Badge in Azure Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Magic Beasts from Hell (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Saleen’s magic chords began to vibrate and slowly started to pulsate at the same rate as his heartbeat. His magic chords had grown by more than four times, and after absorbing the magic power from the magic nuclei on the demonic bracelet, they continued to absorb the powers of the water elements outside of Saleen’s body.
The water elements from the water shields were continuously sucked away, and they began to stick to Saleen’s body, undergoing another unusual change.
The patterns on the bubble-like water shield multiplied by a hundred times and became even more complicated, the shield no longer in the shape of a ball. It began to turn transparent and the magic patterns became lighter as water elements started pouring in. The thick layer of water vapor on the outside of the water shield began to disappear as well. Sika and Nailisi were only able to see the magic outside of Saleen’s body disappearing, but he did not slow down.
The light wisp of water vapor circled around Saleen’s body. He opened his eyes with a start and frigid-looking light shot out from his blue eyes.
The amount of pain that Saleen had experienced was less than he had expected and his magic chords began to stabilize. His sight seemed to pierce everything from the air, to the land, to the the skies. Just as everything started returning to normal, Saleen once again saw the elemental world.
Ground, water, wind, fire, darkness, and light. They formed the building blocks of everything inside of god’s hell. Everything within a kilometer was clearly reflected in his eyes. Saleen stopped and laughed.
Sometimes while a mage was training, they would gain special abilities that were related to magic. This was what was happening to Saleen now. It was a Grade 4 magic: Icy Sight. This magic seemed to have been imprinted onto Saleen, and he would not need to consume any magic chords in the future to use it.
Even though it was only a Grade 4 spell, it was more useful than the Grade 7 Magic Eye spell. The only drawback of this spell was that it was not instantaneous and needed up to a minute to charge up.
However, the advantages of the Icy Sight spell were more obvious than its drawback. It was even assaultive in nature, able to replace simple magic gestures and rearrange the elements within a space. Most importantly, this magic could help a mage while they calculating the Figaro formula, enabling them to see the trajectories of the energy present.
The earliest Grade 4 magic that Saleen had intended to practice was ice plate armor. Once he had learned the Figaro formula, he had been planning to learn the Icy Sight spell. With the Icy Sight spell, the Figaro formula could be used in actual combat. At least with magic under Grade 2, Saleen was able to analyze them in a very short time, using a Grade 1 or even a Grade 0 spell to block and retaliate.
Once a mage promoted, low-grade spells used up even fewer magic chords than before.
Now he could release twenty-four Grade 3 spells, forty-eight Grade 2 spells, ninety-six Grade 1 spells, and one hundred and ninety-two Grade 0 spells. As for Grade 4 spells, he could release one additional spell over other Grade 3 mages.
Compared to the other five types of magic, Water Magic only truly became powerful when it reached Grade 4.
In Grade 4 alone, there was Ice Plate Armor which could be replenished continuously, the Ice Totem spell which was similar to puppet magic and could move around to attack, the Chunlin spell that was comparable to a divine spell, and the Current Cutter that could be continuously upgraded.
Regarding ranged magic, there was the Darkness Mist spell which was similar to a dark type spell. A Grade 0 Fog of Confusion could easily be seen through by a high-grade mage. However, the darkness mist could even fool a sorcerer sometimes. Under the blanket of the darkness mist, a sorcerer could only see where the danger was within the mist. They would not be able to identify it.
For other people, advancing to Grade 3 did not mean much. However, Saleen had the demon magic book which could store six spells. In other words, so long as he had learned them, he could continuously release six plus two Grade 4 spells, and his combat abilities would be vastly improved.
“Congratulations, Saleen.” Lex and the other two swordmasters caught up to him. Seeing that Saleen had stopped, Lex realized that he had advanced. She could not contain her joy. In this dangerous interdimensional space, Grade 3 was a world of difference compared to a Grade 2 mage.
“Ha!” Saleen laughed lightly. He had not felt any moment of weakness during this promotion, and if he continued training, he knew that he would be able to reach the peak of Grade 3 soon.
He had gained too much experience while in Grade 2 and had spent all of his free time on magic training and the Figaro formula without seeing any breakthroughs. Now that the breakthrough had happened, he realized that the road to Grade 4 was not that far.
In addition to being happy, Saleen was cautious as well. As long as he had a good foundation for Grade 3, the promotion to Grade 4 should not be that hard. At the very least, it would not be like his advancement to Grade 2. Most importantly, he was already beginning to grasp some of the secrets of a grand mage.
Low-grade magic was only the usage of the magic chords. Mid-grade magic, however, was able to move the elemental energy in a person’s body. No wonder it had a much larger impact than a low-grade magic.
Now that he possessed icy sight, his water shield seemed to have evolved again. Its defensive capabilities were comparable to ice plate armor. Hence, he needed to focus on offensive magic for his first Grade 4 spell. The current cutter that was able to be upgraded was his best option for now.
Lex had a sharp eye and saw that the magic nuclei on Saleen’s demon bracelet had been wiped clean. She immediately took out nine Grade 6 magic nuclei and handed them to Saleen. Saleen took them in his hands and carefully inlaid them into his demon bracelet.
In the past, he had not accepted many gifts from Lex as he did not want to owe her favors. Now that he would need to spend a few years with her and help her in combat, he would not stand by ceremony anymore.
A Grade 6 magic nucleus was the highest-grade magic nucleus one could buy with money. A Grade 6 magic beast was considered easy among the magic beasts that one could hunt and kill. This relative ease was in comparison to a Grade 7 magic beast. A Grade 7 magic beast had offensive capabilities equivalent to Grade 7 magic.
“Lex, I want to stop and learn some Grade 4 magic first,” Saleen said to her, looking at a purple forest from afar. Lex nodded, Saleen had just promoted and this was the time when he would grasp new magic the fastest. If it had been her, she would not have chosen to hurry along either.
They had evidently left the vicinity of the volcano and the plants here were lusher, stronger, and did not seem to die and revive on a weekly basis.
Lex looked left and right before choosing a slightly higher spot of ground on which to set up camp.
There were no longer any large rocks in this area and there was no cover surrounding the camp. Lex brought out some army resources from the inside of her god’s ring and everyone began to help out, putting together hundreds of metal pieces to form a hexagonal fence.
Planting the structure firmly into the mud, Lex then solidified the mud, making the camp more secure.
Nailisi held up the alchemy binoculars that Lex had given her and suddenly started shouting, “Magic beast! Magic beast!”
Lex took the alchemy binoculars from her and directed them in the direction that Nailisi was pointing to. To the north were stretches of forest. The trees were lush unlike the plants that had been in the volcanic area, and they were more like the living things on the Myers Mainland. There was no sunlight and the leaves of the trees were not too dense. The way it grew seemed to have been arranged using some magic formula. Outside of the forest, a lone magic beast was scrunching up its nose and breathing heavily.
The magic beast had a leopard-like head. The red fur around its neck was a little long and was almost like the feather of a bird, flowing along with the movement of the magic beast. Its body was quite long and the fur on the other parts of its body was dense yet short and bright, giving off a metallic shine. Lex noticed that the magic beast had a steel-like tail. It had a sharp tip and its joints were protruding, moving along with its body.
It was too far away and Lex did not recognize this magic beast, unable to tell what grade it was. The magic beast moved about and gave off a low roar. From the forest behind it, another six similar magic beasts appeared.
The other six magic beasts did not have red fur on their necks like the first one. They were respectful as they surrounded the first magic beast, seeming to interact with it.
Lex handed the alchemy binoculars to Saleen and said, “You will be in charge of guarding us.”
She did not look at the magic beasts any longer. There were at least three kilometers between them and the beasts, and the most important thing now was to quickly build up their camp. The large amount of resources she had in her god’s ring were sufficient to build a castle, let alone a small camp.
Once they had built their camp, they would not need to be afraid of any attacks by the magic beasts.
Even more important was that Lex felt that she was about to advance as well. The elements in the interdimensional space seemed to be thicker than the ones on the Myers Mainland. The difference was negligible and she could not be sure of their thickness either. However, so long as the elements were active in one place, a mage’s promotions would be hastened.
The reason a Grade 6 mage built a magic tower was for the purpose of becoming a sorcerer. The amount of elemental power necessary was immense, and without a magic tower, a Grade 6 mage would find it difficult to advance to a sorcerer.
Saleen took over the alchemy binoculars and scanned the outskirts of the forest for the seven magic beasts. The leader gave a deep growl and the other six followed suit. Following their growls, a patch of land near them burst open and a black animal came out from a burrow, escaping towards the forest.
The leader of the magic beasts did not move while the other six magic beasts pounced upon it. Their speed was evidently faster and in a flash, they caught up with the black animal, surrounding it.
Only now was Saleen able to clearly see the appearance of the black animal. It was a magic beast as well, sharp on both ends and plump towards the center. After being trapped, its entire body curled inwards and its black fur stood straight up. Dozens of hairs bunched together to form spikes which protected its body.
The six magic beasts swung their tails like iron chains. They were about to pounce, seemingly unafraid of the spikes. The black magic beast began to vibrate its body and the spikes violently shot outwards. Even from a few kilometers away, Saleen could hear the sound of explosions.
The six magic beasts fanned out the long fur on their necks and enormous magic shields protected them. Saleen was shocked. These magic beasts could control wind elements with such speed. It seemed that they were high-grade magic beasts. There were seven of them in total, and the leader must have been even stronger. Magic beasts had a keen sense of smell, and it was possible that they would easily spot this camp.