Legacy of the Dark Sage

This was a long-standing rule in every Blade House of the clan, a testament to every house leader\'s authority over their respective Houses.

A slight frown appeared on Tehila\'s beautiful face as soon as she saw the state of Alta\'s room.

The room, shrouded in an oppressive darkness, seemed to mirror the latter\'s mood. The air was heavy with a palpable sense of gloom, a stark contrast to the vibrant energy that usually filled it.

Tehila sighed inwardly. She predicted this much especially after what The Emperor did to Alta. Nonetheless, sulking like this and ignoring her summons was unacceptable. The Emperor was still there. If word of Alta\'s behavior reached him, he might summon her again and who knew what he would do.

The Blade Dancer Clan was known as one of the four loyal clans under The Emperor, but even that would not amount to anything if they showed even a sliver of a reaction to whatever The Emperor did to one of their members.

Tehila refrained from making a move or saying anything simply because she could not afford to anger The Emperor and increase the casualties.

The Emperor\'s decision to also punish Shiloh was out of Tehila\'s prediction because he did not show any urgency in Shiloh regaining consciousness. He only did so after extracting Alta\'s soul thread. From this, Tehila believed that The Emperor might have seen something from Alta\'s memory that angered him. It could be said that punishing Shiloh, could be The Emperor\'s way of showing leniency.

It pained Tehila for two of her family to suffer losses but she could only grit her teeth and endure. Otherwise, the whole clan might suffer.

Tehila closed the door behind her. Without even using her Divine Sense, she found Alta crouching like a lost child at the left corner of the room.

"Must you act like this?" She asked, her voice laced with coldness and ridicule.

Alta did not react even before she heard their house leader enter her room. After The Emperor dismissed her from the meeting a few hours earlier, she retreated to her room and has been sulking at that corner ever since. She did not even come out when one of the retainers of the Sound House came and told her Tehila summoned her for dinner.

Obviously, The Emperor was present there and Alta did not want to come. She was not being petty. Having her soul thread taken and practically subjecting her to a life with no future could not be considered petty. Nevertheless, that was not the reason she did not want to come and see The Emperor.

She could accept a life with no future, however, she could not tolerate having her brother\'s future taken as well. Moreover, she could not take the fact that their house leader did nothing!

As soon as Alta was reminded of this, her heart rate increased as anger and bitterness filled her heart.

"Why did you not intervene?" Alta growled in frustration at Tehila. She did not even bother showing respect toward the latter as she vent her unhappiness.

"Because it is futile," Tehila replied, shaking her head.

"Even so—!"

"I will definitely find a way to restore your magic core."

"This is not about me! I can endure my losing my future. However, you… you did nothing when that… he… Shiloh is still young! He has yet to achieve anything on his own and yet you-!"

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"Silence."

"Ugh…!" Alta keeled over as she frantically grabbed her throat.

Tehila had only uttered one word, yet the force that wrapped itself around her removed not only her capability to speak but also the Sound inside her core.

Tehila\'s eyes flashed coldly as she made her way to Alta\'s corner. She was not exuding any pressure. However, her initial sound attack rendered Alta immobile, as her whole body screamed to be released from its \'silent\' state.

"The Emperor will be staying here until we can force Shiloh or Uilleam awake," Tehila\'s voice was devoid of warmth as she stop before Alta and watched her squirm in agony. "Do not act up while he is here. Instead…"

A dangerous glint flashed through her eyes before she said, "I want you to be patient. Do not be reckless and do something stupid, especially with the matter of Shiloh\'s or Uilleam\'s force awakening."

Alta\'s eyes turned bloodshot as she struggled to voice her displeasure. However, Tehila ignored her struggles. She simply knelt before her and whisperer, "You, Shiloh, and Uilleam are my family, Alta. Do you think I want to see my family\'s future taken away one after the other? I am the House Leader of the Sound House. Let me handle the situation.

Do as you are told."

Alta bit her lips and glared at Tehila. She did not know whether to trust her words or not. She could not determine whether Tehila was saying the truth by listening to the sound of her voice because her own sound was silenced.

"Since the Draconic Core and the Void Core has appeared, then the rest of the Ancient Magic Cores should have appeared as well."

Alta\'s bloodshot eyes widened in realization.

Tehila leaned back and examined Alta\'s expression. A gentle smile appeared on her face as she said to affirm the latter\'s thoughts.

"That\'s right. Even if The Emperor extracts Shiloh\'s or Uilleam\'s soul threads, we just have to find the one who have the Soul Core and repair your magic cores.

"The Emperor has called for an emergency conference. Since he is here, we will be hosting it. On that day, he will announce his intentions of searching and gathering all Ancient Magic Cores.

"I will see to it that our clan will be in charge of searching for the Soul Core. Before killing its vessel, we\'ll force it to heal your magic cores."

Alta stopped struggling. She knew Tehila was using her voice to calm her down, which was why she could not trust her words completely. Besides, rather than clinging on the hope of finding the Soul Core\'s vessel to fix their magic cores, Alta preferred to prevent Shiloh and Uilleam\'s soul threads to be extracted.

More importantly, if their soul threads were not extracted, then The Emperor would not be able to find clues or traces of the black mage\'s whereabouts. The more days passed that The Emperor could not find the black mage\'s traces, the longer it would take from locating him.

That was what Alta hoped for. It would not only hinder The Emperor from realizing his dream, but also give that black mage more time to grow. In a few years, that black mage might be able to face The Emperor on equal footing.

Alta knew what she hoped for was close to impossible. After all, a mage would never grow to the same level or higher than The Emperor in just a few years. But recalling how the black mage managed to escape her pursuit, and his use of magic, his potential seemed promising.

There was also one more thing that Alta noticed about that black mage. That man was a combat mage. She noticed it because she was the same. Considering this, she believed he stood a good chance against The Emperor— who was a mage through and through— as long as he gained more experience and level.

One reason The Emperor was cautious about the Dragon Clan was because all of them were combat mages. While it was true that his Light magic\'s nature had powerful piercing power, a dragon\'s physical and magic defenses could withstand it.

If that black mage managed to strengthen his body at the level of the dragons, he would not have any problem with The Emperor\'s magic. Then again, with the nature of the Void, he might be able to counter The Emperor\'s magic.

Alta hoped for such a turn of events to happen. For this reason, she could not fully support whatever it was that Tehila was plotting.

Tehila took Alta\'s silence as her giving consent to everything. Thus, she straightened her back and looked at Alta and slid the strands of hair that fell over her face to her ears.

"The Emperor ordered the house to gather all possible remedies to forcefully awaken Shiloh and Uilleam. So far, we have only tried some of the potions in the treasury. None of them worked, that\'s why we have to search outside.

"Our last option is to find someone from the outside with water affinity to perform a spell."

Alta frowned.

Tehila did not specifically mention any clan with water affinity, but if it was about a spell that could wake others, there was only one clan that fit the bill.

"We need to be the first house to produce results. This is the only way to make amends to our previous mistake. Do you understand?"

Without even releasing Alta\'s silence, Tehila stood up and left.

The moment the door closed; Alta finally regained her sound. The pressure crushing her lifted and she let out choking sounds. She clenched her fists as she glared at the door. Tehila was already gone, but that did not stop Alta from feeling disgusted.

*

Kyran waited about fifteen minutes before he warped to where Leif was.

When he appeared right next to Leif inside the transportation that would take them to the Blade Dancer Clan\'s plane, Oceanus\'s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.