Sovereign of the Ashes

“Tourmaline and I are good friends, so don’t even try anything funny.”

Sitting on the experimental table, Mel crossed her legs shyly as she warned Sein.

Standing before her, Sein rolled his eyes.

Although Mel was not wearing any clothes, she was hardly exposing anything. Patches of violet-golden dragon scales covered all the important areas.

Apart from her pale arms, thighs, and navel, Sein could not see a thing.

“This is just a normal experiment. What are you getting so worked up about?” Sein asked in exasperation.

“Oh,” Mel mumbled before lowering the arms she had raised to cover her chest.

Sein truly had not been thinking about anything inappropriate. Nothing of the sort had even crossed his mind.

Yet after Mel interrupted him like that, he gradually found his gaze beginning to wander.

Was this what people called reverse psychology?

As for what he saw—well, aside from dragon scales, there were only more dragon scales.

Mel had certainly kept herself well covered.

The Magus Civilization was somewhat less conservative than the Dawn Empire and the Immortal Realm.

Gestures such as kissing someone’s hand were quite common, while certain noble circles in the secular world were known to behave far more promiscuously.

Most mages, however, remained relatively restrained in such matters.

Sein himself had only two wives and a few partners, and he rarely became involved with anyone outside those relationships.

His relationship with Mel was purely that of research partners. There had never been any special feelings between them before this.

Mel’s warning and her mention of being good friends with Tourmaline caused Tourmaline’s image to surface unbidden in Sein’s mind.

Before he knew it, he had begun comparing the two.

The two really did resemble each other in certain ways. They were similar in height and possessed strong draconic auras.

The difference was that Tourmaline’s aura was gentler, carrying a warm and lively presence. Mel’s, on the other hand, was far more fiery, much like her impatient temperament.

Sein did not have any particular feelings toward Mel. As for Tourmaline...

Wait—what was he even thinking? Tourmaline was like a little sister to him!

Not knowing what had come over him, Sein suddenly raised a hand and slapped his own forehead.

The abrupt movement and the loud smack that followed startled Mel on the experimental table.

After years of body tempering, Sein possessed considerable strength. Seeing him smack himself so hard, Mel could not help asking, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Sein replied, shaking his head as he snapped back to reality.

This was all Mel’s fault. Her remarks had completely thrown his thoughts into disarray.

Now, what exactly was he supposed to be researching and testing again?

Sein stared at the instruments before him, trying his best to remember.

***

Mel was not exactly a good test subject. She could hardly stay still, and some of the things she said kept throwing Sein’s thoughts completely off track.

Since they were friends, Sein could not exactly restrain her too tightly or inject her with a powerful sedative either.

Besides, what kind of sedative would it take to knock out a Rank Four dragon?

As a laboratory assistant, however, Mel was more than qualified.

Her knowledge of pyro elemental magic was impressive. She could easily assist Sein with certain experiments that Yuri found difficult to handle.

After working together for some time and seeing how well Mel had adapted to his experiments, Sein could not help but say, “My mentor and grandmaster have been urging me to take on an apprentice.”

“It’d be too much trouble to start teaching someone at Rank Three or below. I simply don’t have that much time or energy. Taking on a Rank Four apprentice like you from the start doesn’t seem that bad,” he added with a chuckle.

Mel immediately retorted, “I’m only filling in as your assistant for now, and you already want me to become your apprentice?”

She paused, then quickly added, “Well, I suppose I could...”

“But you’ll have to give me half of your pyro-attribute divine relics first. Then we can talk!” she declared with her hands on her hips.

Since she was serving as Sein’s laboratory assistant, Mel occasionally had to handle chores such as cleaning and tidying the laboratory.

At that moment, she was wearing the same maid outfit that Azelia, the fox maiden, had once worn.

In her dragon-human form, a dragon tail poked out from beneath the back of her skirt.

Seeing Mel dressed as a maid while making such an outrageous demand, Sein found the sight rather amusing.

“Forget it, then. I’ll just find a mage below Rank Four and take them on as my apprentice instead,” he replied.

After working alongside Sein for some time, Mel had already learned nearly everything there was to know about him.

Most of Sein’s experiments involved different forms of pyro elemental magic, so there was no way he could have kept the divine relics he had obtained from the Insectoids hidden from her.

Besides, Sein had already been quite generous with Mel.

Although he did not reward her with the dual-attribute divine relic obtained by the God of Black Mist and his companions, he gave her something far better suited to her—a pure pyro-attribute divine relic that emitted power fluctuations equivalent to the late stage of Rank Four.

That divine relic alone would likely allow Mel to advance by one or even two minor stages within Rank Four in the future.

And that was far from the only benefit she had gained.

While assisting Sein with his experiments, Mel had gained insight into the secrets of his Ashen Flame and his understanding of pyro elemental laws.

In both areas, Sein surpassed her by far.

When Mel had first begun serving as his laboratory assistant, she had been somewhat reluctant. By now, however, she had finally come to understand just how much she stood to gain from the arrangement.

Sein’s body-tempering experiments were particularly useful to Mel, who could transform into a dragon.

During those experiments, Sein had even shared a small quantity of the top-grade blood crystals with her...

Therefore, when Sein suggested taking her on as his apprentice, Mel’s first instinct was not to refuse outright, but to negotiate.

Having someone to bicker with in the laboratory was a new experience for Sein.

Whenever Yuri assisted with his experiments, she always treated him with respect. Fermera, meanwhile, was usually quiet.

With Mel suddenly joining the team, however, the atmosphere had become far livelier...?

Mel might be sharp-tongued, but she always did her best to meet Sein’s expectations and complete every task he assigned her as his laboratory assistant.

Of course, there had been one minor accident.

When Sein first began conducting body-tempering experiments on Mel, he had underestimated the draconic factors within her body.

Dragons were naturally lustful creatures, and that time, the situation had nearly spiraled out of control.

The scorching flame energy overwhelmed Mel’s will. After transforming into her dragon form, she tore through the flimsy restraints binding her to the experimental table and pounced on Sein.

Fortunately, Sein remained calm. Having previously conducted the Lustfire experiment with Jessica, he quickly brought Mel’s abnormal condition under control.

After that incident, Sein decided he would have to restrain her much more securely during future experiments.

Following that accident, Mel stayed away from his laboratory for several days, but it was not long before she returned.

Sein’s laboratory was simply too tempting! Equipment, specimens, experimental materials—it had everything she could possibly need.

More importantly, the experiments conducted there involved cutting-edge research that could greatly benefit Mel’s growth.

The only exceptions were Sein’s alchemy and mechanical experiments. Mel neither understood those fields nor had much interest in them.

Whenever Sein worked on either of those, she would leave and conduct her own bloodline research instead.

She had even established two laboratories of her own beside Sein’s temporary experimental base.

When the next round of body-tempering experiments began, Sein carefully applied a specially formulated red potion over Mel’s scaly skin.

Mel lay undressed on the experimental table, doing her best to suppress the restlessness surging through her body.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she suddenly asked, “Did you do this when you conducted experiments on Tourmaline too?”

Sein paused for two seconds before honestly replying, “I’ve never conducted any body-tempering experiments on her.”

“Her constitution is entirely the result of her own hard work. It has nothing to do with me,” he explained, shaking his head.

“Oh.”

That was all Mel said before another brief silence followed.

By the time Sein had nearly finished applying the blood-crystal-infused body-tempering potion across her entire body, scorching dragon aura and fiery energy particles had begun radiating from Mel.

“There won’t be another incident this time, right?” the Rank Four warlock asked.

“Absolutely not!” Sein replied confidently.