Legacy of the Dark Sage

As Kyran told Loar, he did not stay idle while staying on his ship.

After receiving the information on the seven planes from Wing, he arranged for Zephyr, Neo, Aki, and Len to investigate one each while he went to another.

Previously, he would have gone to those planes himself, but after what transpired in the Human plane, he learned to delegate tasks to others.

Besides, he could not waste his time searching each plane given their time differences. There was even a plane whose time ran thirty times faster than the Human plane. That meant staying there in two weeks was equivalent to a year!

Frankly, Kyran wondered if Cyneah was there after considering his initial guess that she had stayed in the plane she end up in for some time. But if she did end up there, that would mean she had stayed there for almost three years already. He did not think she had been away that long. Besides, she still sounded like her young self. Her voice would have matured a little if she aged that much, right?

Thus, Kyran decided to visit that plane after clearing the other six.

Instead of staying in the plane while investigating the 'person' Wing's subjects believed to be Cyneah, he created a portal that would allow him to return to Loar's ship anytime. He also gave Zephyr and the others a device to let them summon the portal.

Such a device would not have worked if others had done it. But because of the nature of Kyran's magic, it was possible. Apart from that, he adjusted each device to conform to the Array laws of the planes Zephyr, and the rest would go to.

His reason for doing this was simple. By not staying in the plane, the Sovereigns of those planes would not detect unwanted entry in their planes.

And if in a slim chance they discovered Zephyr and the others, they could escape without experiencing any trouble.

For the following days, Kyran's routine had been such; investigating nearby planes for resources, investigating the planes where Cyneah might have ended up in, talking to his father regarding the Warp Formation, reading through the reports his Sigils would send now and then, and helping Loar in his missions in exchange for Automata lessons.

And thus, a year had already passed.

During those times, Wing had provided more planes where her subjects said a person that looked like Cyneah could be.

Kyran also finished checking the first few planes and confirmed Cyneah was not there.

It was unfortunate that although from afar those people seemed similar to her, if someone who knew her looked, they would immediately realize it was not her.

One main obvious reason was her skin coloring.

Most of the 'person' they found had different skin color. Not to mention, some did not even have a skin but scales.

What was more, none of them even looked like Cyneah. They probably emit similar 'vibes' they were physically not the same.

Kyran almost stopped relying on Wing's intel if not for the slim chance they might have found her at last.

In a plane, not much different from the Human plane, except for the fact it had three moons, Kyran stood at the edge of a cliff that overlooked a castle's wing.

Looking at him now, those who knew him would notice a change not only in his physical appearance, but also his countenance.

The year of venturing out of the Human plane toughened him and he now had a more dangerous air about him.

Nonetheless, his dark gray eyes, a feature unique to the Regis Family, remained the same - piercing look that seemed to see through you.

From the window of the castle wing, a silhouette of a young woman could be seen.

Looking from behind, she had the same color of hair as Cyneah. However, when the young woman turned toward the window to look at the night sky, her face was different.

She was pretty, yes.

For a snake person.

Kyran sighed while looking at the snake person. He could not say he was not expecting this. After all, this plane's inhabitants possessed reptilian qualities. Nevertheless, he could not help but hope when he saw her from behind.

She truly appeared like Cyneah.

[Master.]

Neo's voice sounded in Kyran's head, forcing him out of his thoughts.

'Yes?'

[It's not the mistress.]

'Right,' Kyran replied, already expecting this.

In this plane, there were two people to whom Wing's subject had said possessed similar trait to Cyneah. Thus, Kyran took Neo with him and have him check the other one while he went to check the other.

[But this is a breakthrough, master. The woman I checked just now does look like the mistress from behind, its gave me goosebumps.]

'You don't get goosebumps, Neo.'

[I do too! See? Can you sense my arms shaking?]

Kyran sighed inwardly. He did sense Neo forcing his arms to shake.

This past year, Neo's sentient had grown and was convinced he was human.

Kyran did not refute him because the latter's thoughts were testament to how evolved his thinking was.

But at times, it worried Kyran that Neo would start demanding him to make him more human.

That was something he could not do. He was no God, after all.

Apart from Neo, Aki and Len had also progressed. They showed signs of forming their own sentients.

'Let's head back.'

[Already? Don't you want to check the nearby plane for news of the mistress?]

'I've already sent Len there. He found nothing.'

[Always one step ahead, as expected from our master.]

Kyran ignored him and took out the device to summon a portal back to Loar's ship. Without waiting for Neo, Kyran stepped into the portal.

"Master!"

Zephyr's excited voice greeted Kyran when he stepped out of the portal.

"Wing has returned from another excursion. She brought good news!"

Kyran tilted his head and raised his brows, maintaining an indifferent expression. "You said that the last time."

"This is different!" Zephyr insisted. "The mistress! It is her this time!"

Kyran's eyes narrowed from how confident he sounded.

From the back, a portal appeared, and Neo stepped out.

"Master, you should have waited for me!" He complained.

"Neo! Perfect timing, the mistress has finally been found!"

"You said that the last time."

"Don't echo master's words!"

Kyran did not stay to listen to their banter. With a quick sweep of his magic sense, he found where Wing was and went straight to her.

Wing was at the upper deck, handling the materials she gathered from her excursion.

Several wing-type beasts scurried around the upper deck, hauling boxes filled with materials into the lower deck where the storage room was.

"Zephyr told me you have good news," Kyran said, appearing beside her.

"Ack!" Wing almost flew up when he appeared. "Sage, can you not do that? You're warping has improved to the point I can no longer detect any fluctuations when you appear! What if we are under attack? I'll be on edge and might just unleash a deadly attack and hurt you!"

Kyran only raised his brows in amusement.

Wing scowled at him. After seeing each other for a year, she had warmed up to him and his people. Besides that, she also learned some of his expressions and the one he had now said: "I'd like to see how you do that."

"Don't be cocky, Sage," Wing snorted at him. "You may possess absolute defense when you combined your two magic, but when I get serious..."

"More importantly, show me what Zephyr got excited about."

Wing sighed in resignation. Along with warming up to him, she had also grown invested in his search for Cyneah. With the new information she got from one of her trusted subjects, she could almost see him finally reuniting with her.

Thinking about that day also gave her a sense of fulfillment.

"Fine," she said, gesturing for her subjects to continue what they were doing before looking at Kyran again. "Let's head to the huddle room."

Kyran only nodded, and the two were inside the room in an instant.

Wing's non-existent brow twitched. She did not know if she would ever grow used to his warp ability.

"You can warp like its nothing," she commented. "Have you tried warping to other planes you've already been to?"

"I'd lie if I say it did not cross my mind."

"And how was it?"

"Draining?"

"So you did try."

"Where's the information?"

"Fine," Wing grumbled, waving her hand to activate the projectors.

"This plane has only birthed its new Sovereign," Wing explained as an image appeared in the middle of the table.

The projector showed an image of a city with buildings painted in white. At the center stood a grand castle that shimmered from the morning light. It had seven towers made of diamond, with six surrounding the castle, and the last one stood at the very heart.

"This is the Kingdom of Cretea, the home of the new Sovereign. Initially, we sent informants to gather information about him. And while my subject was doing that, he came across a rumor that will definitely pique your interest."

"A rumor?" Kyran frowned.

"Don't be easy to judge without hearing it first."

"Tell me what it is."

"It was said that the Sovereign used to have an illness no one could cure. It was even thought he would die before achieving a breakthrough."

Even before Wing finished what she was saying, Kyran's ears had already perked when she mentioned the word 'illness.'

Wing sneered after seeing the look of interest on Kyran's face. She continued, "It was rumored he was touched by the 'Saint,' and his illness was cured in an instant."

"Healing magic is not that rare," Kyran tried to reason. He was not delusional to think Cyneah was the only mage out there that could heal.

Wing chuckled, "True. But I don't remember any mage with healing magic, who possessed an 'Anathema'."

Kyran frowned, "Anathema?"

"Yes. Apparently, anyone who was born 'incomplete' in that plane is known to have an 'Anathema.' And the Saint, who healed the Sovereign was said to have no 'sight.'"