Chapter 172: Templar Code Investigates

Zephyr's reminder made both Nolan and Anette speechless.

It was not that they forgot about Kyran's condition. They were just curious to know what happened a thousand years ago.

Nolan cleared his throat and said with a short nod, "Yeah. As I said, it is impossible to get help from the Soul Emperor's descendant. We're not even sure if there is someone who inherited her magic."

What Nolan said was the truth.

After the Soul Emperor died, there had been no record of anyone possessing Soul Magic. Not even within the Royal Family. They declared that Soul Magic was forbidden magic, and if there was anyone from the family who possessed it, they would have executed that person, to prove their integrity, right?

Definitely not.

If there was such a person, the Royal Family most likely hid it from the whole empire. After all, as far as they knew, no one else knew about the real score of the Forbidden Magic. Not even the Regis Clan.

Zephyr looked at Nolan and nodded in understanding.

There really was no guarantee that a new mage that possess ancient magic would be born right after his predecessor died. There were cases, however, that a new successor would appear while the predecessor was still alive. But the predecessor would have died as soon as his successor's magic core awakened. Because it meant, the successor's magic core had succeeded in accumulating all the magic information from his predecessor's magic core.

"In that case, we can only use the Elixir." Zephyr said and while turning his attention to Anette.

Anette's eyes widened after hearing him.

"Elixir? But that potion is of god-tier level," she commented. "The ingredients it needed is hard to find. Not to mention, it also required a dragon's bone! And even if we can make one, few people could endure its healing effects after taking it."

Zephyr gave a wry smile.

"I know. But I never said we have to make one," he said and looked at Kyran. "When he took out a piece of my horn earlier I sensed my master already has one inside his storage."

"What?" Nolan asked with a frown.

He belatedly realized that he had said this word at least three times within the span of an hour and it annoyed him like hell. It made him feel like a fool.

"If he has one why the f*ck did you not say so earlier?" Nolan asked in frustration.

Zephyr looked at him with a scowl. He really disliked this human's crude way of talking. If he had a chance, he would cut off his tongue.

On the other hand, Anette also looked at Nolan incredulously. She understood his annoyance but right now, was not the fact that Kyran had an Elixir more surprising? Did he not hear her say that one of its ingredients was dragon bones? She did not mean a lesser dragon's bone but real dragon bones!

"Did you not hear her say that few could endure it? Although the Elixir that master has is of mid-grade level only. If he drank too much, his insides will melt." He explained.

"And Kyran is unconscious," Anette also agreed.

Zephyr nodded. "Yes. So we can only wait until he wakes up and tell him to take it. He will pass out again if he takes it though."

Nolan scowled. Based on experience, the kid could end up unconscious for days. They would be wasting precious time if they waited for Kyran to wake up.

"Alright, I'll wake up the kid." Nolan suddenly announced.

"No!" Anette rejected at once while glaring at Nolan. She sat on the side of the bed and stretched out an arm over Kyran as if to shield him from Nolan.

"You have no idea how high his fever is! His body has just entered a phase where his heart rate and blood pressure have slowed down. This is a good time for him to digest properly the potion's medicinal effect through out his body. If you wake him up, his heart rate and blood pressure will shot up and the potion in his system will flow prematurely!" She added.

Nolan's expression turned blank. He hated it whenever Anette started to speak like an Alchemist. Most of the time, half of her words would sound foreign to him.

"Speak in human language, damn it." Nolan hissed at Anette.

Zephyr sighed at them. He was beginning to doubt whether these two humans were really concerned about his master or not.

Finally, he said, "If you two keep making a ruckus you will soon disturb my master's rest. I suggest letting his temperature go down first. If he does not regain conciousness by then, you can try to wake him up."

Nolan and Anette looked at Zephyr thoughtfully.

They both thought what he said made sense, and agreed. Nolan returned to his seat, while Anette lowered her guard.

"What are we going to do until then?" Anette asked while looking at them.

"I'll have to leave in a while," Nolan replied.

Anette and Zephyr turned to him and saw his expression turning serious.

"We can talk about my request later," Nolan said while looking at Zephyr.

Zephyr did not reply but gave a short nod.

"I'll deal with those pesky bastards first," Nolan added while looking at the cottage's door.

"Try to deal with them away from the cottage," Anette told him.

"I know," Nolan replied curtly.

He was no fool. If he dealt with them near the cottage, once backup arrived, they might find a trace of their earlier fight and even locate the cottage's location.

They could not afford those people to discover the cottage. There was no telling if those people had an Array Specialist among them once they discovered the array around the cottage. Then they would be forced to reveal themselves and fight.

Nolan was not afraid of facing them. What he did not want was them sending out information about them to their headquarters.

"Do you think they are from the Templar Code?" Anette suddenly asked.

"It is likely," Nolan agreed with a short nod. "Since we can rule out the Chamber of Commerce, there is only the Templar Code or the Royal Army."

He then remembered what Gage said about not meeting any of the Chamber of Commerce but there were still three groups after them. His brows creased as he added, "Or maybe there is a third unknown group hired by the Templar Code or the Royal Army."

"I hate being surrounded by enemies," Anette commented with a frown. She leaned back with a sigh and added, "I am too old to be running around."

Nolan could not help but raise his brows at her, "You're only a year older than I am. Don't talk as if you are that old. You'll make me feel old."

"Humph. We are all getting old. I don't get why you need to make yourself look young. Is it to hide from the army's bounty? For all they know, you were already dead."

"Nope. My cover's busted. Soon my bounty will be up for grabs. Anyway, I'm leaving now." Nolan declared and stood up. "If not, I will lose their tracks."

He went straight to the door and before he opened the door, he turned around to look at Kyran on the bed. Then he looked at Anette and Zephyr, and said, "I'll leave the kid to you guys."

Anette nodded her head.

Zephyr only tilted his head in reply. He was Kyran's Sigil, protecting him was his duty.

After seeing their consent, Nolan left.

====================

At the valley in the Shaiha Ruins.

When the people from the Templar Code discovered the shattered bodies of the three members of the Elite Team, they were all shocked by what they had seen and immediately ceased pursuing the Quilin. Then the highest authority from their ranks immediately sent a report to the headquarters for further instructions.

In just half an hour, following their discovery, five people dressed in full-body golden armor arrived on the scene.

These five were also part of the Templar Code's Elite Team of combat mages. The reason why they arrived early was not that they were near the ruins, but because the moment the three; Quinne, Dess, and Owen, were killed, they felt their life force disappearing.

All members of the Templar Code's Elite Team had a special bond wherein they could sense each other's life force. If one of their members fell, no matter how far away they were from that member, they would all feel it.

One of the five who arrived at the scene took off her headgear, revealing a beautiful woman with short sandy blonde hair and olive green eyes. Her face remained indifferent as she approached the small crater where Owen's smashed body was located. Owen was the combat mage that wielded a golden spear and was the leader of the group that was after the Quilin. Most of all, he was this woman's fiance.

"O-Owen..."

Seeing her fiance's unrecognizable body, the woman trembled and soon after fell on her knees.

"Lady Freya."

One of the four people behind her stepped forward. However, he was stopped by another one who then said, "Don't."

Tears welled up on Freya's beautiful face as she lifted a hand as if wanting to reach out for Owen's body. But she stopped midway and instead closed her eyes. Her heart quenched painfully in her chest as her body shook in grief.

Unable to suppress her grief, she finally let her tears fall as her heartbreaking sob filled the air.

The four people behind her, including the rest of the Templar Code members nearby, could only watch her cry in silence.

"How? How did this happen?" Freya suddenly asked, trying to regain her composure.

Upon hearing her question, the mage who reported to the headquarters immediately stepped forward. For the next few minutes, he explained what had happened. However, he could not give her an explanation of what happened after Owen with Dess and Quinne, went after the Quilin.

"This is clearly the work of the Quilin. However, I am curious of the crater's origin."

One of the four behind Freya commented.

The one who wanted to comfort Freya looked at him and asked, "Why Reuben? Is it not because of the impact of Owen's fall?"

"The question is how did Owen fall," the man who stopped him earlier also realized something was amiss.

After hearing their doubts, Freya who finally managed to suppress her grief stood up and faced them.

"Reuben, Jason, Evan, Max," she called the four one by one.

All four stood straight and looked at her respectfully.

"Have the rest leave and return to the headquarters. The five of us we'll continue with the investigation ourselves. If this is the work of the Quilin, we will no longer show any mercy. Kill it on sight."

The four nodded and replied, "Understood."