Badge in Azure Chapter 366

Chapter 366: Single-Horned White Whale (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“How fast is this single-horned white whale?” Saleen did not give up. The maximum speed of his alchemical boat was already at eighty miles an hour.
“My ship can go seventy miles an hour and it can easily catch up.” Irene broke his fantasy. To easily catch up to a target, its speed must be at least thirty percent faster than it.
“Soldier, slow down. Let it go ahead first.” Saleen gave his command.
Saleen did not want to take down this whale, the strongest person with him was Banchajanna. After he had been controlled by Saleen, his powers had dropped a little. Now he barely maintained a grade-9. Even if he had an advantage with his weapon, he would not be able to win against this beast in the water. If the grade-9 magic beast was to get angry, it could easily destroy the alchemical boat.
The death flames within Banchajanna’s eyes were shaking about violently. He was observing the image transmitted back by the Eye of the Dead. That giant whale was almost one-hundred feet long, it was basically an underwater combat vessel. There was a faint green magic pattern on its giant body, almost like a smooth cloud pattern.
The alchemical boat sank deeper to stay out of the whale’s course. It swam away easily, a funnel of current formed from water element followed behind it.
Banchajanna retracted his neck. In the death dimension, he was the strongest in existence. On Myers Mainland, however, there were many things that could hurt him. The white whale was one of them. Just by swimming in the water it could bring about the intense water element currents. A magic beast like this was not something Banchajanna wanted to face.
Only in the vast ocean would such a powerful beast be formed.
The whale did not bother about the alchemical boat that avoided it, even though it was made from the shell of the Pan’s Turtle. Once it died, the magic nucleus had been dug out and it no longer had any aura of life. Only grade-3 and grade-4 magic nuclei were powering the ship and the aura that it gave off was incredibly weak. The whale did not even look at it as it sped forward towards the north.
“Irene, are there living creatures like this in the sea near the Oceanic Ice Block?” Saleen had killed a Pan’s Turtle before and he thought that the high-grade magic beasts in the sea would not be too hard to deal with. Looking at this single-horned white whale, Saleen knew he had overestimated his abilities. If the magic beasts in the sea were easy to deal with, Alchemy City would not need to form a combat fleet every year to hunt.
“There are dozens of different species.” Seeing Saleen’s face pale, Irene quickly added, “These magic beasts are different from those on the mainland. If you do not disturb them, most of them wouldn’t attack you. Many magic beasts are just curious about humans and they have no intention of harming them.”
“Tell me about all these magic beast. In the future, these magic beasts along this sea route must be protected. No one is allowed to hunt them.”
Saleen knew many magic beasts naturally did not mean any harm to humans. They were incredibly intelligent. The humans from ancient times had captured many living creatures from other dimensions to cross breed with the living creatures on the Myers Mainland. They had created new species, many of them were easily tamed by humans.
They were very precious and there was once a warrior horse on the mainland covered with scales on its body. It had been blood red and it moved incredibly quickly. Due to its interest in humans, it was easily captured. Many countries had over-hunted it, it was almost extinct now.
If all the harmless magic beasts were killed off along this sea route, many more magic beasts with stronger assaultive powers would appear. Saleen could not only look at the benefits in front of him. As a mage, he hated hunting a particular magic beast to extinction.
The Pan’s Turtle alchemical boat descended to a depth of eight-hundred feet. The spirit pool’s energy was not enough to maintain a high speed and could only move at forty miles an hour.
Jola brought over a plate of vegetables for everyone, it was served with fatty pork floss and a pepper smoked meat with bread and cheese. Although it was not a rich meal, it was much better than the smoked meat that Saleen was eating. There was no soup and Jola had found some white wine to go with it. Sika was almost done, she brought her bottle over to drink the wine herself.
Nailisi was feeding Saleen at one corner, she helped him cut his bread and put some salt on his smoked meat. Jola could only look on jealousy.
“Sika, wine isn’t to be drunk like this.” Jola saw Sika ruining the good wine. As a palace swordmaster, he was very intricate when it came to food. He wanted to show off some of his knowledge to Sika.
“I know, but there aren’t any outsiders here. Is there any point acting like a wealthy? Do I still need to wear a helmet, greet everyone, choose a cup and side? That’s right, why didn’t you make any snacks? The floss isn’t even meticulously prepared, the meat is too old, the bread should be a yellow bread and not a white bread, we aren’t eating seafood, why did you bring over white wine?”
This tirade of criticisms from Sika left Jola stunned, he had not imagined that this brazen Cascausus beauty would know this much. How was he to know that Sika had learned so much when she was staying at Lex’s residence to give Saleen face. Even if she were to go out and act as a wealthy lady, she would be able to pass off easily. With her character, she was too lazy to do that, unless it would affect Saleen’s image.
Irene burst out laughing, she liked Sika’s character, she was not willing to act.
Jola was not discouraged nor embarrassed as he said to Sika, “As the palace swordmaster, this isn’t my strong suit. Back then, I used to train hundreds of swordsmen…”
“You’re really lucky.” Sika sighed, “There were thousands of youths from the many villages nearby to ask for my guidance. They were so annoying but I couldn’t leave them alone too.”
Jola was speechless. He knew about Sika bringing thousands of Cascausus people to back Saleen, however, he had not expected Sika to be of such high position among them. He was indeed a palace swordmaster in the past but Emperor Jupiter was probably finding out ways to get someone to kill him. Sika on the other hand still had thousands of men under her.
“Master, this hunt will take at least two to three months, a bland diet is indeed a problem. I will get some ingredients.” The winged skeleton voluntarily communicated with Saleen.
Saleen did not reject, he was obsessed with magic and could not care much about food. He was responsible for too many people now and he could not neglect their feelings.
Within the spirit pool under the Eye of the Dead, twenty-four slender bone spirits were released. They looked like a snake with four legs but were much bigger, they were almost as big as the leg of an adult. These twenty-four bone spirits directly moved out through the crystal that was inlaid at the front of the ship and swam towards the sea.
Upon seeing this, Banchajanna gave a loud, “Hmph!”. He knew that Judikaka had helped Saleen to process this ship. When he had first processed the soul pond, Judikaka had only provided two bone spirits. Those bone spirits must have come about because of the winged skeleton. This winged skeleton actually had its own intelligence. It seemed like this winged skeleton must have had something to do with him being tricked with the contract. If not how would Saleen know the rules of a spirit in another dimension? Once he regained his freedom, he must crush the winged skeleton!
The winged skeleton heard Banchajanna’s voice but was not afraid. He was Saleen’s contract creature. So long as Banchajanna did not dare touch Saleen, he would not dare touch him either. When it came to the difference in grade, even though the winged skeleton had the help of the green spirit, he was only a grade-7 spirit. He did not dare provoke Banchajanna, instead he focused on controlling his bone spirits to hunt for fish in the sea.
“Jola, if you have the time, you should guide Irene. She is a high-grade swordsman and with a little improvement, she would be able to protect herself.” Upon seeing Jola a little defeated, Saleen comforted him. Seeing Sika again, Saleen realized her powers had increased again and she was not lesser than Jola. She had rose even faster than him.
Magic training was a step by step process, but a priest could inherit the powers of previous generations. This was something he could not compare against.
“Alright, but I have no idea what Miss Irene wants to learn.” Jola was open minded, he immediately shifted his target once Saleen gave him something to do.
Irene’s face turned red even though for her, business came first. Among the people here, she was indeed the weakest. If anything happened, she would be the burden.
“I like to use a short sword.” Irene answered honestly. As a descendant of her family, she did not need to charge into battle and any combat she learnt was for self-protection. In the city, it was easier to bring a short sword and it was faster too.
“You are tall with long limbs, learning the short sword is a waste. Besides, a short sword is something assassins liked to use. If you use a short sword, you will attract mages first. Oh, there is a form of combat in Cloudflow that uses a pair of swords, one long and the other short. I cannot help you with your sword aura, but such combat is suitable for a woman to learn. I can pass it to you.”
Jola spoke with ease, he was good at it. Back in Cloudflow, he counted on his words to live.
Saleen was done eating when the alchemical boat slowed down and no longer needed a mage to control. He took this time to give the five mages a lesson.
Saleen was now a grade-5 mage and had the ability to keep disciples, his foundation was strong enough. These five mages were from Sregl Island and their foundation was strong too. Saleen’s advantage was in his combat powers. In Raphael’s tower, he had gained a large number of magic books. They were all guides on how a mage should combat and Raphael’s experiences.
With these things, it was enough for Saleen to guide these five mages. They listened to him explain the use of low-grade magic in combat, they were ready to learn. They knew Saleen was Jason’s student and had always assumed that Jason had not passed down much to Saleen and he was only lucky to become a grand mage. The things that Saleen was explaining to them was stuff that was unheard of on Sregl Island.
The five low-grade mages were bought over, they knew magic knowledge could not be faked. As Saleen explained he tried to show it to them, the low-grade magic appeared on his hands and disappeared as easily. Every action was clean, natural and smooth.
The five mages finally set their minds. Even if the mages from Sregl Island came to Saleen’s city, they would still follow him.
“Master, I have caught some fish. Get Nailisi to get them.” The winged skeleton sounded happy.