Legacy of the Dark Sage

“What is happening to me is related to my magic cores?” Kyran repeated, looking at the man incredulously.

The man nodded and said, “Tell me what you see when you look at your central core.”

Kyran looked at the biggest orb. As he saw earlier, the color inside had purple and silver. The colors did not blend. Instead, both colors were trying to dominate the other.

“It contains both colors from the other two cores,” Kyran answered.

“What else?”

Kyran looked at the man’s back. He initially wanted to say that the colors seemed to be at odds against each other and were ‘fighting’, but just thinking about his answer made him uneasy. It sounded too absurd even to him.

Besides, he knew the man could read his thoughts. So why did he want him to say his ‘absurd’ answer out loud?

The man chuckled. He said, “First you did not want me to reply after prying into your thoughts, now you’re complaining about speaking your thoughts because I already know about it.”

Kyran’s brow twitched. He sighed and said, “You already know what I think so why do you want me to answer? Besides, I know how absurd it is, so can you spare me the embarrassment and just tell me what is really happening?”

“What makes you think your idea is absurd?” The man asked as he turned to look at him.

Kyran frowned.

“Because it is.”

The man chuckled and shook his head slightly.

“It is not. You thought of that answer because that is how you feel. If another person looks at your central core, they will only see that there are two colors occupying its space.”

“Because that is how I am feeling?” Kyran repeated, speaking more to himself than to the man. He pondered for a bit and agreed with the man’s words. That was how he felt, and so he interpreted it that way.

“I think you have an idea why your central core is in that state now?” The man asked.

Kyran did not reply at once. He first looked at his central core and further analyzed how he felt.

After a short pause, he replied, “Because I was trying to suppress my Void magic using the Regis technique.”

“Then do you understand the purpose of your central core?”

“If a magic core is similar to a mage’s magic reserve, then my central core is where my magic gathers.” Kyran replied, looking at the man.

The man nodded.

“So what do you think is the problem in this arrangement?”

“Problem in this arrangement?” Kyran repeated in confusion. He looked at the cores again and pondered for a moment.

The man did not disagree when Kyran answered why his central core was in this state. But the man did not say this was the ‘problem’. The man instead asked a follow-up question if Kyran knew the purpose of his magic core before asking about the problem in this arrangement.

‘He was not talking about how those two colors are trying to dominate each other but the arrangement of my magic cores.’

Kyran suddenly stopped as realization hit him. He looked at the two colored cores.

Those two were also his magic cores, so he should have been drawing magic from those cores when he used his magic. Then why did these two gather in the central core?

In the first place, why did he have five magic cores? And what about the other two transparent cores? What was their purpose?

Just what was a Magic Core?

“Every person is born with a magic core,” the man suddenly spoke as if to answer Kyran’s questions. “It grows over time, and when they turned six, it will finally attract the surrounding energies. If a person’s magic core attracts the surrounding energy, then he can utilize magic. On the contrary, if a person fails to attract the surrounding energy then he cannot utilize magic. Their magic core will remain… ‘unoccupied’.”

Kyran’s eyes narrowed. He noticed how the man used the word unoccupied instead of ’empty’.

“Now, the attribute of the energy a person attracts to his magic core will then become his innate magic. For example, if the energy he attracts has a fire attribute, then his innate magic will be fire. However, this logic only applies to normal mages.”

He looked at the magic cores and continued, “A mage who inherits the Ancient Magic already has a magic core with an attribute. In your case, your magic core already has the Void. Do you know why?”

Kyran pondered for a moment and answered, “Because ancient magic is passed on.”

The man smiled.

“Correct. Now do you understand one of the main purpose of a Magic Core?”

“It is where all the information of magic is stored,” Kyran replied without hesitation.

He came up with this conclusion after remembering Hugh’s condition. They said his magic reserves were damaged, and thus, his magic pressure appeared lower than a Magus.

The man beamed and nodded.

“It is really nice to talk to someone who can easily follow the conversation.”

Kyran rarely reacted to praises. But after the man praised him, he felt a little happy.

“Now let’s get back to my previous question. What do you think is the problem with this arrangement?”

“For one thing, I have five magic cores. Two are occupied, while the other two are not. And my central core seemed to attract both magic from the other two occupied cores, which theoretically should not be the case. Because if I am using the Regis Technique, then I should be drawing the information from the silver-gray core. Same goes with my Void Magic. If both occupied cores were attracted to my central core then that core has a different purpose.”

The man nodded and said, “Correct. To be honest, having five magic cores is unheard of. Even within the families that inherits the Ancient Magic, they were born with only two, at most, they will have three magic cores. And the reason for a third magic core is if, one core can no longer contain all the information about the magic that was passed on.”

“Then why do I have five? Is it because y-uhm my predecessor attained such a high level in Void Magic that one core is not enough to store all the information?”𝒩𝞸𝚟𝚎𝑙𝚗𝓔xt.𝒸𝒪𝓂

After saying this, Kyran felt that this idea was a little off as he looked at the two transparent magic cores.

“But if that is the case, why are those two magic cores transparent? Shouldn’t they have the Void’s representation? I get that the other core represented the Regis technique because I’m a Regis but…”

His voice trailed off when he realized he was getting off-topic.

‘You’re getting sidetracked. First focus on the problem of the arrangement of your cores.’ He told himself and looked at his magic cores again.

‘Normally, the magic core’s purpose is to store information about magic while also serving as a storage of magic energy. My central core attracts the two cores with stored information, and they are even trying to dominate each other, thus resulting to the state I am in right now. Could it be that the central core serves as a temporary storage of the information on those two cores. And when I use my magic is when it attracts some of the information from its corresponding core? However, since the two magic was at odds, my body could not take it?’

This idea was possible. If Kyran directly tapped on his Void core, he would never be able to control it with all those Void Magic information. However, it would be easier to use if he attracted only a little bit through the central core. On the contrary, if he tried to use both magic simultaneously, his central core would become unstable depending on the amount of magic information he tapped into.

“Good. You are getting the idea. Yes, four of your magic cores stores magic information while the central core served as a ‘stopper’. This is common to all those with Ancient Magic. If not, the body would suffer. And this is happening in your body right now. Your central core is currently unstable because you tapped too much magic into your Void core, then you also tapped into your Draconic core to suppress the other. Just imagine how much magic is currently inside your central core.”

Kyran frowned.

“But I don’t remember tapping into my Void core earlier.”

The man smiled. However, his eyes reflected sadness.

“You did. You are just not aware of it.”

Kyran’s frown deepened.

Was he not aware? But before his magic went out of control he was only thinking about the Dark Sage.

Wait.

Magic core. Magic level. Information. Emotions.

Kyran’s eyes widened as he stared at the man.

The man smiled slightly and said, “The information stored within your Void core is not only about magic. After all, how would one store all these information if not through experience.”

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