Sovereign of the Ashes

After a year and a half apart, both Tourmaline and Sein were overjoyed to see each other again.

Even so, a year and a half was not long enough to dilute the friendship between the mage and the dragon turtle.

Tourmaline recounted its experiences since arriving at Sage’s Forest, while Sein shared his updates from the past eighteen months.

It turned out that Tourmaline had already arrived at this sea inlet nearly a year ago.

In total, Tourmaline had only spent less than two months at Sage’s Forest.

With its brother, Black Oblivion, leaving the Magus World, Tourmaline found little reason to remain in Sage’s Forest alone and decided to leave.

It spent four months traveling to an inlet west of Steel City, where it awaited Sein’s arrival.

Sein felt a little embarrassed upon learning that Tourmaline had waited nearly a whole year for him.

Yet to Tourmaline, the wait was inconsequential as it slept through most of it.

The sunshine here was not as warm as on the southern coast, but the sandy shores were soft enough for Tourmaline to appreciate.

While Tourmaline had nothing much to share with Sein, the mage’s accounts of the last eighteen months in Steel City fascinated it.

Sein also showed Tourmaline the Mechanical Hornet he had recently purchased.

The one-seater aircraft, no larger than five meters tall, seemed minuscule compared to Tourmaline’s kilometer-wide body.

Tourmaline examined it with keen interest, blinking its large and round eyes. It was clearly curious about this mechanical product of Magus World.

When Sein spoke of the towering buildings and giant platforms that reached thousands, even tens of thousands of meters into the sky, Tourmaline gasped in awe.

In essence, Tourmaline was a dragon turtle who loved to sleep yet was intensely curious about new things.

More importantly, Tourmaline was fond of Sein and truly considered him a friend.

“Come, let’s go to Western Archipelago,” Sein suggested, standing on Tourmaline’s massive back.

“All right! Let’s go home!” Tourmaline cheered joyfully, then began its journey toward the depths of the northwestern ocean.

Tourmaline had hatched in the Western Archipelago and grown up there.

Thus, the Western Archipelago was its home.

For Sein, the concept of “home” was a little different.

It reminded him of House Grantt in the Viridescent Land and his little nest at the Black Magic Academy in Gloomhaven.

Most importantly, it also reminded him of her.

***

In terms of size, the Boundless South Sea was larger than the West Sea.

However, based on Sein’s personal experiences, traveling across the West Sea took significantly longer than traversing the South Sea.

This was because Sein had never ventured deep into the Boundless South Sea when he was on the southern coast of Magus World.

He had only navigated the coastal waters near the continent, leaving the true vastness of the Boundless South Sea unexplored.

Given Sein’s status as a mere Rank One being, his perception was limited, sometimes even insufficient to grasp the so-called “reality”.

Now, standing on the back of Tourmaline as they crossed the West Sea, Sein could truly appreciate its vast expanse.

This realization came not only because they were crossing the West Sea to reach their final destination, the Western Archipelago, but also because Tourmaline had enhanced Sein’s vision and awareness.

With arms wide open as if embracing the vast ocean, he was more than ready for the lengthy voyage to the Western Archipelago.

Four months later, Sein and Tourmaline found themselves surrounded by endless waters as they moved across the sea.

Apart from the islands they occasionally came across, the Magus Continent was completely out of their sight now.

They were far out in the ocean—a paradise for the aquatic races.

As a land creature, Sein felt some discomfort moving through these deep waters.

However, Tourmaline thrived like a fish in water. It seemed much more energetic than before and hardly felt the need to sleep.

Rows of diverse sea creatures flanked Tourmaline’s colossal form, forming an entourage.

These creatures, having gathered spontaneously, escorted Tourmaline like honor guards. The mightiest among them was a Rank Two creature.

Their presence accentuated the unique status and influence of Tourmaline’s family within the oceanic.

Sein observed that the ranks following Tourmaline were predominantly composed of Nagas, likely a predominant clan in the West Sea of the Magus World.

Despite their numbers, Sein recalled that the Nagas were only an intermediate-level aquatic race in the oceans of the Magus World.

Apart from the mermaids, there were many other races among the higher echelons of aquatic races. However, the Naga was not one of them.

Sein was puzzled over why the Naga were the ones following Tourmaline around instead of any other creatures from the higher echelons of the oceans.

The underlying reasons likely involved the power struggle and racial tensions within the oceans of the Magus World.

Long ago, in time immemorial, the Nagas and mermaids vied for supremacy over the oceans, with the Naga suffering a crushing defeat in the end.

The mermaids ascended to royalty, while the Nagas lost their place in the upper echelons and were relegated to an intermediate-level aquatic race.

Over the ages, the Nagas had thrived, especially in the West Sea of the Magus World.

Although they could not match the mermaids in terms of strength, the Nagas’ influence in the West Sea now surpassed theirs.

With their vast genealogy and immense size, the Nagas ascended in strength. Despite their status as an intermediate-level aquatic race, their strength rivaled all other aquatic races among the upper echelons in the Magus World, save for the mermaids.

This allowed them to wield significant power, at least in the West Sea.

Tourmaline revealed that the journey across the West Sea to the Western Archipelago would take about two years, even if it were moving at full speed.

Initially, the journey was a refreshing experience for Sein.

However, as time progressed, the endless expanse of the ocean lost its allure, prompting Sein to dive beneath the waves occasionally to gather magic materials of interest.

With Tourmaline’s protection, Sein enjoyed the utmost respect from the other aquatic races.

Aside from collecting specimens, Sein continued his experiments, focusing recently on Sev.

For some reason, Sev’s feathers had whitened after taking the trip to Sage’s Forest with Tourmaline.

Though still a gray owl, Sev’s plumage had lightened to a paler shade, and several white wavy lines now marked its forehead.

According to Sev, Black Oblivion had instructed another magic beast king to bestow a drop of its blood upon Sev.

The magic beast king was a Rank Four avian creature, and it appeared that the essence of its blood had triggered a change within Sev.