Badge in Azure Chapter 137

Chapter 137: The Ten Story Magic Tower (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The glorious lord was not able to descend upon the Myers Mainland, but the Holy See was extremely powerful. As long as the Holy See’s underlings did not come to the Qin Empire and cause trouble, Alchemy City would not provoke them either.
Had the people of Alchemy City built this ten story magic tower, they would not have been able to maintain a peaceful relationship with the mainland for the past hundreds of years.
Saleen took the alchemy binoculars and looked towards the mountain. It was a stone mountain with steep and angular terrain. At the base of the mountain, there were steps leading to the top, and those steps were arranged in an organized manner, just like how the elements were arranged. There was an enormous ancient magic symbol on the body of the mountain. It was simple, and the magic words on it were recognizable. Those magic words had originated from the Fourth Dynasty.
The peak of the blue mountain had a wide opening, and in it was a forest. Standing in the midst of the forest was the ten story magic tower.
The magic tower was an unusual shade of black. Its color was identical to that of the body of the mountain, which was a dark blue. Saleen started counting from the top down to the bottom of the tower, and each story of the tower was at least ten meters tall. When Saleen had counted to the ninth story, he finally believed Lex. The tenth story was faintly visible. Saleen continued to make observations. He found that the magic tower was very clean and was not mottled despite its age.
Was anyone still inside of that tower? Saleen lowered the binoculars and looked at the ruins in front of him, feeling that the possibility was low. If there were mages in the ten story magic tower, they would never have allowed the village to be torn apart like this. A person need to know that a magic tower had a radius of protection which exceeded ten miles. The mages did not even need to exit the tower to be able to use magic to deter any aggressors.
“No one is up there anymore.” Lex pointed to a pile of bones on the path and continued, “This person’s magic robe has been turned into ashes, leaving only the belt behind. They must have been like this for nearly a thousand years already.”
Saleen only noticed those bones after hearing what Lex had said. The waist bones even had a rotten belt on, and only a few pieces of beast horn that had been used for polishing remained. There were no clothes or magic equipment in that pile of bones. That was why Saleen had overlooked it.
If there were mages in the magic tower, they would not have allowed this skeleton to be exposed in the wilderness. Saleen looked at the magic tower in the distance, and suddenly, a rush of enthusiasm welled up in him.
A ten story magic tower like this would not be any less valuable than the temple of the Goddess of Myers. A temple was built by believers, while a magic tower was built on the possessions and life of a mage.
Saleen and Lex were very sure that even though the mage was no longer around, the magic tower was still lethal.
“Do we go up?” Saleen questioned Lex. Saleen could not go up by himself at all as his understanding of magic arrays was too scant. Even though he understood the Figaro formula, he might not even be able to unlock the lowest level if he analyzed it for hundreds of years. A magic array belonging to a Grade 10 mage was too onerous for Saleen to handle.
“We’ll go up,” Lex answered with determination. Since this magic tower had ten stories, the items in there had to be invaluable. Even though Joey had broken the limit of Grade 9 magic, he would never dare to label himself as a Grade 10 mage. Furthermore, the owner of this magic tower had obviously possessed a lot of hatred for the gods. Now that the Qin Empire was at war against the Holy See, it was possible that the magic tower would contain some equipment or knowledge that could be beneficial to the war.
Saleen inhaled a deep breath of air and said, “We might die.”
Lex simply laughed and replied, “Don’t the people of Sikeqinya have a saying? If there is two hundred percent profit to be made, it is still worth it even if it means going to the gallows.”
Saleen nodded in response. To him and Lex, this ten story magic tower was more than just two hundred percent profit. Once they seized control of the magic tower, it would mean that the two of them would inherit all of the possessions that had belonged to a Grade 10 mage.
The four of them walked towards the blue stone mountain and the magic beasts followed them out of the forest. But when the beasts saw the mountain from afar, they stopped following Lex’s team, as though they had a phobia of that mountain. When the team had gone a distance away, these beasts then slowly turned around and went back into the forest.
Nailisi followed behind Saleen and was a little nervous, while Sika looked reverent and was calmer than Saleen. The closer they got to the mountain, the more nervous Saleen became. To a mage, a ten story magic tower was as special as a temple to religious believers.
When the team reached the base of the mountain and saw the nearly vertical body of the mountain, they felt an oncoming pressure. This pressure did not originate from magic, but was formed naturally. Saleen and Lex bowed respectfully, which was customary to mages, and then they started walking up the steps towards the peak of the stone mountain.
Lex walked in front with an invisible shield, and Saleen also activated that spell. Grade 0 magic was not considered to be disrespectful to the mage of the magic tower. Instead, it was considered humble behavior. Furthermore, Grade 0 magic would not attract retaliation from the magic tower. Sika and Nailisi had never cultivated sword auras before, so Saleen did not need to remind them of any customs.
The stone steps spiraled upwards and there were at least ten thousand steps. These steps, which were wide enough to fit one man at a time, were unusually regulated. There were also magic patterns on them so a person would never slip from the steps. Even though Lex knew how to fly, she did not want to be careless so she stuck to the walls of the mountain and walked up step by step. The stone steps were reversed, and the wall of the mountain was on the left side. As these four people went higher and higher, after an hour, they finally reached the mountain peak.
Saleen then realized the brilliance of this Grade 10 mage. The stone steps were, in fact, a complex magic formula. When a person walked on the steps, they would not be able to cast any magic nor wield a sword aura, and the person would only be able to rely on their physical strength to ascend the mountain. Everyone’s speed would be equal. Even if a person wanted to speed ahead, they could not.
This also meant that anyone who wanted to get to the peak would surely have to spend an hour doing so. The peak of this mountain had a massive surface area. Purple trees surrounded the colossal magic tower. These trees grew in a regulated arrangement, naturally forming an enormous magic array.
When Lex and Saleen saw the magic array in front of them, they began laughing bitterly. Similar to the stone steps, this magic array had a simple function, and it was to slow down the climber’s speed.
This magic array was still widely used now, but only Grade 9 mages were able to set it. The magic array had been named after a mage. It was called Pan’s Maze.
Pan’s Maze was not an offensive magic array, but if a person did not follow the clues given, the magic array would undergo various types of transformations. Lex did not even dare to fly up directly, as this would likely cause the maze to instantly transform into a gigantic killer array.
The legend said that Pan was a peaceful and harmonious mage until someone tried to mess with him.
“We shall walk slowly then.” Lex shook her head helplessly. Pan’s Maze was the only maze which could not be undone. In terms of magic formulae, this maze was designed to be a death cycle. The death cycle was a passive feature, so unless Lex was confident that she could counter the reprisal from a Grade 10 mage, she could only get through the maze by doing it honestly and completing it fully.
The forest surrounding the magic tower was one of the most complex mazes in existence. Lex and her team searched for magic symbols within the maze and advanced according to its rules. They walked for three days. In the end, Sika was the first to give up, so Nailisi had to carry her on her back and follow behind Saleen.
In the maze, a person needed to maintain a certain speed. Once they stopped, the maze would immediately transform. A person might need to restart from the beginning, or they could be sent into the death cycle or even another perilous magic array.
After the team had gotten out of the maze formed by the forest, Lex immediately sat down on the ground and began meditating. Saleen still had some energy left, so he had Nailisi and Sika rest. He only drank some restorative water while at the same time observing the ten story magic tower from a short distance away.
Saleen had entered a magic tower that was eight stories tall before. That had been in the Bitter Water Prefecture, in Lex’s residence. Compared to this ten story magic tower, the one in Lex’s residence seemed a little skinny.
This blue magic tower had six faces. Each face was twenty-four meters wide, and each level was twenty meters tall. It had six doors, unlike the usual three. With the exception of the first level, every other level had six windows on each face. The blue magic tower was spotless, and the edges of the windows had clear magic symbols on them. These symbols seemed like art decorations.
The tower gradually narrowed as it progressed upwards, but this was not obvious. All the way up to the tenth story, each face still maintained that width of twenty-four meters. What Saleen felt was astounding was that the tower did not have any cracks. It had been carved out from the body of the mountain. Saleen crouched on the ground and touched the blue rock beneath him, but he could not identify the material of the rock.
The materials that were employed by a Grade 10 mage would definitely possess better qualities than those of steel rocks.
The windows on the magic tower were mosaicked with crystals, but Saleen did not feel amazed by them. He was filled with an immense respect which came from his heart. This tower could be said to have been built from the essence of magic. The layout of the tower was so perfect that there was not even a single tinge of redundancy.
The six faces represented the six great elements, and the area of each level must have signified the corresponding magic chord ratio of the different grades. Being able to open six doors at once meant that this Grade 10 mage had been able to maintain elemental balance throughout their training process.
Between Grade 1 and 3, it was easy for a mage to maintain their elemental balance, but once a mage became a mage master, most of them would choose paths that were suitable for themselves and forgo some magic knowledge.
After all, the lives of humans were finite. If they did not become sorcerers quickly, they would be just like any other human. They would live up to a maximum age of one hundred and twenty years before dying.
Not everyone possessed the same wealth as Lex, and not everyone had a teacher like Saleen. Because many mages lacked money, they could only rely on the natural recovery of their magic chords. Their training speed would thus be at least ten times slower than mages like Lex. If the difference in talent was considered, then the ratio would be multiplied by tens of times.
There were also many other mages who could not get an inheritance like Saleen, so they looked for answers in the wrong concepts and ended up wasting most of their lives.
The owner of this magic tower had been the perfect mage. Their comprehension of magic had reached the pinnacle stage. Just like the magic tower itself, the owner had gained a deep understanding of a certain level of magic before advancing to the next level.
This magic tower surely held the most invaluable magic knowledge in existence.