Badge in Azure

“You should let Sika rest. She is about to give birth and you are still bringing her around with you!” Although Jason was happy, he was not going to let that stop him from reprimanding Saleen. It was not easy for mages to have offspring because of their physique and because most mages did not have the time to marry and settle down. They often found training in magic to be more enjoyable than having relationships.

Sika was still clad in armor, but her armor was light and could change its form and was not clumsy at all. She shook her head and said, “Teacher Jason, I want to accompany Saleen.”

Jason was taken aback, but he was even happier to hear that. Sika’s personality was different from Lex. She said whatever came to her mind and it would not make anyone feel awkward.

Jason did not say more and only nodded at Saleen. Saleen cast a water shield. As the huge bubble gradually sank down, he let Sika lean against it as if it was a cushion used by noble families.

No one else was in the room except Jason, Sika, and Saleen. Jason said to Saleen, “Tell me, what kind of trouble have you encountered?”

Saleen’s heart was warm. He thought carefully and said, “Teacher, some of my problems cannot be said.”

The bond that he had signed with the Goddess and the thing that he promised Fyrco were all related to bonds, so he would have to handle them on his own. If he spoke about them to anyone and the bond counteracted, it would be a matter of life and death.

“Then say those that can be said.” Jason did not mind. Mages were often restricted by rules. Saleen’s status was different by then, it was normal for him to have more secrets.

Saleen stretched out both his hands, where a green glow emanated from them. Saleen said, “I possess some life strength from the Nature Goddess. To the Holy See, this is something that must be eliminated. As a result, the Holy See and I will always be in dispute, without any possibility of resolution.”

“No need for resolution. If the Holy See wants to take you down, then you will just have to defeat them first,” Jason replied directly and decisively.

Saleen was stunned for a moment, but immediately smiled. When his own teacher was still at grade-5, he had challenged a grade-6 mage, who had his own magic tower, because the latter had destroyed the graves of the former’s clan. Not everyone possessed such audacity. In fact, very few people would have done the same.

Sika laid there and said, “There are no good souls in the Holy See. Teacher is right. We might as well overthrow the Holy See. When you built a temple instead of a magic tower as your living quarters, you must have already thought of that as well!”

Although Sika had been trained by a group of mages on her style of speech, it was still difficult to adjust. When she spoke, it did not sound cohesive, but the meaning was clear.

Saleen thought about it and said, “Lex has given the mark of the six-winged flying snake to me. Although I cannot really use it to summon the Grukos clan’s forces to fight for me, it would be a cause for concern for anyone that wanted to deal with me. I’m worried that this might trigger Prince Safilos into wanting to make an attempt for my life. He is a golden grand swordmaster. Once he gets close to me, no one can protect me.”

“Safilos… we cannot touch him for now. If he dies, Qin will be in chaos immediately. At most, you will stay in Metatrin City and not go to Holy Rock City. By staying here, no one will be able to touch you, not even the old freak in Holy Rock City,” Jason replied.

“Teacher, you know Joey?”

“Humph, the most powerful person in Holy Rock City. It has been a few hundred years. That fellow once killed many people in Alchemy City. He had to flee all the way to Holy Rock City in order to survive.”

“Back then, he was not even grade-10 yet right?” Saleen probed.

“Hmm, back then, he was only at grade-8,” Jason replied monotonously.

Daring to challenge Alchemy City at grade-8, Joey had left Saleen speechless. It seemed like Joey had not continued this enmity. Based on his current abilities at grade-10, even if he would not be able to attack all the way into Alchemy City, just blocking the entrance of the city would have posed a headache to Alchemy City. If no one was able to enter or leave the city, its reputation would have taken a severe hit.

“Teacher, Nailisi is a demon. She can summon her demon army to fight for me.” Now that his teacher was there, there was nothing else that Saleen would hold back on. If Jason refused to support him, then there was no one else he could depend on anymore.

“A Demon army!” It was the first time Jason looked so shocked. He did not respond that way even when Saleen mentioned how he was at odds with the Holy See.

“Teacher, is it really inappropriate?” Saleen was worried.

“Not inappropriate. It’s just that our abilities are… still too weak.” Jason became quiet.

Saleen was confused by what his teacher said. From what he could see, there were more than thirty sorcerers in Metatrin City then. ‘Weak’ was not something he would associate with the city anymore.

“The Demon dimension is the closest dimension to the Myers Mainland, closer than even the death dimension. Saleen, humans are becoming stronger, but demons are no exception either. If we do not control the situation well, those demons can very well pose a dangerous threat to Metatrin City.”

“Teacher, a demon city was built according to the devil’s drawing.”

“Nailisi will not be content with summoning only demons. This method of summoning will reduce the intellect and fighting abilities of these demons. She will develop demons that will be born on the Myers Mainland instead. Demons grow very quickly, within a few decades, two to three generations of demons would have been born. Demons that are born on the Myers Mainland will not be controlled so easily.”

“So the humans in the past…”

“Someone of my grade would have just been an apprentice to the humans in the past.” Jason stared at his student.

When Jason saw that Saleen was no longer refuting, he continued, “I have briefly analyzed the situation on the Mainland. Alchemy City will no longer adopt such a passive approach and will fight against the other countries in striving for control of the Mainland. There are more and more powerful mages in Alchemy City, even the areas controlled by Alchemy City no longer satisfy these mages. Having a demon army is only a short-term solution. The key is that in the next thirty years, one of us must reach grade-10 in order to be able to control demon city. If a devil is summoned, we will all be doomed otherwise.”

“This…”

“How is this possible? Hey, Saleen, you may not know, but although devils may not be Gods, they are definitely creatures higher than grade-10. Even the lousiest devil is more powerful than a grade-9 sorcerer. Demons on the Myers Mainland are not suppressed in any way. If the devils discover that their demons keep disappearing, they will disguise themselves as demons too. In that case, the summoning array can very well bring the devils over to this dimension. Think about it. A grade-10 creature of demon bloodline will be able to control all the demons on this dimension. Won’t that be a problem?”

“What if Nailisi reaches grade-10?”

“Unless you are able to advance to grade-9 soon the bond between you two will suppress her growth. If you don’t advance, her fighting abilities will not be able to increase thoroughly.”

“Once Sika gives birth, I will go into the Six Elements’ Space.” Saleen lowered his head.

Regarding the demon army, Nailisi had not been completely truthful with him. Based on her bloodline, she was not obliged to be fond of humans. As long as she was able to ensure her own safety, losing control of the demon army might not be an unacceptable thing to Nailisi.

“Hmm, although you are my only student, it seems that you do not wish to inherit everything from me. I heard that you have taken in a student?” Jason’s words put Saleen to shame. It was out of impulse that he took in Truman as his student. Back then, he was still a grade-6 mage and Truman was at least at grade-4. It did not seem too logical for him to become Truman’s teacher.

“I will not have time to guide him either. You must be responsible for the student that you have taken in yourself.”

“I understand.” Saleen did not refute what Jason said, even though the latter did not guide the former too much either.

“If you are going against the Holy See, then what you are doing is far from sufficient. Saleen, if you are going to expand your military, go all out. Expand your temple corp, while your ten main corps will be stationed out of the city and take turns to rotate with each other. Let your noble families handle the rest. If you give up half of the benefits, you will receive even more in return.”

“Half?” Saleen was sensitive to that figure. He had always controlled the noble families’ powers very tightly for fear of rebellion.

“Humph, are you familiar with the word ‘generation’?”

Saleen shook his head. It was not that he did not understand the meaning of the word, but rather why his teacher would bring it up all of a sudden.

“I have a feeling that the new generation is about to come. This may be the last time these noble families will enjoy glory. Let them have it. All this will quickly come to an end under the rule of devils.”

After spouting a chain of dramatic lines, Saleen could not help but smile bitterly at what Jason said.

“Teacher, will humans’ abilities really increase so quickly?” Saleen was not confident about that. He was merely pushing himself forward for the sake of not being left behind by the others.

“It is quicker than you think. I will be advancing into a grade-9 sorcerer very soon. Within the next three years, I will have a chance to advance to grade-10. This is not something I would have dared to think about in the past. Although talent plays a part, if not for the rules of this dimension changing, I would have needed at least one-hundred years to advance to grade-10.”

Saleen listened to what Jason said and gained a new understanding of his teacher. To think that Jason was confident of advancing to grade-10 within one-hundred years initially! Now, he would be able to do it within a decade or so.

“Saleen, you may not be the most talented, but you are very hardworking. I have never seen any mage that was willing to work as hard as you. I have a good idea of your training methods, but you have a fatal weakness.”

Saleen stood still and listened intently. Jason’s words were still important to him. Since his inheritance came from Jason, the latter understood his training method inside and out. Saleen was entirely clear before advancing into a sorcerer, but then, he had a better idea that every inheritance led to different paths.

“You lack the drive to push forward at all costs. That is why you have yet to advance into a sorcerer even though you are already proficient in the control of water elements. If not for external factors, you would have waited even longer.” A couple sentences from Jason completely pointed out Saleen’s weakness.