Badge in Azure

Chapter 199: Hogina's Tip-off (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saleen noticed that Sumano did not enter, merely standing outside obediently. The walls of this tiny hall, the ceiling, and the floor had been reinforced by magic, and unless a dragon was somehow stuffed inside, it would be an difficult task to destroy it.

This was indeed a conducive environment for setting magic arrays. Saleen heaved a sigh of relief. Since the people from Alchemy City also could not enter, this place must have absolutely been private.

On the other hand, the rental apartments did not enjoy such a privilege. It seemed like on the mainland, wealthier people always led better lives than the poor. Even Alchemy City was no exception.

"If you are clueless on how to set magic arrays, you can hire people from Alchemy City to help you do so. There are mages on the first story who specialize in setting magic arrays." Hogina then proceeded to unlock the second door using the alchemical key and led Saleen and the others into the apartment.

"There's not much to see here. You need to decorate it yourselves." Hogina pointed at the empty living room and said, "The specifications of this house are stated in the contract, so I won't explain any further. For decorations…"

"They are for sale on the first story. I know that." Saleen looked at the barren living room and continued Hogina's sentence with much helplessness. Alchemy City was truly smart in making money, since a person who had purchased a house could not possibly sleep on the floor. In addition to training and procuring uncommon materials, people who came to Alchemy City also wanted to make new friends.

What was to come next was all kinds of spending. Fortunately, before Lex had set off on this journey, she had prepared large quantities of supplies and daily necessities. She had brought along adequate resources.

"Glad you know. This way is to the kitchen, small living room, study, bedroom, servant's room, meditation room, training chamber, dining room, storeroom, bathroom…"

"What is that?" Saleen asked as he pointed to a colored glass wall in front of the living room.

"This is the flower room. Come and take a look."

There was an entirely different world behind the glass door. Twelve flower ponds were filled with black soil and surrounded by large pieces of magic stone. Most of these stones were not polished, and only a small number of the stones were modified with magic arrays carved onto them. In addition, ponds of different sizes were scattered in between those flower ponds.

Gravel-filled trails cut through these flower ponds, and beneath a crystal wall, there was a tiny flower hall.

In the flower hall, there was a wooden table and six wicker chairs, and the table was placed next to a crystal window. Looking out of this window, one could enjoy a panoramic view which spanned ten miles.

Be that as it may, this feeling was different from the experience of ascending a mountain. The alchemy tower was entirely manmade, and to look out from such a height, the complex feelings that one experienced were unparalleled.

As Saleen looked down from the alchemy tower, the high rise buildings in the city looked like magic wooden blocks. Saleen then recalled the metal pieces which Faerun had used to practice the Figaro formula.

A gargantuan puppet flew past the window, clearly identified by its fascia which was covered by its wing bones. A mage was seated atop this flying puppet, clad in a grey robe and his face filled with fascination.

Hogina giggled, and pointed to the flying puppet which was gliding through the air. She said, "Saleen, if you want to experience the feeling of flying, you can rent a puppet. Ten thousand gold coins for a flight time of ten minutes."

Saleen gazed at the silhouette which was flying into the distance and shook his head. He evaluated its speed and realized that the flying puppet's grade was too low. Each hour, it could cover fifty miles at most, nearly the same as his Windspeed spell. On the other hand, real flight would enable a person to travel at more than one hundred miles an hour. In addition, such puppets would not be able to fly for very long since they used intermediate magic nuclei.

If this puppet was using a grade-4 magic nucleus, each flight would only cost about two thousand gold coins. Thus, it was too wasteful for this mage to have spent ten thousand gold coins renting this flying puppet.

Flying puppets were employed in the military. They were used to transport manpower, and the distances of their flights were less than ten miles. Prehistoric humans had used such puppets to fly over city walls in order to attack their enemies' cities. However, these puppets were bulky, pricey, and could easily be shot down by heavy crossbows. Furthermore, they could only fly at low altitudes and low speeds. However, later on, they were modified to be used to defend cities and no longer transported people. They were solely used to burn and destroy magic trebuchets belonging to the enemy.

If Saleen wanted to fly, Lex could produce eight to ten of these puppets for him. Lex was in possession of items which an average mage would find challenging to acquire.

Hogina was at a loss of what to do seeing that Saleen was so miserly. She pulled over a wicker chair and sat down. Then, she said, "Saleen, it's time for you to take out the items . You have signed the contract. If you can't produce the items, even I will not be able to help you."

Lex did not mind since Hogina was only a child and took out two fully constructed puppets. Hogina caressed the metallic skin of a puppet and nodded in satisfaction, "This is it. Saleen, sign your name."

Hogina took out a stack of contracts and placed them on the table. Saleen also took a seat and ran through the contracts one more time. This set of contracts was complicated and detailed. After giving the signature, this apartment would belong to him.

Proof of purchase, housing deed, receipt, and the registration of residence.

Every single occupant had to fill in their name and basic information on the residence registration form. Saleen knew that this was the method Alchemy City used to gather information. If a person refused to sign it, then Alchemy City would not protect their interests.

After the signing, Hogina put away the receipt before putting on a pitiful look and saying, "Saleen, do you still have the components belonging to this puppet? I want them."

"I don't, but she has them." Saleen pointed to Lex.

Hogina's eyes darted over, and she pulled on Lex's sleeves, "Sister Lex…"

Lex laughed and took out an arm belonging to a fully constructed puppet. This piece had been smashed by the dragon, so there were not many intact portions of it left. Lex placed the puppet's arm on the floor right away since she did not have the strength to carry it. This arm by itself already weighed a few hundred kilograms.

"Ha…"

Hogina stored the puppet's arm before putting away the two fully constructed puppets. Saleen noticed that Hogina's spatial equipment was actually a metal earring and felt extremely astounded.

In most situations, a mage needed to be at least at grade-5 in order to be able to use spatial equipment. Rare equipment such as the Ring of Gifts would have histories that were at least tens of thousands years old. Even though such equipment was not restricted to just certain grades, there was a limit to the volume of the items that could be stored in them. Hogina's earring was much smaller than the Ring of Gifts but it could fit a three meter tall fully constructed puppet, and this meant that its magic value was tremendous.

It would still be acceptable if it was a relic from a predecessor, but if Hogina's teacher had created this, then that man with a scorpion-like lower body was far too terrifying.

"Alright, I've received the items. Saleen, what do you want to know?" Hogina did not go back on her word. Now that she had received a present from Lex, she was overjoyed.

"Mm, I have the housing deed now, but the keys to this apartment…"

Hogina slapped her forehead and said, "I forgot to tell you something. Pass the registration form to the sister you saw in the hall earlier on, then get the alchemical keys from her. This apartment can house six people, but if you want to arrange for a sixth person to stay here, you'll have to go to the tenth floor to register one more time. In addition to the keys to this apartment, she will give you five alchemical badges. With these badges, you will not get into trouble when you are out at night."

"You didn't forget anything else, did you?"

"Mm, and if you want buy anything, you can ask that sister to help you do so. There's a magic array in the study which can transmit sound. Without leaving your apartment, you will be able to get anything you desire from Alchemy City."

"Do I need to pay extra money?"

"Of course, you have to give her some labor money. In any case, that sister is still a grade-3 mage."

Saleen started chatting with Hogina calmly. Hogina did not seem to be in a rush at all. She was able to blabber nonstop and treated Saleen hospitably. Perhaps it was because Hogina had taken Lex's bribe.

Saleen had begun by asking about the background of the mage who had been harassing Lex when he stumbled upon some information which could not be accessed anywhere else.

The mage was a person from Cloudflow, and the three men were high grade swordmasters. He had been in Alchemy City for about three months now and was hoping to procure a batch of rare materials.

However, Hogina told Saleen that for the past two years, many newly promoted mage masters had appeared in the Cloudflow Empire. Many people had come to Alchemy City, and on all of their buying lists were the same few items. Those items were all used to produce high grade magic medicine.

These newly promoted mage masters were also sweeping large quantities of gems off of the market. They only looked for the purest of gems, and were not particular about the size or the species of the gems.

"Teacher said that those newly promoted mage masters had employed unique methods to forcefully break through the limits of grade-3 and grade-4, so they are in an unstable state. The materials which they purchased to create the magic medicine are used to resolve that situation," Hogina said proudly. These secrets which she held were quite valuable. However, at the end of the day, she was not a person who dabbled in the business of intelligence. She was just a child who was passionate about alchemy.

Lex was shaken. All this information was far too valuable. It was even worth a complete fully constructed puppet, not to mention a puppet's arm.

There were no shortcuts in a mage's journey of training. This was especially true between grade-3 and grade-4, as the barrier between those two grades was extremely difficult for a person to overcome. Talent, inheritance, wealth, and guidance from a teacher. None of those things could be missing. Obviously, that mage who had been harassing Lex was not of very high caliber, yet he had forcefully advanced to grade-4.

If the Cloudflow Empire employed such methods, then the balance on the mainland could be easily disrupted.

The difference between a mage master and a low grade mage was too great. A low grade mage could be groomed using money, but in grooming a mage master, things were entirely up to luck. The combat power of both types of mages were also immensely different. Instead of having one hundred low-grade mages in a swordsman's camp, it would be better to have several mage masters.

Recalling what Daniel had said, it was indeed true that there had recently been many anomalies in Cloudflow. This was especially true with the news regarding the numerous appearances of dragons, as almost all of them were related to Cloudflow.

If the people of Cloudflow possessed the capabilities to capture dragons, breed high grade magic beasts for their magic nuclei, and even groom large numbers of mage masters, then that would spell big trouble for the Tanggulasi Empire. Furthermore, it was possible that it meant that the Cloudflow Empire had the ambition to swallow the Qin Empire.

This piece of intelligence had to be sent back to the Holy Rock City no matter what. Even though Safilos was biased against Lex and oppressed her, this crisis was not targeted at Lex alone. It was targeted at the entire Qin Empire, the empire that her father had left behind.

Saleen was also extremely shocked. His first thought was about magic medicine.

The one thing that prevented a magic disciple from becoming a mage was how difficult the formation of magic chords was. If magic chord medicine could be mass produced along with the techniques employed by the Cloudflow Empire, it would mean that almost anyone could become a mage.

Something was wrong about this whole affair. After the Myers Goddess had fallen, the power of humans on the mainland had been on a continuous decline. All of a sudden, such a possibility had surfaced, and all of this seemed like it had been premeditated. Furthermore, the Holy See had decided to launch a holy war against all mages at this point in time. Wasn't all of this too much of a coincidence?

Saleen had wanted to find information on his teacher, but now that he had been made aware of this information, his worries had amplified. What if the magic chord medicine was implicated into this matter? Was he simply too sensitive?