Sovereign of the Ashes

And so, the magic artifact crafting process began.

The tenth level of the trial did not seem to impose any time limit.

In other words, they could take as long as they needed to complete their refinement.

As Sein and the others immersed themselves in their work, the colored light bands beneath their platforms slowly began to change.

Some people's light bands climbed rapidly; others progressed much more slowly.

Sein found himself wondering what criteria this secret realm used to evaluate the quality of the magic artifacts each trialist was producing.

He looked around for a long time but found no clues in the surrounding environment.

For Sein, alchemical experiments had never been about speed—they were about precision.

What was the point of rushing to produce a flawed result?

That would only be a waste of valuable time.

In Sein's opinion, every experiment should be a pursuit of excellence.

Only by holding himself to the highest standard could he create something truly perfect.

As a result, Sein probably worked the slowest among all the mages present.

Yet, the colorful light band representing his score was not falling far behind the others.

That made him even more curious about the evaluation mechanism of this secret realm.

Sein had already drafted a plan for upgrading and refining the Demon Eye Mask back in Faeloria.

Because of that, he felt surprisingly at ease during this trial.

In truth, nearly all the mages who had made it to the tenth level were skilled in alchemy.

Without some proficiency in alchemy, they would never have made it through the earlier stages.

Like Sein, most of the mages here were not attempting to forge a brand-new magic artifact from scratch.

Instead, they were refining and upgrading an existing semi-finished or completed magic artifact.

The reason Sein chose the Demon Eye Mask over the Radiant Heart Rod—even though the rod, inlaid with two divine relics, looked far more impressive—was because the magic rod had already reached its peak as a finished artifact.

Improving it further on its existing foundation would be extremely difficult, unless Sein achieved another major breakthrough in his alchemy skills.

In contrast, the Demon Eye Mask was still a semi-finished artifact. In Sein's eyes, it held limitless potential for refinement.

Through the earlier trials of the secret realm, Sein had gained new insights into both magic and alchemical theory.

Now was the perfect opportunity to integrate those insights, along with all the growth and knowledge he had accumulated over the years, into his craft.

***

For mages, time was always fleeting during experiments.

About three months in, Sein had barely made progress on his project when someone else in the trial space finished theirs.

It was a dark blond demigod-level mage who could only be considered below average among the group.

The moment he completed his magic artifact, the colorful light band beneath his feet surged upward.

Unfortunately, even with that boost, his overall score only climbed into the upper-middle tier—and that was before any of the other trialists had even completed their projects.

With a long sigh, the mage picked up his creation—a lumen elemental magic artifact shaped like a cross—and was promptly sent out of the trial space.

It seemed this secret realm had another mechanism: once a mage completed their artifact, they were automatically sent away.

Judging from the faint spatial fluctuations left behind, it was safe to assume there were no more trials beyond this one.

No one paid much attention to the departing mage. Sein barely spared him a glance before diving right back into his work.

A good mage would never let themselves be distracted in the middle of their work.

After that mage left, more and more mages completed their work and were sent away one after another.

Meanwhile, Sein remained deeply absorbed in his experiment.

To him, the work unfolding before him was like a beautiful, uncharted world waiting to be explored.

Every spark of inspiration and every moment of elemental harmony brought him joy.

***

All the mages who were sent away had one thing in common: their scores had not reached the maximum.

This secret realm seemed to be looking for the most outstanding mage.

In fact, even the best might still fall short of the requirements set by the secret realm's creator.

Otherwise, the final reward would not still be waiting for a "qualified one" to claim it.

Throughout the final trial, the gold-robed mage remained the highest scorer.

He seemed to embody every definition of "perfection" in this world—incredible strength, striking good looks, refined elegance, and exceptional skill in alchemy.

Thanks to his top ranking and exceptional alchemical skill, the gold-robed mage had maintained his lead.

Even though Sein had never actually fought him, he had a feeling that he might not be able to defeat this man, even if he went all out with the Radiant Heart Rod boosting him.

At best, it would end in a tie.

The same could be said about that annoying mechanic.

Despite sitting in third place, the mechanic never stopped trying to surpass Sein and the gold-robed mage.

But to make it this far, every competitor was a top-tier talent—surpassing them was never going to be easy.

The colored light bands beneath the three of their platforms continued to rise side by side.

Under their glow, the other mages in the trial seemed to fade into the background.

***

Five years later...

A five-year-long alchemy experiment might sound unimaginable to knights, but for mages, it was nothing unusual.

By this point, only six people remained in the secret realm.

During those five years, most of the other participants had been gradually eliminated.

Sein's score still held firm in second place, but compared to previous years, the gap between him and first place had narrowed considerably.

In contrast, the distance between Sein and the mechanic in third place had grown wider and wider.

The mechanic's metal orb incorporated advanced engineering techniques. In battle, it could expand into a demigod-level mechanical puppet to assist him or transform into a suit of armor that dramatically boosted his combat power.

Yet no matter how sophisticated it was, the mechanic could not understand why this trial secret realm judged his creation inferior to Sein's or the gold-robed mage's.

If it were not for the fact that it was his elders and certain powerful figures in Steel City who had recommended him for this trial, he might have suspected the evaluation system was rigged.