Sovereign of the Ashes

Upon arriving at Master Morsidor’s residence, Sein’s mentor scrutinized him with great interest.

“You seem to have a knack for getting into trouble, boy. It was just a mandatory academy quest, and yet you return with another injury.” Master Morsidor cackled.

Faced with his mentor’s teasing remark, Sein hung his head in shame.

Before coming to his mentor’s residence, he had already received an earful from Leena.

Fortunately, his injuries were not severe. Following a series of examinations, no lasting effects were discovered.

The minor scrapes and bruises, however, would require some time to heal.

While the wound on his neck appeared alarming, it was not a serious injury aside from the paralysis caused by the toxins of the blue moss.

Morsidor said nothing more upon Sein’s silence.

He merely snorted before entering the laboratory and said, “Hmph, I won’t be casting a Flesh Regeneration spell on you this time. Let these injuries serve as a lesson to be more cautious in the future.”

After Master Morsidor went into the laboratory, Sein’s seniors came over and expressed their concern.

Sein took this opportunity to ask Faye to teach him how to craft the nutritional potions she usually concocted.

He also requested Zorro to set aside some time to instruct him in alchemy.

Naturally, Sein understood that assistance from his seniors came with a price.

Mages always adhered to the principle of equivalent exchange.

Once Bousse succeeded in selling his goods, Sein would have the financial means to compensate his seniors.

If not, Sein had a few valuable items in his possession. He was ready to offer the magic core of the Giant Saltwater Crocodile and the basic magic core of the King Green Plume as a token of gratitude.

He had come to realize that wealth was merely an external resource, whereas true power resided within himself.

For mages, knowledge equated to power.

Faye readily agreed to Sein’s request because the process of crafting a nutritional potion was not overly complex.

Besides, the idea of Sein learning how to craft a nutritional potion from her sparked a special excitement and sense of fulfillment in Faye, who had never been particularly skilled in cooking.

On the other hand, Zorro did not agree as readily.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he replied, “I’ve been quite busy lately working with Master Morsidor to complete a certain alchemy experiment, so my daytime availability is limited. I can only spare time to teach you in the evenings.”

In the Underworld, there was no such thing as day and night, but the concept of time was still aligned with that of the surface world.

The Black Magic Academy adhered to this time system, using chimes to signal different time segments, including the breaks and class schedules for the magic initiates.

Sein was deeply touched when both of his seniors agreed to his request without specifying their expectations in return.

In reality, Master Morsidor had already instructed them to provide additional guidance to Sein when he was unable to.

Given that Master Morsidor would not always be available to instruct Sein, it was only natural that the responsibility would fall on his two other apprentices who had joined the faction earlier.

Sein returned to his side room with renewed enthusiasm, despite still nursing his injuries.

He spent most of the day meditating to recover his focus. Until his injuries were fully recovered, he would not be able to assist in his mentor’s experiments.

Shortly after Sein entered the side room, Faye also departed, leaving Zorro deep in contemplation.

“Just as I suspected. Did Master Morsidor take Sein under his wing because he saw his second apprentice in him? Aside from his blond hair, their personalities and ways of doing things are remarkably similar...”

Recalling the second apprentice of Master Morsidor who had tragically perished thirty years ago, Zorro let out a soft sigh.

Among Master Morsidor’s apprentices, the second had undoubtedly shown the most potential.

Just like Zorro, the second apprentice had accompanied Master Morsidor from the Western Archipelago to Gloomhaven.

As for the third, fourth, and fifth apprentices, Morsidor had only taken them in after coming to the Gloomhaven.

It was evident that, In terms of effort and emotional investment, the second apprentice was Master Morsidor’s chosen successor.

After releasing a deep sigh, Zorro turned and headed into the laboratory.

Lately, he and his mentor were swamped with alchemy quests, as the two vice deans from the Shadow Valley had begun to apply pressure on them.

***

Before a modest-sized experiment table, Sein’s unwavering focus remained fixed on a section of Green Plume Claw securely positioned before him.

Clutched in his hand was a magic awl, an engraving tool fitted with a pointed bit generously given to him by Zorro just a few days ago.

Sein carefully scratched the surface of the Green Plume Claw with the magic awl, creating lines that grew increasingly intricate with each stroke.

When the intricate lines covered roughly two-thirds of the claw’s surface, Sein began to relax a little. Yet, in an abrupt turn of events, an elemental disruption suddenly occurred.

The Green Plume Claw now radiated intense heat, melting part of the steel support stand on the experiment table and erasing the pattern that Sein had painstakingly carved on its surface after hours of effort.

Upon realizing that the elemental energy within the Green Plume Claw had been entirely depleted, Sein flung it onto the experiment table in frustration.

“Another failure!” he announced gloomily.

This marked the third Green Plume Claw Sein had botched.

Considering the claw’s texture, it afforded him approximately three or four attempts to inscribe a magic array.

In other words, Sein had experienced over ten failures thus far.

Clearly, there were no instant geniuses in the world.

Despite the recognition he received from his mentor and Zorro for his talent in alchemy, crafting a magic item was still beyond his grasp. Even placing a simple Sharpen spell on a Green Plume Claw proved to be a challenge.

Furthermore, Green Plume Claws inherently possessed elemental energy, as it was derived from a magic creature.

Unlike other magic steels or common metals lacking sufficient elemental energy, alchemists were required to manually infuse elemental energy into them.

This process came with higher risks and less stability, leading to a greater likelihood of failure.

Sein could not fathom the number of setbacks an alchemist must have endured to become proficient.

It was no surprise why Faye had no interest in alchemy.

A string of repeated failures could indeed cripple one’s confidence.

Nevertheless, Sein did not allow the discouragement to affect him.

He shook his head, dispelling the negativity, and reflected on his past errors and potential areas for improvement.

This process included introspection regarding himself, and an evaluation of the experimental setup, including the two botched Green Plume Claws.

After some time, Sein reached for another Green Plume Claw but did nothing to it.

Instead, he turned to Leena, who was engrossed in reading a magic tome beside him.

“I think this experiment bench is a little too small. Perhaps it’s time we consider relocating,” he suggested.