Sovereign of the Ashes

The Crimson Mask, the symbol of Sein’s first successful creation of an advanced magic item as a magic initiate, broke unexpectedly.

It was impossible to remain unaffected by the loss.

The mask was not just a product of Sein’s intellect. It also represented several months of dedicated effort.

Yet, amidst the disappointment and regret, Sein felt a surge of excitement and determination.

His idea of engraving the enhanced Solar Eye magic spell onto the mask had shown promise, evidenced by his successful integration of two Solar Eye nodes.

However, the intense elemental nature of the Solar Eye magic spell demanded exceptionally robust materials for its host.

Even the specially enhanced material of the Crimson Mask could only sustain more than two Solar Eye nodes.

“Engraving thirty-six Solar Eyes on the mask may be unrealistic at this stage, six is entirely within my capabilities. Combined with the Solar Eyes I can already harness, that would give a total of twelve. Together, they could pose a threat to even full-fledged mages!” Sein mused, his excitement palpable.

At this moment, Sein looked like an alchemist who had lost his mind.

Selina’s concerned voice reached him, but Sein barely registered her words as he kept mumbling to himself.

The recent explosion in the lab had not impaired his brain. Instead, it filled his mind with a whirlwind of groundbreaking ideas.

He was a genius initiate, and his bold ambition of fusing magic and alchemy was redefining limits.

Wielding six Solar Eyes, he was accessing a promising power on a scale usually reserved for full-fledged mages.

The prospect of wielding twelve Solar Eyes was a venture into uncharted territory, potentially elevating Sein’s abilities beyond the typical reach of an initiate!

Sein quickly used the Cleanse spell to clean his robe and the soot from his skin before dashing outside the dormitory without a word to Selina.

Sein had to visit the commercial areas on the outskirts of the divine tower urgently to purchase a selection of lumen and pyro magic materials and a substantial number of magic metals for his upcoming experiments.

While he could acquire these materials on the commercial streets within the divine tower academy, Sein had noticed the items sold within the academy usually came with exorbitant prices.

Despite having the funds, he was not keen on spending unnecessarily, especially given the significant investment of time, effort, and resources that truth exploration demanded.

However, purchasing items outside the Divine Tower Academy presented a unique set of challenges not found within the academy’s stores.

It was a varied market where discerning genuine products from inferior or counterfeit ones required keen judgment.

Such risks were absent in the academy’s stores, which were either operated or certified by the divine tower.

If an initiate purchased a counterfeit or inferior item, the divine tower would intervene on their behalf.

As an alchemist, Sein was confident in his ability to discern quality.

If he could not rely on his own expertise, he might as well revisit the basics of alchemy instead of pursuing an advanced project that involved the Solar Eye spell.

After several days of thorough searching in the commercial area, Sein secured most of the alchemy materials he needed.

A few rarer items were unavailable outside, so he had no choice but to buy them from the stores within the divine tower academy.

Following his shopping spree, Sein spent considerable time researching magic arrays in the library of the divine tower.

Once he had completed all necessary preparations, Sein resumed his experiment with renewed focus.

In the preceding months, he had dedicated over half a year solely to researching and gathering information.

Sein took a deep breath in front of an experiment table in his laboratory before commencing the second attempt at creating the “Solar Eye Mask”.

The failure with the Crimson Mask had equipped Sein with valuable insights for this new endeavor.

This time around, he approached his work with a surge of unprecedented confidence and clarity.

Regarding the chances of success, Sein estimated the likelihood to be between a sixty to seventy percent—a significant figure that justified his efforts and made the challenge worth pursuing.

***

Immersed in researching magic spells, uncovering truths, and delving into the intricacies of alchemy, Sein found time slipping by unnoticed.

Engrossed in his work on the Solar Eye Mask, three years elapsed before he knew it.

Three years later, at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Academy, the atmosphere was noticeably more charged than in previous years.

The number of initiates in the academy had significantly increased compared to previous years, even though the Divine Tower’s enrollment period was yet to begin.

This influx was due to the upcoming Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, scheduled to occur in six months. It was a notable event that occurred only once every fifty years.

Although the majority of initiates at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring were relatively young, a handful of them had participated in the last Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.

Those seasoned initiates were now predominantly senior initiates or above.

The atmosphere was tense, with even these experienced individuals feeling a deep-seated anxiety about the upcoming war.

Their apprehension was palpable and had a cascading effect on the newer initiates.

Rumors and misconceptions about the war circulated, painting the event as a perilous battle that could result in significant loss of life.

While it was true that previous Inter-Divine Tower Academy Wars had seen some fatalities, they were not as catastrophic as some believed.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s goal was to nurture, not endanger, its initiates.

The war was designed to hone skills and identify exceptional talent, preparing them for future roles as full-fledged mages and potential members of the mage armies in interplanar wars.

To support this, the divine tower provided participants with a disposable life-saving magic item that could quickly extract initiates from the trial area if they faced insurmountable opposition.

Despite these safety measures, the event still witnessed a considerable loss rate among participants from the major divine towers, averaging between twenty to thirty percent.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, unfortunately, often saw higher casualty rates. This was attributed to a relatively smaller pool of top-tier initiate talent.

During the last war, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring faced a grim statistic with nearly forty percent of its initiates failing to survive the ordeal.

This stark statistic contributed to the apprehension felt by many seasoned initiates, with the mortality rate nearing half, likening participation to a perilous dance with danger.

Yet, the incentives for braving the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War were substantial.

Post-war periods typically saw a spike in the number of initiates becoming full-fledged mages across all major divine towers, including the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Not only that, survivors who endured until the end of the war were eligible for significant rewards.

These included academy merit points, energy crystals, and magicoins, with the scale of rewards increasing with higher rankings.

The potential gains were so substantial that they even drew the attention of full-fledged mages of Rank One and above.