Badge in Azure Chapter 435 - The Royal’s Stratagem (Part 1)

Chapter 435: The Royal’s Stratagem (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Sauron was terrified! He looked at Lex in horror.
He had no doubt about Lex’s ability, but he could not be promoted to a sorcerer due to money. The speed of practice was originally slow and he had to figure out ways to earn money. That took up a lot of time.
He was already sixty-eight years old. Although he had another good forty to fifty years of life, according to his progress speed, he would not have any hope of promoting before he died.
Promoting to grade-7 sorcerer, his lifespan would be lengthened for another century. Even if he stopped there, his lifespan would have been doubled!
Sauron was convinced. He could not refuse such a thing.
“My only condition is that this would be a secret between us.” Lex had a poker face on.
Sauron nodded, he was thrilled and he even wanted to sign a contract immediately. He was afraid that Lex would go back on her promise. Most of the mages that had decent a foundation would stop at grade-5 because the expense to learn magic was too high. Many mages had to work really hard for magic materials, they had to be hired to get magic books.
If there was no accident, such mage would become grade-4 grand mage when they were fifty and then grade-5 grand mage when they were seventy.
The lifespan of a mage was not certain. A mage could get hurt when they practiced too. If there was no special meditation principle or amendments of magic liquid, a mage would not live to more than one-hundred and twenty years old. Most of the time, they died within a century.
Sauron had been a grade-6 mage for a dozen years, but he did not progress much as he was gathering money to buy material to build a magic tower. That was something he could not get help with. If he did not build a magic tower, he would not even be able to feel the threshold of sorcerer.
To promote as a sorcerer, one had to be in an environment that was rich in elements. Naturally, there would not be such environment, at least not on the Myers Mainland. The only way to create such an environment was to build a magic tower.
If one had a sorcerer as a teacher, they could borrow the environment of a magic tower. That was a benefit of having a teacher.
The reason Lex could reach such a level at such a young age was definitely related to the fact that she had a grade-8 sorcerer as a teacher. Compared to Saleen, the promotion of Lex was smooth sailing. On the other hand, a miraculous mage like Saleen, his progress was exchanged with his life.
Saleen’s progress was made under circumstance that he was nearing the end of.
Following Lex, Lex needed at most another twenty years to become a sorcerer. As the princess of the country, it would not be a problem for her to build a magic tower. Sauron saw hope and he would not let pride cloud his judgement at that time.
Mages had pride, but they formed a strict hierarchy. Lex was way stronger than him. After promising such benefits, Sauron could resist no more.
“I can let Nash go but I have to bring along these soldiers.”
Sauron nodded blindly. He could not care less about the soldiers. In the mage’s heart, he could not contain anything else. He could only remember a word, sorcerer! Sorcerer!
“Princess, what do you want those soldiers for? You will need to take care of them.” Daniel did not understand Lex’s intention.
“Bring them along. If my uncle tries to send more people to stop me, I will kill all of them.”
Daniel quivered in fear and did not ask further.
Lex snorted and stared at Daniel with her blue eyes, “What a nerve! You only have five hundred people, how dare you rush through the city gate. If I weren’t at the west gate, you would be dead! Do you know that?”
Daniel answered anxiously and fearfully, “Why would we? We would flee at most. You saw us, we have skeleton warhorses.”
“Skeleton warhorses? There are more than a few hundred thousand soldiers within Phoenix. Could you outrun all of them?”
Daniel took another breath, one tenth of his five hundred people died even under a situation when their magic suppressed their enemy entirely. If they were surrounded and blocked by a few hundred thousand soldiers, the only one who could escape would be him alone.The pikoosi ran too fast and any mages below sorcerer level could not catch up.
“There were three sorcerers in Guderian city and to invade Phoenix, they at least brought one with them. Daniel, if you were to be watched by a sorcerer, could you escape?” Lex seemed to know what Daniel was thinking about.
“I couldn’t escape.” Daniel felt bitterness on his tongue and replied honestly. This was not Tanggulasi. Besides Saleen, he had no other backing. He could run away from the Holy See because of his familiarity with the environment. Running around Tanggulasi and Cloudflow for many years, he had many friends. In Phoenix, he spoke with western slang, even a farmer could tell that he was not from the Qin Empire.
“Hmph, I do not know why Saleen would feel safe to let all of you out. You think you are indestructible with two magic chariots? I have dozens of ideas to fight against you, do you believe it?” Lex could not help but scold Daniel on behalf of Saleen. Daniel’s actions were too adventurous, he could possibly have led the five hundred soldiers that Saleen put together to be wiped out.
Lex did not care about the soldiers that Saleen put together, but she could tell that the people that Saleen picked had a good foundation. If they were to be properly trained, they would be an elite troop. With Daniel using them as he wished, the soldiers would be gone before training was carried out.
Gurney hid behind Daniel and kept quiet. He was the one who came up with the idea. Although it succeeded, now that he thought about it, there were many flaws in his plan. The only thing that he did that deserved a compliment would be him killing the white robed mage. If he did not killed the white robed mage, the Barbarians that were blocking the city gate would have been gone.
Lex did not continue nagging, but started asking about Saleen and Daniel answered the questions one by one. She heard that the city that Saleen built was attacked by the expeditionary force from the eastern sea and she was glad. Luckily, Saleen pulled a good trick to sink the enemy’s warship. That was related to the season as well. If it was summer, those warships could have gotten close to the city directly and shot rocks randomly. Saleen’s limited troop would have suffered a great loss.
“Saleen, that bastard was too lucky. He even brought the three Kings under his control!
After a while, there was a bodyguard that came in and saluted, “Your Highness, the fire has been extinguished. How should we deal with the captives?”
“Take off all their clothing and change them into cotton padded clothes. Gather them together according to programme of auxiliary soldier and bring them along.”
Lex thought that over in her heart that with the amount of captives, although it would required food, she had God’s Ring and she could empty the army provision in Fort Strand. She could bring them back to act as coolies at Saleen’s city first. If Holy Rock city wanted her to release them, they would either have to exchange money or meet conditions that she requested. One would be opening a pathway in Phoenix that belonged to Bitter Water Prefecture.
Lex got tens of thousands of captives and half of them were regular army soldiers. Holy Rock city could not afford to lose that amount of soldiers.
The military system of the four empires was very complicated, but they shared one similarity. That was that they were affiliated to the royal army directly. These armies would not be transferred to other nobles. A garrison at Guderian city was directly under Holy Rock city.
To train such soldiers, it normally required five years or more. Such soldiers were different compared to auxiliary soldiers, they spent all their lives in the war. Even after they were old, the royals would take care of them.
The soldiers surrendered because the target was Lex, who shared the Grukos surname. If the enemy was the army from Tanggulasi, these soldiers would fight until the very end.
Lex dared not kill these soldiers because of that. If she were to do so, it would be an irreversible damage to the Grukos family. These soldiers in Saleen’s city would not do much heavy work. If they were private soldiers of the nobles, Lex would not hesitate to send them to dig and mine until they died.
Lex brought such a big troop to the north, there were many talents among the army. Some were magic apprentices that were specialized in mineral resource prospecting. These people would be sent out to find mineral veins on the tundra in the north once Saleen’s city settled down.
Lex did not need to pay taxes for mining, so no matter how low the benefits of mining in the north were, she could earn gold.
Lex and Daniel had no time for casual chat, there were constantly underlings that came into the hall to report and relay orders. Lex made arrangements one by one and Daniel conceded defeat. If these things were to pass down to him, he could not even get one done right.
Lex was way stronger than him, not only in magic. Saleen seemed to be good too, at least he followed the correct person. If Saleen was not there to pressure him, Daniel would probably still be a grade-4 mage, it would have been impossible for him to promote to grade-5.
The captives were settled, Lex finished most of the tasks and “patrolled” the storehouse of Fort Strand. Military machinery, army provisions, gold coins, magic nuclei, ore, all of them were stored inside Lex’s God’s Ring. If it was Saleen, he would be worried about those mountain of foods that could feed five thousand soldiers for a few years.
Lex did not touch the magic tower outside the city. The mage that built the magic tower back then was not there anymore, but she did not break the rule. The trebuchet in the city was dissected and taken along without leaving a part behind. If it was someone else, they could not do that. Only Lex, a mage with such a godly item would be able to bring so many items along.
Nash finally woke up to find himself imprisoned. Lex did not go to see him and did not let anyone talk to him. She sacked the captured Fort Strand for three days, dug down for three feet and did not leave anything that she could take behind.
Lex only left with an intention, she did not care about things that were invaluable. She stayed back to sack the captured city with the same attitude, “I would have wiped out whoever’s house that provoked me.” There were at least tens of thousands of Qin Empire soldiers at the nearby city. Lex sent scouts to probe for news.
If Safilos were to become angry out of embarrassment and ordered the other army to attack, Lex would be safer in Fort Strand. These three days, besides sacking the city, she repaired the east city gate. If there were an armies assembled nearby, she would guard there. It was extremely near to Loulan and if Lex really could not, she could hire large amount of soldiers to help her fight the battle. She had brought along a large amount of money.