Badge in Azure

Chapter 270: Expensive Research (Part 1)

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

The lightning dragon did not want to leave its cave. Saleen took this opportunity to gather his thoughts, finding a way forward that suited him the most.

Saleen understood a little now, he had not died after taking the magic medicine because the medicine used to be stored within the lightning shape mark in the clan badge and some of its properties had been altered by it.

If he wanted to have the highest achievement in magic, he needed to consider where the magic had originated from.

Everything had to do with his clan badge, it had the powers of lightning within, and the forming of his magic chords would definitely be affected by it. However, Saleen also remembered when it formed, he had only seen the water element.

The secret of the lightning might have something to do with the water element, the so called elemental balance could be an illusion too. The first time Saleen had slipped into a deep meditation, he had also realized that when mages meditated, they were not sleeping, but rather, their thoughts were still in motion. He could not calculate any magic formula during this time and with his focus incredibly relaxed, but he could instead remember the murkiest things within his memories.

Such memories were incredibly complex, they seemed blurry but the feeling of the body was incredibly real. Saleen recalled to the time when the clan badge had released the lightning, the things that he had forgotten then slowly floated back into his mind.

He could not figure out how the clan badge had released lightning; however he could remember all the elemental vibrations and changes his body had experienced then.

He did not know the logic behind it, yet he had experienced it deeply.

Saleen was a little afraid, was this not an ability that only magic beasts had? Could humans have gained inspirations from magic beasts while learning magic?

That was impossible, humans were powerful and there were not any magic beasts that could come close, humans did not need to look at lower grade creatures to learn how to fight.

Saleen retreated from his meditative state, this question puzzled him but he knew that he would not be able to uncover any secrets of magic by himself. Such as where did magic originate, or why it had spread among humans.

He had experienced the feeling when the electric current was released earlier on and he had a deeper understanding of the magic patterns on the clan badge, so he decided to conduct an experiment.

Saleen had just come into contact with the Water Flame Alchemy spell and he had not truly learned it yet, but at least he knew the true meaning of the processed magic pattern now. It could allow the elemental energy within the magic pattern to revolve according to a fixed pattern, even without the Water Flame Alchemy spell Saleen could still roughly process some simple items.

He was confident now as he took out the witcher spider directly, he had not used this thing in a long time. The dangers that he had encountered in the last two years were not something the witcher spider could resolve, most of the time he had only let it lay low at the side to prepare an ambush.

Without its 8 legs the witcher spider was only the size of a fist, such a creature without any magic nuclei was already grade-4. Its tough body and sharp legs were its only abilities. Back then when Sika had smashed it with her rod, she had only flattened it but had not killed it.

Saleen reanalyzed the body structure of the witcher spider, probing his senses within, only then did he realize the patterns within its outer shell were magic patterns too. Even though its body seemed pitch black, it still had magic properties to it.

These magic patterns were incredibly complex and were similar to the patterns on Saleen's badge; they were three-dimensional.

An ability to withstand incredible forces and a stunning restorative ability was what this magic pattern encompassed. It was a pity that Saleen had only discovered these magic patterns recently, it was a little too late to research them. When Aini's parents had processed the witcher spider, some of the magic patterns' structure had been destroyed.

In other words, the witcher spider puppet was not as tough as it had been when it was alive. If it met with another explosive force like the one Sika dealt it, it would be further damaged, perhaps even unable to restore.

The part of the witcher spider that had the most preserved magic patterns were at its front legs, a bunch of sharp spikes on its legs were enough to rip apart the defenses of a magic shield.

Saleen gave up after researching this magic pattern for a while. The magic pattern on the witcher spider were similar to those in some high-grade alchemy arrows, a high-grade alchemy arrow needed to have magic nuclei in it to be able to pierce through a magic shield when fired. Saleen had not made such arrows before but he had seen a blueprint of it. Back then he didn't know such magic patterns were three-dimensional and existed within the interior of the arrowhead.

Saleen did not want to process such three-dimensional magic patterns. Before he had learnt the Water Flame Alchemy spell, he could only process some simple magic pattern structures. Saleen removed the magic nuclei from within the witcher spider as he started drawing a layer of the magic pattern from his clan badge onto the surface of its body. He already had experience with this magic pattern and it was incredibly easy drawing it out. It could release miniscule amounts of electric current while the magic array was revolving.

Using a fire element to process magic equipment would definitely bring about some differences; the higher the grade of the mage, the smaller the differences. Saleen's flame alchemy spell was incredibly crude and even though he was a grade-4 mage, his ability was closer to a grade-3 mage. The flames that had come about from water elements could not be controlled carefully and could not process a fine magic pattern.

Saleen spent an entire day on it before he managed to process the magic patterns crudely onto the witcher spider. This was completely different from his attitude towards the Shenhe, the Shenhe was unique while the witcher spider was only an experimental ingredient.

After processing the lightning magic pattern, Saleen then processed the natural magic pattern from the lightning dragon's body onto the surface of the witcher spider. He knew such imitation methods wouldn't produce the best results but he was only familiarizing himself with any feelings associated with lightning. Success or failure were not within his considerations.

At most his witcher spider would be destroyed, this was his strongest natural ingredient and if he was to create his own puppet, he could not destroy it yet.

Saleen was a little stingy with his money but he also possessed a basic characteristic that all mages had. Once he was in a research frame of mind, he did not care about what he used up. To search for the truth, a mage could risk many dangers and the word "regret" was never in their dictionary.

When Saleen was in Bitter Water Prefecture, he would use up dozens of gold coins worth of magic nuclei and this was not even including the amount of money he wasted when creating scrolls. It did not matter how valuable an item was, Saleen could not care less. Only when a mage was willing to give all could he be ahead of the rest.

The electric current magic pattern and the magic pattern on the lightning dragon did not have many similarities, nor did they have any position where they could link up. Saleen used his senses to probe to try and find a way where they could come together the best.

Such a basic method was something mages without magic lineages would do, since he did not have any guidance from a teacher. Mages who learned by themselves could only go through countless simulations and explorations to learn normal magic.

As for a mage like Lex; most of her magic processes began with the theory. All the details were taught to her by a teacher, the first step of learning magic was incredibly easy.

A mage without the guidance of anyone would waste most of his energy on such simulations, Saleen's theory knowledge was vast yet he lacked direct guidance from Jason. Jason's essential lineage would only be accessible to him when he reached grade-5, now all of his knowledge was the foundation. They were enough when he was between grade-1 to grade-3 but after grade-4, it proved to be a little problematic.

Jason had not expected Saleen to advance to a grand mage this quickly too, hence he had only imparted him grade-1 to grade-3 knowledge. The rest had been passed on to him in bits. Jason had also given Saleen his magic notes. Through the past few years, Saleen had already gotten used to learning magic through theory knowledge. Using the simulation method to deduce if these two magic patterns had a match had become something foreign to him now.

Saleen's simulated the rough magic pattern on the lightning dragon, but processing them with the magic pattern from his clan badge proved to be a challenged. The magic pattern from the clan badge was three-dimensional, Saleen had simplified it but it did not change the fact that it was still three-dimensional, if changed it would no longer be able to contain electric currents.

As for the magic patterns on the lightning dragon's surface, Saleen only saw a single plane. He had not used his focus to probe, back then his focus could not have probed the lightning dragon's body, the power of the electric current could destroy the structure of his focus. In other words, when blue electric current propagated the lightning dragon's body, even a sorcerer would not be able to use magic to lock on to it.

This was how a lightning dragon was scariest; if one could not lock on to it, the magic would lose its pursuing effect. Without any aiming, no matter how strong or weak a magic was it would be the same as a magic cannon.

Saleen used his senses to simulate for a few hours but he could not find a way these two magic patterns could align. He then processed the lightning dragon magic pattern onto the electric current magic pattern, not linking them at all.

This was much easier for Saleen, all he had to do was control the distance between the two magic patterns.

Together with the magic pattern that Aini's parents had processed on the witcher spider for Saleen, the witcher spider puppet had 3 layers of magic patterns on it now. One was used to protect the witcher spider's body structure while the other 2 had to do with the power of lightning, Saleen still had no idea how it would turn out.

He took out the magic nuclei and refitted it into the witcher spider, letting it move around.

The grade-4 magic nuclei inlaid within the witcher spider's body only released a second of light before dimming. Suddenly; a blue electric current appeared on the surface of the witcher spider's body, this electric current was exactly the same as the one on the lightning dragon, only much weaker.

The blue electric current flowed on the surface of the witcher spider, not releasing any attack or disappearing. However the grade-4 magic nucleus inlaid within the witcher spider had almost been wiped clean, the witcher spider was paralyzed and Saleen couldn't command it to do any action.

This was a huge waste, these six grade-4 magic nuclei had been the inlaid into the witcher spider for the first time, a single failed attempt at condensing the electric current had almost wiped them clean. If he wanted to use simulations to research the truth behind the electric current method, it would waste an astronomical amount of money.

Many mages were not talented but they were willing to give, that was how they could further their studies in magic. Saleen was a little dejected, he knew such magic powers had not been seen in any other mages before. He had no idea who the creator of the badge was, unless he found the notes of this person, he would need to start all over again.

If he continued researching this way, Saleen would go bankrupt in a few months.