Sovereign of the Ashes

Fighting was strictly forbidden in the black market, and Sein had no interest in challenging a rule enforced by several Rank Three black mages.

Consequently, his enormous verdant flame fist stopped just an inch from the gray-armored knight’s face.

With Sein’s precise control over elemental power, not even a single strand of the knight’s eyebrow was singed.

This display of meticulous control, combined with the potent properties of verdant flame magic, caused the gray-armored knight to take a half step back.

He was a black knight from Blackhaven, clearly seasoned through countless battles and hardships.

Nevertheless, the single demonstration was enough to affirm Sein’s superiority.

Knights were inherently prideful. Although rugged, this knight seemed to have an agreeable personality among his peers.

Just soon as this confrontation occurred, the knight’s companions behind him let out a low growl and moved to his side.

The presence of three Rank One Knights joining forces exerted a considerable amount of pressure, though not overwhelming.

However, Sein remained unfazed the whole time. With his current strength, handling three early or mid-stage Rank One knights was manageable.

These three knights were far from the elite warriors of the Knight Continent’s trial zones.

Their strength was relatively modest for their rank, and their equipment was subpar.

Sein could handle all three without Leena’s assistance.

When the gray-armored knight regained his composure after instinctively recoiling from Sein’s display of power, his bearded face contorted with a mix of embarrassment and anger.

“Bah! Want to take this outside the black market, kid?”

Knights were far more prideful than mages. Despite sensing Sein’s fearlessness, the knight issued a challenge.

“This one’s tough!” he thought to himself.

Yet, he could not simply swallow his pride and walk away. Without a neutral party to defuse the situation, a fight seemed inevitable.

For the gray-armored knight, it was a bitter moment—his enchanted armor was already battered, and he feared it might be completely ruined in another skirmish.

Sein merely raised an eyebrow at the knight’s challenge.

He never intended to fight the man, especially since the gray-armored knight had not really done anything wrong.

The knight was simply loud and in the midst of bargaining with Zorro—hardly grounds for escalating to violence.

Sein had indeed underestimated the knight’s pride.

Having been away from Blackhaven for so long, Sein had forgotten that one’s reputation was as crucial as life itself here.

Showing cowardice could make life unbearable, as such individuals would be bullied relentlessly wherever they went.

Despite not wanting a confrontation, Sein was not about to back down now that the challenge had been issued.

Just as he took a deep breath and was prepared to accept the challenge, Zorro rushed out from the stall.

“Sein, you’re finally back!” Zorro greeted Sein, then quickly turned to the gray-armored knight and said, “This is a misunderstanding!”

Before either could respond, Zorro said, “I’ll knock off another two magicoins for this Caldesia Shield. How does twenty-five magicoins sound to you?”

Zorro’s willingness to lower the price noticeably improved the gray-armored knight’s mood.

More importantly, it was very difficult to find another magic artifact cheaper than twenty-five magicoins in Blackhaven.

The gray-armored knight hesitated, squirming in contemplation. Seeing this, Zorro dropped the price again.

“Twenty-four magicoins—this is the absolute lowest I can go. I can’t give any more discounts!”

Without waiting for another word from Zorro, the knight quickly accepted. “Deal!”

Compared to pride, the knight was more pragmatically inclined.

He usually roamed the territory of the black knights to the west of Blackhaven and rarely interacted with these black mages.

Being cheap here was unlikely to affect his reputation back home—after all, who in Blackhaven really knew him?

The knight paid swiftly, almost as if he feared Zorro might change his mind.

His payment method was quite interesting—thirteen pieces of magicoins, eleven advanced energy crystals, and five advanced soul crystals.

The currency value in the Blackhaven differed significantly from other regions in the Magus World.

Here, energy and soul crystals were valued higher and could be exchanged for more magicoins.

If he were to exchange these items at any of the divine towers outside the Blackhaven, they would yield lesser magicoins.

It was no surprise that knights and mages from the Western Archipelago and other regions of the Magus World often ventured into the Blackhaven in search of fortune.

Despite its reputation for sparse resources, Blackhaven was known for its unique products.

After sealing the deal with Zorro, the gray-armored knight shot Sein another spiteful look.

Sein frowned, ready to retaliate, but then Leena approached him.

“Long time no see, Leena,” Zorro greeted her as she stood beside Sein.

At that moment, Leena was in her red-haired teenage form, an appearance that Sein and Zorro were most familiar with.

Her appearance immediately drew the attention of the surrounding mages and knights.

The gray badge pinned to her robe, which emitted a subtle chill, identified her as a powerful mage from a black tower.

A few knowledgeable onlookers recognized it as the Black Tower of Cinderbones’ insignia.

“Indeed, it has been a long while, Zorro,” Leena said with a smile.

Now that she was Sein’s wife, she regarded Zorro with increased friendliness.

Sein casually pulled Leena closer to him, prompting surprised looks from many of the onlookers, including the indignant gray-armored knight.

Upon knowing that Sein was related to a black mage from the Black Tower of Cinderbones, the knight couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn!”

He then beckoned to his two companions and quickly left.

“You can always contact me if you need any magic equipment maintenance!” Zorro called after the departing knight.

It seemed like both of them had exchanged contact details before.

The knight merely waved his hand ambiguously in response.

***

Since Sein had returned, Zorro began packing up his stall.

“Aren’t you selling your ranked magic artifacts too cheaply? Even the most basic ranked magic artifacts can fetch at least fifty magicoins at the stores in the divine towers. How can you let them go for just a little over twenty magicoins?” Sein asked.

Zorro was still organizing his alchemy materials when Sein made his remarks.

Pausing, Zorro shook his head and replied, “Maybe they’re worth that much outside of Blackhaven, but here, that’s all they fetch.”

“Besides, there’s another reason for this,” Zorro added.

“To build connections?” Sein guessed.

Zorro nodded. “Someone’s gotta avenge Master Morsidor.”

“That’s why I came back!” Sein declared firmly.