Badge in Azure

Don collected the new magic books and notes from the middle-grade mage like he always had and brought them back to his office. He was in charge of the items that only the low-level mages would look at. A quarter of the low-level mages in the palace had to go through him in order to borrow these books.

Even though Lex was not around, Don had decided to kidnap the female mage in the magic tower.

In any case, everyone in Daliang City unanimously claimed that female mage was Lex. He would not be able to use any divine spells to spy on her while outside of the magic tower, or else he would be caught by the grade-8 mage immediately. He would not be able to attack a grade-8 magic tower on his own either. It would be understandable for him to have recognized the wrong person. As long as his actions were logical, whatever he did would not be counted as going against the deal he made with Theisio.

Once the female mage had been kidnapped, Lex would definitely be alerted and would make sure to avoid all dangerous areas. Don would not be able to strike easily then, and Theisio would not be able to do anything about it either.

Don secretly smiled upon that thought.

Just like that, winter lasted for another month before an opportunity presented itself.

Since Lex had already advanced into a grade-9 sorcerer, the danger that she had sensed previously had been eliminated. She dared to show her face in public in Metatrin City, rather than using sound transmission magic array to disseminate information in Daliang City.

The role that Isabella played was no longer essential, but since she had advanced, she could go to Bone Castle.

The Bone Castle had always been stationed with spirits of the dead as the human armies had long ago been deployed to stations at the city built by Cloudflow along the Separation Sea. Eventually, the Cloudflow people completely evacuated from the city.

The entire country with its nation and qualities was completely incomprehensible.

Bitter Water Prefecture managed to claim half of the city without doing anything. When they first attacked this city, the Cloudflow soldiers still tried to put up some simple resistance. Half of the facilities in the city were destroyed during the battle. When it ended, the entire city was rebuilt again. Since it was located so near to the Separation Sea, it became an important defense location for Bitter Water Prefecture.

Isabella’s mission was to build a magic tower.

A sorcerer was required to build a magic tower that was taller than six stories. An inexperienced person would not be able to build such a magic tower even with a drawing, unless this person was someone like Saleen. He was able to quickly utilize Figaro Magic Formula.

In Daliang City, Isabella was the only newly-advanced sorcerer. The others already had their own magic towers; hence the mission fell squarely on Isabella alone.

When Isabella was bidding Tiffany farewell, she walked out of the magic tower, where all the low-level mages and swordmasters that would be leaving with her waited. The apprentices and craftsmen waited outside of the city. Isabella could not help but stretch herself again. Although the magic tower was not cramped, she did stay there for a very long time. Now that she could finally step out of the tower, she felt much more comfortable and peaceful.

Isabella would not be traveling on a horse. Daliang City had prepared magic chariots for her, but they were not real and were only imitations. Even in Bitter Water Prefecture, they still did not have the means to create such high-level equipment.

The wagons left the city very quickly. The roads of Daliang City had been repaired long ago, and the craters created by the catapults back then could no longer be seen. After filling it up with rock materials and covering it with a layer of marl and enhancing it with the mages’ Fossilization spells, there was no sign of any unevenness on the surface.

Back in Don’s room in the palace, two white-robed mages were stunned to see that the room was empty. They were confused and asked, “Where did Kim go?”

The two low-level mages had wanted to return the magic notes that they had borrowed and had no idea why that mage, that was always around, had suddenly vanished.

Isabella’s chariot left Daliang City and headed south. After traveling for around fifty miles, a gigantic rock appeared in the middle of the road and obstructed their way.

Isabella immediately sensed danger. What kind of person would be able to place a five yard tall rock in the middle of the road? Even a magic puppet would not have been able to move such a heavy rock.

The security forces of the group were a regiment made up of different groups of soldiers. Amongst the one-thousand or so soldiers, most of them were light-armored knights, who were armored with bow and arrows. After the Cloudflow soldiers had completely retreated, Daliang City was now the rear. As a result, Isabella did not travel with a powerful group of security forces.

“Who is it?” Isabella spoke from within the chariot and her voice traveled far and wide on the plains.

“It’s me.” A figure suddenly appeared on the rock. This person was dressed in a full body of golden armor and there were two meshed eyes in front of his helmet so that the wearer could clearly see what was outside. The mesh was mounted with gemstones, like the compound eyes of insects.

The knights raised their bows when they saw this person appear, but Isabella quickly shouted, “Stop!”

It was Don who was standing on the rock. He was ready for a massacre but stopped when he heard Isabella and said, “Luckily you are smart. If they don’t attack, I will not kill them, but you have to follow me.”

“Follow you? Why?” Isabella was only trying to delay him. She was trying to unleash a grade-8 scroll from within the magic chariot.

“Because…” Don suddenly drew his sword and flew down from the rock. His speed was terrifyingly fast, surpassing even the speed of an arrow. A distance of more than a hundred yards was covered instantaneously before he swiped at the top of the magic chariot with his sword. With a white glow, the magic chariot was split into two.

“That is the Pope’s wish.” Once Don finished his sentence, his left hand snatched away Isabella’s scroll and threw onto the floor before grabbing hold of her hand and flying away. As he flew, he said to Isabella, “If you dare to cast any spells on me, I will stab you with my sword.”

Isabella went pale. She was so scared that she did not even dare to draw the half-sword in her bracelet, much less cast any spells. She was certain that even without all the equipment, he was still more powerful than Tiffany.

The fellow dressed in golden armor was able to pull someone along with him while he flew, and speak calmly throughout. Isabella could not feel any wind gushing past her while they flew and she could confidently calculate that the both of them were flying at a speed of more than one-hundred and eighty miles per hour.

After flying for half an hour, Don suddenly asked, “What is your name?”

Isabella did not reply so Don tightened his grip. She did not know whether to laugh or cry while she said, “You said that taking me was the Pope’s wish. Don’t tell me he told you that you could take anyone you wanted?”

“He wanted me to capture Lex. It seems that you are not her.”

Instantaneously, Isabella felt that she was the unluckiest person in the world. The man was so powerful, yet he was tricked… No, he had not been tricked!

“Lex is in Metatrin City. Let me go and you can go find her yourself. I’m just a small mage. It’s useless for you to take me.”

“Small mage? You are a grade-7 sorcerer.” Don refused to loosen his grip. The two of them were more than one-thousand yards high in the sky. To a mage like Isabella, who had yet to fully grasp the technique of flying, it was very dangerous. She did not dare to struggle. She was not sure if she was able to utilize her flying spell in mid-air if the fellow really loosened his grip.

“You are going to bring me back to Tanggulasi even though I’m the wrong person?” When Isabella saw that Don was not berating her viciously, and not about to harm her, she began to try and find out more about Don.

“Of course not. I’m just thinking that now that you are a prisoner, I must gain something first before I can release you in exchange.”

“You… are a knight!” Isabella spoke after gathering all her courage. She could see that he was dressed like a knight from the Holy See. His grade was too high, and she could not tell which order he came from though.

Knights should not speak the way he did.

“Thanks for the compliment. Let’s rest for a while.” Don descended sharply. As the speed of descent was so fast, Isabella felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She could be the first sorcerer to ever want to vomit because she had been flying too fast.

Don brought Isabella down onto the top of a small mountain. It was less than a few yards wide, and because the mountain was so short, it was covered with bird droppings. It seemed that birds often rested there.

“Have a seat.” Don pointed at the ground that was covered with bird droppings.

Isabella had no choice but to use a cleaning spell before sitting down and looking at Don.

Don slowly pushed his faceguard up to reveal his face. When he saw Isabella staring at his face, he laughed and said, “You can’t possibly recognize me. Those who know me are probably all dead, other than the Pope.”

“Are you a Heavenly Knight?” Isabella knew that there was no way she could escape, so she decided to question him further in order to obtain more information.

“You must be from Tanggulasi, yet you are somehow mixing around with people from Daliang City.” Although Don was shocked that the sorcerer managed to guess his original identity based on his armor. He had no intention of giving her an answer.

Isabella did not answer either. She was entirely sure why she was mixing around with people from Daliang City. She should have been back in Metatrin City. If she was, the kidnapping would not have happened.

“Please do not refuse to answer me. I would be angry,” Don said to Isabella with a smile.

“My apologies, even though I’m now your prisoner, a mage can only answer questions where the answers are certain.” Isabella still had her bond with Saleen to fall back on, so she decided to pluck up her courage and reply Don in a tone that he might not like.

“If it was in the past, I would be more than happy to destroy your pride. Although I have no interest in that anymore, that doesn’t mean I will not do it. Tell me your name!”

“Isabella.”

“Very well, Isabella, tell my why Lex has yet to return to Daliang City?” Don was extremely interested in the answer to that question. Although Lex and Saleen were married, it was the provisional capital of Bitter Water Prefecture. The military plans for Bitter Water Prefecture, expeditions, and gathering and collection of resources all took place there. By right, Lex should not be leaving such an important place for such a long time.

Isabella had no idea, but nevertheless, she analyzed, “Many sorcerers have appeared in Metatrin City. Lex is a mage herself, so she must have gone there to seek advice on matters regarding magic.”

“That makes sense, although it is a lie. The reason why so many sorcerers have appeared in Metatrin City is probably to guard over something. Hehe, although I may not have the ability to go there now, once I have advanced, we will go and find Lex together.”

“You intend to bring me wherever you go?”

“Of course. I am extremely interested in magic as well. Let’s exchange pointers during this period of time,” Don smiled and pointed his finger at Isabella’s forehead.