Sovereign of the Ashes

While Sein and Marie chatted, Bousse, the “weak initiate” of the academy, concluded a transaction with a dark creature that had entered his shop.

As the number of black magic initiates visiting Bousse’s store dwindled, his clientele had gradually shifted to dark creatures and underground demihumans residing in Mystralora City.

The dark creature that just departed the shop was a spider the size of a typical stone mill, with eight pairs of menacing legs.

It was not classified as a magic beast due to the lack of a magic crystal core within its body.

Despite its primary mode of communication involving incomprehensible “hissing” sounds, it could manage a few phrases in human language.

The spider had interacted with Bousse on multiple occasions, they had no issues with basic transactions and communication.

Sein remained ignorant of the origins of these spiders though he was aware of their presence within Mystralora City.

Just like the minotaurs, these dark creatures were subservient to the full-fledged black mages’ authority.

However, they maintained an even lower profile compared to the minotaurs guarding the city gates.

After depositing the autrum he had received from his recent transaction, Bousse joined Sein and patted his shoulder.

“So, what kind of quest are you planning to take this time? Hopefully a less dangerous one? Otherwise, all the potions Marie crafted for my shop won’t be enough for you to use,” he teased him.

“It won’t be dangerous this time. It’s just a simple patrol of areas outside the city. My alchemy experiments and studies have been quite intense recently, so I don’t have much extra time to waste,” Sein replied.

Patrol quests were typically simpler and less perilous than his previous quest to exterminate the Green Plumes.

The extermination quest had a defined objective, requiring Sein to eliminate a minimum of twenty Green Plumes.

On the other hand, the patrol quest seemed simpler and could probably be fulfilled by Sein spending a few days casually exploring the designated area and marking it as needed.

During these patrols, Sein could conceal his presence and proceed with caution.

Situations like the previous one, where he was ambushed and caught off guard, were highly unlikely to occur.

Bousse nodded in understanding and then shifted the conversation to the items Sein had brought him today.

“Your three Green Plume Claws are quite marketable and appealing, even the Dark Spider that just left was interested and bought one. While these claws might not be widely used by black magic initiates, they hold immense value for underground demihumans and dark creatures. I can’t believe you’ve actually managed to create alchemical components,” Bousse praised.

“Those are hardly alchemy components, they’re just basic enchanted items. It’s a shame I’ve run out of Green Plumes claws. Although I still have a few beaks, I doubt they’ll have a good shelf life,” Sein said, shaking his head.

“I do have some basic magic materials here, but I have no idea about your success rate in crafting equipment. If it’s too low, it might burn a hole in my wallet.” Bousse chuckled.

Sein would have been touched by Bousse’s comment if not for the last sentence.

He playfully punched Bousse’s shoulder and reassured him, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the cost for the raw materials!”

***

Sein completed his academy’s mandatory quest without encountering significant challenges.

In just three days, he efficiently completed the assigned patrols and marked the designated areas as per the academy’s instructions before returning to Mystralora City.

Over the subsequent years, Sein continued his intensive and demanding routine. He delved deeper into the studies of magic, fulfilled academy quests, actively participated in his mentor’s experiments, diligently meditated to enhance his focus level, and accumulated his mana.

In the dark Underworld, time flowed imperceptibly to most of its inhabitants.

Sein had fully adapted to this environment and way of life.

His yearnings for the surface, the memories of sunlight, and the starry skies had become distant echoes.

Even his memories of his mother had started to blur and fade.

The occurrence of this situation left Sein feeling insecure.

To combat these feelings of uncertainty, Sein fully immersed himself into his daily training and studies.

***

Three years had passed since then...

At the age of twenty, Sein had undergone significant changes. His physique had become leaner, his facial features had matured, and his height of 1.8 meters positioned him among the taller black magic initiates.

He now surpassed Faye, Zorro, and Morsidor in stature.

His height was quite rare among Black Magic apprentices.

Moreover, the underground environment lacked sunlight and specific nutrients. It was clear that Sein’s genetic composition significantly contributed to his impressive height.

On this day, after completing an Element Transducer in the laboratory, Master Morsidor and Zorro left the lab one after another, leaving Sein and Faye behind to clean up the experiment tables.

Over the course of three years, not only had Sein’s height and appearance undergone a transformation, but his skills in alchemy had also grown significantly.

Master Morsidor had been right; Sein possessed a natural talent in the field of alchemy.

He had long outpaced Faye, and even his mentor and Zorro had acknowledged his skills on multiple occasions.

Sein had advanced beyond the level of simply enchanting Green Plume Claws with “Sharp” spells.

The alchemy item he had brought to Bousse last month was a ring that could be considered as a piece of basic magic equipment.

The Lumen Ring was reinforced with a magic spell—the “Brilliance” spell, which could be used once every two hours.

It was a good item that fetched a high price of three hundred autrum.

The cost for Sein to make that ring was only less than fifty autrum. This showed how profitable alchemy was.

The ring was the fourth basic magic item Sein had successfully crafted in three years.

While his first two successes might have relied on some luck, countless failures and critical reflection had honed his craft.

Perhaps it would not be long before Sein could craft equipment with an offensive magic spell stored in it.

Incorporating even the simplest spells, like Minor Fireball or Aero Arrow spells, would elevate the crafted item to highly valuable basic magical equipment, surpassing the worth of a Lumen Ring by a significant margin.

In addition to Sein’s considerable growth in the field of alchemy, his personal training had not fallen behind during these three years either.

He had mastered yet another two intermediate magic spells—“Animate” and “Pyro Chain Blade”.

Sein did not crave to learn more magic spells, as his mentor had warned him about the limited practicality of delving too deeply into magic at his level.

He lacked both the necessary focus and mana to effectively deploy the full array of magic spells he had mastered in a single battle.

Rather than greedily pursuing new and strange magic unnecessarily, it was wiser for him to spend all that time on meditating to improve his focus level.

The wisdom imparted by a full-fledged black mage left Sein with no room for objections or doubts.

During this period, Sein’s focus had slowly climbed to 38 points.

Although it was still short of the 50-point focus required of a senior initiate, the speed of his progress was more than acceptable within the Black Magic Academy.

Although Sein did not continue to dabble in too many intermediate magic spells, he had learned various basic magic spells over the years.

“Brilliance” was just one of them, and among those basic magic spells, the most notable one was an umbra necromancy spell he had learned from his girlfriend Leena—Skeleton Summoning.