<h4>Chapter 445: ckhaven</h4>


    Leaving Thousand Leaf Coral Ind on his journey north to ckhaven, Sein had to navigate through several blockades.


    Although the northern ck mages had heavily infiltrated Thousand Leaf Coral Ind and other nearby inds, the Western Archipgo still maintained stronger defenses thanks to its knights and mages.


    The major divine towers and orders of the knights in the Western Archipgo had also established outposts and observation stations in a few strategic locations.


    Sein’s task was to skillfully avoid these checkpoints by passing through their blind spots.


    Fortunately, the magic map left by Zorro detailed the safe paths between these points.


    The native knights and mages of the Western Archipgo stationed at various forts and magic towers typically limited their patrols to their immediate line of sight and rarely ventured beyond their posts.


    Thisx surveince provided significant maneuvering room not only for individuals like Sein but also for the ck mages and ck knights from the north.


    After crossing three inds roughly the size of Thousand Leaf Coral Ind, along with more than ten smaller inds, Sein finally reached Mordoron Ind within the ckhaven’s territory.


    Mordoron Ind was five timesrger than Thousand Leaf Coral Ind, straddling the size between a medium and a small ind in the Western Archipgo.


    Known for its craggy reefs, the surrounding sea teemed with arge number of unusual aquatic beasts.


    They appeared predominantly savage and brutal, as if subjected to some special concoction.


    During Sein’s passage through these waters, the sea monsters remained concealed within the depths.


    Sein spected that their unusual behavior might be rted to the invisible shields cast by Tourmaline and White Ste, though he had yet to determine if these shields had additional effects.


    Sein believed that Zorro and Faye were currently living on Mordoron Ind, but he was unsure if Leena was also here.


    To gather information about Leena, he would need to start with Faye and Zorro.


    Since they had fled to ckhaven together, along with the full-fledged ck mages from Mystralora City, it was likely they maintainedmunication.


    ***


    Upon arriving at Mordoron Ind, Sein immediately noticed the sparse poption.


    Despite its size being five times that of Thousand Leaf Coral Ind, Mordoron Ind had an even lower poption density, which was surprising given the frequent conflicts on Thousand Leaf Coral Ind.


    Thendscape was dominated by dense forests and bushes. At the heart of the ind, Sein could see arge cluster of volcanoes, with plumes of ck smoke rising into the sky.


    The ind was not only sparsely popted but also poor in resources. Both magic beasts and wild game were notably scarce as well.


    It was a continental ind that could be described as “barren”. Most mages would hesitate to settle here long-term.


    “No wonder the ck mages keep raiding southward into the central Western Archipgo. If all the inds in ckhaven’s territory are as barren as this, they wouldn’t have sufficient resources for their experiments and training, let alone for unraveling profound mysteries of truths,” Sein mused, shaking his head as he surveyed Mordoron Ind.


    The two locations marked on the magic map were in the central and northern parts of the ind respectively.


    Having justnded on the southern part, Sein was unsure if the rest of the ind mirrored what he had seen so far.


    His first destination was the central area noted on the map.


    As Sein moved northward, thendscape of Mordoron Ind gradually began to change.


    Sparse, rtively barren farnds started to emerge. He observed norge human cities, only several small viges and scattered settlements.


    He also noticed lower-ss civiliansboring in the fields. Unlike other regions of the Magus World, these grassroots civilians seemed numb and devoid of vigor.


    Additionally, Sein observed a conspicuous absence of magic beasts. This led him to wonder if the ck mages of Mordoron Ind had hunted them to extinction.


    Before Sein could ponder this further, a dark yellow ray shot violently from below. Thankfully, a red pyro elemental shield blocked the attack.


    A faint pungent odor of acid in the air indicated that the ray was some type of acid magic.


    Launching a surprise attack without warning was typical of the ck mages. Sein remembered how he had swiftly retreated after failing a surprise attack during an academy quest in Mystralora City.


    Since arriving in the Western Archipgo, he had kept his aura hidden.


    Sein’s ability to fly in mid-air clearly demonstrated that he was no weakling.


    Yet, despite this disy of strength, there were still those who dared tounch sneak attacks against him, which clearly indicated that the attackers possessed significant confidence in their own abilities.


    Although the ck mage failed to ambush Sein, they did not flee.


    Sein’s attention was drawn to a wooden cabin on a nearby slope.


    "Where did youe from, little one? You''ve crossed a line! This is Master Bhabaluka’s territory. If you don’t want to incur his wrath, you''d better leave behind three advanced energy crystals!" An arrogant voice rang out from the wooden cabin before a Quasi Mage emerged.


    Sein wondered whether his Aura Restraint Spell was exceptionally effective, or if it had simply been too long since a Rank One mage had visited this region.


    The magic initiate did not recognize Sein as a Rank One mage and mistook him for a reckless initiate just passing through.


    This misunderstanding was not due to the initiate’s arrogance but because Sein had not yet fully adapted to the ways of ckhaven.


    Had he projected his Rank One aura more during his flight, the initiate likely would not have dared to confront him.


    The robbery attempt was typical in ckhaven, a barren and fiercelypetitive region where survival, growth, and advancement often necessitate a brutal climb over the corpses of others—both kin and foreign creatures alike.


    It was fortunate that Sein had demonstrated his ability to fly upon arriving at Mordoron Ind. Had he traversed the ind on foot, even intermediate and junior magic initiates, or ordinary humans, might have taken their chances against him.


    In ckhaven, conventional morality and rules were irrelevant. Only strengthmanded respect.