Sovereign of the Ashes

The only witness to Sein and Leena’s wedding was Sev, the owl from Gloomhaven.

Sein’s younger half-brother, Solon, probably knew about it since Sein had sourced some wedding supplies through him.

Solon, however, did not pry much.

After years apart, Sein noted that Solon’s demeanor had become far more composed.

He was no longer the youth he once was, and Sein estimated that Solon would likely live another ten years or so.

In the Magus World, living to about a hundred as an ordinary person was a privilege usually reserved for the noble class in favorable environments.

Sein provided Solon with some potions he had crafted himself, using copious amounts of activated plant sap he had gotten from his mentor.

These potions would undoubtedly extend Solon’s life, albeit to a limited extent.

Unless Sein intervened to transform Solon into something akin to an undead, he could not escape the inevitabilities of aging and death.

Not just Solon—Rank One or higher knights and mages in the Magus World all faced theoretical lifespan limitations.

For now, immortality was beyond Sein’s scope of research.

However, in Lorianne’s private library, Sein had discovered texts concerning the lifespan of living organisms.

These texts affirmed that even creatures of Rank Four or higher could not attain immortality.

Yet, their lifespans, spanning tens of thousands of years, made them seem virtually immortal to lesser beings.

After holding a simple wedding at Grantt Castle, Sein sensed a shift in Leena.

As he studied her intently, trying to pinpoint the change, Leena shyly pushed him away.

Their stay at Grantt Castle was brief.

After leaving a batch of potions for Solon and signing several letters of recommendation for the descendants of House Grantt to join the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein and Leena resumed their journey southward.

The creation of the Verdant Wave Canal had radically transformed not only the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring and the surrounding Jewel Sea but also the mundane human nations like the Lysian Alliance along its banks.

The Lysian Alliance, with only its easternmost noble territories abutting the Verdant Wave Canal, had constructed several tributaries.

This transformation significantly increased the density of mages and knights within the Lysian Alliance, many of whom hailed from various regions of the Magus World.

The convenient waterway eased the journey for creatures of low life level—especially magic initiates and knight squires below Rank One—allowing them to journey to other areas to hone their skills and broaden their horizons.

When Sein and Leena traveled south, they shrouded their faces with elemental veils.

After all, Leena was still a wanted black mage, making their departure from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring a perilous affair.

Therefore, caution was paramount.

Their destination was the ruins of Mystralora City in Gloomhaven—a place filled with the memories of their youth, drawing them back for a visit.

The landscape filled with cooled lava rocks once hindered Sein when he was merely Rank One, but not anymore, now that he and Leena were Rank Two mages.

After activating their elemental bodies, Sein easily maneuvered through the rock crevices and descended underground.

Leena possessed an umbra elemental body, indicative of her shift in primary focus to the umbra element after reaching Rank Two.

It took only a few days for Sein and Leena to return to the site of old Mystralora City.

Lava erosion had dramatically altered the surrounding landscape.

In the dark space, dimly lit by only the scattered lumenstones, they could barely discern the outlines of some former buildings.

Decades of desolation had allowed new underground creatures to take residence, with a few formidable dark creatures now dominating the area.

Time had proven to be the ultimate mediator; even the devastation from the lava was trivial compared to the adaptive capabilities of Magus World’s creatures.

Initially, Sein had hoped to uncover some ancient relics during this visit with Leena.

However, it was nothing more than wistful thinking—darkness enveloped everything, revealing no treasures.

After collecting a few dark creature specimens with strength on par with intermediate-level magic beasts, they found nothing of interest.

The only thing that drew them here was nostalgia.

“This is where our initiate dormitory used to be. We probably lived around there,” Leena said as she pointed at a shadowy area. Sein was not sure how she even managed to recognize it.

Sein leaned close, blowing into Leena’s ear before whispering, “I still remember the first time we lived there together and also... the first night we shared, years later.”

Leena’s cheeks burned amidst the darkness as she huffed in mock annoyance.

***

Leena could not stay at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring for long.

She had only been able to come here this time because she had snuck out of the Black Tower of Cinderbones.

If she were discovered by the black tower, the consequences would far exceed simply being scrutinized by Sein’s mentor, Lorianne.

Sein also learned from Leena that she would soon be officially apprenticed to the Black Tower Master of Cinderbones.

“After my promotion to Rank Two, Master Fareena and Master Gypson, the vice dean of the black tower academy, had a few talks with me,” Leena revealed.

The prospect of becoming an apprentice to a Rank Five black mage was beyond the wildest dreams for almost all the mages in Blackhaven.

Yet, for Leena, the prospect held limited allure.

If the Rank Five black mage discovered her frequent communications and meetings with Sein... it could spell significant trouble, potentially implicating even Sein’s mentor, Lorianne.

However, some decisions were out of her control, especially when she lacked power.

The decision by the Rank Five black towers master to take Leena as an apprentice was likely influenced not just by her exceptional potential but also by her connection to White Stella and her influential family.

Achieving balance when one’s power was insufficient often necessitated leveraging such affiliations.

Given the substantial resources the Rank Five black mage had invested to send Leena to the Knight Continent for the trial, her safety appeared secure for the time being. After all, it was unlikely that anyone would compromise an asset in which they had heavily invested and intended to continue supporting.

Sein preferred to look on the bright side—maybe this black tower master was someone like Morsidor.