The Boyd Ancestor scrutinized the young man before him. There was no barrier around the latter; however, he appeared unaffected by the fiery ball's heat.
'Could it be an innate ability of a Void mage?' He wondered with narrowed eyes. 'Or is it a special body tempering technique... The infamous Regis Blessing, maybe?'
Regardless of the reason, he was somewhat surprised to see how different the young man before him looked from the profile the Crown Princess shared.
There was nothing skinny about the young man. His build was similar to a Regis combat mage— not too buffed, but still exuded raw power. As for his aura, if the Boyd Ancestor had to compare it with others, it was similar to a veteran mage— no, it was comparable to an expert.
Others might doubt whether the young man was really Kyran Regis but not the Boyd Ancestor because only those mages with a powerful physique or rare innate magic could withstand the heat of the fiery ball. A magic item might be able to reduce the scorching heat, but such an item would have emitted a special type of magic energy— nothing of the sort could be detected by the Boyd Ancestor.
"I am impressed," he said while looking at Kyran with an amused smile. "I heard that selected members of the Regis Family are granted a blessing... the Regis Blessing. Is it the reason you can withstand the heat?"
Kyran did not respond. He simply stared at the Boyd Ancestor with an unreadable expression. Then again, with half of his face hidden, it was already impossible for others to see his expression.
"Choosing silence, I see."
"Do you relish the fact you can speak again after slumbering for too long?"
The Boyd Ancestor raised his brows in surprise. He did not expect Kyran to know who he was. It appeared the Crown Princess's concern about the Regis Clan was correct. For them to be able to find out about him when the Royal Army or the Arthall Family could not, meant their intelligence network was far superior to the latter two.
After a short pause, the Boyd Ancestor burst into laughter. He said, "Interesting observation. To be honest, I am quite happy. I have been sleeping for far too long. You see, when I went into deep sleep, I thought I would at least experience a dream. I am not asking for a beautiful one, but any dream would do. Even a nightmarish one is acceptable."
He heaved a dejected sigh before continuing, "Alas, all I remembered was darkness. As a matter of fact, it felt like I had just fallen asleep when someone forced me to wake."
Kyran remained silent. It was still unknown what he was thinking.
The Boyd Ancestor did not seem to mind. He even let out an amused laugh as he said, "How rude of me. I forgot to properly introduce myself."
He looked at Kyran with a slight smile as he bent his waist forward, his back straight, and greeted, "The name is Osric, the last living member of the first generation of the Boyd Family."
WHOOOSH!
Several sea serpents made from water magic burst from the ground and attacked Kyran in different directions. Even with the surroundings' high temperature, the sea serpents' bodies showed no signs of dissipation.
Osric made another move without waiting for the sea serpents to complete their attack. He whirled his body, and blue-green water materialized from the ground. It rose around him as he continued to whirl. His movements were akin to a dance dedicated to the gods.
When the sea serpents finally slammed on Kyran, the surge of water around Osric had already reached a height of forty meters. It then formed into a huge sea serpent, which roared in the sky before gliding toward Kyran's direction.
Several arrows made of water appeared around the huge sea serpent and shot off toward the torrent of water, which resulted in several smaller sea serpents slamming on Kyran.
The water arrows appeared to have taken a more solid form as they wheezed past and into the torrent of water as if aiming at something within. Of course, they were aiming at the spot where Kyran had been.
RAWRGH!
The huge sea serpent roared as it opened its large jaw and snapped at the torrent of water.
BOOM!
With the huge sea serpent colliding with the torrent of water, powerful waves erupted, instantly filling the scorched land with water.
Osric levitated in the air while observing the scene before him. He had initiated an attack to gauge Kyran's battle reaction and magic skills.
Even someone like Osric who had been born during the time when the Dark Sage had ruled the world in fear, had little knowledge of the latter's Void magic. None of their people managed to understand the essence of Void magic and ended up victims of it. For this reason, he wanted to understand how Kyran would use his magic first.
However, Kyran did not even move when the sea serpents appeared and aimed for him. He did not attempt to evade or create a magic barrier to protect himself.
This made Osric very intrigued.
Obviously, he did not believe that Kyran was underestimating him. At the very least, the fact that he could withstand the scorching heat without any obvious protection meant he had some sort of ability to counter it.
If this was true, could this 'ability' be why Kyran did not evade Osric's attack? Was it not a tempering technique? Was it a Void ability?
Osric's eyes narrowed as faint purple lights appeared from the water. Soon, purple cracks appeared on the surface of the water before another explosion erupted.
BOOM!
The water surged up, but it never flowed back. It slowly dissipated while suspended in midair.
When the water cleared, Osric saw Kyran standing in the same spot from before, unscathed.
A huge smile appeared on Osric's handsome face.
"Is that the Void magic's ability?" He asked.
Again, Kyran did not respond.
Osric chuckled, "Don't be like that. Indeed your advantage is that we have little knowledge of Void magic. But you know, your magic is not omnipotent. At least, I had heard from my beloved cousin that no matter how fearsome the Dark Sage was, he would always run when the Dragon Lord appeared. I reckon it is because Void magic is weak against the Dragon Lord's magic."
Kyran still kept mum. He only looked at Osric as if he found looking at the latter very interesting.
"No reaction? Even when I said something that might be of great value to you?" Osric asked, looking at Kyran incredulously. "This is unexpected."
His reaction was reasonable. Whenever he commented about events from the past, people around him would look at him in disbelief. Then their disbelief would change into curiosity. After all, who would not love to hear things that happened in the past? Especially during the Chaos Era?
A thought crossed Osric's mind as he sized up Kyran.
Could it be that Kyran already knew what happened in the past? No, not just him, but the Regis Clan?
If this was true, it might become problematic for the Crown Princess. If the truth was revealed to the world, there was a big probability that the mass would believe the Regis Clan. After all, the latter's credibility was far better than the Royal Family.
"Are you done testing?"
Osric snapped out of his reverie after hearing Kyran. He chuckled and replied, "So you knew I was only testing you?"
"There's no killing intent."
Osric raised his brows in amusement, "You sound like a wild beast when talking about such things. You see, I find a beast's instincts stronger than humans."
When Kyran did not respond, Osric continued, "Come to think of it. The Dragon Lord had powerful animal instincts." He paused and, while chuckling, added, "No offense."
Kyran only tilted his head to one side in response.
Since he failed to incite any real reaction in Kyran, Osric sighed in resignation and straightened his back.
"Fine. Let's stop talking nonsense."
Kyran could not help but frown slightly. What did he even mean? He was the only one talking.
Osric's aura suddenly changed as his expression turned solemn. The carefree attitude that he exuded earlier could not be seen.
Kyran took a deep breath. He appeared to have acknowledged Osric's declaration and was also getting ready.
"You are still a fledgling compared to me. Know your place," Osric's ancient-sounding voice turned deep as the aura of a Legendary erupted from his body.
In an instant, an invisible pressure pressed down around Kyran, forcing him to his knees.
Others would have long knelt down by the pressure. However, Kyran remained standing. Seemingly unaffected by it.
"I met a promising young man earlier who has a very powerful physique," Osric remarked. "It is really remarkable to have such a powerful body. Her Highness does know who to value."
"Thank you."
Osric frowned slightly at Kyran's response. He found it somewhat baffling.