Sovereign of the Ashes

It was only on the third day of his descent into the Sand World that Sein began to deeply realize that this was an entirely different world from the one he originated in.

From the thinness of the air to the gravity, and from the surrounding environment to the elemental concentration, Sein could not find a hint of similarity between the two worlds.

Furthermore, Sein had only been able to determine the exact passage of time over these three days by consulting his crystal ball.

The surrounding environment remained perpetually illuminated, as if night did not exist in this world.

Sein’s curiosity finally got the best of him, prompting him to gaze toward the sky while wearing his white mask.

The brilliant light momentarily dazzled him, but what truly shocked him was the sight of three suns in the sky...

All of this created an overwhelming sense of absurdity and unreality.

“The Academy has tasked us with setting up spatial coordinate generators in this Sand World, there’s no way they could have intentionally scattered us.

“There’s only one plausible explanation—all initiates were forcefully scattered and dispersed upon entering this plane. Maybe some initiates got lucky and happened to land in the same place, unlike me...” he contemplated from the shelter of the artificial dune he had constructed.

Mages were seen as the embodiment of wisdom because, regardless of the harsh environment, they could adapt and create a more comfortable setting with their intellect.

This desert and sandy environment was new to Sein, but within a few days, he managed to utilize his wisdom and experience to create a reasonably comfortable resting place and minimize physical strain.

A red, heat-emitting bead lay in Sein’s hand.

It was the elemental bead given to Sein and the others by Vice Dean Martin before they entered the space-time rift.

Sein noticed that the elemental bead emitted more heat when he moved in a particular direction and less heat when moving in other directions.

He surmised that, among other potential uses, one crucial function of the bead was to guide the initiates to each other in this foreign plane.

Otherwise, Vice Dean Martin would not have emphasized the necessity for weaker initiates to hand over their elemental bead when encountering a stronger initiate.

With a self-made nutritional potion in hand, Sein pondered this matter while cautiously sipping one-third of the vial.

Given his uncertainty about when he might find the larger group or how long he would be stranded in this unforgiving environment, he could not afford to squander resources.

Up to this point, Sein had not encountered a single living being aside from himself.

Sein was fortunate to have valuable resources such as nutritional potions and healing potions stored in his space ring.

He could not help but wonder about the other initiates.

Not all of them had an alchemist mentor, and even most senior initiates did not possess invaluable equipment like space rings.

There was a shortage of provisions, no signs of life in the surroundings, and no available water source.

Two or three days were manageable, given the resilience of black magic initiates. However, the prospect of enduring for five or six days, or even longer, sent a shiver down his spine.

It was at this moment, Sein felt a sense of regret. He had learned various basic magic spells and tricks of other elements, yet he had not considered acquiring a hydro magic spell that could conjure water balls.

With his body parched, Sein could only rely on the meager water content in his nutritional potions.

If he was struggling this much, the other intermediate initiates from his batch were likely doomed unless they had found the other senior initiates or Quasi Mages from the academy in time.

It was at this moment that Sein began to understand Master Morsidor’s warning about the grave danger he was in.

Interplanar exploration was truly beyond the capability of initiates.

Only full-fledged mages with vast magical knowledge and expertise could adapt and explore the harsh foreign planes.

Sein contemplated the scope of his journey and wondered just how extensive this Sand World might be.

In this inhospitable world, he could not see anything of value that the full-fledged black mages were so eager to plunder.

***

On the ninth day of Sein’s descent into the Sand World, he finally encountered something among the endless yellow sand.

A tattered black robe partially buried in the sand caught his eye, standing out in stark contrast to the monotonous landscape of the desert.

Excitement welled up within him, and he hurried over.

The weaker gravity pull in the Sand World made Sein feel as if he had the Lightfoot spell permanently cast upon his body.

Upon reaching the black robe, Sein retrieved a handy tool from his space ring and began digging, ignoring the scorching yellow sand.

However, his initial excitement slowly transformed into shock and dismay as a dry, lifeless corpse that had lost all of its moisture entered his view.

Judging by the black robe, this individual had been a fellow member of Mystralora City, and he was likely a fellow intermediate initiate from the same group that had descended with Sein into this world.

Unfortunately, in just nine days, this once-promising black magic initiate had been reduced to a desiccated corpse.

Sein could not even discern the individual’s appearance, only making out certain features that identified him as a male initiate.

No, this person must have been in this world for far longer than nine days!

Although the conditions here differ significantly from those in Gloomhaven, given the fact that he must have survived for some time following his descent, it’s impossible for him to have deteriorated to this state in just a few days!

Sein, a black magic initiate experienced in dissecting corpses and even earned the recognition of Master Collance, applied his most logical and scientific judgment.

“Could it be that he entered the Sand World several days before me? Or is it possible that, even though we are part of the same group of descending initiates, the order in which we entered the space-time rift resulted in a slight disparity in the time we arrived in this other plane?” Sein speculated in disbelief.

He was among the last batch of intermediate initiates to enter the space-time rift.

If his theory held true, it would explain why the initiate before him, whose body had turned into a desiccated husk, had arrived in the Sand World several days ahead of him.

There were no replenishing supplies, no creatures to hunt, and unless one possessed knowledge of hydro magic spells, there was no source of water...

With a soft sigh, Sein dismissed the unlucky initiate whose body had transformed into a dry corpse, including their eyeballs, which had taken on a flocculent appearance.

Instead, he focused on searching for anything that might be useful to him.