Legacy of the Dark Sage

Lucian remained indifferent at Ames’s words. However, the air between them had obviously strained. The silence stretched between them, with both not wanting to avert their eyes in case it would be seen as weakness.

’Is it a false front?’ Lucian wondered, observing Ames’s expression.

A dragon’s expression was mostly hard to read whether they were in their original form or human form. Thus, it was not easy to grasp their emotions. The only emotion that they were very good at conveying was anger.

Ames’s expression conveyed that emotion very well. However, Lucian was unsure if she was doing that on purpose to mask her uneasiness. As to why he thought she would feel uneasy, it was related to the news of the Dragon Emperor’s failed ascension.

’...Her obvious anger might also mean she is feeling the weight of responsibility from suddenly becoming the clan leader, and is trying to hide her insecurities…’ Lucian tried to look into Ames’s behavior as unbiased as possible. Although he did not believe that the Dragon Emperor failed his ascension, he no longer wanted to judge the situation based on his intuition alone. He had great confidence in his intuition, but after all the recent unexpected incidents in the Higher Realm, and their unsatisfactory outcomes, the seed of doubt started to grow within him. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lucian believed the Fates were on his side. But the appearance of the Ancient Magic Core vessels had thwarted that belief as well. Lucian once heard from his master, the Higher Being, that the vessels were immune to the Fates’ influence. However, he never believed it because he did not think mere vessels could deviate from the Fates’ designs.

Not any more.

For this reason, Lucian wanted to look at every situation with unbiased eyes.Starting with the Dragon Emperor, Lucian would thread through the situation carefully.

After a long tense silence, Lucian finally said, "You are no longer a mere proxy of your father. You are now the leader of the Dragons. It is unwise to continue acting brazenly."

"..."

Without waiting for Ames to respond, Lucian turned around and observed the common area below once more.

"I expect you to act sensibly in the following week. You three are excused."

"..."

Ames, Attor, and Eissen were silent for a few seconds, before they lowered their heads slightly and left.

To be fair, Lucian was unaware of the rumors circulating about the Dragon Clan’s supposed conspiracy. He only heard of it after returning to the Solis plane and met with the clan executives. His executives also boasted that they were the ones who fanned the flames of the rumor, dividing the opinion of the clans about what caused the recent ’fight’ between Dragon Clan and the Solis Clan..

Contrary to their pleased attitude of what they did, Lucian was enraged. As much as he wanted to reduce the Dragon Clan’s influence in the Higher Realm, he did not want to use such underhanded tricks.

In the end, Lucian could only rein in his anger because there was nothing else he could do at this point to undo what his executives had done. However, that did not mean he would tolerate their action. It was a shame to lose a powerful and talented mage but Lucian did not bat his eye when he executed the executive who came up with that scheme on the spot.

The Solis executives seemed to have woken up from a long beautiful dream by that unexpected execution. Vowing not to overstep their authority, they humbled themselves before Lucian and followed his order to the tee.

Lucian pushed aside his thoughts and observed all leaders and representatives gathered in the common area. Since the Inter-Clan Conference had not officially started, they only focused on expanding their influence and building connections with other clans, regardless of their affiliation. Lucian did not mind this. The Inter-Clan Conference’s main objective was to have all clans be acquainted to one another anyway.

The conference’s main objective might sound normal, even noble. However, the hidden meaning to this was for everyone to know who stood above the rest.

In this conference, Lucian intended to show everyone that his Solis Clan remained at the top of the ladder.

’Tomorrow… The trinity that served as my clan’s pillars will once again be complete.’

*

The Solis Clan executive that escorted Ames, Attor, and Eissen to The Emperor’s study waited for their return. As soon as the latter three exited the door leading out of the tower’s stairs, he led them to the central hall where all portals leading to the separate spaces that would serve as their temporary residence were situated.

"Thus far, 95% of the 587 clans and tribes participating in this year’s conference have already arrived," the executive explained as they made their way to the central hall. "We are expecting the remaining 5% to arrive before the end of this day...:"

Ames, Attor, and Eissen remained silent throughout the journey, only half listening to the executive’s idle chatter. As for the other half of their attention, they observed their surroundings.

"We have arrived," the executive announced after walking for about twenty minutes.

Up ahead, a huge golden arc, with intricate design, led to a circular central hall.

The central hall was large, surrounded by twenty levels of circular balconies. At first glance, there were around fifty portals on each level, which roughly meant there were 1,000 clans and tribes present. Clearly, the Solis Clan made sure to include every clan and tribe in the Higher Clan when they used the central hall as the entry point to the temporary residences.

At the center of the hall was a platform with a transportation array.

The Solis Clan executive led Ames, Attor, and Eissen there before saying, "Tenth level."

The transportation array glowed and immediately sent them to the tenth level.

"At the moment, I am the only one who could access the array. However, once you register your magic signature on the residence portal you are assigned to, you will automatically be granted access.

"The activation sequence is the floor where your residence portal is located. And when you want to go down, a small array point is located right outside the portal to your residence. The activation sequence is ’first floor,;" the executive explained with a smile. "Pretty simple, right?"

"Thank you," Ames thanked the executive.

"This will be your residence during the conference."

They stopped at the portal located in the far north. Ames, Attor, and Eissen noticed that unlike most of the portals, which glowed blue, this one remained gray.

"You only need to pass through the portal and your magic signatures will be recorded automatically."

"I’ll go first," Eissen declared and stepped into the portal at once.

Ames and Attor, who stepped back to give Eissen space to move, waited in silence.

The Solis executive furtively eyed Ames and Attor, wondering why they did not follow Eissen.

Stay tuned to empire

It did not take long for his doubt to be answered as the latter stepped out of the portal that had now turned blue.

"Everything is fine," Eissen told Ames and stepped aside, clearing the path for her to enter.

The Solis executive tried not to show his displeasure. Fortunately, none from Ames’ group was looking at him, because it was quite hard to conceal it.

Or so he had thought.

The executive almost jumped backward when Ames looked at him suddenly.

With a faint smile, she said, "Thank you for not tampering our temporary residence."

"…"

Without waiting for the executive to respond, Ames entered the portal.

Attor and Eissen gave the executive a curt nod and entered the portal as well.

The executive was left outside the portal with a dumbfounded look. He wanted to lash out at them initially for thinking that they would tamper with their residence but in the end, he could only grit his teeth and leave.

Anyway, he had completed his task and escorted them there without allowing them to observe the area. That was enough.

*

There were four rooms in total inside the residence. A shared space, and three bedrooms. Each bedroom had its own bath, which was pretty convenient. Then again, mages typically no longer require bath because they could clean themselves with magic. Some of them even include an auto-self clean formula on their clothes enchantment. Still, there were mages who liked to bath so regardless of whether they used it or not, the Solis Clan included baths when they created the residences.

The shared space was decorated minimally, with two long couches facing each other and a long coffee table between.

Ames sat on one of the couch and waited for Attor and Eissen. When the two entered they too sat on the couch, albeit opposite her.

"I saw Overlord Oceanus and Leif in the common area," Ames said as soon as the two was seated. "Seeing Leif’s expression, she might have brought a message for us."

"I’ll look into it," Attor offered at once.

However, Ames shook her head and said, "No, I’ll go. I have a connection with her being of the same generation, so it is not surprising if I approach her."