Badge in Azure

Chapter 289: Unexpected Gains (Part 2)

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

Banchajanna’s death was now in the hands of Saleen, and Saleen’s icy sight had accurately pinpointed Banchajanna’s weak point. It was the scepter. Once Saleen released his divine spell and wiped out Banchajanna’s remaining soul flames, the connection between Banchajanna and the scepter would be completely broken.

There was a part of Banchajanna’s soul within the scepter, but that fragment of soul could only become another soul at best.

Banchajanna had formed a plan to break free from the scepter long ago. If he angered a god, he would be able to fully die. The gods may not have been able to destroy the fragments of soul within the scepter, but they would be able to cut their contact with him completely.

Saleen could see Banchajanna’s fear as well. He was a little surprised. So someone as powerful as him could feel fear too?

Only by believing in my god can one distance themselves from the fear of death. Saleen thought back to the words of the Holy See’s divine rod, and his urge to kill subsided even further. There was no point in killing Banchajanna. Even if Judikaka and Diyabannersa did not know it was him, he would need to deal with many problems.

Saleen gave a slight smile as he led Nailisi and swam back to the alchemical boat. Banchajanna’s soul flames had finally stabilized, and Saleen let him go. Banchajanna was not insulted, but he wanted to leave this dimension as soon as he could. However, Judikaka and Diyabannersa would definitely not agree.

Hopefully, Saleen will keep what happened today a secret. If not, Diyabannersa will not be happy. The three of them had discussed things, but their plan had almost been ruined because of a mistake he had made.

“Soldier, let’s go back.” Saleen returned to the alchemical boat, hurrying the winged skeleton to leave.

“How about Banchajanna?”

“Let him rest here. I will tell Judikaka.” Saleen did not have any means to heal a soul. Any magic and divine spells he knew caused huge damage to them. If he released a Chunlin spell, Banchajanna’s skin would start shedding. If he used magic liquid to cleanse him, Banchajanna would be in greater pain than if a human had been burned with hot oil.

Saleen had not thought of how to tell Judikaka about this. He did not have the winged skeleton steer the alchemical boat back into the river. Instead, they stopped directly under the white stone mountain, returning to the camp. At the campsite, Saleen did not find Judikaka. Instead, he called Daniel over and recounted what had happened before bringing Nailisi back to the alchemical boat.

Saleen was still thinking about the materials in the lightning dragon’s nest. The luminous liquid that the lightning dragon secreted was a top-notch tranquilizer, and Saleen had more ideas now. He was not planning to sell these items, but rather, to keep them for himself.

As all creatures had their ways of growing, the silver liquid that the lightning dragon secreted was a form of defense. The electric current that it released must have been isolated by this silver liquid. If not, it would not have only adhered to its surface while not harming the lightning dragon itself.

If Saleen wanted to learn how to control the power of electricity, he needed to ensure that he would not be hurt by it first.

He returned with Nailisi to the dragon’s nest. This time, he immediately released a green current over six meters long and patiently began cutting. The lightning dragon had spent a long time in this place, and the entrance of the cave was filled with solidified liquid. The solids that Saleen cut with his current were as thick as two fingers.

This only solidified Saleen’s idea that the secretion from the lightning dragon could prevent it from being hurt by its own current. The dragon’s nest had been slathered all over with this substance to protect the nest as well.

After cleaning up the nest, Saleen immediately returned to the alchemical boat. He could not ensure that there were not other abnormal creatures here, and according to the research of mages, some powerful magic beasts could survive together with some strange things. The lightning dragon was considered an eccentric creature on its own, but Saleen did not want to take any risks.

Back on the alchemical boat, Saleen had the winged skeleton steer back to shore. He did not disembark, but instead, began researching the magic nucleus of the lightning dragon.

The magic nucleus of this dragon was incredibly special. Even though it was a standard twenty-four-sided one, its color was a little flamboyant and it did not seem as pure. With his icy sight, Saleen looked directly into the internal structure of the magic nucleus.

This colorful magic nucleus had all six types of elements, yet it was incredibly unbalanced. It leaned heavily towards ground and water type elements, and looking at this ratio, the magic nucleus should have been incredibly weak. However, the toughness of the magic nucleus was almost comparable to that of the tiago’s dragonshard.

Lightning dragons spent most of their time in the deep sea and it would be hard for him to kill another one. For a lightning dragon’s egg to hatch, it would take up to a few hundred years as well. Saleen could not wait that long as he reluctantly dissected the magic nucleus.

This might have been the only magic nucleus from a lightning dragon in the entirety of the Myers Mainland. Even though it was a grade-8 magic nucleus, its value was much higher than many other grade-9 ones.

“Nailisi. Say, why do you think this magic nucleus produces a current?” Saleen had analyzed it using many formulas for a few hours, but he still could not explain why it was able to release an electric current.

“Master, I think it has something to do with its magic patterns. This magic nucleus could never produce an electric current.” Nailisi grabbed the magic nucleus and started playing with it.

“Just from those magic patterns, it could produce an electric current?” Saleen found it hard to believe. In terms of what mages knew, all the powers of a magic beast came from their magic nucleus.

“A witcher spider doesn’t have a magic nucleus, yet it has the powers of piercing magic.” Nailisi’s words led Saleen to a revelation.

That’s right. Mages do not have magic nuclei either, yet they can still control magic. Magic chords and magic nuclei have no similarities, and they work on different principles. Humans can release magic without magic nuclei, so magic beasts must be able to do so too.

Saleen had Nailisi take out the lightning dragon’s skin and lay it on the floor.

There was not a very big space within the ship and even though all of the skin of the dragon had been pared off, it could only be half laid out. Saleen sat down and started patiently researching the magic patterns of the lightning dragon.

The golden magic patterns had returned to their original state just before the lightning dragon had died. It had been just about to release an electric current to attack Saleen, and this made it easier for Saleen to examine it accurately.

The golden magic pattern was indeed a three-dimensional structure, very similar to that of Saleen’s clan badge. This similarity was not in its power, but rather, in its structure. Most magic patterns were flat, and three-dimensional ones had only been discovered by him recently. This magic pattern was a branch of a magic array, and from what it seemed now, humans had gained this knowledge from magic beasts.

“Nailisi, ignore anyone who is looking for me. Don’t let anyone interrupt me” Saleen saw a glimmer of hope and gave an order to Nailisi straightaway. He then took note of the magic patterns on the lightning dragon and used all his focus to enter the Goddess’ Necklace as he began his calculations.

This calculation lasted for ten days. Luckily, Banchajanna seemed to realize the trouble he had caused and was not as hot headed as Diyabannersa. Instead, he and Judikaka tried to stop Diyabannersa. Banchajanna had a newfound fear for Saleen, and it was an irrational one.

The mages on Sregl Island did not dare offend the three kings either. The three kings had an agreement with Saleen, but it did not mean that the mages from Sregl Island were protected as well. As to not anger the three kings, the mages had no choice but to take out the magic notes they had brought along with them to give them something to read.

The three kings were not picky with their training either. They looked carefully at every sentence and word, exchanging opinions after. It seemed that they had forcefully memorized every piece of information related to death magic. This form of memorization proved to be incredibly effective, and so long as they saw related information in the future, they would be able to link all of it together to form a new system of analysis.

Since coming to the human dimension to look for leads on Shanglan was like looking for a needle in a haystack, as the three kings did so, they were incredibly patient. They were under the protection of the scepter and could live longer than any other spirit. They had time, and even if they read all the books on the Myers Mainland, they would not die.

Saleen calculated for ten days, but in reality, time passed incredibly slowly and Saleen’s calculation speed had increased to a new limit. In these ten days, Saleen had fully analyzed all the magic patterns of the lightning dragon, and even if he did not understand the meaning within them, he could replicate them accurately.

The lightning dragon’s body was over ten meters long, but most of the magic patterns were repeated, and this made Saleen’s job much easier. Moreover, the changes of this type of magic pattern were not as complicated as those on Saleen’s clan badge. There were less than fifty thousand of them and it considerably decreased the difficulty of Saleen processing such magic patterns.

Once Saleen retreated from the Goddess’ Necklace, the first thing he did was take the witcher spider out and reprocess it. This time, he managed to process it in record time, and after changing the magic pattern on it, he inlaid six grade-4 magic nuclei inside of it and activated it.

Blue currents danced on the surface of the witcher spider’s body. The electric current had been increased by more than a hundred times. Before, it could probably kill an insect, but with its powers now, it could even kill a chicken without issue.

The lightning dragon was but a grade-8 creature, yet it could injure a king from the death dimension. That was how powerful the electric current attack was. Moreover, the reprocessed magic pattern together with the secretions from the lightning dragon had prevented the witcher spider from having its body structure damaged. However, the depletion of the magic nuclei was not any less than before.

This was not much. Any magic that had just been created possessed imperfections. Saleen knew it was time for him to learn the Water Flame Alchemy spell. His teacher had not realized the unique ability of his magic chords, and even though Saleen was only grade-4 now, he could learn such high-level abilities.

After learning the Water Flame Alchemy spell, Saleen would be able to process true electric magic patterns onto demonic equipment. Just like the lightning dragon, they would be able to release electric currents to attack. Before he had learned of the secrets within his clan badge, this would have been his most powerful combat skill. With such power, Saleen would no longer need to worry about his relationship with Judikaka.

After ten days of training, Saleen was pleased with his success as he said happily to the winged skeleton, “Soldier, we can go back. Do you want to stay in the boat or follow me ashore?”

“Master, I think I should stay…” The winged skeleton replied cautiously. Within the crystal, his two skeleton wings had fully grown and he had a feeling a third pair was about to grow. Once his third wings had grown out, the winged skeleton would no longer be a low-grade mutant skeleton soldier, but instead, a high-grade death creature that could replace Saleen in battle.