Sovereign of the Ashes

After wrapping up his transaction with the Capiche Business Alliance, Sein took a moment to think.

Instead of continuing his journey east or west, he decided to head straight back to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

When ideals fell short, it was best to return to reality.

There were still plenty of undeveloped regions in Magus World.

After all, it was a vast world.

Even with close to ten thousand divine towers scattered across it, they were still spaced far apart.

Many magic initiates lived their entire lives without ever coming across a divine tower, let alone stepping inside one.

To most lesser beings, divine towers remained symbols of "mystery" and "power."

The area surrounding the Viridescent Land was essentially still untapped.

One simple indicator was the absence of any mid-sized or larger factions or councils established by Rank Six or higher powerhouses in the region.

A handful of divine towers might form loose alliances or strategic partnerships, but for the most part, they operated independently.

Unless a regional academy war broke out, initiates from neighboring towers might go decades without ever meeting.

The towers were simply that far apart.

Only full-fledged mages had the means to travel freely between them.

***

The high operational costs and less-than-ideal potential sites prompted Sein to immediately dive into an intensive survey of the areas surrounding Viridescent Land upon returning to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

He was most familiar with this region, and with Lorianne nearby, it felt natural to prioritize finding a location close by to establish a divine tower.

As for the Marmett Union Alliance or the Western Archipelago... Sein decided to forget about them.

He did not even know anyone there, and since both were among the top powers in the Magus World, the cost of setting up a tower would not be any lower.

Rather than picking one of those places, he might as well go to the Pyro Secret Society and rely on his grandmaster's support.

While Sein was busy surveying the areas around Viridescent Land, the war in Eversurge gradually came to an end.

Aside from a few knights and mages still off exploring that low-level plane, most of the mage legions from their respective divine towers had already returned to Magus World.

Lorianne had returned as well.

When she heard her apprentice was considering building his divine tower near Viridescent Land, she was secretly pleased.

Mages cared deeply about their apprentices, and with no family of her own, Lorianne saw Sein as one of her closest ties.

Still, watching him tirelessly search the region for a suitable location to build his divine tower, she could not help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Truthfully, Sein's rapid advancement and his possession of a world-class secret treasure had become a great source of pride for her.

But as his mentor, Lorianne also knew just how much effort he had put in behind the scenes.

There were no shortcuts in life, and it was rare for anyone to attain power without real work.

Sein had come this far entirely through his own talent and determination.

Of course, a bit of luck and perseverance had helped too.

Lorianne found herself wanting to help.

Looking back, she felt she had not been the most competent mentor.

Sein's progress had little to do with her.

Even his promotion to Rank Four was thanks mainly to the inheritance of the Faceless Mask, Feylis' guidance, and the foundational knowledge and wealth he had accumulated in Faeloria—none of which she had contributed to.

A mix of guilt and genuine concern led Lorianne, after returning to the Magus World, to put aside her experiments and accompany Sein on his search.

Though the land surrounding Viridescent Land was fairly vast, its resources could not compare to those of the Alveroth Empire, nor did it have the same density of planar nodes found in territories controlled by the top-tier powers.

The two searched for quite a while, but still found few suitable locations.

***

"Why don't you check out the Pyro Secret Society? There are plenty of volcanic regions over there, and many of the seismic laws are pyro-based," Lorianne suggested to Sein.

"But then I'd be even farther from you, Master Lorianne. And I doubt Tourmaline could handle that kind of extreme environment," Sein said with a frown.

Whether it was out of friendship or practicality, Sein still hoped Tourmaline would stay by his side after he established his divine tower.

Looking back on all the crises he had gone through, Tourmaline had played a crucial role in nearly every one.

Sein was no astrologer and rarely dabbled in the occult, but after everything he had experienced, he could not help but believe in the existence of some mysterious force—that things just seemed to go smoother when Tourmaline was around.

And besides, the power of luck was very real.

Back in Faeloria, he had already confirmed its existence through the Goddess of Luck herself.

"But we have no better options, so let's at least go take a look," Lorianne said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"If that doesn't work out, you can head to the Western Archipelago. Tourmaline's family is mainly based there. Or, like your grandmaster suggested, try your luck in the Marmett Union Alliance," she added with a tired sigh.

"I guess that sounds like a plan," Sein agreed with a nod.

Over the next few decades, he visited even more remote regions around the Pyro Secret Society and Viridescent Land.

But maybe because his standards for planar nodes and surrounding environments were too high, he could not find a single place that truly felt right for building his divine tower.

A few of them were passable, but Sein was not someone who liked to settle.

After much consideration, he still could not bring himself to make a decision he would regret.

***

The sky was overcast, with thick clouds slowly rolling toward a small hill in the distance.

The soil was dark and heavy with metal content, turning the land around it into a barren wasteland.

Standing at the top of the hill, Sein let out a sigh.

This was the Darwell Region.

Over the past few decades, while regularly scouting the areas around Viridescent Land in search of a potential site for his divine tower, he had already visited this place three times.

Darwell had always been one of the potential candidates.

For one, it was close to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, and Viridescent Land lay just to the north.

Second, it was in a strategic spot, with the Byrne Empire to the east, the southern coastline nearby, and vast forests teeming with magic beasts to the west. All of it offered solid potential for growth and development.

But Darwell came with its own set of problems.

The population was sparse, far lower than in most other parts of Magus World.

Black mages roamed freely here, along with countless dark creatures and demihuman races from the underground.

If he were to build a divine tower in this place, just maintaining basic security would already be a huge challenge.

But the biggest headache was that Sein still had not found a planar node that actually suited his needs.

The few pyro elemental planar nodes that existed here just did not meet his standards.

He sighed again. Just as he was thinking about heading toward the southern coast or maybe even somewhere completely different, something caught his attention: a cave entrance tucked into the side of a distant hill.

It looked oddly familiar, like the one he had crawled out of back when he was still a black magic initiate.

"Well, since I'm already here, I might as well check out the ruins of Mystralora City," Sein thought.