Badge in Azure

Fycro was immensely frustrated, but there was simply nothing he could do about it. The sorcerer proved a tad more powerful than he was, and he owed his survival to the Volume of Silence itself. With the scroll no longer in his hands, he dared not go after Joey to retrieve it.

Joey’s injuries healed quickly within Lex’s tower. He was already at the pinnacle of grade-10, and as such, was able to create elemental medicines. They were far more potent in terms of healing capacity than magic liquids. Elemental medicines were something that could only been used by professionals of grade-10 and above though. To humans below grade-10, such medicines were more than 100 times more toxic than most poisons.

In actual fact, such elemental medicines could actually be used as poisons themselves, for killing any creature below grade-9.

Joey’s injuries had mostly recovered after ingesting the elemental medicine. He then began to look into the Volume of Silence that he got his hands on.

The Volume of Silence looked like a one yard long book on the outside with a pale green cover, which looked almost transparent. There was only one page after opening the book, which was blank. Joey touched the blank page with his finger, feeling the power housed within.

The violent burst of power he had unleashed using the Seal of Divine Powers was stopped by that very Volume of Silence before him at the moment. Joey felt time like stopped back then, as if all elemental vibrations were halted. The energy stored within the Seal of Divine Powers was not something that even Joey would be able to control, and yet it was blocked, then diverted, by the Volume of Silence.

The godly item was not something that the Lord of Glory crafted himself, and it did not have any divine powers of light in it. “Can Fycro be considered as being blasphemous to his god by holding onto a godly item like this?”

Joey’s fingers were long and graceful, yet the power residing within was something that was capable of directly piercing through magic shields. A grade-10 sorcerer’s body had to be strong enough to withstand the recoil brought about by powerful spells, and Joey’s current level of power was above even that of grand swordmasters.

Joey felt it extremely taxing to even move his finger about as he touched the blank page. The book had not undergone complete crafting, and Fycro’s way of using the book was similar to how Joey had used his Seal of Divine Powers.

Joey attempted to wipe any residual divine power left on the Volume of Silence yet found it difficult to infuse his powers onto the item itself. He put ten points of power into it, yet what remained on the book was merely one point. As such, it made it very difficult for him to unleash the true power of the item.

“Master,” Lex called outside as he was still deep in thought of how to deal with the obstacle before him.

“Come in.”

Lex walked into the room that had originally belonged to her, looking at Joey who fixated on the book and said, “Master…maybe Saleen could be of help.”

“Saleen?”

“Don’t you intend to cross the Stormy Sea? There is something with him that could help you pass freely.”

“And what would that be?” Joey asked plainly, without showing any further interest.

Lex held a piece of crystal and played the images stored within. Within the magical image, a chain was seen floating in the air, with a sharp and pointy spearhead at one end.

“And this is?” Joey’s green pupils dilated a bit. He was able to tell that the chain was something of high-level, a weapon infused with the power of rules.

“Something Saleen had taken for himself, called the Lance of Order. It’s a godly item.”

Joey thought about it and grinned. “I’ll make an exchange with him. He will have the Volume of Silence, while I’ll take the Lance of Order.”

Joey was very clear of the possibility that the Lance of Order was inferior to the Volume of Silence in terms of levels. There was no residue of the gods left within the weapon to deal with, and he would be able to easily make it a true equipment for mages.

That meant that while he had no idea how long it would take him to research the Volume of Silence before he was able to use it, the Lance of Order was something that would work as a grade-13 equipment as soon as he got his hands on it.

In a long term perspective, he would have ended up getting a bad deal. In a short term perspective however, the Lance of Order would prove a better fit for him.

“Lex, what are Saleen’s coordinates?” Joey asked simply.

Lex gave him the coordinates to his Magical Element Tower at that moment. Joey went on to draw a teleportation portal on the floor, stuff the book in a stone box, and sent the equipment over.

It was definitely Lex who informed Saleen that he had gotten the Volume of Silence. Joey was not angry however, as it was seen as a fair exchange after all.

The Lance of Order was delivered to him shortly after. Joey took the weapon that Van Gogh had lost and inspected it. The weapon proved to have no troublesome residues to deal with indeed, and it could be made a magic weapon right away.

With the Magical Element Tower stationed in Ceylon City at that moment, Saleen took the Volume of Silence in his hand and a grin was seen on his face. Feeling strange about the exchange Nailisi said, “Master, if that Lance of Order was to be fused with Gray Memory, it would have become a powerful weapon. What use do you have exchanging it for this book? Are you going to give it to that old man?”

“Nicholas can’t use something like this. It was taken from Fycro after all,” Saleen said as he opened the book, throwing his grade-19 Star Gathering Needle into it. He also pressed his family badge hard on the Volume of Silence.

Loud, eerie shrieks rang in the heads of everyone within a 100 mile radius inside the city. A golden dot shot out from the book. Saleen had cast a Darkness Shield prior, and then went on to activate his family badge in an instant, absorbing the shining dot into the badge.

Saleen slumped weakly onto the floor; he had given his all into the act, using a grade-9 spell to have his badge devour what was in the book. The badge did not disappoint. What was left in the book was forced out by the needle, and then fell into the trap that Saleen had laid beforehand.

“Gods, pfft!”

The Volume of Silence gradually began to show its original form—a squarish signet. The signet was translucent black in color, and there were ancient divine runes at the bottom of it. On top of the square was a small carving: an unknown magic beast sitting with all four of its claws clinging to the signet. The eyes of the carving were white, as if there was another world within them.

“Master!” Nailisi looked at the signet in Saleen’s hand in awe. She was unable to understand how Saleen knew how to return the Signet of Order into its original form. If Saleen had not done what he had done, she would have been unable to tell that the signet had been disguised all along.

Nailisi hoisted Saleen up and let him sit. The Star Gathering Needle shot through the air and landed in his hand. While he was incapable of using the power residing within the needle, it was still capable of automatically breaking all kinds of seals. It was an attribute Saleen was able to use despite being only a grade-2 astrologer.

As to how he knew of the Volume of Silence’s secret, it was all too easy for him. Raphael mentioned the equipment in his notes—a hidden godly item, one that was crafted by humans.

“Nailisi, do you have any idea what this is? The material used to make the signet was the divine persona of the greater god. Humans killed a good number of gods during their conquests all those years back. Divine personas, divine fires, and the bodies of most of those gods, were crafted into equipment.”

Nailisi nodded. She knew at least that much. The war between the humans and the gods, put in a plain and unceremonious manner, was fueled by humans’ desire to take from others. It was unfortunate for the gods that they were practically living, walking, and talking pieces of precious materials.

While the gods had their eyes on the souls of humans, the humans were eyeing the bodies of the gods. The war had been one that was geared to rob each other of resources. Humans were the ones that were able to provide the gods with the highest level of power of faith among all living beings, while the gods were the most precious and the purest high level alchemic materials available to humans.

The Volume of Silence was a rather renowned equipment back in those days. A human killed a greater god and used said god to craft a signet, the signet was then taken by one of the kings of gods in turn, to be turned into the Volume of Silence. That particular king of gods was then killed by the emperor of the First Dynasty, returning the Volume of Silence to human hands. The book went through many hands throughout the planes, before being lost after the First Dynasty perished.

The item was renowned for its ability to allow any human holding it to disguise themselves as a believer of the gods. The attribute was created by that king of gods instead of humans though.

The secret was entirely lost during the time of the Fourth Dynasty, with next to no one knowing it. Raphael was only able to find it out by chance. When he wrote it in his magic notes, he lamented that if he was only able to find the signet, he would be able to crush the Holy See.

As the signet’s attributes were unique, it was able to stop the flow of time. If the attack received exceeded the limit of the signet’s current level, it would divert the attack at another target.

After Saleen saw the Volume of Silence, he immediately wanted Lex to get it exchanged for something, whatever that may have been. No one else would be able to do anything about it; no one else but him. What the family badge absorbed was the Seed of Divine Fire. Equipment that was crafted using a divine persona was capable of giving birth to one such seed every 10,000 years. By the time it was 100,000 years of age, the divine fire within would burn again.

Saleen’s family badge was empty at the moment, requiring replenishment of all sorts of energies, and the Seed of Divine Fire made one of the best materials there was to serve such a purpose.

The seed that was captured by the badge was disintegrated immediately. The space within the badge seemed to have grown considerably. Saleen was able to feel the change in the badge. The Seed of Divine Fire of a grade-17 god restored more than half of the badge and had gotten the rules of lightning one step nearer to completion.

Only Saleen was able to infuse his mental powers somewhat into the badge to take a look at the space within. Anyone else doing that would have had their souls burned immediately. Lightning filled the space within the badge and the power provided by the seed would have enabled the badge to unleash its strongest attacks.

The power of the lightning unleashed from the badge next time would be equivalent to that of a god’s destruction.

Saleen did not pay any mind to the growth in power however. Unless the badge was given a chance to absorb such high-level powers, one attack would reduce it to little more than an ornament for half a year. What he was happy about, was that the seal on the Signet of Silence was able to be easily broken by his Star Gathering Needle. The needle was indeed something invisible, something that would have frightened even the likes of Seed of Divine Fire.

It had been instinctual. If the Seed of Divine Fire had not escaped, there was no certainty that the needle would have been able to locate it.

The Signet of Silence was completely made Saleen’s. He would be able to use the signet to comprehend the rules of time. It would prove more potent than lesser prophecy spells. Saleen cradled the signet lovingly in his hands.

If he was able to master that piece of equipment, he would have no need to fear the heroic spirits of the Imperial City of the Abyss. He would be able to make his escape easily if anything untoward was to happen.

“A grade-15 Lance of Order was exchanged for a grade-17 Signet of Silence. No such thing will happen ever again, right?” Despite him only being able to use their powers at grade-9 at that moment, he would be able to circumvent the rules of the Myers Mainland the next time he visited the abyss, allowing him to look into the ultimate power within the signet.

That meant he would have be able to comprehend rules beyond the limit of the plane he was in. No one else, even those with greater talents than him, would have a chance like that!