Chapter 2097: Two Knightly Orders

Setting Catherine’s matter aside for the time being, Sein returned to his laboratory in the Divine Tower of Ashes and once again took out the fist-sized Venerable Tianyang’s blood crystal from his spatial storage equipment.

“The profound mysteries of pyro elemental energy, huh...? And those three flames I saw in Grandmaster’s laboratory...” Sein mused to himself.

Time always passed quickly during research.

In the blink of an eye, another fifty years had gone by.

The grand necromancer mentioned by his mother-in-law, Sia, had still not arrived at the Divine Tower of Ashes, largely because of the ongoing war on the front lines.

Naturally, Sein could not remain here waiting for him indefinitely.

Over the past fifty years, aside from immersing himself in experimental research day and night, Sein had also made a trip to Sky City.

Meanwhile, the space fortresses he had ordered from the Capiche Business Alliance and Steel City were finally completed.

Sein’s trip to Sky City had mainly been to resolve some of the questions he had encountered during his recent experiments.

Some of the profound truths he was currently exploring had already gone beyond what even Feylis could explain to him. From this point onward, there were many things Sein would simply have to figure out on his own.

Sky City was home to the accumulated knowledge and insights of countless mages throughout the ages. Although Sein stayed there for only a little over a decade, he benefited immensely from the visit.

It was also during this trip that Sein finally raised his Arcanist rank to Rank Five.

However, when he used his new Rank Five Arcanist privileges to search Sky City for information regarding an overlord’s Omnipotent Soul, the useful information he found still amounted to only a few brief sentences.

According to Sky City, Rank Five was simply too early to begin delving deeply into the academic study of an overlord’s soul.

Sein would need to advance to at least Rank Six and attain the status of a Rank Six Arcanist before Sky City would grant him access to more profound knowledge on the subject.

Generally speaking, however, advancing one’s Arcanist rank was far more difficult than advancing as a spellcaster.

For a Magus World mage to attain the status of a Rank Six Arcanist, their actual strength would most likely need to reach at least the peak of Rank Six.

That was the most suitable stage to delve into such an advanced field as the study of an overlord’s soul.

Sein could not help but feel a little disappointed that he was still unable to access those academic materials.

Nevertheless, the knowledge he acquired in Sky City regarding elemental magic, mechanical arts, and alchemy proved immensely valuable.

The mechanical knowledge Sein had mastered differed considerably from that of a traditional Magus World mechanic.

After all, Sein was largely self-taught. He had never received formal training in Steel City.

In fact, much of his current prowess in this field came from the Magic Cube’s support, along with the knowledge he had gradually pieced together through his own research.

The mechanical knowledge recorded in Sky City therefore broadened Sein’s horizons, allowing him to examine many familiar problems from entirely different perspectives.

At the same time, gaining a deeper understanding of the Magus World’s traditional mechanical system would also prove useful for Sein’s upcoming plan to carry out large-scale modifications to his space fortress.

***

“Ashenreach welcomes you both. We also look forward to deepening our cooperation with you in the Clash of Civilizations,” Sein said to the two Rank Four knights seated across from him in his office.

Both were male knights in the early stages of Rank Four, yet their physiques could hardly have been more different.

The taller and burlier of the two was built like a walking cube. His name was Nova, and he hailed from the Byrne Empire.

The other, Vernier, came from the South Coast. Despite being a Rank Four knight, he stood only about 1.5 meters tall and had a small, slender build. Judging from his physique, he most likely specialized in speed and agility.

Both had come to Ashenreach with the intention of establishing their own knightly orders.

Meeting Sein had proven surprisingly difficult.

This was already their third visit to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

On their previous two visits, Sein had happened to be away at House Grantt and Sky City respectively, causing them to miss him both times.

Sein was not an unreasonable mage. Now that he had finally met the two Rank Four knights in person, it did not take long for him to finalize the matter of their knightly orders settling in Ashenreach.

As for why Nova and Vernier had chosen Ashenreach instead of establishing their knightly orders in their respective home regions, the reason was quite simple.

Ashenreach was developing rapidly, and the number of divine towers being established throughout the region continued to increase.

The Byrne Empire and the South Coast were different.

Both were long-established regional powers where the available territory and spheres of influence had already been divided among the existing forces.

Even if Nova and Vernier could still establish knightly orders there, the prospects for future growth would undoubtedly be inferior to what Ashenreach could offer.

Since both the Byrne Empire and the South Coast bordered Ashenreach, the two Rank Four knights had clearly given the matter considerable thought before deciding where to establish their foundations.

Nova and Vernier also took the opportunity to express their willingness to form a long-term partnership with Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes.

During their earlier conversation, the two had even subtly indicated that they and the forces under their command would be willing to follow the Divine Tower of Ashes’ lead in the future.

Within Magus World, it had long been customary for knights to follow the lead of mages.

After all, even the knight profession itself had originally been created by the ancient magi.

The fact that Sein had waited so long before meeting these two Rank Four knights was not because he was truly that busy, nor was he deliberately putting on airs.

Rather, he had spent that time quietly investigating both knights through every possible source.

After all, not just anyone could be allowed to settle in Ashenreach.

If someone of questionable character, or a law-wielding knight who simply did not see eye to eye with Sein, were allowed to settle here, wouldn’t that just cause trouble for him?

Sein had built Ashenreach from the ground up, watching it develop little by little into what it was today. Naturally, he had long since come to regard the region as his own territory.

Even the Magus Civilization recognized that Ashenreach’s rapid rise was largely thanks to Sein.

Because of this, whenever newly promoted law-wielding knights or mages were recommended to establish themselves in Ashenreach, Sein would usually be notified in advance and provided with information on these new powerhouses.

Furthermore, those currently looking to establish divine towers or knightly orders were almost always powerhouses who had only recently advanced to Rank Four.

After all, Rank Five powerhouses and above generally already possessed their own divine towers or knightly orders. They would not casually abandon their existing foundations and start over somewhere else.

With Sein’s current strength, keeping a group of newly advanced Rank Four powerhouses in check was hardly a problem.

Besides, Ashenreach already had Jessica’s Divine Tower of Green Flame, Mussor’s Divine Tower of Black Forest, Reina’s Order of Steel Heart, Sia’s Order of the Flame Demon, and Gin’s Order of Crimson Knights.

With so many forces already established, Ashenreach had effectively become a stronghold firmly under Sein’s control.

On top of that, Sein maintained close ties with the neighboring Byrne Empire, the South Coast, the magic beast forests, and the Viridescent Land.

There was simply very little room for outsiders to come here and carve out a foothold against him.

“By the way,” Sein asked, suddenly curious, “have the two of you decided on names for your knightly orders yet?”

Nova and Vernier exchanged glances.

After a brief pause, the burly knight answered first.

“The Order of the Might Dragon.”

The shorter knight followed immediately.

“And mine will be called the Order of the Swiftstream.”