"Did it work?" Kyle opened his eyes and looked around him. As far as he could see, there was nothing, just like the abyss had been, the only difference was the star that hung above them. The black ground beneath them was leveled.
"I never imagined your soul world to be like this" Luke walked up to him.
"Vaygar where are you?" Kyle sent through the mental link they shared.
"Above you" Vaygar sent back .
Above Kyle and Luke was to large eyes staring down at them.
"How'd you get up there" Kyle asked looking up.
"I can freely control my size in your soul world so I chose this to preserve our mana"
There were some many things Kyle wanted to test in his soul world to see if his was similar to the Dark Lord's.
Waving his hand, he summoned a throne.
"Luke, try casting a spell"
"Sure"
Luke casted an intermediate fire spell. When it formed in his palm, Kyle nullified the spell.
'Looks like I can prevent magic from being used, but that consumes a lot of mana.'
Kyle carried out a few more tests. From the results he learnt the spell he casst here are more potent and forms faster while those he sees as his opponents, their spells are weaker.
But there was a limit to how much his souls would could interfere. Spells of the same rank as him are less affected than those of lower ranks. Also the higher one's rank the more mana he consumes sustaining their presence. That's why his mana reserves where depleting at a drastic rate because of Luke and Ignis.
When he was all out of mana, the soul world crumbled returning them back to the training ground.
"Does the time vary inside a soul world?" Luke asked Kyle.
"There's only one way to find out" Kyle peeped out the training hall "It flows the same"
"I should better get going, got to prepare for the engagement party"
"Alright"
After Luke had left, Kyle reflected on what he had discovered. The proofs kept piling up over the years about the Dark Lord and him being the same person.
"Vaygar, do you know anything about your creator?"
"My memories of him are hazy, I'm only able to recall a few things like how he said I should wait for you in Stormcove. But I do remember him saying that it was best if I don't have my memory. He said the stronger I become the more of my memories I'm able to recall "
Disappointment, Kyle dusted his training kit and left. The distance Vaygar could stay away from Kyle had grown considerably over the years, so Kyle left Vaygar in the training hall, until he had enough mana to revert into his cub form.
Back at the main house, everyone was busy preparing for the engagement party, some of the royal servants came to assist on Queen Isolde's order. She wanted the party to be grand and luxurious so she didn't hold back on the expenses.
'The more I catch up to him, the larger the power difference between us grows. And here I was thinking I would finally surpass him with the hero's power'
"Luke, mind lending me a hand?" Distracting him from his thoughts, Olivia placed a pile of sheets in his hands.
Olivia tried to engage Luke in a conversation. "Why are you so gloomy?" She asked when she saw Luke's attention was somewhere else.
"Nothing, just nervous about my engagement" He replied.
"There's nothing to be nervous about"
"It's funny coming from someone who can't confront her feelings" Luke teased her.
While the maids in charge of decorations where waiting for Olivia, who was busy chasing her brother around, the rest of the preparations were completed.
.....
Since Cerci had not yet arrived at the capital, Kyle decided to go visit her. He wrote a letter and slipped it in Olivia's room, saying he would be back in the next two days before he took off to his former house.
Kyle spent the rest of the night traveling to the borders of the kingdom.
He decided to stop and make camp when it was midnight. He came to the wastelands of Mordo and set up an earth dome beside a withered tree. Inside the dome, he rested his head on Vaygar's fur and fell asleep.
"Vaygar what's going on" Kyle woke up and sent when he felt Vaygar's worry through the mental link they shared.
"Something is approaching fast, and it's enormous"
Kyle leaped to his feet, and stretched his mana sense deep underground, he sensed it presence when it broke out of the ground. It's maw slammed shut, but Kyle evaded it and leaped to the nearby tree.
"What is that?" Vaygar asked, deflecting the spikes that flew out from its body.
The tree his was on began to sink as the earth beneath them shook.
Kyle and Vaygar took to the skies but where forced down when a gaint worm shot at them, blocking their escape route. Kyle reacted, twisting his body to avoid it's maw, he plunged an ice sword into it. Using his weight, he dragged the sword down its carapace leaving a deep scar on its body. Green blood ooze from the wound.