When the light that wrapped Kyran faded, he found himself on the edge of an empty metal cogwheel-like platform.
Kyran did not notice it from below, but the platform was quite spacious, having at least a diameter of almost three hundred meters. There were also rune writings around the edges, which formed an array formation.
Sensing that the tower itself did not employ the array formation, Kyran immediately roused his magic, sending out his magic sense to feel the runes. In just a few seconds, he managed to learn that the array formation was an advanced support array that covered the whole platform like a dome. It had protective, restorative, and even energy replenishing formulas. However, Kyran found that these formulas might be active on the whole platform, but they actually target only one person.
Based on the calculation, Kyran found that the person's name was Ar-Lo.
Kyran frowned slightly. The way the name was written and pronounced was quite different from the names he was used to. It made him think whether the master of this platform was from the same plane or a different one.
Gustaff said the tower was not in Ylfaen, nor could it be found outside. He also said that only those 'chosen' could find it and enter it. Thus, Kyran's guess was not entirely impossible.
Another possibility was the person in question was from the same plane but a different nation.
This possibility was far intimidating for Kyran, to be honest.
Because of his magic, he did not want to meet other participants from the same plane. The masters on each platform might only be an essence, but if there was a way for their original body to receive items their essence had won, there must also be a way to know what their essence experienced and saw.
One good example of this was the Sovereign of Ruin, who, right after getting his essence in the Lignum plane destroyed, tried to force his way into the plane to get even.
If Kyran had to choose, he preferred to meet others from a different plane. Though all those who managed to enter the tower were chosen and probably had no ill intentions, it did not mean they did not have any enmity with the 'Dark Sage.'
For all he knew, the reason some chosen from the same plane wanted to be stronger was that their family's grievances were related to the Dark Sage.
Kyran sighed in his heart. As he learned more about his predecessor's past, he understood his character a little better. The more he knew about his predecessor, the more he had an inkling that the name people gave him might not be groundless, after all.
It was not because his predecessor was really evil, but because he wanted others to think he was.
Kyran could not put his finger on his predecessor's reason for doing so. However, he had been thinking about it during his second training.
"What's this? What's this? We're here and ready, yet there is no master to greet us?" True Void's voice, full of disdain, snapped Kyran out of his reverie.
Kyran looked at him incredulously and said, "I thought you did not want to come here? You even said we'll be strangers from now on. What's with the 'We're ready' statement?"
True Void snorted as he flew toward Kyran. While sitting on Kyran's shoulder, he said, "What else can I do? Where you go, I go. We're stuck together, and it is simply a curse. If I had a pick on who my master's successor should have been, I would pick a successor whose more sensible!"
Kyran chuckled and shook his head without replying.
They had been together for more than a year now— accurately speaking, they had been together since Kyran was born, but personally, they had known each other for more than a year— and they had been through so many things.
Kyran never took True Void's words offensive. Instead, he found his rants entertaining and informative, especially when he talked about his master.
"Don't just laugh! I'm telling you if you can't breeze your way up to the 100th platform, we'll really be strangers!"
Even before True Void could finish talking, a beam of light descended at the center of the platform.
As soon as the beam of light landed, a booming sound erupted, sending out a shockwave that rattled the whole platform.
True Void immediately went into the defensive. He disengaged the shape-shifting plates in their miniature armor form and turned into a large hexagonal semi-transparent barrier before Kyran.
Kyran did not make any move. He simply stood in place even when the thunderous sound shook the platform. He did not even bat an eye when the shockwave came at them because he knew True Void, though he loved to rant and complain, would always act to protect or help him.
True Void's quick response had been honed from his years of being with the previous Void Master. He might have been in slumber for so many years, but his instincts as the Void Master's weapon were deeply ingrained in him; not even slumber could slacken him.
The shockwave collided with the barrier and was instantly negated by the barrier's Void attribute.
Kyran squinted his eyes and focused on the spot where the beam of light descended. It was a distance away, and he could only make out a blurry silhouette amidst the cloud of smoke without the Regis technique.
"That's a nice little item you got there. Can you tell me how you made it change shape?"
A drudging voice of a man spoke from within the cloud of smoke.
"You! You! Did you just call me an item? Do you want me to make you into one? Huh?" True Void shouted in annoyance.
"Oh, it can also talk. Nice," the man, still sounding as if he was too lazy to exert any emotion, had said while slowly making his way toward them.
"What? 'It'? YOU! YOU! Do you want me to—."
'True Void,' Kyran called to True Void telepathically. 'I think he is doing it on purpose. Don't get worked up.'
[Doing it on purpose?]
'Yeah. This is probably his way of gathering information,' Kyran explained.
When Kyran said this, True Void looked at the approaching silhouette warily. Though the exchange they had was short and nonsensical even to call it gathering information, if Kyran did not warn him and just let him respond to the man's provocation, eventually, he would end up telling quite a number of things.
Such as what True Void could do to deal with him.
Oh, wait. Just before Kyran interrupted him, he was about to tell the man what he planned on doing to prove he was not an 'it.'
True Void heaved a sigh. That was too close.
"'Do you want me to—' what? That's not nice. You should not leave a person hanging," the man drawled lazily, finally emerging from the could of smoke.
Kyran's eyes narrowed as he looked at the approaching man.
The man was at least two meters tall, wearing a ragged yellow hooded robe that showed his long languid arms. His face was hidden under the hood, but his long gray hair flowed on each side of his face.
But those were not important. What caught Kyran's eye was the color of the man's skin. Surprisingly, the man's skin was red, giving it a bizarre contrast with his yellow robe. Whether the man's skin was painted or not, Kyran was still uncertain, but one thing he was sure of, the man was not from the same plane.
"Come on. Don't make your item stop talking," the man told Kyran as he continued to approach him.
"For someone who sounded bored, you talk a lot," Kyran remarked.
The man stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head to one side as if giving Kyran a look over before bursting out in laughter.
"Hahaha! Bored? Me?" The man asked but did not seem to want an answer. Then he heaved a sigh before nodding his head, "Yes. I guess I am."
Suddenly, different-sized rings filled with rune writings circled horizontally around him.
"But can you blame me?" The man said, resuming his walk toward Kyran. "It has been a long time since anyone came here to fight."
Kyran looked at the runes circling the man. At first glance, it appeared like a normal magic array, but the more he stared at it, he found it was not that simple. After all, could one create different colored magic arrays at the same time?
That was right. The rune writings circling the man did have not only different sizes but also colors.
"I hope you will not say you forfeit and leave just like the guy before you did."
"I won't," Kyran replied with a slight smile.
"Then," the man stopped. He spread his arms and said, "What will you wager?"
"How about this item you're interested in?" Kyran replied while pointing at the barrier form shape-shifting plates in front of him.
"OI!" True Void complained at once.
"Hahaha! Nice. Alright, then I'll wager too," the man agreed at once.
The moment the man said this, the whole platform shook as huge red fissure appeared behind him. Heavy magic fluctuations filled the air, and crackling sounds reverberated all around.
A clawed metallic hand appeared and grabbed the edges of the red fissure as it slowly emerged from within.
"I'll wager my greatest work, Ar-Lo."
Soon a twenty-meter-tall automaton with dragon-like features emerged from the fissure.
Seeing the automaton and hearing that it was actually the target of the runes around the platform, Kyran's expression immediately turned serious.
No wonder it also included a restorative formula and not a healing one; the target was not a person but an automaton.
"If you defeat Ar-Lo, then you can have it, but if you fail, then I'll get your item," the man said.