Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 420: Buying Books

Sein sensed that the bald old man before him, clearly in the twilight of his years, was likely a senior initiate.

Surprisingly, when a full-fledged mage like Sein entered his modest shop, the old man made no attempt to rise and welcome him.

Instead, he remained seated on a bamboo chair, fixing his cloudy eyes with barely visible black pupils on Sein as he entered.

Sein found the old man’s indifference intriguing and did not mind it. He simply began to explore the shop on his own.

Tucked away in a poor location in the southwestern part of Dimos Port, the small, rundown shop appeared seldom visited, with every corner covered by dust and dirt.

It was unclear whether the old man’s neglect was due to his age or diminished magic power, but it was evident he had little inclination to repair or clean his shop.

Nevertheless, despite its shabbiness, Sein discovered several items of interest as he browsed around.

He avoided the magic materials, which were all dirty and emitted a distinct moldy smell, presumably useless and devoid of any elemental energy.

However, the yellowed books on the shelves, clearly aged, piqued Sein’s interest.

These magic books, some bearing the author’s name and others anonymous, varied widely—some were traditional spellbooks, while many others were journals penned by mages or magic initiates.

For instance, Sein found a small gray book, no bigger than his palm and without any introduction, containing the following entry:

May 23rd, my 173rd Synthesis Experiment...

Today’s subject is particularly energetic, likely due to the mixture of magic essence No. 3 and No. 7 that I injected into it last evening...

Master Apra’s teachings in undead chimera synthesis and lifeology are profoundly complex. I wonder if this little lump of flesh, which I’ve named “Enigma No. 1”, can truly be considered a life—a life I created...

It’s a success... No, failure... This thing is not truly alive.

It’s merely a cluster of cells that divides and reproduces without consciousness!

Many similar observations were meticulously recorded in this small notebook.

Unfortunately, the age of this notebook and the lack of maintenance had caused the writings inside to become blurred, forcing Sein to piece together much of the content through guesswork.

It was no surprise that the old man’s store struggled. Books like this, with missing content, would only appeal to magic initiates in the Gloomhaven, where resources and access were limited.

In other regions, where mages had access to legacies from various organizations, such books barely warranted a glance.

Their dubious origins and content authored by writers with only partial understanding could seriously mislead unwary readers.

Yet, Sein found himself drawn to these magic diaries.

His interest lay not in the experimental details they contained but in the books related to necromancy, body modification, and the synthesis of undead chimera beasts.

Rather than a mere neglected store, the better description of this shop was a necromancer’s den, as it was stocked with books deeply tied to necromancy.

Sein even speculated that the shop’s owner might be a necromancer or perhaps affiliated with a divine tower known for necromancy.

The latter seemed more plausible given the diverse content of the books, which suggested multiple sources rather than a single master’s work.

Turning his head to the bald old man once more, Sein caught a white apparition flashing past the roof beams directly above him.

The specter seemed wary of Sein and had been hiding until now.

“Hehe, has Dimos Seaport begun allowing specters within city limits? I’ve heard that such beings, and other undead creatures, are strictly prohibited in the major human settlements of the Magus World,” Sein remarked with a light chuckle.

Hearing Sein’s chuckle, the bald old man finally spoke for the first time since Sein had entered the store.

He opened his mouth, revealing a few of his remaining yellow teeth, and said in an extremely hoarse voice, “My family has served the Divine Tower of Death for over a dozen generations. With no heir in my generation, I chose to move here to this scenic seaport city. Though I have not achieved Rank One and come from a humble family, the city lord still shows me a measure of respect.

“Monash is just a clueless child with low intelligence, so it’s harmless. It’s my only support now, and both the city lord and the seaport’s law enforcement team are aware of its presence,” he clarified.

The old man’s voice was grating like rusty iron scraping together.

Sein listened to his explanation and then nodded. Both the old man and the little specter were below Rank One, while the strongest in Dimos Seaport’s forces likely reached Rank Three.

With such a formidable presence overseeing the city, these two could not cause any real trouble.

“Does that mean that all these magic books come from the Divine Tower of Death?” Sein inquired casually, glancing around.

The old man nodded and replied, “They were collected by my ancestors and myself—trash to most, but treasure to some.”

Sein stroked his chin and continued to browse the shop.

Suddenly, he came to a stop.

“Huh?” he exclaimed, spotting a title-less black magic book sitting in one corner on the bottom shelf of a bookcase.

Flipping open the magic book, Sein read the first line.

The Compatibility Between Necromancy and Summoning Magic—Rogge.

***

Sein ended up purchasing about twenty books from this dark, eerie little magic store.

All of them were sold at surprisingly low prices—so low they were almost giveaways for him.

The bald old man, having no descendants, found his only companionship in the specter.

It was likely that the modest earnings from the book sales were used to sustain the specter. After all, it should not be expensive to take care of an ordinary specter below Rank One.

Unfamiliar with the power dynamics within the Marmett Union Alliance, Sein could not gauge the significance of the Divine Tower of Death in the alliance.

However, after thinking about it carefully, he surmised that no ordinary divine tower would name itself after “death”.

In any case, Sein was quite pleased with his finds.

Apart from the intriguing black leather-bound magic book, the other volumes he selected had no missing contents.

Most of the knowledge contained in them was related to necromancy. This included summoning arts and the synthesis of undead chimera beasts—fields that had long fascinated him since he had an affinity for the umbra element and other negative energies.

With these magic books, Sein was ready to delve deeper into necromancy and umbra magic.