Badge in Azure

Chapter 908: The Path of Stars (Part 1)

“Let me write the third contract too,” Saleen requested, after writing the second Astrologer’s Contract.

“Sure.” The third contract was handed over to Saleen, who removed the words on it. That time around, he used the magic language to write 36,000 magic words.

The contract was extremely important. He patiently blocked off all the loopholes. He did not expect to be able to take advantage of the souls and only hoped that he would not be sold away eventually. That was why the contract was written in a way that was advantageous to him as well. At first glance, it seemed like he was just a greedy mage who was trying to gain whatever benefits he could for himself.

He used greed as a disguise for his caution. There was only so much Saleen could do. Amongst all languages, the magic language was the most serious, sometimes to the extent of being slightly boring and frustrating. Mages only used the magic language when they were casting spells, while using their preferred languages under normal circumstances.

Aragorn also used the magic language to write his name on the contract. Saleen might be greedy but he did not go overboard with all of his requests. They were all within the limits that the heroic souls could tolerate.

After signing the third contract, Saleen was still required to return to the Imperial City of the Abyss after 1,00 years, which was equivalent to 100 years in the outside world.

Once the three contracts had been signed, the Grandmaster appeared again and stretched out his hands to create a rip in the dimension before throwing Saleen’s pan’s turtle alchemical boat in. The pan’s turtle alchemical boat traveled through a dimension of 1,000 miles and re-entered the core of the Imperial City of the Abyss.

Saleen decided to let the winged skeleton keep the pan’s turtle alchemical boat while Eleanor would return to the Purgatory of Darkness. Even the ancient warriors were sent there to keep Eleanor company.

In the end, the winged skeleton failed to convince Saleen and was also sent into hiding in the Twelve Notes of Purgatory. Saleen only left Nailisi behind. He took out the key that Aragorn had passed to him and strung it up on a magic string so that he could wear it around his neck.

“Master, don’t trust a word of what those bastards say.” Nailisi’s expression was awful. They were in the depths of the Imperial City. She stood in the center of a long street with Saleen. Both sides of the street were lined with tall buildings. There was a pair of sculptures in front of each door. The power embedded in the sculptures was no longer like those found on the edges of the city. They were powerful enough to kill him directly.

At the end of the street, which was about three miles away, was a wooden tower that was more than 1,000 yards tall.

There was no need for any clues or indications. The entire wooden tower was carved with constellations. It had to be an astrology tower. It seemed that they would encounter danger while walking past the doors on both sides of the street. Was there no other way but for Nailisi and Saleen to walk to the end of the three-mile long street?

The Grandmaster must have done that on purpose, otherwise he could very well have sent the pan’s turtle alchemical boat directly to the astrologer tower.

It was Nailisi who was too suspicious then. When the Grandmaster was still alive, he was a grade-17 mage. After he died, his soul might have still been at grade-17 but the power that he could control was only at grade-16. Even the grade18 Aragorn would not have been able to transport them directly to the astrologer tower.

The astrologer tower was extremely important in the Imperial City of the Abyss. Long ago, even the Emperor would alight from his carriage three miles away from the astrologer tower before walking the rest of the way. The buildings that lined both sides of the street were occupied by astrologers. The astrologers were no less prestigious and important than the mages. In fact, most of the time, the astrologers occupied a very powerful position in the kingdom.

Not only could astrologers divine, they could also battle, and their combat style was strange and hard to defend against. If not for the fact that the astrologers’ powerful techniques could damage their own life power, astrologers would have long overtaken mages as the most powerful force on the Mainland.

No Professional of the same grade would be a match for a grade-18 astrologer at his best.

The astrologer’s tower of the Imperial City of the Abyss was the center of the entire city. Even the palace was built behind the astrologer’s tower while magic towers were not allowed to be built anywhere near it. The Grandmaster cared too much about his pride to explain all that to Saleen.

Since Nailisi had reminded him, Saleen said, “Nailisi, I can only trust the people around me. There was nothing we could do about the signing of the contracts, so I won’t hold it against anyone. Regarding that, we need to talk more about it when we are back.”

Saleen was not willing to continue further because he sensed danger lurking nearby. There was no way any lifeform could still exist in the courtyards though. The street that they were walking on was made of rocks that had been placed together without any gaps in between. Despite the erosion of water for the past tens of thousands of years, the rocks were still in very good condition.

Saleen used his elemental eyes and saw that the rocks underneath his feet were different from those around the rest of the Imperial City. The six major elements were in harmony! There were no magic patterns carved anywhere on the entire street. There were only star charts in vermillion paint. The paint might be of high quality, but by right, with the passing of time, the colors should have already faded and eroded by the waters.

The star charts on the entire street looked as if they were only painted the prior day.

Was that the power of astrologers? It was millions of times more powerful than the rule of energy balance that Saleen had learned!

Saleen cleared his throat but his mouth was dry. He opened up the water shield around his body and drank a bottle of magic fluid. Instead of using the magic staff, he took out his demon book. The magic book stored six spells that were not limited by grades.

It was the most practical and useful magic equipment that Saleen possessed. In the past, he almost forgot about it because he did not have the chance to use it. He had no other choice. This street was three-miles long. He might not have the chance to take out a second magic staff when rushing down the street.

There was a loud commotion in the graveyard of the heroic souls. Aragorn, the Grandmaster, an archer, and an assassin were all gathered together.

Aragorn asked, “Grandmaster, which side of the astrologer tower have you transported them to?”

“The north side.”

“Don’t you know that the north side is very dangerous?” The archer asked furiously.

“Exactly. The north side is also the backdoor and is the place where the astrologers stayed. There will also be…”

“Don’t say it out loud! Damn it, I just want to test them. If Saleen cannot even survive that street, what hope is there that he will bring us Godly Items?”

“You are pitting a grade-8 mage against astrologers. Grandmaster, are you out of your mind?” Aragorn asked furiously.

“Yes, I am, but that doesn’t mean all of you aren’t. Are there any restrictions or constraints placed on Saleen in the contracts that he signed with us?”

“No, but if he wishes to gain greater powers, he will have no choice but to return and find us. The technique that he has copied can only be trained to grade-12. Without any guidance from teacher, he will not be able to gain anything!” The assassin spoke with frustration. Although his powers were not the lowest amongst the four leaders, he was still last in ranking. It was not appropriate for him to blame the Grandmaster directly. Blaming was different from teasing and would suggest that he was trying to challenge the Grandmaster’s position.

“Is it not enough for him that he has the powers of grade-12? Besides, we are not the only Imperial Cities beyond the Mainland. If Saleen is smart enough, he can seek out Imperial Cities in other places.”

“Other Imperial Cities? I’m afraid he is only left with the graveyard of heroic souls…”

“You!” Aragorn was so upset with the Grandmaster that he was speechless. If he had known that things would turn out like that, he would have transport Saleen and the rest personally. With the key, it would have been very safe to enter the astrologer tower from the front. The street at the back was lined with the private properties of the astrologers. The items with those properties were all refined by the astrologers themselves and had nothing to do with the defense mechanism of the astrologer tower.

“What are you upset about? If Saleen does not wish to be tested, he only needs to turn and leave,” said the Grandmaster. In his opinion, it was not difficult to bypass the courtyard behind the astrologer tower.

“He is here to experience hardship. I’m not a mage and even I can tell. His lineage is very special. If he turns and leaves, it will affect his training. Grandmaster, given the grade that you are at, surely you already know that?”

“In that case, I’m helping him.” The Grandmaster replied simply before returning back to his tombstone.

“General!” All the high-level heroic souls around Aragorn looked at him. He shrugged and said, “Saleen has already entered the range of the astrologer tower. There is nothing I can do. Let’s go back. Only luck will determine his fate.”

Aragorn gazed into the distance. If Saleen was to die, he would never forgive Grandmaster. He already knew all about Saleen’s intentions. When one’s soul reached grade-18, one would be able to sense what the other party was thinking. He knew that Saleen was not keen to return, but he also knew that the latter was tempted by other items in the Imperial City. As long as Saleen returned to the Imperial City of the Abyss, Aragorn would have a way of making Saleen come back to the graveyard of heroic souls on his own.

The difference between the both of them was too great. Aragorn had already left a mark on Saleen that was concealed by the memory of Ismail so Saleen did not manage to detect it.

The tombstones of the heroic souls would not be able to protect the souls for eternity and Saleen could very well be their final chance. It turned out that what the astrologer said long ago came true. A weak king would be the one to rescue them.

The water shield on Saleen’s body turned into a cone shape. Nailisi charged to the front and raised her skeletal shield. The towering blade shield was in front of her while her right hand gripped onto her long lance. In her imp form, she sprinted ahead as her tail set in a streamlined position with her body so that she was traveling at the highest speed possible.

Saleen followed behind Nailisi. He clutched the demon magic book in one hand and Joey’s magic staff in the other. There were no spells in the magic staff that the Grandmaster had given to him and that made Saleen think even more badly of the Grandmaster.

If possible, he would try not to allow the terms and conditions of the contracts to become valid. He did not wish to return to the graveyard to carry out the next transaction.

As for the Imperial City, he was open to the idea of returning. While the materials there were not extremely rare, they were all gathered together in large quantities. All the rock materials, crystals, and elemental creatures were all items that could be put to good use for his future expeditions.

There was a door a hundred yards ahead. The two statues in front of the door were a pair of banshees. The astrologer must have unique taste to use banshees to guard his door.

The two banshees were originally standing erect, but when the door in the middle opened automatically, they knelt down immediately. As the towering door opened, a beautiful figure walked out.