Badge in Azure

Chapter 244: Mage's Temptation (Part 1)

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

The pirates standing at a distance looked at Sika, who was speaking to Saleen, in awe. Their ears were ringing and the sounds of Sika beating the magic beast skeleton could still be heard in their heads.

Those pirates were rather skilled in martial arts, and about a dozen of them were swordmasters. They all knew what the sounds had meant: the strength of this female warrior was perhaps greater than that of the former ship captain. Several injured pirates were simply bandaged up, and it seemed that they might not survive. Each and every one of them had dozens of broken bones, and their wounds had not been healed up, still bleeding.

"Nailisi!" Saleen shouted. Nailisi came behind him immediately.

"Put this away, take Sika back, and help clean up the platform," Saleen said before going to the pirate camp. The camp had been devastated and Saleen approached a few injured pirates. Four of them were completely unconscious, two had broken arms, and two had minor injuries in the form of scratches on their faces.

Seeing Saleen walk over to them, the pirates retreated and did not dare approach him. It was not because Saleen was savage, but because they all knew that mages did not like it when armed warriors got too close to them, not to mention even less trustworthy pirates. In the event that any of them made actions that could be understood, this mage could very well become a killer.

However, Saleen did not mind. His mid-grade armor could be summoned instantly now, which meant that the pirates who were merely mid-grade swordmasters would have trouble launching a sneak attack on him. He would have been more careful if there was a bronze grand swordmaster present.

As he faced the injured, Saleen observed them with cold eyes and saw four seriously injured pirates with visceral ruptures. He beckoned over a pirate and said, "Bleed their stomachs to save them."

"Aye." This pirate with short red hair looked clean. He was quick to pull out a knife and began to cut open the stomachs of his injured comrades to let out the extravasated blood. He knew that he was saving their lives, but their injuries were too heavy for this method to be effective.

Seeing that almost all the extravasated blood had been let out, Saleen used the Frost spell to freeze the wounds of those pirates and then casted four Chunlin spells in succession. Green streams of air penetrated the pirates' bodies, and those four pirates stopped moaning and seemed a little bit better.

"Get a bucket," Saleen continued with his orders. Some pirates brought over a bucket right away. Saleen created some restorative water and instructed them, "This is a healing potion. If you take care of these four, they will survive."

The pirates looked at each other and bowed their heads in deference. Most of the pirates began to have ideas of following Saleen. This mage was willing to cast magical treatment for his men. Following him, one would have a lower chance of dying. Pirates risked their lives for their work, and on any given day, it was possible that they would not live to see tomorrow. It was difficult to get treatment after being injured on the sea. Even though they had been sailing with some magic potions, those potions had been for the leaders and normal pirates needed to wait for their own bodies to heal themselves.

Saleen said no more. Winning over the support of other people was not his forte. He had simply done that out of his own habits. Those pirates were his labor and any deaths would be a big loss for him. Lex possessed many loyal swordsmen, but none of them were qualified sailors.

Operations on the sea required more than just powerful sword auras. No matter how powerful a person's aura was, they could not depend on it to fly over the sea. They would need a boat in order to operate.

Daniel also watched on from a distance. He had seen more than those pirates, so he felt greater awe for Sika. Without having ever cultivated her sword aura, she had attacked so fiercely with pure strength as though she were a monster in the form of a human. He felt both envious and jealous of these two women beside Saleen. It was the happiest thing of all for a mage to have such warriors around.

When will I be able to leave Saleen? When that time comes, I should also find several followers like them.

This thought came into Daniel's mind as he watched Saleen walk away. He still did not understand Lex's words. Sika and Nailisi were Saleen's friends, not his followers.

The magic tower was a mess, but Lex's Crystal City and Stonewall spell had done a very good job of controlling the damage. Her Storm spell had blown away any dust, leaving the alchemy machines for the pan's turtle unharmed. The magic tower had broken at its lower middle section and had fallen to the other side, causing cracks in the huge platform. Lex had already filled those cracks using magic.

The footing of the magic tower had been shattered. This would not have happened if the owner of the magic tower had been alive and the magic array had been in full motion.

"How's it going, Lex? How much did you lose?" Saleen grinned and asked. Lex looked at Saleen with a puzzled expression.

"Sika wants to pay for your losses."

Lex smiled after hearing Saleen's words. "What losses? The materials of this tower are also worth money. Sika helped break them apart, and I can transport them right away. There are many steel rocks here."

She knew of Sika's temper, and she also knew that Saleen was not joking and that Sika was quite serious. No wonder Sika had come back with a strange look on her face. Lex liked Sika's character. Instead of making fun of her innocence, she began to ease Sika's feelings together with Saleen.

"Lex, is that true?" Sika's eyes widened. She looked at the ground

"Of course it's true. Not all of the alchemy machines buried inside are broken. And if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have had the kind of strength needed to destroy such a big tower."

Lex's words were not entirely lies. The construction of the magic tower required many special materials that might not have been particularly valuable, but had a rather high value when added up altogether. She had already taken down many materials from the first and second floors of the alchemy lab and had transported them out of the magic tower. Her losses had not been too big this time.

"You should be happy, Sika. As I recall, you must be the first warrior who has taken down a magic tower, right?" Seeing that Sika had cheered up, Saleen also felt delighted.

"The first! Me?" Sika pointed at her own nose in disbelief.

"Of course. Which warrior do you think has the guts to take down a magic tower?" Lex explained with a smile on her face, "Even swordsmasters do not dare to attack a magic tower directly."

"Well, enough of this. Lex, let's begin working out how we'll get back." Saleen did not want to talk too much about this after seeing that Sika was no longer worried. If news of this incident were to spread and become known to other mages, others would perhaps dislike Sika because of this. Having a magic tower taken down was a disgrace to mages, even if the tower itself no longer had an owner.

With the exception of the Tanggulasi Empire, magic towers in the other three empires were usually left standing and untouched even if the mage passed away.

"Don't you already have an idea?" Lex looked at Saleen with a faint smile. This man had already thought it over, but had still asked the question to tempt the others. He did not seem to be an ingenuous man.

Saleen was embarrassed and then laughed. He cleaned out a patch of ground using the Cleaning spell, had Lex sit down, and said, "The main mast of the pirate ship is broken and cannot be repaired without the required materials."

"It can be repaired. Saleen, just tell us how you'll do so."

"Well, you see, this pirate ship is forty meters long and this pan's turtle shell is not even thirty meters long. Although the bottom of this pirate ship is not flat, there is a way to add a one-time piece of connecting equipment to the pan's turtle's shell. We can drag the alchemical boat under the pirate ship and sneak back to Qin."

"It's a good idea, but all of the pirates will have seen this alchemical boat. Do you intend to kill them all? This is not your style."

"We have Daniel. Have him sign a death magic contract with those pirates and they will keep this secret until their deaths. If they survive, I will arrange for them to go to the north of Phoenix and build a stronghold there. This pirate ship is also the beginning of my future."

Lex looked at Saleen and seemed to see something in his eyes. Saleen looked back calmly with simple thoughts. If he accepted the swordsmen given by Lex, all of his efforts would not actually be his own. He would have an equal status to Lex only when he had opened a new situation on his own.

It was only recently that he had thought of this idea. Before that, he had believed that Lex was meant to be more powerful than him. She was gifted and had a solid foundation because she had received the guidance of sorcerer since she was seven and had never lacked money.

However, a vague feeling had begun to form in Saleen's mind with his advancing age. It could also be said that his feelings towards women had awakened. It was not impossible for him to work with Lex all year round. It was just that he had felt like he was being placed under others.

Lex's life has not been smooth sailing either. Even though I had a rather unfortunate beginning, I have so many opportunities now. Why not make plans for my own life just as Lex does?

Saleen did not just want a boat for freedom. For a mage, a ship was far less important than a magic tower. If Saleen wanted to depend on himself, he simply needed to speed up his learning and become a grade-6 mage. Lex would naturally treat him with a more respect once that happened.

Even so, he did not want to depend on Lex. They had the same enemy in the sacred Holy See. However, they were too far away to attack from Kroraina and could not deal with the Holy See. If he was armed with a navy, Saleen would no longer be worried about the men of the Holy See.

There were vast tracts of secluded land to the north of Phoenix. For as long as six months every year, they were covered with ice and snow, and no one wanted to live and thrive there with the plentiful amount of Myers land available. This land, however, was under different circumstances now, and that place could become a wider world for Saleen.

Saleen had held this idea ever since he had seen Lex's magic map of the lands. Originally, he had discussed with Fellett how to develop that land and had no power to rely on after Fellett's death. Now that those pirates had come to his doorstep, Saleen had suddenly come to this idea.

I'll have those pirates help me develop that wasteland. There is a place to build a port to the north of Phoenix. Although that place has a six-month period of frost every year, a frozen port can also be used year-round if the techniques of the alchemical boat are completely mastered.

Where there was power, there was temptation. Saleen had seen the almighty power in his badge, and this power had bred his temptations.