Chapter 69 Arrays
Noticing Kyran's thoughtful expression, Stella heaved a sigh.
Once again, her presence was easily forgotten by him once he was deep in thought.
Even now, Stella could already guess what he was thinking.
Although they only met recently, Stella knew about Kyran the moment he manifested his Void Magic. She was only nine at the time and was not the Lord of the Tower yet, but her predecessor had ordered Malek, who was already the Head of Conclave even then, to file Kyran's profile.
The previous Lord of the Tower did not issue the order because he was worried about Kyran's future character. Being born to the Regis Family was practically insurance that he would grow to be a decent person. However, part of The List that the Conclave's Founder had left them was to create the new Void Master's profile.
The Regis Family was also aware of The List. Thus, they accepted the Conclave's request as long as they treated Kyran's profile highly confidential.
Thanks to this profile, Stella could more or less guess Kyran's mood or even what he was thinking just by observing his expression. However, though she could guess his thoughts, she could not keep up with his pace.
Kyran was very decisive. If he thought of something, he would do it without delay.
Stella had not decided whether his decisiveness was good or just being impulsive.
However, one miscalculation on Kyran's part, and he might suffer more than falling unconscious for days.
Kyran cancelled his magic and returned the magic orb inside his pouch. Then he turned his attention to Stella and asked, "Is there a training ground around here?"
'As expected,' Stella thought and sighed.
"We do."
"Can you take me there?"
An idea popped in Stella's head, and she immediately smiled at him.
"Tomorrow. I can take you there," she said.
Immediately, Kyran's brow creased.
Sensing Kyran's shifting mood, Stella immediately added, "It is almost nighttime outside. So even if I take you there, no one can assist you with setting up the whole place. Besides, did you forget you just woke up after falling unconscious for days? You probably think you're already okay now that you've woken up but that doesn't necessarily mean you have fully recovered."
Kyran's brow creased further, and he replied, "That was nine days ago."
Black lines appeared on Stella's forehead.
He was actually right. Inside her study, nine days already passed from when he woke up.
Still...
"I'm well rested. Besides, I've been holed up here for more than a week just reading books, now I need to move my body. And don't worry about setting up the training ground, I can do it myself. And I'll mostly train my magic, so I don't need any equipment."
Kyran suddenly stopped as he belatedly wondered why he had to explain himself to this woman. She was not even his family nor a close acquaintance. Stella was more of a prospective business partner?
Realizing that Kyran would not budge, Stella finally laid down her last card.
"Okay. The thing is... There are no time array in the training ground. So I'll have to create a new one. But I've been maintaining the time array here for more than nine hours and its already draining my magic reserves and I'm also physically exhausted right now. There was a a lot of work I had to deal with outside and-."
"That's fine. I don't need you to change the timeflow in the training ground. As a matter of fact it will be troublesome if you do," Kyran interrupted her.
"What?" Stella looked at him with a deadpan expression.
Kyran stood up and looked at the circulating arrays around them.
"I can't use my magic the way I want to inside your magic," he explained.
"Oh."
It was only then that Stella thought of this.
Normally, if a mage summoned his magic in an area dominated by another type of magic, his magic would be restricted.
However, Kyran's magic was too powerful that he could easily destroy other's magic.
"If you're tired, then rest. Just tell me where to find the training ground. I can go there myself," Kyran said and turned his attention back to Stella.
With a sigh, Stella finally relented and replied. "No, I can take you there. But could you at least, eat first?"
She gestured her hand toward the table where the tray of food was already waiting.
Kyran looked at the table and could not help but sweat at the dishes Stella brought this time.
The food was a full course dinner.
There were two appetizers; a flatbread with bacon and cheese with soup. Then a three main courses of salmon, grilled beef, and roasted chicken. As for the salad, Kyran was not sure what it was, but it looks... greeny. And there's also a pie for dessert.
With this kind of food, Kyran wondered why he did not smell it. Even the one Stella brought a few days ago. He was late to realize what she prepared until he saw it.
'The vanilla scent here seems to be enchanted-,' he paused and shook his head. 'No! That's not important right now.'
He looked at Stella with black lines appearing on his head. "You really..."
Stella just smiled sweetly at him and said, "It's been hours since the last time I saw you eat. I know you have a stock of food with you but those are preserved foods, and this here are real foods... er... at least it was cooked recently. Please, humor me."
Taking a deep breath, Kyran sat back and did not argue. Besides, the food looked delicious, and he had not eaten yet.
Stella brightened and immediately served the food.
After a few minutes of eating in silence, Kyran suddenly had a thought.
He looked at Stella and said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Stella replied as she leaned toward the table.
"How come the Royal Army did not go here even after I've caused such ruckus with my magic? Is Starhorn out of their magic detector's range?"
This thought had been on Kyran's mind these past few days. After all, he did make that scene to draw their attention.
"Not really. There's actually a huge magic detector installed at the center of the Town Square. However, the defensive array around Starhorn can camouflage magic signatures. The Royal Army's detectors will have trouble differentiating between each signature it detects." Stella explained.
"But, wouldn't our magic affect that array? Since I'm guessing our magic is different. You know, just like how I can destroy your array if I'm not careful of the output of magic I use?"
"The array set up around Starhorn is different to the one I have here. The array here is created directly by my magic. While the array around Starhorn is created using different kinds of materials."
Kyran suddenly remembered the difference between an array created by magic and an artificially created one from a book he read a few days ago.
The array's effect created by magic was normally reliant on the rune calculations around it. In comparison, the other one would rely on the effect of the materials used.
Kyran slightly nodded his head and said, "I see. So unless I destroy those materials, I will not be able to affect it."
"Correct."
"The one who set up the Starhorn's array, is he a Magus? If he can create such a large scale array, that needed a lot of energy, isn't it? And he would need to have a huge magic reserve, like a Magus."
Stella could not help but smile. It seems Kyran did study not only magic but also arrays.
"Noir is not a Magus- oh, by the way, Noir is the one who created Starhorn's array. As well as our Tower's and the Mercenary Hall's defensive arrays."
"You mean, he was able to create such a large array using only his magic reserve?" Kyran asked incredulously.
"Well, if you want to know how he did it, you can ask him yourself when you meet him-." Stella paused before rephrasing her sentence, "I mean, when you meet them."
"Them?" He asked.
She nodded and said. "The Conclave High Council Members."
Kyran suddenly remembered something and immediately frowned. "Right, that guy is also a council member isn't he?"
Stella froze as she guessed who that 'guy' Kyran was referring to.
"You still owe me one round with him," he added.
Black lines appeared on Stella's head. So he had not given up on the idea of getting even with Malek.
"Ahahaha... Yes, I do." Stella replied with an uneasy laugh.
"When will I meet them?"
"Actually, I can arrange for you to meet them now if you're fine with that."
"Is this your way of distracting me from training?"
"Of course not!" Stella denied with a shake of her head. "The truth, they have been staying here since the day you arrived. I told them, I'll set up another meeting once you woke up."
"Then arrange it after my training," Kyran replied with a shrug. "I also want to talk to Noir about arrays."
"Are you sure you're okay to meet them after your training?" Stella asked again. After all, she was not sure how much time Kyran needed to complete his training.
"Yeah. I just need to try something out with my magic. I can always continue tomorrow and try it out with that guy."
Stella's brow twitched, knowing who the guy was.
"Ahaha... r-right. Then, I'll arrange for the meeting in four hours. That will be around eight in the evening."
Kyran nodded in agreement, "Sure."