Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein had spent a total of three days at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame.

While Selphy and others had hoped Sein would stay a little longer at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame, the timely departure of an airship in three days prompted Sein to decide against imposing further on his seniors.

After saying his goodbyes, Sein embarked on his journey back to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

He was astounded to learn that the first group of mages to leave the Viridian Venom Flame World had yet to arrive in the Magus World.

His seniors at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame had indicated they were expected to arrive in about two months.

“The sheer size of the Magus Star Domain is truly overwhelming. It’s astonishing that, after over two years of travel, the space fortress, even with its steady pace across the stars, has yet to reach the Magus World, the heart of the Magus Star Domain, from the edges of Nesser’s Star Domain,” Sein mused with a sigh.

Standing on the airship’s deck, Sein felt a wave of tranquility wash over him as he gazed down at the verdant landscapes of the Magus World.

The sea of red lava and dark rocky continents of the Viridian Venom Flame World had taken up too much space in Sein’s memories.

Having spent eleven years in the Viridian Venom Flame World, Sein realized he had been away from the Magus World even longer.

“Based on the passage of time in the Magus World, I’d be forty-seven this year,” he mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Living with Eileen had made Sein more conscientious about his appearance, and his ascension to Rank One had transformed his life essence profoundly.

Consequently, Sein bore no signs of aging. Though in his forties, he could easily pass for a man in his twenties in the ordinary world.

Given the longevity of a Rank One mage, Sein surmised that it might be five or six centuries before he showed any signs of aging.

His late mentor, Morsidor, was over eight hundred years old, yet he looked like a middle-aged man.

As the airship made its way to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein found his thoughts drifting to the people he knew as he watched the landscape below him.

The first to appear in his mind was his cousin, Selina, who had lived with him together for over a decade.

Around the time Sein advanced to Rank One mage, it was Selina who took care of household matters and assisted him in the laboratory.

The bond they shared was even stronger than Eileen, with whom he had slept with.

Having not seen her in over ten years, Sein found himself curious about how Selina was doing and whether she had reached Rank One.

She was fourteen years younger than him, so that meant she was thirty-three this year.

At that age, Sein recalled being caught up in the regional academy war.

After the conclusion of the academy war, Sein received a beam of Planar Light that accelerated his advancement to Rank One.

Lacking Sein’s fortune and prowess, it would be an achievement for Selina to be on the brink of advancing to a Quasi Mage by now.

Apart from Selina, Sein’s mind wandered to the members of House Grantt.

Despite limited interactions over the years, familial bonds occasionally drew his thoughts back to them.

This included his father, Earl Grantt, who, with age, was possibly working on advancing to Rank One.

Sein was uncertain about whether Earl Grantt had achieved a breakthrough. Without it, Earl Grantt’s days were numbered, considering the lifespan of an ordinary person.

His years of dedication to the border wars likely left him with numerous old injuries. Those were the reasons why many knights aged faster and grew physically weaker in old age.

These memories became fleeting thoughts, buried deep within Sein’s heart.

On the outside, he remained composed. His gaze fixed on the azure sky, but his mind was adrift in contemplation.

***

Upon returning to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, the airship landed in a region Sein had not visited when he was still a magic initiate because it was accessible only to mages of Rank One and higher.

This particular zone was designated as a commercial area by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

A brief observation revealed a bustling activity with no fewer than a dozen airships, suggesting that the trade within the chain islands far exceeded this initial impression.

As the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring expanded its collaborations with other divine towers and capitalized on the resources from the Viridian Venom Flame World war, the commercial area was bound to get even livelier.

However, ten or twenty airships were hardly something to be amazed by.

When Sein returned from the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame, he noticed several hundred airships in its commercial area.

The greater the number of airships observed, the more it emphasized the divine tower’s widespread collaborations and its robust financial health.

Despite its modest size, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring lacked nothing essential and thrived in every aspect.

As the tower master’s apprentice, Sein’s perspective differed greatly from most Rank One and Two mages.

Amidst the evident prosperity, Sein was able to perceive the resolve etched on Master Lorianne’s face as she toiled in the laboratory, driven by her ambition to enhance the divine tower’s standing.

After alighting from the airship and exchanging brief pleasantries with the steward, Sein made his way toward the heart of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Within the divine tower, the privilege of flight was reserved for mages of Rank One and above.

The impressive and formidable elemental aura Sein had gained from his recent participation in the interplanar war unmistakably gave away his status as a Rank One mage!

The badge of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring on his chest further smoothed his passage through the tower’s magic prohibition array.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had not changed much after more than a decade.

Gliding through the skies of the divine tower academy on a busy day, he observed many magic initiates bustling about.

Some hurried to classrooms, others to the library, and a few loitered near the academy’s quest hall.

The sight of these initiates transported Sein back to his own days as one of them.

In stark contrast to the Viridian Venom Flame World fraught with battlefields, the divine tower academy’s atmosphere was markedly more peaceful and relaxed.

This tranquility began to seep into Sein, soothing the vestiges of wariness from the recent interplanar war.

His return did not go unnoticed. The mages of Rank One and above, who stayed behind in the divine tower, were surely aware of his presence.

Sein soon spotted a Rank Three grand mage accompanied by several other full-fledged mages approaching from the higher levels of the tower.

As the first mage to return to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein naturally drew their curiosity.

Yet, Sein was momentarily distracted from greeting those mages. His gaze was drawn to a magic initiate in the quest hall below.

He was a remarkable Quasi Mage, surrounded by a group of seven or eight intermediate and senior initiates.

Among them, Sein recognized Mark, whom he once had a minor altercation with.