Legacy of the Dark Sage

The other match for the Solo Competition and Team Competition started on a good note.

At the dome's Function Hall 1, the first match in the Solo Competition between the Royal Army and the Montgomeray Family was underway.

A burly man in his early thirties, against what appeared to be a child mage.

Same as the members of the Montgomeray Family watching the Solo Competition at Function Hall 2, the child wore a mask, hiding his or her face. While they could not determine the child's age and gender, they were sure the child was at least ten years old. Because the arena's 'Array setting' would not have allowed a mage below ten years old to enter.

Although the arena's settings were only known by the Courtenay Family and the Royal Family.

But none of those really bothered the others because masks were something they associated with the Montgomeray Family since their Patriarch and even their Elder Council changed.

That was right. The Montgomeray was not originally the main branch that was known along with the Courtenay and the Lumley. Originally, the Montgomeray was a 'servant' family under the real member of the Three Noble Families, the Dinaeri Family.

However, twelve or so years ago, the incident with the Crown Princess getting attacked by a Spirit forced the Dinaeri Family's Patriarch and Elders into seclusion.

The reason was obvious, the Dinaeri was known for being a Summoner with deep roots with the Spirits. When the Svelli Family fell, instead of getting the whole family implicated for being associated with the Spirits, the Dinaeri Patriarch and Elder Council took the fall alone.

After half a year, a declaration was made after the interim-Patriarch who was from the Montgomeray branch, completed their negotiation with the Royal Family. In the declaration, it was announced that the Royal Family agreed to the Dinaeri Patriarch's proposal, in turn, to spare the rest of the Dinaeri family members.

The proposal was to have the Montgomeray Family replace the Dinaeri Family.

Four years after that declaration, the Montgomeray finally started using their family instead of the Dinaeri. However, the members of the Montgomeray still saw the Dinaeri family members as the real 'face' of the third member of the Three Noble Families. This was one of the reasons why they wore a mask to hide their faces.

Anyway, the Montgomeray had been keeping a low profile ever since. But it was obvious that some of their members were from the Dinaeri. After all, some of them could summon Spirits.

Just like the participant of the Montgomeray in the arena, right now.

Behind the child, a Spirit that looked similar to a summoned Fire Golem stood with its hands spread out.

In front of the child, the burly man wearing a red Royal Army uniform with three gold badges pinned on his vest, showing the man's position as a Brigadier General, was on his knees with both his arms lifted. A light brown magic array was lit beneath him while a semi-translucent light brown magic barrier protected him from the five-meter radius fireball overhead.

"Ngrgh!" The burly man groaned as his arms lowered as the oversized fireball inched down on his barrier.

Crackle!

Cracks began to appear on the barrier's surface as the fireball's overwhelming heat.

The Fire Golem behind the child slowly brought its huge hands together. As it did, the fireball above the burly man shrank in size.

But the more it shrank, the heat it emitted intensified, further increasing the cracks on the burly man's barrier.

"Sir old man," the child suddenly spoke.

The child's voice was a bit high-pitched. But it had a slight deep note, that could mean the child was a male. Most likely, he was around eleven or twelve. After a could of years or so, his voice would start to deepen.

"Please don't be stubborn and admit defeat," the boy continued, with an almost monotonous tone. "You see, Ignis is still a baby and could hardly control his fire. He'll soon lose control over that fireball and you're barrier will be destroyed."

The boy sighed, "I don't have to tell you what will happen after that, right. Sir old man."

The burly man looked at the boy and gritted his teeth.

Spirit mages were rare and were very special. Because their magic strength depended on the Spirit they were contracted with.

At the moment the boy could only summon one Spirit, but if he became a High Master, he would be able to summon more. But even so, with only one summoned Spirit, the boy could already suppress a Master mage.

A feat that was impossible for someone at such a young age.

'First that Disciple Tyr, who only turned twenty defeated Rhys. Now, this boy....' The burly man could not help but think helplessly.

It appeared the new generation was far stronger than the older generation.

Whether it was good or not, the burly man was unsure.

"It is fine now."

A slim man in a red Royal Army uniform, with four gold badges on his vest, proof of his position as a Major General, spoke from the Royal Army's side.

"We admit defeat," the man added while turning to look at the announcer at the adjacent side.

The announcer in the hall was a woman.

The announcer nodded her head and raised her hand toward the boy.

"First match of the Solo Competition between the Royal Family and the Montgomeray Family, the Montgomeray Family wins," she announced.

The timer overhead stopped at 23:47.

The Courtenay and Lumley Families were shocked. From the start of the match, it only took one minute and thirteen seconds for the Montgomeray participant to defeat his opponent.

"Ignis," the boy turned to look at the Fire Golem, Ignis.

Almost at once, the huge fireball's energy scattered when Ignis lowered its hand.

The burly man fell on all fours as he panted. He could still feel the heat of the Fire Golem's fireball. His magic was Earth, which should have a certain anti-fire effect. Unfortunately, he still failed to defend against it.

With a wry smile, the burly man looked at the boy and said, "Young boy, what is your name."

The boy who was about to leave the arena stopped in his tracks as he looked back at the burly man.

"Lev, sir old man," the boy replied.

Without waiting for the burly man to say anything, Lev turned and left the arena and the Fire Golem turned into a fiery haze which soon vanished in thin air.

"Lev... such a young age, and already a Master mage," the burly man muttered under his breath as he stood up and also left the arena.

As the announcer watched the participants from each side leave the arena, the communication device she was wearing on her ear blinked a few times. Because half of her face was covered by a mask, no one noticed how it grew wide for a few seconds, before turning back to its normal size with a hint of awe reflected on them.

"For the second match," she began. Then she looked at the leader of the Royal Army which was the man who admitted defeat on behalf of the burly man, before turning to look at the Montgomeray's leader, a woman with long wavy dark-violet hair and was the only one sitting on the bench.

"I have received a word from the Head Committee that the Solo Competition held at Function Hall 2 between the Conclave and the Lumley Family had some few changes to the rules. Would the two participants like to hear the change and also adapt to the change?"

The leaders from both sides looked at each other, seemingly awaiting what the other side would answer. In the end, because the Royal Family's leader was unable to read the Montgomeray's leader's expression behind her mask, he decided to answer, "Tell us the new rule and we'll decide from there."

The announcer nodded and replied, with unconcealed nervousness, "V-Very well..."

As soon as the announcer told them the new rule the Conclave and the Lumley adapted, everyone in the Function Hall 1, fell into an awkward silence.

"A-As such... the head committee decided to agree on this change between the remaining matches between the Conclave and the remaining Three Noble Families. The Royal Army can also adapt to it, unless they prefer to continue with the original rules."

"Who among the Conclave proposed it? And what is the outcome of the first match between the Conclave and the Lumley Family?"

The one who asked the question was surprisingly the Montgomeray Family's leader.

"I-I'm sorry. The head committee prohibited us from saying the name of who proposed the change of rule. As for the results of t-the Solo Competition at Function Hall 2..." the announcer gulped nervously before answering, "The five matches has already concluded thirty-three seconds ago. The outcome is... five to zero, in favor of the Conclave."

Another awkward silence fell in the room.

After a short pause, the whole room burst into a frenzy, with most of the audience trying to contact who they knew were present in Function Hall 2 to confirm the results.

On the other hand, the Royal Army and the Montgomeray participants remained silent.

"What is your decision?" The announcer asked the leaders after noticing both seemed to be lost in thought.

"We will continue with the original rules," the Montgomeray leader answered at once.

The Royal Army leader also nodded, "I agree."

Then he looked behind him as a woman in a similar red Royal Army uniform nodded and went to the arena.

Similarly, a young woman with short wavy dark violet hair from the Montgomeray side also went to the arena.

"It's him..." Lev murmured, for once his monotonous voice seemed to appear 'happy' as he sat beside their leader.

"Yes," the woman replied, with a similarly 'happy' tone.

"Sister Zuri," Lev addressed their leader. "Can I change to team two?"

The other members of the Montgomeray Family team one also looked at Zuri. It seemed, they also wanted to request the same.

"There is no rush," Zuri replied with a hint of amusement in her voice. "Eventually, we will all stand before him."

She paused for a few seconds, before adding in a low voice, "After all... he is the son of the Spirit Child."