Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran's gaze at the Tower was not just dubious; it was laced with suspicion. The Tower held the key to the truth about what had happened in the past before The Fall. Thus far, those he met who knew this truth were withholding the most crucial information from him. This was why he distrusted the Tower's words.

Was the Tower willing to tell him everything because he wanted something in return? If Kyran asked what he wanted, could he be willing to comply?

Maybe.

But Kyran's curiosity was not limited to the truth of the past. He was also intrigued by the two Towers, the Tower of Tribulations and the Tower of the Ancients. How were they connected? And were there more Towers out there, waiting to be discovered?

If the Tower wanted something in return for giving Kyran that information, what else could he offer to make him willing to divulge more?

"Be at ease, Void Master. I do not want anything in return for the things I can tell you. You may not take my word for it, which is understandable, given how we rarely interact even during your time in the Tower of the Tribulations. But if you can't take my word for it, at the very least, I hope you can trust me as a dear friend of your parents, godmother, and uncle."

Kyran was momentarily at a loss for words after hearing the Tower's words. A sudden unease washed over him, a feeling he had when he belatedly realized something that was far too obvious. The Tower's words had stirred a past memory when he first met Stella.

Everyone called Stella the Lord of the Tower. Kyran assumed that she was called that because she lived in the Tower of the Conclave. Belatedly, he realized that the real reason was that Stella was from the Tower Family.

Like puzzle pieces, bits of data that Kyran decided to push aside since he could not be bothered to dwell on them during that point in time surfaced in his mind, trying to connect themselves and form a big picture.

The Tower knew Kyran's parents, Anette and Nolan.

Cade, Rin, and Nolan have known each other since they were younger. They met Anette while they trained in the Tower of the Tribulations. After conquering the tower, Anette never mingled much with others.

Where did they meet the Tower?

The Tower of Tribulations

Only five people have ever conquered the tower.

Cade, Rin, Anette, and Nolan were among these.

The Tower oversaw all Towers created by the Ancients. But would he refer to himself as a dear friend to those five that conquered one of the towers?

Who was the fifth person who conquered the Tower of Tribulations?

Why had Cade, Rin, Anette, and Nolan never spoken about him or her?

"Your train of thought is on the right track, Void Master."

As the Tower said this, he lowered his hood to reveal his face.

The moment Kyran saw the Tower's face, he felt mixed emotions.

"You are..."

This was because the middle-aged man before Kyran looked familiar. He only saw him once, and even then, he only glimpsed at him. But he still remembered because after seeing that memory, the owner of that memory gave him a very sad look that seemed to plead not to ask her anything.

"The fifth one to have conquered the Tower of Tribulations and the new Overseer of all Towers belonging to the Ancients."

"You're Stella's father."

The middle-aged man had the same beautiful features as Stella that they could be mistaken as twins, albeit one male and one female.

"You may call me Kairos, at least... that was the name I went by when I was still a human."

"Still a human..."

Kairos smiled; his eyes, which were so very similar to Stella's light blue ones, had a look of melancholy in them. It was as if he was recalling something heartbreaking that he would never forget.

"You know how the Tower of the Tribulations would help fulfill the desires of those who conquered it."

Kyran nodded, recalling how he was tempted to exploit that reward. In the end, he chose not to rely on it, not because he believed conquering the tower would have taken too much time— something that he lacked back then— but because he found it useless.

Since the tower would not grant his desire but only help fulfill it.

"You may have already guessed what your godmother's desire was."

Kyran did not respond, but inwardly, he nodded.

Anette refused to marry into the Royal Family that ruled the plane where she came from and desired to escape that fate. After conquering the Tower of Tribulations, the latter helped her find a suitable plane where she could escape without having to bear the repercussions of living in a plane with a different magic law from what she was used to.

The Human plane, being a remnant part of the Land of the Ancients, did not have any restrictions when it came to Magic Laws. At least, that was how Kyran and the others first thought. But now Kyran knew that the reason tall Magic Laws could be used in the Human plane was because it was a land that came to be in The Realm.

Kyran inwardly shook his head and cleared his thoughts at once. This was not the time to be distracted by random thoughts— not that recalling Anette's case was random since it was connected to the Tower of the Tribulations.

"And the Tower helped her achieve it."

"Since you brought it up, you mean to say that the reason you were no longer human was because the Tower helped you achieve your desire."

"Yes," Kairos replied solemnly. But then he smiled and added, "But I don't believe that is what you wanted to know."

"True, that is not my priority, but I am curious to know about it nonetheless," Kyran admitted with a shrug. The next moment, he looked Kairos straight in the eye and said, "I am mainly curious about what desire you have that you were willing to leave Stella behind."

Kairos's expression softened at the mention of Stella. He did not respond immediately to Kyran's words and chose to contemplate how he should answer. Finally, after a moment's pause, he chose to start with a question, "Did you know how Time Keepers have long lifespans?"

Kyran raised his brows at Kairos's unexpected questions.

"I suppose that makes sense to ensure Time Keepers do not die too soon in case they overused their magic," Kyran replied with a thoughtful expression.

"Correct. It is also to prevent them from leaving without passing on the Time Core to another."

Kyran heard and read about it from Stella and the Ancient Magic book. But rather than focusing on the flow of their conversation, Kyran could not help but dwell on the fact that Kairos used Time Core, rather than referred to it as Time Magic.

Then again, the successors of Ancient Magic did inherit their predecessors' Ancient Magic Cores, so using that term was not entirely wrong. Nevertheless, it appeared too specific, as if Kairos did not want Kyran to mistake it for anything else.

Kairos smiled as if reading Kyran's thoughts and said, "Humans are unable to possess magic. Thus, a human capable of using magic can only be referred to as possessing a magic Core. It is the same for humans that managed to inherit the Ancient Magic Cores."

Kyran crossed his arms and could not help but contemplate Kairos's words. He kind of understood what Kairos wanted to tell him, at the same time, he felt a little uneasy at the meaning behind them.

"Aren't humans... descendants of the Ancients? I know their bodies are very different from humans, but they bore a semblance to their features."

"Humans bore an Ancients feature simply because, they are created by them."

Kyran frowned at Kairos's reply. There were beings that resembled humans in both realms, so what was the difference between the humans created by the Ancients and the others?

"To make it simple, the other beings that bore similar features as humans are byproducts of the humans created by the Ancients," Kairos explained patiently.

Kyran fell silent. He was then reminded of the complete beings in Somuli. When he examined the body, a complete being, he discovered that there were slight differences from humans in the Human plane. Kyran believed there had been humans that got transported to Somuli through a rift that appeared in the Human plane. After some time, their bodies mutated in order to adapt to Somuli's environment.

"You are not wrong," Kairos said, agreeing with Kyran's theory.

Kyran frowned slightly as he gave Kairos a strange look. He was reminded how Caelan read his mind the first time they met.

"Can you not respond to my inner thoughts?"

Kairos chuckled, "My apologies. To be honest, there is no difference, at least to me, whether you say your thoughts out loud or keep them to yourself. I can hear them loud and clear."

"..."

"But don't worry. While you are in my presence, your thoughts and mine will only be heard or shared between us," Kairos added, giving Kyran a knowing smile.

Only then did Kyran notice that Shaiha had been silent ever since he appeared in that room— or at least since he met Kairos.

Kyran suddenly had an urge to take Kairos with him so Shaiha would stop prying into his thoughts.

"Even if that is possible, are you not worried that your thoughts will be available to me instead?"