Chapter 2096: Grow On Her Own

While the Rank Two mage was speaking with Catherine in the library of the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun, neither of them realized that four other people were nearby.

Two of them were Sein and Marie.

The other two were Tiertz, a Rank Five mage, and Miladin, the demigod-level dean of the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun.

Sein had made a trip to the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun in the Byrne Empire to find out why the apprentice he had personally chosen was unwilling to come to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

After hearing Catherine’s earlier conversation with the Rank Two elder mage, Sein fell silent.

Is it really just about honoring the spirit of a contract...? No, it’s probably more than that.

This girl places immense importance on keeping the promises she made!

As Sein looked at Catherine, he suddenly thought back to the promises he himself had made when he was still only an initiate.

He had promised Leena that he would definitely go to the Western Archipelago to find her.

He had also promised his first mentor, Morsidor, that he would one day return his ashes to his hometown.

And Sein had fulfilled both promises.

In truth, those decisions had also been Sein’s answer to his own heart.

Had he feared the perilous journey back then and chosen instead to remain at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring as a dutiful apprentice of the tower master, his life would have taken an entirely different course.

He would never have met Tourmaline.

He might not have grown as quickly as he did.

And he certainly would not have been fortunate enough to inherit the Faceless Mask.

Sometimes, a person’s circumstances and even their destiny could change because of a single choice.

With that thought in mind, Sein decided to respect Catherine’s decision.

“Fine. I’ll come find Catherine after she fulfills her contracts with the Byrne Empire and the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun.”

He looked down at the female initiate in the library below and continued, “Not being swayed by outside influences and remaining true to one’s heart isn’t something every mage can do. Her persistence may seem a little foolish, but I respect it.”

Tiertz and Miladin had originally been somewhat unsure how to handle the situation themselves.

Upon hearing Sein’s decision, Tiertz chuckled. “Master Sein truly has a keen eye for talent. You managed to spot such a promising young mage right away.”

He then laughed and added, “Now even I’m tempted to take on an apprentice like that. I wonder if the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun has any other promising initiates like her.”

“Thank you for acting as my intermediary this time and helping me settle the matter with the Byrne Empire’s military, Master Tiertz,” Sein said, once again expressing his gratitude to the Rank Five mage before him.

“Pah, don’t mention it,” Tiertz replied with a gentle smile.

Master Tiertz, who stood before Sein, was the Tower Master of Firen in the Byrne Empire. He was also a powerhouse within the empire who had maintained a special and secret partnership with Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes and Ashenreach for many years.

It seemed that the Spider Queen’s network of connections within the Byrne Empire was far more extensive than Sein had imagined.

Her connections were not limited to Rank Five mages like Tiertz. Even several Rank Six mages within the Byrne Empire belonged to Lorthisra’s circle.

The current Tower Master of Radiant Sun, Izak, had no partnership with Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes.

Tiertz, however, happened to be a good friend of his.

It was precisely because of this connection that Tiertz had been able to handle all the necessary arrangements for Sein to take away a promising initiate who had yet to even advance to Rank One!

This was no small favor. Mages placed just as much importance on taking apprentices as knights did on preserving their bloodlines.

For Tiertz to personally handle such a matter on Sein’s behalf carried even more weight than if the two of them had joined forces to slay a Rank Four creature.

This time, Sein truly owed Tiertz a favor. Yet Tiertz had not asked him for anything in return. All he wanted was to “be friends” with him.

Miladin, the other demigod-level mage present, maintained a respectful smile as he looked at the other three.

Although his white beard made him appear to be the oldest among them, he was actually the one with the lowest strength and status.

Sein naturally did not forget about Master Miladin either.

He took out several law-imbued items from his space ring and handed them to Miladin as a token of gratitude. These were precisely what demigod-level mages needed most at their current stage.

After a moment of thought, Sein reached into his space ring again. This time, he took out a diluted Life Potion.

“That Rank Two female mage who helped Catherine seems to be nearing the end of her lifespan,” Sein said as he handed the potion to Miladin.

“This Life Potion should be able to extend her lifespan by another hundred or two hundred years. Please give it to her on my behalf. Consider it my thanks for everything she has done for Catherine over the years.”

Although life-extending potions were relatively rare in Magus World, full-fledged mages could usually find some way to obtain one if they truly needed it.

Extending one’s lifespan by a significant amount was another matter, but gaining an extra decade or two was certainly possible.

The Grand Elven World within the Magus Alliance was the leading exporter of these rare, top-tier resources.

However, such resources generally shared one common flaw. Once consumed, their effects would be greatly diminished upon subsequent use, if they worked at all.

The Life Potion personally taken out by the Tower Master of Ashes was obviously not something an ordinary mage could obtain. Naturally, there was no need to worry about any so-called “resistance” to its effects.

Moreover, a potion of this caliber likely offered benefits that went far beyond simply extending one’s lifespan.

Miladin respectfully accepted the crimson potion and assured Sein, “I will deliver it to Master Lani.”

“Should I tell her where this potion came from?” he asked.

Sein shook his head. “Just say it’s a gift to thank her for training Catherine.”

“Very well,” Miladin replied.

Sein cast one final glance toward the library below.

Catherine, who worked part-time as a cleaner in the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun’s library, had already finished her duties for the day. According to her usual schedule, she should be heading to the training grounds next to experiment with her newly learned spell.

During the recently concluded Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, Catherine had received a copy of Annotations on Pyro Element Fission as her reward.

The book contained extremely profound discussions on pyro elemental magic, many of which were still beyond Catherine’s current understanding.

It also contained more than ten spell models.

So far, Catherine had only managed to decipher the simplest and smallest one among them.

Sein was naturally very familiar with the spell book.

After all, he had written it himself. The knowledge recorded within was more than sufficient to guide Catherine all the way to Rank Two in the future.

Sein had even incorporated a trace of his own unique Ashen magic into the most complex spell model in the book.

Watching Catherine make her way toward the training grounds, Sein turned to Marie.

“Let’s go. It’s time for me to get back to my own experiments.”

“You’re really comfortable leaving your chosen apprentice to figure things out on her own at another divine tower for several decades?” Marie teased via mental focus as she walked up beside him.

Sein thought back to his own mentor. Come to think of it, Lorianne had pretty much taken the same approach with him in the beginning.

“Giving her some room to grow on her own for a while might not be a bad thing,” Sein replied.

“Even if she strays from the path of truth during that time, I can always set her back on the right course later,” he added, raising an eyebrow.

Although this was Sein’s first time taking on an apprentice, he was still fairly confident in his ability to teach one.

At the very least, he would not have to travel all the way to the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame, as Lorianne had, just to seek Feylis’ guidance on how to mentor her apprentice.