Sovereign of the Ashes

The new residence Leena and Sein had chosen was one of the quarters in the second furthest dormitory building of the academy.

The choice offered them a more secluded environment, ideal for meditation and conducting magical experiments.

Unlike their previous room, the new quarters were significantly more spacious and included a brand-new, huge experiment table. Additionally, their bedroom also came with its own bathroom.

The allocation of resources among the initiates in the academy was starkly imbalanced.

Most fresh initiates were forced to share a tight living space with three or four others.

The room that Sein previously occupied as a junior initiate was much smaller, lacking an experiment table, and could only accommodate a bunk bed and a few clothing racks.

However, the dormitory building that Sein and Leena had selected was only sixty percent occupied, with several rooms left vacant on each floor.

It was not uncommon for initiates to occupy multiple empty rooms either.

Sein and Leena’s quarters were on the fourth floor, where four other quarters were occupied.

Out of these, three were occupied by individual initiates, and the last one housed another pair of initiates, much like Sein and Leena.

The residents of the second furthest dormitory building were an equal mix of intermediate and senior initiates.

The senior initiates occupied the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, while the above-average intermediate initiates resided on the first three floors.

Sein and Leena had strategically chosen their floor based on their strengths and specific needs.

The day after they had moved into the building, an intermediate initiate from their floor wisely relocated to the third floor.

The other three households remained unchanged, but as several days passed, Sein made an unexpected observation.

“Today, I noticed that the two initiates sharing the same quarters on our floor are both male!” Sein, who was preparing dinner, whispered to Leena, who was seated at the table engrossed in a magic tome.

“What’s so unusual about that? Haven’t you observed similar situations during your ten years at the Black Magic Academy?” Leena responded nonchalantly as she flipped through the magic tome.

Sein chuckled awkwardly as he expertly prepared a Black Scaled Draconic Fish.

“I thought that kind of behavior was limited to inexperienced junior initiates, but it seems even senior initiates...”

Initiates who had spent an extended period at the academy knew that junior initiates rarely survived past the age of thirty.

Some who struggled to advance to an intermediate initiate in their late twenties began to lose hope. Realizing their bleak future, they began to give up on themselves and turned to unsavory activities.

The academy’s grim atmosphere played a part in this behavior, with some full-fledged black mages even turning a blind eye or encouraging it.

Junior initiates with questionable morals also further exacerbated the situation.

Although intermediate and senior initiates were cold and ruthless, they devoted most of their time to magic research and fulfilling mandatory quests, leaving them with little time to bully weaker initiates.

In response to Sein’s comment, Leena closed the magic tome in her hand and walked over to assist him with dinner to the best of her abilities.

“There are different types of people among the senior initiates, and those two guys living next door shouldn’t be underestimated,” she casually remarked.

“Marlon, the intermediate initiate, has won two consecutive academy awards and is expected to be promoted to senior initiate soon.

“As for the other senior initiate, Stenson, don’t be fooled by his towering and seemingly slow-witted appearance. He has mastered several extremely rare and unique bloodline magic spells.

“If it weren’t for his somewhat less-than-stellar intellect, he would be a top senior initiate,” Leena explained as she assisted Sein with preparing the Black Draconic Scale Fish.

Leena had indeed changed a lot ever since Sein returned from his quest.

Before that, Leena had never helped Sein with preparing dinner, not because she was unwilling, but because she lacked the skills.

Due to her awkward attempts in the kitchen, her arms were now covered in fish scales.

The question of how a woman who struggled with simple household chores could possess extensive knowledge of advanced magic continued to puzzle Sein.

Through their combined efforts, they managed to prepare a sumptuous and cozy dinner.

Seated at a large dining table, their conversation was far from ordinary. It was a discussion shared between mages rather than the usual mundane topics typical of a couple.

After discussing their neighbors, Sein began to talk about the challenges he had faced in his recent experiments or magical studies, all while savoring the fish with Leena.

He also shared the recent insights he had gained in the field of alchemy.

Although alchemy was not Leena’s primary focus, her knowledge as a senior initiate allowed her to offer valuable advice to Sein.

After Sein shared his recent progress, Leena, who seldom spoke much, brought up the magic tome she had been reading.

It was the “Annotations of Enthildor”, one of the several tomes Sein had received from his mentor.

It was a handwritten magic note by a full-fledged mage named Enthildor, and contained knowledge on the intermediate magic spell—“Animate”.

Sein had initially believed that the tome’s greatest value lay in the intermediate magic spell it contained. He thought that this was also his mentor’s intention when giving him the tome.

However, Leena surprised Sein by revealing other useful information contained in the book.

“According to it, the profession of Master Enthildorthe, a full-fledged mage, was a Magus. The tome also outlined that within the Magus World, there were many professions, including Summoners, Necromancers, Elementalists, Bloodline Warlocks, and more. Each of these professions had multiple branches. For people like us, we fall under the category of Pyromancers under the Elementalist profession,” Leena explained

Her newfound knowledge enlightened Sein and piqued his curiosity.

Since he had nearly mastered his two intermediate magic spells, the Fire Wall and Fiery Hand spells, it was high time he delved into the Animate spell.

As per Leena’s recommendation, he would also read the “Annotations of Enthildor” and make the most of it.

Their dinner, rich in both flavor and magical discussion, marked another typical day in Sein’s life at the Black Magic Academy.