Badge in Azure Chapter 266

Chapter 266: Magic Beasts (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
For a commoner, building a city was an incredibly hard thing to do, as it would take decades for it to even take shape. It was different for mages. By activating a large number of puppets, they could quickly build the frame of a city within a short period of time.
Saleen had over twenty mages with him and even more magic disciples. Thus, he could activate over a hundred mechanical puppets. These puppets that were taller than two people could only do simple tasks, but they would be enough. The forest west of the coast needed to be deforested, and the mages commanded the puppets. Using giant metal saws to fell the trees, the wooden materials were processed with magic and used to build houses.
The trees here had grown for many years and trees that were over three meters in diameter were everywhere, the wood sturdy yet fine. The mages followed the map that Jason had given them when extracting these woods and did not deforest the entire place, leaving behind a large number of trees.
Some of the big trees within the forest had already grown to their limit, hence the mages drained out any liquid within these trees to end their lives. They could then carve houses directly into the trees, carving out holes within their crowns and planting different varieties of plants.
Such treehouses were popular among the wealthy. They were warm in the winters and cool during the summers. However, it was hard to find such thick trees, and they were limited in supply.
The wild beasts within the forest had been chased away, and the mages could not have been bothered to kill them either. After building a road within the forest, the mages started having the puppets dig and lay the foundations of the city underground.
This was an onerous task, and Saleen could not help much either. He and Nailisi decided to process the white stone materials by the coast.
Saleen did not know the ground-type Corrupting spell and could only use the current cutter within the calabash to cut the stone materials. Thus, their progress was not incredibly fast. He was not in a hurry either way and took it as practicing his magic. Nailisi did not have anything to do either. She commanded the puppets that Lex had left behind, using brute force to extract the stone materials.
The strength of the fully constructed puppets could not be compared to that of humans. They were made entirely of metal and did not know the meaning of fatigue. Changing to alchemy equipment, a large metal gear was equipped onto each of their arms as they rapidly revolved, cutting deep valleys on the white stones.
As Saleen was extracting the stone materials, he fully activated his current cutter’s abilities. In the past, it had relied on rapid current flows and friction to form a water rope, using the force from its twist to cut its target. Now that it was facing a flat stone, the six-meter-long water current had no way of wrapping around it. Saleen started to feel the vibrations formed from the rapid currents. The arrangement of the elements exacerbated this vibrating energy, and on a needle sized area, thousands of small gears were rapidly revolving. So long as he increased these vibrations, even without having the current wrapping around its target and twisting, it could cause enormous damage.
The six-meter-long green current cutter became more concise as Saleen commanded it at will, almost as if it was a long sword. Moreover, with countless sharp blades, Saleen decided to use the current cutter to cut the stone directly. On the white coast, a green shadow danced around Saleen.
At the beginning, whenever Saleen made a cut with the current, he could only leave a mark that was a finger deep. As his skills got better, every time he made a cut, he would be able to leave a mark that was almost half a meter deep in the white rock. His speed became increasingly fast since the current cutter used up incredibly little focus. Saleen’s two mutated water shields blended together. The green current and Saleen’s soul seemed to have a fascinating connection, as Saleen only needed to rest after using it for five hours.
Nailisi stopped, no longer commanding the fully constructed puppet. She looked at Saleen in a daze and said, “Master, you look like a swordsman now.”
Saleen suddenly realized it as well. Controlling this current cutter had caused the spell to last longer. Was this not like a swordsman using the sword aura to attack from a distance?
Grand swordmaster? Even a grand swordmaster could not allow their sword aura to be condensed for such a long time away from their body, unless they had surpassed grade-9. It was a pity no such person had ever appeared on the Myers Mainland.
Saleen had once researched the principle behind the sword aura. He was much more familiar with the logic behind this combat skill than most swordsmen. From the basic theory, his current cutter was not only magic, but had the properties of the sword aura as well. In other words, it contained life itself.
Some of this life had been left behind by the Myers Goddess while some of it was from Saleen. With this life blending together within the spell, Saleen could control this magic freely and use up very little focus.
After understanding this point, Saleen controlled the current as it pierced into the white rock like a long spear. The tip of the current formed a sharp triangle, and the spell was like a spear formed from water elements. When the entire six-meter-long current went right into the stone, even Saleen was shocked.
As the current went into the rock, it changed its angle of motion and formed an arc before coming out from another side, creating a tunnel within the incredibly tough rock. This conserved more energy than cutting into it directly and Saleen already had a plan in mind. He had the current reenter the rock, and after about a meter, had it change directions and form a hole to the side. After another meter, he controlled the current to move upwards and out of the ground. At this moment, the current was touching together at its tips. With a hard twist, rock shavings flew everywhere.
On the flat white rock, a one-and-a-half-meter-long square opening appeared before Saleen’s eyes.
Saleen laughed, having never felt this pleased before. Even though he knew he would have been more delighted if he had used the water elements within the calabash to create a water puppet, he was satisfied.
When a water puppet released any magic, it would use up a mage’s magic chords. However, this current only required a little bit of focus and could last for much longer than a water puppet.
Moreover, this current had started changing its arrangement, adding in the special magic patterns on the calabash. Within the vibrations of the current, miniscule lightning had formed.
This lightning did not have much attack power and might not even have been able to kill an insect, but this was an important start. So long as Saleen continued practicing, this current would be able to contain the powers of lightning sooner or later.
If this calabash had been used to create water puppets, it might have been able to create a puppet filled with lightning, and any attacks might have caused Saleen’s magic chords to be wiped clean. Even though the power would be immense, the results would not be stunning.
Once Saleen realized the changes to his current cutter, he stopped processing the stone materials by the coast with Nailisi. They returned to the sea and started practicing the magic at the crescent shaped island.
Saleen did not need to release any magic in the water and he could breathe easily. This allowed him to practice underwater for a long time without anyone realizing.
Once grasping this skill, Saleen’s improvement sped up. This naturally crescent shaped coast was incredibly peaceful and did not have a single fish. Saleen had Nailisi follow behind him. If the rock that was cut out was slightly larger than normal, Nailisi would store it within her bracelet.
This white stone material did not have any magic properties. However, once it was solidified with magic, it would make for a very good defensive material. Saleen followed the edge of the coast, cutting the rocks from top to bottom and chopping off any jutting rocks.
If such rocks were to ram into the bottom of any ships, even an armored carrier would not be able to withstand the damage.
Saleen’s few ships were not too big. The main combat vessels from the Cloudflow Empire only needed water that was at least ten meters deep, which was incredibly terrifying. Saleen wanted to own such ships in the future as well, and the water at this coast was of such depth. He cleared away any rocks near the edge of the island, out to spots that were fifty meters deep. In any case, his speed was incredibly quick now. He would not even need half a year until he was able to finish clearing all the rocks on this island.
After busying himself for half a day, Saleen was a little tired. He stopped cutting the rocks and swam even deeper, wanting to see how deep this harbor was and if there were anything useful on the sea floor.
Diving down over one hundred meters, Saleen could already feel the immense pressure. He released a water shield, and the giant bubble enveloped him. The round water shield could withstand immense pressure, but it was still tough to dive even deeper. There was not much Saleen could do about the enormous buoyancy of the bubble.
He reduced the size of the bubble to its smallest size, but the resistance was still incredibly powerful.
Saleen had no choice but to change to an ice plate armor. Dispersing the water shield, he continued diving. Saleen knew that at the end of the day, he was a mage. It was incredible enough that he had been able to dive to such depths. Nailisi was not embarrassed following behind Saleen. It was said that in Cloudflow, there were professionals who harvested pearls that could dive to depths of three hundred to five hundred meters below the surface. If I have time, I should really practice fighting underwater.
If he could dive to such depths too, it would be something he could consider when escaping. Even a sorcerer would have limited magic power when they were underwater. Moreover, a mage’s speed was not controlled by their powers.
Saleen’s swimming technique was similar to that of a fish. After changing to an ice plate armor, besides the fact that the pressure was still immense, his body immediately felt more flexible.
The seawater here was incredibly clear, but light refracted underwater. In places this deep, his vision became blurry. Saleen relied on his icy sight and was barely affected, but he still cast out his powerful senses to survey the situation on the seabed.
Diving down over two hundred meters, Saleen saw a round cave in the white rock. It was incredibly smooth, with a silver light glowing above.
Saleen waved back at Nailisi. He went ahead first as he carefully slipped into the entrance of the cave that was over two meters wide.
The widest part of this island was barely four hundred to five hundred meters across, and the seabed was slightly wider, being almost a mile thick. Saleen had ventured in hardly ten meters when he entered a spacious cavern. The stone walls within the cave were shining with a silver light, presenting the scene in front of Saleen clearly.
In the middle of the cave, there were a few black stones jutting out, forming a circle. In the middle of these black stones were dozens of red eggs.
Saleen sensed a tinge of danger. There were magic beasts in here!