Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 970: Ancient Scroll

The Northlands were not only bitterly cold but also isolated, and this seclusion extended to its circle of spellcasters.

Compared to other regions of the Magus World, the witches of the Northlands were even more detached from ordinary human society.

More than ninety percent of the common people in the Northlands had never even seen a witch in their lifetime.

To the humans dwelling among these snowy mountains, the powerful witches were nothing more than myths and legends.

Unlike the Alveroth Empire, which had made magic accessible for all, the Northlands had never undergone such a movement.

The selection process for a witch initiate was far more restrictive and rarer than the process of choosing magic initiates elsewhere in Magus World.

The only way an initiate could be chosen was if a full-fledged witch happened to encounter them while traveling through the snowy mountains—a process that relied heavily on chance and fate.

Though divine tower academies existed within the Northlands, the number of witch initiates was astonishingly low.

In fact, many Rank Four witches who had established divine towers had no more initiates than the total number of registered full-fledged witches within their academies.

In some cases, the number of initiates was even lower than the number of witches themselves.

This single-lineage, oral tradition of passing knowledge was a practice of the ancient Magi, one that the Northern Witches Council had preserved to this day.

As a powerful Rank Three mage, Sein had no reason to wander aimlessly through the mundane human settlements.

He was not here to admire the snowy landscapes—his visit had a clear purpose.

Upon arriving in the Northlands via teleportation array, Sein focused his time on visiting the sites where witches usually gathered and exploring the few magus towers that welcomed outsiders.

One of the towers he passed by was called “Merilyn’s Little Coven”—a rather old-fashioned name for a divine tower.

Yes, a magus tower was essentially a divine tower.

Outsiders like Sein were accustomed to calling it a divine tower, but the locals of the Northern Witches Council referred to it as a magus tower.

Merilyn’s Little Coven was obviously built by a witch named Merilyn.

This was also the magus tower that had issued a war summoning order to the surrounding regions.

As a top-tier force within the Magus Civilization, the Northern Witches Council was no stranger to interplanar wars.

However, due to their highly selective and complex training system, even as top-tier factions, the magus towers had a surprisingly low number of registered full-fledged witches.

The Northern Witches Council’s number of Rank Four and higher spellcasters was second only to the Alveroth Empire.

Among the top-tier factions of Magus World, it was undeniably one of the most formidable.

Yet, when it came to the overall number of full-fledged spellcasters, the Northern Witches Council ranked at the very bottom of the Magus Civilization.

The structure of power within any major faction typically resembled a pyramid, with a broad base of lower-ranking members supporting the fewer, more powerful elites at the top.

Yet, in the Northern Witches Council, this pyramid was unusually narrow at its base.

This reflected the highly selective nature of witch training—a unique trait that set it apart from other factions.

Aside from witches, the Northlands also had a surprisingly large population of knights.

Yet, Sein quickly noticed that the status of knights here was significantly lower than in other regions of Magus World.

Oddly enough, these knights did not seem aware of their lower standing—in fact, they had fully adapted to being commanded by the witches.

The selection process for knights did not have rigorous requirements regarding qualifications or gender.

As a result, the number of knights in the Northern Witches Council was incredibly high.

The disparity between knights and witches was astounding. For every Rank Four or lower Witch, there were at least ten or even twenty knights.

By comparison, in Viridescent Land where Sein was from, the ratio of knights to mages was only around 4:1 or 5:1.

Having come all this way to the Northlands, Sein had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

With the witches being so repulsed by outsiders, he knew he needed to find an unconventional way to find out what he wanted.

Fortunately, the emergence of an interplanar war provided him with the perfect opportunity.

During wartime, everyone had to fight side by side on an extraplanar battlefield—which meant the witches could no longer keep their powers hidden.

Although there were some differences between witches and traditional mages, they were both elemental spellcasters, drawing from the same fundamental sources of power.

Sein refused to believe that he would not gain anything from observing Rank One and Rank Two witches up close in battle!

Holding his Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s badge in hand, Sein directly signed himself up as foreign aid for the external war campaign led by Merilyn’s Little Coven.

Visit freёnovelkiss.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.

The target of their attack was a low-level plane known as “Edelweiss World”.

The witch in charge of verifying Sein’s identity was a young Rank One witch, dressed in an icy blue magus robe. Her beautiful brows furrowed deeply as she scrutinized Sein from head to toe.

Had it not been for the war in Edelweiss World and Sein’s undeniable strength as a Rank Three grand mage, this young witch would have rejected his application outright.

The war call issued by Merilyn’s Little Cove had been intended exclusively for witches and knights of the Northlands.

While this criterion was not explicitly stated in the publicly issued war summons, it was an unspoken rule that everyone in the Northlands understood.

Sein waited impatiently as the Rank One witch continued to verify his credentials.

After asking for the fourth time if she was finished—and just as he was about to turn on his heel and leave—the witch finally handed him a magic scroll containing the relevant contract requirements.

To Sein’s surprise, the contract was written on a yellowed parchment that carried the scent of rare magic spices.

Parchment scrolls were a relic of the Magus World’s ancient traditions.

Modern mages preferred more advanced mediums or scrolls made from magic beast leather.

Sein was no scroll-maker; he was just an alchemist and a decent apothecary.

Nevertheless, as an Elementalist, the antique scroll piqued his interest and desire to add it to his collection.

After signing his name on the magic scroll, he could not help but ask, “Can I keep this contract scroll?”

The young witch barely spared him a glance before replying in a cold, detached voice,

“The contract scrolls are made in duplicate. I can give you a spare copy.”

Her words were polite, but her tone carried an unmistakable chill, making it clear that she had no interest in further conversation.

Sein, however, paid no mind to her icy demeanor and happily tucked away the highly collectible ancient scroll.

It was Sein’s lucky day.

Even among Magus World’s Rank Three grand mages, it was exceedingly rare for an outsider to participate in an interplanar war under the Northern Witches Council.

Most mages who traveled to the Northlands stayed in its periphery.

Unlike the witches of the inner council, these peripheral witches were more approachable and even welcomed external alliances.

For hundreds of thousands of years, the Northern Witches Council had maintained most of its contact with other top-tier forces of the Magus Civilization through these outer organizations.