Legacy of the Dark Sage

Shaiha explained that Lower Realm\'s planes had different magic laws due to the realm\'s incomplete magic energy. Also, most planes there were recently created and only originated after The Realm was divided. Thus, those planes developed an entirely different magic law based on what little magic energy they managed to adapt.

She added that only a few planes from before The Realm was divided survived in the Lower Realm after experiencing countless Wars of the Sovereigns.

When Kyran asked how it managed to survive, Shaiha explained that most of those planes were protected by The Coven. Because if those planes were destroyed, The Realm would never be restored.

As soon as the topic of The Realm\'s restoration was brought up, Kyran immediately steered the discussion in another direction. He clearly wanted to avoid discussing The Realm, especially after Shaiha had previously called him the Realm Scion.

Shaiha could only sigh whenever that happened. She had already decided to wait until Kyran showed interest in that topic, but she could see that it would be an agonizing wait.

Contrary to the Higher Realm\'s Magic Law, learning the other branches of magic, like Alchemy and Array, proved to be a grueling experience, even for Kyran, who possessed an innate ability that allowed him to learn things just by understanding the principle behind them.

The reason was the abundance of materials available in the Higher Realm, unavailable in the Lower Realm. From this, Kyran had to learn every new beast, what part of their bodies could be used as an ingredient for Alchemy or Array, or materials for Crafting, as well as every new plant.

Memorizing every piece of information in the city library was not a problem. But if Kyran wanted to learn how to concoct potions or pills through Alchemy or write and craft Array formations and Smithing, he would have to get his hands on the items themselves, or else he could not test their effects.

The problem was that the ingredients available in Ogen could survive in its climate and living conditions.

Ogen was a plane abundant in water-based magic energy and Aquatic lifeforms. This was not to say there were no other magic energy or lifeforms. However, these were those who could survive Ogen\'s living conditions.

Since Ogen was abundant in water-based magic energy, every lifeform with fire-based magic energy could only survive there for a short time. They could stay for a month at most before their magic cores dried up because they could barely replenish their magic energy.

Meanwhile, Shaiha also gathered enough intel to update her knowledge of the Higher Realm. She still needed more information about the current relationship of every lord of the planes there, but that could wait until they could visit other planes.

It would definitely help if they could visit a more prominent plane because, to be honest, a neutral plane like Ogen was only privy to essential information.

Now that Kyran was no longer a clueless fool in the Higher Realm, attempting to enter a plane belonging to an independent group or even The Emperor\'s faction might be possible. Of course, this would have been true if Kyran could stay out of trouble. But knowing his track record, it was wishful thinking. He would eventually get caught up in something, even if he kept a low profile.

It was said that if a person had powerful thoughts about something terrible happening, that person would likely invite something horrible to happen.

Shaiha should have been careful with her thoughts, especially now that they were in the Higher Realm. Did she not warn Kyran about names holding power? This concept was the same when negative thoughts invite negative things to happen!

It happened when Kyran was on his way to the city library. Since he had visited the library frequently, some shop owners near it had become familiar with him.

For the record, Ogen\'s inhabitants were a mixture of humans and aquatic beasts. They all possessed water-related innate magic; thus, they did not mind the cold temperature that Orgen was known for year-round.

Because of this, what would generally be a place where people would wear thick clothes, with hoods, gloves, and boots, was nowhere to be seen. If one wore such attire, they would draw a lot of attention.

Considering this, Kyran chose to follow the trend and wore regular clothes. He even opted to wear an off-white coat and pants because wearing black stood out in the crowd. This was because Ogen\'s inhabitants preferred to wear lighter shades of blue and green, making dark colors stand out like a sore thumb.

In fact, Kyran\'s black hair drew quite a lot of attention when he first entered the city. Fortunately, they only ogled at him for some time and then ignored him.

Kyran was surprised at the lax atmosphere in the city. Even the security was pretty loose because no one had asked for his identification upon his entry.

Shaiha explained that this was only possible in neutral planes. Nonetheless, the city\'s security was not loose per se. The reason no one asked for Kyran\'s identification was because every city in Ogen was built under an active array formation.

These arrays monitor the activity inside the city. Once it detects malicious activities or intent from anyone, its detainment formula will activate and catch the culprit. After that, the city guards will respond and apprehend the culprit, and if they are inhabitants, the city head will give appropriate punishment depending on what happened.

But if it is a visitor, they will be questioned before Overlord Oceanus.

Kyran was quite impressed with how advanced and powerful the array formations in Higher Realm were. It should be noted that every inhabitant there were Sovereigns, and for its array\'s detainment formula to work on them without fail was a testament to how powerful it was.

In any case, Kyran remembered this and avoided using his magic sense to observe the array formation. Luckily, he did not do that before entering the city. If not, he would have triggered its array and likely been caught and brought before Oceanus.

Then again, Kyran avoided checking the city for array formations simply because he wanted to avoid standing out. His magic was unrelated to the water element. Thus, if he had used his magic sense without mainly utilizing the nature of Draconic or Void magic, he would have been detected easily by the array and its inhabitants. Again, this was because everyone there was a Sovereign.

Going back to the present, when Kyran was on his way to the library, some shop owners who had become acquainted with him these past few weeks greeted him as usual.

Most of them were humans, with a few mixed races.

Those mixed races looked no different from a beast-like in Somuli with reptilian blood. They only differ with the color of their scales, which the Ogen mixed races had either greenish or bluish tones, while reptilian beast-likes in Somuli had darker shades of green and red.

Shaiha\'s foreboding happened when Kyran was about to enter the city library.

Since the library was accessible to all, the only ones who required an identification card were those who wanted to check out ancient records or scrolls. Besides, most of the information was already available to them.

They only had to access Ogen\'s global channel through their portable tablets, which were advanced magic items that combined a communication device with a memory orb that every inhabitant possessed.

Visitors could also receive a temporary tablet. However, they had to register and pay for it at Ogen\'s Embassy.

Kyran did not have money.

Again.

But then, he did not plan to stay. Once he gathered enough intel, devised his next move, and made appropriate preparations, he would leave and go to their next destination.

Thus, he did not purchase a temporary tablet and only visited the library to gather intel.

Unfortunately, this caught the attention of a few prominent figures in the city— and at that moment, they were watching him.

Kyran stopped in his tracks because he sensed multiple eyes on him when he approached the library\'s steps.

Shaiha noticed his abrupt stop and furrowed her brows.

[What\'s wrong?]

\'I\'m being watched.\'

Shaiha could not help but raise her brows in surprise while unconsciously looking in the direction of the Draconic core. She did not sense Kyran circulating his Draconic magic, yet he noticed others watching him. This meant that his natural senses could still detect concealed scrutiny of Higher Realm mages.

But then, her initial surprise was replaced by exasperation as her foreboding came true.

[Can you tell who they are?]

Before entering the city, Kyran gathered enough intel on the city\'s upper echelon. He only learned their names and what they looked like, but it was enough. It did not matter what they did or how powerful they were because he planned to avoid them no matter what.

However, he was met with a problem at that moment because he could not recognize any of the people watching him.

\'No.\'

[What do you mean—?]

\'None of them are from the upper echelon of the city.\'

Shaiha narrowed her eyes.

[Are they from Oceanus\'s side? Or...?]

Kyran did not hear what she was about to say at the end because he had already guessed who she was referring to.

The Emperor\'s people. Shaiha might even be referring to The Emperor himself.

Before Kyran could respond, he noticed a group of human inhabitants of Ogen coming out of the library. Judging by their youthful appearance, they were likely in their late teens or early twenties. They were also dressed elegantly, indicating they were from the city\'s upper echelon.

Seeing them gave Kyran a foreboding sense. He also felt an incoming headache as he noticed the young woman in a long, gradient blue and green dress approaching him.

The young woman was quite pretty, with flowing light blue hair and sea-green eyes. Her gentle smile suggested her warm and pleasant personality.

Still, Kyran did not find the young woman\'s smile warm. On the contrary, he felt a slight shiver up his spine.

"A pleasant day to you," the young woman greeted Kyran as soon as she was a few steps away from him. "My name is Leif. Would you be so kind as to come with us for a moment?"