Sovereign of the Ashes

In the end, Faye politely declined Sein’s unusual gift.

“Offering the corpse of a Rank One mage as a gift, huh...? Sein certainly has unique tastes,” Faye thought to herself.

It wasn’t that Faye found the corpse distasteful; rather, it was simply valuable.

Furthermore, it appeared that Sein intended to give her not only the corpse but also the magic items and spatial equipment that belonged to the black mage.

Sein respected Faye’s graceful refusal and did not press further.

With a shrug, he stowed the charred remains into his space ring.

After defeating Bhabaluka, Sein felt a significant lift in his spirits.

The pent-up frustration that had clouded his heart was dispelled, restoring his clarity of mind.

He gave little thought to the other black mages lurking in the shadows outside the magic tower.

After reinforcing the tower with several more prohibition arrays, he was confident those black mages would leave them alone, at least for a while.

For the first time in over thirty years, Faye finally got to savor a bowl of Sein’s mushroom soup for dinner.

Though Sein’s culinary skills had grown rusty from years of being pampered by Selina, he was still a better chef than Faye and managed to prepare a few dishes.

For years, Faye had lived alone on the central plains of Mordoron Island, sustaining herself with nutritional potions or depending on the few capable living specimens caged below for cooking assistance.

Despite their acceptable taste, the nutritional potions had become monotonous after so many years.

As for the live specimens who feared Faye more than anything, they rarely produced anything noteworthy due to limited ingredients.

Hence, Faye was very pleased with the dinner that evening.

After a brief conversation, she and Sein decided to visit Zorro in the northern part of the island the next day.

Faye usually stayed on the third floor of the magic tower. That night, Sein took a short rest in the living room on the second floor.

True to her word, Faye left Sein alone that night, choosing not to reveal her less favorable side to him for now.

She planned to wait until she advanced to Rank One and regained her youthful allure before presenting her best self to Sein.

Sein understood what Faye was thinking, particularly as he was also aging. Among those around him, only Eileen had reached Rank One; others, including Selina and Marie from the Divine Tower of Dawn, had not achieved this rank yet.

Thus, Sein could kind of understand what they might be thinking.

The women Sein had become intimately involved with were all capable individuals.

Overall, he remained hopeful and positive about the potential for Selina, Marie, and Faye to attain Rank One.

In any case, Sein had done all he could. The rest was up to them.

Just as Faye was about to go upstairs, Sein finally blurted out the question that had been weighing on him for the last two days.

“Faye, have you heard anything about Leena?”

Upon hearing Sein’s question, Faye paused on the staircase before turning around with a smirk.

“I thought you’d keep that question to yourself. You probably favor her over me, don’t you?” Faye teased, her tone a mix of jest and complaint.

Sein realized that an unspoken rivalry seemed to always exist among women.

Despite Sein’s considerate behavior over the past two days, Faye still felt a twinge of jealousy.

Perhaps it was because Faye wanted Sein to see only her—such a thought had never occurred to her during their days at the Black Magic Academy.

The thirty years of separation had only deepened the bond between them.

Nevertheless, as Sein’s senior, Faye did not dwell on these thoughts or tease him too much.

After thinking for a moment, Faye finally answered, “When I first arrived in the Western Archipelago, I did encounter Leena once. She actually came to Mordoron Island to visit us. At that time, Leena was already a Quasi Mage. Although Zorro had been a Quasi Mage longer, he conceded that he was no match for her.

“Leena was trying to ascertain your whereabouts through us, but we were clueless as well. We only knew about our mentor’s passing. After that, our paths never crossed again.”

“Leena’s mentor left Master Martin’s group shortly after they returned to the Western Archipelago, and I heard she went north. Leena is probably still with her. We might learn more from Zorro or Dean Martin about Master Fareena’s whereabouts. We can ask Zorro tomorrow,” Faye suggested.

Sein immediately felt a wave of relief wash over him.

It was comforting to know that Leena was still in the Western Archipelago. With her natural talent, she might well have reached Rank One by now.

The burden in his heart eased, and Sein’s mood brightened.

Although Faye had retired upstairs for the night, Sein, as a Rank One mage, still had the energy and stamina to continue his high-intensity research for another month or two.

Leaning on the sofa on the second floor of the magic tower, Sein gazed at the twinkling stars in the dark sky as his thoughts wandered far and wide.

***

Early next morning, Sein and Faye set off for the northern part of Mordoron Island.

According to Faye, the island harbored unique resources despite its barren appearance.

For instance, valuable intermediate and low-grade magic materials, such as sulfur crystals, red molten slurry, and misty lime, could be found within the craters of the volcanoes in the north-central part of the island.

Further north, there were also gathering points rich in intermediate and low-grade geo and hydro elemental resources.

Legend had it that thousands of years ago, Mordoron Island was abundant in energy crystal veins with substantial reserves.

Unfortunately, reckless over-exploitation by Blackhaven’s black mages had long depleted these resources.

The numerous quarries scattered across the western part of the island were a stark reminder of its former glory.

“Most divine towers or knightly orders would protect and sustainably mine energy crystal veins upon discovery. Energy crystals are, after all, fundamental to our Magus Civilization and are actually renewable resources,” Sein explained.

“It’s truly a shame to see these veins depleted so carelessly. In interplanar wars, only invading legions would mine all available resources so ruthlessly from the conquered planes not affiliated with the Magus Civilization,” he added.

“The mindset here in Blackhaven is different from the rest of the Magus World. For black mages, something only becomes theirs once they possess it, and they seldom think about the future or sustainability,” Faye remarked with a soft chuckle.

“By the way, Mordoron Island is also rich in underground resources. In fact, there are many creatures living underground too,” she added.

“Oh?” Sein expressed his intrigue.