Badge in Azure Chapter 631 - The arrival of the grade-9 mages (Part 2)

Chapter 631: The arrival of the grade-9 mages (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Saleen behaved as if he was facing a powerful adversary, he asked Nailisi and Cuisi to follow him while Sika would lead the Caucasus people to do patrols outside the temple. After summoning Banchajanna and Diyabannersa Saleen rushed over to the temple.
Unlike what Saleen had imagined, he saw that Jola was entertaining the two mages and engaged in a jovial conversation when he returned to the second story of the temple. The two grade-9 mages looked about thirty years old. Saleen knew that once a mage attained grade-9, their lifespan would be up to twelve-hundred years and they could control their appearance.
There were also demons in the room serving the mages, one was Luola while the other was Aiwa. Tolesi had been deployed by Saleen, he was not stationed in Metatrin City.
Upon seeing Saleen, Jola smiled and said, “Great Mages, this is the city owner, Saleen.”
The two grade-9 sorcerers were tall with a striking appearance, their eyes were brown and their hair bunched up. Seeing Saleen lead an entourage into the room both mages nodded their heads in a friendly manner. Given their statuses, their attitude towards a city owner was very good already. This made Saleen pleased.
These were two mages were not used much solitude, they could communicate using conventional methods.
The two grade-9 sorcerers were also observing Saleen, they had been persuaded to visit Metatrin City and they were not very hopeful before arriving. They wanted some change in their lives, so they viewed this trip as a vacation.
“Master Frankie, Master Anthony, my name is Saleen Metatrin.” Saleen executed a mage’s bow.
The two grade-9 sorcerers noticed that this young mage was clad in a strange-looking brocade robe. It looked like a mage armor, but the style was more ancient. They had not seen anyone dressed in this manner for the past two-thousand years. As for Saleen’s identity, they were told he was a descendant of a prominent family from the fourth dynasty.
When these two people entered the city, they were extremely astounded when they saw the scale of Metatrin City and its unique city walls. They knew that an impoverished person could never have orchestrated such a construction. There must be some colossal power behind this city owner.
These two grade-9 sorcerers were members of a mercenary group and they never thought of spending their whole life as mercenaries. They were different from that couple from the Dragons and Roses Regiment, they were more orthodox mages. They hoped to overcome the limits of grade-9 and achieve true freedom.
A mercenary group could not give them such things and the income could hardly provide them with more training materials. Just on the aspect of magic nuclei, they were impoverished. If they defected to Alchemy City, they would be submerged in a sea of mages. They would have to vie for power constantly, they did not like that kind of lifestyle either.
Fortunately, the two people had advanced to a grade-9 sorcerer very early on in life. They succeeded before reaching one-hundred years old, so they had around one-thousand years of life left. If someone supported them, allowing them to have sufficient time to practice magic without needing to worry about financial matters, then that was the best option for a mage.
This city was clearly very wealthy, its wealth had exceeded what they had imagined.
After seeing the group of people behind Saleen, the two grade-9 sorcerers were even more assured. “There was actually a supreme demon, and spirit kings!” This city owner was clearly not after their abilities. Even though a spirit king would be restrained on this plane they also possessed abilities which were close to the standard of grade-9. A supreme demon was even better, such creatures would not be restrained by any planar rules while on Myers mainland. Humans were fond of capturing demons because of this reason long ago because a demon was the best fighter in any plane.
Saleen took out exquisite porcelain cups and poured a cup of magic liquid for the two grade-9 sorcerers. They thing had been created by a level-7 spell and Saleen was learning it. Of course, a grade-9 sorcerer would not be short of magic liquid, this was simply an act of respect. Even though Saleen was backed by the Sregl Island, he was still full of admiration for powerful mages.
Magic practice was an extremely tough affair. It was already very onerous for normal humans to become a high grade disciple. One would have to sacrifice a whole lot more in order to attain grade-9.
“Master of the city, why have you invited us over?” The two sorcerers were extremely polite. They had already decided to settle down in Metatrin City, but they still exercised some restraint.
“Last year, the Holy See released a new code of laws. It labeled death mages as heretics, I guess you two masters have heard about it.”
Anthony and Frankie nodded their heads at the same time, but they did not know why Saleen had broached this matter.
Saleen said, “One of my best followers and my friend Aini, are grade-6 death mages, so the Holy See will only have peace of mind after killing them. I have received information that the Holy See has gathered a one-hundred-thousand man army and is rushing towards Metatrin City now.”
“There is actually such a thing?!” Anthony furrowed his brows, then said, “We are willing to kill a few holy masters, but…”
Saleen smiled, then said, “Of course I am not going to let you two handle this matter. I am just reminding you that Metatrin City is a target that has to be destroyed in the eyes of the Holy See.”
Frankie said, “Sir Saleen, the Holy See and Metatrin City are twenty-thousand miles apart, would they deploy their army just because of a few death mages? I am afraid they are here because of the Qin Empire.”
“I have concrete intelligence. The Tanggulasi Empire has an army of twenty-five-thousand people with an additional one-hundred-thousand volunteer expeditionary soldiers, they have already set off from God Grace Duchy. They will travel along the borders of Phoenix, entering the northern region, then they will travel east and attack my city directly. County Queen Lex has a camp of soldiers stationed at the borders. I have already sent an army to reinforce them. This matter cannot be faked.”
“If it is the Holy See’s army, we will definitely lend a hand. In Laiyin Duchy we still have tens of thousands of people that are deployable.” The two grade-9 mages clearly bore hatred towards the Holy See. Before they became sorcerers they had toured the Tanggulasi Empire in the past and they almost had gotten killed there.
That conflict broke out because the two of them were assisting a death mage. Saleen’s words were coincidentally aligned with their thoughts.
“I have invited you two masters over, but not because of the war. As you know a sorcerer has to be in command once an imperial city is developed. My teacher is busy with some matters, so he cannot come at the moment, Uncle Fellett recommended the two of you.”
“Imperial city?”
“Of course, the Metatrin family is a royal family with a different surname. Since I am going to recover my family’s glory, this city has to have an imperial status.” Saleen answered very naturally. The first few portions of his ancestral record were not fabricated, only the parts from the fourth dynasty until the present day were falsified. The Metatrin family had indeed flourished for a period of time during the fourth dynasty.
The two grade-9 sorcerers were actually hesitant now. They were not very rich at the moment, the income given by the mercenary group was not sufficient to build a magical tower. If Saleen was addressed as a royalty, they were not even willing to contribute a token sum to him.
It was perfectly normal for a royalty to hire sorcerers, the sorcerers were also treated pretty well. If Saleen wanted to build a residence the sorcerers could not save on gifts because that was a matter of prestige.
Of course Fellett knew about their situation, so he continued the conversation, “Saleen is my nephew, he and Aini are like brothers. I didn’t lie about anything when I invited the two of you over, Saleen is planning to construct a magical tower for you.”
“That’s right, I am going to build a ten story magical tower for both of you. It will be sufficient for your usage.” Saleen struck while the iron was hot.
Anthony and Frankie turned to look at Saleen and Saleen nodded his head gently, signaling that this claim was true. The two sorcerers burst out in boisterous laughter, then said, “Then we will stay, but do we have to sign any contracts?”
For magical towers with more than eight stories the required material was steel rock and the costs for building the interior was even larger. The fortune which the both of them had amassed was for building a magical tower for themselves, but since Saleen was going to gift them a ten story magical tower, it would be sufficient for them. The sorcerers had amassed quite a substantial fortune, they would not lose their dignity in front of Saleen’s subordinates.
Being a mage for royalty was different from joining Alchemy City. Alchemy City had many more rules compared to Holy Rock City. By following Saleen they would not need to comply with orders, they just had to protect the cities near their magical tower. If Saleen had any further requests he would not need to spend more money. Nevertheless, Saleen also would not bother them with trivial affairs.
Since the two sorcerers were talking about contracts, Saleen understood what the implicit meaning was. In a magnanimous tone, he said, “A contract must be signed. I will state my demands. If you find it unsatisfactory feel free to raise objections.”
“Sure, please say them.”
“The ten story magical tower will surely be built by me, it will be completed within one month. Within the magical tower, I will send four grand mages to serve the both of you perennially, please give them guidance. As for magic disciples, there will be sixty of them.”
Anthony and Frankie nodded, even though they did not accept students Saleen’s requests were not overbearing. On paper, the four grand mages would serve the two sorcerers, but the real people suffering were the sixty magic disciples. The four grand mages would actually learn from them.
“Every week, I will send a batch of low grade mages over, please explain one spell to them.”
Anthony glanced at Frankie, this request was still acceptable. Per week, they just had to explain one spell. As long as they explained it in detail, not much time would be expended. The both of them nodded again.
“The magical tower will be built outside Metatrin City, nearby a small town. If you are willing a few six-story magical towers can be built in the vicinity too. As for the town’s defense, neither of you have to take any action if there aren’t any unforeseen circumstances.”
“City owner, you are too courteous.”
With a straight face, Saleen replied, “A sorcerer is honorable, they cannot be constantly embroiled in worldly affairs.”
These words came from the bottom of Saleen’s heart, he would not need two grade-9 sorcerers to resolve the trivial problems. When Saleen’s teacher arrived at Metatrin City in the future he would not be involved in the trivial matters either. Saleen was going to advance to a sorcerer soon, he knew that a sorcerer required time for practice.
“I can provide the level-6 magic nuclei you use for your experiments, as for high level magic nuclei… I will hunt them in the ocean. Both of you can follow the ships out to sea and you can get twenty percent of the income.”
“Hmm?” Both sorcerers were bewildered. Saleen was providing level-6 magic nuclei, and the supply was unlimited, but the sorcerers had to obtain the high level magic nuclei themselves. They could only receive twenty percent of the income and they still had to sail out to sea to hunt!
“City owner, the risk of hunting at sea is too high. We do not mind a twenty percent cut though…”