Chapter 2084: Hands-off Approach and Familiar

After bidding farewell to the Phantom Crow King, Sein continued toward Magus World.

As the familiar world gradually came into view, Sein could not help but murmur, “I’m back, Magus World.”

***

The three space fortresses eventually docked side by side at the Titans’ starport outside Magus World.

These were all berths Thor had reserved for them anyway, so there was no reason not to make use of them.

Besides, just like the last time Sein had passed through, there were very few space fortresses currently docked at this starport.

Most of the Titans’ main forces were still fighting in the Valthwain Star Domain, which Sein himself had left not long ago.

It was only natural that so few space fortresses remained here.

Once the three fortresses were docked, Sein’s group and the mages under his command began entering Magus World in batches aboard airships and other flying vessels.

The beauty of Magus World was intoxicating.

For Sein, who had wandered through distant star domains for so many years, returning to his homeplane brought a deep sense of comfort. He felt as though both his body and soul had been nourished.

***

Upon returning to the Divine Tower of Ashes, the first thing Sein did was have someone bring him the latest development reports from the divine tower academy.

The academy was the foundation of a divine tower’s long-term prosperity.

After being away for so many years, Sein naturally wanted to see for himself how his divine tower had developed in his absence.

Marie had already worked tirelessly for many years, so Sein told her to get some rest first.

Her residence within the Divine Tower of Ashes was right next to Sein’s anyway. If anything urgent came up, she could easily contact him at any time.

Aside from reviewing the academy’s development, Sein also needed to sort through the divine tower’s finances, including the funds managed by the Goddess of Wealth, as well as his own personal fortune.

Purchasing more space fortresses, carrying out the experiments necessary for his breakthrough to Rank Six, and crafting the Ashen Scepter would all require enormous sums of money.

Before any of that could begin, Sein first needed to work out exactly how much each undertaking would cost.

Six months later...

Inside the divine tower laboratory, Sein was conducting another mechanical experiment.

The Magic Cube hovered before him, radiating a dazzling brilliance.

Ever since devouring a fragment of the Ark’s core in Divine Descendants World, the Magic Cube had evolved into a high-grade mid-tier world-class secret treasure, placing it on the same level as the Faceless Mask.

Bathed in the brilliant blue light imbued with law power, HALL-E assisted Sein with the experiment before them.

Since returning to Magus World, several of Sein’s former assistants and old companions had gradually returned to his side as well.

Recently, for instance, it was HALL-E rather than Fermera who had been assisting him with most of his mechanical experiments.

Likewise, Azelia had once again taken up the task of handling Sein’s daily chores and keeping his laboratory clean, dressed in her usual maid uniform.

After so many years apart, Sein discovered that the fox maiden had grown considerably stronger. This puzzled him more than a little.

Over the years, Sein had taken great care of Selina and Eileen, providing them with no shortage of cultivation resources. Yet their progress had remained mediocre, and there was a very real possibility that Rank Three would be as far as either of them could go.

The fox maiden, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Despite Sein taking a hands-off approach with her all these years, she had somehow shown remarkable potential.

She had long since reached the Demigod Realm and was now even preparing to attempt her breakthrough to Rank Four.

Sein had once asked her exactly how she had been cultivating during his absence.

The fox maiden had looked just as puzzled by the question as he was.

She had not had any serendipitous encounters, nor had she stumbled across some rare treasure that suddenly transformed her potential.

Apparently, while Sein was away from Magus World, she had simply continued cleaning his empty laboratory as usual. With considerably more free time on her hands, she had spent much of it studying war songs.

Azelia followed the path of a Shaman Priestess from Beastmen World.

Even after advancing to Rank Four in the future, she would most likely become a support-oriented Shaman Beast God rather than a combat-focused powerhouse who relied on brute strength to force her way through the ranks.

She was not the only one who had surprised Sein either. Lou and Sandy had also shown greater potential than Sein had originally expected.

As a half-undead being and an elemental creature respectively, Lou and Sandy possessed lifespans far exceeding those of flesh-and-blood creatures like humans and Beastmen.

Their growth had not been as rapid as the fox maiden’s, but Sein had seen enough over the years to trust his own judgement. He was confident that both of them had the potential to reach Rank Four.

Unfortunately, not everyone around Sein was progressing in the same direction.

Sev, the owl who had accompanied him since his days as a black magic initiate, had begun showing faint signs of its soul flame extinguishing in recent years.

Sev had originally been nothing more than an ordinary magic beast. The fact that it had managed to grow this far was largely thanks to Sein pouring countless resources into it over the years, along with several bloodline experiments he had personally conducted.

These days, Sev’s wingspan was already approaching ten meters. Yet whenever it folded its wings and settled down to rest, there was an unmistakable sense of frailty about it. Even its feathers had grown dry, with many falling out over the years.

Still, Sev had one advantage precisely because it was a magic beast.

Sein had already told it that if it still failed to advance in rank, he would simply form a soul contract with it.

Once Sev became Sein’s familiar, it would be able to share a portion of his soul energy.

With Sein already at peak Rank Five and his advancement to Rank Six drawing ever closer, extending Sev’s lifespan considerably would not be difficult.

After all, the bond between a familiar and its master was, by nature, one in which two lives coexisted as equals.

However, when Magus World mages chose their familiars, they generally sought out rare species capable of providing them with extraordinary benefits, or powerful creatures whose strength far surpassed their own.

Someone like Sein, who intended to form such a bond with a bird-type magic beast far weaker than himself and possessing an otherwise ordinary bloodline, was quite rare.

Even so, Sein had no regrets.

When he told Sev about his plans, the owl merely responded with two soft coos.

It neither agreed nor refused.

It simply gazed quietly at Sein, as though there were many things it wanted to say.

In the end, however, Sev said nothing.

The mechanical experiment before Sein was gradually drawing to a close.

He had already recorded the most important experimental data into his crystal ball, while HALL-E continued assisting him with the final steps using its mechanical arms.

Just then, PAL, the electronic cockroach and HALL-E’s closest friend, bounced into the laboratory and made its way toward Sein’s experimental table.

The lifespans of both PAL and HALL-E had long since exceeded what Sein considered normal.

Both had already existed for millions of years, yet even now, Sein had not figured out exactly what allowed them to survive for so long.

Aside from being inseparable from HALL-E, PAL was also very attached to Azelia, who frequently cleaned Sein’s laboratory.

This time, PAL had come on her behalf to pass along a message while Sein was still busy with his experiment.

“Master Sein, you have a visitor.”

PAL hopped onto the experimental table, its antennae swaying back and forth.

“It’s someone from your family.”