— at least, that seemed to be the case inside the Kyran's sea of consciousness— to finish his story.

After that, it took Kyran almost an hour to digest everything. Something that rarely happened to him. He would normally absorb everything easily, which was advantageous when he was learning theories and such.

But rather than not understanding Caelan's story, Kyran had trouble connecting the pieces of Caelan's to the things he knew.

Put simply, everything Kyran discovered by himself, was only a small piece of a huge puzzle. Thus, when more pieces were revealed, the initial guess of how the puzzle would look was actually different.

In the end, Kyran stopped connecting the pieces and chose to lay them out first on the huge canvas. Once he gathered the rest of the pieces that was the time he would connect them.

As to where he could gather them, Kyran believed the tablets Axil and her people discovered might had them.

When Caelan sensed Kyran's resolve, he did not bother to ask his thoughts and simply started teaching everything he knew about the Void.

Teaching Kyran took quite some time. Nevertheless, his learning speed was still very fast because of his ability. If not for this, it would take him a year to digest and apply in practice everything Caelan taught him.

At the end of every lesson, Caelan would give Kyran a task he needed to accomplish in a fixed duration. If the latter failed, he would have to redo it until he succeeded. Only after completing the task would Caelan proceed with the next lesson.

Completing Caelan's tasks did not really pose any problem for Kyran because of his ability. Thus, there was no delay in his learning, which surprised even Caelan.

It should be noted that when Caelan learned his magic, it took five years before he could confidently say he understood its nature. It took him an additional three years before he became proficient in its use.

Apparently, his plan to produce the most suitable body to inherit the Void core had also produced cheat-like innate abilities.

That was right. Abilities with the -ies.

A mage would normally possess one innate ability proportional to the number of one's innate magic. For example, if a mage possessed two innate magic, he would likely receive two innate abilities. Of course, having two innate magic was close to impossible. One could learn two magic but at the end of the day, he could only have one innate.

As for Kyran, he actually possessed more than one innate ability. One was his ability to grasp combat and magic theories, allowing him to execute combat moves or magic attacks even without practice, or prior experience. Second was his natural healing ability, which he initially thought to be due to the dragon blood he drank before. Third was his ability to overwhelm beasts with his presence which he inherited from Caelan.

And then, there was his special innate ability of being immune to the Fates' interference.

Kyran was unaware of this, however, and only Caelan knew of it— or to be precise, only those who had been exposed to the truth knew of such a special innate ability.

"Did I do it right?" Kyran asked after recovering from the last task Caelan had given.

Snapping out of his reverie, Caelan looked at him with a wry smile.

"Are you trying to destroy my confidence by asking that each time you complete my task?"

Kyran shrugged, "What's there to destroy? You're only a remnant of consciousness staying inside my sea of consciousness. No matter what, you can no longer perform any of these outside."

Caelan's brow twitched at Kyran's response. He basically told him there was no merit in destroying a dead person's confidence!

"More importantly," Kyran continued. "You're the only one who can provide good feedback regarding my use of the Void being my predecessor."

"Fair enough," Caelan sighed in resignation. "Thus far, you have managed to grasp a lot of the Void's usage. There are still more, but they are mostly a combination of two or three theories. Thus, it is unnecessary to discuss them all."

Kyran nodded in agreement. He preferred to experiment with those combinations rather than ask Caelan to elaborate. Moreover, each combination might not necessarily produce the same results. Depending on which theory was the main focus of those combinations the result would vary.

At that exact moment, the Shaiha suddenly flashed several times before a familiar magic energy appeared inside. The way it flashed looked as if it was agitated by the new magic energy's appearance.

Kyran's brow furrowed as he sensed the Shaiha's internal struggle. The sensation was similar to when the Shaiha lost control because the Macabre Glacier succeeded in influencing it. Still, there was a slight difference from that time to now.

Previously, the Shaiha failed to resist. This time, it managed to limit the area where the magic energy moved.

Kyran's expression turned solemn. Obviously, he knew who that magic energy belonged to and was torn between feeling relieved and apprehensive.

He was relieved because the appearance of that magic energy meant she had finally decided to wake up and was assisting in his recovery. But he was also apprehensive because having her magic energy enter his body might trigger an event wherein the Macabre Glacier would force the Shaiha into submission.

Nevertheless, between the two sentiments, Kyran was more relieved than apprehensive especially now that the Shaiha could resist better.

"It appears, your body has more or less completed its evolution," Caelan commented after seeing the Shaiha's activity. "And the owner of that magic energy has contributed a lot."

Sensing Kyran's doubts, Caelan added, "I am unsure if it is because she does not possess the Soul core, but she has a better hold on the Macabre Glacier."

Kyran stayed silent. Recalling what Caelan told him about the reason he did not destroy the Macabre Glacier gave him a huge headache. Kyran repeatedly asked Caelan if he truly meant 'could not destroy it,' rather than 'did not.' Because if it was the former, then it meant the Void magic was not enough to accomplish this. Kyran could then try using Draconic magic to destroy it. But if it was the latter, then that meant he could not touch it.

"There is no use agonizing over the matter," Caelan told Kyran, seemingly knowing what the latter was thinking. "You must at all cost, protect the mirror. Only after it accomplishes its purpose, can it be destroyed. In any case, even if you do nothing, as long as it serves its purpose, then it will shatter on its own."

"But accomplishing that is too troublesome."

"I know, which is why I decided to pass the task to a more capable successor."

"..."

Kyran was speechless.

Whether it was his ancestor or his predecessor they were truly an annoyingly handful of pricks.

"In any case," Caelan decided to change the subject. "I believe this is your cue to return."

Kyran looked at him and raised his brows, "We're already done?"

"Do not give me that look," Caelan said incredulously. "Were you not the one unwilling to stay? You even asked if my story would be long."

He had a point.

Kyran sighed, "I just wondered if you have more things to tell me."

"I have told you everything you need to know."

"But not everything that you know."

"This is strange," Caelan said while furrowing his brows in exaggerated confusion. "You don't strike me as a person who wants to be spoon-fed with everything."

"..."

Kyran was rendered speechless once more. While it was true he did not want to be spoon-fed, that did not mean he could not be bothered to learn everything in one go. Since Caelan had more information, why would Kyran bother searching for another platform to know the rest?

Letting Caelan share all he knew was far more efficient.

In the end, Kyran did not urge Caelan to tell him the rest. Instead, he asked, "Will this be the last time?"

Caelan turned sober at Kyran's question.

Although Kyran did not elaborate on his question, Caelan knew what he meant.

"Yes, it will."

Kyran did not know why his answer saddened him. Caelan was only a remnant consciousness and would eventually disappear even if Kyran did not trigger another meeting.

Caelan could not help but smile after sensing Kyran's conflicted emotions.

"I was not expecting you would feel that way at this point," Caelan commented with a slight smile. Sensing Kyran was about to wake, he continued, "You might think that we have manipulated your life because of our desire to find the most suitable inheritor of the Void core, but you will know soon enough that it was not the case— because it is simply impossible to manipulate your life given your special innate ability.

"I hope you will succeed where I have failed. And though it is close to impossible, I do pray that we will meet again."