Chapter 2085: House Grantt

Sein absolutely hated being disturbed in the middle of an experiment.

Azelia and Yuri had both been with him for many years, so naturally, they were well aware of this.

There were, however, a few exceptions.

Members of the Verdant Flame Faction were one exception. Urgent matters were another, as were visits from members of Sein’s immediate family.

Besides, Azelia also had a feeling that Sein was almost done with his current mechanical experiment.

“Someone from House Grantt, huh...” Sein murmured as he rose from the experimental table and glanced out of the window.

In truth, House Grantt had not come to visit on their own accord. As soon as Sein returned to Magus World, he had already sent a message to his family.

His great-grandfather, Julius, had failed twice in his attempts to advance to Rank Four.

Sein still had plenty of time ahead of him to pursue truth and immerse himself in his daily experiments, but Julius could no longer afford to wait.

Moreover, if Julius succeeded in advancing to Rank Four, his treatment would naturally be somewhat different from that of the other Rank Four knights in Ashenreach.

Sein was no saint. When it came down to it, he naturally favoured his own family.

If Julius established his own knightly order in Ashenreach after advancing to Rank Four, the support and resources it received would inevitably be comparable to those enjoyed by Reina and Sia.

Even in its earliest stages, Julius’ knightly order would already have a considerable head start over the others.

By comparison, Marie had previously mentioned that two other Rank Four knights were also hoping to establish knightly orders in Ashenreach, yet neither had even been able to meet Sein.

Sein had simply been extremely busy since returning to Magus World and had yet to find the time to meet two Rank Four knights he barely knew.

That was despite the fact that their future interplanar wars would most likely revolve around the Divine Tower of Ashes.

“So they’re from House Grantt? Take them to my office on the top floor,” Sein instructed.

“Got it,” PAL replied before hopping out of the laboratory.

Sein quickly finished the last few steps of the experiment. After putting away the Magic Cube, he turned to HALL-E.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Understood,” HALL-E replied. It immediately resumed the work, meticulously carrying out the remaining experimental procedures according to Sein’s plans.

Among all of Sein’s laboratory assistants, whether Fermera, Yuri, Azelia, or even Mel, none could match HALL-E when it came to rigour and professionalism.

This was especially true in mechanical experiments.

Sein had discovered that with HALL-E assisting him, the efficiency of his mechanical research had practically doubled!

***

After leaving the laboratory, Sein quickly made his way to the top floor of the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Seven knights from House Grantt were already waiting for him in his office.

There were four men and three women among them: one demigod-level knight, four Sky Knights, and two Land Knights.[1]

The demigod-level knight was Isaac Grantt, a name Sein vaguely remembered.

Isaac was regarded as one of House Grantt’s most promising talents, having advanced to Rank One while still in his twenties.

Now, just as many had expected, he had already reached the Demigod Realm. Even so, Isaac was not the one who drew Sein’s attention.

The moment Sein entered the office, his gaze settled on the man standing at the front of the group. He was a Sky Knight with an aged face and hair that had already turned mostly grey.

“Father,” Sein called out.

Kelman Grantt, Sein’s biological father, was still alive.

Sein bore a pretty strong resemblance to his father. Their facial features were quite similar, and both had inherited the blond hair characteristic of House Grantt.

Back when Sein first returned to the family after leaving underground, he had already realised that he was the one who resembled his father the most.

His half-brother Solon, by comparison, had apparently failed to inherit much of House Grantt’s so-called “fine bloodline”. He had not even inherited their blond hair.

Time had left its marks across Kelman’s face, but traces of the handsome young knight he had once been could still be seen.

Even now, he remained in remarkably good physical condition.

Sein and Solon were not Kelman’s only sons.

After advancing to Rank One, Kelman had naturally met other female knights over the years and fathered several more children.

Even so, Sein and Solon had always remained the two sons he cared about most.

Among Kelman’s many descendants, it was Solon’s line that continued to inherit the position of head of House Grantt, generation after generation.

Nearly ten thousand years had passed.

House Grantt had already gone through hundreds of generations, gradually growing from the knight family Sein once knew into one of Magus World’s ancient knight houses, with a history spanning over ten millennia.

There was only one thing the family still lacked... A Rank Four knight.

“Sein.” Kelman nodded at him.

Although they were father and son, after so many years apart, there was inevitably a certain sense of unfamiliarity between them.

The fact that House Grantt had even sent Kelman here was enough to show just how seriously the family regarded this meeting with Sein.

Kelman then introduced the other knights standing nearby.

The Sky Knights among them were all pillars of House Grantt.

Aside from those family members still fighting on the front lines, the group gathered before Sein could be considered the core strength House Grantt currently had remaining in Magus World.

This was not particularly surprising. Over the years, Sein had poured a great deal of resources and effort into House Grantt’s development. He had even personally refined and improved the family’s battle qi techniques.

With that kind of support, House Grantt’s growth over the past several thousand years had naturally been remarkable.

As for the man and woman who were only Land Knights, they were actually the two most outstanding members of House Grantt’s younger generation.

They were also twins.

According to Kelman, the two shared a natural telepathic connection and were capable of executing remarkably powerful combined combat techniques on the battlefield.

Among their past achievements was even the impressive feat of defeating a Rank Three extraplanar creature together.

Sein gave the younger members of House Grantt a slight nod.

To him, it was little more than a casual acknowledgement. But to these younger members of House Grantt, most of whom were only Rank Two or Rank Three, even that small gesture of recognition was enough to leave them excited for quite some time.

As a small gesture of encouragement, Sein also gave them basic potions he no longer had much use for.

Within House Grantt, Rank Two Land Knights and Rank Three Sky Knights could hardly be considered youngsters anymore. But in the eyes of a peak Rank Five mage like Sein, that was exactly what they were.

Sein paid little attention to their reactions and instead turned back to Kelman.

“How is Great-Grandfather doing now?” he asked.

A slight look of concern crossed Kelman’s face.

“Not too well. He failed both of his attempts to advance to Rank Four, and each failure depleted a considerable amount of his soul energy,” he replied.

“The Reverse Winged Lion King used the power of their blood pact to replenish some of his life force afterward. Even so, he probably has only one more chance left.”

Sein fell silent for a moment. He briefly looked through his recent experiment plans on the crystal ball, then instructed Azelia to retrieve several materials from the laboratory.

Once those arrangements were made, Sein looked at Kelman and the other members of House Grantt.

“I’ll return to House Grantt with all of you.”

1. Translator’s recap: Sky Knight = Rank Three, Land Knight = Rank Two. ☜