Chapter 2104: Gentle Mentor

After returning to Ashenreach, Sein had barely stepped into his laboratory when Marie followed right behind him.

He had not actually been away from the Divine Tower of Ashes for very long—less than fifty years at most.

Even so, quite a lot had changed in Ashenreach during that time.

First, the two Rank Four knights who planned to relocate there had finally begun establishing their knightly orders.

With the Clash of Civilizations currently underway, the Magus Civilization was allocating funds and resources to these two newly promoted Rank Four knights much faster than it would have in the past.

Even the construction teams sent to Ashenreach were working far more efficiently than before.

In just over twenty years, the main buildings of both knightly orders, along with several branch halls, were already nearing completion.

It was hard to believe that when Sein had first built the Divine Tower of Ashes, the entire process had taken more than a century.

Perhaps this was simply another sign of how much everything had accelerated against the backdrop of the Clash of Civilizations.

And it was not just Nova’s Order of the Might Dragon and Vernier’s Order of the Swiftstream.

Even the Order of the Mad Lion, founded by Sein’s great-grandfather, had finally begun taking shape now that Julius had stabilized his breakthrough.

One advantage Julius had was that he did not need to apply for any low-interest loans from the Magus Civilization. Sein would cover the cost for him.

Of course, Julius had repeatedly insisted that he would eventually repay every magicoin.

The establishment of these three knightly orders had undoubtedly brought even greater prosperity to Ashenreach.

More importantly, the knightly orders would actively promote the development of the surrounding human kingdoms, bringing more squires and promising young talents into the region.

Aside from the three new knightly orders, Marie also reported that ever since Sein left the Divine Tower of Ashes, wave after wave of magic beast clans had begun migrating toward Ashenreach.

This was clearly the result of Sein’s earlier visits to the various magic beast kings.

As a rising star among the magic beasts of Magus World, the Reverse Winged Lion King still needed guidance and support from the older generation of powerful magic beasts.

However, Sein could not keep handling everything on its behalf forever.

Once Julius’ Order of the Mad Lion was fully established, it would be better for Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King to personally visit the surrounding knightly orders and major magic beast forests.

At this point, Sein’s role was much like the one Lorianne and Feylis had once played for him.

He could open the door for them and point them in the right direction. As for what kind of social circle Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King ultimately managed to build, that would depend entirely on themselves.

“This isn’t the only large-scale species migration Ashenreach has seen recently,” Marie shared. “After the main hall of the Order of the Might Dragon was completed, Sir Nova brought in a large number of sub-dragon species from the Byrne Empire. There are many different varieties, but nearly half of them are Might Dragons, the species from which his knightly order took its name.”

Might Dragons were a type of sub-dragon species that resembled dinosaurs in appearance.

An adult Might Dragon could stand as tall as fifteen meters, making it an extremely formidable terrestrial sub-dragon comparable to the Terrabound Drake.

Unlike Terrabound Drakes, which walked on all fours, Might Dragons usually stood and moved on two legs.[1] Their two sharp foreclaws were capable of attacking, but were used mainly to maintain balance.

“Sir Nova wants to distribute these larger sub-dragon species across the various magic beast forests in eastern Ashenreach. After all, creatures of that size have quite the appetite,” Marie said. “There are also several sub-dragon species that prefer darker environments, and Sir Nova has requested permission to release some of them into the underground region.”

Since Nova and Vernier had already joined Ashenreach and reached an understanding with Sein on various aspects of future cooperation during their previous meeting, Sein naturally had no reason to refuse such a minor request.

“We can grant them access to the underground region,” Sein said. “However, the sub-dragon species Sir Nova brought over from the Byrne Empire shouldn’t all be confined to eastern Ashenreach. Some should also be distributed and bred throughout the rest of the territory.”

“I’m not trying to compete with him for his source of mounts. I simply think this would help balance out the growing magic beast populations migrating here from other regions,” Sein explained.

“If we’re also willing to divert some of those incoming magic beast populations into Sir Nova’s territory, I’m sure he’ll agree to the arrangement,” Marie replied with a nod.

“Then I’ll leave this matter to you,” Sein said with a smile.

Having such a reliable dean overseeing the Divine Tower of Ashes certainly saved Sein a great deal of trouble.

And Marie had done far more than simply manage the migration of magic beasts.

With such a massive influx of creatures pouring into Ashenreach recently, she had even made a special trip north to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring to request assistance from the dendromancers stationed in Magus World.

These full-fledged dendromancers came to Ashenreach and helped turn vast stretches of the region into thriving forests and greenery.

Jessica, who was also a Rank Four dendromancer, naturally contributed to the effort as well.

Sir Nova was not the only one bringing new species into Ashenreach. Sir Vernier had also relocated large numbers of marine magic beasts from the South Coast.

Furthermore, Vernier hoped to expand Ashenreach’s river network to better support the future development of his knightly order.

That was hardly surprising. After all, Vernier himself was a Rank Four knight who cultivated hydro-attributed battle qi.

Sir Nova clearly had strong connections within the Byrne Empire, while Sir Vernier maintained close ties with the sea races of Magus World.

Then again, if the two of them lacked competence, they would never have been among the first to recognize Ashenreach’s potential.

There was always a reason some people managed to get ahead of others.

After updating Sein on Ashenreach’s recent development, Marie also mentioned that Lorianne had sent him a package from the front lines some time ago.

Sein did not mind Marie’s presence. Right in front of her, he opened the spatial pouch sealed with Lorianne’s magical imprint.

Sure enough, it contained the latest batch of life potions his mentor had brewed in recent years.

Both the potency and value of these potions far surpassed those Lorianne had hastily prepared back in Primeval Wilds Plane.

There were twelve bottles in total. Each potion was a deep crimson, so dark that it almost appeared black.

Sein gently uncorked one and took a sniff. A rich and concentrated wave of life force immediately greeted his nose.

In terms of quality, these twelve potions were several grades above the Golden Apple Potions Lorianne had first brewed and were already approaching the level of Golden Silver Potions.

More importantly, there were plenty of them this time!

Twelve bottles were more than enough to last Sein for quite a while.

Sein suspected that his mentor still had plenty of finished potions and raw materials left on hand. After all, he had given Lorianne six large vials of life mucus back then.

“Master Lorianne really is very kind to those around her. She took great care of me back then too,” Marie remarked as Sein handed her one of the newly brewed potions.

“Oh?” Sein responded.

“Didn’t you know? I was able to advance to Rank Four because, just before my breakthrough, Master Lorianne gave me several top-grade potions and even found quite a few hydro-attribute Law artifacts for me. She never told you?” Marie asked in surprise.

Sein shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”

“And it wasn’t just me. Many of the life-extending potions Selina and the others took before were also crafted by Master Lorianne. She really is a very gentle and thoughtful mage,” Marie said.

“One of the reasons the mages of our Divine Tower of Ashes were able to maintain such strong cohesion and combat effectiveness even in your absence was because Master Lorianne often came over to help. She would also dispatch mages from her own divine tower to provide immediate treatment for our injured mages. Back when we were fighting on the front lines, many mages from other divine towers were quite envious of the support our Divine Tower of Ashes received.”

Sein nodded.

After a brief silence, he replied, “I see.”

1. Author’s Note: This was also why they were taller than adult Titans. ☜