Chapter 2094: Sein’s First Apprentice

For law-wielding mages, many of the troubles that ordinary people found difficult to resolve were hardly worth mentioning.

If some other Rank Three grand mage tried to recruit an initiate from a Rank Six divine tower, nine times out of ten, they would be turned away.

After all, why should a Rank Six tower master do them such a favor?

For Sein, however, it was merely a minor inconvenience.

The Divine Tower of Ashes had maintained close ties with the Byrne Empire for many years, particularly with its military, which Sein had dealt with on numerous occasions.

He would not even need to handle the matter personally. A word to a few familiar divine towers that frequently cooperated with the Byrne Empire would probably be enough to settle things.

The real question was whether the girl named Catherine was worth Sein going to such lengths for.

When Marie told him her name, Sein’s first thought was...

What a coincidence.

The languages and scripts of Magus World were incredibly diverse, so the two names were likely only similar in pronunciation.

Even so, Sein had never forgotten that his mother had also been named Catherine.

Having been abducted to Mystralora City as a child, his memories of her had long since grown hazy.

Even when he later returned to the surface, he never had the chance to see his mother one last time.

All he found was a grave covered in white petals.

In some ways, this was also part of the reason Sein had grown so deeply attached to Leena.

During his teenage years, she had been more than just his lover. At times, she had also been like an older sister to him.

Back when Sein was still weak and struggling to survive in that dark, cold underground world, Leena’s care, along with the strength she possessed at the time, had provided him with the only place where he could truly feel safe.

Of course, Sein and Leena rarely laid their feelings bare like this anymore, much less stopped to analyze why they felt the way they did.

They simply knew that they still loved each other.

And that was enough.

Hearing the name Catherine, so distant in his memories yet still strangely familiar, made Sein pause for a moment.

Learning that she was an orphan only deepened that strange feeling.

There were probably tens of millions of women named Catherine throughout Magus World.

Given the sheer number of planes and the vast population under a top-tier civilization, that was hardly surprising.

Yet out of all those people, Sein had happened to encounter this particular Catherine.

More importantly, this resilient female initiate had already caught his attention before he even learned her name.

Her name merely became the final reason Sein needed to make up his mind.

Sometimes, a name could have a strange influence on a person’s fate.

Sein himself had experienced something similar.

Back then, when Sir Klopp first took notice of him, it had not been because of the Faceless Mask he had inherited. It had simply been because his name was Sein.

Perhaps a name really could alter the course of someone’s life in ways no one could predict.

Marie and Leena both noticed Sein’s brief distraction.

Marie had no idea what had caused it. Leena, however, seemed to remember something. As she looked at Sein, her gaze quietly softened.

***

The final trial for the top one hundred initiates took place within a special isolated space.

A mechanical army more than ten times their number surged toward them, immediately placing the young initiates under tremendous pressure.

On the battlefields of civilization, mages typically relied on legions of enslaved creatures and knight legions to hold the front line and absorb most of the enemy’s firepower.

Here, however, the initiates had no such luxury. Aside from ten or so who specialized in summoning or puppet-making, the rest had nothing but themselves to rely on.

“Damn it! Why is this year’s academy war so brutal?” Sophie cursed. “Forget the other two Despair Bearers besides you. That angel leading those twelve over there is probably Rank Two, isn’t it?! I’m seriously running out of trump cards here!”

Despite being known as the Faint Glow, and even having a name that carried the elegance of a young noblewoman, Sophie was nothing like the refined lady she usually presented herself as at the academy.

Apparently, that had all been an act.

Sophie was already nearing forty. Possessing combat prowess comparable to a Rank One mage at her age was more than enough to mark her as a genius who appeared only once every few centuries.

Yet now, confronted by a mechanical legion that vastly outnumbered and outmatched them, even this fierce young noblewoman was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

Not far away, Smark, the Ashen Hand, rolled his eyes at her. He really had misjudged Sophie.

To think that someone capable of outshining him had been hiding right under his nose at the Divine Tower of Ashes Academy all this time.

Before this academy war began, Smark had vaguely heard that several influential figures would be paying close attention to this year’s competition.

He was probably not the only one who had heard. Given Sophie’s distinguished background, she had probably received similar news. Otherwise, there would have been little reason for her to conceal her true strength for so long.

They all shared the same goal in this academy war: to distinguish themselves and catch the attention of the powerful figures within their divine tower.

After all, advancing to Rank One was merely the first step onto the path of truth in Magus World.

At that stage, having a powerful mentor could save a young mage from taking countless unnecessary detours.

Sein himself was a perfect example.

Back then, Lorianne had noticed him almost immediately and eventually accepted him as her apprentice.

Personal talent was undoubtedly important, but having a good mentor could be just as crucial.

At first, the initiates from the six divine towers continued fighting separately as they resisted the mechanical legion closing in around them.

That was hardly surprising. They had spent the previous two years fighting each other in the trial space. Expecting them to suddenly set aside those rivalries and cooperate was easier said than done.

The first to suggest joining forces were the initiates from the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun in the Byrne Empire.

Having long been subjected to the Byrne Empire’s semi-militarized training and management, they were noticeably more disciplined than the initiates of the other divine towers.

Unfortunately, the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun had failed to produce a single Despair Bearer in this year’s academy war, leaving them less influential among the group.

They had around ten Quasi Mages, but even that was hardly enough to compare with the four Despair Bearers present.

To everyone’s surprise, however, the first person from the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun to step forward was a senior initiate.

With a humble appearance and the strange scent of magical spices still clinging to her, she snapped, “If we don’t work together now, we’re all going to be expelled from the trial space! Do you really want to fail here?”[1]

Her words were directed mainly at the four Despair Bearer-level initiates.

The four exchanged glances.

In the end, the hydromancer from the Divine Tower of Ocean Blue, who seemed to have the mildest temperament among them, was the first to agree.

He immediately rallied the initiates around him and joined forces with those from the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun.

Many of the Divine Tower of Ocean Blue’s initiates had mastered summoning spells related to the sea. One after another, the oceanic creatures they summoned appeared within the trial space and surged to the front, forming the first line of defense against the approaching mechanical army.

The initiates from the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun also displayed the exceptional discipline their academy was known for.

Until they were injured badly enough to be eliminated from the trial space, not a single one voluntarily abandoned the front line.

The senior female initiate who had first called for everyone to unite was no exception. She led by example, taking her place at the very front of the formation.

Inspired by the initiates from the two divine towers, the others gradually began joining them as well.

None of them had ever trained together, and they knew almost nothing about one another’s fighting styles. Yet after only a brief period of adjustment, the hundred initiates began fighting as a surprisingly cohesive force.

Outside the trial space, however, Sein was no longer paying much attention to the battle.

The moment that senior female initiate stepped forward and convinced the others to unite, Sein had already gotten everything he wanted from this Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.

“Get the initiate named Catherine over to the Divine Tower of Ashes. If you run into any trouble, ask Aurelia for help. She’ll handle things with the Byrne Empire,” Sein instructed Marie.

Marie looked at him in surprise.

“You’ve decided to take her as your apprentice?”

The whole thing still felt somewhat surreal to her.

Sein was already a peak Rank Five mage standing on the threshold of Rank Six, yet in nearly ten thousand years, he had never once shown any serious interest in taking an apprentice.

And now, just like that, he had chosen one.

Sein nodded. “It’ll be this little one. I have high hopes for her.”

He paused briefly before adding, “She may not be a top-tier genius, but I believe she’s... worth nurturing.”

1. Author’s Note: The magical spices she used were specifically used to mask her presence while hiding. ☜