Badge in Azure

Saleen took a look at the needle in the figure’s hand and was overjoyed. The creation of the figure was completely different from the constructed puppet’s, and it was not much of a fighter. The figure did not consume magic nuclei and used only its most powerful attack every time it attacked, thus making it a very good soldier and guard.

Saleen had no idea if he would have ended up getting the astrologer’s lineage, he was, at the moment, only paying attention to the very special needle on the puppet’s hand. The rules infused on it was not something he understood. What he saw was a needle being etched with countless star charts on it.

The needle was of a level way above the puppet’s, and as such, could not have been something belonging to the figure originally. If he were to get his hands on it, he could attempt to learn how to use it. If he were to get the lineage of the astrologer, the possibility of him crafting combat figures would be very high.

“Get that thing!” Saleen shouted from inside the house.

“The master is not here yet, you shall wait patiently…” the figure continued saying, without any hint of the animosity it fought with. Its kicking attacks were unusually fearsome. Its legs, that were made of cotton, bent forward and kicked Nailisi who was nearby. Even most magic beasts would not have been capable of feats like that, let alone humans.

Nailisi wanted to throw it into the Twelve Notes of Purgatory, but the level difference between her and the figure prevented her equipment from working. The entrance to the purgatories opened again and again, yet the figure still failed to be trapped within.

The figure’s legs became its most powerful weapon. Having no joints, they were able to strike from any angle. Nailisi and the winged skeleton had no choice but to back away, attacking it with ranged attack skills.

The figure had great speed, and it kept getting closer to Nailisi and the winged skeleton. Nailisi had no choice but to brandish her shield, while the winged skeleton swapped his battle axe for his meteor hammer, blocking the figure’s attacks with their weapons.

The figure’s sore lack of intellect became very apparent. The needle in its hand was a terrifying weapon on its own, yet it had only used it for mending its own wounds. It had both of them running around the compound away from its legs, yet it had not thought of following up with attacks with the needle.

As soon as the figure finished stitching up its head, it put the needle away and went back to fighting kickboxing-style. Despite not having a weapon, it nonetheless trumped both Nailisi and the winged skeleton in terms of combat prowess. Nailisi was backed into a corner, so she had to put her spear away, relegating to using the Sword of Rules instead. As soon as her shield became unable to block an attack and an opening was seen, that was when Nailisi lashed out with her sword.

The tactic worked in the sense that the figure was unable to go head on against the Sword of Rules, and Nailisi went through with it. She stopped being anxious, knowing well that the figure would run out of power sooner or later. She, on the other hand, would have been able to fight for several days and nights on end. It would have sufficed for her to just draw things out.

Saleen, however, got tired of waiting. He summoned six Blue Ice Maidens and unleashed them into the compound to help Nailisi and the winged skeleton out. The Blue Ice Maidens were armed with elemental swords with freezing effects. The figure only began to slow down once it got hit.

Without Starlight Cutting, the figure’s kicks and punches failed to simply tear the Blue Ice Maidens apart when the attacks connect, and huge cracks appeared instead. It had a piece of equipment two entire levels higher than the beings it fought, yet the figure was unable to kill the grade-9 Blue Ice Maidens off, just because it was running low on power.

Saleen did not summon Gloria. If the elemental creature leader suffered serious injuries, it would pose serious problems on the restoration of the elemental creatures under her command. If he was not concerned for the wellbeing of the grade-10 elemental creature leaders, he would have taken down the figure by then.

Saleen finally got to experience what an astrologer was capable of first hand. A figure that was not even meant for combat tore through over one-hundred of his elemental creatures. It would have been anyone’s guess just how powerful a figure geared for combat could have actually gotten. The Starlight Cutting skill, even with its power lowered, still proved more than enough to kill elemental creatures.

If that had been the case, Saleen would still have ended up losing even if he were to use up everything in all six elemental badges, unless he was willing to use his family badge. Doing so would have reduced anything below grade-12 to dust in a flash.

Mages required materials for analysis before they were able to study and research anything. That was the reason why Saleen needed to capture the figure. He had a hunch telling him that even the astrology tower would not have something peculiar like that lying in wait.

One Blue Ice Maiden got crushed after another, and the figure’s speed at attacking finally got slower and slower. Nailisi and the Soldier finally regained their offensive edge and were no longer simply evading attacks.

That was especially so in Nailisi’s case, who had dealt multiple cuts on the figure’s body continuously. The figure took out its needle and started mending its wounds again. Nailisi was able to see the mysterious power oozing from the wounds on the figure by sharing Saleen’s senses, knowing that her own Sword of Rules worked well against the figure.

The power loss in the figure’s body quickened, and the winged skeleton was finally able to land a hit on the figure’s chest with his meteor hammer. The figure flew before the hammer’s explosive impact was able to work, meaning that it had actively dispersed the force of the attack. Nailisi gradually became able to work in tandem with the winged skeleton. She happened to be right behind him at that moment and chop the figure’s head off with a slash.

That time, Nailisi threw the figure’s body inside the Twelve Notes of Purgatory, and the winged skeleton went into it as well. The body of the figure was thrown into the purgatory of ice. As soon as it got into the purgatory, it took out the needle with countless star charts etched on it with one hand, while the other hand kept searching for its head.

Seeing the body of the figure gone, Saleen finally felt safe enough to walk into the compound, speaking to the figure’s head on the ground with a smile. “Where is your master?”

“Please be patient. My master will be home very soon.”

“Nonsense!”, Nailisi took out her Sword of Rules and was about to deal the killing blow. She saw the star charts in its eyes were oscillating furiously and was afraid that it would harm her master.

“Relax, Nailisi. This thing is no weapon. It can’t do anything more to hurt me now.”

“Master, take a look at this,” the winged skeleton emerged from the purgatory of ice before Saleen was able to finish talking, with a crystal clear needle in his hand, as well as a jade button.

“Give me back the Star Gathering Needle. That belongs to the guest, that belongs to the guest…” the figure’s head repeated mechanically but was not able to continue. It had only acquired the needle by chance. Its master ordered it to steal the needle from someone, yet its master was no more before it was able to hand the needle to its new owner.

“This is mine now.” Saleen put away the Star Gathering Needle and summoned six Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers. “Beat this thing. Beat it until it’s completely crushed.” Saleen pointed at the figure’s head on the floor.

All six of the Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers lifted the hammers and began beating the figure’s head. The two star charts in its eyes spun furiously. Every time the head was hit, it repaired itself. Nailisi saw all that and brought her sword down on the head again.

Nailisi was unable to activate the powers of the Sword of Rules, or she would have been able to kill the figure with just one single slash. It was due to her inability to use the sword’s latent powers, that she was able to use it as a normal weapon.

A thin, long gash appeared on the head as the Sword of Rules landed on its target. Without help from the Star Gathering Needle, the gash was unable to be repaired. The Sword of Rules itself possessed great power. Even though she was unable to use the rules etched within, the power spawning from all twenty-four rules within was nonetheless something that a figure drained of constellation power proved unable to repair.

“Nailisi!” Saleen stopped her from continuing. The next slash would have possibly made the gash something truly irreparable at all through self-repair. If Nailisi damaged the figure too much, it would lose its value as a research material.

If he was able to keep the figure whole, he would still be able to learn a thing or two which would prove useful for his growth in magic, even if he was unable to learn astrology. Astrologers did not truly die off until recently. Back when Lex was young, the last astrologer on the mainland was not dead yet. Mages were not complete unfamiliar with astrologers. The varieties of miracles left behind by the astrologers were still very impressive nonetheless.

Many mages had even developed their own unique understanding of magic through astrology and went on to become famous professionals throughout the mainland.

Nailisi stopped dumping her pent-up rage on the head and let the grade-9 Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers went back to pounding on the head. Blunt force from such weapons would prove lethal to heavily armored troops, yet it did not do much against the figure.

The Elemental Stone Statue Soldier’s magical attacks became weak. Where they were at did not have an environment like the ones at the border of the imperial city. The location of the astrologer’s place was one balanced in its six element ratio. Saleen put the six away and had another six continue with the job.

The Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers had only exhausted the constellation power within the figure’s head thoroughly after going at it for seven or eight hours. The star charts in its eyes stopped spinning and Saleen threw the head into a dimension stone.

Nailisi only let the body out from the purgatory of ice after putting the head away. The figure suffered a broken arm, and it still waved its arms and kicked its feet around trying to attack.

Yet another six Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers went pounding the body like they did the head. The headless body was pounded hard on the floor for about five hours before the constellation power within was completely exhausted.

Saleen had develop a thirst for grade-11 equipment, seeing how even grade-9 beings took more than half a day to finish off the utterly broken figure.

He did not go on researching the figure’s body after putting it away and had instead went touring around the manor with Nailisi and the Soldier.

The manor was huge. Saleen had been walking in the garden for a while before finding the warehouse he had been searching for.

The warehouse ended up being a disappointment and was far from what he had imagined. Other than three ragged figures, there were only a bunch of boxes left inside the warehouse. Once opened, Saleen only found paper inside. Beautiful star charts were drawn on all that paper.

Starline papers were very precious commodities back on the Myers Mainland. When used to make scrolls, there would be hardly any chance of failure. The starline papers were deemed best for practicing magic. Even unfamiliar spells could have been made into scrolls. Starline papers were not known for failing, making them equivalent to magic experiments that succeed in the first try.

Other than the papers, the remaining three figures were broken goods of very low levels.

“Master, I don’t think this is the warehouse. It looks more like storage for junk.” Nailisi’s eyes were fixed at a corner. There was something inconspicuous lying there: a small wooden carving.