Badge in Azure Chapter 231

Chapter 231: Saleen’s Follower (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Daniel, you have to consider this very carefully. This contract isn’t going to be very fair to you,” Saleen advised. Daniel did not know that this was Saleen’s way of raising the stakes. He simply grit his teeth and nodded.
“Saleen, as long as you give me this black crystal, it will be up to you to write the contract.”
“That’s no good. I want you to do this willingly.”
“I am willing!” Daniel’s voice sounded like he was in pain. Aside from the winged skeleton, he had nothing else to his name. It was his fortune that Saleen was willing to exploit him.
“Daniel, I need a follower,” Saleen said calmly. At the same time, Daniel’s expression became quite intriguing.
Many mages had followers, and followers were split into two types. The first type was a student of a mage. The student was not willing to leave their teacher and train by themselves, so they would become a follower. The other type was a contractor, who had signed a magic contract. A contractor could stay with the mage and aided the mage in training and combat.
Saleen’s request had not been made on a whim. He had experienced multiple battles and realized the advantage of having more people by his side. Especially after coming to Alchemy City, Saleen had realized that if he wanted more time to train, he had to emulate the mages in Alchemy City by getting someone to help him.
Be it gathering materials or doing battle, Saleen would not have much time for training if he did all of these activities by himself.
Daniel was hesitant now. Just now, he had been full of determination about wanting to sign a magic contract with Saleen since he had thought that Saleen simply wanted him to carry out some tasks. In reality, Saleen wanted a follower. Once the contract was signed, Daniel would never be able to leave Saleen ever again.
Daniel felt that a piece of black crystal in exchange for his lifetime’s freedom was not worth it.
“Daniel, do you think the deal isn’t worth it?” Saleen’s question had hit the bullseye in Daniel’s heart. Daniel nodded, then Saleen said, “This contract is not permanent. As long as your grade surpasses me one day, this contract will be voided.”
“Okay!” Daniel was overjoyed. Upon reaching the grade of a sorcerer, a death mage would advance slower than an elemental mage, but before that, a death mage’s speed of advancement was much faster than that of an elemental mage. Saleen was currently at grade-4, while Daniel was about to break the limits of grade-3, so the difference in their grades was limited. Even if Daniel wasted some time by assisting Saleen, he would still be able to reach grade-6 in ten years at most. Yet, Saleen was thinking of reaching grade-6 within ten years? That was pure daydreaming.
If Saleen had been at grade-6 now, then Daniel would not have had much hope. But, Saleen was at grade-4, so Daniel did not feel that the contract was unfair. He simply thought that Saleen wanted to borrow his powers just for the next ten years.
Saleen was also rejoicing in his heart since Daniel did not know his background. In order to surpass his grade, Daniel’s training speed would have to be four times that of a normal mage. The moment the contract was signed, it would be too late for Daniel to have any regrets. A contract between mages was not able to be repudiated. Furthermore, Daniel was a death mage, so the backlash from the contract would affect his soul directly. If Daniel decided to go back on his word, he would surely be doomed.
Saleen’s body had been transformed by Joey and he had also obtained Raphael’s magic notes, so his training had become very smooth. And, if Saleen still lost to Daniel despite all these advantages, then he would have no right to have Daniel be his follower.
The real challenge would be advancing to grade-7 from grade-6, as this barrier was the tallest one in the face of every mage out there. As long as Saleen was promoted to grade-6 in advance, then Daniel would never have a chance of surpassing him anymore.
Saleen grinned as he took out a blank scroll. This time around, the contract was of extreme importance, so a normal piece of paper was no longer strong enough to contain the powers of the contract.
“Daniel, I am going to write it now. Have you decided?”
“I… have decided.” Daniel knew that once he signed the contract, he would have to start working for Saleen. However, he was merely a grade-3 mage, so his powers were limited, and thus Saleen would try to make him advance to grade-4 as soon as possible so that he would be useful.
Saleen sat down calmly and opened the scroll before taking out a magic pen and the ink made from dragon’s blood. Then, he started writing the contract.
The format of a magic contract was not complicated. The crux of the contract was in its magic array. A magic array which could affect the soul would effectively restrict both parties involved in the contract. Saleen had been weak in the aspect of magic arrays, but after taming Nailisi, he had continuously studied the magic arrays of contracts.
Before meeting Joey, Saleen’s studies had been confined to books, but after being enlightened by the conversion of the six great elements, Saleen could now draw magic arrays on his own. The magic array which he was now drawing on the level-5 blank scroll caused Daniel to be petrified. That was the Elemental Annihilation magic array. When this magic array was deployed during combat, the power contained in it was just too weak. However, when used in contracts, it meant that the soul would be affected by the magic and ignore any defenses as long as both parties took the initiative to make a soul imprint on themselves.
As a death mage, Daniel knew just how fragile a human’s soul could be.
Magic array, magic mantra, soul imprint, and the rune signed in blood. By the time this set of things was completed, the sky was already beginning to turn dark. Saleen thought to himself that he needed to produce more of such contract scrolls so that he could save a lot of time when he needed to use them. Daniel had done fine, as he had not had much of a choice. If Daniel signed contracts with others in the future and the other parties changed their minds because of such a delay, then it would be disastrous for him.
“Congratulations, Saleen. You finally got yourself a follower,” Sika congratulated Saleen once she saw Daniel leaving his soul imprint on the contract scroll. Before a mage obtained their own magic tower, their offensive abilities were closely linked to the quality of their followers. After all, Daniel was still a death mage, and once he advanced to grade-4, he would be able to summon creatures from the death dimension from time to time. Plus, with Daniel’s winged skeleton which had already been there from the beginning, the power of Saleen’s team would immediately receive a noticeable boost.
Death creatures did not feel fear, so they would act as better cannon fodder than fully constructed puppets. If a fully constructed puppet was damaged, one had to spend money on its repairs, and the puppet also required sustenance from magic nuclei in order to function. On the other hand, if summoned death creatures were destroyed, one could simply summon more the next time. There was not even a need to worry about wear and tear issues unless the creature was a high-grade one like the winged skeleton. However, it was also difficult to kill a high-grade death creature like the winged skeleton because the death flames of the death mage would have to be completely depleted first. As long as the death flames were still present, the winged skeleton would be able to escape to the death dimension at anytime.
“Daniel, you don’t have to call me ‘sir’ in the future, ‘Saleen’ will suffice. This is yours now.” As Saleen spoke, he took out the black crystal once more and handed it to Daniel. As Daniel clutched the cold gem, his heart wrenched. He had originally thought that he was going to die since he was being pursued by the Holy See. Many times, Daniel had tried to make his soul traverse the planes. Unfortunately, he had not possessed enough power.
Finally, there was hope. Even though Daniel had lost his freedom by becoming Saleen’s follower, he had also gained a certain level of security. Saleen was rich, so he could provide magic nuclei and more protection for Daniel. Followers could still hire mercenaries or sign contracts to recruit warriors. The power within a contract belonging to a mage master was sufficient to restrict approximately one hundred people. Since Daniel was Saleen’s first follower, his position would only keep increasing until the contract lost its effect.
“Okay, Daniel. You shall remain on the sixth story to train. When I need you, I will send Nailisi up here. Sika, let’s go and take a look at Lex’s preparations.” Once Saleen had finished his sentence, he did not discuss future matters with Daniel. He simply went all the way down to the first story, leaving Daniel all alone on the sixth story.
Saleen was feeling a little smug. He was only a grade-4 mage, yet he had managed to recruit a grade-3 death mage as his follower. It seemed like such a thing had yet to happen throughout the history of the mainland. It was all thanks to the Myers Goddess who had left behind a heap of gems, in which there had been this black crystal which was a necessity to the death mage.
After reaching the first story, Saleen realized that he had not given any food to Daniel. However, Daniel must have been full of excitement right now, so it was possible that he would be unable to stomach anything either. Lex had already built an alchemy laboratory, and various alchemy appliances were on display throughout the first story.
On the spacious podium outside the door of the magic tower, Saleen noticed a gargantuan turtle shell.
“This…” Saleen pointed at the turtle shell and looked a little dazed. This object was absurdly massive and its weight was astounding, so how had Lex been able to move it here?!
“Master, I am going to die from exhaustion.” Nailisi collapsed into Saleen’s arms, her eyes brimming with tears.
Saleen was not going to believe that Nailisi was the one who had moved the turtle shell. Lex waved her hand and called Saleen over. A table was placed in front of Lex. On top of it, there was bread, grease, freshly barbecued meat, and tea brewed using the Cloudflow method.
Saleen cracked up. Then, he pulled along Nailisi and called out to Sika, “Let’s eat!”
“Mm.” Sika nodded, taking out her boomerang and beginning to slice meat for Saleen. Ever since Lex had left the Bitter Water Prefecture, her diet had become monotonous and she no longer yearned for good taste in her food. Sika had also resumed her original lifestyle where she only used her hands and weapons as tools for eating, not bothering to use a knife or a fork.
“Sika, you will get sick if you eat like this.” Lex blessed Sika with a Cleaning spell, helping her wash her weapons and hands. Sika simply smiled in response. In a flash, Sika had finished slicing the meat with quick strokes of the boomerang before giving the meat to Saleen for him to put between pieces of bread.
“Lex, I have a piece of good news for you. Daniel… has become my follower.”
“Ah?” Lex thought that she had misheard Saleen. It was not prohibited for a mage to follow another mage, but Saleen was only grade-4, so why would Daniel follow Saleen willingly?
“The contract has been signed. In the future, just use him as much as you want. It is too late for that fellow to regret it now.”
“Saleen…” Lex paused for a while before continuing, “You are not a demon, right? So how did you manage to do it?”
“Demon?” Saleen glanced at Nailisi, then he laughed and said, “Lex, our methods are different. You prefer to let the other party work for you willingly while I simply focus on the result. Only a contract is fair. If you hope to expand the Bitter Water County in the future, you can prepare some contracts. I will help you get signatures, and you will definitely not be the one on the losing end.”