Sovereign of the Ashes

After the wedding, Sein and Natalya returned to the Lysian Alliance before heading straight to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

From this point forward, Natalya was truly a member of House Grantt and was recognized as Sein's only legal wife in the Magus World.

Sein no longer felt much attachment to his home in the Lysian Alliance.

The generation gap with the members of House Grantt and the passage of over a century had left him feeling disconnected from the family into which he was born.

Not to mention, Sein had not even been raised in House Grantt during his teenage years.

Sein wondered if Kelman, Jeremy, and the others felt the same.

Then again, they were knights, so they likely felt a stronger sense of belonging to House Grantt than Sein did.

Aside from their duties in the orders of the knights, Kelman and the others spent most of their time in Grantt Castle.

Sein, a registered mage of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, had his laboratory, collection room, and usual living quarters on the top floors of the divine tower.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Natalya would also be spending more time in the divine tower in the future.

"Although I've been to your place a few times already, it feels somewhat different every time I come," Natalya said to Sein when she entered his residence on the top floor of the divine tower.

Sein nodded and replied, "The 703rd to 705th floors are yours from now on. I will set up a few training rooms for you. Your future body tempering experiments will also be conducted there."

"Huh? We won't be sleeping together?" Natalya looked at Sein miserably.

"I'm usually busy with experiments and rarely sleep," Sein replied with a frown.

This was a significant difference between a knight and a mage.

In terms of emotional investment, Sein devoted most of his heart and mind to Leena.

However, in terms of time, experiments and research consumed the majority of his life.

It could be said that every successful mage had practically dedicated himself to the pursuit of truth.

Family and love were just small parts of their lives.

Only truth was eternal!

Nevertheless, the effects of the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique, coupled with the fact that Sein and Natalya were now newlyweds, awakened Sein's natural instincts.

His gaze, intense and unyielding, swept over Natalya several times, causing even the typically rough female knight to feel a bit shy and nervous.

Sein's voice softened as he said, "I'll try to spend more time with you. If you can be less clumsy and more careful, I'll even let you enter my lab in the future."

"I can definitely work on that!" Natalya promised immediately.

A small smile crept onto Sein's face as he led Natalya to her new room on the 704th floor of the divine tower.

There was a giant metal bed inside, providing ample space for Sein and Natalya to explore each other.

Now that they were husband and wife, they had many opportunities to try various intimate experiences.

They could even try doing it with their bloodline transformation and elemental body activated since this was no longer their first time together.

It was at this moment that Sein's thoughts drifted to Natalya's grandniece, Scarlet.

The Rank One female knight was present at his wedding, but an awkward incident in the past kept them from talking much.

Perhaps remembering his experience with Scarlet, a pyro elemental chain suddenly shot out of Sein's fingertip.

The temperature of this chain was not high enough to hurt Natalya, given her formidable resilience.

Nonetheless, a surprised yelp escaped her lips when the hot chain suddenly made contact with her healthy wheat-colored skin.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Natalya asked nervously.

This woman would only reveal her more feminine and vulnerable side to Sein when they were on the bed.

"Let's try something new this time," Sein replied before pouncing on her.

***

Stepping into a new chapter of his life significantly improved Sein's efficiency in experimental research. He even gained new insights and discoveries in body tempering experiments recently.

Aside from Reina, Natalya also became a crucial subject in Sein's research on body tempering and passive evolution.

Natalya's constitution was 5,561 points—nearly a thousand points more than Sein's.

In her Baator Devil form, her constitution could soar to between seven and eight thousand points.

It was no surprise that only very few Rank Two knights in the Order of the Steel Fist could best her.

Among her peers, there was virtually no one more talented than Natalya, and even older, more seasoned peak Rank Two knights hesitated to challenge her, lest they tarnish their own reputations by appearing to bully someone younger.

Natalya was also fortunate to have a strong backing. Without such support, her explosive temperament would likely have made her life more challenging within the order.

Naturally, Natalya's personality reflected her upbringing. Her demeanor closely mirrored that of her mother, Sia, and she was protected by influential figures like Wilson and other prominent members of House Ernst.

The disparity in strength between knights and mages could not easily be quantified merely by the numerical value of their constitution.

As mentioned before, constitution was just a single measure.

Natalya's superiority over Sein stemmed not only from her higher constitution value but also from the explosive strength of her muscles, her endurance in prolonged battles, and the rapid recovery rate of her body's cells.

These factors illustrated the fundamental differences between knights and mages.

Conversely, Sein's strengths were his superior mental focus and the vast mana reserve within his body.

However, the most significant distinction between them was Sein's abilities as a mage to mobilize the elemental energy in the surrounding environment on a large scale using his knowledge and himself as a medium—a method not available to knights who relied only on their physical strength.

This gap between knights and mages generally narrowed once both attained Rank Four, where they began to harness the power of laws rather than solely on pure energy.

Despite these advancements appearing to close the gap, the paths remained distinctly different, highlighting the unique allure of the coexistent system of knights and mages in the Magus World.

The Magus Civilization, as a top-tier entity, exhibited a complex, different yet complementary cultivation system that could not be briefly summarized.

It also demonstrated how the Magus Civilization was stronger and more scientifically advanced than other civilizations.