Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 938: Experiments and Friends

With the alchemy materials acquired from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame and the Magus Alliance, Sein spent half a year crafting a new long, gray magic robe for himself.

Perhaps it was his age, but Sein seemed to be gravitating toward a more “old-fashioned” style these days.

The long gray magic robe gave him a mature and refined appearance, perfectly fitting his role as a dean.

The robe was not the only thing he worked on during this period.

Sein also took the opportunity to craft several magic artifacts, all high-grade equipment suited to his current needs.

The crisis he faced during the Gumo Plane War had taught him the value of preparedness. Having a few extra trump cards up his sleeve was never a bad idea.

Although Lorianne had given him a pack of Viridescent Seeds before his journey, they were useless in the unforgiving environment of Gumo Plane’s magma pool.

In critical moments, Sein knew he could rely only on himself.

Beyond crafting equipment for his own use, Sein also upgraded Natalya and Reina’s gears.

Reina’s shoulder armor had been damaged just as badly as Sein’s magic robe during the last interplanar war.

Since she disliked bulky, full-body armor, Sein used her shoulder armor as a template and reforged it with high-grade materials like Star Essence Steel, Cloudmist Stalactite, and bones from demigod-level creatures.

Now that Reina had advanced to Rank Three, her hammer had started feeling a bit too “light” for her.

Sein also refined the weapon, making it larger and heavier to better suit her needs.

With her new appearance and proportions, swinging such a massive hammer looked pretty weird.

When Sein offered to craft her a heavy sword or spear instead, Reina waved him off, insisting she was comfortable with her current weapon.

As for Natalya, who was still at Rank Two, Sein did not make significant upgrades to her equipment for now.

Alchemy experiments required no less effort than any other type of experiment.

As Sein delved deeper into the craft, his alchemy skills steadily improved.

In addition to traditional Magus World alchemy, Sein had recently begun exploring mecha and advanced magic artifacts—a new direction inspired by Yuri, an engineer under his command.

Over time, and through countless battles fought side by side, Yuri had become more than just an ordinary servant in Sein’s eyes.

Helping Yuri upgrade her mecha was not solely due to what had happened between them but because Sein had come to recognize and respect her abilities.

No matter how remarkable Sein’s talents in alchemy were, it was impossible for him to modify Yuri’s mecha to output the combat power of a Rank Three creature.

The gap between mecha engineering and the traditional alchemy of the Magus Civilization remained immense.

The upgrade Sein performed on Yuri’s mecha was a fusion of mecha engineering principles and the alchemical techniques of the Magus World.

Additionally, many of the core components used in the upgrade were not crafted by Sein himself but were high-quality, customized parts purchased from Steel City and the Capiche Business Alliance with magicoins.

This improvised mecha was a far cry from the constructs manufactured by the Neisse Civilization.

Still, Sein valued practicality above perfection. As long as the mecha could perform effectively in combat, there was no issue.

Sein recalled the relatively intact silver mecha that Master Lorianne had acquired from her seniors during the Viridian Venom Flame World War.

To this day, it remained on display in the showroom on the top floor of Lorianne’s divine tower as a part of her prized collection.

Sein wondered how much of its potential Yuri could harness if he managed to acquire the silver mecha with formidable Rank Four combat power.

However, the effectiveness of Neisse Civilization’s mechas was not solely determined by their quality; the pilot’s abilities also played a critical role.

At her current level, Yuri was still too weak. With her focus stuck at Rank Two, she was unlikely to pilot such a high-level mecha effectively.

Sein resolved to wait until Yuri reached a higher life level before approaching his mentor with a request to “buy” the silver mecha.

***

By the time Sein’s alchemy experiments were over, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had settled down and returned to normalcy following the regional academy war.

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The life of a mage was inherently repetitive and monotonous.

Only spellcasters capable of enduring loneliness and solitude could hope to reach the temple of truth in their hearts.

After nearly forty years of Sein’s reforms, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had stabilized in all aspects of its operation, no longer requiring his constant attention as dean.

Sein was only human, not an omnipotent god.

His ability to reform the Divine Tower of Dark Flame Academy stemmed from centuries of accumulated experience and wisdom.

Bringing the academy to its current state was already the pinnacle of what he could achieve with his present skills and knowledge.

It was hard for him to imagine any further significant improvements.

Perhaps, with a few more centuries of growth or entirely new life experiences, Sein might develop fresh ideas for the academy’s future.

For now, maintaining the status quo was more than satisfactory.

Over the past twenty years, the recruitment of initiates had seen no significant disruptions.

Bousse and the others had not remained idle in one place. The Alveroth Empire was vast, and the loss of a few commoner initiates from its population barely registered as a concern.

Even the recruitment programs for commoner initiates in the areas surrounding the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had steadily improved.

As the initiate population grew steadily, so too did the number of full-fledged mages within the Divine Tower of Dark Flame.

This was a sign of healthy development.

The only downside was the increased expenditure. The divine tower was now spending several times more than it used to.

Fortunately, Tower Master of Dark Flame had the wealth to support it.

Sein had come to realize that, despite the tower master’s flaws, there was one admirable trait about him—when it came to certain matters, he never hesitated.

Even though Dark Flame often grumbled about the reforms introduced by Sein and Keith, he never withheld funding as long as their efforts produced results and did not impede the divine tower’s growth.

Dark Flame understood that the current financial sacrifices were investments in the tower’s long-term development.

When it came to spending money, Sein observed that Dark Flame was more decisive than Master Lorianne.

***

While managing the academy’s operations and pursuing his experimental research, Sein had not forgotten the promise he made decades ago to the Divine Tower of Astral Sun mages—to travel to their region and gather magic materials.

As a Rank Three grand mage, Sein possessed enough power to traverse the vast expanse of the Magus World with confidence.

Since Rank Four and higher mages were restricted from engaging in combat within the Magus World, Rank Three grand mages effectively represented the peak of lower-tier combat power in the Magus Civilization.

Apart from demigod-level mages at the divine tower academies—who presented a significant challenge—Sein had no reason to fear other Rank Three grand mages.

During his travels to collect magic ingredients from other divine towers’ territories, Sein inevitably had to clash with the experts of these regions.

These encounters actually served as a form of training.

Through numerous battles with Rank Three grand mages like Adrian and Janice from the Divine Tower of Astral Sun, Sein’s relationship with them evolved, moving beyond initial hostility.

Sometimes, it took a fight to foster mutual respect—and even friendship.

Over the course of his travels, Sein had made many such “friends”.