Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 346: Soul Enslavement Method

While Rank One mages were indeed qualified to explore the Magus World, Sein’s intended destination, the notorious Blackhaven of the Western Archipelago, necessitated greater strength.

Selina, having lived with Sein for many years, probably knew him the best, second only to Leena.

Selina often had a feeling that she never truly understood Sein, especially sensing an elusive part of Sein that remained hidden from her.

Despite these feelings, she noticed a recent shift in the atmosphere of Sein\'s laboratory that left her feeling slightly uneasy.

She wanted to cling to Sein, yet knew that she could never truly hold onto him.

Selina had considered mustering her courage to ask Sein about his future plans directly, but she never did so in the end. Given her gentle nature, she was one who preferred to let things take their natural course.

Should Sein choose to share, he would do so when the time was right.

However, if Sein chose to remain silent, Selina would not probe for answers on her own.

Selina, often perceived as naive and unassertive, found her purpose in diligently assisting Sein with his laboratory work and occasionally seeking solace in their intimate moments at night.

Her true happiness bloomed when she was either physically spent or when Sein’s experiment outcome got him smiling in satisfaction.

It was in these moments that Selina felt as though Sein was truly hers, even if such moments were fleeting.

Her sense of possession over Sein was ephemeral, much like a kite dancing in the breeze, leaving her to wonder if she could ever keep a firm grasp on the string.

One day, following a routine body tempering experiment, Sein emerged from a blood pool measuring five meters in both length and width.

This pool, personally designed by Sein, contained a mixture where seventy percent was dragon blood and the remaining thirty percent consisted of a potent body tempering potion concocted by Sein, enriched with concentrated verdant glaze.

Beyond the blood pool’s rejuvenating effects, Sein had not abandoned his old body tempering method.

The combination of internal and external enhancement techniques, involving both potion ingestion and flame exposure, accelerated the growth of his constitution significantly.

As Sein’s constitution steadily approached a milestone of a hundred points, he was nearly ready to set off on his journey.

Before that, Sein identified two crucial tasks to complete.

Firstly, he needed to upgrade his magic rod and equipment. Secondly, he needed to master a more sophisticated form of Soul Enslavement magic.

Sein emerged from the blood pool, feeling his muscles more defined and his physique nearing perfection.

If he were to shed his magic robe, many might mistake him for a knight rather than a mage.

Yet, Sein did not venture down the path of “dual cultivation” that combined magic and battle qi, as many knights did.

The pursuit of truth alone had consumed most of his time, leaving no room for him to consider martial training.

He was aware that forcing himself to venture down the knight’s path would only create distractions for him, potentially compromising both pursuits.

“I’ll be heading to the divine tower library tonight. No need to save dinner for me,” Sein mentioned, accepting a towel from Selina to clean himself of the blood before using a Cleanse spell for further purification.

“All right.” Selina nodded in acknowledgment.

“Make sure to review the ‘Compendium of Knowledge on Perceiving the Elements of Nature’ I compiled for you. You don’t need to assist with my experiments for now," Sein advised.

“I believe the key to advancing to Rank One lies in attuning to the elemental forces of nature. Consider spending some time in the divine tower library to research further on this topic," he suggested.

Selina nodded once more, but when she looked up, Sein had already departed from the laboratory.

***

The divine tower library designated for full-fledged mages was more spacious than the one for magic initiates, albeit with a seemingly smaller collection of books.

It was understandable, given the significant effort required to amass a diverse collection of advanced knowledge.

The lavishness of the divine tower library designated for magic initiates was only made possible by Lorianne’s substantial investment.

Amassing a comprehensive collection for full-fledged mages would require more time and financial resources.

Under Dean Archimedes’ initiative, many Rank One academy mages in the divine tower began authoring texts, contributing their works in exchange for compensation.

For now, Sein had no intention of authoring a book. Between the scarcity of time and indifference toward the modest reward of magicoins, his priorities lay elsewhere.

His visit to the divine tower library this time was driven by an interest in Arcane Light.

Known as one of the world-class secret treasures of the Magus World, the Arcane Light\'s core resided in Sky City.

The one in the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was merely a fragment.

In fact, most divine towers across the Magus World housed a fragment of Arcane Light, which played a pivotal role in the evaluation and awarding of Rank One and Two Arcanist titles within these institutions.

“Master Lorianne’s private collection does include more sophisticated Soul Enslavement magic. However, most of them are tailored for plant and elemental creatures. The only available method for creatures made of flesh and blood is quite crude,” Sein reflected.

“I can only hope to find the comprehensive knowledge I need from the Arcane Light,” he mumbled with a sigh.

Indeed, among the techniques available in Lorianne’s collection, there was a viable method for Sein, albeit with a significant limitation—it could only subjugate beings of a lower life level than his own.

The engineer detained in Sein’s laboratory was a Rank One creature. Obviously, that specific Soul Enslavement technique would not work.

Thus, Sein sought a more advanced Soul Enslavement technique capable of overcoming this hurdle.

The Magus World had historically led in soul research, outpacing many neighboring civilizations.

The countless enslaved creatures under the Magus World’s command stood as stark evidence.

Advanced Soul Enslavement techniques could even control beings of higher life levels, let alone equal.

However, the process was more complicated and demanded greater resources.

Sein’s visit was to find a Soul Enslavement technique that would allow him to subjugate the soul of an engineer of the same life level as him.

His upcoming journey to the Western Archipelago necessitated accumulating as many strategic advantages as possible.

Without the possibility of bringing his mentor along and faced with limited resources, Sein needed to leverage additional sources of power.

Owl Sev and the female engineer named Yuri were to be Sein’s important allies in his upcoming journey to the Western Archipelago.