Chapter 1007: Gathering (1)
Chapter 1007: Gathering (1)
Kyran knocked out the representatives he found for Leif and her fellow Ogen representatives. He then created an isolated space and hid them there.
Fortunately, the space where the Tower of the Ancients ended up was rich in similar energy to Kyran's Void magic. For this reason, he did not have to worry about leaving residual energy whenever he used it. The area's rich magic energy also allowed him to access the isolated space anywhere without a problem. In this way, he could monitor the condition of the unconscious representatives.
Still, they were faced with a small problem. The representatives Kyran targeted only had four. In the end, he decided to give Leif and her people the vials containing the blood of those representatives and just let the potion he would take randomly change his features. After that, they could pretend he was a new clan member.
When Kyran returned and gave Leif all the possessions he had found from the representatives, she confirmed that they were new participants this year and a relatively unknown clan. This was a fortunate thing for them because they did not have to be wary of other clans who knew them.
Kyran gave the vials to Leif and let her distribute them.
At first, Cove and Irving were against drinking a potion created by someone they did not know. But Leif ignored their objection and drank the potion without hesitation. Maren did the same, which prompted the former two to follow suit. They could not possibly continue voicing their objection when the senior and the daughter of their clan leader had set an example.
The name of the clan they would pretend to be was the Lacus Clan. The Lacus Clan's innate magic was related to Water magic, making it easier for Leif and her fellow representatives to act their part in case there were other clans participating in this year's tower treasure hunt that knew them.
While the Lacus Clan and the Ogen Clan might have similarities in terms of their innate magic, their features were very different. The former had a darker shade of blue and green hair color, and their eyes were bright yellow.
Their features gave Kyran a headache. Since his potion would randomly change his features, if he ended up with entirely different hair and eye color, he would stand out like a sore thumb.
Leif proposed to dye Kyran's hair at least, but ultimately, they decided against it. This was because their supplies were limited. They could not waste them as materials in creating a dye. The dangers inside the tower, not to mention against other clans, were high in this place, so they had to make use of what little supplies they had properly.
"You have to be prepared as well," Kyran told Leif while they gathered back to their portal and waited for the Transformation potion to take effect. "Your clan isn't the only one with limited supplies. You had more if we included the Lacus representatives' supplies, but that did not change the fact that others would be hard pressed to get more supplies."
Leif's eyes narrowed at Kyran's warning, "You mean they will try to steal from others?"
Kyran nodded. "Of course, this action will be more evident among smaller to medium clans. As for large clans... not having enough supplies will probably the least of their worries. But they will still probably attack and steal supplies of other clans to eliminate competition."
Leif and the others' expressions turned grim. Even Cove and Irving had to admit that what Kyran said made sense. The large clans would not want the small and medium clans to find treasures and elevate their clan's strength.
This would be especially the case with the clans under The Council.
Leif suddenly thought of something and asked no one in particular: "Even if most clans in The Council will probably do something underhanded like that, there is one clan that will not. Maybe it is best to get on their good side."
She looked at her fellow representatives before looking at Kyran, "Since we're in disguise, we don't have to worry about implicating Ogen if something went awry by trying to get on their good side."
Kyran kept an indifferent expression but he already guessed which clan Leif was referring to.
The Dragon Clan.
To be honest, Kyran was tempted to agree with Leif's suggestion. But he knew the Dragon Clan had powerful insight, and he was not that confident if his Transformation potion was powerful enough to fool them. Maybe it was fine as long as they did not stay near them that long, but if they did...
Cove and Irving picked up something on Kyran's sudden silence, they could not help but sneer.
"What's wrong? Are you scared that the Dragon Clan will notice our disguise?" Cove started.
Irving then added, "Didn't you say no one will notice it because your concoction is that powerful?"
Kyran looked at Irving with a deadpan expression and said, "I never said that. Don't put strange context to my words."
"You may not have said it like that, but it is basically what you meant!"
Kyran ignored him and returned his attention to Leif. He noticed the latter hiding an amused smile and inwardly sighed at her audacity to actually enjoy the fact that there was discord among the members of her group.
"Getting on the Dragon Clan's good side is fine. But will they be interested?" he asked. He then pointed out what they knew about the Lacus Clan: "You said it yourself that the Lacus Clan is a fairly new and small clan. Since few knew them, it means there is nothing worth noting about their clan's accomplishments.
I'm not saying the Dragon Clan will only be interested in other clans if they do something big, but I don't think they will be interested in a clan that will not be an asset to them."
"Hm..." Leif slightly leaned back and folded her arms while nodding her head in agreement. "You do have a point."
"Lady Leif, I think it is still worth a shot to get close to the Dragon Clan," Irving insisted, obviously not convinced of Kyran's reasoning. Or maybe he just did not want to acknowledge anything the latter did or say.
Leif looked at him and smiled, "Yes, you're right. If an opportunity arises, we will talk to them. But for now, we have to keep a low profile. Take note that if we actively approached the Dragon Clan, the rest of the clans under The Council would start focusing their attention on us. We have to avoid that as much as possible."
Kyran inwardly nodded to Leif. Fortunately, Leif was on his side and had her wits about her. If not, and he ended up having to deal with Cove and Irving's annoyance by himself, he did not know if he could show them mercy.
"What happened between the Dragon Clan and The Emperor's Clan a few months ago was still unclear, but the tension between the two clans is not a secret to all. We have to be careful," Leif said her piece before giving Cove and Irving a smile. "Let's do our best to return to our clan with great news. Alright?"
"Yes, Lady Leif," the two replied. They still felt indignant about the preferential treatment Leif and Overlord Oceanus seemed to give Kyran, but since Leif personally asked them to succeed in their trip to the tower, then they would do everything in their power to fulfill it.
Seeing the determination on Cove and Irving's faces, Kyran was somewhat speechless. He did not know how simpleton they actually were.
"The transmission array has started to move!"
Maren's voice brought Kyran out of his reverie.
They turned their attention to the transmission array near the portal and saw the formulas written on it start to rotate, with a few runes glowing here and there.
"Have all of you memorized everything you have to about the person you're disguised as?" Leif asked her fellow representatives.
"Yes, we have."
"Everything is in my mind."
"I have memorized it, Lady Leif."
Maren, Cove, and Irving replied, respectively.
Leif then looked at Kyran and said with a bitter smile, "I suggest it best for you not to interact with others much."
"No problem," Kyran agreed. In fact, he did not mind becoming a background character. This way, no one would pay attention to him. It would also make it easier for him to observe the Dragon Clan representatives, and when the time came, he would follow them back to their portal.
"Once the potion completely sets in, we'll enter the array."
*
The representatives of each clan that had already gathered on the platform observed one another in silence. Nonetheless, it was obvious how most of the clans continued to look toward the Dragon Clan's representatives.
The leader representative of the Blade Dancer Clan inwardly frowned while looking at the only woman among the Dragon Clan's representatives.
"I haven't seen her before," he said, using a voice loud enough for his fellow representatives to hear.
"I also don't remember seeing her in the updated list of the Dragon Clan's younger generation," another representative agreed.
"Her eyes are a little different from the rest... Could she be a hybrid?"
There were different dragon tribes with different features. The Dragon Emperor's tribe had silver hair and either gold or silver eyes. Other tribes had dark violet hair and red eyes or dark green hair and light blue eyes, and so on. It would not be impossible for a dragon from the Dragon Emperor's tribe to marry another tribe and produce a hybrid.
"Maybe..." the leader representative replied, still looking at the woman with great interest.