Legacy of the Dark Sage

The room Cyneah, Ladon, and Thorn entered was dimly lit and filled with mirrors. With every movement they made, the mirrors appeared like mirages, giving them a false conception that others were with them. Luckily, with the latter two's natural senses and the former's inability to see, they were able to identify the movements as mere reflections.

Nonetheless, the mirrors made it hard for Ladon and Thorn to get a proper hold of their position, while Cyneah found it troubling to use her magic sense to get visuals of her surroundings. The cause for the latter was the magic energies being incapable of filling the surface of the mirrors.

Whenever Cyneah directed her magic senses to cover the surface of the mirrors, the magic energies supporting her magic sense would pass through and be lost.

Cyneah warned Lado and Thorn about this because she had an inkling that if they ever touched any of the mirror's surface, they would either be sucked into it or their internal magic energy drained.

With Cyneah's warning, Ladon and Thorn increased their cautiousness as they tread through the mirror-filled room.

Although it was close to impossible for them to map out the mirror-filled room, Ladon still left a mark on the floor at every corner they passed through. This way, they could avoid the corners with his mark.

An hour later, Thorn started to feel a little restless. His restlessness was mostly caused by the uneventful progress inside the room. It could not be helped that he felt this way, especially when the portal that led them there emitted a very ominous aura. But an hour later, without knowing if they were truly making any progress inside, they had not met with any incident.

"Ladon, are we really moving forward in this room?" Thorn asked with a hint of impatience.

Ladon heaved a sigh and shook his head, "I've been leaving a mark on every corner we ventured to, and so far, we have avoided going there again. But... I honestly am not sure if we are truly making any progress."

"I'm sorry I can't be of help," Cyneah joined their conversation. "I'm usually used to this kind of place, and by making use of my other senses and magic sense, I am able to see my surroundings. Unfortunately, the mirrors prevented me from utilizing my magic sense."

"It's not your fault, Sisi. So you don't have to apologize," Thorn assured her, his voice becoming a little gentle when addressing her.

"He is right. If anything, we feel more useless since we have naturally keen senses, and yet we could barely sense anything in this room," Ladon added softly.

It was obvious that these two cared a lot about Cyneah to show such a level of respect.

"Regardless, I still feel helpless in this place. Apart from that, it has gotten a little hard to see your light."

Ladon and Thorn frowned after hearing her say that. They more or less understood that her way of determining the presence of others around her was through their light, but for it to have turned faint as well must have something to do with the room they were in.

"I knew there was something different about you, especially with such mesmerizing eyes, so you could actually see others' light."

Ladon and Thorn widened their eyes and immediately turned their attention to where the voice had spoken. They both unleashed Draconic techniques, the former a punch, the latter a kick.

Translucent dragons, one majestic gold and the other beautiful sea green, appeared and roared toward a spot where they gleaned the voice.

But then, the mirrors around them gave off an eerie wind followed by a chime-like chorus before a vacuum-like force tore through the two dragons.

"Release your attack!" Cyneah told Ladon and Thorn at once as she sensed something sinister about to emerge from the mirrors.

Ladon and Thorn did not need to be told twice. The moment they heard the chime-like sound coming from the mirrors around them, they knew at once something bad was about to happen. Immediately, they released their attack and protectively stood in front and behind Cyneah.

"Ahahahaha!"

The voice that had spoken just then suddenly burst out in laughter, which did not sit well with Ladon and Thorn.

"I've been observing you three for a while now and know that woman is blind, yet... she seems to be more useful and aware of her surroundings than you two. And you called yourselves members of the Dragon Clan."

"Stop hiding and show yourself!" Thorn growled. If there was one thing he disliked the most in the world was being called a useless member of the Dragon Clan.

"Woman," the voice ignored Thorn and addressed Cyneah directly. "I know what you truly seek. If you release me, I will show you the way to him."

"Ignored what it's saying," Thorn warned Cyneah at once. "It's only trying to get to your head."

Cyneah did not respond, but inwardly, she felt a little peeved at Thorn's needless concern. In the first place, it was obvious that whatever the voice said was a trap. Besides, she was not stupid enough to listen to the voice.

'No. Don't think that way,' she scolded herself as soon as the negative thought flashed through her mind. 'Such thoughts may also be what the voice is aiming for.'

"Oh?" the voice let out an amused chuckle, "You are truly more aware of what is happening around you than those two."

"What are you...?" Thorn snarled, frustrated at the voice's seemingly riddle-like words.

"Don't listen, Thorn. He is trying to get to your head," Ladon warned Thorn.

Cyneah and Thorn furrowed their brows at Ladon's words.

"He?" Both of them asked.

"What?" Ladon asked, confused at what they were getting at.

"Don't you mean it?" Thorn asked, "It is using a genderless tone of voice."

Ladon looked at Thorn with wide eyes and said, "What are you talking about? It's clearly a he."

"The voices we hear differ," Cyneah told them, feeling an incoming headache. "I can hear a female talking."

"Ahahahaha! I thought I could play with you three a bit more. Why did you have to notice that so soon?"

Ladon and Thorn's faces distorted at the voice's blatant provocation.

"No need to look that scary," the voice said as if seeing the look on Ladon and Thorn's faces. "I'll stop playing around now, alright?"

SHATTER!

As soon as the voice said its piece, the mirror around them shattered.

Instinctively, Ladon and Thorn shielded themselves while also protecting Cyneah from the shards that flew in their direction. But then, a vacuum-like sound suddenly encompassed the space around them, removing all forms of sound and movement— the sound of the shattering mirrors disappeared, and the bits and pieces of shards flying at them stopped in midair.

"What—?"

Ladon and Thorn stopped midway through saying anything because no sound came out of their lips.

On the other hand, Cyneah tightly held the sides of her robes as she calmed her suddenly pounding heart. Someone like her, who had always relied on her other senses to observe her surroundings because of her disability, feared a time when even those senses were robbed of her. At the moment, the disappearance of sound felt as if her head was about to explode.

"Boom!"

Boom!

As the voice spoke, an explosion suddenly sounded around them, making Cyneah, Ladon, and Thorn's eardrums feel like shattering. The explosion was not even that loud, but because the sound had been robbed of them prior to the explosion, it appeared more powerful and overbearing.

"Ngh..!"

Ladon and Thorn felt their eardrums had raptured from that explosion and nearly keeled over. Of course, they only felt that way because even if the explosion sounded very loud just then, it was not really that strong. Thus, their eardrums were intact, albeit it hindered their sense of balance.

FOOOM!

Without even giving the three a chance to recover from that unexpected attack, their surroundings were once more enveloped by a vacuum-like force and removed any form of sound and movement around them.

Thorn gritted his teeth in great annoyance. Another thing he disliked the most was being toyed like this. Not wanting to be subjected to such a trick attack, he started to rouse his magic and prepare a powerful attack to destroy the voice's Dimension.

That was right.

Ladon and Thorn knew at once that they were inside a Dimension. This allowed that voice to toy with them as it pleases.

If a mage entered another mage's Dimension, it was said that it would not be possible for the former to escape the latter.

But.

There was actually a way for a mage to escape another mage's Dimension.

One was to disrupt the completion of the Dimension. Another was to attack the Dimension from the outside. And finally, the last one that only mages with Draconic magic could do was unleash a powerful attack from inside the Dimension.

"That is not allowed, young dragon."

The voice suddenly said, and in an instant, Thorn felt the flow of magic energy in his body getting disrupted.

"In this place, I am the rule. Rupture."

Ladon and Thorn felt every vein in their body exploding upon the voice's command. The two let out a muted, agonized scream as they fell to their knees and spat out a mouthful of blood. Blood also seeped out from their eyes, nose, and even their ears.

Cyneah could not hear anything, nor could she see what was happening in her surroundings. She could only hear the voice speaking every now and then, and from what she could glean from what it was saying, it was targeting Ladon and Thorn.

"Don't worry, woman. I will not hurt you, for I am very interested to know your secret."

"My secret?" Cyneah repeated, surprised to hear her voice in the seemingly soundless space. "You should've just asked. I don't mind showing it to you."

The voice did not make a sound, but it was clearly bemused by what Cyneah had said. Before it could respond to her, however, she had already made a move.

"Not putting any restrictions on me caused you this time," Cyneah said as a blinding light enveloped Ladon and Thorn.

The two recovered in an instant.

As if the three were in sync and had been planning to exploit the small window of opportunity Cyneah brought about by healing them, Ladon and Thorn released a powerful punch to the floor.

BOOM!

"!"

The voice did not say anything but was surprised that Cyneah not only healed Ladon and Thorn but also removed the restriction it placed on them, which prevented them from using their magic.

"Just now... what did you do, woman—?"

BOOM! CRACK! CRASH!

The voice's question was cut short as Ladon and Thorn unleashed another punch, finally destroying the floor and completely shattering it.

"Damn it, if I knew we could destroy the floor, we could have done that earlier and waste time around that annoying room!" Thorn growled in dissatisfaction.