Legacy of the Dark Sage

"W-Who...?" Zephyr asked as he turned to Kyran.

Though his master had said that the man before them was a new Sigil and even acted the part, Zephyr felt something different about him.

It was the kind of difference that though they were both Sigils, the restrictions placed upon the man were far more complex than Zephyr.

Tritus stood up and looked at Zephyr, with a very respective attitude he lowered his head slightly toward him and said, "I am Tritus. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Kyran's brow slightly twitched at Tritus's attitude.

When he removed his memories and used the Novo spell to alter them, he did not expect the result would be like this. As far as he was concerned, the changes he made should not have affected Tritus's attitude much.

"Zephyr," Zephyr also introduced himself while looking uneasily at Tritus.

"Senior Zephyr," Tritus addressed with a slight nod. "I'll be in your care from now on."

"Master," Zephyr could not help but look at Kyran worriedly. "This man is... a little scary."

Kyran chuckled at Zephyr's words. He looked at Tritus and then to Zephyr and said, "There are two others I will have you both meet, but first I have to deal with something."

He then looked at Tritus and lifted his hand toward him. A number appeared at the back of his hand as he activated his Sigil.

The mark of the Sigil appeared on Tritus's forehead and slowly, his dishevelled state changed.

All his wounds healed at a visible rate and even his gold armor got fixed.

Zephyr recognized Kyran's action. It was very similar to how he had healed him earlier.

After Tritus had been healed, he respectfully lowered his head and knelt on one knee before Kyran.

"Thank you for your kindness, master."

"That's enough," Kyran told him and added, "Stand to the side. I want you to help me deal with this one."

"Understood, master."

Tritus replied as he stood up. He walked to Kyran's other side and stood at a ready.

Kyran waved his hand and a person appeared before them once more.

The man who appeared lay unconscious on the floor and was bound with dark purple rope. He was also wearing a gold armor and appeared slightly battered with few areas of his armor destroyed.

Zephyr guessed that his master had beaten up the man senseless before binding it. The thought made him sigh inwardly. He recalled the first time they had met and how ruthless his master had beaten him into submission.

It seemed, he was not the only one who experienced it.

However, the unconscious man was not a Sigil, which made Zephyr wondered what Kyran wanted to do with the man.

As for Tritus, as soon as the man had appeared, his eyes instantly narrowed. Then he said, "Reuben."

Kyran raised his brows as he looked at him in surprise.

With Tritus's arrogant demeanor, Kyran would not be surprised if he did not know the names of his members. However, if he ever did remember their names, it meant he acknowledged them or had bigger plans in stored for them.

Seeing Kyran looking at him, Tritus faced him and respectfully replied, "Master, this man's name is Reuben. He is one of the brightest member of the Templar Code's Elite Team. I planned to have him infiltrate the Royal Family's Intelligence Division once he gain enough fame within the Elite Force."

Zephyr froze as soon as he heard Tritus spoke of the Templar Code. Then his mind reeled after hearing the latter's plans with the one laying on the floor, Reuben.

"Y-You are from the Templar Code?" Zephyr could not help but blurt out as he gaped at Tritus.

Tritus turned to him and said apologetically, "Apologies Senior Zephyr. After accepting being master's Sigil, I have become ashamed of my identity as the Templar Code's Commander and thus, did not mention it."

"C-Commander?" Zephyr exclaimed and looked piercingly at Kyran at once.

The reason why Zephyr did not recognize Tritus as part of the Templar Code was because of his armor was a slightly different from the ones the other members wore, even though it was also made with Aurum gold.

It did cross Zephyr's mind that if Tritus was from the Templar Code, the reason why his armor looked different might be because of his profound level. But the likeness of such a person appearing in the Shaiha Ruins was close to nil.

So, Zephyr had thought Kyran met Tritus somewhere else, took his as his Sigil, and had him help with destroying the Templar Code's make shift camp. The latter thought being the reason why Tritus ended up looking disheveled a while ago.

It never crossed Zephyr's mind that Tritus was the Templar Code's Commander!

"Ah, right. He is the Commander of the Templar Code," Kyran said dismally.

"Master, please stop shredding what little life I have left!" Zephyr complained. Even if Tritus was now Kyran's Sigil, there was no guarantee he would remain loyal. Though the Sigil would immediately activate when Tritus had designs against Kyran, with the former's profound magic level, he might have some life-saving item or even technique that could help him escape death.

Kyran only looked at Zephyr in amusement and refused to say anything.

To be honest, he did not explain Tritus's background to aggravate Zephyr once he found out. Only by doing this that Kyran was sure Zephyr's focus would be diverted away from what had happened to his brethren.

Kyran turned his attention to Tritus and said, "The Royal Family's Intelligence Division? Not the Royal Army?"

Tritus nodded.

"Correct. After the Royal Family met with all other leaders of each factions within the empire, the Emperor Euan had seen to it that he took over the whole Royal Army's control again," he explained.

Kyran's eyes narrowed. They already guessed as much. But he did not know how the emperor managed to do that. As far as he knew, the Royal Army's Grand Marshal might have little influence but he would definitely not be a push over.

Seeing Kyran's expression, Tritus continued with his explanation, "I am not sure if you are aware, master, but the Royal Army has always been divided into four powers."

Kyran nodded, "That much I am aware of—"

He suddenly stopped short and frowned, "Wait, four?"

There was the Grand Marshal, and three Deputy Marshals in the Royal Army. But in terms of who wanted to rule the army, one of the Deputy Marshals, Ingrid, had always been silent. The Conclave of the East had also confirmed that she had no desire of gathering followers to form a 'fourth side' into the power struggle in the army.

Tritus nodded, "Correct. I am not sure how accurate is your information, master, but the four powers struggling to take control over the army are the following; Grand Marshal Gael, Deputy Marshal Mannick, Deput Marshal Imman, and Assistant to the Grand Marshal, Fiona."

"What? The Grand Marshal's assistant has a power of her own?" Kyran asked. It was his first time hearing the name Fiona. Stella's record had not shown any information about her. Or maybe, he was not aware of her because the record Stella shared with him was only an overview.

"Not exactly," Tritus replied with a shake of his head. "She is someone the Royal Family had planted beside the Grand Marshal to keep tabs on his movement. However, because of her special status, she has certain level of authority within the army. In fact, she has been secretly backed by Deputy Marshal Ingrid, because the two are related. From this, I am sure you can already see master, that the real power which Fiona represented was not her own."

Kyran took a deep breath. He had always wondered why Deputy Marshal Ingrid was not interested in the power struggle. It was rare to find someone who was not power hungry.

One good example he could think of was Olivia. She was the daughter of the previous Head of the Aureole but she never once tried to rule them. Instead, she was focused on finding a cure for her mother.

"All this time, the Royal Family has one of their own hide among the army," Kyran said with a bitter smile. He admitted to have underestimated the Royal Family's power.

"That is correct. They have been waiting for the right moment to strike," Tritus agreed.

However, Kyran was not entirely convinced. Because he could not understand why the Royal Family had to wait until the matter of Gray happened before making their move? There were still missing pieces. And to be honest, he could not help thinking about what Stella told him about Haylee.

It was for this reason that Kyran felt that Haylee was actually at the center of everything that recently transpired within the empire and not Emperor Euan.

"Let's discuss this later," Kyran finally said after a moment's pause. Now that he had extra hands he could use, there was no rush for him to do everything on his own.

First, he had to deal with Reuben, and after that, have him and Max go on a special mission.

"Right now," he looked at Reuben with a thoughtful look. "I am contemplating in making him my Sigil or not."

Tritus raised his brows in confusion, "Why not? Having one more brain at your desposal is a good thing."

Zephyr who had been silent because his knowledge about the current situation of the humans were too little, finally found something he could comment on. He also nodded his head and said, "I think so too."

Then he looked at Kyran seriously and said, "You tend to do a lot by yourself, master. From planning, resource gathering and even in getting yourself in trouble."

Kyran looked at him with a dull expression, "That last one was unnecessary."

"Anyway, you might have asked those two to help gather intel and manpower but they are not enough. You also know it, that's why you are also doing everything you can to do it."

When Zephyr said 'those two,' he meant Gage and Silas. But he was afraid of saying something he should not have in front of a new Sigil so he refrained from mentioning their names. He had learned to be tactful like this. After all, Anette and Nolan had warned him about saying too much.

Kyran did not answer at once and instead fell silent. Then he shook his head and said, "There is a reason why I can't forcefully make this guy my Sigil."

He turned to Tritus before continuing, "It's because of a man named Max. Do you know him?"

Tritus nodded, "Yes. I actually planned on having him lead a team with Evan to find clues of the dragon's disappearance."

When Zephyr heard this he could not help but look at Tritus incredulously.

"Just how many plans do you have?" He asked.

Tritus looked at him and smiled apologetically, "Apologies, senior Zephyr. I used to be an ambitious man, thus, I had devised far too many plans in order to rule the whole world."