Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein and his companions halted in front of a frozen sea.

There was still a path forward, but it would require underwater diving.

After consulting the group, Sein decided they would wait for White Stella and the others outside the ice barrier.

The intense cold made further progress daunting, even for Rank One mages.

Sein could endure the frigid temperatures, thanks to his constitution being close to that of a Rank Two knight.

Leena and Faye, however, found the cold more challenging.

Sein had previously crafted three flame cloaks to shield them from the cold, but Faye sneakily joined Sein under his cloak, claiming it was larger and warmer—even though she had one of her own.

Influenced by Faye’s antics, Leena quietly squeezed into Sein’s cloak as well.

The three of them ended up sharing a single cloak.

Sein felt hot, but not due to the flame cloak or the verdant flame energy he could harness. It was a warmth that surged from within.

Tourmaline glanced at Sein, then turned around to look at her elder sister, White Stella.

Eventually, her longing for her elder brother overshadowed her desire to stay with Sein.

She waved her massive claw, silently promising Sein that she would return very soon.

Sein waved back at her.

After watching Tourmaline dive beneath the ice, Sein set up his metallic tent nearby.

Although Tourmaline and White Stella had left temporarily, the group of sea kings—the giant mermaid’s followers—remained.

These sea kings were as docile and submissive to White Stella as pets, but Sein knew better than to underestimate them; they were notoriously short-tempered.

With White Stella and Tourmaline gone, these massive creatures quickly got bored.

Some burrowed deep into the frozen ocean to sleep, while others sprawled on their backs across the ice.

Sein’s attention was fixed on the giant narwhal with a crystal horn on its forehead.

The narwhal, leaning on the edge of the sea ice, seemed to relish the surface air—a rare treat, given its usual preference for the ocean’s depths.

Its body rhythmically undulated with each breath from its lungs.

To this colossus, Sein was no more significant than an ant and went unnoticed.

“Are you really going to do it?” Faye’s voice wavered as she asked Sein.

Her experience of the world was limited.

Although she had encountered many formidable beings over the past few weeks, facing a powerful being like the giant narwhal still unnerved her.

“What are you afraid of? Haven’t you seen Leena and me handle this before? This time is no different,” Sein reassured her.

Faye shook her head, sensing a distinct difference this time.

When Sein previously took samples from the giant sea kings, Tourmaline and White Stella were nearby.

With their protectors temporarily absent, Faye felt far less courageous.

Leena remained indifferent and composed the entire time.

The difference between her and Faye was stark— Leeya was a lot calmer than Faye.

“It’s going to be fine, just help me secure the experimental equipment; leave the operation to Leena and me,” Sein assured, patting Faye’s shoulder as he noticed the worried look on her face.

“All right.” Faye finally nodded.

The three of them had set up a large array of specialized experimental equipment on the ice bank where the Ice Narwhal was resting.

Just as the narwhal was enjoying the sunlight and fresh air, a sudden, subtle itch in its lower side prompted it to roll over, causing a large portion of the ice to disintegrate.

As a result, cold seawater surged hundreds of meters, washing over the shore.

When the narwhal raised its head again, it saw three humans drenched in cold seawater, with Sein still clutching a peculiar-looking jar.

Sein had intended to extract blood samples and a few scales from the Ice Narwhal but quickly realized he had been overly optimistic.

With the equipment at hand, he could not even penetrate the narwhal’s scale armor, let alone collect samples of the Rank Four creature’s blood.

Although he failed to obtain any scales or blood samples, Sein managed to extract a jar of special white liquid.

This strange, sticky fluid had a faint aroma.

Sein suspected it was narwhal oil, the blubber in the narwhal’s belly.

It was the only sample he managed to extract.

The blood beyond the blubber and the scales on the back of the narwhal remained beyond his reach.

Initially, the Ice Narwhal was furious disturbed by the presence of the three tiny humans—a typical reaction given the short-tempered nature of the sea kings.

Yet, upon recognizing them as friends of White Stella, who usually stayed on Tourmaline’s back, its anger subsided significantly.

The Ice Narwhal had a row of light blue compound eyes on each side, in addition to its two main dark blue eyes.

Being stared down by so many eyes on a Rank Four creature was an unnerving experience.

Faye felt her legs weaken, but with Sein’s support, she managed to remain upright.

The narwhal blinked its compound eyes, sending a column of water mist hundreds of meters into the air.

Afterward, it twisted its head and settled in a new direction to continue sleeping, showing no further interest in pursuing Sein and his group.

This behavior caught the attention of other sea kings on the surrounding ice, who raised their heads to look in their direction.

Upon noticing Sein’s group, their eyes showed a flicker of understanding before they returned to their slumber.

Despite their lower intelligence, the sea kings were not entirely foolish.

They recognized Sein and, although he had collected some of their tissue samples previously, they harbored no ill feelings toward him.

After all, no dragon would mind an ant on its body, especially given that Sein was a friend of Tourmaline’s.

“ACHOO!” Faye sneezed, shivering against Sein’s body. Her thin magic shield barely fended off the bone-chilling seawater.

“What do we do now?” Leena asked calmly.

“We’ll further study the properties of this sample. I have a feeling it’ll be useful to me; it’s a lot like the verdant glaze I obtained in the Viridian Venom Flame World,” Sein said, holding up the jar of narwhal oil.

Studies on specimen properties usually did not take long.

After just two hours at his experimental table, Sein looked up, his eyes brimming with excitement.

Faye recognized that expression well; it reminded her of the time she had sauntered past him wearing extremely sexy red lingerie.

Following Sein’s gaze, she saw the Ice Narwhal resting soundly in that direction.

“Don’t tell me you’re still going to...” Faye’s voice trailed off.