Legacy of the Dark Sage

Owen and Hamish took a sharp intake of breath as soon as they recognized the silhouette beside Kyran.

A human-shaped puppet.

They had seen Kyran use them during the Lumley Family's assault in the Blacksmith Order. At that time, all of them were awed at the sight of the three puppets moving about, performing first aid, maintaining an array, and even talking like real humans. It was truly a divine experience for an Array Specialist to see such an almost flawless creation.

But after the incident in the order, Kyran had not used them again. Because of it, they sort of forgot all about them. Well, that was not exactly correct. They did not really forget the puppets but after being asked by the Chairman to represent the Conclave in the Joint Military Exercise, they could barely hold themselves together from the pressure.

Now that Kyran summoned one of them, the two felt ecstatic. After all, this would be the first time such a creation would appear in the public!

Although the status of most people present in the gallery was not remarkable, most of them still represented small to medium factions all over the empire. After today, regardless of the results of the competition, Owen and Hamish were positive that the news about Kyran's human-shaped puppet would spread like wildfire. The latter's fame would increase, and who knew, the Royal Family might even recognize his Array accomplishment and instate him as a new Array Master!

True enough, the audience looked curiously at the black-robed young man beside Kyran. None of them had realized what it was yet. Though they had seen the 'young man' appear out of nowhere, an occurrence like that was not rare.

There were mages whose innate ability let them appear and disappear out of nowhere. An innate magic's nature could also let a mage to travel from one point to another. Of course, the latter would depend on the mage's level.

The male announcer also witnessed this and he immediately frown at Kyran and the 'young man.' The competition had already started. Why was there an outsider appearing out of nowhere?

Alas, if Kyran knew what the male announcer was thinking, he would likely give him an incredulous look. Did he not see him 'take out' the so-called 'young man' out of his storage space? His ring did light up before the 'young man' appeared; a clear indication that he used his storage space.

"You there," the male announcer started, pointing at the 'young man.' "Leave the competition area at once. Only the participants are allowed inside."

Even he was not allowed to approach their side and could only hover in the air. Yet this guy brazenly approached the Conclave participants.

Who does he think he is?

In any case, if the young man had come to assist the Conclave, then he would not hesitate to revoke the Conclave's participation in the competition. Though there was no rule about outsiders approaching the participants, it was common sense that outsiders must not approach the participants during an ongoing competition.

"Disciple Tyr, if you don't go to the arena in twenty seconds, I will take it as you forfeiting the match."

Forfeiting the first match was actually a good choice for Tyr. If he fight now and ended up getting hurt, it would affect his performance in Array Creation.

The male announcer glanced at the Royal Family's booth. To be honest, he did not understand what the Crown Princess was trying to do. Initially, he felt that she was giving Tyr preferential treatment. But somehow he had a feeling she was toying with him.

Just what exactly does the Crown Princess want with Tyr?

Kyran looked at the male announcer with a wry smile, "Before that, please get your facts straight. There is no rule forbidding us from using our items during the competition is there?"

The male announcer's brow furrowed as he looked back at Kyran. He did not like the latter's tone, but as a professional, he reigned in his discontent and replied, "No, there is not."

"Then there is no problem. I'm using my creation, which for your reference is something I made using Array, thus, it is considered part of my 'items.'"

The male announcer's brow twitched slightly. Kyran's condescending tone was getting to him. He did not expect this guy to be a real prick.

It was his first time facilitating competition with the Conclave. Based on the feedback of his fellow announcers, all competitions that 'Tyr' took part in had a 90% chance of something happening. Such as a change in the rule or the members of the opposing team getting pissed off because of the latter's attitude. Most of the time, those who failed to reign in their emotions, would even end up in the infirmary for trying to 'teach' him a lesson.

To make it short, Tyr was a troublemaker. He also had a knack for trying to exploit the limitations of the rules set by the committee, which gave the Courtenay representatives a huge headache.

Just as the male announcer was about to warn Kyran about his attitude, the latter's words repeated in his head and his eyes grew wide belatedly.

Even the audience who heard the exchange between them was shocked.

"Item?" The male announcer repeated. "What do you mean? Wait, made using Array? Y-You...!"

Kyran only nodded and without giving out any explanation, he turned to Owen and Hamish and said, "This guy is Six, this guy will explain the formulas of the two Arrays. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"No problem."

"Don't worry and focus well on your match."

Owen and Hamish said respectively. Honestly, their minds kind of stopped after hearing the puppet's name. If its name was Six, did that mean there was One, Two, Three, Four, and Five?

Kyran actually had six puppets? How did he even do that?

"I'll leave it to you, Six." Kyran patted the puppet's shoulder before turning and making his way to the other side.

"Yes, master."

The male announcer whom Kyran ignored said, "Disciple Tyr. That item is..."

"Ah, geez. I only have a few seconds left, please don't waste my time and just check for yourself," Kyran replied, sounding a little annoyed.

The male announcer almost choked in anger. But he could only reign in his emotion because he was the one who told Kyran he only had twenty seconds left before the start of the first match in the Solo Competition.

While the male announcer was lost in his thoughts, gasps of surprise erupted from the gallery.

"T-That!"

"Am I seeing correctly? Or is my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"A puppet? Is that really a puppet?"

"How is that possible? A human-like puppet?"

"Disciple Tyr is actually a puppetmaster?"

These words entered the male announcer's ears and he immediately looked at the 'young man' he accused of being an outsider.

At the moment, the 'young man' had removed his black robe. Although, 'he' was still wearing a black shirt and pants, 'he' was clearly not human! Its bald metallic head and the light gold lines flowing on its limbs like veins were not something a human possessed!

Kyran ignored the commotion and finally arrived at the Solo Competition's side. He nodded toward Styx, who seemed to be in a foul mood again, before walking up to the arena.

Rivka was already standing in the middle of the arena, waiting. He usually had a blank look on his face, but right now, he was actually looking at Kyran attentively.

"Sorry for the wait."

"Don't worry about it," Rivka replied. Afterward, he lowered his head and said, "I am Rivka. Nice to meet you, Disciple Tyr."

Kyran could not help but raised his brows. He did not expect Rivka to act in a very amicable way at him. Others might find the latter's action suspicious and put up their guard at once. But Kyran did not sense any 'fighting spirit' within Rivka.

The feeling Kyran got from him was pretty much the same as when he met Empress Iula.

Clearing his thoughts to ensure he would not be distracted, Kyran looked at the male announcer and said, "Oi. Can we start the match now?"

The male announcer who had yet to recover his wits after realizing the 'young man' was actually a puppet, looked at Kyran. A little distracted, he replied, "Ah, yes. Right."

He raised his hand, and said, "First match of the Solo Competition Quarterfinals, start!"

As soon as the male announcer declared the start of the match, Rivka fell to his knees and bowed his head at Kyran.

"I forfeit. Please spare me."

The gallery who had yet to recover from the puppet's appearance over the Array Creation side fell into an awkward silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The timer above, which had just turned 25:00 stopped at 24:59.

Black lines appeared on Kyran's head as he looked at Rivka bowing before him.

This... Is acceptable?