Sovereign of the Ashes

The body of a Garth that had been split into half and slightly charred lay on Sein’s experimental table in the magic tower’s laboratory.

This was the first and most valuable specimen Sein had acquired since his arrival in the Thunderfall World.

The daily life of mages involved much less combat than that of knights.

Deep research in the lab was routine for these mages.

After confirming that his father’s life was no longer in danger and was recovering slowly, Sein’s life also settled into a quieter routine.

His experiments, then, were once again a priority.

“Hmm... According to its various muscle tissues, this Garth is still at Rank One and hasn’t reached Rank Two. How did it access Rank Two strength at that time?” Sein muttered to himself, his brow furrowed in thought. He pulled apart the incision he had made in the creature’s skin with the help of a pair of tweezers.

Sein had been studying this Garth’s corpse for some time.

He had a theory about how the Garth had temporarily exceeded its natural strength, but he needed to delve deeper.

If it truly involved the blessing of planar power, then further investigation was unnecessary. After all, the origin energy and will of the plane were currently beyond Sein’s grasp at this stage.

However, Sein believed that a planar’s origin energy must be finite. Even the Magus World could not bestow its native creatures with origin energy indefinitely, let alone a low-level plane like the Thunderfall World.

Perhaps there was a more profound reason this Garth had accessed strength beyond its own.

During this period, Sein also gathered many details regarding the war in Thunderfall World.

A major factor in the stalemate was the occasional emergence of Garths capable of harnessing the power of lightning, significantly boosting their strength.

These Garths were rare, and their impact on the overall course of the battle was minimal as the Magus Civilization continued its advances and attacks.

However, these anomalies undoubtedly forced the three knightly orders to exert more effort and pay a steep price.

Although the war was largely a numbers game, if their side sustained too many losses, even if the three orders ultimately dominated Thunderfall World, their victory might not prove very profitable.

Thus, the overall situation of the war had reached a standstill. It was unclear what strategies the three orders were devising.

The body of the Garth on Sein’s table had been dissected many times. At this point, it was beyond recognition, reduced to merely a mass of flesh and blood embodying a certain profound truth.

After a while, frustration began to gnaw at Sein. He threw down his tweezers and muttered to himself, “Perhaps the secret lies in the lightning... Is it too risky for me to try and get struck by lightning?”

Sein’s musings were serious. He could survive a lightning strike, given his constitution.

Inspiration often struck unpredictably, leading one into a kind of trance.

Electro elemental spells were not even close to Sein’s primary focus.

Yet now, he was interested in them, sensing that the power of lightning that the Garths received might be key to unlocking the mystery of elementalizing his body.

Moreover, even if he failed to decipher the secret behind elementalizing his body, the power of lightning seemed to provide a remarkable body-tempering effect, based on his research on the Garth specimen.

Sein’s exceptional constitution had always been one of his advantages in combat.

Discovering another method to rapidly enhance his constitution would be beneficial for him.

Sein has always been a man of action.

Thanks to the current absence of large-scale battles near Thunder Marsh, Sein could focus on his responsibilities.

After completing the tasks of maintaining the magic tower and magic wards in the two areas assigned to him by the fortress base, Sein began his own experiments.

In Thunder Marsh camp, knights often witnessed a strange sight—a mage wielding a long metal pole, soaring above the clouds.

The Thunderfall World was aptly named after its frequent thunderstorms.

Since Sein began his experiments, thunder at the Thunder Marsh camp had increased noticeably.

Meanwhile, the heavy clouds overhead began to dissipate slightly.

Unaware of Sein’s activities, many knights joked that he was responsible for the thinning of the thunderclouds.

Given the commotion his experiments caused, Sein was obliged to report back to the fortress base.

His explanation was rather peculiar; he mentioned nothing about research on elementalizing or tempering his body.

Instead, he simply told the knights that he was harnessing the thunder energy in the sky to replenish the fortress camp’s energy supply.

Surprisingly, his efforts were successful.

The magic towers and two elemental wards under Sein’s charge no longer relied on the camp’s energy but drew directly from atmospheric electricity.

For his innovative approach, the fortress awarded Sein several Grade One energy crystals.

CRACK!

Another bright and violent lightning descended, lighting up Thunder Marsh camp momentarily in a blue-violet hue.

In the recuperation area, a few knights, nearly recovered from minor injuries, gathered to watch the spectacle with interest.

“That kid from House Grantt is at it again. Tsk, tsk... With that level of thunder power, I’d be charred black,” a Rank One Knight remarked with a grin.

”Big Brother Kent, do you think you can handle that?” someone asked.

Kent was a burly Rank Two knight clad in dark green armor, his platinum blond hair and thick eyebrows giving him the appearance of a reckless brute.

His rugged looks stood in stark contrast to Sein’s ancestor, Julius, who was known for his handsome and elegant demeanor, attracting the attention of female knights of the same rank.

Like most male knights, Kent could only seek a wife among those of lesser ranks.

Despite his fierce appearance, Kent was not hard-hearted.

The less knowledgeable Rank One knights only saw Sein resisting the lightning with his body as a mage. Kent, however, saw much more.

This mage from House Grantt... reminded Kent of a Rank Two mage he had encountered before.

Resisting lightning? For a mage with a Rank Two elemental body, even soaking in a sea of molten lava would be trivial, let alone absorbing lightning.

Despite the thoughts running through Kent’s mind, he merely responded, “Do you even have to ask? I could withstand being struck by five lightning bolts of that intensity at once!”

While the group of injured knights chatted away, a sudden announcement interrupted their banter.

This message was broadcast directly to every knight, including Sein, through their badges.

It was an urgent instruction for all but the seriously injured to assemble west of the fortress and prepare to engage in battle.