Passerby Villain In A Wizard World

"Hmm, although I am sure it is a Demonheart, it seems incomplete."

Ignysyl looked at the gem in front of him and gave his comment.

"Yeah, so it is just a fragment. Can you sense the other parts with your ability?"

Ian asked as that was why he showed him this Runeheart in the first place.

After all, he still had an unfinished Intermediate Quest: Whisper of the Runeheart Stone lying around, and he had no idea how to search for the remaining parts.

According to the prompt, eight other fragments still remain to be recovered. If he relied on his luck, there was no telling when that would happen.

"Hm? Of course, I can. In fact, I can already feel the same smell from her too."

Ignysyl patted his chest proudly and then immediately signaled at Lyra to prove it.

Then, as if he thought of something, he asked Ian,

"Are you perhaps trying to condense an Abyssal Seed for her?"

His shimmering eyes, a mix of orange and gold, looked at Ian curiously as if he had guessed his thoughts.

"Yeah, you guessed it right. So, now you know how important it is to find the other pieces?"

Ian wasn't too surprised that Ignysyl could guess his motive since he had loads of memory inheritance from his bloodline.

"Ian, what are you two talking about?"

However, Lyra couldn't follow what they were saying. She, of course, recognized the Runeheart Stone since she had given it to Ian herself.

But why were they saying it was a fragment of a demon's heart? No matter how she looked at it, it didn't seem like any heart she was aware of.

"Oh, I forgot to talk to you about it. You see..."

Hearing Lyra's question, Ian smiled and was about to inform her of his findings about the Runeheart when Ignysyl hurriedly stopped him.

"Don't... don't let her know about these things if you are trying to condense an Abyssal Seed for her."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Ian asked, puzzled why Ignysyl suddenly turned serious.

Seeing that he had stopped, the little dragon tilted his head to the side, glancing at Lyra and then at Ian, signaling with his gesture.

"Okay, can't you just say it directly?"

Ian rolled his eyes speechlessly as this dragon was an expert at expression and body language.

Still, he took out the remaining Mana token and handed it to the puzzled Lyra standing beside him.

"You go and stay in another room for now, okay? Don't worry about this kind of thing. When the time comes, I'll tell you."

Ian smiled as he gently tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, then leaned in to place a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Um... I understand. Just... come find me when you're done talking."

Seeing Ian's serious expression, Lyra didn't question him further. She simply hugged him one last time before she left the room, leaving Ignysyl and Ian alone.

"Okay, what is the problem? Why can't she know about this?"

After seeing Lyra leave the room, Ian sat on the bed and asked the little dragon, who had come down from his shoulder.

Ignysyl also lay comfortably on the bed, looking outside the small window at the vast ocean as if thinking about something and then mumbled,

"It is for her own good. She is too weak to come into contact with such things."

Ignysyl first answered in his young voice why he stopped him and continued,

"From what I know, unlike other planes, the Abyss plane is very different. How should I put it... hmmm..."

Ignysyl thought for a while and replied,

"If I have to say, it is like a separate entity of its own. I don't mean it is just like us, but it is somewhat conscious."

He then turned serious and said,

"So, the dread of the Abyss isn't because of the Abyssal creatures but because of the Abyss itself.

"And because it is conscious, each entity that is a native of its plane more or less carries its mark, which can't be removed unless you are absolutely strong."

Ignysyl recalled his dusted memories.

"As far as I know, a demon heart is a container that can act as a catalyst to condense an Abyssal Seed. It is only found in a true demon, and it is basically the darling of the Abyss—more so than us dragons."

This time Ignysyl didn't praise himself.

"However, there are ways to condense such a seed in lower life form by using a Demonheart. In fact, now I doubt that she might be involved in an experiment of some dark wizard."

Ignysyl looked at Ian as if to make him remember the smell of the Abyss on Lyra that he had just removed.

"Anyway, what I meant was that the Abyss is conscious and has the ability to listen to its subjects."

"Since she has a half-succubus bloodline and is involved with such things, it is better to let her be oblivious for now. Once she gets strong enough, she can get in touch with those things."

Ignysyl finally finished his words, causing Ian to think for a while.

Although he had some basic knowledge about Abyss from reading the Arcane Passage, it was just basic.

Ignysyl's words made him suddenly feel alert since two of the girls he was with were somehow already involved with the Abyss.

'A dark wizard experiment, huh?'

Ian still remembered Lyra telling him that the Runeheart Stone was an inheritance token and could grant access to something on the Third Floor of the Ignisia Tower.

After he truly understood what this gem was, he realized it was part of a conspiracy. However, what that conspiracy entailed, he was still only guessing.

"Okay, I understand what you mean. Let's not mention this to her for now. Just keep in mind that we need all the other fragments of the Demonheart. We'll think about this when all of them are collected."

Ian decided intending to not waste time on this for now.
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As for telling Lyra, he decided to let her remain oblivious, as Ignysyl suggested since knowing now would make no difference anyway.

"So, did you look through this ship just now? Is there anything or anyone stronger here?"