Badge in Azure Chapter 202

Chapter 202: Magic Ship (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Dragons enjoyed longevity, and their dragonshards would also grow as the dragon aged with time. The core of this enormous piece of dragonshard contained twenty-four facets by nature. Nailisi segmented the core before Saleen carefully stored it into his Ring of Gifts.
Nailisi had not handled the exterior layer of the dragonshard perfectly. She could only segment several large pieces for Saleen to put away before cutting out the materials required for the mosaic.
Without any help from alchemical machines, some parts of the dragonshard were wasted with this cutting technique. Each time a twenty-four faceted piece was cut out from the dragonshard, some useless shards were produced in the process. Since these shards were also too small to be made into rings, it was better for Saleen to collect them for now.
Since they could not be made into rings, producing earrings or even dentures with them would be good too.
There were nine gems inlaid into the grooves of the demonic bracelet. This bracelet was solely used for replenishing magic as there were no magic arrays carved onto it. After mosaicking the dragonshard, Saleen said to Nailisi, “Your bracelet has already been fused, right? I remember there was a magic array on it. Was it the crystal guardian?”
“I cannot utilize it yet.” Nailisi shook her head in response. She could stimulate magic arrays, magic scrolls, and even spells within a magic staff. However, all of her equipment was limited by Saleen himself. Nailisi would be able to use the spell in the bracelet only once Saleen had advanced to grade-7.
“Nevermind. Let’s do the mosaicking first.” Saleen forced Nailisi to mosaic all the grooves before replenishing the spells in the bronze magic book.
There were glaring differences between different spell storing equipment, such as magic books, magic scrolls, and magic staffs.
The magic book was the most practical item, but it was also the hardest to obtain. The spells in the magic book were identical to the spells which a mage could cast. Take Saleen, for example. He was a grade-4 mage, so at most, he could store level-5 spells into the magic book. The disadvantage of the magic book was that a person could only utilize spells which they themselves had stored inside.
Lex could not help Saleen store any spells in the magic book. Saleen needed to rely on himself.
Magic scrolls did not have this limitation. Anyone could store a spell into a scroll, and other mages would still be able to use it. However, a magic scroll could only be used once, and would be useless after a single use. Magic scrolls had two disadvantages. Firstly, if a mage cast a spell which they were not familiar with, they would not be able to control it once it was released. Secondly, the success rate for producing a scroll was low.
A grade-4 mage could easily produce level-3 scrolls. However, if the mage wanted to produce level-4 scrolls, they would be glad to have even a fifty percent success rate. Furthermore, if they tried producing level-5 scrolls, the success rate would be less than ten percent.
The disadvantages of other spell storing equipment were mostly the same, such as magic staffs and Nailisi’s bracelet. Most of them needed to be mosaicked with high grade magic nuclei, and the frequency with which spells could be cast was also strictly restrained.
Saleen possessed a large quantity of blank scrolls, all of which had been taken from Raphael’s magic tower. If he went ahead and started producing scrolls, he would only be able to make low level scrolls which were level-3 and below. For level-4 blank scrolls, Saleen would only have a success rate of about twenty percent, which meant that out of ten blank scrolls, Saleen would only be able to produce two successfully, and the remaining eight would be wasted.
Alchemy City had businesses which specialized in producing scrolls. As long as the customer provided the blank scrolls, the city would receive thirty percent of the production costs. Alchemy City could guarantee the success of the production because there were grade-1 to grade-9 mages in the city.
“Saleen, Saleen!” Sika ran over excitedly with her weapon in hand.
The appearance of Sika’s cudgel had completely transformed from a crude Caucasus weapon into an exquisite military weapon. The bulky cudgel had become slender while the metallic top had become thicker, and the two angular ends now contained six sections each. When Sika rotated the grip of the cudgel, the metallic portion at the top also began rotating. Ka! Dozens of sharp dragon’s horns popped out.
“Come, let’s try it!” Sika waved her cudgel around, causing Saleen and Nailisi to back away in fear. The sharp dragon’s horns at the top of the cudgel were no joke. A simple scrape from them could potentially cause serious injury.
“Sika, go easy!” Nailisi hollered. In the past, Nailisi had not been afraid of Sika because Sika could not hurt her. But now, if Sika used her cudgel to attack her, she would not dare to block it anymore.
“I will know when to stop. Saleen, come on!” Sika could not contain her excitement and began waving her cudgel with more intensity. An air of frostiness from the dragon’s horns caused Saleen’s alchemy laboratory to become unusually cold.
Saleen was helpless. Thus, he cast a water shield, and the giant bubble stood in between him and Sika. Then, he said, “Come and try it out, but don’t ruin the floor.”
Sika grinned before raising her cudgel and striking the water shield. Pu chi! The dragon’s horns which protruded from the cudgel managed to penetrate Saleen’s water shield and freeze it. An important aspect of the water shield’s defenses was its elasticity. The air of frostiness which accompanied the dragon’s horns had caused the water shield to become rigid. Cracking sounds were heard, and the water shield shattered into pieces.
Chi! Sika had not held back and the cudgel smashed into the floor. The sharp dragon’s horns pierced into the floor, creating multiple holes in the ground.
“Ah! That was too much… I still have to get used to it.” Sika’s face turned scarlet red when she noticed that she had destroyed Saleen’s floor. Then, she quickly ran out of the alchemy laboratory.
“Master…” Nailisi pointed to the holes in the ground, while Saleen simply shook his head helplessly. Fortunately, Sika’s weapon was not too overbearing. Had it penetrated the floor, a conflict might have ensued with the tenants living on the story below.
After living in the alchemy tower for about one month, Daniel’s puppets were going to be completed soon. The team had also grown familiar with Alchemy City, and they no longer drew unnecessary attention to themselves.
“Nailisi, go and look for Sumano.”
“Master, people are still watching us, and you want to go and look for your teacher? Aren’t you rushing too much?”
“I want to carry out some missions. People will only grow suspicious if we keep staying in the apartment like this. Once I have completed two missions, those people will no longer keep watching us.”
“Don’t you want to discuss this matter with Lex first?”
“I will make the decision regarding this issue.”
Just as Sumano had told Saleen, he waited for Saleen’s instructions on the first story every single day and did not go and close other deals. Sumano had also been quite nervous after accepting Saleen’s money. He was afraid that Saleen had nothing to do and would create trouble for him. If that really happened, then Sumano would have to give him a refund. But if he had already used Saleen’s money to repay his debts, what would he give to Saleen for the refund?
Saleen met with Sumano in the large hall outside of the apartment, as Sumano was not willing to enter Saleen’s residence no matter what. That was Saleen’s private space, and Alchemy City would not step in even if Saleen killed him inside the apartment. That was the right of a home owner. The owner was the emperor of their own house.
“Mr. Saleen, what do you need me to do for you?” Sumano was more lively and treated Saleen with more respect than he had in the past. Saleen was Sumano’s biggest client. If Saleen would be living in Alchemy City for a long period of time, then he would most likely not look for another person to replace Sumano.
“I want to accept some hunting assignments. What I kill is unimportant. I just need to get some high grade magic nuclei along the way.”
“Mr. Saleen, it would be better for you to buy the high grade magic nuclei from Alchemy City if you want them. There aren’t any high grade magic beasts in the neighboring islands. If you want to hunt, you’ll have to travel at least one thousand miles away.”
“What about it?”
“Mr. Saleen, you will have to spend a fortune hiring the ship. Also, you will have to get some companions. Surely it is not possible for all five of you to go hunting for high grade magic beasts, right? You will also have to split the spoils equally. And, after subtracting the costs of hiring the ship, it will be more worth it if you just purchase the magic nucleus from Alchemy City.”
“Sumano, I have come to Alchemy City in hopes of gaining more experience. I heard that there are mages from Alchemy City who will follow the hunting groups, so it is very safe. Also, there are no such benefits in other places, so the money spent will be worthwhile too.”
Sumano believed Saleen’s words. Many mages were wealthy and were not lacking in equipment. They had come to Alchemy City because of the security here. A safe combat environment enabled mages to increase their powers swiftly.
Mages were different from swordsmen. Many swordsmen could only experience breakthroughs in their sword auras when their lives wre on the line, but mages did not need to take such risks.
“Mr. Saleen, I thought you were here in Alchemy City because of the auction that will take place in October,” Sumano remarked casually.
“Auction in October? What is that?”
“Every October, Alchemy City auctions off all of the items which have been gathered over the past year. Items whose prices can’t be determined are also collected by Alchemy City.”
“Oh? Are there any good items?”
Sumano was overjoyed when he noticed that Saleen was interested. He had only been afraid that Saleen would not employ his services. “Everything will be there. Mages from Alchemy City are active all over the mainland, so they frequently obtain rare items. Foreign mages also provide a lot of equipment. Last year, a mage from Sikeqinya managed to auction off an authentic magic cannon. He was really lucky. He walked away with five hundred high grade magic nuclei in exchange for that magic cannon.”
“So expensive!” Saleen was astounded. He had acquired many high grade magic nuclei from Raphael’s magical tower, but the total quantity had been less than two hundred pieces. Alchemy City could produce so many magic nuclei. Could they have been richer than Raphael?
“That is not considered expensive. Alchemy City has a ship which can hunt magic beasts in the deep sea. There are countless magic beasts in the ocean, unlike on the mainland. There are more magic beasts there than the amount of hairs on a cow’s body.”
“What type of ship is that? It can even hunt magic beasts in the deep sea!” Saleen could not believe what he had just heard. Even a ship which was powered by magic would be weak on the ocean. Indeed, there were many magic beasts in the ocean, and they were more perilous than the ones on land.
“I have not seen it before. That ship belongs to the Devil’s Horn. It will not appear in the port of Alchemy City.”
“Devil’s Horn? Is it one of the three islands?” By now, Saleen was aware that Alchemy City had extended its sphere of influence even all the way to the deep sea, controlling all the islands in its vicinity. Out of the numerous islands there, there were three slightly larger ones which possessed three nine story magic towers. They, too, belonged to Alchemy City. These three islands formed a barrier of defense on the ocean routes, and even the Cloudflow Empire could not do anything about them. The Cloudflow Empire could only carry on with their usual business, as their navy could not be deployed for plundering.
With Alchemy City around, the coastline of the Qin Empire could be considered peaceful. Otherwise, it would have been like the Tanggulasi Empire. The Tanggulasi Empire had been left with no choice but to deploy large numbers of soldiers to sea to prevent plundering from the Cloudflow people.
Everyone knew for sure that the pirates from Cloudflow were supported by the empire’s royal family. However, the other three empires did not possess a navy like the Cloudflow Empire did, so they could do nothing about it either way.