Badge in Azure Chapter 124

Chapter 124: The Free Wind (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There were no volcanoes in the Qin Empire. In the entirety of the Myers Mainland, volcanoes were only found in the Cloudflow Empire. Even so, everyone knew how scary volcanoes could be.
The eruption of a volcano was like a mage with limitless magic chords repeatedly casting Fire Magic. No one would survive if they were in the vicinity of an erupting volcano.
From afar, a red stream of air appeared and rushed ferociously towards the rock crevices where Lex and the others had sought refuge. As the red air advanced forward, all of the giant trees in its path withered and burned.
Everyone there looked horrified, but relieved at the same time. Lex had chose their direction of travel at random. If she had chosen the opposite direction, the group would have walked towards a volcano that was soon to erupt.
This interdimensional space was so strange. Volcanoes could erupt with no warning whatsoever. Had they walked in the wrong direction, they would have been dead long ago. It was no wonder then that there were no giant plants in this space and the only animals the group had seen were giant mosquitoes. The volcano must have been erupting regularly, hence this place could not support life at all.
The high-level creatures in the interdimensional space must have been used to this phenomenon. That was why the group had not been able to see any other creatures along the way, as these creatures had been hiding somewhere safe.
Most of the plants withered swiftly and then began to burn. Only a small number of them were fossilized quickly, resisting the vicious assault of the red stream of air.
Nailisi found this scene quite familiar. There were many volcanoes in the world of demons, and the plants there were fireproof. Obviously, the plants in the demon world were far stronger than the ones in this space, but they still shared many similarities.
Perhaps a demon had planted many demonic plant seeds on a whim.
Even without the sun, the demonic plants could survive by absorbing heat and elements. Inside of the caves, many plants were dark green and purple, and some were even black.
Obstructed by the Crystal City spell, the red stream of air could not reach the blackened space. Lex waved her hand and put away the tent, as the temperature in the rock crevice had already risen by at least ten degrees. If the magic arrays had not been setup beforehand, Lex would not have been able to sustain the spell against the attack by the red air even if she had absorbed a magic nucleus.
A mage’s magic chords were finite. A magic shield alone would not be able to protect five of their comrades.
The temperature remained at a high heat. Thankfully, everyone could tolerate the heat. Additionally, the ground beneath their feet tremored constantly, and the red air had spread throughout the space that could be seen.
“This place is like hell,” Saleen said, breaking the silence. He saw that Sika’s expression had changed, so he did not want the atmosphere to be so repressed.
“We were lucky. Fortunately, my instincts told me to go this way,” Lex said.
A woman’s instincts… were most unreliable. Saleen thought of a magic diary written by a sorcerer. There had been a complaint in that diary, but he did not say it out loud. However, it was now proven that a woman’s instincts could sometimes save lives.
“If we want to return to the Myers Mainland, will we need to come back here?” Saleen asked worriedly. He had thought of the fact that Lex’s magic coordinates must have been ruined by now.
“No need,” Lex answered as she caressed her god’s ring. Lex was glad that she was establishing a county, or else she would have needed to return the ring. Then, Genesis would use god’s punishment to kill her. If that happened, only Lex’s body and broken soul would come to this interdimensional space.
The red stream of air was blocked by the crystal city. The high temperature was lowered by the space of darkness. The six of them could only cower in the rock crevice and bear this raging power of nature.
Lex rested the least. She needed to cast a Breeze spell every hour to replace the heavily polluted air that accumulated in the space of darkness. The scenery could no longer be seen. There was only a sea of red and whimpers coming from the flowing air. The ground tremored continuously for about seventeen hours before gradually settling down.
The red stream of air gradually diluted, but the temperature outside would still be too hot for all forms of life. Saleen felt that he had faintly touched the initial stage of Grade 3. This stage was growing closer, but he did not know how to overcome the leap into it.
After about half a month, the temperature of the air outside the rock lowered to an acceptable level. Lex had already changed out the magic nuclei six times. Even though the danger was over, nobody dared to leave. On the Myers Mainland, a volcano’s eruptions were intermittent. If they left now and the volcano erupted again, there was a chance they would die.
After another half a month, Lex then took down the two metal discs that were sustaining the black space.
“Let’s continue advancing north. This place is too close to the volcano,” Lex proposed to everybody. No one objected to her suggestion. The place they were at had only been at the edge of the eruption site, so there was no volcanic ash or volcanic stones. Even so, the red air had already nearly killed them. If they advanced towards the volcano and discovered more volcanoes, then they would surely die.
As the group made their way north, Saleen stopped Lex from blessing him with the Windspeed spell. Instead, Saleen chanted a long spell. When Saleen finished chanting, a gigantic bubble appeared and levitated in midair. The bubble engulfed Saleen, looking kind of amusing. Saleen had been working on this spell for the past month, and now he had cast it perfectly in front of everyone else.
Beautiful magic patterns flowed on the surface of the bubble. Sika and Nailisi looked at Saleen curiously, not knowing what he was trying to do. This spell was an upgraded Grade 2 Water Shield. This time, the water shield could protect the entirety of Saleen’s body, and even his feet were separated from the ground.
Then, the bubble began to shrink as the magic patterns flowed on the surface of the bubble in a regulated movement. The bubble shrank until it was the same size as Saleen’s build, but it was not what Saleen had expected it to be. Saleen had wanted the bubble to fit to his silhouette, just like the ice plate armor, but now he was in a circular bubble. Fortunately, his height and the length of his fully extended arm were the same, so the bubble would not be affected even if he made exaggerated motions. In addition, Saleen could still feel the earth even though he was somewhat levitating. As Saleen took two steps forward, the water shield rolled forward like a wheel.
“Saleen, it will be easier for you to go down the mountains from now on,” Sika commended.
Saleen blushed. Not only was the result different from what he had expected, but he had also lost all of his coolness. Furthermore, he looked like he was rolling now. Saleen quickly cast a Grade 2 spell, causing the surface of the water shield to vaporize and mist to surround the bubble.
“Let’s go.”
Saleen’s voice came from inside the misty bubble and he rushed out of the crevice without any warning.
The simulation of Grade 3 magic had been a success! Although the result was not very refined, Saleen was overjoyed. Without a horse, a mage would never be able to outrun a swordsmen unless he could at least cast a Grade 3 Windspeed spell. Furthermore, he had the protection of the water shield, thus it seemed to be closer to perfection than a standard Windspeed spell.
The only regret Saleen had was that he had exhausted more than half of his magic chords. The water shield had used a standard magic nucleus meant for Grade 2 magic while the simulated Grade 3 Windspeed spell had used up half of his magic chords. If Saleen never became a mage master, this magic would have no practical value. It would only be an innovative idea.
Watching Saleen’s bubble roll as he moved, Lex also felt that it was hilarious but she greatly admired Saleen’s creativity. Understanding the Figaro formula was not enough. A mage still needed to be able to create their own things. The complex magic that Saleen had cast the previous time had obviously been his own creation.
It was not amazing for a Grade 2 mage to create Grade 1 magic. But it was shocking for Saleen to create Grade 3 magic while he was still a Grade 2 mage. Lex blessed the remaining four people with the Windspeed spell and caught up to Saleen.
As Saleen walked, he began to experience the elemental changes happening within the bubble. His whole body was engulfed in the bubble, and he realized that only water elements were inside of the bubble and the rest of the elements were blocked outside. Under such conditions, he could cast spells at higher speeds even if he had not completely mastered them.
In this space, it seemed like he could reuse the water elements and his magic chords, and those were abilities that only mage masters possessed. Even though Saleen could not cast Grade 4 magic yet, he had experienced what mage masters felt, and this would be greatly beneficial to his future advancement.
There was a huge obstacle hindering his advancement from Grade 3 to Grade 4. Saleen had sufficient mental power, but he was lacking growth in his magic chords and comprehension of elemental control.
Losing the ability to learn the other five classes of magic in order to gain twice the amount of magic chords was something that Saleen had felt would never be worthwhile. Now, he has finally achieved a balance between the two, so his advancements would be much easier than those of other mages.
Saleen was excited and ran increasingly faster, exceeding the limit of the Grade 3 Windspeed spell. The mist at the exterior of the bubble was more powerful than the wind element and was easier to control as well. Lex was following behind and realized that Saleen was running faster and faster, so she had to bless the remaining four people with Grade 4 Windspeed spells. Only then were they able to catch up to Saleen.
One needed to know that the average horse could run at twenty miles an hour and its sprinting speed was roughly sixty miles an hour. The Grade 3 Windspeed spell allowed a human to run at roughly twenty miles an hour, while one of Grade 4 allowed a human sprint like the average horse.
Saleen was running at roughly fifty miles an hour. If the land in front of him had not been razed to the ground, he would have already crashed into some kind of plant long ago.
When Saleen felt like he had reached maximum velocity, he began practicing directional change. The road ahead of him was filled with obstacles such as the remains of giant plants, burnt gravel, and some animal bones. These bones were black and shiny, so Saleen could spot them from afar and avoided running into them.
Saleen ran more than thirty miles in one sprint, and he could see a giant rock in front of him. However, he did not try to go around the rock. Instead, he mustered his strength beneath his feet, controlled the vaporized mist, and jumped high into the air with all of his might. Saleen was like a polo that had been struck with a bat. He jumped over the giant rock that was over ten meters tall. He did not even have time to begin rejoicing when he realized that he was fast approaching a fossilized tree, and his face simply smashed into the tree.