Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein had expected to emerge directly above the sea he had glimpsed through the barrier. Instead, he found himself in a special blue-violet space.

The area extended before him like a long passage, stretching straight ahead toward a brilliant light at the far end.

Strangely, there was no sign of the other trialists who had entered alongside him in the passage.

“Is this spatial magic? Why can’t I detect any spatial arrays? And this passageway... it feels different from the teleportation arrays I’ve used previously,” he mumbled to himself.

“Such a strange space. What secrets might it hold?” Sein marveled at the peculiar space surrounding him before pressing forward toward the light at the passage’s end.

***

When Sein reached the end of the passage, the blinding white light dispersed.

As his eyes adjusted, he found himself amidst a lush, green mountain forest.

For the very first time, he experienced no spatial fluctuation or the discomfort usually associated with traversing spatial passages.

“The elemental concentration here is nearly three times that of the outside world. I expected no less from a secret realm left by a Rank Nine being,” Sein marveled, taking in the unusual environment.

A crystal ball appeared in his hand, and soon displayed a value—287%. This confirmed that the elemental concentration here was 287% more than that of the Magus World.

Among the billions of planes in the vast expanse of the Astral Realm, the Magus World had the highest elemental concentration, establishing it as a top-tier plane.

For comparison, despite a high concentration of pyro element particles in the Viridian Venom Flame World, the overall elemental concentration was less than one percent of the Magus World.

This vast disparity influenced the number and vitality of the creatures each world could breed and sustain.

Elemental softness and the rate of elemental utilization were crucial in delineating the gap between worlds.

In the Magus World, creatures could achieve a ninety percent efficiency when absorbing elemental energy particles.

In contrast, those in the Viridian Venom Flame World might only manage three percent.

This difference highlighted the vast gap between the Magus World and the generally weaker planes.

Here in the secret realm of the Knight Continent, the enhanced elemental concentration meant that trialists could accumulate mana at three times the usual rate.

Aside from the fundamental difference in elemental concentration, the realm was replete with all sorts of good stuff.

“Huh? This plant is new to me. Could it be unique to Knight Continent?”

Driven by curiosity, Sein approached the unfamiliar plant he had spotted nearby.

***

The vastness of the Knight Continent surpassed Sein’s expectations.

Despite traveling in a straight line for a month, flying high above the landscape, he had yet to escape the dense jungle where he had first arrived.

It was possible that the continent’s unique conditions had slowed his usual flying speed.

Knight Continent differed from the outside world in several key aspects—elemental concentration, elemental softness, and the unique ecology of its native flora and fauna.

Additionally, the gravity here was noticeably stronger than in the outside world.

This increased gravity likely posed a challenge for many Rank One creatures, making long flights difficult.

Only creatures of Rank Two or higher could navigate the skies with relative ease.

Sein’ was only able to fly for such an extended period due to his robust physique.

The challenge here was not just the increased expenditure of mana, but also the strain on the body’s muscles and overall endurance.

Most mages, whose constitutions were generally weaker, found that no magic shield could counteract the gravitational pull.

As with the enigmatic blue-violet space he had encountered earlier, Sein was equally baffled by the gravity here that defied magic shields.

“Since this realm is named the Knight Continent, it must have been primarily intended for knights to explore. Could the first Rank Nine being that emerged in the Magus World have been a knight too?” he wondered aloud.

In a world where spellcasters typically held higher status than knights, the revelation that the first Rank Nine being in the Magus World was a knight had taken many of the new generations of knights and mages by surprise.

For nearly a month, Sein had not only continued moving in the same direction but also collected a vast array of specimens from the native flora and fauna of Knight Continent.

His findings ranged from small plants and tiny insects to towering trees, all never seen before in the outside world, likely influenced by the elemental concentration of the area.

To Sein’s trained eye, every plant and animal seemed to hold potential as a magic ingredient!

The diversity and richness of this land far surpassed his previous understanding, revealing itself as a veritable trove of natural wealth.

Although Sein had gathered many small samples, large animal specimens were scarce. It was not due to their absence; rather, the formidable nature of these creatures made them difficult to capture.

Since entering the trial space of Knight Continent, Sein had been unable to summon Yuri, Sev, and the others.

Although he sensed their presence in their dimensional bags, some inexplicable barrier prevented their summoning.

His other spatial equipment for storing non-living items, such as the space rings, was functioning without issue.

Gazing up at the seemingly normal blue sky, Sein knew a blue-violet energy barrier existed at the edge of it, isolating this world from the outside.

The unique gravitational pull and other enigmatic laws in the Knight Continent made the upper reaches of the sky inaccessible to him.

It seemed likely that only beings of Rank Three or above could venture into such heights.

Two weeks prior, Sein had glimpsed a massive shadow in the sky, with a wingspan exceeding two hundred meters.

With his severely suppressed mental focus and its probing range, Sein could detect only subtle fluctuations within a fifty-meter radius. Hence, he was unable to identify the massive creature.

For a Rank One mage like Sein, the ground beneath his feet was his territory to explore.

The lofty skies and distant locales remained beyond his reach.

It seemed there was a good reason why Sein’s mentor was not in a rush to let him explore Knight Continent.

During his second month on the continent, Sein finally encountered another living person—a Rank One Knight, trapped in a jungle swamp.

Upon spotting Sein, the knight urgently called out, “Hey, help me out here!”