Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein stayed nearly four months at the Order of the Azure Dragon Sea.

The magiknights’ unique path of power and truth was eye-opening for him.

After friendly sparring sessions with the knights and exchanging crystal ball contact information, Sein bid them farewell and continued his journey eastward.

The Alveroth Empire stretched far and wide, connecting to the icy region far north and the Capiche Business Alliance in the northeast.

Sein had initially planned to visit those areas.

However, under the looming pressure of the Spider Queen, he decided not to tarry and headed east toward Sky City instead.

When Sein arrived in a small town called “Wellit” in the eastern part of the Alveroth Empire, he finally received a magic message from his mentor.

It had been nearly a hundred years since Sein had heard from Lorianne.

As expected, there was a reason for her prolonged silence.

From his mentor, he received good and bad news related to their faction.

The bad news was that Sein’s fifth mentor, Andres, and sixth mentor, Holfson, were nearing the end of their lifespans.

Lorianne had traveled to Grandmaster Feylis’ divine tower, intending to show off her apprentice to her seniors.

Sadly, this visit had become a somber farewell, as it was the last time she would ever see her two seniors.

Grandmaster Feylis had taken on seven apprentices, with Lorianne being the youngest.

Apart from those Sein had met before, Feylis had two other apprentices—her first and third. Unfortunately, both had passed away in earlier years.

Now, with the imminent loss of her fifth and sixth apprentices, Feylis had only three remaining in her faction.

The members of the Verdant Flame Faction had always shared a strong bond.

Since Gregory favored their youngest junior, Lorianne, the most, his favor naturally extended to her sole apprentice, Sein.

As a result, he also received many benefits from the Verdant Flame Faction.

In fact, the tip of his magic rod was a gift from Master Gregory.

With her seniors nearing their final days, Lorianne had likely been too preoccupied to help Sein acquire the promised pyro elemental mystery from the Verdant Flame Faction.

She also rarely returned to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Upon hearing the news, Sein was inconsolable.

Unlike Lorianne, who had shared thousands of years of memories with Andres and Holfson, Sein had only met them briefly during the Viridian Venom Flame World War.

At that time, the two Masters had covertly arranged for Sein and the others to take a shorter return journey via an inter-dimensional teleportation array, bypassing the slower route through the space fortress.

In the interplanar wars that followed, Sein had only seen Gregory and Bernice during the Wild Gorilla World War, but not Andres and Holfson.

It was likely around that time that both Andres and Holfson were struggling with weakened soul flames due to yet another failed breakthrough attempt.

Even for mages mentored by a Rank Six powerhouse like Feylis, advancing beyond Rank Four was no easy feat.

Rank Four was universally recognized in the Astral Realm as “godhood”. If ascension were easy, the title of “god” would not remain so exalted above the billions of ordinary beings.

The impending deaths of Andres and Holfson were a significant blow to the Verdant Flame Faction.

Though neither was renowned for their prowess in combat, both had excelled in managing the academy.

After experiencing this loss, it was unlikely that Master Feylis would ever accept apprentices again.

Her seven apprentices had already inherited most of her knowledge, carrying forward her legacy and expanding her faction through countless apprentices and grand apprentices of their own.

The future growth of the Verdant Flame Faction would now fall to Gregory and the next generation of successors like Sein.

The weight of the bad news was evident on Lorianne’s face as it flickered across the magic light screen.

Yet, she followed with a glimmer of hope—a piece of good news for the Verdant Flame Faction: Aelid, Andres’ third apprentice, had successfully advanced to Rank Four in Violet Ember World and was currently on his way back to the Magus World.

Among the Verdant Flame Faction, Feylis’ fifth apprentice, Andres, was known for having the most apprentinces.

All his gift seemed to lay in mentoring and nurturing apprentices.

Though barely at the level of a demigod-level mage, he had successfully trained several Rank Three grand mages—one of whom, Aelid, had now ascended to Rank Four!

Aelid’s breakthrough was a much-needed boon for the Verdant Flame Faction, especially at a time when it was about to lose two of its demigod-level mages.

From a rational perspective, the faction’s overall strength had actually been bolstered by this achievement!

Aelid intended to establish his own divine tower.

Through his mentor, Lorianne, Sein learned its name—the Divine Tower of Blazing Sword.

Although Andres’ soul flame flickered on the verge of extinction, he clung to life, determined to hold on just long enough to see his favorite apprentice one last time.

For Magus World mages, the inheritance of truth and legacy knowledge was an important duty—one incomprehensible to beings from other realms.

Although Andres was nearing death, the success of his apprentice, Aelid, symbolized the continuation of his magical arcana!

Now a newly advanced Rank Four mage, Aelid would inherit much of his mentor’s legacy and connections, paving the way for the Divine Tower of Blazing Sword’s establishment.

The name “Blazing Sword” hinted that Aelid was not a traditional Elementalist but a Battle Mage.

In fact, within the Verdant Flame Faction, only Lorianne had chosen not to practice body tempering.

Every other member followed the path of Verdant Flame Body Tempering Technique, a discipline passed down from the faction’s grandmaster.

With a faction filled with body-tempering mages, they had earned quite a reputation throughout the Magus World.

It was no wonder that even the Spider Queen, far away in Blackhaven of the Western Archipelago, had heard of Feylis.

With such monumental changes occurring within the faction, it was only natural for its members to gather at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame.

Whether to bid farewell to the dying demigod-level mages or to assist in the founding of Aelid’s Divine Tower of Blazing Sword, their presence was essential.

Lorianne herself had received considerable support from the faction when she first established her own Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

However, Sein, who was currently traveling in the Alveroth Empire, was too far from the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame to return in time.

Knowing this, Lorianne chose not to summon him back.

Likewise, the ten or so other Verdant Flame Faction members traveling abroad, like Sein, also chose not to rush back.

In contrast, the apprentices of Andres and Holfson hurried back, no matter how far they were.

Beyond sharing news of the faction’s developments, Sein also received a pyro elemental mystery from Grandmaster Feylis through Lorianne—the Art of Reija Flame.

As the youngest Rank Three grand mage in the Verdant Flame Faction, it was clear that Sein possessed extraordinary potential.

Though Feylis had been deeply saddened in recent years, she had not forgotten about this grand apprentice of hers.

Aside from the Pale Flame, this was the second legacy Sein had received from his grandmaster.