Badge in Azure

Chapter 195: Purchase Industry (Part 2)

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

The group of five allowed themselves to be led by Sumano as they headed towards the center of the city. Saleen deliberately slowed down his footsteps to match Lex’s as the two of them took in the scenery around them.

Alchemy City was truly one of a kind. Never in his wildest dreams had Saleen envisioned a city so beautiful. The roads were practically seamless. The bricks used to build them had been cemented together using magic. Saleen also spotted storm drains located on both sides of the streets. Taking a closer look, a person could see the many drainage pipes that had been laid in the ground. The streets were so wide that even if carriages took up one side of the road, there would still be enough space for other modes of transport to pass through.

Tall buildings flanked both sides of the streets. Outside of these buildings stood beautifully sculpted statues and other intricate magical-patterned decorations. Saleen noticed that magic lamps were placed at one hundred meter intervals. Since it was still daytime, these magic lamps were not lit up yet. However, Saleen could imagine how spectacular the view of the city would be when night came and all the magic lamps lit up at once.

The buildings that flanked both sides of the roads were mostly shops that sold all kinds of goods and services. In fact, Saleen had spotted a few mage apprentices dismantling a five meter tall puppet when he peered through the glass window of one of the shops.

The equipment stores here were very different from those in other cities. They only specialized in the sale of certain types of equipment. For example, one of the shops Saleen passed by only sold armor. Since Alchemy City had four swordsman’s camps, most of their business probably came from the swordmasters who needed to constantly update the quality of their weaponry. At the corner of the shop, Saleen saw a puppet approximately as tall as two people soliciting business from people from all walks of life. Decked fully in a tacky yellowish-orange magic armor, it looked quite ridiculous.

There were two lines written in magic ink on the glass windows of the shop. They read “Dyneema’s Knight armor Forging Services – proven and tested for one thousand and five hundred years – safety guaranteed”. A magic potion had caused the colors of the words to constantly change, allowing them to stand out from the rest of the shops.

The status of knights might have deteriorated over the years, but the techniques for forging knight armor had been passed down for many generations and were still popular today. The way the slogan had been phrased would attract the patronage of many swordmasters to this shop.

Saleen looked up to see the sight of a grey, gloomy sky, meaning that it was going to rain very soon. However, the people on the streets did not seem to be too flustered by the sudden change in weather, although Saleen did see the silhouettes of them hurriedly walking, each of them draped in what seemed to be an apprentice robe.

Of course, in a city filled with many ridiculously tall buildings, there were bound to be a few low-rise ones too. Each of them had their own unique character, and judging by the materials used to build them, Saleen guessed that almost all of them had been built according to the standards of magic laboratories.

Even though they were much shorter than the average building here in Alchemy City, they were at least twenty meters in height. These buildings did not have more than five floors, and each of them had a space designated solely for carriage horses to rest.

If what Sumano said was true, Alchemy City would definitely be able to accommodate a population equivalent to that of Holy Rock City. It was such a waste to construct these enormous buildings for so few people.

Although both Alchemy City and Holy Rock City were huge, the latter only looked the part. However, it was still enough to leave tourists gobsmacked. On the other hand, Alchemy City was truly vast. With the exception of horse carriages, everything in here was a lot larger compared to that of other cities, from buildings to shops, to even the roads.

However, this type of vastness actually made people feel empty and depressed. Lonely, even, almost as though a person were alone in this city and had no one to reach out to.

Scary! Saleen thought as he shuddered at the thought of being alone with no one to turn to. He had gradually fallen in love with Alchemy City. Yet, there was always something about it that made him want to flee from the place without looking back.

Holy Rock City was a safe and clean place to live in, allowing people to live comfortably and freely without ever having to worry about their safety.

Law and order was maintained in Alchemy City too, but it lacked the warmth that was omnipresent in Holy Rock City. Everyone was treated the same here, almost as though they were machines. I guess that’s what you get when you decide to use magic to do everything for you, Saleen thought grimly.

Saleen gradually understood the differences between Holy Rock City and Alchemy City. The latter was just like a fully constructed puppet, intricately designed and flawlessly operating, allowing almost no room for error. On the other hand, Holy Rock City was like a fully constructed puppet that had come to life. There was actual communication, warmth, and the feeling that a person belonged.

To survive in Alchemy City, one needed to have a strong sense of self-control so that they would not become too depressed from the lack of human contact and warmth. Only then could that person truly benefit from staying in Alchemy City.

Saleen had wanted to visit the alchemy tower since long ago. Lex felt the same way. In fact, just looking at the building that towered over her made her feel all sorts of indescribable emotions.

It could not be considered a “tower” in the traditional sense at all. From afar, it looked like a mountain that had been divided into six valleys. Among these smaller mountains, numerous rooms had been carved. The public square located in front of the tower was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

The six edges of the tower had been constructed using pure metal and were engraved with magic texts. This seemingly ordinary design looked absolutely marvellous on the alchemy tower – shocking even. It looked to be about fifty stories tall. Although the top few floors appeared shorter than the others, they were each at least two hundred meters tall.

The six metal edges cut into the sky like a spear. There was even a bridge built on the ninth floor to improve accessibility for locals and foreigners alike.

Bridges like this were ancient, and had their own unique architectural style. Legend had it that during the second Wang Dynasty, the bridges built in the imperial capital had been at least dozens of miles long. It was so wide that even horse carriages could fit onto it.

Samuno was right. Alchemy City did not have any magic towers that were ten stories tall or above. However, this alchemy tower was easily one of the tallest buildings in all of the Myers Mainland. The churches in the Holy See could not even reach half of its height.

This was something that all of Alchemy City could be extremely proud of. Saleen could imagine how exhilarating it would be to observe the entire city from the top. Would he feel like he had the world under his feet?

Saleen knew that he should not have been feeling too ambitious and cocky, but he had already set his heart on owning this huge building one day. Perhaps he could not achieve his dream now, but he could at least start by buying one of the most spacious and high up rooms the tower had to offer.

As he gazed at the ten meter tall main entrance, Saleen kept telling himself that it was just an ordinary building and that he would not let himself be too awestruck by the grandeur of the place. It was not becoming of a mage to be easily overwhelmed with excitement over petty things like this. Plus, no building in the world could compare to Raphael’s ten story magic tower. The only thing the alchemy tower had over Raphael’s tower was height. That’s not too big of a deal, Saleen thought. He figured that the humans who had existed tens of thousands of years ago would have easily been able to construct a building of this height.

Although, the alchemy tower was huge, it was not considered a true magic tower. Even the name they had given the building made it sound like an oversized laboratory. The rooms located on the ninth floor onwards were all apartments for sale. This showed that the mages in Alchemy City were not truly prepared to face the gods in an actual battle.

“Sumano, just take me to the place where I can finalize my documents for the transaction,” Saleen said. In reality, he did not feel like exploring the tower any further. He simply did not understand the alchemy tower. On one hand, it had potential. Its size and height far surpassed the largest building in the Holy See. On the other hand, the alchemy tower was not built to withstand any divine attacks.

The alchemy tower had epitomized both the confidence of the alchemy mages, as well as their inferiority. That confidence stemmed from their sheer power. After all, they had built this tower all by themselves. At the same time, however, they felt inadequate because that same power they possessed had been slowly deteriorating. Hence, mages never possessed the courage to declare war on the gods, something that humans had done thousands of years ago.

Right now, the mages of the Myers Mainland were counting on the interdimensional laws in order to avoid confrontation with the gods. After the goddess had been defeated, no god had been able to step foot onto the Myers Mainland.

Two thoughts suddenly sprouted in Saleen’s mind. Will Lex be able to build a magic tower that can keep away the gods? Will I stick with her even if she decides to challenge the gods to a battle to the death?

The first floor of the tower was almost as big as the entire public square itself. Saleen looked around and noticed that there were not many pillars holding up the weight of the entire building. As he lifted his head upwards, he saw a huge magic array distributing some of the weight of the building away from the existing pillars. He had never seen such an indented, unevenly constructed magic array in his entire life. For such a huge magic array to operate smoothly, external forces were at work. There was no way it could rely solely on the weak elemental forces it absorbed from its surroundings.

The magic array seemed to have been constructed using the Figaro formula. Saleen did not bother trying to observe how it worked, as it was too complex. However, Saleen guessed that its function was to distribute the weight of the dozens of floors above it, allowing the thick metal columns hidden in the walls to absorb the force of gravity acting upon them.

If the scale of the magic tower had been reduced to about ten percent of its original size, Saleen would have been able to design it himself. Even for a large-scale tower like this, all a Ceylon City mage needed was thirty to fifty years to be able to precisely replicate a building of the same size. Designing and constructing a magic tower was not as hard as it seemed.

There were not many people roaming the first floor of alchemy tower. Saleen did not see the all-familiar professional union either. There were models of miniature houses set up in the middle of the hall. The way they were placed made them look like closed counters. Saleen really liked these exquisitely small houses. He looked around, and noticed that there were quite a number of magic plants placed in all four corners of the room.

“Mr. Saleen, are you certain you want to purchase an apartment in the alchemy tower?” Sumano asked again. He did not want to conduct any transactions with people who were potentially broke. If he was ever implicated, it was possible that he would lose his home and even be barred from ever stepping foot into Alchemy City again. Just thinking about it sent shivers down Sumano’s spine.

“Not to worry. We have the money,” Saleen said lazily. He knew Samuno all too well, and had guessed that he would ask this question.

“Then come with me,” Samuno instructed as he led Saleen and the gang through a hall before stopping in front of a door. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he turned and told Saleen as tactfully as possible, “Mr. Saleen, purchasing an apartment, especially one at alchemy tower, is not something to joke about. Each apartment is at least five million gold coins. If you intend to back out, please tell me now.”

“Gold coins mean nothing to mages like us,” Saleen replied. His tone was pleasant, without a hint or anger or frustration.

For transactions involving grade-7 magic objects and above, gold coins were not needed. The mages involved would not mind bartering. The buyer would give up suitable quantities of raw materials and equipment in exchange for the objects provided by the seller.

The sound of a door opening rang through the air. Samuno went through the door first, followed by Saleen and the others. They had entered a winch-like lift that was commonly used in steep mining terrain. The reason why it had been built here was obvious. The alchemy tower was too tall, and junior mages did not have the stamina to climb all those stairs.

“Take us to the tenth floor,” Samuno spoke into the magic array placed inside the elevator.

The high-pitched squeaking sounds of metal coming together rang in the air as the winch took them to their destination. As much as Saleen hated the noise, he knew that this sound could not be muted using magic. The mages needed the noise in order to deduce that the machine was working and to ensure the safety of all its users.

As the machine slowly took the group of six up to the tenth floor, Saleen felt conflicting emotions rush through his entire being as he thought about the reason why he had managed to embark on the journey to become a mage in the first place. Jason had wanted to buy his house, which had given him enough funds and thus opportunities to study magic.

Now, he could say that he was a successful archmage. Not only that, but he was also wealthy enough to purchase his own home. If someone had told him that when he had just started out, he would have scoffed at them.

Lex wanted to own a house here as well, right in the heart of Alchemy City. However, Lex being part of the Grukos family, realized that this desire was impractical. She would have to sign a magic contract in order to secure ownership of the house. However, she was afraid that if she revealed her full name, it would cause unnecessary trouble.

It was not a bad idea to purchase a property in Saleen’s name. His mentor was of alchemist blood. In this aspect, Saleen could pull some strings and cross multiple territories without being restricted by their laws.

After reaching a height of about seventy to eighty meters, the doors of the elevator opened. Saleen adjusted his robe before asking Lex, “So how many are you willing to sell?”

Lex knew that Saleen was referring to the fully constructed puppets. She had five unmatured ones on hand. After thinking about it for a moment, Lex replied, “Two. If it’s still not enough, then we can sell the spare parts of the puppets as well.”