Sovereign of the Ashes

Although Rank Four and above creatures found it extremely difficult to reproduce, countless specialized fertility-enhancing potions had been developed as the Magus Civilization advanced to its current stage.

While they did not guarantee conception for Rank Four and above creatures, they still improved the chances to some extent.

If Sein wanted to leave descendants, it would have been better for him to prepare for that before breaking through to Rank Four.

After all, the potions made for Rank Four and below had a better success rate, and they were more affordable, too.

But Sein's promotion at the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame came rather suddenly, and at the time, he simply was not interested in having kids, so he had not given it much thought.

If Sia had not brought it up, he still would not be paying it much attention.

Mages cared more about apprenticeship, but Sein had no plans to take on apprentices at the moment either.

This was mainly because no initiates had impressed him yet.

Anyway, he was still young, so there was no rush.

***

In the private lounge of Sein's laboratory...

Natalya, who had just finished an "intense workout", was doing a handstand on the headboard.

Her figure had only grown more stunning. Unlike the pale, delicate beauty of Leena or Selina, she had the healthy glow of a strong, sun-kissed woman.

Sein was extremely pleased with the results of his body-tempering experiments on her.

Besides holding the inverted position, Natalya appeared to be guiding something inside her along a special course.

It was not battle qi, but another kind of life energy. Still, it was probably some sort of secret technique.

"Is that really necessary? You already took the potion, didn't you?" Sein asked, shaking his head as he looked at her.

"My mom said it helps the chances. She taught me this secret technique too," Natalya said.

Truth be told, Natalya herself was not all that set on having a child. She was more of a carefree tomboy and rarely got involved in Sein's private affairs, as long as he could "keep up" with her needs.

It was not so much a desire to be a mother; she just liked the idea of having a child for company.

After all, Sein spent most of his time on experiments, and having a child would at least give Natalya something to keep her from getting bored.

Besides Natalya, Sein had also been sowing his seeds with Selina and the others during this period.

Unfortunately, their constitutions were too weak, especially Selina's, as her life level was two ranks below Sein's.

When it came to conceiving, she stood far less chance than Natalya.

***

Sein had been trying for a child for two hundred years, but in the end, he had not managed to produce anything.

Sia looked at her daughter's still-flat tummy, then grumbled about how Sein was always buried in his research and neglected such an important matter.

Sein just could not wrap his head around his mother-in-law and a knightly house's way of thinking.

From his point of view, success would be great, but failure was nothing to fuss over.

After all, the fertility potions he had bought only had a limited effect. They were never guaranteed to work.

"It's fine. We're still young, there's plenty of time," Natalya said, stepping in to defend Sein.

Though he had temporarily failed on that front, Sein's focus was on another big project—buying a space fortress.

Aurelia did not let him down. Over the past century, she had managed to gather nearly twenty million magicoins for him.

That was more than enough for Sein to buy a standard space fortress outright and still have funds left over.

If Aurelia had a bit more time, she could probably gather even more for him.

But as Aurelia herself pointed out, it was better not to go overboard.

Since Sein's wealth was still in its early stages, it would not be wise to burn through too much of his liquid assets at once.

She suggested he let her continue managing those funds and keep building up steadily for another three or four thousand years before splurging on a space fortress or other large-scale war platform.

Sein could wait, but not the Clash of Civilizations.

With the scent of war drawing ever closer, Sein knew it was better to put his money into strengthening his combat power.

Otherwise, when war broke out, what good would all that wealth be if he did not even have a single space fortress or a combat-ready legion?

There was nothing sadder than dying with pockets full of unspent cash.

Sein and Aurelia looked at things from very different perspectives, so their opinions were naturally different.

Her job was simply to make sure Sein always had money at hand, and ideally even more than he needed.

With his twenty million magicoins, Sein set off for the Capiche Business Alliance.

After purchasing a space fortress, he would head straight to the Magus Alliance Conference's venue.

Before leaving, Sein made sure everything was in order at the Divine Tower of Ashes and handled his affairs at home.

Over the course of several centuries, the divine tower academy wars had been held many times.

The Divine Tower of Ashes had always done well, consistently securing a mid-to-high ranking in each war.

The number of full-fledged mages had steadily grown too.

Sein had already told Marie about the plans for a new round of academy admissions expansion.

At the same time, the more competitive rules were gradually being applied within the Divine Tower of Ashes Academy itself.

Operating a divine tower required money. The magicoins Aurelia had earned for Sein over the years went far beyond the two million in cash—much of it had been invested directly into constructing the Divine Tower of Ashes.

This foreign goddess really had kept her promise to Sein.

She was, without a doubt, a real talent.

***

Before heading to the Capiche Business Alliance, Sein first stopped by Sky City to check in on Peyton.

The old man had already returned to Sky City long ago.

When it came to the research and improvement of the silver mecha, Peyton had done everything he could for Sein.

Yuri had started testing the silver mecha in recent years, though she was still getting the hang of it. Sein had also kept up his body tempering experiments on her over the years.

Sein had another reason for visiting Peyton besides thanking him for all his help over the years.

After meeting with him, he presented the old man with a miniature model of the "Lux II", a magic cannon produced by the Byrne Empire.

Then he got right to the point and asked if Peyton had any recommendations for buying a space fortress.

"Ohoo! Isn't this the standard magic cannon the Byrne Empire military uses for their space fortresses? How did you get your hands on such a complete model?" Peyton asked in surprise.

"If you're already this close with the Byrne Empire, I say skip the Capiche Business Alliance and just go straight to ordering the latest Fairy Dragon model from them." Peyton took a drag on his cigar, exhaling a puff of blue smoke.

"The Fairy Dragon model? What's the difference between that and the latest standard model from the Capiche Business Alliance?" Sein asked curiously.

In the Magus World, the Capiche Business Alliance and Steel City were not the only ones building space fortresses. They were just the top two forces producing the most, and their models usually suited the needs of most of the Magus World's powerhouses.

Beyond those two, other major top-tier factions all had their own R&D centers and heavy industry laboratories, especially the Byrne Empire and the Alveroth Empire.

In fact, many of the space fortresses used by their militaries were designed and built in-house.