Badge in Azure Chapter 1412

Chapter 1412: Level Advantage (Part 1)

Saleen did not use the Crystal Finger. Although he was definitely able to use the skill anytime, his level was simply too low and the magic chords consumed by the skill would have allowed him to use over a dozen other level-11 magic spells.
He still had to deal with the other mages who had escaped after he was done with the purple-robed mage. There were nine level-11 mages in the Elemental Hand, and every single one of them had unnervingly ample combat experience. All would have caused him trouble in the future if they were allowed to escape.
With Saleen having taken the Baldur’s Gate and Alchemy City by the skeletal dragon, there was no way those mages would have simply let the matter slide.
Saleen had to get the fight over with as quickly as possible.
“Saleen, I’ll give you the godly item. Spare me!” The purple-robed mage said all of a sudden, while a scroll that was slightly shorter than a human thumb was taken out. That mage was attempting to ambush Saleen.
While scrolls had a lot of shortcomings, they had one very obvious advantage—allowing sudden use of spells.
Any magic spells would have required ambient elemental powers to first be manipulated. The so-called instant-casting actually had preparation moves nonetheless. A mage needed to first use mental powers to use scrolls. Elemental waves happened after that.
Any other mage would have been tempted by the words of the purple-robed mage. Not Saleen. The lightning icicle he fired the second time had the Thunder Dragon Blaster emitting cold mist.
Lightning icicles traveled too fast to be evaded at such a distance. The purple-robed mage did not expect Saleen to remain unperturbed and unhesitant after hearing what he said, attacking immediately after that instead.
While it was arduous for the projectile to get a lock-on on the purple-robed mage, evasion nonetheless proved impossible using Glimmer at such close range.
All of a sudden, hundreds of purple scales burst around the purple-robed mage and formed a straight line. Those scales flew by themselves and were not controlled by the purple-robed mage.
Crackling noises continued to be heard as the lightning icicle clashed with the scales. That lightning icicle had a smaller radius than the surface area of the purple scales. The projectile barged right through the scales and filled them with holes.
Wind element was gathered around the purple-robed mage again. The purple scales were unable to even buy him one second, but it was more than enough time for him to evoke Glimmer.
Saleen was frustrated that the purple-robed mage had escaped yet again! While Glimmer was not as suitable for prepping attacks as his own earth-elemental magic, that skill was still a very powerful one when it came to escaping. So even a place like Alchemy City likes mages who run then?
He was oblivious to the fact that his attack was not something a level-11 mage could resist: It was run or be killed on the spot for that purple-robed mage.
It was a flaw Saleen had since youth. Despite having fostered the bearing of one of the most powerful beings in the world, he still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that he had become one of the most powerful professionals the world had ever seen.
If the powers of his equipment were taken into account, there would have hardly been anyone in the entire Myers Mainland capable of fighting Saleen on an equal footing. Only a handful of those people, including his teacher, would never become his enemy.
The purple-robed mage moved his body outside using Glimmer at that time, leaving the metal tower.
The remaining five mages had taken the time to escape while the four were fighting Saleen’s party. The three who attacked Saleen were left behind.
The weapon spirit of the Baldur’s Gate popped its head out and hushed Saleen, “Master, go after him…”
Juno had no sooner finished talking before being dragged back into the magic amplifier by the inherent weapon spirit. The weapon spirit of the magic amplifier wanted Saleen to give it a name by then—a thought invoked by Juno’s words.
What it didn’t know was that if Saleen had given it a name, it would have become impossible for it to betray Saleen in the future.
Someone could not simply ask to be named by someone. This was because the use of that name would have meant having the soul of the named one branded by the name giver whenever the name was used. Regardless of the brand’s severity, it was something that would have accumulated over time.
Juno had ill intentions right from the start. Taking beatings from the weapon spirit of the magic amplifier made it realize that it was not the other weapon spirit’s match. As such, it baited the other weapon spirit to ask for a name instead.
You piece of sh*t. When you finally got your own name, you could kiss your freedom goodbye for good!
The weapon spirit of the magic amplifier emerged with its greatsword and asked, “Master, should I pursue this?”
Saleen nodded and the weapon spirit of the magic amplifier disappeared with a whoosh. Saleen knew it was difficult for him to chase after a mage capable of using Glimmer. Unless he was willing to use Crystal Finger, killing the purple-robed mage would have been too much work.
He saw what the purple-robed mage was capable of whipping up for defense. A flurry of scales burst around that mage to resist attacks. Despite not being as tough as dragon scales, they were not low-level things. His lightning icicle didn’t penetrate all the scales and they eventually dropped to the ground.
The weapon spirit of the magic amplifier was at level-13. Even with a measure of its powers sealed, it was still able to easily target that purple-robed mage.
Saleen turned his attention to the other five escaped mages instead. They couldn’t move that quickly and Saleen was confident he could catch up to them.
The purple-robed mage kept using Glimmer and came to the edge of the Baldur’s Gate within seconds. Soldiers continued pouring inside that gate, making it clear that Saleen intended to take that place for himself. He resorted to either chasing everyone within the Baldur’s Gate or killing them.
The purple-robed mage had no time to spare. He still had the other five godly items with him, so it was entirely possible to retake the Baldur’s Gate at a later date.
It occurred to the purple-robed mage all of a sudden that the Baldur’s Gate had a weapon spirit, which made the place considerably more difficult for him to retake it. Sh*t. Why did that weapon spirit hide instead of coming out to talk?
That purple-robed mage ran into an invisible wall while it was steeped in thought.
That was not some kind of energy barrier but a construct conjured using divine spells.
That damned Saleen actually has holy masters serving him!
He was infuriated by then, as he had never been in such a deplorable state in his life. Running into the wall caused blood to spill from his nose and mouth, dealing with severe damage.
Glimmer was meant for dodging obstacles, but that invisible obstacle was something that Glimmer had no way of evading, requiring the purple-robed mage to take control at his own will.
Nicholas was the one standing guard over the gate. That level-11 fallen holy master had become one of the most powerful professionals on the mainland before he knew it. But then again, it had a lot to do with the equipment Saleen had supplied him, in addition to the fact that Saleen had helped him steal divine power.
The very reason it was difficult for fallen holy masters to advance was that they refrained from stealing divine powers too quickly. Being discovered by the god they stole from would have ended up in quick executions.
The power of Nicholas’s lesser prophecy spells was much enhanced after he advanced to level- 11. The spell he used was a true fallen divine spell—Wall of the Fallen.
It was a spell that Nicholas acquired after he begged Nailisi to let him study the Shackles of the Fallen. The resulting divine spell was very potent against the gods; furthermore, it was completely invisible.
The skill that Nicholas cast had only upped its power automatically at the very split second the purple-robed mage rammed onto it. The impact was beyond Nicholas’ resistance threshold and he was badly injured.
It was akin to two level-11 professionals physically clashing against each other unprepared, with utterly no chance of evasion. The Wall of the Fallen had no form and Glimmer was conjured without warning.
Both parties would have been able to avoid that by using their respective skills.
In fact, Nicholas cast Healing right away on himself after he was injured; his injuries mended almost instantly. Such injuries, which were without additional attributes, were the easiest to patch up. The purple-robed mage had to drink potions and cast a level-4 Chunlin spell on himself instead.
Such healing would have taken some time before the injuries were completely patched up.
There were no way healing abilities of mages would have been on par with that of holy masters, unless that mage was at about level-15.
The weapon spirit was able to catch up with the purple-robed mage after he was repelled. The weapon spirit closed in without making a sound and slashed at the hips of the purple-robed man.
He had never heard of people capable of making themselves invisible. The usual variety of invisibility or the concealment skills of assassins had a lot to do with the manipulation of light element.
That was not what worked with the weapon spirit of the magic amplifier. It stayed invisible without leaking anything, making it impossible for conventional sensory abilities to detect it.
Saleen could track his weapon spirit because of the contract between him and the weapon spirit. He would have had to resort to using the power of the soul to search for it before finding anything enabling the weapon spirit to be traced.
The purple scales on the mage burst again, but it did not do the mage any good. A golden great sword easily cleaved hundreds of those scales in half, lunging straight for the purple-robed mage afterward.
The mage’s purple robe burst with intense energy vibrations and the golden great sword was actually unable to penetrate it. The force, however, that was brought about by the strike shattered the bones at the mage’s hips.
“A really good piece of clothing indeed!” The weapon spirit of the magic amplifier quipped and pulled back the golden blade. It then grabbed onto the mage’s hair and pricked with the finger on its other hand, disrobing the mage altogether and draped it onto its body.
The weapon spirit’s body did not actually need the protection of any kind, as the conjured armor, despite not being nigh-impenetrable, was nonetheless difficult to damage using magic.
The weapon spirit had been around Saleen long enough to know its master’s temperament. He was compelled to get his hands on such a fine piece of equipment.
Blood spurted from the mage’s mouth nonstop, making it impossible for him to talk anymore.
He refused to believe what had happened. He had been serving a mage at Alchemy City since the age of six, working all the way from a lowly servant to a magic apprentice then to an official student. He had put an unimaginable amount of effort and thought throughout his journey.
The Elemental Hand he set up later allowed him to control all of Alchemy City, laying down rules for all mages throughout the mainland—rules only a handful refused to follow.
He was a mage favored by fate, an embodiment of pride in the world of mages. He deemed it impossible that he was at the end of his journey.
The weapon spirit of the magic amplifier was not done yet. He knew that whatever the mage had, they were all stored in his space equipment and brought around with him. It squeezed the finger of that mage and crushed it, taking all his rings and whatever other equipment and swallowing them.
It intended to give all that loot to Saleen later.
Saleen was focused on chasing the five escaped mages, all of whom, upon seeing Rafel, knew that they would have stood no chance against Saleen. As such, they gritted their teeth and abandoned the place, choosing to run instead. Only the three most foolish mages still thought of killing Saleen.
All three of the mages were slain by Rafel. That was the very reason Saleen had brought her with him in the first place.
Saleen deemed it imperative to make the most out of the combat angel, as he had little idea how long Rafel would be able to keep her edge at levels. If the escaped purple-robed mage were to escape, it would have been easy for him to get to level-12 if he were to just continue to train.
If that mage were to be able to reach the pinnacle of level-12, even Rafel would have had trouble killing him.