Sovereign of the Ashes

The creatures hatched through an undead chimera synthesis array were far from ordinary.

Apart from the bottle of dragon blood contributed by Sein, Leena incorporated a considerable amount of flesh from various Rank One creatures during the hatching process.

These materials were sourced from creatures that Sein and Leena had hunted over the years in the Knight Continent’s trial zone.

Nourished by a huge amount of high-quality flesh and energized by an undead chimera synthesis array, Leena was confident that these four young creatures had the potential to advance to Rank One.

Among them, the leader, Heisse, seemed to possess even greater potential!

Perhaps due to the substantial amount of dragon blood absorbed, Heisse sported two small, fleshy horns on its forehead and appendages that looked like wings on its back.

Sein was aware that some powerful Sea Lizards could fight on land, sea, and air.

Heisse appeared to be on track to develop such versatile strengths.

The four young Sea Lizards did not return from the jungle depths empty-handed.

While Heisse carried nothing, its three younger siblings hauled a peculiar magic beast resembling both a deer and a bear.

This creature’s right eye was reduced to a bloody mess, with a distinct first imprint around it. Its skull had also been cracked open, with its brain matter reduced to pulp.

Observing the bloody stains on Heisse’s left fist, it was not difficult to deduce that it was the primary force behind the bear-deer’s demise.

Heisse was a left-handed, power-obsessed kid.

Despite being only five years old this year, the four little creatures before Leena were as strong as intermediate-level magic beasts.

Together, they could likely confront a high-level magical beast.

For example, the bear-deer that now lay lifeless before them was almost as strong as a high-level magic beast.

“All right, I’ll store this bear-deer for you guys for now. It’s time to leave,” Sein said as he placed the four or five-meter-long magic beast into his space ring.

Despite their rapid growth, these four little Sea Lizards had yet to master telepathic communication or exhibit any talent in using mental focus; their strength was purely physical.

Consequently, they were not yet capable of utilizing equipment like the space ring.

Their grasp of the Magus World’s common language was also limited.

Currently, they could only barely communicate with Sein and Leena, managing only simple words like “Dad” and “Mom”.

Leena surmised that this issue might be linked to using an undead chimera synthesis array.

The powerful undead chimera synthesis array endowed the four little creatures with surprising power and an exceptionally advantageous start.

However, it also brought certain drawbacks, particularly in their development of focus and intelligence.

There were no perfect creatures in the world, and while near-perfect undead chimeras existed, Leena was not yet capable of synthesizing them.

Nevertheless, Sein and Leena were generally quite pleased with the four loyal and somewhat simple-minded little Sea Lizards.

The only thing that slightly bothered Sein was their habit of calling him “Dad.” He saw them less as godsons and more as four little pets.

Recognizing their potential and appreciating Leena’s nurturing efforts, Sein accepted them.

The four were quick on their feet. Almost as soon as Sein stored the bear-deer away, they spread out around him and Leena, their movements reminiscent of hounds with keen instincts.

Raised in the wilds of the jungle, they had developed an innate ability to sense danger and the presence of powerful creatures nearby.

This sensory perception was very similar to Sein’s ability to detect through his mental focus.

Oddly, however, the numerical values of their focus remained quite low, with none surpassing 15 points.

Locking eyes with Leena, they continued northwest through the jungle.

***

Since the onset of the beast hordes, life in the Knight Continent’s trial zone had been far from peaceful.

The first decade’s tranquility was a distant memory, now replaced by frequent, larger-scale beast horde assaults and daily minor skirmishes.

To carve out moments for rest and strategy, Sein and Leena were forced to scout the jungle continually for weaknesses in the beast horde.

It had been nearly half a year since Sein last crossed paths with any other knights or mages in the trial zone.

The status of other trialists remained a mystery—whether any had been expelled from the zone was unknown.

Four years ago, Sein and Leena ran into Angreas again.

Over the years, this Rank One Kermoine Serpent Warlock had continued to grow in power.

Sein sensed that Angreas’ strength—and the threat he posed—had not significantly diminished.

There were many advantages to befriending such a mage with great strength and potential.

During their previous meeting, Sein had exchanged several valuable resources acquired within the trial zone with him.

That evening, Sein chose the top of a giant tree canopy as a temporary resting place.

With a whistle, the four small Sea Lizards quickly gathered before him.

A one-meter-high elemental vortex materialized in front of them, and the four little ones entered it in sequence.

“Go get a good rest, I’ve prepared food for you inside,” Sein said.

A hissing response followed, presumably the language of the Sea Lizard tribe.

Sein had not studied their language, but the four little ones seemed to understand each other perfectly.

Heisse, the last to enter and slightly more intelligent than its younger siblings, bowed its head to Sein and said in broken Magus World’s common language, “Goodnight, Dad.”

Heisse only stepped into the vortex after Sein nodded to it.

The four little Sea Lizards lived in a spatial storage device that Sein had specially constructed for them.

Simply put, it was a large dragon flute, structurally similar to the space piccolo where Sev resided.

Interestingly, Heisse and its younger siblings could access their living space freely.

However, Sev, Yuri, and Elisa could not be summoned from the spatial storage equipment once Sein entered the Knight Continent’s trial zone.

After discussing it with Leena, she speculated that this might be due to a foundational law of the Knight Continent.

“The power of law is a realm accessible only to creatures of Rank Four and above; we aren’t even qualified to study it yet. But I think the creators of the Knight Continent’s laws likely prohibited the use of spatial storage equipment capable of storing living creatures to prevent trialists from smuggling unqualified lifeforms inside here,” Leena explained.

“How much has your focus increased lately? And that magic array we explored last night, any new insights?” Sein asked casually.

“My base focus recently surpassed 500 points. Regarding that magic array, I think...”

Among the huge tree canopy, Sein and Leena continued their pursuit of knowledge within a tree hollow.