Legacy of the Dark Sage

Chapter 990: Dragons, Faes, and High Elves

It took Kyran three days before finding a plane. Fortunately, it was a neutral plane, and its Overlord was called Oceanus.

Shaiha admitted to knowing someone called Overlord Oceanus. However, she was unsure if the Oceanus of that plane was the same mage she remembered. That was because Oceanus was only a title, not the mage's real name. As such, it was customary to pass the title on to the mage's successor or student if something happened to them.

According to Shaiha, names in the Higher Realm held great power. It could also bind one and become one's weakness. To avoid this, beings with conscience never give out their real names. Instead, they refer to themselves by affiliation, clan, position, or title if they were a High Sovereign or an Overlord of a small or big plane.

When Kyran heard Shaiha talk about Overlords and High Sovereigns, he guessed they were titles similar to the Lower Realm's Sovereigns. These could also be considered the next level a mage could reach.

Shaiha knew Kyran's interest was piqued when she mentioned these things and promised to explain it in detail once they found a safe place to stay.

True to Shaiha's words, after Kyran successfully entered Overlord Oceanus's plane (Ogen), found a secluded area in one of its forests, and built a small lodging for them, she educated him about basic knowledge in the Higher Realm.

As Kyran guessed, the next mage level after Sovereign was called High Sovereign and after that was Overlord.

High Sovereigns can own a small plane with a decent military size of about ten thousand mages, which Shaiha confirmed are all Sovereigns.

Any other mage from the Lower Realm would have reeled at this information. After all, the highest level of mage in the Lower Realm were Sovereigns, and they were few. Yet in the Higher Realm, an incredible ten thousand could only be considered subordinates to a High Sovereign.

Kyran belatedly realized how vital and powerful the Lower Realm's rules were in ensuring that mages from the Higher Realm could not do what they pleased there. Because if even one High Sovereign and their army entered the Lower Realm without restrictions, they could eradicate planes and destroy all its inhabitants.

Then there was the Overlord. There was a significant difference between an Overlord and a High Sovereign, not only in terms of their strength but also their authority.

Overlords can own bigger planes and command fifty thousand mages. In fact, there are some Overlords who have High Sovereigns as subordinates in the Higher Realm. Apart from that, the army of the High Sovereigns is not included in the fifty thousand mages the Overlord can command. Instead, they are an addition to the latter's overall military strength.

There were only a few such Overlords in the Higher Realm, and the Dragon Emperor was one.

According to Shaiha, the Dragon Emperor was previously only a High Sovereign. However, he defeated all the other Dragon tribes' High Sovereign levels, uniting them to form one clan.

After over a thousand years, the Dragon King had broken through and was now an Overlord. Thus earning a new title as the Dragon Emperor.

Kyran and Shaiha also learned during one of their visits to a nearby city that the Dragon Emperor was rumored to be on the verge of reaching the next level.

This rumor caused some friction between The Emperor's Council.

This was because only one mage had reached the next level so far, and he was the Supreme Overlord, The Emperor himself.

If the Dragon Emperor broke through, the chances of a war between his clan and The Emperor's happening were high. In fact, there were already rumors of a clash in the Dragon Plane between the two clans.

When Kyran heard this, he felt guilty. Unlike the others, who believed that the clash between the two clans was due to the Dragon Emperor's approaching a breakthrough, Kyran knew it was because of him.

Whether The Emperor believed the Dragon Emperor purposely hid Kyran's identity with thoughts of using the latter against him or he discovered Kyran was indeed part of the Dragon Clan, in the end, Kyran never wanted to implicate them in his matters.

Shaiha insisted that the current situation was not something he could control. Even if he could, The Emperor had long wanted to wage an open war against the Dragon Clan, and Kyran's appearance gave him a reason to do just that.

As for why The Emperor wanted to wage war against the Dragon Clan, it was obviously because he feared the Dragon Emperor breaking through to the next level. Because when that happened, he could no longer suppress the whole Higher Realm.

Not to mention, there was a possibility that the Dragon Emperor's strength could surpass him because the latter was a true pure dragon— the only living being that could naturally use Draconic magic, one of the four Ancient Magic.

Apart from studying current affairs in the Higher Realm, Kyran also discovered a lot about Ancient Magic from Shaiha and the city library he finally managed to enter.

What Kyran learned defied most of what he knew in the Lower Realm.

In the Lower Realm, the Four Ancient Magic was known as the most rare magic. It was also said that only one person could wield them in its truest form.

There were mages whose innate magic resembled Ancient Magic, but only four could be called Ancient magic users.

However, in the Higher Realm, beings were known to have Ancient magic. These included the Dragons, the Faes, and the High Elves.

A few thousand years ago, when The Realm was still intact, the Dragons, the Faes, and the High Elves were revered in such a high regard that even the Higher Being had to pay his respect in front of them.

Because of this, some clans saw these three as entities closer to a god.

And then things happened.

Internal conflict appeared among the dragons, forcing them to break into tribes and keep their distance from each other to avoid an all-out war.

Then there were the Faes, who were feared by many because of their Soul magic. Soon, clans conspired against them and attacked them. In the end, they were nearly wiped out, with only a few who managed to survive and keep their land, the Spirit Plane, intact.

However, that only lasted for a short time. Because, with only a few weaker Faes remaining, it was easy to bully them. Ultimately, when The Realm crumbled and divided into two, their plane was forcefully sent to the Lower Realm.

Finally, the High Elves, who could wield Time Magic, kept to themselves after The Realm showed signs of breaking. It was unknown what happened to them when The Realm was divided. However, there were rumors that their plane also ended up in the Lower Realm.

Kyran felt conflicted after learning this truth, especially when he read about the high elves. This was because their features were similar to those of the inhabitants of the plane he once trained in and ended up massacring.

Of course, Kyran only felt that way. Because, as far as he knew, none of them could use Time magic. If they did, then the universal truth in the Lower Realm that 'only one person could wield one Ancient magic' would have been voided.

Still, Kyran felt that the rumor of the High Elves falling into the Lower Realm might hold some truth. But rather than being accessible to all, their plane might be hidden like the Human plane.

After learning about these three beings that could wield Ancient Magic, Kyran tried to search for the ones who could wield Void magic. When Shaiha learned of this, she only scoffed at him and said:

"Void is an exception among the Four Ancient Magic. Why do you think the Ancients did all that research to create the Four Ancient Magic Cores?"

Kyran did not know if Shaiha had noticed that she had practically told him that she learned about the lost history of the two realms.

It was only a thought on Kyran's part, but after he read through the copies of the tablets Axil and her fellow Guardians discovered in the Lower Realm, he was convinced that it held the truth of what happened in The Realm.

Frankly, Kyran regretted not being able to read the original tablets before coming to the Higher Realm. But after learning that Shaiha might know everything, he no longer regretted it. He only hoped she would be willing to tell him everything.

Besides this, Kyran's suspicion about the Four Ancient Magic Cores being artificially made was further exemplified. It was becoming apparent that the Ancients were the ones who created them.

Kyran's interest shifted toward the Ancients. Unfortunately, there were no records about them in the library, and Shaiha refused to impart her knowledge about them.

Finally, a month had passed since Kyran arrived in Ogen, and his knowledge of the Higher Realm was now adequate.