Badge in Azure Chapter 354

Chapter 354: Raphael’s Magic (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Saleen noticed that the hole, which was the size of a bowl, had extended for over ten meters. The opening of the hole was extremely smooth, forming a perfect circle.
Not only did the offensive power of the crystal finger exceed that of mid-level magic, it was also much more ferocious than the eruption of a grand swordmaster’s sword aura. At the very least, Saleen knew that Jola would not be able to penetrate ten meters deep into this stack of rocks despite wielding Tears. If low-level magic was used against these white rocks, it would not even leave a scratch.
Saleen then proceeded to check on the magic chords inside his body. Half of his magic chords had been depleted, no more no less. It seems like if Saleen did not run into strong enemies, then he could not use this spell! No matter how powerful a spell was, its meaning in battle would diminish if it could only be used twice.
Saleen knew that the crux of this spell was in Raphael’s crystal ring. Without the crystal ring, his arm would have disintegrated after the spell was cast.
Ever since the demonic bracelet had been fused with the dragonshard, Saleen only needed half an hour to regain all his magic chords after a full depletion. If Saleen did not meditate and only absorbed energy from the dragonshard, then he would be able to regain his magic chords in an hour.
Saleen did not continue practicing the crystal finger and started on water flame alchemy. Blue flames emerged from Saleen’s palms, levitating in midair, and tornadoes which were formed by the snowkill appeared in the room. A six-meter-long green water flow flew out from the gourd which was hanging around Saleen’s waist before encircling his body.
The temperature in the room dropped drastically, and ice crystals began forming on the walls. This series of spells from Saleen had freezing attributes. The temperature of the water flame was the lowest, but its energy was introverted. However, the snowkill was the hardest to control. Six tornadoes pasted themselves to the ceiling, thus protecting Saleen, who was in the middle of the room.
Saleen took out some materials and began refining weapons. Most of his subordinates were still wielding normal weapons, and after the journey to the Chaotic Swamp, the weapons which he had refined for the pirates were all ruined.
Alchemical weapons had a shelf life. Saleen’s alchemy methods could only be used in times of desperation.
As Saleen refined the weapons, he controlled the six tornadoes formed by the snowkill at the same time. He finally understood why his teacher had dared to trifle with a mage who owned a magic tower.
Many spells were formed by derivation. It did not mean that one had to reach a certain grade before being able to utilize a particular spell. However, the requirements for deriving a spell were very stringent. Mages without an inheritance would not even know that there was such a domain within magic.
At the moment, Saleen was only a grade-5 mage, yet he could already release the snowkill which was equivalent to a level-6 spell. Furthermore, the durations of such derivative spells were related to the conditions of the derivation. The snowkill would be able to last for at least half the duration sustained by the water flame.
Of course, this could only happen under non-combat conditions where elements were not being dispersed, which was why an mid-level spell could last for so long.
Water flame alchemy was also a progressive spell. However, it was different from a normal progressive spell, as the level of water flame alchemy would not follow the progress of the mage.
More accurately, water flame alchemy behaved like this. A grade-7 mage would only be able to cast a level-7 water flame. On the other hand, a grade-8 mage would have to re-learn the spell in order to grasp the level-8 water flame. The moment the water flame advanced to the next level, a lower level water flame could not be cast anymore. However, the derivation of the water flame alchemy was identical to that of other spells.
At this moment, Saleen had cast a level-5 water flame, and a water flame at this level had never appeared before. The offensive power of the snowkill, which was derived, was one level higher, and this situation had also never happened before. The transformation of Saleen’s constitution had a great impact on water magic. No matter how much talent other mages had, they would still be unable to produce such an effect.
That was how Saleen practiced. He would practice the crystal finger once, before moving on to the water flame alchemy. He would control the snowkill and the current cutter at the same time, allowing his mental strength to enter a state of quick depletion.
Every single time after the water flame disappeared, Saleen’s remaining mental strength would only be enough for him to cast a level-0 spell. However, that was already enough. At this point in time, Saleen would then take out his clan badge and cast a level-0 spell, causing his body to enter a debuffed state. Thereafter, he would recover using meditation.
The results from such training were astounding. By February of the second year, Saleen felt that his accumulation had begun taking off. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be able to reach the edge of advancement if he continued training at this intensity for the next two years.
There were not many changes to his magic chords. Without any progression in his grade, the amount of branching from his magic chords would not change. Saleen’s mental strength underwent the most change, and he felt that his mental strength had already reached the standard of a sorcerer. This was because he could vaguely interact with some of a sorcerer’s secrets. He might not have possessed the capabilities of a sorcerer, but he could already identify the direction he needed to head.
The city was constructed at lightning speed. The three kings were reduced to coolies, as they commanded thousands of spirits in the swift expansion of the city. The spirits did not become fatigued. The city was built very quickly, and every day, more than ten buildings were constructed. In the last seventy days, the main structures to the east of the city had already been completed, and the city walls already had a rough shape. Furthermore, the buildings to the north and south were mostly completed. The only structures left were the port and the magic towers.
On this day, Saleen was refining his necklace when Nailisi suddenly ran in and said, “Master, Irene has brought some people over.”
“Irene?” Then, Saleen remembered that she was the female noble from the Williams family. After allowing her to leave, Saleen had not expected the Williams family to act so quickly. It had only been a few months and winter was not even over, yet they had already sent people here.
“Where is she?”
“In the town hall.” Nailisi had not brought Irene to the temple. After the three kings had been subdued, the temple had become a restricted area, and outsiders were not allowed entry.
“Who went to receive her?”
Saleen had not waited for Lex to return. All in all, the construction had been progressing smoothly, but all of his people were here. No one had been appointed to manage administration yet.
“Daniel.”
“Have her wait. Tell Daniel to keep her company for the time being.”
“Master?” Nailisi stared at Saleen in bewilderment.
Saleen laughed, then said, “My necklace will need a few more hours to be fully refined. As for the Williams family… I am in no hurry to talk to them.”
“Truman!” Nailisi hollered to the mage who was waiting outside. Truman ran in hastily before bowing. This grade-3 mage was going to become Nailisi’s sidekick very soon.
Nailisi conveyed Saleen’s words to Truman before dismissing him, while she herself stayed in Saleen’s room.
“Master, it seems like those lightning dragon eggs are going to hatch.”
“I know.” Saleen released the water flames, then tossed the goddess’ necklace into them. Following that, he added the green spirit, chlorite, and tourmaline. Saleen had already grasped all the calculation formulas in the goddess’ necklace, so he no longer needed the necklace for knowledge. The necklace had good attributes and it could contain a person’s mental strength. At the same time, it also possessed the divinity of the goddess and the power of life. Now that the green spirit was added, the necklace would become a piece of spatial equipment which could hold creatures within it.
Of course, these “creatures” referred to contract creatures. The goddess’ necklace had twenty-four segments, so Saleen decided to refine it into a large piece of sealing equipment. This necklace would be able to contain twenty-four summoned creatures. Currently, the three kings were living in an external environment and did not need to be sealed. However, once those lightning dragon eggs hatched, special equipment would be needed to seal the hatchlings. Otherwise, it was possible that Saleen would have to wait for hundreds of years for the hatchlings to mature if he placed them in water.
The green spirit and tourmaline were able to provide the special energy required for the growth of a lightning dragon. At this moment, Saleen had too many of such rocks in his possession. The tourmaline had been obtained from the lightning dragon’s nest, while the green spirit had been extracted from the mineral vein under the relic. Furthermore, Saleen now had forty lightning dragon eggs with him. He could already feel the signs of life emanating from those eggs. Before the mages from the Sregl Island could arrive, these small dragons would already have hatched.
Hence, Saleen rushed to refine his necklace, or else these forty lightning dragons would go down the drain.
Within the twenty-four massive spaces in the goddess’ necklace, the walls in each of the space had become solidified. Various alchemy materials reinforced the spaces in the necklace. Then, the chlorite fused all the spaces together, which in turn mixed with the goddess’ divinity. All the spaces were flooded with countless magic symbols, as well as magic arrays and magic patterns which were formed by the tourmaline.
Every space was filled to the brim with water. This water was pure, and its intensity was almost that of the water element already. The magic arrays on the walls continuously released a blue electric current. These currents were sealed within the necklace so they did not disappear, they simply traversed back and forth within the necklace.
As long as Saleen kept providing energy in the form of magic nuclei, these spaces would be the best environment for a lightning dragon to live in. In the wild, a lightning dragon had to absorb electricity in order to grow and advance. When a lightning dragon had just hatched, it could still rely on its mother for help, but after a year, its mother would chase the child away. At that time, the dragon would face a lot of difficulty trying to grow.
Saleen had learned this method of rearing a lightning dragon from Judikaka. Judikaka had used this secret in exchange for a portion of freedom for himself and his companions. That was why Saleen and Aini had not sealed the three kings. Instead, they had allowed them to take charge of the spirits who were building the city.
Naturally, Aini had also learned about this secret. However, he did not have the ability to control the elements. He could only wait for the eggs to hatch before transforming the hatchlings into spirits. Thereafter, he would use another method to rear the lightning dragons.
“Sir!”
Jola’s voice came from outside the door. Besides practicing in front of Saleen every day, Jola and the four other magic beast swordsmen would stand guard outside Saleen’s room to prevent anyone from entering.
“Yes?” Saleen controlled the water flames calmly. At the moment, he could already control the water flames perfectly. He even could use them to kill an enemy. A conversation would not cause Saleen to lose control of the water flames.
“Gurney’s patrol team discovered some scouts.”
“Scouts?” Saleen was stunned. Which armies would come in this weather? Saleen would never believe it if the army was reported to have come from the Holy See. The Glorious City was more than twenty thousand miles from this place. It would be impossible for the Holy See’s army to come all the way here. If it was not the Holy See’s army, Saleen really could not think of anyone else who would already be interested in his city.
“Capture them, I want them alive.” After Saleen finished speaking, he continued refining his necklace. As the blue water flames levitated in midair, all the materials disappeared into the necklace. On the black necklace, the newly formed magic patterns grew increasingly lighter until they finally became faint, obscure prints. Then, the necklace regained its original smooth and clean appearance.