Badge in Azure Chapter 280

Chapter 280: Saleen’s Contract (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lightning dragon!
When the three kings heard that Saleen was planning to capture this creature, their fires of the dead immediately began trembling violently. Other spirits might not have known what the lightning dragon was, but the three of them had a deep impression of it. In the past, Shanglan had kept nine lightning dragons as his magic pets. Those dragons had already advanced to a stage where they could already fly, and their lightning attacks could instantly transform a spirit into a bunch of dregs.
Fortunately, the three kings remained expressionless. They had managed to conceal their fear extremely well. That was a matter of the past by now. Right now, the three of them had already progressed from weak spirits into kings, so they did not need to be afraid of a mere lightning dragon who had not evolved at all. It was just that the tinge of fear in their hearts had been buried too deeply. It could not be erased no matter what.
“Lightning is too damaging to spirits. Mage, it seems that your request is far too overbearing,” Judikaka said hesitantly. The three of them were confident of capturing this lightning dragon. It was just that they were not willing to do the job for free, so Judikaka began bargaining with Saleen.
Saleen was afraid that they did not have any requests. Be it man or spirit, the subject not a threat as long as they were willing to negotiate a deal.
Daniel was very awkward. He was the one who had summoned three powerful spirits, but none of them regarded him as the master. Daniel could have understood that much, but the three of them were even chatting with Saleen.
Daniel sighed in his heart, I am the death mage!
The mages from Sregl Island found the scene amusing. They were very knowledgeable, hence they knew that even though the three spirit kings looked ferocious, they still abided by the rules. The higher the grade of a creature, the more afraid it was of dying. Usually, creatures who would try to fight it out with humans were either low-grade or unintelligent ones.
“Honorable king, what do you want? I am willing to pay an equivalent price.” Saleen was not greedy. The lightning dragon needed to be slaughtered in order for the port and the city to be constructed. However, Saleen was tight-lipped. He simply said that he would pay an equivalent price. The lightning dragon was a grade-8 creature, and if the kings wanted an item whose value exceeded that of grade-8, then the deal would fall through.
“We would like to stay on this plane for some time. If you can provide us with a sufficient quantity of magic books, we can help you accomplish many things. It will not be limited to solely capturing this lightning dragon.” Judikaka noticed that even though the humans were very weak, there were many mages around, so he made a request which did not seem too outrageous.
The kings had been entrapped by the scepter for thousands of years now, and they still could not find a solution to the entrapment. Perhaps they could search for a vital clue to it on the human plane. There were neither mages nor books for reference inside the death dimension.
“Honorable king, to be frank, books on this plane are very expensive…” Saleen replied hesitantly.
What a cunning fellow! Judikaka appraised Saleen in his heart.
“If you have enough books, we are willing to provide some materials which are unavailable in this plane.” Judikaka did some mental calculations and felt that he would not lose out. It was purely an accident that he had traveled from the death dimension to this plane. For some spirits, they never saw the appearance of the death mage who summoned them. In any case, the kings could no longer progress inside the death dimension, so they might as well take it as a training opportunity now that they were in the human plane.
“Okay, then I will provide a magic book every single day. Will the three kings be satisfied with this arrangement?”
“Two books!” Diyabannersa hollered.
Judikaka became upset. Diyabannersa was not very bright as he thought that they would get more benefits by increasing their demands. There were so many mages around, and if every single mage had about thirty to fifty books, then there would already be more than one thousand books in total. If they read two books a day, it would mean they would have to work for these humans for one year.
“Then let’s make it two.” Saleen snickered in his heart. Sregl Island mages might not have been the most powerful mages, but the quantity of books they had was potentially unmatched anywhere else in the world. Only the gods would know what the three kings were looking for. Since the kings did not mention anything, Saleen decided that he would start by lending them the most common books. By the time they found some related information, many years might have already passed.
“But, to ensure fairness, we should sign a contract.”
Saleen said that while smiling. The more Banchajanna stared at Saleen’s expression, the more he felt like Saleen’s expression resembled that of the person who had cheated them many years ago. Banchajanna then rebutted sharply, “Contract? What contract!”
“Ha, it is for the borrowing of the magic books. I will provide the magic books for your reading every day, and each book will be used to exchange for one piece of your materials or equipment. I will also provide lodging and servants for all of you. If I stop providing the books, you can refuse to pay, or you can demand that I compensate your losses.”
“Compensate our losses? Do you think that we are very poor?” Diyabannersa roared at Saleen. They were spirit kings, the people who ruled over the death dimension. Exchanging one piece of material in return for one book was far too cheap for them.
Diyabannersa’s character was too blunt. He did not consider that when the unique materials from the death dimension were transported onto this plane, their value would be immeasurable already. Saleen simply needed to sell them in order to obtain more books.
“In that case, let’s sign a contract, in case you are afraid that we will go back on our word,” Judikaka said helplessly. Of course, Judikaka was not afraid that Saleen would set a trap within the contract. Given Saleen’s grade, it would be impossible for Saleen to try to fool Judikaka by including additional clauses inside the contract.
Seeing that the spirit kings had agreed to sign a contract, Daniel thought of the contract between him and Saleen, and felt that the kings were walking into a trap. Saleen’s contract was not that straightforward, but he could not warn the kings that Saleen was used to using contracts to ensnare other people.
Saleen instinctively took out a blank scroll while Nailisi moved a flat rock over. Saleen spread out the scroll across the rock and began writing the contract.
The three kings were very patient. Saleen’s writing was not skilled, and he looked like a child doodling while drawing the magic array. Seeing that Saleen was like this, Judikaka became at ease. What tricks could a mage, who was seemingly unfamiliar with a contractual magic array, do to a contract?
Saleen was not putting on an act. He was unfamiliar with magic arrays and alchemy, among other skills. Furthermore, he had even discontinued his studies into magic pharmaceutics.
This time around, Saleen employed magic language to write the contents of the contract. The three kings used their strong mental power to scan the contents of the contract, and found that this mage named Saleen really had not tampered with the contract.
Only the responsibilities of both parties were written on the contract, and the kings did not even need to fight for Saleen. Besides using the magic books to get the materials which were unique only to the death dimension, there were no other clauses.
The three kings looked at each other before leaving their soul imprints on the contract. After the contract was signed, the scroll burned up in flames.
Judikaka burst out in laughter before saying, “Mage, I must say that you are very cautious.”
“Please address me by my name. We can be considered acquaintances already.” Only now did Saleen feel a sense of safety. Saleen had written a contract of rules. The contract might not have specified anything, but before the contract was fulfilled, both parties could not hurt each other. Saleen did not feel safe at all having those three powerful spirits by his side.
This contract could not be terminated forcefully. As long as all of Saleen’s books were not borrowed, the three kings were considered to be of no threat to Saleen.
Once teacher gets here, hehe, I will have over ten thousand magic books. For the next ten years at minimum, the kings will not be able to harm me, Saleen thought to himself, feeling smug. The contract itself had no problems, but Saleen needed to do things step-by-step. As long as his safety was guaranteed, the other matters would already be much easier to resolve.
Three fools.
Nailisi thought to herself. In the past, she had been deceived by Saleen, and that was why she had signed the soul contract. This harmless contract would eventually become a fatal poison. It was no wonder then that spirits were not labeled as intelligent creatures. Even though there were a few intelligent spirits, they were just a bunch of fools when compared to demons.
Feeling satisfied, Saleen then instructed everyone else to begin setting the trap. With the help of the three spirit kings, the plan would likely go smoothly.
Daniel’s contract creature, that three-headed pikoosi, was cowering within the death flames. The arrival of the three kings had caused the pikoosi to become extremely petrified. The kings possessed intelligence and had their own names, unlike the pikoosi which was only identified by its race. The pikoosi could not understand why his weak master was able to summon those powerful kings.
Saleen dispatched Daniel to raise the height of the dam, while he explained the plan to the three kings by himself. After listening to Saleen, Judikaka then felt that the deal was much more worthwhile than he had previously thought. The three kings could not enter deep waters. Judikaka thought that Saleen would ask them to enter the deep sea to capture the lightning dragon, but it turned out that these humans already had a plan to deal with the lightning dragon.
After a simply analysis, Judikaka realized that even if the three of them were not around to help, Saleen would still stand a great chance of killing the lightning dragon.
The unevolved lightning dragon could only dominate the sea, and even grade-9 creatures did not dare to trifle with them.
The rest of the mages had already dispersed. Other than Saleen, no one else was willing to accompany the three kings. Furthermore, they were no longer required to deal with the lightning dragon, and they still had to prepare lodging for the three kings. Those three gigantic fellows also needed to rest. A spirit’s body was similar to that of a human, and both types of bodies were in a state of isolation from their surroundings.
The higher the grade of a spirit, the less time it needed to rest. However, the three kings still needed to train, so they needed to have some accommodations. The kings could not possibly enter Daniel’s death flames, as that would be infuriating to them.
Banchajanna dragged the lightning dragon’s egg using a piece of tourmaline rock, and entered the sea following the flow of the river. As the lightning dragon had not returned, Saleen had nothing else to do, so he began chatting with the other two kings.
Spirits were not cold and unfeeling beings. If Judikaka had not looked so horrible, he could have been considered quite interesting as well. Diyabannersa might have been easily annoyed, but he possessed broad and profound knowledge. Compared to these two men who had been around for tens of thousands of years, Saleen seemed just like an ignorant disciple.
“Are all spirits afraid of the power of lightning?” Saleen posed this question innocuously as he spoke. Saleen had a plan in his mind. If these three men were afraid of the power of lightning, then he would be able to subdue them in the future.
Daniel was slightly blinded by his lust for benefits. He even tried interacting with the kings, but the kings would only speak to Saleen. Hence, he had been utterly slighted.
Judikaka did so for a reason. He was ignoring Daniel on purpose because he did not want Daniel, who thought that he was very capable, to command him. If he truly did that, then Judikaka would simply kill this stupid death mage before returning to the death dimension to continue the war.
Saleen was still better. Even though Saleen was more cunning, he was fair.