Sovereign of the Ashes

During the fifth year since Sein’s return to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, the knights and mages who had originally participated in the Verdant Leaf World War began to return one after another.

The knights naturally returned to their respective homes.

During the interplanar war, many knights had forged notable friendships with the mages of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Upon their return, many hedge mages from the Viridiscent Land also began to sign contracts with the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Having established mutual interests with the divine tower during the war, these hedge mages across Viridescent Land were more keen to join the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring now.

The influx of registered mages and the return of war mages breathed new life into the divine tower lately.

In previous years, initiates at the divine tower academy could go a few months without encountering a full-fledged mage, except for those conducting public classes.

However, full-fledged mages became a common sight almost daily.

The mages returning from the war were now a common presence throughout the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Thanks to Lorianne’s substantial investment in constructing the divine tower, the sudden increase in registered mages did not create accommodation shortages.

The towering structure, with its more than seven hundred floors, could accommodate tens of thousands of mages, each enjoying spacious residences and advanced laboratories.

This was likely one of the key advantages of major divine towers in the Magus World, attracting mages from their respective regions to join.

Looking ahead, Lorianne planned to consider further expansion of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring once the number of registered mages surpassed ten thousand.

With magic, anything could be accomplished.

Sein eagerly anticipated the day when the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring would rival the height and prestige of the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame.

***

After completing two of the three public courses he had promised his tutor, Sein, now with a much lighter schedule, shifted his focus on the body tempering experiments assisted by Reina.

Reina and the others had also returned from Verdant Leaf World.

Natalya had initially intended to stay with Sein for an extended period, but Sein’s mother-in-law, Sia, forcibly dragged her away.

As of now, Sein and Natalya had only completed their engagement ceremony.

During the war, the couple’s time together behind closed doors went largely unnoticed.

However, now that they have returned to Magus World, it would be inappropriate for Natalya to move in with Sein at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, where thousands of other full-fledged mages resided.

Given House Ernst’s reputation, she would at least have to wait until both of them were officially married.

The day of their marriage was not far off, Sia and Sein’s great-grandmother, Cleona, had been diligently working to arrange it since their return from the Verdant Leaf World War.

While Natalya and the others had left, Reina stayed behind at Sein’s request.

Reina had initially wanted to leave. Unfortunately, she had accepted Sein’s shoulder armor and agreed to assist him with his body tempering experiments.

Drawing from his experience with previous experimental research and being fully prepared, Sein managed to minimize Reina’s dissatisfaction this time.

He did his best to accommodate Reina’s dietary needs, providing her with special foods that were highly satiating yet low in calories.

Sein’s body tempering experiments lasted nearly three months.

After this period, Reina, who had noticeably slimmed down, walked out of Sein’s laboratory with unsteady steps.

The once round and plump woman had been transformed by Sein’s rigorous regimen.

He not only unraveled numerous mysteries surrounding constitution growth during his experiments but also made a significant contribution to Reina’s weight loss.

Although Reina still appeared plump despite losing a substantial amount of weight, she was no longer as overwhelmingly large as before.

In terms of appearance, Reina was actually a decent-looking female knight. Her skin was also noticeably paler than Natalya and Selina’s.

Of all the women Sein had encountered, only Leena could rival Reina’s flawless complexion.

Three months of intense experimental research had taken a significant toll on Reina—only god knew what she had endured.

She had never been this thin before; the last time the weighing scale displayed such numbers was in her early childhood.

After leaving Sein’s laboratory, Reina pretty much “fled” from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring in a near sprint.

The satiating food Sein provided had become a form of mental and physical torture for her.

Now, Reina was even more afraid of Sein—terrified, in fact.

Sein was probably the only person capable of making Reina feel this way. He did not need to do anything; just a single glance would cause her to tremble uncontrollably.

In reality, Sein was far from satisfied by the three months of body tempering research.

However, he could see that Reina had reached her limit.

Continuing to let her starve would likely cause immeasurable damage to her body.

Sein only sought to explore certain aspects of body tempering through Reina; he had no intention of harming his friend.

Regarding Reina’s profound fear of him during the body tempering experiments, Sein could only dismiss it as a misunderstanding.

He would never hurt Reina and harbored no ill intentions toward her.

After leaving Sein’s laboratory, Reina stumbled her way to the exit of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Sein had actually instructed his female servants to prepare a hearty dinner—one that would actually satisfy Reina’s hunger—but she refused to stay.

These body tempering experiments were far from over; Sein felt he could still unravel more mysteries.

However, what he had discovered thus far was enough to keep him engaged in learning for a long time.

***

After completing the body tempering experiments, Sein almost immediately plunged back into his alchemy research.

This time, his focus was on the Inextinguishable Meteorite he had salvaged from the ocean of Verdant Leaf World.

The top-tier Dim Star Magic Robe was well-suited for Sein’s current needs. Although the Verdant Flame Heart Rod had been serving him well too, his recent research on the Everburning Violet Flame had sparked a new idea for upgrading his magic rod.

The Verdant Flame Heart Rod’s most crucial component was the Verdant Flame Heart—a gift from Master Gregory.

Now that Sein possessed a sizable Inextinguishable Meteorite, he wondered if cutting it open to extract its core essence could enhance the overall strength of the Verdant Flame Heart Rod.

More importantly, incorporating the core essence of the Inextinguishable Meteorite into his magic rod could greatly amplify the effect of the Everburning Violet Flame—a subject Sein had been intensely researching for the past few years.

This enhancement could even impact Sein’s elemental body.

Sein’s resolve deepened after receiving a section of Life Tree Trunk from Luna, the Rank Two centaur who recently visited him.

This piece originated from the Ancient Verdant Banyan, the demigod-level guardian of Verdant Leaf World.

Maya, the demigod-level centaur warrior, had participated in the battle to besiege and defeat the guardian.

In the distribution of spoils that followed, Luna received only a handful of items, among which was a section of the trunk from the heart of the Ancient Verdant Banyan.