Sovereign of the Ashes

In addition to reconnecting with his mentor, Sein also asked about Selina and Eileen.

He learned that the two ladies had successfully advanced to Rank Two during his time away from the Magus World.

They had also performed exceptionally well in the interplanar wars led by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

But alongside the good news came some bad.

Sein’s great-grandfather, Jeremy Grantt, had been killed in an interplanar war launched by the Order of the Steel Fist.

Several other Rank One knights from House Grantt, promoted in recent centuries, had also suffered heavy losses.

Jeremy’s death was a major blow to the family. By the time he died, he had already broken through to Rank Two.

Sein’s father, Kelman Grantt, and the family’s strongest knight, Julius Grantt, were both seriously wounded.

Thankfully, Kelman had survived and even managed to break through to Rank Two in the heat of a life-or-death struggle.

Julius, the founder of House Grantt, had also risen to the rank of Sky Knight despite his grave injuries.

It was clear that House Grantt had also undergone major changes during Sein’s absence from the Magus World.

Sein also took the opportunity to ask about Reina and Natalya.

The two had completed their travel centuries ago.

Since they had never managed to meet up with Sein on the West Coast as planned, they eventually returned to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring without him.

But at the moment, neither of them was at Lorianne’s tower.

Natalya had apparently returned home—something serious seemed to have happened to her family.

The Order of the Steel Fist had suffered major losses in the last interplanar war. If even House Grantt had been hit that hard, the other knight houses likely had not fared any better.

As for Natalya’s family, Sein had never been particularly close to them.

Even though they were technically related by marriage, he was a mage—deeply focused on his own path—and rarely found much in common with knights.

It was not just Natalya’s side of the family. Sein had seldom spent time with House Grantt, beyond occasionally checking in or offering support when needed.

Still, hearing that both Natalya and Reina were safe brought him some peace of mind.

Whatever was happening within Natalya’s family was not something he needed to get involved in.

After reconnecting with the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein began to feel more at ease.

The death of his great-grandfather was certainly tragic, but for a knight, the battlefield was the best place to meet one’s end.

Most knights in the Magus World did not wish to die of old age.

When Sein asked whether the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had any urgent matters coming up, Lorianne shook her head.

After two consecutive interplanar wars, the tower was entering a period of calm.

“You advanced to the demigod realm so early... I imagine your foundation is still a bit unstable. I suggest you keep traveling for a while and broaden your horizons. When you return, I’ll give you some pointers,” Lorianne said.

Sein scratched his head and let out a sheepish laugh.

“Sounds like a plan. I already have a ton of questions to ask you anyway. Exploring the laws is definitely more complex and difficult than studying elemental theory.”

Lorianne’s lovely face froze for a second.

A ton of questions...?

She drew a sharp breath.

The truth was, she had not urged Sein to return right away because she was no longer entirely sure how to mentor him.

Even back when he was still in the lower ranks, she had struggled to guide him.

Now that he had reached the demigod level and begun dabbling in the power of laws, how was she supposed to keep up?

It looked like she would be paying more frequent visits to the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame soon.

Fortunately, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had already finished constructing a teleportation array linked to the Verdant Flame and other major towers, so visiting her mentor was now as easy as stepping through a door.

Rather than letting Sein stagnate under her instruction, Lorianne would much rather let Master Feylis take over.

A major reason Aelid the Blazing Sword had risen so quickly was that his mentor, Andres, had served as dean at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame.

That kind of proximity had allowed him to receive regular guidance from Feylis herself.

Sein’s rise to demigod had been even faster than Aelid’s—meaning his potential might be even greater.

Honestly, being mentored by a Rank Six mage like Feylis made far more sense than continuing under a Dendromancer like herself.

Of course, Lorianne kept those thoughts to herself.

She figured she would keep mentoring Sein for as long as she could manage—and if it ever became too much, she would simply hand him over to Master Feylis.

Sein gave an awkward smile when Lorianne told him there was no need to rush back to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

His original plan had been to travel to the Pyro Secret Society from the Western Archipelago using a teleportation array.

With his current wealth, the fee was hardly worth mentioning.

Since Lorianne had encouraged him to travel a little longer, Sein might as well heed her advice.

Especially now that he had just reunited with Leena, he wanted to spend a bit more time with her.

Unlike Selina and the others at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Leena’s unique identity made it much harder for him to meet with her freely.

After chatting with Lorianne for a while longer, Sein ended the long-distance communication.

Just before they disconnected, Lorianne casually dropped another piece of news, though Sein could not tell whether she was sharing or subtly showing off.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring now had a demigod-level Dendromancer serving as its dean.

Sein guessed this was why Lorianne had not rushed him back—someone qualified was already holding the position.

The new dean was a female demigod-level mage named Jessica.

Lorianne mentioned she would introduce Sein to her once he returned.

***

After wrapping up his business at the Divine Tower of Star Trail, Sein decided to head further south with Leena.

Although he had explored part of the Western Archipelago with her in his early years, the region was vast, and what they had covered back then barely scratched the surface.

Tourmaline trailed behind them enthusiastically.

Since Sein and Leena were traveling in human form through the major divine towers and cities of the archipelago, Tourmaline chose to stay by their side in her little girl form.

Interestingly, when Leena was in her black-haired “Dark Reaper” appearance, Tourmaline looked just like their adorable daughter.

But when Leena switched to her teenage form, Tourmaline looked like her younger sister.

And Sein, a tall man walking between the two of them, looked completely out of place.