Badge in Azure

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

Saleen thought to himself, “I must have guessed correctly. Joey does not know this electric technique. It is only natural that a powerful mage like him will want to know more when he encounters something that he does not really know.”

“This is a technique that I discovered on my own; eye of lightning,” Saleen replied directly.

Joey kept quiet. Surely he could not ask Saleen to teach him this technique. It was something that Saleen created on his own, which meant that he was the only one in the entire world who would know how to use it. What could Joey use to exchange for this? He had already promised to guide Saleen in his spells. There was no way he could use that to exchange for the technique.

“I want to learn,” Joey said with difficulty. He was a proud person, but in the end he still chose to open his mouth and asked.

“Sir, as you wish,” Saleen smiled. He did not bring up any requests. If he did and Joey was able to fulfil it, the latter would be satisfied. Saleen should not be the one to bring it up. He would have to leave this to Joey.

“Ha,” Joey smiled and shook his head, “If you had not inherited Sregl Island, I wouldn’t mind accepting you as my disciple. Unfortunately, I will be overpowered by the sheer number of people on Sregl Island even if their abilities were mediocre. I cannot afford to offend them. Tell you what, I will teach you a spell that I created, a water element spell.

Saleen did not believe Joey entirely. His inheritance of Sregl Island was now in danger. There were only over thirty sorcerers and none of them were grade-9 sorcerers. If he had not figured out the six elements’ space, it was entirely possible that the inheritance of Sregl Island would be lost in the next three-hundred to five-hundred years.

“Do you want to learn a spell for offense or defense?” Joey did not take matters into his own hands. Instead he asked Saleen for his preference. Towards someone like Saleen who could create his own spell, Joey was genuinely fond of him. New spells should constantly be introduced to magic so that there was room for improvement and advancement.

The ancient spells were long gone. If the current generation of mages did not innovate and only wanted to keep recycling from the past, there would never come a day where magic would prosper again.

“What are they?”

“The spell that is used for offense is a grade-6 icy light spear. The spell that is used for defense is a grade-7 darkness shield. The icy light spear is a water element spell combined with light element spell while the darkness shield is advanced from fog of confusion and is combined with dark element spell.”

“I choose the darkness shield.” Saleen made his choice immediately. The icy light spear was definitely powerful, but he already knew crystal finger. Once it reached grade-7, it would almost be on par with the icy light spear. On the other hand, darkness shield was a technique that had advanced from fog of confusion, which was a grade-1 spell.

Saleen’s Quickcloud spell included some traits of fog of confusion. If he could combine it together with a darkness shield, he would possess strong defense even while flying.

“A wise choice. When you understand the principles of defense, you will also then know how to attack. In comparison, defense is much harder than offense.” Just like that, Joey began to explain the darkness shield to Saleen.

It was not difficult picking up the darkness shield. Saleen was fully capable of learning grade-7 spells now and his mental strength was also able to support his learning. Long mantras, complicated hand gestures, manipulations of the mental strength, and the many different ways of controlling the elements. They were all easy to pick up because Joey was extremely meticulous in his teaching.

Within a few hours, Saleen had already remembered all the contents of darkness shield. He began to ask questions. The way he asked questions was queer. He asked from the perspective of the spells that he usually used. He wanted to know the effects of using other spells alongside the darkness shield.

By asking questions in this way, it was like Joey was giving Saleen guidance on all his spells. It was interesting and Joey was more than happy to answer them.

Darkness shield was similar to Saleen’s water shield in the sense that both spells provided all-around defense. Once this grade-7 spell was cast, a structure shaped like a beehive would envelope the mage. Compared to the water shield, this hexagonal structure was better able to withstand physical attacks.

Since it was a grade-7 spell, the darkness shield was also better able to defend against element spells compared to water shield. The darkness shield would not take effect immediately. It would require at least one-fifth of a second for it to be cast.

Saleen began to discuss with Joey on how to ensure darkness shield would be compatible with the rest of his spells. His idea was to combine the darkness shield with his water shield and Quickcloud spell so that the instantaneity of water shield might cover up darkness shield’s weakness of a slight delay before casting.

Joey casually recited a new mantra for Saleen. This mantra combined the three spells together. Saleen used the Figaro Magic Formula to calculate again. After spending a full day’s time, he finally managed to rearrange a few simple notes. It was not perfect, but it was still considered a success.

In actual fact, this was not a standalone spell. Casting this spell would exhaust an amount of magic chords equivalent to casting the three individual spells. This was a type of restorative magic except that they have been combined together seamlessly.

This spell could release a modified water shield instantaneously. When this water shield had been attacked and could no longer hold on further, it would transform into the grade-7 darkness shield. This transformation could also be controlled by the caster. Similarly, the water shield would also release a Quickcloud spell when it broke.

The transition between water element spells were much easier. Saleen spent the next two days studying ice blade magic, restorative icicle magic, current cutter, and other spells.

Darkness shield would use up half of Saleen’s magic chords. Even so, Saleen would still be able to cast the same number of spells as any other grade-6 mage. The magic chords he possessed were twice as many as other mages of his grade. In other words, amongst all grade-6 mages, Saleen was the best of them all.

Once he was able to utilize a grade-7 shield, all grade-6 mages would be no match for him unless they attacked him together.

When grand mages wanted to kill a sorcerer, they would usually also gang up on him. Grade-6 mages would never be able to catch up with a grade-7 mage’s speed of flight, therefore sorcerers were basically considered invincible to the mages beneath them.

Saleen was picking things up very quickly but he was not aware that this was due to Joey using plenty of energy to transfer knowledge to him using a secret technique. His aim was for Saleen to achieve his desired outcome within six days. The lightning technique was too important to Joey. Anyone who was at his level would all be at very similar levels of proficiency in the usual techniques. If he could master the use of lightning, Joey would have the confidence of going overseas to look for traces of the second dynasty.

The worst thing to encounter at sea was a storm. Even mages of his grade would not be able to fly in such weather. Once he mastered the lightning ability, it would be much safer for him to fly at a low height. He had so many magic chords that it would not be a problem for him to travel across oceans and seas.

In these six days, Saleen felt as if his brain was on the verge of exploding. He stared out of the window in a daze and saw that the night was about to end. The stars were shining against the dark sky, yet Saleen saw them as a perfect combination of light and dark elements. In this instant, his icy sight advanced.

Saleen had always been puzzled with this ability of his. The way his icy sight could be utilized was like a magic beast in the sense that he could use it any time, was not restricted by his mental strength, and did not use up too much magic chords. He never imagined that icy sight could advance and could do so in such an unobtrusive way.

Saleen could see the elements in space. This was a grade-9 spell; the elemental eye.

This was a support ability. The elemental eye allowed its user to see as far as one-hundred miles away. The distance one could see was still limited by the contours and landscapes of the mainland.

Having the ability to clearly see how each material was made up of different elements a mage would gain a higher level of understanding of spells. In other words, Saleen would only need to use his elemental eye to observe a spell once to be able to pick it up and learn it on his own in a very short time.

The elemental eye would also allow the user to pinpoint the enemy’s weaknesses in magic spells, divine spells, and sword aura. This was a grade-9 spell though. How could Saleen, a grade-6 element mage, possibly attain the elemental eye?

Saleen quickly withdrew this skill. Even though it would not use up many magic chords, it was still a grade-9 spell and would be demanding on his mental strength.

Joey taught Saleen tirelessly for six straight days. On the final day, Joey saw that Saleen had finally achieved self-mastery and he could not help but reassess Saleen again.

To Joey, Saleen was still the same mage that he once knew. Not very bright and no outstanding qualities aside from his resilience. Although Saleen’s hand was a plus point, it was something that he attained later on in life and was not born with. Compared to Joey’s disciples, Saleen possessed ordinary qualities. Why was he always so lucky?

Joey could not figure it out. It was just too bad that there were no longer any more astrologers on this dimension so no one would be able to tell what Saleen’s fate was.

Saleen took out a scroll and used magic to inscribe words on it. A total of three-hundred and sixty words were written on the empty scroll which Saleen then passed to Joey and said, “These are the lightning runes. Let me rest a while and I will tell you how to use it. I…”

Saleen did not manage to complete his sentence. His body crumbled and her laid down on the floor. He was not like Joey who could afford to train for six consecutive days without rest. His mental strength had taken a major toll. Once he was sure that all the knowledge he needed had been crammed into his brain, Saleen could not take it anymore. After speaking to Joey briefly, Saleen went into a deep sleep directly in front of him.

Joey casually infused a fire spell into Saleen’s body. Fire element spells were usually destructive in nature, but this fire spell could be hidden in one’s body to boost it with energy or heal wounds or to be used in battle. The different ways Joey could utilize his spells were far beyond Saleen’s level of understanding.