Badge in Azure

Chapter 215: Lightning and Thunder (Part 2)

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

"I'm alright, but the boat is destroyed." Lex immediately released a Flying spell and came up onto the surface of the sea, her feet stepping onto the water almost as though she were standing on the ground. A weak fire erupted around the surface of her body and quickly evaporated the water on her magic robes.

Saleen was troubled, too. Since he had an improved water shield, was able to breathe underwater, and was not affected by water temperature, it was impossible for him to drown. However, he had no way of dealing with magic beasts underwater, especially while he was moving across the sea in this magic shield. It was as good as telling them, Magic beasts, I am here to fight for your territory!

However, if he did not use a water shield, he would be attacked by creatures like the giant octopus, and if he was not careful, he would be eaten up by them. Only if he had a ship that was over two hundred meters long could he be protected in the deep sea.

Lex had a drawing for creating a ship and possessed the necessary alchemy equipment as well, but there was no way to do alchemy on the sea so they needed to find land. With their current situation, they would be considered lucky if they were not eaten up by magic beasts. Finding land? The sea was vast, and without a map of the sea or a map of constellations, how were they going to find land?

Lex quickly brought out dozens of massive wooden boxes from her god's ring. These boxes had been used to store high-grade armor and were materials that had been reinforced by magic. Coincidentally, they were completely sealed. Putting away the armor and tying the wooden boxes together with a rope, they had a temporary place to place their feet.

Saleen asked Lex to find over ten shields and fixed them at the connecting points between the boxes, providing additional protection and preventing any magic beasts from attacking from below.

Climbing onto this shabbily built raft, the skeleton puppet was not willing to let go of Daniel. Saleen had no choice but to ask Lex to release a Binding spell to restrain the puppet and snatched Daniel away. Once Daniel was away from the skeleton puppet, it quickly shrunk and stopped moving. Nailisi conveniently scooped the puppet onto the raft and asked, "Master, where do we go?"

"Nowhere. Let's follow the currents," Saleen answered distractedly. He was still thinking about the secrets within the badge. Lex was completely unaware as she had Sika secure Daniel's body onto the boxes. Once he was secured, Lex laid down as well and stared dazedly at the sky.

Stars filled the night sky. They were even more captivating than the prettiest gemstones.

Lex's focus was entirely on the starry skies. In ancient times, humans had possessed great powers and astromancers had been a very common profession, possessing astrology as one of their abilities.

Master Merlin might have been the last astromancer on the mainland, and others had called him an astrologer. In reality, Merlin had possessed a great deal of knowledge and had been an expert in magic as well, being one of the rare talents of the Grukos royal family. He had assisted her father in ruling the empire in an orderly fashion. However, before his death, he had said something that had made Chanake upset.

Lex will destroy the empire. If you want the prosperity of the Qin empire to continue, have her leave Holy Rock City.

This had been Merlin's last prophecy and he had been accurate with all of his prophecies up until then. Emperor Chanake was upset, but he was afraid that the prophecy would become reality. Hence, when Lex was seven, he sent her to Bitter Water Prefecture.

Was it Merlin's prophecy that had led her to such a fate, or had her fate led to Merlin declaring that prophecy? Lex looked at the night sky, wanting to see her fate within the stars. The tens of thousands of stars seemed desolate and far away in the night sky.

Saleen laid on the boxes as well and looked at the sky. He was thinking about the theory of the elements revolving within the badge. There were only water elements within and Saleen would not have understood them in the past, but now, he did. Water elements did not always form water. The changes of the six elements were not a secret to him any longer.

In reality, there was a huge space within the badge, and the elemental energy it stored was expressed in the form of water elements. The formed water elements had become plentiful and the energy created within had eventually formed lightning.

Most of the lightning had been dissipated within the badge, and only three lines had managed to find their way out. The place which the lightning had come out from was the lightning shaped symbol at the center of the badge. Once the lightning had been released, the elements within the badge had restored their balance and were nearly like a piece of metal. No signs of the secret space could be uncovered.

It seemed that in order to activate the energy of the badge, a person needed to continuously direct energy inside of it.

Saleen held the badge in his hand and used his senses to probe at it. The pattern on the surface of the badge had been seared within his memory, and now that he had used his senses to carefully observe it, he realized that the magic pattern on the surface of the badge was more intricate than he had imagined and formed from a string of magic symbols. These magic symbols were arranged in a formula and were more complex than any formula that Saleen was familiar with.

Their complexity did not come from the number of meanings each symbol had. In reality, there were not as many magic symbols as there were in the Figaro formula. However, these symbols were three-dimensional and there were six in every sentence which formed a three-dimensional symbol. They were then strung together to form a point, and from that point, the other six directions bore similar points. These points came in pairs and were combined in a twisted formation which formed a formula.

These formulae were related and formed many strings that made up the magic pattern on the badge. Saleen had no idea what the badge had been made from, but it was incredibly tough and he had not found anything that could destroy it. Even a strike from a grand swordmaster had not left any mark on the badge.

If an armor was made from this material, it would surely be the toughest armor in the world.

Saleen patiently calculated this unfamiliar formula. He knew deep down that with his current focus, even if he were to analyze it for fifty years, he would not be able to uncover the secrets of the badge. He was only doing so now to familiarize himself with the sequence of the formula.

The power of lightning. If he could grasp its powers, he would definitely be able to exact his revenge. Even the Holy See would not be able to help Sufonso.

Sufonso was a burning issue for Saleen. Even though it had been his fault at first, after his parents' remains had been destroyed by Sufonso, he would never forgive him. After the trials in god's hell, Saleen had developed a much broader understanding of the world and he would not have to destroy Sufonso's entire family as he had planned.

However, he needed to deal with Sufonso, but killing him would only lead to his son seeking revenge. This was an endless cycle, just like a recurring magic formula.

Once a recurring magic formula was written, it did not matter where the formula began. The entire formula would become an independent world.

Moreover, this matter had led to other problems. Sufonso had used this opportunity to provoke his teacher. It was just that his teacher had not vented his anger on his men, but had instead gone straight for the magic tower which protected Sufonso. The Holy See's plan had failed, and the hatred between his teacher and Sufonso had no end.

Even if Saleen could swallow this down, Jason would not be able to. Sooner or later, Jason would kill his way back to Yaoyang City and destroy that magic tower. How could Saleen watch without doing anything?

Was this the fate that the astrologers were talking about?

If a person wanted to seize their fate, they needed absolute power. Saleen caressed his clan badge, suppressing the anxiety that he felt. His fate was incredibly unusually, almost like a perfect magic formula that had been arranged by someone.

Remembering the magic pattern on the badge, Saleen put it away and took out the yellow calabash from his Ring of Gifts. This time, he could feel the elemental vibrations inside of it.

The inside of this sealed calabash was filled to the brim with water elements. The calabash was very light, but the water elements within were incredibly heavy. How these water elements had ended up in the calabash, Saleen could not figure out. The mouth of the calabash was still intact. Could it be that the calabash had been grown this way?

"Saleen, where did you get that calabash?" Lex saw the calabash in Saleen's hands. It was almost as though she recognized it.

"I won it in a bet," Saleen answered truthfully.

"You're lucky. That thing's incredibly rare."

"You know what this is?"

"I've seen it in books. It's called a shenhe. In ancient times, it was grown using alchemy and was a precious item even back in its time."

"This is a shenhe?" Saleen had heard of this word before in some magic notes. It had been talked about briefly, but not in detail. The mage that had taken these notes had said that a shenhe was a half-magic life. Saleen had not expected that life to be a plant. He had assumed that it was an soul alchemy used by people in ancient times.

"You don't know how to use this, do you?"

"Yes."

"There are six different types of shenhe. This one stores water elements, and if you want to use it now, you can cut a hole as instructed in the alchemy drawings on the calabash. The water elements will not dissipate and you will be able to control them in any environment. Your strongest attacking spell right now is the current cutter. If you attach it to the calabash, the calabash can be a piece of equipment which stores magic. This magic equipment doesn't need to be activated with any magic nuclei. Just like my magic staff, it has a life of its own.

"Holy weapon?"

"It's not a holy weapon, nor is it a weapon of god. Ancient people were not so boring. Just put it to use. Current cutter is a practical spell and is much stronger than most Fire Magic in close range. Plus, it can be upgraded all the way to level-9. Its only flaw is that the spell cannot target many people, and no matter how good your technique is, it can only attack a few people at a time."

Saleen was overjoyed upon hearing that. He had longed for Lex's magic staff for a long time, but Joey had taken such a long time in processing and extracting that small amount of essence from the two trees to give to Lex that the rest of the materials might not have been as magical as those used in her magic staff. The calabash could store Water Magic to be used repeatedly. From what Lex had said, it was controlled by one's focus, and this aspect of it made it better than the magic staff.

Current cutter? He was not in a rush either way. Perhaps it would be better if he researched the magic pattern on the badge and then processed it onto the calabash. With that, it was possible that the magic released by the calabash would have some special effects as well.

"Actually, you can always use this calabash to create a water puppet once you've advanced to grade-6. It might have unexpected results."

"We shall see then. I already have two fully constructed puppets."

"That's because you don't understand how powerful a water puppet is," Lex said as she sat up. "I still haven't mastered this spell, but let me demonstrate it to you and you will understand."