Han led Kyle into another tent and asked him what had caused him to fall into a coma. George also joined the duo, leaving behind the other curious array masters who couldn't help but steal glances at Kyle due to his handsome appearance. It wasn't just his appearance that caught their attention. Nobody could sense his rank or even a hint of mana from his body.
Kyle sighed as he stared at his master, who had a serious expression on his face. The old man even went as far as constructing an array around the tent so no one could hear them. Then, he looked at George and waved his hand.
"You, leave the tent. Kyle is my disciple, so no one else should know about his weakness."
George rolled his eyes and was about to leave, but Kyle shook his head and told the duo about the soul-eating artifact without hesitation. The same artifact that ate a piece of his soul and left his body when the golden pupil man called it back.
The two old men were stunned, but then realization dawned on them. So, that's why they weren't able to cure Kyle with normal healing materials.
Instantly, Han grabbed Kyle's shoulder and moved him back and forth to check if the kid was alright. Only when Kyle confirmed for the tenth time that he was perfectly fine now did the old man sigh with relief.
Kyle smiled, but from Han and George's haggard appearance, he knew the duo had been working day and night after Retric, the royal academy principal, passed away. Not just Retric, many people died. Kyle knew he couldn't change the past, but now he could at least prevent more people from dying at the hands of the enemies.
After a short discussion, Kyle asked Han to gather all the other array masters. Now that he was here, he wanted to see how long the guardians of the tower of opportunity would ignore their call.
Han rolled his eyes.
"Rascal, do you think it's that easy? All the array masters, including myself, have been trying for months to find a solution, but we have failed. Adding a few more symbols to the array won't help."
Kyle raised his brow.
"Old man, you should believe in me. If the array really doesn't work, I'll use my flames on the tower and let's see if the guardians would still refuse to answer when the place they're staying crumbles into countless particles."
Han clicked his tongue, a little annoyed at his confidence. But he nodded and looked at George before waving his hand dismissively.
"What are you waiting for? Go, hurry up and call all those old jerks here."
George's eyebrow twitched violently, and he barely controlled the urge to slap the old man who was treating him like a servant. In the end, he snickered and left, only to return with all the array masters.
The array masters were annoyed, but soon the tent fell silent, with only Han and Kyle talking as if they didn't even care about the others around them. George would hum with knitted brows from time to time as Kyle effortlessly drew incomprehensible symbols in the air. The old elven woman who fought with Han before stared at Kyle with a deep expression because, unlike Han, Kyle had a way of making everyone understand what he was talking about. He explained the symbols he drew slowly and precisely.
After Kyle finished, he asked the older individuals for their opinions. Han agreed instantly, too confident in his one and only disciple. George also nodded, though a bit slowly since he wasn't very familiar with arrays. He trusted Kyle, but wasn't sure if his suggestions would work.
Some of the array masters wanted to say they wouldn't trust an unknown person who appeared out of nowhere. But before they could, the old elven woman raised her hand and instantly agreed with Kyle. All eyes turned to her, surprised that she, who had argued with Han the most, now agreed so easily. After the woman, the old man who had seen Kyle come out from the secret realm also agreed.
Due to their agreement, the others also kept their mouths shut. But just like how there's always someone who loves finding faults, an old demi-human with cat-like eyes stared at Kyle with a strange glint. He flicked his robe sleeves and cleared his throat loudly.
"Kyle, right? If the symbols you suggested didn't work and we lost our precious time and resources because of you, I believe you need to compensate."
Han narrowed his eyes on the man dangerously. All of them were stuck with a single symbol for so long, and finally someone as genius as his disciple was giving them some options, and this man had to butt in. However, before he could give the man a piece of his mind, Kyle stepped forward and stood in front of the demi-human.
"Compensation, huh? How about we make a bet? If it doesn't work, I'll compensate you with double the amount of resources we would've wasted. But if it does work, what are you gonna give me?"
The old demi-human turned silent, he gazed at the others, but everyone ignored him. That's why, he raised his chin and scoffed at them.
"You think I'm scared? I'll give you fifty thousand mana stones if you pull it off. But do you really have enough money to compensate double the amount of what we would waste?"
Kyle blinked innocently.
"Just fifty thousand mana stones?"
The people around him were stunned at his words. Blissfully unaware that he had a massive mind space filled with countless precious treasures and thousands of mana just lying around. How could someone entice him with only fifty thousand mana stones?
Han stared at Kyle, and an old memory flashed in his mind. Instantly, his gaze shifted to Kyle's fingers. More specifically, he wanted to take a peek at Kyle's storage rings. After all, the last time Han saw them, they were filled with enough treasure and money to make even the richest king jealous. And that was before Kyle entered the secret realm.
However, he noticed with a frown that Kyle's fingers were empty.
'Don't tell me someone stole Kyle's storage rings while he was in a coma?'
But then, his eyes widened because Kyle suddenly conjured a storage ring out of thin air, as if he just took it from another space. Han stared at Kyle, who tossed the storage ring toward the old demi-human with a smirk. Kyle's next words echoed in his head as he stared at the kid, wondering just from where did he take out the storage ring.
"This is a supreme grade ring, and there's an (SSS+)-Rank weapon inside. Do you still think I wouldn't be able to keep my end of the deal?"
