Badge in Azure

Chapter 262: Up North (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saleen gently tapped the calabash and watched as a wall of azure-green water about six meters in length gushed furiously from it. The stream of water pulsated and spun nimbly in the air before snaking around Saleen’s body.

Saleen felt as if this stream was moving much more fluidly and rapidly than before. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that the calabash would become so powerful after a minor refinement from his mentor. It was then that he realized that his alchemy skills were garbage compared to his teacher’s. He started to understand why his teacher had said what he had earlier on.

The fortunate thing about the magical patterns were that they had the ability to refine the current shooting out of the calabash by themselves until it was perfected. Saleen was unable to comprehend how that was even possible. He did not know how these corrective abilities came about in the first place. All he had done was replicate the magical patterns imprinted on his family badge. Another interesting thing about the magical patterns was that they were able to store energy from lightning and thunderstorms, although this feature had never made an appearance.

“How does it feel?” Jason enquired.

“The water elements have become more concentrated, and the current seems to be able to last for a longer period of time, though I don’t think the elemental sequence has changed, nor do I notice the presence of any fire elements. How did you do it, Teacher?” Saleen asked.

“Water flame alchemy. It’s a pretty popular technique that you’ll learn once you’ve reached grade-7,” Jason replied.

“Water flame alchemy?” Saleen asked, confused.

“You should know that the fire element is considered the most unstable and violent element because of its ability to break any magic arrangement found in fortified objects. In reality, all elements possess this characteristic. The earth element can create gravitation and we all know strong gravitational forces can force matter to shrink beyond its limits, effectively getting rid of any harmful things standing in your way as well as breaking apart the fundamental matter that make up other elements. The wind element, on the other hand, can be said to be the most unpredictable element, just like storms and hurricanes themselves. It can be the most delicate element, or the most destructive. Once you’ve managed to attain grade-10 mastery of the element, virtually no magic shields will be able to withstand your attacks. The wind element destroys everything in its path, that we all know. But do you know what the water element has?” Jason explained, throwing Saleen the question out of the blue.

“Does the water element have the ability to solidify into ice?” Saleen threw a wild guess.

“Nope, water has the ability to completely disintegrate matter. Once the water element has lowered the surrounding temperatures below its physical limits, it will either completely disintegrate all other elements or revert them back into their original form, which is the state that they were in before that particular dimension was created. The water flame is a good example of this. In fact, you can use this technique to either disintegrate or refine matter. If you can create record-low temperatures, you can use that to refine even higher-quality material. You can even conjure up enough water flames to completely destroy a dimension,” Jason said.

“Destroy a dimension…” Saleen repeated Jason’s words, trailing off at the end, almost as if his entire body had gone numb. No wonder mages were not moved by the presence of god. Whatever the gods could do, mages could also theoretically achieve. In reality, creating spatial equipment was equivalent to forging a mini-dimension, just excluding the fact that there would be absolutely nothing in there aside from a completely sealed off space.

However, the basic fundamentals of the creations of these dimensions all originated from the Dante Sequence. Completely destroying one piece of spatial equipment would be akin to completely destroying a part of interdimensional space.

In the room filled with magic scrolls, Jason decided there and then to tell Saleen the origins and principles of the Water Flame spell. Saleen was not too anxious to learn about them anyways. He listened patiently to Jason’s descriptions and explanations. He knew that his mentor was imparting the essence of his take on magic to him to the best of his ability.

After rambling for about four hours, Jason decided that was enough explanation for the day. He paused momentarily before speaking again, “Lex is probably almost done with the collection and trading of her magical items. Let’s go.”

Although Saleen yearned to hear more about the water flame, he had already gained a general understanding about the technique and how it was applied. If he wanted to further his interest and continue studying it, he would have to apply it in real life. Alas, with his current grade, he would never be able to activate it. Even if he did ask for help, he would never find out the important parts that he needed to note.

As Saleen stood on the teleportation portal, he turned his head around to take in the sight of the numerous scrolls again, feeling slightly dissatisfied. Leaving the scrolls on this island was just too wasteful. Then again, if the time did come for the Sregl Island mages to utilize these scrolls, the magic towers on the island would be demolished so quickly that Saleen was positive he would not even have time to blink.

That would never happen, of course, unless the Lord of Glory made a trip down to the Myers Mainland himself.

“Saleen, to a mage, only the magic chords can qualify as a loyal companion and friend,” Jason brought his lips down to Saleen’s ear and whispered lightly just as the magic light started powering up. In a flash, Saleen was teleported out of the storeroom and back into the larger storeroom located outside.

Coincidentally, Lex was just pocketing the last of the equipment that she was interested in collecting. No sooner had both men materialized did she bow slightly in Jason’s direction before speaking. “Thank you for your kind gesture, master sorcerer.”

“Don’t worry about it. Believe it or not, your dreams were once mine. I’m happy to help you achieve yours. I’ll be even happier if you managed to realize them,” Jason said with that all too familiar gentle tone in his voice. He looked at Lex for a minute before blurting out, “I know you’re studying fire magic, so I have something to give you.”

As Jason spoke, he took out a necklace made from a tiger’s eye gemstone. The gemstone took on a six-sided structure and had a string of three precious gems in the shape of water droplets contained in the center. Those three gems had a fiery red appearance, and looked purer than anything Saleen had ever seen. They had been carved and polished using the core essence of red gems. They also had the ability to store a certain quantity of fire elements.

Tiger’s eye fortified equipment enough to speed up the release of magic spells and gave it the ability to store some fire elements as well. Since fire magic was all about speed, tiger’s eye would effectively raise the might of the fire elements by leaps and bounds.

Seeing that Lex was still hesitating, Jason chuckled before he continued, “The things you obtained today were traded for. This object is a gift from me to you, because you’re Saleen’s friend.”

“In that case, thank you very much, master mage,” Lex said as she took the tiger’s eye necklace from Jason and wore it around her neck. Tiger’s eye had the ability to speed up the rate at which the spellcaster unleashed their elemental spells, all elements included, not just the fire element. For those magic spells which could be fired quickly even without any fortification, tiger’s eye would also serve to alleviate the strain on the spellcaster’s mental powers from casting said spells. The tiger’s eye necklace was not considered a rare artifact. Rather, it was the fact that the materials used to make this particular object were of the highest quality that made it so rare. It was one of the most durable, practical things a person could have on them.

“I think it’s best that you leave as soon as possible. I’ve spoken to Lancelot, and he has agreed to lend you three of his battleships, along with their crews and mages. Saleen, these mages will be under your command until you feel that they are no longer useful to you. It’s a shame that I can only lend you grade-5 mages at the moment. Mages grade-6 and above need to stay on the island until it is completely sealed off,” Jason said with an apologetic tone in his voice.

“That’s more than enough, thank you,” Lex offered her words of appreciation once again. She knew that in the entire Myers Mainland continent, more than one-third of the sorcerers were concentrated in Alchemy City. The grade-5 mages that Jason was about to lend her and Saleen were enough to create a powerful army. Moreover, they now had three battleships under their command. If they were to sail towards the north, even Lianyun City would have to be wary of them.

“I suggest you don’t go back to Alchemy City. Make your way up north instead to build your port first. Three years isn’t a long time, and I’ve only given you enough material for the construction of the magic towers. Lex probably hasn’t amassed enough of the remaining materials needed. This storeroom may only have approximately twenty percent of what you need. The two of you will still have to purchase the rest of the materials. If you are strapped for cash, feel free to approach me and I’ll get the Sregl Island mages to help out. Maybe we could raise about a few million dollars worth of checks,” Jason explained.

That amount of money was equivalent to half a year’s worth of taxes back in the Qin Empire. Under normal circumstances, the cost of building a city was only a few million gold coins. However, Saleen was not too surprised at how wealthy the mages on Sregl Island were. They had thousands of years to amass their fortune, after all. They would not feel the pinch of giving away some of these checks.

“Saleen, I cannot stress enough the importance of safety. You need to stay vigilant. Right now, the Cloudflow naval fleets are trying to attack the island housing Alchemy City. Once your ships leave the dock, it’s full speed ahead, okay? Don’t let yourself get surrounded and definitely do not give the Cloudflow Navy a chance to catch you. Never ever slow down to save on magic nuclei,” Jason cautioned.

Jason droned on and on about the things Saleen needed to look out for when out at sea. Although Saleen did not want to leave the place, Lex was raring to go home.

As soon as they returned to the magic tower, Jason called upon three grade-5 mages, three grade-4 mages, and eighteen grade-3 mages. They would be under Saleen’s command at all times and would be responsible for steering and manning the warships.

Saleen had no choice but to leave at this point. Sregl Island was to be sealed off, and if he did not leave right now, he would have to stay on the island for at least three years. He was not as anxious as Lex to build the city. Rather, his biggest worry right now was Lex, and the fact that he had appointed her as the village warrior. Three years of battle would most likely implicate the Caucasian countries, including Sika’s village. He did not want Sika and her family to be annihilated by the Holy See just because she had any affiliations with him.

As of now, Saleen was definitely not ready to face the Holy See head on. All he could do now was evacuate all the villagers from Sika’s village and arrange for more Caucasians to travel to the north. The weather up north was similar to that of the Caucasus region, in that both had long winters. To the Caucasians, the living conditions in the north would not be as bad as those in their hometown.

Everything was going smoothly. Jason was obviously some sort of authoritative figure for the six archmages to willingly obey Saleen’s beck and call without protest. Saleen felt as if he was living in a dream. Before he bid farewell to his mentor, he secretly took out a perfectly shaped ice island rock and a piece of chlorite and placed them on the seventh story of the magic tower. These two rocks were the most precious gemstones that he had. Ice island rocks were rare, and although they did not possess any elemental powers, they were suitable materials for the creation of magical equipment. The chlorites were even rarer. They had the ability to accept divine powers regardless of the rank and status of the person who possessed them.

According to the Holy See’s codes, chlorites were forbidden objects. Mages did not subscribe to the same train of thought though. In fact, the chlorites over on the mainland had been mined to such an extent that there were hardly any left to extract. To be able to own such a precious gemstone was every sorcerer’s dream.

Jason saw everything, but he did not attempt to reject Saleen’s kind gesture. When he had first accepted Saleen as his disciple, he had done so out of kindness and compassion. He had only started to pay more attention to his student after the latter had moved him with his fortitude and perseverance. Jason had taught him everything that he knew. However, he had never thought that Saleen would be so lucky as to have magic medicine work on him. Not only that, but he had been blessed with the opportunity to change the makeup of his body with the help of a mage who was nearing grade-10, allowing him to escape the dangerous side-effects of the medicine.

Saleen’s achievements had far exceeded Jason’s expectations. Not only that, he had attained them far quicker than his mentor would have ever expected. This, compounded with the fact that Saleen was his only student, motivated Jason to impart his best knowledge to his disciple. Jason understood that Saleen’s kind gesture was just a way to show his appreciation and desire to repay his benefactor. In fact, he empathized with the feeling. After his teacher had passed on, Jason regretted not having spoken to him more so that he could understand him. He also regretted not having done more things together with him.

Mages were not as lonely as a person would think they were. However, the people they were closest to were usually not their parents, but rather their teachers, mentors, and the other people who guided them closely on their magical journeys.

Jason gave Saleen, Lex, and the other mages a final sendoff from the harbor. As the sea breeze carressed Saleen’s cheek, he suddenly remembered that he had wanted to ask his mentor something regarding Shengfeng country. He whipped his head around and blurted to Jason, “Teacher, before I reached this island, I received news that Shengfeng country has been secretly dispatching naval fleets, disguising themselves as merchants from the Myers Mainland, and conducting trade deals using these fake identities. Have you heard about this?”

“Shengfeng country? I’m afraid you’d have to ask Gaia. I’ll handle this, so please don’t interfere,” Jason replied, pausing as he looked in Lex’s direction before continuing, “Lex, if there really is a secret shipping route over in Shengfeng waters that allows naval fleets to sail without having to brave torrential storms and you can’t do anything to seize it at the moment, I suggest you wait until you have amassed great enough numbers to form a sufficiently strong naval fleet.”

“In that case… Teacher, do you have anything else you’d like me to do?” Saleen asked, as he tugged at Jason’s sleeve, pouting childishly. He refused to loosen his grip on the sleeve, for fear that once he did so, he would never see Jason again.