Sovereign of the Ashes

Lorianne was not going to interfere with Sein's choice.

The Pyro Secret Society was the top choice for most Pyromancers in the Magus World, and even some Rank Four mages could not secure a good position there without a personal recommendation.

Even so, now that Sein was a Rank Four, his future was his responsibility.

So, once he made his decision, Lorianne would support him as his mentor.

In truth, even Lorianne herself was not part of the Pyro Secret Society. She was only a member of the Elemental Gate council.

The Elemental Gate, established by Master Ancestor Feylis, did not impose any strict geographical restrictions.

Even if Sein set up his divine tower in the Alveroth Empire, he could still maintain membership in the Elemental Gate.

"Alveroth Empire?" Lorianne raised an eyebrow. "Starting a divine tower there would definitely get things off the ground quickly, but the pressure's also way higher than in other regions."

"Compared to the Viridescent Land, building costs could easily be four to six times more," she added, giving her dear apprentice a gentle reminder.

The Alveroth Empire was well known for its widespread adoption of magic among the populace, which meant there was no shortage of magic initiates there.

Those who were eliminated from the public magic academies often ended up at divine towers instead. But most divine towers were still more inclined to recruit fighting tooth and nail for a spot in a divine tower academy, rather than settle for these leftovers.

No matter which divine tower was built in the Alveroth Empire, it would always be filled with initiates.

However, the downside was that Sein's investment in those divine towers would be significantly higher.

Back when he was the dean of the Divine Tower of Dark Flame Academy, Sein had already realized that building a divine tower and running an academy in the Magus World was a long-term, often unprofitable endeavor.

It was a long-term investment. After pouring in countless resources over a hundred years, he might only end up with a few dozen full-fledged mages.

Counting on those mages to start an interplanar war just to secure resources would be a huge gamble.

Even with subsidies provided by the Magus Alliance, running divine towers could still end in loss.

There were plenty of cases in the Magus World where divine tower masters and grand masters of knightly orders went bankrupt and were forced to shut their towers down.

Lorianne did not doubt Sein's talent, but she was worried that he might head to the Alveroth Empire and end up drowning himself in debt.

She had been in debt for years herself and knew just how heavy a burden a loan could be.

If Sein went to the Alveroth Empire, the pressure he would face would be several times greater than what she had endured in the past.

Of course, Sein knew all this already.

But still, the Alveroth Empire had massive natural advantages. The overall atmosphere there was the best in the entire Magus World.

If establishing divine towers there was not so notoriously difficult, then all of the Magus World's newly promoted mages might have rushed in to set up their own towers.

The upside of all that pressure was the development speed. A divine tower built in the Alveroth Empire could take off at breakneck speed in the early stages.

As long as Sein had enough magicoins, he would make progress far faster than if he spent decades slogging through in some remote region.

Lorianne could not help but marvel at Sein's youth and drive.

It was only when she looked at someone like him that she occasionally felt the illusion of age creeping in.

"If you want to hustle, then hustle. Talk to me if you need anything. And if you fall flat, don't be discouraged. You can always come back to me and become the dean at my academy, or set up a new tower near the Viridescent Land." Lorianne chuckled.

Sein's hands froze mid-motion as he was massaging her shoulders. Despite feeling a little touched and a little reluctant to leave her, he tried his best to keep his voice even.

"Since you said that, there's actually something I need from you, Master Lorianne."

Lorianne took a deep breath. Her expression remained calm and gentle, but deep down, she felt her heart—or perhaps her wallet—start to ache.

"Alright, go on. How much do I need to lend you?"

"I don't want money. Can you sell me that silver mecha in the lab? I can pay for it or maybe give you a divine relic as collateral?" Sein offered.

"For that soul slave of yours? She can handle a Rank Four mecha already?" Lorianne asked in mild surprise.

"Oh? You are aware of Yuri's existence, huh? She can't pilot a Rank Four mecha yet, but I think she has potential," Sein replied.

Lorianne nodded thoughtfully. "It's yours then. I was only keeping it as part of my collection anyway."

"You don't have to pay me either. Consider it a graduation gift." she said with a smile.

When Sein heard this, the emotions he had been holding back surged up all at once.

He stopped massaging his mentor's shoulders and wrapped his arms around them, hugging her tightly.

Sein had no romantic thoughts toward Lorianne—he simply could not bear the idea of leaving her shelter permanently.

"Maybe I can build a divine tower in the Darwell. It's close to Viridescent Land, and there's still plenty of room for development..." he mused.[1]

Before he could finish, Lorianne pressed a pale, slender finger to his lips to quiet him. "Don't make impulsive decisions. Follow your heart, and do what you truly want."

"No matter where you end up building your divine tower, you'll always be my finest first apprentice," she said with a grin.

Sein nodded solemnly and hugged her even tighter.

Maybe it was all the body tempering experiments he had done, but his strength was far beyond that of an average person. Despite being a Rank Four mage, Lorianne had a regular constitution.

With how tightly he was hugging her, her face turned red—though it was hard to tell if it was from emotion or from nearly being squeezed breathless.

After a while, Lorianne gently patted his back and said, "I heard you performed brilliantly in the war. You even helped Gregory and the others capture two Rank Four natives alive?"

"I also heard you embedded two Rank Four heart cores into your magic rod. How many more things are you hiding from me?" she added.

"Let me guess... You left out quite a bit when you told me those stories after you came back to the tower, didn't you?" she said, poking his forehead with a finger.

Sein chuckled awkwardly. In truth, he had kept the matter of the Spider Queen and the Purgatory demons to himself, not wanting to cause her unnecessary worry.

Now that his next focus was building a divine tower, he realized he could probably ask Lorthisra for some advice.

Come to think of it, Lorthisra had promised to send him a demigod-level Dark Elf Queen back then... and she still had not followed through on that.

When he first returned to the Magus World, he had been so focused on getting home that he had almost forgotten all about it.

1. Recap: Darwell was last mentioned in Chapter 940. It's the region where Mystralora City was located, well, specifically underground. ☜