Sovereign of the Ashes

The process of acquiring familiars for the Shaman Priests of the Beastmen World was no small matter.

Summoners from the Magus World might be able to forcibly summon otherworldly creatures to fight alongside them, but not the Shaman Priests.

For them, the very first requirement of acquiring their familiar was earning the creature's approval.

Only by building a strong enough bond could a Shaman Priest successfully gain a familiar.

That was what made the fox maiden's feat so incredible—summoning not just one, but two large familiars in quick succession was practically unheard of.

Could her temperament really be that good?

One moment, she had been standing alone; the next, she was accompanied by a Komodo War Beast and an Arachadrake.

Sein stared at the fox maiden for a long time.

Maybe it was because he had known her for years, had grown used to seeing her—but while he had to admit she was beautiful, he honestly could not see what made her so special.

As Sein mulled it over, he suddenly realized something.

Back then, out of all his attendants, Tourmaline had only grown close to the fox maiden.

Even with Yuri and the mermaid, Tourmaline had never shown them that same level of favor.

"Maybe I should make some time to study Azelia more," Sein muttered, rubbing his chin as he eyed the fox maiden thoughtfully.

The development of the tempered crystal vein was progressing smoothly.

After learning the basic properties of the crystal from Master Brock, Sein had already decided—he would use tempered crystals as the outer protective layer for Yuri's future mecha.

If this kind of crystal could be used to build space fortresses and war forts, then it could definitely be used for a mecha too.

The sheer capacity of Sein's spatial storage equipment had left Master Brock stunned.

In the end, Master Brock only took a few hundred cubic meters of purified tempered crystal ore.

Meanwhile, Sein gathered up both the pure ore and the leftover fragments, storing it all away without wasting a single piece.

***

Befriending Master Brock was also a way for Sein to broaden his connections.

Over the next stretch of time, Sein even traveled a bit with him.

Though Master Brock was not as knowledgeable overall as Sein, his expertise in geo elemental magic was rock-solid.

On top of that, it turned out Master Brock also dabbled in civil engineering—a rare skillset in the Magus World.

With a grin, Master Brock had told him, "If you ever decide to build a magic tower, just come straight to me. I'll even give you a twenty percent discount."

Naturally, they exchanged crystal ball contact info.

Sein invited Master Brock to visit Viridescent Land sometime, and in return, Master Brock welcomed Sein to drop by the Byrne Empire.

Thanks to the Verdant Wave Canal, traveling between Viridescent Land and the Byrne Empire was actually a lot easier than most people realized.

"I'm so jealous of how normal divine tower mages like you socialize with each other. It's a shame I'll never get to experience that," Leena confided to Sein with a quiet sigh.

"You'll be free to walk in the sunlight someday. I promise," Sein assured.

Leena leaned her head against his shoulder without another word.

"By the way, is your mentor not going to say anything about you being away from Blackhaven for so long?" Sein asked after a moment.

"And... about what I mentioned last time... have you thought about venturing deeper into Blackhaven to find another..."

Before he could finish, Leena shook her head.

"I've been doing pretty well at the Black Tower of Cinderbones, I don't see any reason to leave," she said firmly.

"Besides, heading deeper into Blackhaven is just swapping one master for another. I'd rather gain my own power than depend on someone else," she added.

Sein nodded thoughtfully at her words.

Although the Spider Queen was more reasonable toward him these days, Sein had not forgotten their first encounter—she had nearly killed him on the spot.

The longer he spent around her, the more she used him for her own ends.

In that sense, sending Leena deeper into Blackhaven might not actually put her in a better position.

Besides, she had already adapted to life at the Black Tower of Cinderbones.

Staying where she was might actually help her grow faster than starting over under someone else's thumb.

"Take your time studying the necromancy and umbra elemental knowledge I gave you last time. If you run into anything you don't understand, come find me. I'll get you answers," Sein said, absentmindedly rubbing the silver spider ring on his finger.

"All right." Leena nodded.

At some point, Sein had become her safe space.

By his side, Leena barely had to lift a finger or worry about anything—Sein handled it all.

That feeling of being protected was something she had never known in all her years in Blackhaven.

It was intoxicating.

***

After traveling with Master Brock for a while, the master eventually took his leave, leaving Sein and Leena alone together once more.

The Knight Continent's trial zone was saturated with elemental energy, and its wealth of resources was nothing short of impressive.

Not long after, Sein released Yuri and Azelia from their living device.

Each of them had been given one of Sein's spatial storage devices.

Aside from the resources Sein personally wanted, Yuri and Azelia were allowed to keep the rest of the ordinary materials and energy crystals for themselves.

Even though they were technically slaves, Sein had never treated them that way.

Yuri, for one, had managed to save up quite a fortune over the years.

Sein was not entirely sure what she planned to do with it, but tucked away in her private vault were countless materials sourced straight from Faeloria, just waiting for the perfect moment to be put to use.

As for Azelia, she had built up her own savings too, but just before leaving Faeloria, she had divided most of her assets between Flynn and the other two.

And when she departed the battlefield of Bouldrak Plane, she donated everything she had left to the half-beastmen.

Sein had not stopped her.

***

The Knight Continent's resource-rich trial zone was a treasure trove in Sein's eyes.

Beyond the strange native flora and fauna, Sein also crossed paths with quite a few Rank Three grand mages.

Two of them had even reached the demigod realm, just like him.

It soon became clear that this trial zone had been opened specifically for Rank Three grand mages.

In all his travels so far, Sein had not encountered a single knight or low-ranking mage.

Exploring the Knight Continent's trial zone was proving to be far more rewarding than visiting any of the medium or low-level allied planes.

With each passing day, the bounty from the trial zone kept filling Sein and Leena's coffers.

By now, not only had Sein lost track of how wealthy he had become, but even Leena had nearly saved up enough resources for her next attempt at breaking through to the demigod realm.

In the 56th year since entering the trial zone, Sein and Leena finally arrived at a mysterious secret realm.