Sovereign of the Ashes

Items bestowed by the guardians were invariably extraordinary.

The divine tower masters directed their curious and respectful gazes toward the Summer Guardian.

Observing their interest, the guardian smiled and agreed, “Very well, I’ll offer this beam of Planar Light as the prize for the champion in this regional war.”

At her fingertip, a slender beam of golden light materialized, seemingly suspended in time and space.

Its appearance instantly drew the attention of the divine tower masters.

To the untrained eye, this Planar Light might seem like a mere beam, but it was, in fact, a manifestation of the laws governing the Magus World.

Given the Summer Guardian’s dominion over the laws of summer, the elemental energies of lumen and pyro within this Planar Light were of unparalleled purity.

Such a prize was incredibly appealing to Rank Three grand mages.

For them, the value lay not in its lumen and pyro elemental energies but in the power of laws deep within it.

It was an extraordinary force within the Astral Realm, a sophisticated technique of energy application that transcended materiality to directly tap into the essence of truth, accessible only to those at the peak of the Rank Three and above.

In the Astral Realm, beings above Rank Four were often referred to as “gods” because they had mastered the power of laws, which was elusive to mere mortals.

For the young participants of the academy war, however, the complex applications of the Planar Light’s laws were beyond their current level of understanding.

Even the elemental energy contained in it was something they could not yet harness at their current level.

The guardian’s true intention in presenting this Planar Light was to confer a fragment of the Magus World’s will, recognizing initiates and potential seeds of greatness in this world.

Any magic initiate or squire receiving this Planar Light would be unconditionally promoted to Rank One!

The formidable will of the Magus World had the capacity to facilitate advancement of creatures at Rank Four and even those at Rank Seven by harnessing the origin energy of the plane.

Hence, the origin energy of the plane required to elevate a mere magic initiate to Rank One was negligible.

Therefore, the prize offered by the guardian was undeniably invaluable.

The tower master of Cipher suddenly mused aloud, “The fortunate initiate who secures this Planar Light is destined for a meteoric rise, provided they survive. They’ll ascend effortlessly to the peak of Rank Three and even garner a fraction of the planar will’s attention.”

The Rank Four mage, specializing in occult arts, astrology, and sonido magic, spoke in a soft and ethereal voice.

Although her seniority was only marginally above that of the tower master of Verdant Spring, her insights commanded respect, including that of the tower master of Land Academy.

Her comment garnered nods of agreement from the other tower masters.

The Summer Guardian then sent the beam of Planar Light toward the highest point of the trial space below.

The light would descend upon the participant who amassed the highest total points by the end of the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.

This process was immune to any form of foul play or need for external intervention.

***

At the entrance of the crimson light door, Sein handed Selina the Crimson Mask he had recently repaired, along with several other intermediate magic items.

“Once you’re in the trial space, prioritize your safety above all else,” he earnestly advised.

Sein only turned to enter the crimson light door after receiving a solemn nod of understanding from Selina.

As one of the formidable Quasi Mages in the academy, Sein was among the first to enter the trial space.

***

Stepping through the crimson light door, Sein was transported from the familiar grounds of the academy to a vast plain.

The door evidently had a spatial shifting property.

Upon looking back, Sein noticed that not only had the door through which he entered vanished, but also the other Quasi Mages from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring who had entered alongside him were nowhere in sight.

“As the divine tower mages explained, each initiate’s entry point into the trial space is random, though initiates from the same tower are generally dispersed in the same region,” Sein thought.

In this Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, no maps were provided to the initiates beforehand.

Even the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s pre-war training focused primarily on survival tactics and ways to accumulate points in the trial space, without divulging specific details such as hidden resource points.

Gazing across the expansive plains, Sein contemplated briefly before taking to the skies, heading east.

Having mastered Levitate, an advanced spell, since his promotion to a Quasi Mage, Sein utilized it to gain speed and a better vantage point for locating opportunities to amass points.

Sev the owl could not accompany him into the trial space, as it was not a contracted familiar.

During the Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, initiates were required to depend solely on their own intelligence and abilities. Dishonorable tactics would not be tolerated.

While Levitate was a significant drain on his mana, Sein was well-prepared.

He had enough energy crystals and a stockpile of restorative potions that could replenish his focus and mana levels.

About half an hour later, Sein descended into a small forest on the eastern edge of the plains.

A babbling brook meandered through the forest, its waters glistening over colorful stones.

”Hydrochromite stones, a basic hydro-attribute resource... This looks like a small resource point,” Sein thought.

Likely the first from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring to arrive, Sein used his identity badge to mark a boulder beside the brook. As soon as he did, he sensed a surge of unfamiliar energy within the badge.

“That’s two hundred points? That was pretty easy,” he murmured as he examined the badge.

His initial tally of 100 points had increased to 200 after claiming and marking this small resource point.

These points were awarded only to the first three initiates to reach and occupy a resource point, with more points allocated to those arriving earlier.

However, if an initiate from another academy captured this point, the 100 points added to Sein’s score would be retracted.

For the slower or less powerful initiates, there were other ways to accumulate points in the trial space.

Using the hydrochromite stone resource point as an example, any initiate stationed there for ten days would earn a point.

Thus, some junior initiates could amass close to a hundred points by merely guarding a small resource point until the war’s conclusion.

Sein could not help but wonder... was it really that simple?