Sovereign of the Ashes

In the six months since arriving at the Divine Tower of Dark Flame, Sein’s main task had been managing the contracts and retention of departing mages.

As dean, the position afforded him a clearer understanding of the divine tower’s current state.

Before the Divine Tower of Dark Flame waged war against Gumo Plane, it had 19,876 registered mages.

While nearly twenty thousand mages was not an overwhelming number compared to other divine towers, it was still a considerable force.

In the aftermath of the Gumo Plane War, the number of registered mages had plummeted to 3,207 in less than a year.

The majority of the reduction was not due to battlefield casualties. While some mages had indeed fallen during the war, most chose to leave the divine tower after the conflict concluded.

Thanks to the combined efforts of Sein and Keith, a group of newly promoted Rank One mages ended up staying, preventing the number of registered mages from dipping below two thousand.

While Sein understood the rationale behind the decision Master Dark Flame had made during the Gumo Plane War, he resolved that if he ever found himself in a similar situation, he would avoid taking such a drastic measure!

The loss of over eighty percent of the divine tower’s registered mages spoke volumes about the consequences.

With its current numbers, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame now had fewer mages than the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Several months ago, Sein compiled these statistics and submitted them to Master Dark Flame, who had since returned to the Magus World.

Surprisingly, the tower master displayed little concern over the mass exodus of mages. He even complimented Sein and the others on their effective crisis management efforts.

Shortly after, Sein saw no more of Master Dark Flame.

It was not that the tower master had retreated into isolation.

Three months ago, several Rank Four or higher knights and mages, exuding powerful auras, arrived at the Divine Tower of Dark Flame.

Without any apparent conflict or resistance, Master Dark Flame willingly left with these formidable individuals.

Before his departure, the tower master discreetly informed Sein that he would be away for at least three years.

***

After half a year, the mass exodus of registered mages from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame finally subsided.

Those who were able to leave had long since departed, leaving behind a remaining force of around three thousand mages.

These were either individuals with a genuine sense of belonging to the divine tower or those who, for various reasons, were unable or unwilling to leave at this time.

The departure of so many elite mages had left the once-thriving Divine Tower of Dark Flame a shadow of its former self.

None of the two demigod-level mages remained, and dozens of Rank Three grand mages had also left.

Including Sein—a “pseudo-Rank Three”—the total number of Rank Three grand mages left in the divine tower could be counted on one hand.

“With the strength of Master Dark Flame and the age of this divine tower, even without this upheaval, its level of development and operation could only be described as ‘mediocre’,” Sein mused with a sigh.

Now that the divine tower had been stabilized and its basic operations restored, Sein was immediately confronted with another pressing issue.

“The divine tower academy will begin its recruitment for new initiates in the second half of the year, but we’re facing a serious shortage of students,” Vice Dean Bob reported as he approached Sein.

He continued, “Not only is there a severe lack of new recruits, but many initiates who had already begun their studies dropped out some time ago.”

Despite his rough appearance, Bob was an academy mage with a good family background.

However, in terms of capabilities, Bob was no match for Sein, whose performance in the past six months had proven his competence.

Had Bob been in Sein’s position, the vice dean doubted he could have retained over a thousand Rank One mages for the divine tower.

Despite the significant reduction in leadership, the remaining workforce at the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had managed to maintain a relatively united and stable front.

Given that the Rank Five Tower Master was rarely involved in daily operations, the success and growth of the divine tower largely depended on the performance of its deans.

The recruitment of new initiates, however, was closely tied to the number of future local full-fledged mages.

In the Magus World, the broader human society still adhered to a hierarchical structure of nobles and commoners.

Those qualified to study and practice magic typically came from prestigious magic families—noble lineages that often boasted ancestors who were themselves full-fledged mages.

The mass exodus of registered mages at the Divine Tower of Dark Flame in recent years had also led to a complete severing of ties with the families these mages represented.

Moreover, many initiates currently attending the academy were family members of these full-fledged mages.

When those full-fledged mages chose to leave, they naturally took their younger family members with them.

This was why Sein had previously resolved to avoid following in the footsteps of Master Dark Flame in the future.

Water could carry or overturn a boat; when trust and loyalty were lost, managing a divine tower became an uphill battle.

Sein could not help but admire the tower master’s composure.

At least, from Master Dark Flame’s demeanor, there was no indication that he was affected by the current situation.

The only silver lining was that the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War had concluded just seventeen years ago.

The next academy war would not take place for another thirty-three years, giving Sein and the others sufficient time to prepare.

Due to the Divine Tower of Dark Flame’s historically poor relations with several neighboring towers, Sein learned from Vice Dean Weems that their initiates had consistently been targeted and ganged up on by others during past academy wars.

Nevertheless, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame’s initiates consistently achieved remarkable results.

In the most recent Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had finished second in the overall standings, surpassing several surrounding towers.

Sein could not help but wonder... Could it be that immense pressure created equally immense motivation?

Initiate recruitment was undoubtedly a critical event for any divine tower.

In fact, it was arguably even more important than the mass exodus of full-fledged mages!

The long-term prosperity of a divine tower was not determined by the total number of registered mages it currently had, but rather by its ability to create new talent and consistently replenish its ranks with newly promoted full-fledged mages.

If they failed to recruit initiates, then the Divine Tower of Dark Flame would be on a path toward decline and eventual closure.

In previous years, the person in charge of initiate recruitment had been Caiden, the same demigod-level mage who could not bring himself to issue the order for the space fortress to open fire during the Gumo Plane War.

With his popularity and reputation, Caiden had successfully attracted a steady flow of promising initiates to the Divine Tower of Dark Flame each year.

A year ago, this demigod-level mage had severed ties with the divine tower and left.

Since Sein was part of the third group to return after the war, he had never even met the esteemed elder.

Unfortunately, none of the remaining staff had significant experience in initiate recruitment, and their connections were mediocre at best.

With Caiden’s departure, this critical task now rested squarely on Sein’s shoulders.

Frowning slightly, Sein stared at Bob in silence for a long moment before finally speaking.

“I’ll figure out a way to handle the recruitment. Don’t worry about it.”

Although the green-haired mage had no idea what Sein had in mind, he could not help but feel a wave of relief.

To be honest, Bob did not wish to see the Divine Tower of Dark Flame fall into ruin either.

After all, he had served here for nearly a thousand years and had grown deeply attached to the tower.