Ashen Lord

Darkness shrouds the world, but humanity holds the light.   "Roar!!!"   In the silent and vast underground valley, a series of low and terrifying roars suddenly sounded!   This sound was like thunder, chilling in the unknown darkness. It continuously assaulted the eardrums of the black-cloaked young man by the lake, who was covering his ears with a painful expression on his face.   The black hood fell to the ground, revealing a handsome and noble face. Although he was pale and bleeding from his ears, his eyes were clear and his expression became resolute once again.   Sain, a humble apprentice of black magic.   At this moment, rocks from the ceiling of the underground lake fell like an avalanche, constantly hitting around Sain, and he could only dodge in a panic.   "Roar!!!"   The deafening sound echoed once again, as if mercilessly mocking the infinite insignificance of humanity in the face of absolute power, rendering all struggles and resistance futile.   The master of the terrifying roar is a mid-level monster, a saltwater crocodile.   The underground lake beneath Sain's feet is its habitat.   At the moment, it stopped roaring and stared at the human, its huge tail lashing against the rocks, its terrifying breath making Sain shudder even when catching his breath!   Its eyes were whitish and emitted a faint light in the dimness, and much of its head was scorched by fire, apparently injured by Sain's magic earlier.   However, in its view, this human was clearly provoking and infuriating it. While the fear of death had not completely overwhelmed the dark magic apprentice, the crocodile's patience had been thoroughly exhausted!   It charged towards Sain, opened its blood-filled mouth, and directly bit at Sain's head, its sharp fangs dripping with saliva and its stench nauseating. In this split second, Sain moved! The moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived! He suddenly scattered a handful of iron phosphorus powder with his left hand! With the remaining magic power in his right fingertip, he released the long-stored magic – Lesser Fireball! In an instant, a soccer ball-sized fireball flew out at high speed!   'Boom!'   The powder instantly caused a detonation, coupled with the impact of the fireball, it exploded in an instant! The deafening explosion shook the entire valley, and the huge jaws of the crocodile were shattered, and blood and flesh were scattered all over the ground. Sain was shaken by the impact for three or four meters, and he barely stood up, excitedly waving his fist at the crocodile's body in front of him.   He bet correctly!   Thanks to the iron phosphorus powder that caused the detonation, the Lesser Fireball that Sain had pinned his hopes on erupted with unimaginable power.   The battle was over, and due to the excessive consumption of mental power, the magic power was almost exhausted. Sain's face became extremely pale.   Having recovered a little strength, he first propped himself up and stood up, then swam to the small island in the middle of the lake and picked three brightly colored Starlight Grass. He then returned to the battlefield and took the most precious magic crystal from the Saltwater Crocodile, as well as a giant crocodile skull imbued with abundant elemental power. He quickly left the lake shore.   In fact, Sein had only taken half of the value of the intermediate-level monster Saltwater Crocodile.   More corpse materials and monster blood with abundant magical elements were left behind, not because he didn't want to take them, but because danger lurked every minute and second in this underground world.   Sein, who was already at the end of his strength, had no more fighting power and could not afford to be in danger again.   The three Starlight Grass were his ultimate goal in venturing into the territory of the Saltwater Crocodile, and the fundamental reason for his daring to fight beyond his level.   "Hoo, hoo."   A deep breath came from the darkness. The sound seemed to come from the direction of the lake shore.Sein couldn't help but quicken his pace and leave this place of trouble.   Mo Suo Bu La City.   As the center of the "Dark Territory," the underground world, and the only city established by a black magician in history, this is a place that all dark creatures fear. The 20-meter-high city walls reveal the vicissitudes of history with their blue bricks, and between the gaps of those bricks, in addition to countless dried-up monster blood that has seeped through, there are also obscure and oppressive magical runes inscribed in them. After two days of travel, Sain finally arrived at this magnificent city, and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground, and his safety will also be somewhat guaranteed. "Hey, Sain, you seem to be quite injured!" When Sain walked to the special passage for magicians, a teasing laugh came from the city wall. More than a dozen black-robed men similar to Sain were standing on the city wall, and the scarred and dark-skinned man in the center spoke. Although he and Sain did not have an irreconcilable conflict, he did not mind seeing Sain in trouble.    Although the other apprentices present did not make any sarcastic remarks, their facial expressions were mostly indifferent. It is not the fault of these apprentices for being cold-blooded, but rather this is the norm in the underground world. There are also disputes among the black magic apprentices of the Mo Suo Bu La City, and in the underground world, the strong are revered as kings, and kind-hearted men and women cannot survive here. The law of the jungle is the only rule.   Including himself, Sein would not help others for no reason. If he saw other black magic apprentices in trouble, he might secretly rejoice at the fewer competitors for resources. Ignoring the mockery of the black magic apprentice on the city wall, Sein took out his token and said to the minotaur captain guarding the gate, 'I am a magic apprentice sent out to collect materials by Master Mosido. Let me into the city immediately!'   The strong minotaur captain, whose fighting power was comparable to that of a high-level monster, was extremely respectful and obedient in front of Sein, a low-level apprentice. It was not in awe of Sein as a low-level apprentice, but of the identity of the black magic apprentice and the Master Mosido whom Sein had just mentioned.   In the city of Mosido Bla, or the entire dark region, black magic apprentices represent the truth!   Ignoring the cold words of the apprentices, Sein went straight out of the city gate, which disappointed the apprentices who were originally eager to watch the show. Sein was also a prominent figure in the Black Magic Academy of Mosido Bla. At the age of sixteen, he was about to reach the threshold of an intermediate apprentice.   The potential does not fully represent the future of young people. What really caught the attention of these black magic apprentices was the praise that Seine had received from several great black magic masters.No one knows when Seine will be lucky enough to become a disciple of a high-ranking black magic master.   Once Seine becomes a disciple of a certain master, his position in the apprentice circle of Mosobula City will immediately rise to the upper-middle level."Hmph!" Seine's indifference and disdainful response made the scar-faced apprentice's face show a hint of anger.   In fact, this guy didn't really want to confront Seine directly, but was more afraid of Seine's girlfriend.   After a moment's thought, the scar-faced apprentice whispered to his companion, "Tell Ilk that Seine has been seriously injured.""They are mortal enemies, hehe, I believe Ilk also doesn't want to see Seine appear in front of him one day as a mid-level apprentice."   The scar-faced apprentice's own magic level was intermediate, and as for his companion, he was a newcomer who had only been studying magic in Mosobula City for less than two years and was still at the level of a beginner apprentice.In the dark realm, when one's own strength is insufficient, everyone needs to depend on a powerful backer.   The follower could not defy the orders of the scar-faced apprentice, even if it meant making enemies with Seine and his crazy girlfriend. If Seine were truly to fall at the hands of Ilek, the madwoman would undoubtedly seek revenge. As for the scar-faced apprentice? He had his own backing and was naturally not afraid of that woman. In fact, in certain areas, the scar-faced apprentice even competed with Seine's girlfriend. That's why he had such a strong dislike for Seine, who was living with that woman.