Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 341: Challenges In Mentorship

Lorianne nodded in agreement.

Having experienced the journey to Rank Four and the loan application process with the Magus Alliance, she understood well the challenges involved.

After ascending to Rank Four, a stabilization period of one hundred to four hundred years was required for mages to solidify their newfound strength.

Moreover, applying for a loan from the Magus Alliance to establish a divine tower was a lengthy process.

Lorianne was able to get her loan approved swiftly back then largely due to Mater Feylis’ social connection and influence.

Lacking such direct influence to rely on, Dean Archimedes’ most talented apprentice might face a bigger challenge.

The Magus Alliance would spend some time evaluating the Rank Four mage’s ability to repay the loan within a designated period before determining the loan amount.

Should Lorianne be unable to fulfill her repayment obligations, the Magus Alliance would then contact her guarantor, Feylis, to recover the funds.

Even so, the Magus Alliance generally adopted a benevolent approach. They would usually approve loans for aspiring divine tower masters, albeit in varying amounts.

Considering Vlad’s situation, waiting two hundred years for the approval was the best-case scenario. Lorianne anticipated that Archimedes would probably end up staying in her divine tower for another four hundred years.

After all, Lorianne had hired Dean Archidemedes with a high salary, and Vlad would have to consider the significant expenses involved in the establishment of his divine tower.

Archimedes was married but childless. Despite his advanced age, remained dedicated to his work at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, partly out of love for the job and partly to accumulate wealth for his apprentices.

With Archimedes’ proficient management, Lorianne was able to swiftly tackle the divine tower’s backlog of work.

On the afternoon of Lorianne’s return to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein and his mentor were reunited after spending several years apart.

While both appeared unchanged on the surface, Lorianne’s keen senses and higher life level allowed her to detect the changes inside Sein’s body.

“Looks like you’ve made significant progress with the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique. Not bad at all,” she complimented with a nod of approval after observing Sein for a while.

Their reunion took place in one of Lorianne’s laboratories, located on the 746th floor of the divine tower.

This meeting, a casual one between mentor and apprentice, lacked the formality of her discussions with Archimedes. Moreover, Lorianne had already completed her tasks for the day.

This particular lab was just one of many within the tower, serving not only as a space for experimentation but also as Lorianne’s personal “collection room”.

Sein was greeted by a bizarre collection of items, all of them were specimens Lorianne had amassed over millennia.

On top of that, the laboratory on the 746th floor was primarily dedicated to housing living specimens.

Sein felt a surge of satisfaction from Lorianne’s commendation. It was not the praise itself that mattered but the affirmation that he was on the correct path in his development.

Seizing the moment, Sein presented the concept of the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique to Lorianne, detailing the challenges he faced during his experiments.

Lorianne took a few moments to ponder before responding to Sein’s inquiries.

As a Rank Four mage with extensive experience, her mastery over the power of laws enabled her to offer perspectives from an elevated standpoint, transcending simple discussions on elemental energies.

This was the benefit of having a Rank Four grand mage as a mentor.

A Rank Three grand mage might be able to guide Sein, but they would not be able to offer the depth and breadth of knowledge Lorianne provided.

However, Sein failed to notice the discomfort on Lorianne’s face when he asked advanced questions regarding the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique.

As a mentor, Lorianne could not possibly reveal the gap in her own knowledge to her apprentice.

Fortunately, Lorianne’s adept improvisation ensured Sein remained unaware of any uncertainty.

Since Sein had bombarded her with questions, most of his attention was spent on digesting the truths Lorianne could enlighten him with, rather than dwelling on her vague responses to his questions.

Despite the ambiguity of her answers, Lorianne took care to ensure she did not lead her apprentice astray.

In discussing the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique, for instance, Lorianne shared all she knew, drawing upon the research of her senior, Gregory, and her mentor, Feylis.

While not an expert in the area, her knowledge was sufficient to guide a Rank One apprentice like Sein.

While their meeting started off pleasant, Lorianne began to feel the strain after a full day and night had elapsed.

She realized that instructing Sein was proving to be rather challenging, and began worrying about her capability to effectively mentor him once he attained Rank Two and Three in the future.

The divergence in their paths was stark.

Had Sein pursued dendro magic, Lorianne could have mentored him tirelessly.

Although Sein had already made significant progress in pyro and lumen magic, he did not show much interest in dendro magic.

This made Lorianne realize her naivety when she was picking her apprentice and her lack of foresight regarding the situation.

Acknowledging the growing difficulty of teaching Sein, Lorianne resolved to accept only apprentices who matched her own area of expertise in dendro magic in the future.

Yet, at this juncture, the thought of taking on another apprentice was far from Lorianne’s mind.

Managing Sein alone was already quite demanding, and given her many responsibilities, she could not afford further distractions.