Sovereign of the Ashes

"Actually, the Rank Two mage didn't come back alone. When the Flacq returned, he brought back a girl," Marie said as she stepped forward to report to Sein.

"A girl?" Sein raised his eyebrows.

"An eight-year-old female black magic initiate. Flacq found her when they broke into the black magic tower. When the entire tower blew up, he only managed to rescue this little girl who happened to be closest to him. But one of her arms was crippled," Marie explained.

A young black magic initiate who had been rescued...

Hearing Marie's account, Sein could not help but think of his own past.

And surely Marie felt the same way. That must have been why she chose to share this small detail with him.

Given her age, she would likely stay at the Divine Tower of Ashes to study while being "observed".

This young black magic initiate had no direct link to Sein, yet for some reason, hearing about this child softened Sein's earlier irritation.

Marie truly was a woman who knew how to manage people.

Though she had been with Sein for far less time than Selina and the others, she understood him better in some ways.

Sein shook his head and did not dwell on the thought for long.

Instead, he asked, "So, how do you feel about the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War that'll take place twenty-one years from now? Do you feel confident?"

"You'll be punished if the final results are too poor," he teased.

"And how do you plan to punish me?" Marie asked with a smile. Since taking the potions Sein had given her, her face had become visibly younger and more radiant.

Many of the divine tower academy's initiates and even some full-fledged mages had started referring to her as the "pretty dean".

She was known for her kindness and patience in managing all the academy's affairs, big or small.

Since stepping into the role of a dean, Marie's abilities had only grown through experience.

An exceptional dean like her was rare indeed.

No one would have guessed that this Marie had once been a black magic initiate.

Life at the two divine towers on the Southern Coast seemed to have changed her greatly.

"How about I dock your pay?" Sein joked with his old friend.

***

While Sein and Marie were talking at the top of the Divine Tower of Ashes, Kayne was staring at the corpse lying before him in shock.

At that same moment, a young girl with a missing right arm stepped through the academy gates.

She gazed at the towering divine tower buildings ahead, her expression unusually calm and steady for someone her age.

"I won't be scared this time!"The young girl secretly vowed to herself.

In the academy's morgue, Kayne made a promise of his own.

"I'll avenge you!"

***

Twenty years was an incredibly long time for lower-ranking lifeforms.

But for Sein, it was barely enough time to complete a few minor experiments.

The White Sand Fan had been in development since the end of the White Sand World War.

After all these years, the magic artifact was finally complete.

The fan had two main components.

The first was a feather fan, mainly crafted using the wing of the White-Winged Bird King.

Sein was not well-versed in the deeper principles of aero elemental laws, and that was his weakness.

Because of that, creating this artifact had been full of setbacks, and it had failed to meet his standards more than once.

The second component was the elemental lifeform named "Sandy".

Since returning with Sein from Eternal Sand World, Sandy's strength and life level had grown at a shocking pace.

In just over a century, Sandy had already reached Rank Two and was now pushing toward even greater heights.

Sein's experimental modifications played a part, of course, but Sandy's rapid progress made him suspect that Tourmaline might have fed the little creature something she should not have.

And it was not just Sandy—Lou, the half-undead girl, was also approaching Rank Three, and that seemed to have something to do with Tourmaline too.

Tourmaline always shared her "snacks" with her playmates. Even Sev had put on weight thanks to her generosity.

In combat mode, the owl's wingspan could now stretch over thirty meters.

Sein casually slipped the White Sand Fan into his sleeve. This artifact was one of the few that could still benefit him at his current level, and he was eager to see how it would perform in battle.

The first regional academy war of the Divine Tower of Ashes was finally about to begin.

After two centuries under the "divine tower protection period", Sein had chosen to launch the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War with the Byrne Empire's divine towers of Hosta, Flowlight Waterfall, Crimson Golden Dragon, Moon Tide, and Lava Volcano.

In this academy war, both Sein's Divine Tower of Ashes and the Byrne Empire's Divine Tower of Hosta were taking part for the first time.

The other three divine towers had histories ranging from two thousand to five thousand years.

None had histories beyond ten thousand years, which meant the tower masters were all considered "young" by Magus World standards.

In fact, including Sein, all six of the divine tower masters were Rank Four mages.

As the first academy war for the Divine Tower of Ashes, this matchup was still seen as "fairly balanced".

It was said that the divine tower academy war in Magus World also served as a way to settle personal disputes between the tower masters.

The Magus World strictly forbade Rank Four or higher beings from fighting on the plane itself.

Those with grudges either took their duels to the Astral Realm or used the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War to reclaim their pride.

When Sein had served as headmaster of the Divine Tower of Dark Flame, the academy wars he oversaw often saw his initiates being targeted by other academies' initiates.

But most divine tower masters preferred to keep good relations with their neighbors. Since Sein's promotion to Rank Four, he had not made any enemies within Magus World.

Among the five other participating academies, Sein suspected that both the divine towers of Crimson Golden Dragon and the Lava Volcano had hidden ties to Lorthisra.

Neither side had admitted as much, and Sein was content to leave it that way.

The Tower Master of Crimson Golden Dragon was a Rank Four mage from the Byrne Empire's military.

Though a mage, he was known for having a Rank Four dragon as his mount.

After all, there was no rule saying mages could not have mounts.

The dragon, which had reached the Rank Four life level, was indeed his mount rather than a familiar.

The Tower Master of the Lava Volcano was the oldest among them, over 17,000 years old.

His age alone showed he had advanced by pushing the limits of his lifespan. It was also believed that he had relied on many rare elixirs to make it through to Rank Four.

Sein had already briefly met the other five divine tower masters through remote communication before.

The trial site for this academy war would be on the Blackwood Plains, at the border between Ashenreach and the Byrne Empire.

A year before the war began, the six divine towers had made thorough preparations, including constructing a massive teleportation gate at the heart of their divine tower academies.

This gate would allow the initiates to enter the trial secret realm.