Legacy of the Dark Sage

Leif was familiar with the two Dragon Clan representatives who approached them. They were known as two of the rising young dragons of the second tribe under the Dragon Clan's original tribes: Ladon and Thorn.

Ladon, like most of the tribes that belonged to the original tribes, had silver hair and silver-gold eyes. His hair was long and tied in a single braid, with shiny pearls with bluish color. He only wore leather armor, but it was made with exquisite materials that resembled the scales of a water dragon.

In contrast to Ladon's long silver hair, Thorn's was short and messy. His eyes were also more golden than silver, which gave him a more fierce expression than the other representatives. His leather armor was also made with exquisite materials, resembling a gold dragon.

Leif immediately warned her fellow representatives to remain silent through telepathy. After which, she put on a smile and directed it at Ladon, who had a better temperament between the two.

"Lady Anahia, we have met once more," Ladon greeted before Leif could say anything.

Anahia was the Lacus representative that Leif changed into. Based on the information they gathered from their items, she was the daughter of an Elder and the leader representative for this year's hunt.

For the record, the Lacus Clan representatives only had one female; thus, Maren was currently disguised as a male.

"Lord Ladon," Leif greeted while lowering her head slightly at him, then at Thorn, "Lord Thorn, it is a pleasant surprise to meet you so soon after arriving at the platform."

Leif carefully chose her words to avoid suspicion while subtly probing for information.

"It is," Ladon replied with a slight smile. "You seemed to have been held up a bit... did anything happen on your side?"

Leif did not sense any hidden meaning from his question, and thus, she responded at once.

"Because the portal opened way ahead of time, we barely entered with enough supplies," she smiled bitterly before continuing, "Which is why, as soon as we got in, we took our time to sort everything."

Ladon nodded his head in understanding, "I get what you mean. We normally complete our preparation before entering the portal, but this time, we had to complete everything after we entered."

He then smiled at her and added, "In any case, it is good to see that your clan could participate in this year's hunt."

"Yes, indeed."

"Humph," Thorn suddenly snorted on the side and said, "If it weren't for our clan helping you secure a portal, you wouldn't have been able to participate. We expect you to show a level of sincerity, at least when you choose your representatives, but what is this?"

He looked at the others with Leif and scowled, "Apart from you, the rest are weaklings."

Cove and Irving, who would normally refute when belittled, did nothing to refute Thorn. After all, what he said was true.

Compared to the Dragon Clan representatives, the Ogen's representatives were truly weak.

"Thorn," Ladon gave Thorn a warning look. Before he could apologize to Leif for Thorn's behavior, however, the latter had already approached Cove.

"And you," Thorn said while scowling at Cove.

Cove's initial reaction was to cower. But his pride as a rising talent of the Ogen Clan's younger generation made him stand his ground. Still, even if he managed to act tough, his slightly hunched shoulders showed how afraid he was of being singled out by Thorn.

"I remember seeing you in the report. You're that punk who said that if we battle it out for real, you can easily take me down."

"!"

Beads of cold sweat appeared on the sides of Cove's face. He inwardly cursed the Lacus Clan representative he was diguised at the moment for giving out such bold remarks.

"Thorn," the tone of Ladon's voice remained the same, however, an invisible pressure seemed to emit from him as he looked at Thorn. "That is enough. Jor is one of the Lacus Clan's rising talents as well. Father also said his combat sense is also on par with us."

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "You know how things are here. If one shows their real strength at the early stage, it would only force other clans to band together and destroy them."

"Humph," Ladon snorted but did not try to pick on Cove anymore.

However, the meaning behind the exchange between the two did not go unnoticed by Leif and her fellow representatives.

Thorn acknowledged Leif—or, for this matter, Lady Anahia's strength. He then got worked up at Cove— or Jor—because of what he said about taking Thorn down easily. Ladon followed up by affirming Jor's strength and even providing a possible reason they appeared 'weak.'

But that was not what caught their attention. It was the fact that Ladon and Thorn hinted that the Lacus Clan representatives were not weak. If this was the case, how did Kyran manage to defeat them and even take their blood? More importantly, he did that all alone.

Cove and Irving started to sweat nervously. They had been trying to pick a bone with Kyran since the beginning because they did not think he was worthy of Lady Leif's attention. While it was true that concealment abilities were a good asset to any clan, if the mage possessing such a rare ability was weak, then there was little he could contribute.

After all, the higher a mage level was, the higher the changes one's concealment ability would be seen through.

However, Kyran was not a weak mage. Moreover, the fact that he dealt with the Lacus Clan representatives alone should have raised Cove and Irving's suspicion of his hidden strength. No matter how weak the Lacus Clan representatives were, they still outnumbered Kyran. He should not have been able to deal with them in a short span of time.

And that was exactly what Kyran did. It only took him about ten to fifteen minutes to deal with the Lacus Clan and return to the portal. This included the travel time he took to go over their side!

Leif and Maren had almost the same thoughts as Cove and Irving. The only difference was they did not belittle Kyran to such an extent from the beginning. Nonetheless, they realized that they still gave him too little credit.

Leif had to contain her excitement as her desire to recruit Kyran increased once more.

On the other hand, Kyran was also sweating buckets. He obviously realized what Leif and her fellow clan members were thinking, and he felt an incoming headache.

These two Dragon Clan representatives had said unnecessary things!

Just when the group thought Ladon had succeeded in forcing Thorn to step back, the latter suddenly shifted his attention to Kyran.

"You," Thorn scowled at Kyran. "There is no info about you. Who the hell are you?"

From his words, Leif managed to glean a few things about the relationship between the Lacus Clan and the Dragon Clan.

The Dragon Clan assisted the Lacus Clan in securing a portal for themselves. After which, the former seemed to be keeping tabs on their progress of gathering their representatives. The fact that Kyran's information was not included probably did not sit well with them.

Before Leif could come up with an explanation for Kyran's participation, the latter had already replied, which almost made her faint in shock.

"Who the hell are you," Kyran repeated with raised brows, "to speak to me like that?"

Thorn's gold eyes flashed, and a snickering smile appeared on his face. "Oh? You have a good member with you, Lady Anahia. Can I borrow him for a moment while we wait for the tower to open?"

"That's—."

"I don't belong to the Lacus Clan," Kyran corrected Thorn with a shrug. "Don't assume that I am one of her members."

"Not someone from the Lacus Clan, and yet you're here."

"A-Actually, uhm..." Leif suddenly became tongue-tied after realizing that they had not chosen a name for Kyran to go by yet. She wanted to give Kyran a warning look, but it would have been too obvious with Ladon and Thorn's observant eyes.

"I came with them, true."

Apparently, Kyran did not want Leif to cover for him as he responded to Thorn's subtle provocation. He continued, "But that doesn't mean I am one of them. If you don't believe me because my features did not differ from them that much, I can prove it to you."

"Interesting. How are we going to go about it?"

"Thorn!"

Ladon's voice carried more weight this time as he looked at Thorn.

"That is enough."

"He is the one asking for it, Ladon."

"You started it."

Before Thorn could say anything else, Ladon turned his attention to Kyran. His eyes did not hold the same warmth it did when he look at Leif though. His silver-gold eyes glinted with intensity as he said, "I don't know what your relationship with the Lacus Clan is. But don't expect that since we treat them kindly it will be the same for you. If you provoke us, I will personally put you in your place."

Kyran had always thought the Dragon Clan was righteous. Or at least they had a similar moral code to the Regis Clan. But Ladon and Thorn's attitude disillusioned him.

Rather than keeping a low profile and treating others with respect regardless of their affiliation, the Dragon Clan was only friendly towards clans who had good dealings with them. The rest be damned.

Somehow, that did not sit well with Kyran.

"Put me in my place, huh?" he muttered as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Do you have what it takes?"