Badge in Azure Chapter 544 - A grade-5 expert (Part 1)

Chapter 544: A grade-5 expert (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As that mountain peak came into closer view, Lex and the rest cast the Windspeed Skill. They still walked for a total of ten hours before reaching the foot of the mountain. At this point in time, the mountain peak no longer appeared to be hundreds of yards tall, it was thousands of yards in height. Half of the peak penetrated the clouds, it stretched for hundreds of miles. The temple atop could no longer be seen clearly.
“Good technique!” Saleen exclaimed. This was actually a genuine colossal world formed by making use of a narrow space. The journey seemed to only require about an hour, but it actually consumed ten times the duration. The real height of the peak could only be determined when one got close to it. One could surveil the temple from afar, but they could not do so at close range.
With such a method of space management, long range spells, trebuchets, magic cannons, or magic crystal cannons would also lose their efficacy. One could not even aim properly. All sense of distance had become illusory, even if magic props were used for measurement, there would be a great deviation too.
The elements in this space were extremely concentrated, it was quite easy to use the magic chords to deploy them. The elements were also arranged in an orderly fashion, it was not chaotic at all. Saleen exclaimed that the goddess’ techniques were sophisticated though. This space was not created by some magic array, instead, the goddess had made a completely new rule here.
Even though the journey was undisturbed, Lex still ordered everyone to set up camp at the foot of the mountain, they would rest one night before ascending the mountain. There did not seem to be any danger inside or outside the temple. The temple on the peak seemed to be the place where the goddess had conserved the seeds of the divine trees. If there were any protective magic arrays, or runic arrays from the realm of gods, then a certain magnitude of power would be required to overcome them other than relying on Saleen to communicate via his divine power.
A mythical beast had a life of ten-thousand years. It had been so many years since the goddess had fallen, so all the mythical beasts should be dead by now. Lex did not understand how that mythical beast standing on Saleen’s shoulder survived.
Saleen was not tired, he sat under the peak and looked up. The peak was green and lush, emanating a very intense scent of life, but there were no powerful magic beasts around. Saleen’s Icy Sight could observe two or three miles into the distance. At this distance, there was no other danger other than some insects and weak animals.
Tourmaline laid on Saleen’s shoulder, in disapproval at the humans’ vigilance. Everything in the temple was gone. Other than itself, there were no other mighty forms of life in this space anymore. “These humans are really cowardly, they should just go up and retrieve the seeds of the divine trees, there is no need to beat about the bush. Mother has asked me to protect the seeds of the divine trees, it’s not that I never did my best, just let them take them. I shall follow this mage and see what they are going to do with the seeds.”
Jessica hatched the mythical beast forcefully, causing Tourmaline to think that she was its mother. Mythical beasts did not have the notion of a master. If it was not for the scent of the goddess on Saleen’s body, it would have escaped at the first opportunity. It also loved Sika’s scent, but it was exceptionally guarded against Nailisi.
In front of Saleen, a ball of water flame levitated in mid-air. The quiver crafted by Eleanor was engulfed in this water flame. This mage called Eleanor possessed archery skills which were more horrifying than her magic. It was just that her archery skills needed relevant equipment in order to unleash their full power. Before meeting Saleen, Eleanor possessed a plethora of abilities, but she could not release her strongest offensive power.
If she was in the elf plane, she would have many ideas to complement her skills by using similar materials. On the Myers mainland, the resources were different from those found on the elf plane.
Saleen observed the arrangement of elements in this space, slowly deducing the method the goddess used to fold spaces. It was impossible for him to replicate such an ability, but it would be extremely beneficial if he could just learn a ten-thousandth of it. If he had learned the skill, the quiver he was refining at the moment would be able to store three-hundred and sixty divinecherry arrows.
This would thus compensate for the inadequacy of the long range attacks of Saleen’s team. When a divinecherry arrow was paired with an elvish shortbow, the range would exceed most level-6 spells already. Eleanor also was a grade-5 mage, so all attacks within five-hundred yards would not deplete her mental strength. If a divine crystal the size of a rice grain was mosaicked into the elvish shortbow, the problem of Eleanor’s insufficient mental strength could be solved immediately. Within one-thousand yards, she would be able to shoot accurately.
A distance of fifty to five-hundred yards was the area Saleen could control. In this range, be it the magic chords or mental strength, Saleen would have an overwhelming advantage over mages of the same grade as him.
Within fifty yards, Saleen had three people he could deploy, Jola, Su, and Nailisi. At less than fifty yards, the four demons and the demonic spirit would be a good offensive forces; especially Cuisi. Even though Cuisi rarely took any action, Saleen knew that Cuisi’s offensive power was definitely stronger than that of Nailisi, it was just that he did not have a space for development like what Nailisi had.
“Saleen, I want a divine crystal.” Sika approached Saleen from behind, coming beside him and then sitting down.
“Hmm?” Saleen was momentarily stunned. The divine crystal extracted from Ismail’s brain had been given to Nailisi, while the one obtained from the goddess’ statue was to be shared equally with Lex.
Sika laughed, then said, “I have spoken to Lex. You can cut from the top, I can settle for a piece with standard surface area.”
“That’s good.” Saleen was also afraid that Lex might become paranoid, so he did not dare to touch that large divine crystal. Lex had many mages serving her, while Saleen had to take care of the population of mages from Sregl Island. Even though this divine crystal was huge and totally sufficient to be shared by two persons, Saleen did not want to arouse anyone’s suspicion.
It was not that Saleen did not want to split the divine crystal immediately, but a divine crystal was exponentially sturdier than a magic nucleus. Segmenting a magic nucleus was a task which required days, so this divine crystal might require one to two years to be segmented. Saleen planned to let Lex carry out this task when he returned to Metatrin City where there was suitable alchemical equipment.
Sika demanded a divine crystal with a standard surface area. Even though this task would be very tedious, the required size could still be segmented in one night.
Saleen took out that colossal divine crystal, then he slapped the calabash hanging around his waist, causing a green water flow to spurt out. Saleen then grabbed a handful of black sand. This black sand was refined from the sand in the Purgatory Desert, it could increase the power of the tornadoes by several times. This was something Saleen had learned during the sandstorm. The black sand in strong winds was like countless knives grinding repeatedly. No matter how strong one’s defense was, it would also be worn off eventually.
After the black sand was refined, it had become tougher. Once it got adulterated with the water flow, it would amplify the cutting ability of the water flow by several times.
Currently, Saleen’s grade was not high enough. If he was over grade-7, he could make the water flow turn into the essence of the water element naturally, bringing its sharpness to that of a level-7 attack. By then, the Current Cutter would be a really powerful spell.
If Saleen could become a grade-9 sorcerer, he would be able to control the water flow freely and create a crystal drill from the water flow anytime. Basically, all magic shields below level-9 could be cut apart by his water flow in an instant. Even a level-9 magic shield would not be able to hold out for too long.
From this perspective, Saleen did not suffer many losses when he did not use the Shenhe to produce water puppets. The sustained attack duration of the water flow was extremely protracted, and it would not consume any magic chords either. Once it reached level-9, its offensive power would be stronger than most level-9 spells. As long as Saleen did not fight with a Golden Grand Swordmaster, he would always have an advantage over the opponent.
Fortunately, the second Shenhe Saleen had obtained was also condensed from the water element, so it could also be used to produce water puppets.
The water flow permeated the black sand, creating shrill friction noises on the divine crystal. It cut out hardly visible fine marks. Saleen was multitasking. As he used the water flow to segment the divine crystal, he was also helping Eleanor refine her quiver.
From a short distance away, Eleanor observed Saleen at work. At this point in time, she was full of admiration for him. By carrying out two tasks at once, it showed that Saleen’s mental strength was at the level of a sorcerer already, normal grand mage could not achieve such a feat no matter what.
So far in his life, Saleen had led very little peaceful days, so his patience had been greatly cultivated. As he was cutting the divine crystal and refining the quiver at the same time, he appeared to be at ease, there was not even a sign of haste. It was as though he had done such things countless times already. Saleen was not doing this without rhyme nor reason though. As the foundation for combat magic, double release, and advanced release required precise handling. Saleen had trained his controlling ability to the maximum limit of a normal mage, and if he wanted to continue making progress, he would have to look for another method.
Displaying two totally unrelated skills at the same time was the practice method Saleen had honed.
The process of refining the quiver required the water flames to refine the holy words and magic array on the divinecherry wood continuously. On the other hand, segmenting a divine crystal required the water flow to be maintained at the right angle in order to cut it into a standard shape so that it could be mosaicked into any equipment.
Be it a magic nucleus or divine crystal, one segmented piece with standard surface area could only have twenty-four facets at most. If the size of the facet and angle it was cut at was wrong, then the segmented piece would waste large amounts of energy during usage. Segmenting a magic nucleus was also a way low grade mages made a livelihood because a normal person would never be up to this task.
The goddess’ statue in Luo ka City had been absorbing the power of faith from hundreds of thousands of creatures, thus the resultant divine crystal was of unparalleled purity. That was why Sika only needed a segmented piece with standard surface area. A divine crystal was different from a magic nucleus, it did not mean that the effect would be greater if the size was larger. Instead, the more standard the cut, the better the effect.
Saleen gradually felt that his own mental strength had increased noticeably, the speed of depletion was lagging behind the speed of increase. He had discovered a novel method to control the elements. Saleen giggled secretly. Six tornadoes were released, and after being mixed with the refined black sand, they encircled Saleen.
From afar, Eleanor noticed that Saleen was suddenly enveloped by a huge Wind spell. This Wind spell was originally translucent, but Saleen’s silhouette could not be seen at all now. Many black lines encircled Saleen, causing Saleen’s image to be greatly distorted, one could not even see his real appearance.
Saleen had actually created a powerful complex spell while working! Other than the tornadoes, falling snowflakes had appeared outside the tornadoes. These snowflakes seemed very fragile when in fact each of them possessed an offensive power equivalent to that of a level-6 spell. As a grade-5 mage, this spell released by Saleen was both offensive and defensive. Even though it could not be considered as a long range spell, it would render a warrior helpless, even if this warrior was a Black Metal Grand Swordmaster.