Badge In Azure

by Stayrr

The existence of a magician is to understand the truth of the real world. Saleen Metatrin, an ordinary magician, initially wanted to change one’s mind and destiny. During this, he went through many situations and phases in his life.

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Badge In Azure

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The existence of a magician is to understand the truth of the real world. Saleen Metatrin, an ordinary magician, initially wanted to change one's mind and destiny. During this, he went through many situations and phases in his life.

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Chapter 1: Star of Magic

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

At the north pole of the Metatrin Mainland, a massive sheet of ice upon the frozen sea had grown to a thickness greater than five miles. On top of this ice sheet was a town made entirely out of ice. In reality, this town was the well-functioning Mage Guild.

To have built a guild in such a freezing cold place must have been nothing short of arduous. The average temperature year round was below freezing – twenty degrees below freezing, to be exact. On sunny days, no signs of greenery could be seen. Even the most tenacious magical plants did not want to grow here.

The only exception was at the center of the Mage Guild. At the bottom of the magical tower was a huge statue. Surrounding the statue was a small garden.

This was a forbidden place within the Mage Guild. The statue was rumored to have been built in the likeness of the Lord of the Metatrin Mainland, Saleen. He was also the first ever dean of the Mage Guild. However, none of the students had ever seen him. Right from the initial establishment of the guild, this Dean had become a legendary figure.

The perimeter of the garden surrounding the statue was only a hundred meters wide. The temperature in the garden was above the freezing point, and because its surroundings were always foggy, only the face of the statue was visible. Within the garden, a little girl in her teens was watering the plants with a jade bottle. Hundreds of droplets sprinkled out evenly onto the soil as the water was poured out of the bottle. The barefooted girl, clad in a long skirt, stood out prominently in this icy landscape.

In the distance, whenever students walked past, someone would comment, "How pitiful."

A prerequisite for admission to the Mage Guild was that those who were grade-9 mages or higher had to continue their pursuits of the secrets of the world of magic. In the Metatrin Mainland, being a grade-9 mage did not mean much aside from signifying that one was a determined person who possessed strong perseverance.

The little girl's wordless movements attracted the pity of many mages, but none of them were aware of the impact it had on their own mental state.

Each time such a situation occurred, a hint of a smile would appear on the little girl's lips.

And afterwards, a beautiful young lady would appear to berate her. "Myers, do your work properly!"

The girl, whose name was Myers, would bow her head pitifully and continue her work.

Myers was indeed quite pitiful like this, but nobody dared rebuke that young lady, for whoever did so would suffer bad luck. Being left naked and freezing in the icy parade square was considered the lightest punishment. Some people just disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again. Those people had been punished for their disrespect towards the young lady.

The young lady was a notorious devil within the guild. It was rumored that she had close ties to the Dean.

There was no shortage of courageous beings on the Metatrin Mainland. It was just that it was rumored that Myers contained a devil sealed in her body, and that the one to cast this spell had been a mythical beast hidden in the frozen sea.

The guild released numerous missions every year, and there was only one mission that none of the students had been able to accomplish: to expel this devil, which involved the killing of that beast and the collection of its blood to purify the little girl.

Ding… dong…

The melodious bell rang. The guild became lively as many mages from the lower grades rushed excitedly to Water Element Hall to join in the fun.

The grade-9 mages – the students of the lowest grade – behaved like chattering little girls. It was not surprising, for since the guild's establishment a few thousand years ago, a Star of Magic had appeared less than ten times. There had not been a single one in the last three hundred years.

A Star of Magic not only needed to possess a unique bloodline and the ability to inherit powerful magic, but also needed to have powerful abilities in control, be skilled in alchemy, and make equipment by themselves in order to accomplish twelve different guild missions. These criteria by themselves were only the beginning of the selection of a Star of Magic, and many students were able to meet them. The outstanding masters found by this process were subsequently enrolled into the Arctic Guild.

This time, the manner in which the magic bell rang was unique. It rang three times in succession, with thirteen tones each time. This meant that the newly emerged Star of Magic was a grade-13 student.

In the Arctic Guild, the regular grade-9 students could graduate upon completing grade-12. However, they had the option of not leaving the guild and advancing their education as seniors instead. The seniors were in grade-13 to grade-15, with grade-13 being the lowest.

That being said, the Star of Magic this time was a grade-13 senior. So far, the highest grade to complete all the Star of Magic missions, as well as the final selection, had been grade-15.

There were not many people in the hall, only about three hundred. The dean appeared in the middle of the platform.

Francis was a grade-16 mage. It was said that Francis' aptitude had been average, but since he had followed the first Dean Saleen and received meticulous guidance, he had made significant achievements today.

However, this had not hindered Francis from becoming the idol of the students. He had lived for thousands of years and had participated in many great battles to bring peace to the Golden Plains.

It was said that the evil mage of the Golden Plains was very powerful, and because he had offered his soul to the devil, he had a body that feared nothing.

With a head of short golden hair, Francis looked like he was thirty-something years old. He looked at the young girl standing in front of him and said, "Mephisto, you are the first grade-13 student since the establishment of the Arctic Guild to have been awarded the Star of Magic. Here is your badge."

The young lady mage, Mephisto, gladly received the badge. On this badge, there was a blemish in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Why was it broken?

Frances noticed Mephisto's puzzled look and said, "Mephisto, the history of this seal dates back to the ancient times of the First Empire. In addition, the honorable mage Saleen used this badge as a symbol to represent his Metatrin clan."

Mephisto held on tightly to the badge in shock, fearing that Francis would confiscate it.

Although the Metatrin clan had bowed out of the historical stage, Metatrin City still existed as the holy land on the mainland. Items that Saleen had used at the beginning of his journey had become treasures to mages. There were many legends regarding this badge, and the most astounding one was that hidden in this badge was great power. The mighty Saleen had used this badge to slay countless evil gods in order to make the Metatrin Mainland a land of freedom.

Surely, that was just a legend. Mephisto regarded Saleen as her idol. The meaning behind this badge far outweighed its power a million times over.

There were whispers amongst the people in the hall. Everyone envied Mephisto, a talented young lady who had in ten years progressed from grade-10 to grade-13. She was considered to be the most outstanding master over the last few hundred years. Despite the fact that her grade was still considered low within the Arctic Guild, her power was equivalent to that of a grade-12 mage master during the Fifth Dynasty.

"Mephisto, do you have any requests?" Francis looked at the young lady, pleased. Despite her inherent flaws having limited her to the practice of Water Magic, she had attained such astounding results so early on. As her perseverance had enabled her to acquire the highly challenging Element Conversion skill, it was a most appropriate time for her to have progressed to this point.

"Request?"

"Yes. As you are the winner among the twelve students, you have the privilege of making a request."

Mephisto was ecstatic. She knew that although only she had received the Star of Magic, the other eleven students would also be honored. She was merely the lucky one.

"I wish to enter the Magical Element Tower to practice!"

"Sure, not a problem!"

"Hmph…" A cold voice was heard. It came from a student waiting behind her. He had been defeated by grade-13 Mephisto in the battle. It had been by accident. He was very depressed – a grade-15 master having been defeated by a grade-13 master. To others, it was an honor to be a runner-up, but to him, it was pure humiliation.

"Congratulations, Adam! You have achieved the good result of being the runner-up in the Star of Magic selection. The guild has decided to award you with this. Please treasure it." Francis was not bothered by Adam's attitude; mages were better off as mage controllers if they did not have their personality.

Frances took out a magic wand. Upon seeing the wand, Adam was appeased. Francis had not been lying. The reward for the runner-up, actually, was better than that of the winner's. It was a composite magic wand which had been refined using mysterious means and held a large dragonshard within it. The dragonshard had not been polished, but its sixty-four-facets were evenly distributed. This was indeed a huge dragonshard, usually meant for only grade-16 or above.

"Adam, you may also make a request."

Adam was taken aback, and then replied happily, "Dean, sir, I hope to set the little girl free."

"Little girl?" Francis was momentarily dumbfounded.

"Yes. Myers, the pitiful Myers." Tears almost welled up in Adam's eyes as he thought of the pitiful damsel imprisoned within the garden, allegedly for a few thousand years now. The devil in her body had been none of her business. The devil within her had nothing to do with her.

"This is impossible!"

"Dean, you said that I could make a request without restriction."

"Adam, your request should not be against my will, right?"

Adam looked at the Dean, puzzled. He could not understand why for the Dean, this was a difficult matter to resolve.

"That Myers is not under my custody. She is someone else's personal property," Francis said with a smile.

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Chapter 2: The Last Metatrin (Part 1)

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

The northern port of the Sikeqinya Empire: Ceylon City.

A sudden rainstorm was pouring down through the gap of the fort. The sky was darkened as though it had been tinted with dragon's blood ink. Inside the harbor, the fishing boats cowered as huge waves forcefully struck the dam. With a crashing sound, the waves also created mist over ten meters tall

As the rainwater accumulated and spread rapidly to the slums, the water on the streets deepened. The drainage system, which had not been maintained for at least five years, was inadequate; in an instant, the slums became a vast ocean.

Ceylon City's Magnolia Bay was no longer how it had been in the past. The withering fishing industry provided limited income, and the lord was powerless, unable to help. To improve the drainage system, they would need a mage well-versed in alchemy, as well as many of his numerous disciples. It would cost thousands of gold coins just for them to prepare the drawing. No mage had appeared in Ceylon City in the last two hundred years, and the municipal services department had nearly become just for show.

Lightning tore across the sky, followed by rolling thunder. As the lightning danced in the sky, it illuminated the stormy city. On the empty streets, a youth about ten years of age was struggling to move forward against the water.

This youth, who was very skinny and weak, had short brown unruly hair. The rain splashed past his eyelashes, causing him to keep his eyes closed. As he breathed out a faint white vapor from his nose, his legs trembled nonstop. He hugged an oil-paper packet tightly; it contained all the food he had begged for that day.

Bang!

A loud clap of thunder. The youth could no longer hold on and fell to the ground. With his face submerged in the water, he immediately started to choke and cough. He struggled vehemently, desperately wanting to stand up again. However, his thin weak body could no longer withstand it. He turned over and passed out. In his unconscious state, his hands still gripped the oil-paper packet tightly.

The sky finally cleared after two hours of the intense rainstorm. As the flood water slowly receded, pedestrians began to appear on the streets. The unconscious youth was flushed over to some eaves under a roof, his body against the stone.

The door pushed open. A person dressed like a servant saw the unconscious youth, ran up to him, and gave him a forceful kick. He shouted angrily, "Beggar, get lost. Don't die here!"

His voice was sharp and chilling, closely resembling that of a Tanggulasi Empire palace eunuch who had been castrated. The kick caused the youth to wake up moaning. This was followed by a bout of severe coughing. He felt warm and realized that he had a fever. Subconsciously, his hands were still holding onto the oil-paper packet tightly. He heaved a sigh of relief and turned over before crawling two steps away. Then, he struggled to open his oil-paper packet.

The oil-paper packet contained aged rice that had turned moldy. He had planned to cook it at home before eating it. However, he could not wait any longer, because if he still did not eat anything, he would not have energy to even walk.

The aged grains tasted like sand in his mouth, disintegrating as they were chewed and swallowed into his stomach.

"Unlucky!" The fierce-looking servant saw that the youth really could not get up on his feet and spat at him forcefully before turning around and going through the door.

The youth laid on the ice cold ground and forced himself to wolf down the remaining half portion of raw rice. Then he got back onto his feet unsteadily, and without turning back, walked towards the east of the city. His house was situated at the outskirts of the city. If he did not reach his home before the sky turned dark, a subsequent rainstorm could cause him to freeze to death on the streets.

A plump businessman walked out of the bright red door behind him. He was wearing poor quality silk, and his hair was oiled. He looked like he had been drenched in the rain.

"Wait, isn't that the kid from the Metatrin clan? What was his name again?" The plump, sharp-eyed businessman looked at the back of the youth as he asked this to the two servants behind him.

"Saleen, Master. His name is Saleen." The servant gave a toad-like laugh, sounding like a chicken being strangled. The wretched looking trio of master and servants looked at the youth in an unfriendly manner.

"Why is he not dead?"

"Who knows? No idea which jerk was willing to give him food," the other servant answered angrily.

"Hey, you two, monitor him closely. Should he die, buy the house immediately, lest anyone else takes the opportunity," the plump businessman instructed. He twisted his heavy body and walked in the other direction.

"Noted, Master," the servants replied as they carefully followed behind him. The two of them were almost able to hide in the shadow of the plump businessman.

In the chilly night, the youth named Saleen dragged his exhausted body out of Ceylon City. He carried the oil-paper packet, left the main road, and limped back to his ancestral home.

This enormous stone house was the last asset of the Metatrin clan. Saleen pushed the door open and entered the house shakily.

The stone walls, covered with green moss, exuded a wintry feel. All the windows in this two story house had no glass in them, making the lonely stone house seem eerie and desolate.

Saleen gasped for air; he was finally home. He practically crawled up the stairs to his bedroom and lay his head against the bed board. The bed board was like the wall – wet, cold, and stiff.

His clothing, which had been drenched by the rain, had been half-dried by the strong winds on his journey home. It was now stuck to his body. It was Saleen's one and only piece of clothing. Saleen struggled to push himself up, removed his clothes, and lay on the bed board. The oil-paper packet was placed next to his head. He felt a sharp pain at his waist and turned his head to take a look. It had been badly bruised.

This had been from the kick from that servant. Saleen grit his teeth as he lay down. The pain would disappear if he was asleep.

The moonlight and cold breeze that trickled into the room were hardly poetic. Saleen felt as though his body was burning, and there was a splitting pain in his head. It was possible that he would lose his life if the fever persisted. He struggled to climb out of his bed and pulled out a box from beneath the bed.

The lock on the box had long since been dismantled. The silver lock had been traded for a week's worth of food. No one had been willing to buy the pest-proof camphor wooden box, and Saleen had every intention of using it to start a fire one day.

In the box was a messy pile of collection slips, most of them being debt-related documents. Saleen fished out a metal badge and stuck it onto his forehead. The coolness seeped through his forehead and he felt as though his headache was waning. Saleen sat on the floor and wept as he looked at the box full of collection slips.

The Metatrin clan had been a noble tribe, and the honorable name had been a sign of fortune in the northern part of the empire. By the time of Saleen's generation, the Metatrin Clan had been left with nothing. The pile of collection slips had become useless pieces of paper. The debtors who had owed money back then had since passed away, and major shifts of power and wars had caused the gradual decline of the Metatrin family.

If the debtors had still been alive and had repaid him the amounts indicated on the collection slips, Saleen would have been able to buy Ceylon City ten times over.

The badge, which was pressed upon Saleen's forehead, was a symbol of the Metatrin clan. Saleen had not attempted to sell the palm-sized badge, as like the collection slips, it had been left to him by his father.

Saleen's parents had both died when he was six years old, leaving him the box and ancestral home. Saleen had not been able to make a living for himself at the tender age of six, and had needed to sell the things in the house in order to feed himself. Scheming businessmen had taken advantage of his situation to make money. What would a six-year-old boy know? Within half a year, Saleen had sold almost everything in the house.

Although Saleen was already twelve years old, he looked more like a ten-year-old since he was malnourished, skinny, and weak.

Saleen had not sold the ancestral home. It was not that he had not wanted to, but property transactions needed to be processed at city hall and could not be falsified. The greedy businessmen who were eyeing his property preferred to wait until Saleen starved to death. Upon his death, the property would not have an owner. Then, they would be able to buy the land for next to nothing.

Saleen's will to survive was very strong, and he had managed to last to the age of twelve through begging.

Saleen fell onto the bed. The family badge had sent coolness through his body, enough that the pain at his waist had lessened. Saleen fell asleep, not knowing if he would wake up this time.

Bang, bang, bang!

Saleen forced his eyes open and sat up. Sunlight streamed into the house through the window, the dirt on the floor evident.

It was strange to have someone knocking on the door this early in the morning. Saleen's ancestral home was not near any main roads, and was instead situated at the foot of a mountain across a spot of forest. Ever since he had sold everything in his home, no one had called upon him.

Bang, bang, bang!

The knocking at the door persisted. Saleen jumped out of bed, feeling healthier and much lighter than before. He put the badge back into the box and shoved it under the bed before going downstairs to answer the door.

Having been in a daze the night before, he had forgotten to lock the door. Fear suddenly gripped Saleen. There were beasts in the area and he could have been devoured in his sleep if they had entered.

The door opened with a shriek. Saleen felt the warmth from the sun's rays as they streamed in. A middle-aged man was standing among the shadows of the trees. He had long black hair, wore a long grey robe, and held a wooden staff in his hand.

This man could not have been more than forty years of age. He had long, straight eyebrows that pointed upwards, and no beard. The hand holding the wooden staff was wearing a huge silver-black ring which was engraved with many complex symbols. Saleen felt a little lost. The man had an odd appearance; could he have been a high priest from the Roman Curia?

His expression was very genial, but he had the air of a nobleman, as if that was simply how he was and it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Life as a beggar had made Saleen more sensitive – he knew the types of people he could approach versus the types he should avoid. But this man who had knocked on his door was different from the people of Ceylon City. He was standing right in front of Saleen, and yet the youth could not feel his presence.

The man smiled and asked Saleen, "Where are the adults of the home?"

This man must have come from a foreign land, because the people of Ceylon City knew of him as a jinx. Saleen's inner voice quieted down as he rubbed his temples and answered, "There is no one else here. Sir, may I know what is the matter?"

Saleen asked this politely, trying to appear at ease. To keep his life, he knew that he needed to get into the good books of the other party. This had been Saleen's mantra in his twelve years of life experience.

"Oh." The man looked at Saleen, baffled. Saleen had dashed down, topless and clad only in his shorts. He had a palm-sized mark on his forehead, left behind by the family badge.

"This house is yours?" the man asked gently.

"Yes." Saleen looked down at the ground as his brown irises contracted. Could this man have been a bandit?

"The thing is, I would like to buy this house. May I enter for a discussion?"

Buy the house? Saleen tried to reconcile with what he had just heard. He had long since planned to sell the house and then find a job in the city. He would not have minded work processing fish, as long as he could fill his stomach. However, he knew that apprentices were mostly given lodging instead of meals. If he had found work, he would have starved to death by the end of the first month. Saleen turned to his side blankly and said, "Please come in."

As the man stepped into the stone house, the dust beneath his feet disappeared, not leaving any imprints. There was a soft breeze, and the dampness in the living room instantly disappeared. Saleen's heart fluttered with excitement, carefully calculating how much to sell the house for as he closed the door.

The man glanced around the house, taking everything in. There was nothing in the house aside from its four walls, and there was nothing to admire. The man looked satisfied. He turned to Saleen and asked, "You mentioned that this house is yours? Do you have the deed?"

"I do." Saleen nodded his head, but he did not return to the bedroom to retrieve the deed. As he had grown older, he realized that he had previously been cheated by those businessmen, and had learned to become more vigilant.

The man smiled as he reached out his hand to stroke Saleen's head, saying, "You need not worry. I am a mage and will not cheat you. Tell me, how many gold coins do you intend to sell this house for?"

Gold coins! Saleen's eyes lit up. He had never seen gold coins, even after he had begun to sell the things in the house. The person who had taken his four-foot oil painting had only left him a silver coin. The gold-plated lampstand, which had been exchanged for two silver coins, was considered a fair transaction. When he was six, the businessman who had moved away the full set of cupboards had left Saleen only two loaves of bread.

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Chapter 3: The Last Metatrin (Part 2)

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

However, Saleen reacted very quickly. He widened his eyes and shouted, "Mage! You are a mage!"

His voice revealed excitement coupled with fear. He had nearly swallowed the last few words back into his throat.

Saleen had never thought that a mage would ever appear before him. Ceylon City had not seen a mage for over two hundred years, and everyone would have known of their existence if there had been one.

Mages represented mystery, power, fear, and distance. Normal people did not have the opportunity to encounter mages; only noblemen, emperors, the army and the wealthy, etc. would have the honor of being acquainted with mages.

Mages were very wealthy people. While they chose to live in isolation from others, they possessed great powers. A single mage could destroy an entire city. Mages did not even need to bow before the emperor…

In other words, mages were living legends. They built magical towers and practiced inside of them. There were no limits to their power. Even if there was a war, all armies, regardless of the forces they possessed, would need to detour around magical towers. If a nobleman won a mage's favor and gained the opportunity to support them, his status would be elevated immediately.

Saleen was confused. He astutely understood that the appearance of this mage would change his life, but he was unsure how to seize the chance. Should he ask for more money? Would it incur the mage's displeasure?

Gold coins! Gold coins! Bread…

"How about a hundred gold coins? I shall buy you a small house in town which will be sufficient for you to live in." The mage looked at the child with pity. Saleen's body was so thin that a person could count the number of ribs he had. There was also a bruise on his ribs, which made him look even more pitiful.

Saleen doubled over from the weight of the hundred gold coins. He almost wanted to agree immediately, but the pain in his ribs suddenly struck, and he took a deep breath of cold air, frowned, and bent over further.

"Oh, let me take a look." The mage held Saleen with one hand and used the other hand to release a spell. A shiny green glow shrouded Saleen's body.

Saleen felt as though he had been submerged in warm water. The green glow penetrated his skin, and the pain in his body disappeared.

A thought entered Saleen's head, and like the temptation of the devil, it could not be dispelled.

"I do not want the gold coins!" Saleen straightened his body and said, "Mage sir, please accept me as your student."

Saleen did not know how to salute, so he raised his head and looked straight into the mage's eyes. In that moment, he was overcome by nervousness. What would the mage's reaction be? Would he think that Saleen had insulted the profession of a mage, and turn hostile and kill him instead?

The mage's dark eyes deepened. They looked bright like obsidian, as though there were more veins within them. He looked at Saleen thoughtfully. "You would like to be my student?"

"Yes. I would like to learn magic," Saleen said resolutely. Despite his fear, the pain in his ribs had stirred his heart. There was no use in selling the house for a lot of money, as it would be depleted one day if he did not have any survival skills. If he met with bandits, it was possible that he would even lose his life.

"It is difficult to learn magic." The mage prevented Saleen from interrupting him and continued, "Nine out of ten can become students of magic, but only one or two out of a hundred can become mages. Students of magic do not have strong powers; it can only be a means of livelihood. If you become my student, you will not be allowed to switch occupations without my permission."

Saleen kneeled down on the floor with a thump. Bending his head down, he said, "I am willing to be your student." He tried hard not to use unrefined words, but had learned to include honorifics.

"Get up." The mage's voice turned icy. He said with a firm tone, "Even apprentices of magic should not go down on their knees."

"You must remember: if you are to be my student, this shall be the last time in your life that you are on your knees."

"Yes, Teacher." Saleen stood up with joy, for he knew that this meant that the mage had agreed to his request.

"What is your name, and how old are you?" The mage's voice softened.

"I am Saleen, Saleen Metatrin. I am twelve years old," Saleen replied respectfully, but disappointingly, his stomach rumbled.

The mage smiled. "Go get changed and eat something. I will be waiting in the living room."

"Okay," Saleen promised and sped upstairs. He returned to his room, put on his jacket, and headed down the stairway to the kitchen. The half-packet of old rice was still there on the stove. He opened the oil-paper packet, grabbed a handful of rice, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You are eating this?" the mage's voice boomed at the doorway. Saleen jumped in fright. He froze in embarrassment, not knowing what to say. The mage sighed, took out a piece of meat jerky, and handed it to Saleen. Saleen's tears, unable to remain in his eyes for even one more second, streamed down his face.

He used his sleeve to wipe away his tears. Instead of eating the meat jerky, he told the mage, "Teacher, I will not cry in future, lest I bring you shame."

The mage watched wordlessly as the youth shed tears while wolfing down his food. In reality, given his status, even if he were to be gifted ten thousand gold coins, he may not have been moved enough to accept a student. But when he had first seen Saleen, he had immediately been unable to bear it. There had been no life in Saleen's eyes; they had only showed the hopelessness of someone on the verge of death.

The mage did not have Saleen do anything. He took out more meat jerky and bread, and put them in the kitchen. Saleen did not know how these items were conjured, but he had no doubts, for in his heart, the mage was omnipotent.

The mage had Saleen rest first. He watched as Saleen got onto the bed before casting a Hypnosis spell. Saleen's eyes closed and he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

When he opened his eyes next, he felt hungry again.

The mage's voice was heard, "Take a look around you to familiarize yourself with your surroundings, then come to the living room."

Like mystical magic, this sound was delivered directly into his ears, neither soft nor loud. Saleen sighed as he jumped off the bed. His shoes were almost dry. He put on his shoes and found that his room had an additional door. The interior of the house had also changed – there was a table and chair, as well as a cabinet. On the cabinet was an enormous dressing mirror.

The whole room looked as if it had been cleaned, not a single speck of dust to be found. The furniture was not new; there was a mattress, and a quilt and pillow had been added to the bed. Having slept like a log, he had not detected anything amiss. When he opened the door, he saw that the corridor was unusually spotless. A few of the rooms now had doors attached to them, and there were some paintings on the wall. Everything was like when his parents had still been alive. Saleen had the urge to cry again, but this time, he resisted.

There were eight rooms on the second story – four large ones and four small ones. The one Saleen owned, at the end of the corridor, was small. He looked through all of the rooms. The four large rooms had been completely transformed into study rooms, while one of the three smaller ones was a bedroom. The doors of the other two rooms could not be opened.

What had surprised Saleen was that the entire floor of the second story had been renovated. The doors and windows had been repaired, and numerous mysterious symbols had been added to them. The walls appeared to have been repainted as well, and even the ceilings were clean, with not a single spider in sight.

The house had become unfamiliar. Saleen walked down the stairway uneasily. There was furniture in the main hall of the first story, and the kitchen was filled with kitchenware. Saleen did not venture into the basement. He went to the living room, and pushed the door open. Although he had mentally prepared himself, he gasped in surprise at the completely transformed living room.

A huge table, made from some unknown material, had been placed at the center of the living room. On the rectangular table were many tools of all shapes and sizes which Saleen did not recognize. There was also a crucible burning a black flame. There was a chair near the table, and the few cabinets against the wall were filled with things.

There was not a single item that Saleen recognized. He only saw mysterious symbols everywhere. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but under its soft glow, there were no shadows to be seen.

The mage raised his head and said gently, "Saleen, you are awake. Fix yourself something to eat and we shall speak after."

"Teacher, please speak first. I am not hungry yet," Saleen primly stood by the table, anxiety in his heart.

"Alright, then I shall speak first. My name is Jason Statham. I am of the Qin Empire, and a grade-5 mage. I am unable to give you, my student, much guidance, as I do not have that much time. First, I will impart to you reading magic. This is a level-0 magic, and if you can master this, then I will impart to you the method of meditation. After that, you will be able to read books on magic by yourself to gain knowledge on magic. Before you become a grade-10 apprentice, I will not give you any additional guidance."

"Grade-10 apprentice?" Saleen asked cautiously. He did not know what "grade-10 apprentice" referred to.

"There are ten grades to being an apprentice of magic. At the apprentice stage, you can only master level-0 magic. Level-0 magic does not require the use of magic chords for the magic to be cast. As long as you have sufficient mental power and corresponding affinity with the elements, you will be fine. The level of your mental power determines your ability to control magic, while your affinity with the elements determines how many sets of spells you will be able to release consecutively. Should one of these not be satisfactory, you will not be able to become a real mage."

"How does one advance?"

"A grade-1 apprentice can continuously release two sets of level-0 magic; a grade-2 apprentice can continuously release four sets of magic, and so on. When you are able to release twenty sets of level-0 magic, I will then guide you on how to become a mage. Alright, I shall now impart to you the first set of level-0 magic," the mage said. He recited a spell with a strange sounding rhythm.

"Follow this, and you will be able to learn the characters and magic knowledge from books." Jason recited the spell repeatedly as Saleen followed along over and over.

After three rounds, Saleen was not only able to recite the spell without missing a word, but he had also mastered the hand gestures.

"Alright, go ahead and practice this on your own. When you have succeeded, I will impart to you the method of meditation. After that, you can read the books that I have prepared for you. Start from the first room and do not go to the next room until you have finished all the books in that room."

"Yes, Teacher," Saleen bowed, just as a person did in Ceylon City when they were meeting with a noble.

Mage Jason shook his head, and made a mental note to revisit the matter of etiquette in future. He did not correct Saleen's behavior this time and waved his hand, indicating for Saleen to take his leave.

Saleen left and walked to the kitchen briskly. He found the box in which the rice had once been stored. He was famished, so he simply grabbed the meat jerky now hanging there and happily ate it along with white bread and water.

As he ate, he recalled the magic he had just learned. He had found neither the spell nor the hand gestures difficult to master, especially the spell, which he had committed to memory after repeating it just once. The subsequent two times had been to correct his pronunciation. It appeared that he did have talent; at the very least, he was not stupid. At this thought, Saleen felt that his future was indeed bright.

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Chapter 4: The Apprentice meets the Soldier – Unexplainable (Part 1)

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

In the following ten days, Saleen repeated the spell continuously, but never once managed to complete it. Regardless of how perfect his incantation was or how skilled his hand gestures were, he just could not complete this simple level-0 magic.

During this time, Mage Jason had appeared only once. The rest of the time, he was in the laboratory, which had been transformed from the former large living room. It appeared as though he did not need to eat anything, and was continuously conducting magical experiments in the house.

Saleen was a little anxious, but it was useless to be anxious when learning magic. Hence, he could only practice over and over again. Finally, on the thirtieth day, Saleen mastered this magic.

He dashed to Jason's laboratory excitedly. Jason saw the excitement on Saleen's face and sighed as he said, "It took you thirty days to learn level-0 magic. This shows that your aptitude is extremely poor. I suggest that you do not continue, or you will probably remain an apprentice for the rest of your life."

Saleen was stunned. "Teacher…"

"Not convinced? Let's do an experiment then," Jason took out a crystal ball, placed it on the table, and said, "Face this and complete the spell."

As instructed, Saleen hurriedly cast the Reading Magic spell, but there was no change in the clear crystal ball.

Jason put the crystal ball away and said, "This is worse than I expected. You have great mental power, but your affinity to the elements is too weak. According to this assessment result, you will probably only be a grade-1 mage when you are a hundred years old. Saleen, if you are willing, I will give you a sum of money. You can find a swordcraft hall in a city of the Sikeqinya Empire. You should do quite well learning swordcraft at your age."

Saleen felt as though he had been drenched by cold water. If it had not been for this opportunity, he probably would have accepted Jason's suggestion. However, having practiced for thirty days, he was now obsessed with magic. When he had completed the level-0 magic, the sense of euphoria that he had gotten from being in control could not be diminished from his core.

Become a swordsman? Like the armed escorts of Ceylon City, who patrolled the streets every day and blocked the city gate to collect taxes? Or like the useless mercenary ones who, at thirty years old, could not even find themselves wives?

"Teacher, is there no other way?" Saleen asked as he struggled with his inner self.

"It is not that there is no other way, but I cannot afford to pay the price. This is not a problem that gold coins can resolve. You would need nine grade-9 mages willing to help you to reform your body's constitution. Even so, your future achievement would be that of a lowly mage at best, and it would not get you to grade-4," Jason replied helplessly.

"Teacher, I would like to give it a try. I would rather be a one-hundred-year-old apprentice than a swordsman. Please teach me the method of meditation," Saleen said, gritting his teeth. He had a bad impression of swordsmen. None of the swordsmen in Ceylon City were up to standard. In addition, there was no knowing what would happen after he took Jason's money to learn swordcraft. After having been deceived by many from a young age, Saleen was disheartened with this world.

"If you insist, alright. But you are not allowed to leave after you have mastered my method of meditation until you have become a qualified mage."

"I am willing to persist."

"My method of meditation is very valuable, even in the Qin Empire. If you ever reveal it to others, I shall take your life. Do you understand?" Jason said this calmly. Saleen felt a chill at the bottom of his heart. He knew his teacher was not taking this lightly, and if he ever went against this request…

"So where do we start?" Jason mumbled to himself. He was at a loss, as this was his first time ever having an apprentice. In the past, he had been a grade-2 apprentice with a strong foundation in knowledge when his teacher had taught him the method of meditation. Saleen obviously did not know anything.

"The method of meditation is basically comprised of meditation skills, absorption of the elements, hypnosis, and spiritual resonance. The average mage only learns meditation skills. The full method of meditation can only be learned from a mage master. The books only offer simple meditation skills. Based on self-learning, one can never be a mage master…"

Jason patiently conducted lessons from scratch for Saleen, and imparted every single piece of knowledge he possessed to him. Saleen took merely half an hour to memorize everything that Jason had said. Jason was speechless at Saleen's intelligence, but felt sad for him at the same time. He was such a bright child, but possessed such an unusually low affinity to the elements.

"Alright, I have told you all about the method of meditation. You are very bright. Read the books upstairs according to the sequence. Meditating at least once a day will probably benefit you. Remember to prepare a meal for me once a week, and go to the city to get some bread if it runs out. I will give you a gold coin. After you have completely mastered the method of meditation, I will have jobs for you."

"Yes, Teacher," Saleen bowed his head and exited the room. He was still young and did not know that he had chosen an exceptionally tough route. He only felt elation, as though the door to another world had opened up for him. What he did not yet know was the price he had to pay for entering this door.

Saleen immediately went to the first room filled with books and began his learning. The first bookshelf covered language study. Saleen was illiterate and could only take it one step at a time. Reading magic was mystical in that it enabled him to self-learn words. The only trouble was that after he had used reading magic once, he would need to rest for half an hour before he could use it again.

Because of this, it took Saleen a month before he finally learned the common language of the mainland, which was the language he had been speaking. He had wanted to move onto the next book in advance, but noticed that the types of magic books in the house were much too varied. In addition, not all of them were written in the common language. There were at least twenty languages in the books on those bookshelves. Saleen had no choice but to finish the books on the first bookshelf before moving on to the next one.

Mages were learned men. Without reading magic, it was impossible for one to fully practice magic.

It was fortunate that Saleen mastered the method of meditation within a month, at a much faster pace than before. He could now deploy reading magic twice and fully recover in ten minutes.

The magic elements found in apprentices of magic were usually pitifully low in number. Saleen had even less than the average apprentice. Despite this, he was very content. Each of the four large rooms had dozens of big bookshelves amounting to tens of thousands of books in total. It was more than enough for him to read!

He was no longer anxious about progression. Instead, he yearned to acquire more information. Saleen patiently conducted his learning according to the sequence of the books. Language study comprised of more than a thousand books – common language, Myers language, magical language, Qin language, Sikeqinya language, Tanggulasi language… Saleen even learned the Caucasus language. There had never been a mage in Caucasus. The area was very primitive and only had priests. Saleen was now obsessed with learning languages. It took him half a year to master the content of more than a thousand language books.

It had been a slow start at the beginning, but as he started to recognize more words, the speed of his learning increased.

By the time he completed the last book, he was able to deploy reading magic three times in succcession. This signified that he had attained the grade of a grade-2 apprentice. Saleen was unaware that because his mental power was very strong, he had only exhausted a small amount of it while controlling his magic. As it had been used on level-0 magic, its usage had been pathetically low. In reality, the magical elements stored within his body were only comparable to that of a grade-1 apprentice.

Such speed was not only unique, but absolutely unheard of. An average person with such speed would have been kicked out long ago. Saleen indeed possessed a most amazing law of meditation, and he had used only half a year's time to learn it. However, he did not even have any stored energy to work on his element magic. Jason was not positive that Saleen was suitable for learning magic.

The next topic was the knowledge of magic, which could similarly be found on a bookshelf of over one thousand books. Since he had discovered the mysterious world of magic, Saleen had no idea how much he would be able to learn, but he believed that his hard work would pay off.

The year in which magic had originated was unknown. Many believed that the magic in the Myers Mainland possessed over thirty thousand years of history. It was not until about ten thousand years ago, during the Second Dynasty, that it had been properly categorized into six parts. These parts were namely earth, water, wind, fire, light, and darkness. From then on, the calendar in the Myers Mainland had been improved. A year was divided into twelve months; each month had thirty days; six days formed a week. The sixth day of each week was considered the dark day, and was the day of rest for all trades. Even with the fall of Myers Goddess, the Goddess of Nature, and the rise of the Holy See, this practice had remained unchanged.

The Holy See's calendar had been too complicated. It had thought that there should be seven days in a week. After one hundred years of implementation, out of the entirety of the mainland, only within the Holy See did anyone make use of the new calendar. In the end, they abandoned it as well.

It was not that apprentices were limited to deploying level-0 magic before they became grade-1 mages. After progressing to grade-6, magic apprentices were generally allowed to learn level-1 magic and complete it. This was known as the method of acceleration within the magic formula. There was only one chance to use the method of acceleration, but it was not unusual for mages to succeed in it.

However, after a mage accelerated, they would be weakened. It would be almost impossible for them to recover on their own. Only by relying on meditation could they recover their expended magic chords.

Magic chords were the cornerstone of magic. Without them, an apprentice would not be able to progress to being a proper mage. The formation of the magic chords required strong mental power and a strong affinity to the elements. Saleen's affinity to the elements was extremely low, thus Jason had said that he would have to wait until he was one hundred years old to become a mage.

Based on Saleen's current speed of progress, this had been no exaggeration.

Regarding what magic chords were, there were detailed descriptions in various books but they were not universal. What Saleen understood was that they were the base for the deployment of elemental power. The apprentices, through their continuous practice, would accumulate magic elements in their bodies. The volume of the magic elements would eventually change their qualities as well. This was the process in which magic chords were formed, similar to how an apprentice would progress to becoming a true-blue mage.

Saleen was dismayed that he had not seen any book mentioning other ways to form magic chords. If he were to depend on accumulation, he had very little hope of ever becoming a mage.

Within half a year, the food stored in the kitchen had all been eaten, and Saleen knew that it was time for him to go into the city to stock up. He went to Jason's laboratory, and told him that he needed to go to the city.

"How is your practice coming along?"

"I am able to complete three reading skills in succession." Saleen emphasized the word "three" in the hopes that it would attract his teacher's attention.

"That's great. Go ahead." Jason did not say much but gave Saleen five gold coins as he usually did. Saleen's speed of progress was slightly faster than what he had predicted. However, Jason knew that it had only been due to Saleen's strong mental power. He judged that since Saleen still only had the capabilities of a grade-1 apprentice, it was meaningless for him to deploy any additional level-0 magic; it would not help Saleen accumulate enough magical elements to form any magic chords.

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Chapter 5: The Apprentice meets the Soldier – Unexplainable (Part 2)

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

Saleen took the gold coins and put on the robe that Jason had prepared for him. This robe had not been tailor-made. Although Saleen had been eating well, he was still just a twelve-year-old child and was not that tall. Even if the hem were to be cut off, it would still not fit Saleen well.

The six gold coins that he had with him were a large sum of money. In the past, he would not have spent this much even in an entire year.

There had been no change to Ceylon City. The lazy soldiers guarding the city gate did not even bat an eyelid at Saleen. Even though he had not visited in the last six months, the soldiers were still able to recognize him. Collecting an entry tax from a beggar? They would be a laughing stock if the other cities got wind of this.

Saleen walked along the road and stopped at a restaurant. Since it was still early in the day, he was not in a hurry to go to the grain store. Even when he had been penniless, he had always wanted to dine here. With the six gold coins on him, his dream could finally come true.

It was not a small restaurant. To its right, there was a courtyard for horse carriages to be docked. Although Ceylon City was no longer in its prime, there were still a few nobles and businessmen left. Sikeqinya was an empire of trade; its four main trades could be found throughout the Myers Mainland. Ceylon City, being a port city, had not diminished completely. Even though it was declining, it still had some life left in it.

The restaurant enjoyed high patronage, as the wealthy in Ceylon City often chose it as a venue for entertainment.

Saleen was no longer illiterate. He looked up at the inscribed board above him. Written on the board above the main door was a line in the Myers language – The Whale of Ceylon.

When Ceylon City had been flourishing, the signature dish in this restaurant had been whale meat. Now that few fishermen were willing to fish for whales, the restaurant had hired a chef from Qin Empire to hold the fort. However, this board had not been replaced for hundreds of years. If one were willing to fork out a sufficient number of gold coins, there would be fishermen willing to risk their lives at sea.

Saleen could not afford whale meat, but it would not cost him more than two silver coins for two dishes on the first floor.

He walked into The Whale of Ceylon, found himself an empty seat, and sat down. To his surprise, the server saw him, hurried to his table, and hollered at him loudly, "Beggar, get out of here quickly. There is nothing for you to eat."

Saleen fumed, his whole face turning red. He had previously been a beggar, but now he was an apprentice learning magic. Even an apprentice had dignity. He fished out a gold coin from his pocket and slammed it hard on the table. He looked at the server from the side of his eye and asked, "Who were you calling a beggar?"

The server was astounded, and quickly put a smile on his face. He bowed as he nodded his head and said, "Oh, young master, I must have mistaken you for someone else. There was a young boy that did not pay for his food yesterday. That certainly was not you. Please pardon me, I shall bring you the menu now."

He turned and walked off, fearful of hearing Saleen's reply. Saleen did not feel appeased, but since the server had apologized, it would be uncivilized of him to continue to rant.

Saleen did not notice that a few patrons had come down from the second floor. Leading the way was that one plump businessman, and next to him was the servant who had previously nearly killed him with his kick.

The businessman was surprised at the sight of Saleen, especially the gleaming gold coin on his table. At one glance, he could tell that it was a genuine Sikeqinya Empire oak gold coin.

The businessman maintained his composure and left The Whale of Ceylon. After he had stepped out of the door, he said to the servant next to him, "That lad looked like he was that jinx from the Metatrin clan. How is he still alive?"

"Master, I am puzzled as well. If no one helped him, he should have starved to death by now. I thought I saw a gold coin with him just now," replied the servant, his brows furrowed.

"Strange. He is a beggar; where did he get the gold coin?"

"Master, I heard that there has been a gang of bandits in the city recently, and they have adopted some children. Do you think that…"

"So what if he was? Worm, go to the city guard department and call for a few soldiers. Inform them that we have lost money, and get this lad arrested and killed off. Take this gold coin with you, and do as I told you…" the businessman told him carefully. Then, with a few other servants, he returned to The Whale of Ceylon.

Saleen had no idea of the catastrophe that was ahead of him. He ordered two inexpensive dishes costing less than two silver coins altogether. As he was still underage, he did not dare consume alcohol. Hence, he ordered a pot of tea, and enjoyed it immensely. Then, he realized that his attire was not all that suitable for The Whale of Ceylon, as he saw that the other diners were well-dressed. Some were even dressed in clothes tailored-made with silk from the Qin Empire.

His robe looked like it had been picked up somewhere. It was no wonder that the server had wanted to chase him out. He decided that he would buy himself proper attire once he had the money to do so, so that he would not be so looked down upon.

The first dish that Saleen had ordered was served. Before he even managed to pick up his cutlery, four soldiers dashed in through the door and held him down at once. Without a word, they chained him up.

"What are you all doing?!" Unable to fight back, Saleen was both terrified and livid.

"What? Lad, you have committed a crime and still have the nerve to dine here. Bring him back!" The soldiers who seized him were behaving savagely like wild tigers and wolves. They were from the city guard department, and were responsible for maintaining the security of Ceylon City. As there was rarely additional revenue to be made and someone had lodged a report today, they had kept the gold coin, regardless of the truth. They had not had such an unusual transaction for the last two years.

"Bullsh*t!" Saleen's face was pinned to the hard table top, and he began to lose his composure. He had done nothing, and struggled to resist. A city guard soldier lifted his leg and gave Saleen a kick in his ribs.

"Ouch!"

Saleen made a sound that did not sound human. This kick had been so harsh that his bones had cracked. That kick brought back memories of his days as a beggar. Back then, he had felt nothing when he was hurt by such random kicking. But now, Saleen felt humiliated. He turned his face to the side, and spat hard at the other soldier's face.

The soldiers retaliated with a series of punches and kicks. The vicious soldiers resorted to using an iron chain to bridle Saleen's mouth. The four soldiers then dragged Saleen out. The businessman sneakily followed behind them. The server pursued them, shouting, "Master, that person has not paid."

The soldier laughed, "His money is stolen. Do you want stolen money?"

"I would not dare," the server replied submissively, feeling unlucky. He should not have attended to this lad, looking at his improper attire. The cost of his meal would be deducted from his salary. Damn! He had done half a month of work for nothing! He hurriedly turned around and brought the dish on the table back to the kitchen. He was hoping that the second order had not been prepared yet, which would save him from needing to pay for it.

Saleen was brought to the city guard department. Without interrogation, he was thrown straight into the dungeon.

Saleen had recovered some of his energy. Using all his might to knock on the metal bars, he shouted, "Why did you arrest me?!"

The four soldiers turned around and grinned. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I had nearly forgotten that we have not searched for the stolen money on your body!"

"The money is mine!" Saleen's six gold coins were removed from his body; it was futile to resist.

"Now it is ours." The soldier locked up the metal gate, ignoring Saleen's cries. They did not even hear the critical information that Saleen shouted in a hoarse voice, "My teacher is a mage!" In fact, even if they had heard it, the few soldiers would not have believed it. What kind of mage would take this beggar as an apprentice? Not even the lord had the opportunity to invite a mage home.

Saleen was beginning to feel frightened and even a little despondent. He had absolutely no idea what was happening. Jason usually did not venture out of his room, perhaps only once every two weeks or so, and did not even eat the weekly meals Saleen prepared for him.

It was pitch black in the dungeon, and in Saleen's fears escalated in his heart. He opened his mouth but did not know what to shout anymore. There was pain in his face, especially in his jaw. The bone there might have been broken. His lips were swollen. Although Saleen could feel tears welling in his eyes, he resisted them.

I am an apprentice of magic now. No more crying, not now, not ever!

As night fell, Ceylon City quieted down, and the city gate was locked. Under the moonlight, a shadow quickly approached the city gate, with speed as fast as lightning. This man came to the outside of the gate with his eyebrows furrowed. With a lift of his arms, a pair of wing-like attachments opened up on his back. He flew into the air, over the city wall, and headed into the city.

The guard on patrol discovered the shadow and yelled, "Who is there!?"

The man did not pay him any attention. His silhouette had appeared against in the moonlight and then disappeared at the end of the street. Soon after, the man arrived at the City Guard Department. Under the moonlight, his gray magic robe gave him an air of mystery, as smoke enveloped him. This person was Jason Statham, who had made a magic mark on Saleen's body. As Saleen did not return, Jason knew that something must have happened. He followed the directions from the magic mark and came to Ceylon City.

The magic mark could direct the mage. Even though Saleen had been locked underground, it was not a problem for Jason.

"Who…" the soldier on duty had barely shouted out his question before Jason had grabbed his throat and raised him up in the air. A Grade 5 mage's body was powerful and could not be defeated by any ordinary soldier.

"Where is that boy you captured today? Bring me to him," Jason said coldly, with none of the gentle demeanor he usually used on Saleen.

"What boy?"

Jason drew the soldier's face closer and stared straight into his eyes, "Bring me to where you lock up the convicts, and call everyone out here."

The soldier was so terrified that he felt as though his spirit had left his body. He had seen a demon in the eyes of this middle-aged man who was grabbing him, and it was drawing its tongue out from its eyes to wrap it around his neck to constrict his breathing. His legs softened, and whitish foam appeared at his mouth as he dropped onto the ground. Jason scowled – he had probably overused his shock tactic. The soldier was, at most, a junior swordsman and could not withstand this.

Jason decided to follow the directions by the magic mark to locate the dungeon. With the use of illumination magic, the dungeon was aglow. Upon seeing that Jason had appeared, he grabbed the metal bars with both his hand – speechless. He had lost his voice entirely.

Given the commotion caused by Jason, all the soldiers on duty had already blocked the exit to the dungeon. One of the soldiers hollered, "Bold outlaw! How dare you break into jail, put down your weapon this instance!"

As he was about to continue speaking, another sharp-eyed soldier pointed at the brightly-lit dungeon and stammered, "It looks like.. looks like…

"Magic? You must be joking!"

"Really, look!"

Jason ignored them and tugged at the lock with one hand. All it took was a gentle yank, and the lock opened. Saleen pushed the metal gate opened and dashed out, almost crashing into Jason's embrace. His lips moved slightly, but even he could not also tell what the sound that was coming out from his own throat was.

"Who was the one who had captured my apprentice?" Jason asked expressionlessly.

The soldiers looked at each other – no one had dared to answer. One of them cursed in his heart: which death-seeking a*shole got us into trouble? To think he captured a mage's apprentice.

"If no one knows…"Jason did not say much. He stretched his hand out, and a fireball appeared, suspended in his palm.

Fireball skill was only a Grade 1 magic, but to have evoked and suspend it from release would be something just a Grade 4 mage can do. However, these ordinary soldiers could barely afford to offend any mage, no matter the grade.

"Mas…ter… sir, please do not be angered. I will help you with the search," a savvy soldier said, as he turned and ran towards the exit.

Looking solemn as he pulled Saleen along, he walked out from the dungeon to the main hall of the City Guard Department and took a seat in there.

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Chapter 6: The Mage's Principle (Part 1)

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

The guards did not dare leave, and stood nervously to one side.

There were not many of them in the city guard department of Ceylon City. The real army troops were under the control of the House of the Lord, forming his private army troop. Given the episode that had occurred at the city guard department, many people had already gone to inform the troops at the House of the Lord.

Before long, out on the streets were the thunderous sounds of horses' hooves galloping and charging towards the soldiers. More than one hundred swordsmen surrounded the soldiers. Ten of them jumped off of their horses and walked through the door of the city guard department. Earlier on, Jason had blown up the door with a fireball.

The leader of the group, who was wearing the armor of a swordsman, drew his sword and walked into the main hall. The swordsmen behind him all drew their weapons. The armored swordsman saw the situation in the hall and pointed at Jason angrily, "Who are you, and how dare you break into jail to rescue a prisoner? Let's fight!"

"Scoundrel," Jason berated, as he raised his finger. A green glow appeared and a jet of acid shot out towards the swordsman's face. A sizzling sound could be heard and white smoke emerged. The acid had instantly corroded this swordsman's face. He screeched in pain and collapsed to the ground.

After Jason had done this deed, he told Saleen softly, "Even if we are enemies, he should not have insulted us mages. Even the emperor must not have a mage bow his head. There was no need to give such an ill-mannered man any courtesy."

"Understood, Teacher," Saleen answered in a low voice. Everyone in the hall who had heard what was said shivered more than once.

"Drag him out. He is very noisy," Jason told the soldier opposite him. Having received amnesty, a soldier who had barged in hurriedly dragged his injured compatriot out.

"I do not have time for this. Who was responsible for arresting my student? Bring him to me within half an hour." Jason took out a magical hourglass, turned it over, and placed it on the table.

At this point, another two armored swordsmen walked in. Their suits of armor showed their positions of higher rank, and they were possibly officers. The two of them looked similar in stature and were well-built. One had red hair while the other was blond. The blond swordsman raised his head to look at Jason, who was still maintaining an illumination, and felt a chill in his heart.

He was not an ignorant soldier. Jason's grey mage robe had two lines of mage symbols, indicating that he was a grade-5 mage. Which fool had infuriated such an important person?

Mage robes had three colors – white for grade-1 to grade-3, grey for grade-4 to grade-6, and black for grade-7 to grade-9. The symbols on the robes represented the mage's grade. The grey-robed master was considered a mage master and such a figure was someone that even the lord could not afford to offend.

The red-haired swordsman bowed silently to Jason, and told the soldiers around him, "All of you, arrest the men who were connected to this matter at once. If any of them are left out, you will take their place."

These soldiers glanced at Jason, who was expressionless but did not seem to object, then left in an unruly manner.

The red-haired swordsman spoke carefully to Jason, "Mage sir, is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Em…" Jason hesitated and said, "Do not let the lord come by. I do not wish to see him."

The red-haired swordsman was momentarily surprised. He bowed his head and said, "Yes. Mage sir, this young master is hurt. May I get a holy master to come?"

"Not necessary. He can bear this little pain," Jason rejected the red-haired swordsman's kind offer. He was not anxious to treat Saleen since it was not a serious wound. It could stay, so that Saleen could be reminded of what had happened today. Had Saleen done something to get himself arrested? No matter if he had been right or wrong, the lesson could prevent similar situations from reoccurring in the future.

The red-haired swordsman spoke briefly to the blond swordsman and the latter walked out of the hall with his head lowered. The red-haired swordsman stood at one side waiting. Saleen had thought he was doomed and had not expected his teacher to come. Things were looking up for him. It appeared that his teacher was not interested in responding even to the lord.

Only now did Saleen truly understand what it meant to be a mage. The books had often depicted how mages were held in high esteem, but it had been difficult to imagine as Saleen had not witnessed it himself. He recognized the red-haired swordsman as someone from the House of the Lord. He was not a bad person, as last midautumn, he had given Saleen a small extra bag of flour when he had gone to collect the flour that the lord was distributing.

It took less than half an hour to capture the four soldiers who had arrested Saleen, as well as the businessman and his servants.

The six of them did not know what had happened. The businessman saw Saleen standing next to Jason and knew that something was amiss. He was the first to kneel on the ground, and his servants followed suit.

"Who arrested my student?" Jason asked coldly.

The four soldiers looked at each other, and then looked at the red-haired swordsman standing to the side. The red-haired swordsman did not appear to see them, his eyes looking upwards.

The four soldiers had no choice but to put on a bold front and answered, "It was us. We received a reported case about him…stealing Master Zhanbu's gold coins." The soldiers pointed at the businessmen, feigning innocence.

"Zhanbu? That is you, I assume. Why did you malign my student?" Jason glared at the businessman, questioning him strictly.

"Sir, it was a misunderstanding. I had the wrong person…"

"You are lying. I will give you another chance," Jason interrupted him.

"Sir, it is the truth. I did not have any enmity with him. Why would I frame him? I…"

The businessman was going on and on. Jason impatiently cast a spell. A white glow flashed and an ice pick pierced through the businessman's head, leaving a gaping bloody hole.

"Do not be so idiotic: mages can detect lies. You, tell me. Why was my student framed?" Jason asked the servant after killing the businessman. He was not pursuing the matter to prosecute someone, but wanted to know if Saleen had invited trouble.

The servant had already wet his pants in fear. He flung himself onto the ground and wailed, "Sir, it was not my idea. My master had wanted to buy Master Metatrin's house but wanted to avoid the procedures at the city government office. Master Metatrin had all along managed to escape death so my master thought of this idea. It was really not my doing…"

"I know it has nothing to do with you," Jason said and flung a wind blade at him. The light green wind blade instantly sliced off the servant's head. Blood spluttered and the head, along with the mucus and tears, rolled over to one side.

After Jason had done this, he told Saleen who was next to him, "Saleen, it was indeed not your fault. Come back with me. The four of you, I am not pleased with your propensities for arresting people. I had better chop off your hands, in case you arrest the wrong people in future and end up losing your lives."

"Sir, your student was unharmed. How about…" the red-haired swordsman began to plead on their behalf.

Jason stood up and pulled Saleen out of the hall without glancing at the red-haired swordsman. His voice rang out in the hall, "I have spared them because my student was unharmed. If he had died, all of you would have joined him in burial. Tomorrow, sort out that Zhanbu's assets and send them to the outskirts as an apology to my student. I will kill one person for every gold coin omitted."

The red-haired swordsman shivered coldly. There was not a single mage in Ceylon City, and if this grade-5 mage were to wreak havoc, it was possible that a massacre could occur.

With Saleen in tow, Jason walked out of Ceylon City. The soldiers at the gate who had already received word of what had happened earlier opened the city gates hurriedly, hoping for the departure of the "troublemakers".

Back at the ancestral home, Jason used rain magic to treat Saleen's injuries. While treating Saleen, Jason questioned him on the details of the happenings of the day. Saleen carefully related the details so that Jason could understand what had happened.

He did not blame Saleen. Being a child, he would not know the deviousness that some people could have. This lesson would be sufficient to help Saleen understand that in this world, strength was the absolute principle.

After being treated, Saleen returned to his room to rest, recollecting what had happened that day. If it had not been for his teacher, his gold coins could have caused him to lose his life instead.

He must become stronger. He must, he must!

His eyes remained open as he lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep. It was dark in the room, reminding him of his time in the dungeon. The heart palpitations and feelings of desperation had yet to diminish, and the fear of death had eroded his young soul. Saleen felt his way out of his bed and lit the candle on the table. Only then was he able to close his eyes and slip into slumber.

The next morning, the red-haired swordsman came running with the gold coins. It appeared as though he had had a busy night tabulating the assets of the deceased. Jason did not say anything to him and had Saleen attend to him.

The red-haired swordsman sat uneasily in the front hall as Saleen came running down from upstairs. The red-haired swordsman hurriedly stood up and greeted Saleen, "Master Metatrin, you are up."

Saleen was unused to the other party's warm greeting. Previously, when he had walked along the streets, the lord's swordsmen treated him as though he were invisible. The red-haired swordsman might have been a kind person at heart, but if it had not been for his teacher's request, the only kind thing he would have done for Saleen was give him an extra bag of flour during the festive season. It was likely, but had he forgotten about this incident?

"Master Metatrin…" the red-haired swordsman called out to Saleen, who was lost in his own thoughts.

"Um, what is it?"

The red-haired swordsman answered somewhat embarrassedly, "Zhanbu's assets have been tabulated. There are about two thousand two hundred gold coins, as well as two properties and some livestock worth about four hundred gold coins. It is a bad time to sell the properties so they will have to be kept pending. After they have been sold, I will send the gold coins over. Here are bank notes worth two thousand gold coins, and here are two hundred gold coins."

The red-haired swordsman put four bags of money on the table, each one of them packed to the brim.

Saleen's eyes could not stop twitching. In spite of the previous day's suffering, he did not pounce forward to count the gold coins. Instead, he said solemnly, "Those two properties are yours if you are able to raise three hundred gold coins. If it is convenient, send the money over this afternoon, and also bring me half a year's supply of rice, flour, seasonings, and dried meat. Is that possible?"

"No problem!" The red-haired swordsman was delighted. It would have been a challenge to sell both properties for four hundred gold coins. He had been fearful about Jason's warning – I will kill one person for every omitted gold coin. Now that Saleen was willing to sell them to him at a discount, he could gain tens of gold coins and not worry about any shortfalls.

After sending off the red-haired swordsman, Saleen brought the four money bags and two Qin Empire bank notes to Jason's magic laboratory.

"Keep them with you. If your magic skills improve, you will need a lot of money. Get more from me when you have used it up," Jason did not take Saleen's money. He could not have cared less about this meager amount of gold coins. He had simply been a little bothered by the night before, when an unimportant businessman had insulted his dignity and lied to him. This was why he had taken the chance to seize Zhanbu's assets, as compensation for himself and Saleen.

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Chapter 7: The Mage's Principle (Part 2)

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

"Thank you, Teacher," said Saleen with a heart full of joy. He picked up the bags of money and returned to his room, putting the bags of money and the Qin Empire bank notes into the box which still contained the outdated collection slips, documents, and his family badge. Saleen tried to stuff the money into the box but felt that it was not right, so he took it out again, unsure of where to place it.

After wavering for a short while, Saleen felt that he was being a little ridiculous. What thief would dare sneak into the house with Jason around?

Recalling how his teacher had released one spell after another at the city guard department without chanting, Saleen felt his excitement mounting. If he was able to do the same, no one would dare harass him!

Magic was the only principle in this world. Those who possessed abilities in magic were above the law.

At the thought of this, Saleen could not sit still. He put the money on top of his bed and headed to a room containing magic books.

Looking at the rows of bookshelves in the room, Saleen was impatient and wanted to read each and every book there. He walked to the back and stood before the shelf containing the level-0 magic books.

The shelf for level-0 magic was the largest, and yet it did not have the largest number of spells. There were less spells than there were in level-1 magic. Despite this, there were four books to a series titled "Principles of Level-0 Magic", and each was extremely thick.

Saleen took a book and sat himself down on the ground. Leaning against the shelf, he began reading.

Reading magic, illumination magic, burning magic, detection magic, poison detection, invisible shield…

Reading on, Saleen was a little overwhelmed. He realized that without the support of a theoretical system, he did not even know how to decide on what to learn. As he leaned on the bookshelves in a daze, Saleen felt like he had lost control. Even if a person was eager to increase their strength, they could not be overly ambitious. His teacher had asked that he conduct his learning in order. If he skipped over his foundation, it might cause unknown issues in future.

At this thought, Saleen placed "Principles of Level-0 Magic" back onto the bookshelf, returned to the beginning, and started to gather basic knowledge on magic in a systematic manner.

Magic was categorized into six types, but in practical terms, when learning magic, most people conducted their learning according to its uses. The six types included the attack series, protection series, therapy series, alchemy series, potions series, and one other type. In addition to the six types, there was also the summon series, which was not a popular form of magic. It had originated in recent times, beginning no more than ten thousand years ago, but it had declined some five thousand years ago. The deployment of each magic spell had three stages – the preparatory stage, the completion stage, and the release stage.

The preparatory stage referred to the chanting of spells, use of gestures, pooling of elements, and resonance of magic – all of which required the mage's use of their mental power to control. With practice, the mage could shorten the time needed to prepare their magic by chanting silently and omitting the hand gestures.

The completion stage referred to the spell being formed and readied for deployment. This stage could be extended. The mage could keep the prepared spell on standby while preparing a second spell to achieve an intensive attack. For example, after a mage had prepared a Fireball spell, they could choose not to deploy it while preparing a second Fireball spell. When the second Fireball spell was ready, they could deploy both at the same time. This skill was known as double release, and was a method commonly used by mages to magnify their attacks.

Similarly, double release required the mage to have powerful mental power. Without strong control, the mage could cause severe harm to themselves if the elements emerged in a disorderly manner.

The release stage was about more than just the deployment of a prepared spell. This stage comprised of locking onto the target, the final cutting of the elements, and time control.

These three parts all relied on mental power to be completed, with locking onto the target being the most basic ability. Without tracking abilities, a mage was no different from an archer. The final cutting of the elements was the key to expending the spell. Without this ability, the mage's expenditure would always be at the maximum. Lacking good control, a grade-1 mage could use up their magic chords by simply releasing two level-1 spells instead of the usual twelve.

Time control referred to the continuous control that was exerted while magic was being released, allowing the magic to complete its release at the most appropriate time. This skill was also known as level-2 execution. Senior mages could skillfully use level-2 execution to control the momentum of the battle. Similarly, level-2 execution was also used in the making of magic scrolls and alchemy.

Mastery of these abilities was the absolute minimum for one to be a qualified mage.

Saleen also understood that the values of the basic attributes of each spell were not fixed.

Execution time, execution distance, and energy units were three variable components. The execution time of a spell was not measured in seconds, but in frames. Each frame was equivalent to one-sixtieth of a second.

Instant execution was not done at a speed of zero frames, but at a speed of two frames. While it was commonly said that magic was instantaneous, this essentially meant that it took two frames for the three stages to be completed – preparatory, completion and release – which was two-sixtieths of a second. No matter how powerful a mage was, they could not compress this time further.

The cause of the zero frame illusion had been the double release, meaning that a mage would not release a spell after it had been completed, but would store it for release at the same time as the second spell. Basically, the post-completion release stage of this spell took place concurrently with the release of the second spell. This required the mage to have resilient mental power.

Such a skill was considered high order control, which was a very dangerous action.

Saleen read on, and realized that he had indeed been ignorant to have thought that magic was merely a powerful means of attack. He had never imagined that the basic knowledge of magic would be so complicated. If he did not put in the effort to learn it well, his future progress would be unusually problematic.

Without this basic knowledge, not only would the abilities of a mage be confined, but they would also be unable to judge the abilities of others.

One would not be able to determine whether the numerical value for the execution time should be at its minimum or maximum, the numerical conversion between the execution distance and the power of the attack, the relationship between units of energy and the cutting of elements, and so on…

Senior mages could make the calculations instantly to determine the effects of their releases of magic instead of leaving things to fate.

Control! The power of magic depended on control!

Saleen patiently read on and began to acquire mathematical knowledge such as how to calculate these magic formulae. This mathematical knowledge was critical to the creation of a magic array.

In a flash, another three months had passed. Saleen, aside from taking his meals and relieving himself, had essentially not stepped out of the room. As he carried on, he began to feel depressed. His intellect and mental strength were perfect, but his affinity to the elements was lacking. If his affinity to the elements had just been of normal standard, it would have been sufficient for him to have been an outstanding mage.

It was evident that where affinity to the elements was concerned, he was useless. This made it very difficult for him to form magic chords. Without magic chords, all of these were simply castles in the air.

A year passed, and Saleen was only at the standard of a grade-1 apprentice with the abilities of a grade-2 apprentice. He had learned five types of level-0 magic, namely Reading Magic, Poison Detection, Acid Sputtering, Flame Combustion, and Blending of Elements. He had mastered the method of meditation, and through meditation, he could quickly restore the loss of magical elements.

The reason for this outcome was because the amount of magical elements that had been deposited into Saleen's body were too small. Even while relying on self-healing and not doing anything, he needed ten minutes to recover.

What was the use of having three types of level-0 magic? Nothing could be achieved with them. Rather than have him use magic during battle, it would be more beneficial to give Saleen a knife instead. At the very least, after a year of being nursed back to health, Saleen's body was much healthier. Although he still looked thin and weak, his strength had, in fact, increased.

Since the food previously delivered by the red-headed swordsman had been finished off, Saleen needed to go into the city again. Now, he no longer harbored the ridiculous thoughts he had half year ago of exquisite clothes, trendy hairstyles, and nice horse carriages. Such things were all so stupid and ridiculous when mages were concerned. Knowledge was the only thing that mages relied on.

Wearing the comical robe and black boots that Jason had bought for him, Saleen bid farewell to Jason before leaving the ancestral house. Jason had given him two bags of gold coins totalling one hundred pieces as well as a list of items to buy. Mages' experiments required large quantities of low-grade materials, and Jason's laboratory was perpetually in operation. His basic materials had almost been exhausted within a year.

Ceylon City was a port city where items from overseas could be ordered, and it took only a week to receive the goods. This was why Jason had chosen to remain here in a relatively remote place where one could still buy necessities. Entering Ceylon City again, this dilapidated city looked completely different in Saleen's eyes. Having spotted Saleen on the road from afar, the soldiers guarding the city hastily straightened up.

The soldiers at the city gate were affiliated with the House of the Lord, and were not linked to the city guard department.

The two soldiers' expressions were a mix of wariness, envy, jealousy, and fear; they immediately put on fawning smiles.

"Master Metatrin, good morning!"

Saleen nodded, not knowing how to reply. To be honest, soldiers from the House of the Lord were much better than those from the city guard department. In the past, when he had visited the city, they had not made things difficult for him. He had been like a mass of air with no scent. As long as he did not request otherwise, no one had noticed him.

Master Metatrin? Half a year ago, Saleen probably would have been pleased. After the incident with the city guard department, Saleen had become more mature and understood that these people feared his teacher, a grade-5 mage who would make their heads explode.

Saleen followed the sunshine and walked along the road leading to the pier. There was a long street in front of the pier lined with all kinds of shops. Ceylon City's only equipment store was situated here. As Saleen entered the store, he nearly collided with a youth.

The youth opposite to Saleen was about the same age as him. He seemed to have been frightened and nearly fell, but caught himself in time. Although Saleen was just an apprentice of magic, his mental power was comparable to that of a real mage. With keen perception, he realized that the youth's hand was touching his money bag.

It was a well-concealed hand. Saleen was amused; it must have been an unlucky year for him to have bumped into a thief the moment he was out.

He gently nudged the hand, and a flash of fire pressed onto the juvenile's hand. The youth felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand, as though he had been scalded by a hot rod. He was stunned and gave a sudden shout, "Is that you, Saleen?"

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Chapter 8: Magic Pharmaceutics (Part 1)

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

The youth called out Saleen's name as he withdrew his hand. Saleen had possessed no intention of hurting him; otherwise, the level-0 Flame Combustion spell used in such close proximity would have burned his skin and flesh.

Decca?

Saleen recognized the youth in front of him and felt conflicted. Decca, also an orphan, was someone that Saleen had known when he was a beggar. Back then, they had been down and out, being equally skinny and filthy. By their chance meeting here today, Saleen's demeanor had completely changed, and the same was true for Decca, who looked nothing like the street urchin from those days.

Decca smiled in embarrassment, as he had known about Saleen but had not recognized him earlier. He knew that Saleen had become the apprentice of a mage; he was unsure if he would be still be acknowledged as the friend he had made when they were both poor.

"Wait for me at the entrance," Saleen said as he gave Decca a pat on his shoulder. Saleen appeared to have grown much taller than Decca in this one year.

Feeling his warmth, Decca turned to his side and exited from the door. He then waited in the shadows across the street.

There was no professional union in Ceylon City, thus the equipment store appeared to be deserted. The adventurers were all gathered at Xinjiang in the southern part of the Empire, though there were fewer pirates at the northern coast. Saleen approached the counter and shouted for the owner.

The counter was about one meter high. The owner was drowsy and had been dozing off on the counter. He heard the shout, but did not see anyone when he opened his eyes. He then stood up and saw Saleen, who was much shorter than the counter.

"Hey, Master Metatrin!" The owner saw Saleen and instantly perked up.

Saleen waved his hand, indicating for him not to be so noisy. He passed him the list that Jason had given him and asked, "How much deposit do I need to pay to order these?"

The owner gave a quick glance at the list and grinned. This was not a small deal and was worth at least a hundred gold coins. It probably would not have meant much in the bigger cities, but it was definitely a rare business deal in Ceylon City.

"Master Metatrin, please wait a moment." The owner retrieved his abacus and started to calculate with some cracking sounds.

Saleen saw the owner calculating the price of the items and decided to walk around the inside of the store. The size of the equipment store was not small, but there were no shelves in the center. All of the goods were displayed in the cabinets against the walls. The most striking items were two suits of armor near the entrance.

These were two fully enclosed suits of knight armor which even had polished crystals set into the segments for the eyes. This type of armor was rarely worn nowadays because the knight rank class had died out during the Fourth Dynasty. Now, only the Holy See still maintained a pool of ten thousand knights; the other four empires had done away with their bodies of knights.

The two suits of armor had been made in an ancient style, and the sheets of metal looked as if they had been repolished. They looked to be antiques; the value of these cultural relics exceeded the value of their use. Admiring the armor, Saleen placed his hand onto them.

His mental strength could not penetrate them! They seemed to be truly authentic. It was virtually impossible for his level-0 magic to be able to break through the armor. This metal armor was better than ordinary leather armor, though Saleen was well aware that it was still not as good as magic armor. He knew that his level of battle power was still lacking against swordsmen in armor.

If he needed to deal with two soldiers, he would practically stand no chance.

Magic sometimes made him depressed, and other times it made him excited. With the momentary contact, he had been able to calculate the defensive capabilities of the armor and knew which levels of magic could be used to destroy it. Unfortunately, he did not have any hope of becoming a qualified mage anytime in the foreseeable future.

"Master Metatrin!" The owner replied with a smile, having completed the calculations. "The total is one hundred and eighty gold coins. See if you can pay a deposit of one hundred gold coins. As I am only running a small business here, I do not have a good cash flow."

"Yes." Saleen turned, threw two bags of gold coins onto the counter, and asked, "When can we get the items?"

"The same time next week will be fine. Will you need them delivered?"

"Not necessary. Teacher does not like to be disturbed by others."

"Please wait while I issue you an invoice." The owner put away the gold coins. Saleen asked casually, "Are we able to order anything and everything here?"

"Master Metatrin, I import my goods from Yaoyang City. Whatever Yaoyang City has can be ordered from here. If you need special items, you will have to order them from Holy Rock City. It will be slower, and I am afraid you will need to wait a month for these items."

"Alright, noted." Saleen took the invoice that the owner had issued him, turned, and left the equipment store.

"Decca," Saleen called out to the other side of the street, waving as he stepped out through the door. Decca appeared from the shadows and faced Saleen, not knowing what to say.

"Let's find a place to eat." Saleen was feeling hungry. He would not go to The Whale of Ceylon this time. As the pair walked north along the pier, they found a small shop. It was still morning and there were not many diners. They sat next to the window, and Saleen ordered two bowls of fish noodles.

Using their forks to twirl the noodles, the pair ate in silence. When they had nearly finished their meal, Saleen put down his fork and asked, "Decca, why did you…"

"You mean why did I steal?" Decca also put down his fork, pondered for a moment, and replied in a low voice, "There was a bandit gang that came to the city around this time last year. They took in a batch of children and I was one of them. No one forced me to join. As you know, children like us could starve to death on the streets at any time."

"Bandit gang?" Saleen frowned. The reputation of "bandit gangs" were not good. Once caught, the majority of nobles would kill the bandits without even interrogating them.

Decca saw Saleen's worried look and consoled him, "It is nothing. This bandit gang does not do red cases." Seeing that Saleen did not understand, Decca explained, "We merely take things; we do not kill. Generally, we do not rob, and we mainly cheat. If the matter is brought to light, then we walk away. It is rare that anyone pursues us."

"It is not suitable for the longterm," Saleen could not help saying. Because they were bandits, very few of them would die natural deaths. For senior bandits who made money, it was hard for them to withdraw during their prime.

"I have no choice; it is too late for me to withdraw now," Decca said in a low voice as his gaze swept across the door.

"How do I find you in the future?"

"It is easy to find me. How about we go back to the hideaway and meet with my gang leader?"

"Huh," Saleen's face turned stony. His two distinct eyebrows raised almost at the same time. He looked intently at Decca and said, "This was your gang leader's idea? You need not say anything more. Go back and tell him not to make me his target if he still wants to live."

Decca felt a shiver run through his body. Saleen's glare was as sharp as a sword, making him subconsciously want to reach for the dagger in his boots. But as his wrist shifted slightly, he felt a pain in his hand. The scald on his hand had reminded him of Saleen's identity.

"Saleen, I cannot help it. Actually, during winter, the gang leader will have me look for you."

"I have no interest in the bandit gang. If my teacher learns about this matter, I may not able to protect you. Decca, you had better take good care of yourself," Saleen finished what he wanted to say, retrieved a gold coin and placed it on the table, and left without turning back.

Decca sat there stunned and out of sorts. Saleen was no longer the innocent child he had been before. He had simply made a vague suggestion, and was immediately seen through. Could this be the power of magic?

Saleen walked out the door, feeling the breeze blow past him. The pent-up emotions in his heart were finally released. To think that a bandit actually wished to connect with a mage! His teacher had not even wanted to be bothered with the lord.

This person did not know what was good for him. The best solution was to kill him and prevent him from being a burden to Decca. He was the only friend he had left in Ceylon City.

Saleen had not realized that he had become more decisive after the incident half a year ago. He had also become more alert to danger. Jason had not done any additional coaching with him; he had merely read books, cooked for Jason, and eaten with him. Gradually and subtly, Saleen's demeanor had completely changed.

He found the grain shop, placed the order, and made the payments. Saleen had purchased enough food to last them half a year. He then left Ceylon City dispirited. More than once, he had fantasized about living wealthily in the city, wearing the best clothes and indulging in wine and music. Now that he finally had money, he realized that his thoughts had been naïve. As dark clouds gathered across the horizon, Saleen quickened his pace, knowing that the summer rain in Ceylon City was unpredictable.

Upon returning to the ancestral house, Saleen went to see Jason and told him about the collection date of the goods.

Jason suddenly asked, "Saleen, how long have I been here?"

"A year and six days."

"Alright. Bring this along when you collect the goods next week," Jason gave Saleen a huge leather sack. Then he added, "Starting next week, on the first day of every week, you will join me as I conduct experiments."

"Teacher!"

"From today on, you are officially my student."

Saleen was thrilled. Jason had never allowed him to watch his experiments before. He had never thought that he would receive his teacher's personal guidance, nor had he ever thought that this day would come so quickly. He was not aware that Jason had followed him from a distance during his trip to the city. In fact, Jason had even heard his conversation with Decca.

Saleen had passed this test. If there had been something amiss in his conversation with Decca, Jason would have needed to give him up as an apprentice. To groom a student required energy as well as emotion. As for Saleen's lack of affinity with the elements, he would have to think of a solution in the time to come. Jason smiled and looked at his student. He took out a bottle and passed it to Saleen, saying, "There is medicine in here. Take one pill daily to improve your body's structure. Get more from me after you run out."

Saleen touched the palm-sized porcelain bottle, not knowing how to express his feelings.

"Go read your books. I hope that you will continue to be this diligent in the future."

"Yes, Teacher!" Saleen answered, joy and cheer in his heart. He returned to his room, removed his boots, and took off his robe. He then threw the remaining gold coins on the table and took a breather.

After being accepted by Jason, Saleen was even more diligent. On the first day of each week, he was with Jason in the laboratory as he conducted magic experiments. Jason would explain the principles of magic relating to the experiments. On the fifth day of each week, he would enter the city to place orders and collect the materials he had ordered the previous week.

He had placed Decca at the back of his mind. There was an underground bandit group in Ceylon City which had become a headache for the lord. Saleen had accepted the teachings from the books. Mages were detached from the outside world, and aside from when they were hired, they were not to interfere with the lives of ordinary people.

In another half a year, Saleen had mastered the sixth level-0 magic, Magic Alarm. This was an enchantment magic, and lasted for two hours with each release. Depending on the method of release, the resulting magic alarm could be either audible or inaudible.

An audible alarm was beneficial for team protection as everyone could hear it. An inaudible alarm could only be detected by the mage themselves, and even the person who had triggered the spell would remain unaware.

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Chapter 9: Magic Pharmaceutics (Part 2)

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

There were two reasons for Saleen's slow progress. The first reason was that his lack of affinity to elements did not improve. Even though he had been taking the pills from Jason daily, he still was unable to perceive elements clearly. The second reason was that Saleen would learn the next magic only after he had perfected the current one.

That was to say, Saleen could now skillfully carry out Double Release, as well as control the Double Release. He could continuously release four Grade 0 spells, with the four spells being released separately, at the same time, or in sequence. When released in sequence, the last three spells were in an instantaneous state.

Because of his innate deficiency, he needed to put in more effort on his skills. Saleen believed that as long as the magic strings were formed, he would be a perfect magician.

Through this six months of practice, Saleen gradually knew that Jason's actual age and how old he looked were the same – thirty-five years old. It was very rare to have a thirty-five year old Grade 5 magician in the Qin Empire.

Jason was not only talented, but also possessed formal magic lineage. His teacher was a Grade 9 magician. Jason had left Qin Empire, because his practice was stuck in a bottleneck as he was about to progress to Grade 6.

As they advanced from Grade 5 to Grade 6, the magicians would form their own unique style. Only when they reached Grade 7 could they develop the magic string to perfection. Jason was a very confident person, so he left the Qin Empire, away from his teacher's guidance. He had wanted to be a unique magician.

Saleen was lucky. A regular magician would not have the ability to provide so many magic books. Even if there were one, one may not have been able to carry them into Ceylon City. That required a large space prop.

An ordinary space prop was only a few cubic feet, and would definitely not fit the books in these few rooms.

Jason had travelled a long way, and came to Ceylon City when Saleen had almost starved to death. Where Saleen was concerned, this was a miracle of fate. Saleen's earnest learning attitude was a good fit for Jason's temper. Saleen was also smart enough, which was why Jason had decided to formally guide him after testing him a year later.

A regular apprentice of magic would receive his teacher's guidance only after he had passed Grade 6 apprenticeship. Saleen had spent a year to attain the Grade 2 apprenticeship. If it were other magicians, they would have long ago completely given up on him. This was because Grades 1 to 3 apprenticeships were the simplest. Normally, they would enter Grade 4 apprenticeship in the second year.

Saleen finally completed reading through the basic knowledge of magic. The bookshelves in the back began to contain more in-depth content on principles of magic. These could not be simply learned through memorization, and Saleen started to make his choices.

The principle of magic required a combination of brief understanding and Jason's guidance. For the rest of the time, aside from practicing new magic, he could also gain more knowledge – Alchemy, Magic Pharmaceutics, Magic Array, Summon Skill and so on.

Summon Skill was excluded by Saleen, as this type of magic was extremely unstable. Too many possibilities could occur when summoning living creatures. It was said that during the second dynasty, magicians could arbitrarily summon the designated creatures. Unknowingly, the Summon Skill had become a type of random magic in the third dynasty, which was five-thousand years ago.

During battle, the last thing Saleen would want was to summon one grass-grazing rabbit after another. It could even be a housefly at times.

Magic Array was also abandoned. One needed powerful affinity to elements to learn Magic Array. Saleen's learning had been hindered by this limitation. His body's magic elements were not even sufficient for him create a Grade 0 Magic Array.

Between Alchemy and Magic Pharmaceutics, Saleen finally chose Magic Pharmaceutics. Although Alchemy was profitable, it would be of little help in his own battle. After Saleen understood the importance of power, he had planned for himself clear learning goals. He needed to become stronger, even stronger.

Magic Pharmaceutics was undoubtedly the most practical for Saleen; even the cheapest material could produce boosters. As long as one had sufficient mental strength to control the blending of the pharmaceuticals, the chance of failure would be reduced. After determining his direction, Saleen started on the arduous learning process.

To manufacture magic medicine, tens of thousands of materials could be used. They were mainly plants, with minerals making up ten percent. The rarest of all were materials from living creatures, such as the blood, hair and horn of a magic beast.

Saleen asked Jason for a set of equipment to be used to refine medicine, and built a small-scale laboratory in his bedroom. Saleen's ancestral home was an aristocratic building with a fortress-like structure, such that explosions from experiments would not destroy the walls. This was the reason why Jason had eyed Saleen's house.

As he could continuously cast the Reading Magic four times, Saleen's speed of learning had also quickened. He had used three months to memorize the tens of thousands of pages of material maps. During this time, he did not sleep and depended solely on meditation to recuperate his energy.

After he was done with the material maps, Saleen did not systematically learn the formulae. Beside the commonly used medication, he began to search for some rare formulae.

On one day, Saleen sat on the ground with his back against the bookshelf. He was reading "Summary of Magic Pharmaceutics" when suddenly, he felt the top of his head throbbing. He looked up. A huge book came hammering down and landed on Saleen's nose. Blood spluttered.

Saleen had not learned the Invisible Shield spell. He had read continuously for a long time and his energy was somewhat depleted. Even if he had felt danger, he could not hide.

Oh…

Saleen covered his nose as he looked for the hemostatic agent in his pocket. This time, it was a hard smash and that book had weighed more than 10 kilograms. Saleen felt that the bridge of his nose was almost broken.

After he had tilted his head and applied medication, Saleen felt a buzzing sound in his head and his vision became blurred. Could this be a symptom of a concussion as described in pathology? He had better not have knocked himself dumb.

He picked up that thick book and held it in both hands. It felt unusually heavy.

This book was almost squarish, a meter wide and half a meter thick. There were no words on its black cover, which was lined with dark golden patterns. Saleen was pretty familiar with magic patterns. The pattern on this cover was very unfamiliar, and he could not tell which era's style it was.

Opening the thick cover, on the title page was "Ridiculous Magic Pharmaceutics," written in Myers Language.

Saleen was attracted by the book title. Magic Pharmaceutics was a very normative science. It was very perfect from its principle to operation. Using the word "ridiculous" to describe Magic Pharmaceutics was an absurd notion.

Flipping to the first page, the preface was handwritten by the royal organization. Saleen turned to the back of the book, but could not find any writer's inscription. He then began reading from the beginning.

This book's author had negated the structure of the Magic Pharmaceutics in his introduction, and deemed Magic Pharmaceutics as a skill of experience which had many loopholes in its guiding theory. Only through constant experiments could Magic Pharmaceutics continue to improve. Otherwise, it would lead to a dead end.

Up to this point, Saleen felt that the author was spouting nonsense and playing to the gallery. Magic Pharmaceutics had a history of tens of thousands of years, even before Magic Formation. This author was definitely insane.

However, he got more terrified as he read on; the author was able to pinpoint the error in the logic of Magic Pharmaceutics. The author pointed out that even the purest mineral could not possibly solely correspond to one element. It was even more so for herbal and animal materials. Magic medicine was invented according to the pharmaceutical formula in the Magic Pharmaceutics and was the most common medicine, but it was far from being formulated perfectly.

The purification in Magic Pharmaceutics was an even bigger mistake, as the real development direction in Magic Pharmaceutics should be laboratory science. It should entail the investigation of magic to determine the structure of the pharmaceutical material, followed by continuous experimenting in order to achieve the perfect formula. There would be slight variations when using the same material in different places. A real pharmacist should be able to distinguish this.

Saleen continued to read on, and he discovered that not only was the author gifted in the Magic Pharmaceutics, but his accomplishments in magic were also pretty great.

In the element agglomeration medicine, the author pointed out the mistake of this medicine and even gave three examples of three spells. He pointed out how to match with actual medicine when using the three spells, and eliminate the damage caused by the medicine.

Saleen had never heard of these three spells. Since they were advanced magic, he made use of Reading Magic to memorise them and keep them for future validation. However, Saleen was getting a headache from looking at the formulae the author had provided; there were more than 600 kinds of basic materials. Alternatives were listed for more than 50 kinds, with the medicinal properties and analysis of the proportion for most included.

Saleen simply flipped to the front of the book and used the Reading Magic to memorize everything from the beginning. From afternoon till nightfall, by the time Saleen was at the last page, he felt his eyelids twitching.

The last page was written in magic language, in such small handwriting that It could hardly be read. Everything was in red as if it were a warning. Saleen was so shocked by the miniscule title that his mind went completely blank: The Formula of Magic String Medicine!

In this world, nine out of ten people could become an apprentice of magic. But among 100 apprentices, only one or two could advance to being a qualified magician.

This was because the formation of magic strings was too difficult. But the author of this book unexpectedly contributed a magic pharmaceutical formula. This formula could help apprentices form their magic strings.

Saleen thought that he was overly eager and hallucinating. He read it carefully again to ensure he had not read it wrong. This formula really was specially designed for creating magic strings. Regardless of the apprentice's grade, he would immediately form magic strings after taking this medicine.

Saleen's hands were trembling, his breathing became laboured, and his nose was about to bleed again.

It felt as though one had starved for half a month, and suddenly received a sweet-smelling bread. Saleen sneakily sandwiched the book "Ridiculous Magic Pharmaceuticals" and returned to his bedroom. After careful thought, he felt that such formula was against nature and a little unrealistic. If magic strings could be formed through this method, then why did all the magicians not know this these tens of thousands of years?

He cast a Detection Magic spell on the opened page. Sure enough, a layer of golden words emerged among the red words. Saleen broke into a cold sweat as he continued to read word by word.

The golden words were the real formula for the magic strings. If one had consumed the medicine formulated according to the red words, even a Grade 9 Magic Beast would die from the poison. Was the author joking? Someone so malicious would probably be hated when he was alive, which was why he had not left his name on the book.

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Chapter 10: Magic String Medicine (Part 1)

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

The golden words that had recorded down the formula for the magic chord medicine listed the details. There were a total of seventy-two basic materials, with the attributes of each one listed in detail in the annotations at the back of the book. At the end of the formula, the author had included a sentence that made Saleen wary.

"The magic chord medicine can change the body of a mage disciple and produce special magic chords, but this nature defying method will cause the mage disciple to pay an unknown price. I hereby remind whoever takes this medicine that the price you pay will exceed whatever gains you get."

The price you pay will exceed whatever gains you get!

An unknown price…

Saleen hesitated. He had great respect for the author of this book but he could not ignore the warning that they had left behind.

What price would he have to pay?

Death? Impossible.

If any magic medicine had the potential to cause its user danger, the creator of the formula would make a detailed note of it. For example, the elderly should avoid it, junior mages should not consume it, those with heart conditions should not take it, and so on. Any side effects the magic medicine could result in would also be noted at the end.

What could it be if it was not the threat of death? The author had used a severe cautionary tone in their warning. Saleen could not figure it out; besides death, what could be the heavy price that would accompany the formation of the magic chords?

Saleen searched his brain but still could not understand exactly what the author was hinting at. He closed the book and silently recited the names of the seventy-two types of materials, estimating the rough cost of it all.

The cheapest material would cost only one silver coin, while the most expensive material would cost two hundred gold coins. About one thousand gold coins would be enough for a set of materials for the magic chord medicine. The gold coins Saleen had were not enough for three sets of medicine materials. The formula did not include any mention of a success rate. Normally, the success rate of such a formula would be very low, not exceeding ten percent.

In terms of the configuration of magic medicine, there was no relation between the success rate and luck. Experience and mental power were more important. Saleen had adequate mental power, but his experience was lacking. He had only three months worth of knowledge on magic medicine. The success rate for producing even the easiest form of magic medicine was only about half.

That cost only one gold coin's worth of materials, and Saleen could accept the failure if it happened. Magic chord medicine was different; its failure would cost a thousand gold coins.

Ever since Saleen had discovered this formula, he had never even thought of giving it up. He could not forget those days of poverty, not to mention the occasion when he had been behind bars and almost lost his life. If Jason had not arrived, he would have died in the prison. Jason would not appear every time. Therefore, he needed to possess his own power in order to live on.

To become a genuine mage was the only path that Saleen knew. However, he could not be excessively wasteful. Jason did not give him pocket money, so to get the materials for the magic medicine, he needed to think of ways to earn money. Where could he earn money?

The bandit gang! Decca!

Saleen's eyes lit up; it had to be him then. For thieves to commit crimes, it was essential to have various medications. Regular equipment stores would not sell dangerous medication. To get the magic medicine that bandits required, they needed to know a familiar mage who was willing to help. Saleen smiled; it seemed like a bad thing to know a bandit.

A week later, when Saleen was in the city, he left a message with the owner of the equipment store to look for a person by the name of Decca. Half a month later, he was in contact with the bandit.

This time around, Decca did not ask why Saleen had called for him, but simply waited for Saleen to express his intentions. One should never play the fool with a mage. Last time, when Saleen's message had been passed to the chief of the bandit gang, he had immediately abandoned his plan to rope in Saleen.

"I have magic medicine for sale." Saleen did not beat around the bush.

"Great, I shall take it," Decca replied without hesitation.

"I do not trust your chief; is there any way to kill him?" Saleen's second sentence frightened Decca.

"Saleen, absolutely not. There are more than twenty of them," Decca replied hurriedly.

"Last time, you mentioned a hideaway. I went back to check the books. There used to be a traditional practice. I am thinking, since you gather on the last day of every week, I have a kind of poison that can kill by just one touch. I will give you a week's time to consider it. If you are willing to do it, you will soon be the bandit gang chief of Ceylon City."

Saleen picked up his huge leather sack and left smiling.

Would Decca reject his suggestion? If he rejected him, he would report to his chief what Saleen had said. Then, he would probably need to face the anger of the mage.

Decca did not dare reject Saleen's suggestion. A month later, the soldiers of the city guard department discovered corpses at the hideaway. There were a total of twenty-four of them, and every one of them had died of a fatal poison.

That was the first time Saleen had killed – not by his own hands, but by his poison.

The fake magic chord formula was indeed useful, and it caused immediate death for the targets. Saleen was secretly fearful, reminding himself to be cautious of this method in future. Any sort of negligence could cost him his life.

After getting rid of any foreign bandits, Decca quickly rounded up the bandits amongst the local youth. There were secured sales for Saleen's magic medicine, and the gold coins increased each day. In a year's time, Saleen had earned three thousand gold coins in total.

There was not a big market locally in Ceylon City; Decca was clever in that he customized Saleen's medication for use by bandits. Besides the portion he used, a large quantity was sold to foreign lands. He had taken merely half a year to create a steady sales channel. The members of the neighboring bandit gangs all knew that there was special medication being sold in Ceylon City. Decca also earned a little from this.

After accumulating over five thousand gold coins, the standard of Saleen's production of pharmaceuticals had improved by leaps and bounds. He finally reached grade-3 apprenticeship and could continuously release five level-0 spells. At the same time, he possessed seven types of level-0 magic – Reading Magic, Poison Detection, Acid Sputtering, Flame Combustion, Blending of Elements, Magic Alarm, and Detection Magic.

After boosting his health, Saleen's body had also become stronger. Although he still looked a little thin and weak, he could now walk briskly while carrying a leather sack that weighed hundreds of kilograms. He had to go to the city to make purchases every week, and Jason always filled the large leather sack.

The plan was approaching its final stage little by little. Saleen could put together three sets of materials for magic medicine. Having inherited business acumen, Saleen did not spend all of his gold coins, in case he was successful in his first few attempts.

The weather was so stiflingly hot in the first week of June that it was sweat-inducing. Saleen had just turned fifteen years old and decided to start making the magic medicine. Saleen felt uneasy. He had even wanted to kneel down to pray, except he did not have a faith.

Despite the fact that the high priest of the Holy See had said there would be favoritism for those who showed provisional grace, Saleen did not believe so, even deep in his bones. It would be easier to make the people of Qin Empire give up their pride than make the people of Sikeqinya into believers.

Saleen pulled out the box from beneath his bed and dug out his family badge. The things that his father had left behind had all been sold. This was the only item that he had kept by his side.

The shield-shaped black metal badge was palm-sized, extremely thick, and heavy. The dark green magic patterns represented that the family was the one and only, and had been designed by a great mage. Anyone that imitated this type of badge would be challenging the mage's dignity.

Saleen had understood the significance of this only after he had joined Jason.

The badge was as thick as a thumb, with a deep lightning-shaped mark in the center. This deep mark had destroyed the completeness of the magic patterns. Hence, Saleen could not deduce the identity of the mage who had designed the badge.

A great mage had worked for the Metatrin family. What an honor that must have been!

"Father, please bless me in becoming a powerful mage." Saleen touched the badge and felt the uneven hidden patterns on its surface. There was another group of magic patterns which had been destroyed by the deep lightning-shaped mark in the center of the badge.

Creak?

Saleen suddenly discovered that a touch of faint blue light had flashed deep within the lightning-shaped marks. He rubbed his eyes, but that tinge of blue had dissipated.

What was that? Was it a magic imprint? His own family had declined this far, and even if there had initially been a magic imprint, it probably would have disappeared by now.

Saleen had some worries. The more books he read, the more he understood how wide and profound the world of magic was. Similarly, this world was full of danger. One's carelessness could result in them being smashed into pieces beyond redemption.

Saleen instinctively released detection magic at the badge.

A faint light masked the badge in Saleen's hand. Time seemed to have stood still. To Saleen's panic, detection magic could actually be interrupted, like a person hovering midfall while falling off a cliff.

This pause was not as long as a frame of time. If Saleen had not already begun to grasp the principles of instantaneous magic and had not possessed astute mental power, he would not have noticed the pause.

Then, the magic light that had enveloped the badge was sucked into the badge within an even shorter period of time. The power of the elements surged crazily towards the lightning-shaped mark in the center of the badge. The mobilization of elemental power of level-0 magic was not sufficient for such absorption. Saleen felt that the hand holding the badge had become ice cold, as though his elemental power, mental power, and blood had been drawn away in that moment.

Emptiness. Saleen's body immediately felt like an empty shell. His eyes became expressionless, his life was extinguished, and his heart stopped beating.

Saleen felt himself sinking into darkness. There was nothingness in his surroundings. It was colorless, soundless, scentless, nothing at all. Every memory from birth to his fifteen years of age seemed to have disappeared.

Was this death? Saleen was left with this only thought, the purest response in the face of death.

Saleen's body fell backwards onto the floor. The blue light appeared again in the deep lightning-shaped mark on the badge in his hand. The fine, undetectable lightning did not enter through Saleen's body, but entered directly into his heart.

Saleen's heart had stopped beating, but in that moment, it began to violently spasm from the sudden strike of the current. His blood was squeezed by the intense compressive force applied to all of his body.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Saleen's body was revived and he regained his awareness. The nothingness in his surroundings had disappeared. Saleen's body bounced up from the floor, nearly hit the ceiling, and then fell down heavily.

This fall made his mouth and nose bleed; the blood was purple and contained clots. Saleen could not describe the pain he was in. When his body had restored its awareness, all kinds of negative symptoms were felt throughout his body – weakness, pain, coldness, burning…

These frightful feelings kept repeating over and over again. Aside from that first bounce in the beginning, Saleen did not have any energy to struggle. He did not even have the strength to lift his fingers. He shut his eyes tightly, and his mind nearly broke down.

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Chapter 11: Magic String Medicine (Part 2)

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

The passage of time slowed down significantly. Every minute felt as long as a day. Such suffering truly lasted for twenty-four hours. Only when the sky darkened again did Saleen regain control of his body.

Argh…

Saleen felt as though his vocal cords were not his; the pain had not disappeared completely. He struggled, loosened his hand first, and then threw aside that scary badge.

Demonic tool! Demonic tool?

Saleen was roaring inside. This damn badge must have been a demonic tool; just now, he felt as though he had been swallowed and digested along with his soul.

What was a demonic tool? During the First Dynasty thirty thousand years ago, human beings had still been a powerful species. They could arbitrarily tear into space, pass through planes, and capture demons for rearing. The demons that could not be tamed were made into magic props. The magic props made using powerful demons were called demonic tools. Despite the fact that it had initially been done for entertainment, mankind had since then fallen and lost their tyrannical power after only ten thousand years.

These types of magic props had instantly become valuable. As they could not continue to pass through planes to capture demons, these magic props, which could also enslave the demons' souls, had been collected by powerful mages. Until the Fourth Dynasty more than one thousand years ago, with the exception of powerful grade-9 mages, no one else had been able to enslave the demons' souls in the demonic tools.

Demonic tool became a scary term. Mages below grade-7 possessed no means of resisting the power of a demonic tool. These defiant demons would not sign contracts with humans even if all they had left were their souls. Eating up each person they came across was a unique characteristic of demonic tools.

Wrong! If this thing was a demonic tool, he probably would have lost his body. Saleen touched his hands and legs, finding them still full of flesh and blood; they were real.

Saleen finally regained his wit in the midst of this scare, and quickly realized that he was losing his mind. If this had been a demonic tool, even his master would not have been able to survive it, let alone he, an apprentice, be revived after losing his resistance.

What could it be if not a demonic tool? Saleen used his hands to push himself until he was sitting upright and checked his body's condition. Aside from feeling very weak, everything was fine. Even the pathetic amount of magical elements in his body had increased a little compared to before.

Hmm…

There really was a little more, despite the fact that the additional magical elements were still a pathetically small amount. However, for people like Saleen who cherished every tiny increase in the level of their elements, he would have been aware of it even if the increase had been just one-tenth of an element unit. The increase in his mental power was even more obvious. Saleen's mental power had originally already been strong. Jason had said that his mental power would be enough to use, even if he became a qualified mage.

Now, Saleen's mental power had become even more pure and unified. There were even signs of a breakthrough.

Saleen ignored the weakness in his body and quickly climbed beneath his bed to retrieve the badge he had thrown. There was nothing in the dark lightning-shaped mark anymore and that faint blue tinge had disappeared. Saleen stroked the badge but did not dare release any detection magic.

That had been such a painful experience earlier. Even though he had been tortured during his childhood, he was still not able to bear such pain. Change was much harder to bear after one had gotten used to things. His threshold had been reduced since he had been living comfortably in the past few years.

Should he show it to his master? No. If his master were to be messed up by the badge like he had been, that would be…

Saleen actually laughed out loud when he pictured Jason lying on the wooden floor, feeling weak and enduring all of the negative effects. Forget it. He needed to examine it slowly. As long as he did not use magic with this item, things should be fine.

Saleen experienced three failures in the next month. Three thousand gold coins worth of magic medicine had been exhausted and become a pile of waste. This was a big blow to him, because the outcome had not corresponded to the mental power he had been so proud of. It had been very difficult to control the use of the materials for the magic medicine.

What could he do about his inadequate mental power? Saleen remembered his family badge. He retrieved the badge from the box and stroked it gently in his palm. Fight it out! No matter the pain, it would be worth it if it could increase his mental power.

This time around, Saleen paid more attention to the details. He thought he would experiment and try to see the specific conditions of the badge which led it to generate such effects.

He placed the badge on the wooden floor and released detection magic from three meters away. A hazy magical light enveloped the badge which had previously been shrouded in darkness. There was still a short pause, but the light was quickly drawn into the deep lightning-shaped mark.

In the end? Nothing happened!

Saleen moved the badge a little closer to two meters away and repeated his experiment. There was still no response. In the end, he decisively found a set of gloves and continued with the experiment.

In the end, Saleen concluded that the badge was safe as long as there was no contact with his bare skin. It seemed like there would be no issue if he carried it around with him. Saleen finally felt reassured. Otherwise, this thing would have to be stored away in the box.

Saleen began to train arduously. From Tuesday to Thursday, he would use the special power of the badge to abuse himself, then endure the torture for twenty-four hours. His mental power improved significantly. Three months later, Saleen had a breakthrough with his mental power.

From initially only having enough elements to release five consecutive level-0 spells, he could now painstakingly control his mental power to release seven level-0 spells. His magical elements, which had been slow to increase, had originally been at grade-3 apprenticeship level, but if Saleen was sparing in its use, he would be able to display the abilities of a grade-4 apprentice.

The changes to his body were obvious. Saleen still looked thin and weak, but his energy became better, and his tolerance of various negative effects became higher. Most importantly, the duration of the loss of control over his body after using the badge had reduced to six hours.

Saleen no longer had to struggle to endure the six hours. Apart from the fact that his body could not move, he could use these six hours to think, recall the books he had read, and revise his magic knowledge.

After surviving the most challenging period, Saleen had become more confident. He did not realize it himself, but his temperament had also undergone fundamental changes. He no longer had weak responses such as nervousness, indecisiveness, or fear. He smiled more, and they were smiles from the heart.

Saleen decided to continue to train this way. He believed that as long as he persevered, he would have a body that was immune to all negative conditions of magic.

The only thing left unchanged was Saleen's dedication to gold coins. He used the rest of his time to continue to produce magic medicine and sell it to Decca. He had again accumulated more than three thousand gold coins in these three months. It was a pity that things could not be any faster. It was already too much for Decca. The local spending power in Ceylon City was limited. After he had taken the position as the bandit gang chief, he had only had youth bandits with him and they could not undertake any big cases.

Excess supplies of medicine needed to be accumulated in order to be sold to bandits in foreign lands. Decca did not have much cash flow on hand. He did not dare owe Saleen money. He also did not have the influence to make the foreign bandits pay deposits.

Saleen knew that these three thousand gold coins might not be able to manufacture the magic chord medicine. He grew anxious over the gold coins as the days passed. It was the weekend again, and he needed to enter the city to help Jason make purchases, and at the same time bring back the previous week's orders.

There had been bad weather this weekend. The winds had lessened, but the cold rain did not stop. Rust-colored clouds hung over the harbor of Ceylon City.

Two brightly-dressed swordsmen were hiding under the eaves, looking into the distance. They did not have armor, only daggers hanging at their waists. There were leaf-shaped badges embroidered on both of their chests. These badges symbolized that they worked for the lord and had a close relationship with him.

The stature of the two swordsmen were very similar – broad shoulders and slender waists, and bodies that were big and tall.

"Chief, is that kid not coming?" the red-haired swordsman asked worriedly. He looked at the rain which had gradually become heavier.

"No, Chris. It has been three years. He appears at this time every week, regardless of the weather."

The blond-haired swordsman touched his dagger and patiently stared at the stone pavement under the eaves. The rain blown in by the wind could not get close to his body. Chris, the red-haired swordsman, could only shrink inwards. He thought to himself: When will I be like chief and succeed in calling the sword aura?

The stone pavement, which had not been repaired for many years, began to flood. The raindrops pounded down like a curtain, splashed, and formed a layer of mist on the ground. There were not many people out and about in such weather. It was almost autumn, and Ceylon City was becoming colder.

The eyes of the blond-haired swordsman were like a torch, piercing through the curtain of rain to look at the end of the road. A skinny youth walked by unhurriedly. Not holding an umbrella, he was wearing a funny long robe and carrying a huge leather sack on his back. The rain fell and bounced off of his body. Even the boots on his feet were still clean and dry, untouched by the rain.

As the youth slowly walked closer, his face became clear. His hair and eyes were chestnut in color, and he had a slightly high nose ridge. His eyes were deepset, and he looked like he was of Southern aristocratic descent. His eyebrows were loose, as though he did not mind this dreadful weather. There was a tiny leather bag hanging from his slender fingers.

This was a standard leather bag for gold coins; each bag could hold fifty gold coins. The youth had hooked it onto his fingers, rocking it with his pace. Security at the harbor was not very good. If not for the rain, the bandits might have been eyeing him.

"Mage Saleen!" the blonde-haired swordsman called out warmly, as he waved to the youth.

Saleen tilted the corners of his mouth, pretending not to hear and continuing to walk in the rain. His name was Saleen, but he was not some mage. He was only a grade-3 apprentice.

The swordsman felt a little embarrassed. He could not have possibly called Saleen apprentice. Such a greeting would have been truly disrespectful. The viscount wanted him to be polite as possible. It was indeed tough.

"Master Metatrin!" The blond-haired swordsman raised his voice. The other party had already gone past him, and he could only see his back now.

"Saleen, Saleen!" The blond-haired swordsman could only chase after him as he saw the youth's figure grow further. Chris followed helplessly and ran into the rain. The rain instantly soaked his striking clothing, such that only the insides of the tightly tied boots remained dry. Such freezing rain! Chris shuddered in chills.

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Chapter 12: Viscount Gugger's Invitation (Part 1)

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

"I am Saleen. May I ask what is the matter?" Saleen paused and turned around. The two swordsmen were a head taller than him. He stared into their eyes without looking overbearing. He was not looking upwards, but they were looking at him with their heads lowered. He seemed to have an invisible cover from head to toe, blocking him from the rain and forming a layer of mist.

This was the eighth level-0 magic that Saleen had learned – Invisible Shield.

"It is not convenient to talk in the rain. This way please." The blond-haired swordsman knew that Chris was drenched, and the viscount had repeatedly instructed them to be respectful to this lad.

Saleen nodded, indicating for them to lead the way.

One's environment affects his temperament while one's diet affects his health. Saleen was no longer the orphan from three years ago. His status had changed along with his temperament. As an apprentice, he might not have any fighting ability, but he had a grade-5 mage watching his back. No one, not even the most influential in Ceylon City, would dare to mistreat Saleen.

When Jason had rescued him from prison, the viscount had not even dared to say a single word in response.

Saleen's reserved attitude made the blond-haired swordsman worry that things could be problematic. After all, the viscount had been rejected by mages before. This lad would probably be difficult to deal with too. Walking into a deserted bar, Chris shook off the water on his hair and called for the waiter.

"Two strong tequilas. Um, Mage Saleen…"

"Give me a glass of water." Saleen and the blond-haired swordsman sat opposite each other. He did not put down the huge leather sack he was carrying, but merely tied the money pouch at his waist. Swordsmen were very sensitive to weight. The leather sack on Saleen's back contained at least a hundred kilograms of items. Despite his not-yet-fully-developed body, he had been effortlessly carrying the leather sack.

This was a body that was standard for a swordsman, but not a mage.

An apprentice of magic with a strong physique? The blond-haired swordsman began to pay more attention to Saleen. Mages were indeed mysterious and powerful beings. Three years ago, this child was almost at the brink of starvation, and could not possibly have had any physique to speak of. The waiter delivered the alcohol and water, looking steadily forward. The moment Saleen entered, he had already noticed the long robe on this young man. When he heard Chris calling this youth "mage", he did not dare to utter a word.

Chris passed him a silver coin, and said, "Close the door, then go to the back. Do not come out if no one calls for you." Even if it were not raining, the patrons were typically sparse. Furthermore, as these two swordsmen were from the House of the Lord, no one would dare oppose them even if the boss were here. The waiter hurriedly closed the door, latched it, and obediently hid in the back.

Saleen lifted the cup of water, and released a level-0 Poison Detection spell.

The water was, of course, safe. Saleen was only casually practicing his magic. In any case, that pitiful level of magic could not be used in any battle. What's more, he himself was selling the highly toxic magic medicine in Ceylon City. If he were to be poisoned by his own medicine, he would become the most tragic apprentice in the world.

"Mage Saleen, Viscount Gugger asked that we call upon you." The blond-haired swordsman's words did not make sense. It was obvious that he had stopped Saleen on the road. If it were a visit, they should have gone to the outskirts.

Saleen smiled, not minding what the blond-haired swordsman had said. Now, nobody would dare go near to his house. His teacher disapproved, so even the Lord had to stay away.

"I do not have much time, as I have to rush back before it gets dark. Please get straight to the point," Saleen replied, taking a sip of the water and closing his eyes.

Viscount Gugger Freyne owned Ceylon City. While the Freyne clan had always been rooted here, it had also declined along with Ceylon City. Reduced from being a second class earl to becoming a first class viscount, Viscount Gugger had also lost a large amount of land through the years. The emperor no longer bothered himself with bulletins on Ceylon City. There were little earnings, and it had long been abandoned by adventurers and traders.

Saleen's teacher, Jason Statham, was the first mage to stop by Ceylon City in the last two hundred years. In addition, being a grade-5 mage, he would be able to build a magical tower when he was promoted to the next grade.

The moment Jason appeared, Viscount Gugger had expressed interest in soliciting him. Jason had promptly chased him away, and Viscount Gugger never attempted it again. The first time, one was chased off; the next time, one could be killed.

After a span of three years, the viscount had contacted him. Could it not be a good thing? Saleen contemplated to himself, looking steadily ahead.

"Mage Saleen, Lord Viscount would like to invite you to attend the mid-autumn festival sea sacrifice ceremony." The blond-haired swordsman took a sip of the strong tequila, warmth instantly filling his entire body. Chris was using a towel to dry his hair on the side. Both of them looked at Saleen, awaiting his reply.

"That is all?" Saleen was a little disappointed. Although this invitation was important, what he had hoped for was hundreds of gold coins. Saleen was in urgent need of money, as Decca's capability to receive goods had reached its limit. Even if he were in dire need, Saleen simply could not squeeze water out of rocks.

The mid-autumn festival was a relatively important day in Northern Sikeqinya. The cities along the sea would hold sea sacrifice ceremonies to thank the sea for its blessings. This was the only memory left for the Myers Mainland since the fall of the Goddess of Nature. It was a day for the commoners, but nobility also used this day to show off to one another.

Viscount Gugger knew very well that he would not be able to invite Jason, thus he focused attention on himself. For a mage to accept the invitation, it would give him much face value. Although Saleen was still young, he was able to understand the viscount's calculated move.

"Lord Viscount had requested your honor's attire to be more formal, as a form of gratitude." The blond-haired swordsman had unknowingly used an honorific. Saleen's attitude was unpredictable for him. There was not a bit of response from this fifteen or sixteen year old young man. He had to take out a gift, put it on the table, and push it in front of Saleen.

More formal? Saleen looked at his own robe, but did not feel anything was amiss.

The blond-haired swordsman pushed over a small box. Saleen opened it to see a dazzling sight. Ten magic nuclei lay neatly in the box, each the size of a thumb, gleaming under the dim lighting of the bar. Under the magic nuclei were several Qin Empire bank notes. From the color, he could see they were in denominations of a thousand gold coins each.

Despite himself, Saleen's heart raced. The magic nuclei were probably grade-3. Each would cost more than one hundred and fifty gold coins. The bank notes were estimated to be four to five thousand. This was indeed a large sum of money.

To hire an apprentice of magic to attend a ceremony obviously did not require so much money. Even if Saleen did not have much experience being out and about, given that there were so many soldiers in Sikeqinya, with such a large sum of money, one could definitely hire a mage successfully. And that would be a qualified mage and not an apprentice. These principles came to Saleen when he thought about it.

The viscount's motive was to win over his teacher. If he kept the money and his teacher got wind of it… Seeing that Saleen had closed the cover gently without even blinking, the blond-haired swordsman felt uneasy. He said in a low voice, "Mage Saleen, what Lord Viscount meant was to request that you temporarily dress as a mage. This has nothing to do with your teacher. Our Lord also has another favor to ask of you."

"What is your name?" Saleen asked the blond-haired swordsman suddenly.

"Ulysses, Ulysses Coya." The blond-haired swordsman did not know why Saleen had asked for his name.

"Ulysses, you go back and tell Viscount Gugger that I will pay him a visit at his house next week. Now, I need to head back. My teacher does not like to wait." Saleen smiled, stood up, opened the door, and walked into the rain.

He did not touch the wooden box, which lay quietly on the table. Ulysses did not dare to stop or chase after him. Saleen's last statement was to remind him that with a grade-5 mage backing him, all means of convincing him were useless.

In the Ceylon City Lord's house, the perspiring Viscount Gugger was waiting on his lady. The scars among the long hairs on his muscular chest were a testament of his hard work in his youth.

"Faster, faster!" Lady Viscount was young and enchanting, desperately writhing her luscious body. Gugger was helpless as he had, during noon, enjoyed a stolen moment with his personal maid. At this moment, his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak.

"Narsha…" The viscount slumped down, pressing on top of his lady's body.

Lady Viscount pushed Gugger away and caught her breath. She certainly knew that Gugger was cheating on her. However, to the noblemen, this was nothing unusual. Gugger still had his good points. At least he did not come into contact with those dangerous women. The problem was insatiability; she needed to find something to vent about.

"Gugger, I heard that you took out five thousand gold coins to give that young lad?"

"Is an apprentice worth this much?" Lady Viscount was not an unworldly person. Her father was a chief trader, and she had travelled extensively, encountering many strange people and things.

"His teacher will be worth it," Gugger perked up at the mention of this. He said to his lady, "I am financially strapped now. Get your father to pass me ten thousand gold coins."

"What do you regard my father as?" Lady Viscount gave Gugger a gentle kick.

Master Gugger appeared unperturbed, laid his face down, and began to use his mouth to suck on his lady. Lady Viscount moaned twice, slapped Gugger's head and said, "Get up. I want to ask you, what do you plan to do with this money?"

Gugger hugged his lady, and said in a low voice, "These few years, your father has spent tens of thousands of gold coins on the matter of my viscount title. There are no major issues over at the Presbyterian Council. But as I do not have many political achievements here, to restore the family viscount title and win back the lands, I need to do something the emperor will take notice of."

"What has this got to do with the apprentice?" His lady was still unable to figure it out.

"There is not much I can do if that mage is unwilling to come here. But his student is different. I heard that that lad Saleen is trying his darndest to earn money. As long as I give him money, he will naturally be willing to work for me."

"An apprentice does not have any ability." Lady Viscount was not an amateur. A senior apprentice of magic would be, at most, of the standard of an intermediate swordsman. There were no senior professionals in the house, but it would not be an issue gathering a group of eighty to one hundred intermediate swordsmen. Ulysses was, in fact, the youngest elementary swordsman in the area, and already possessed the sword aura.

"He is a lump of sh*t, and also represents that grade-5 mage's sh*t. When winter comes, I will get him to go with me to eliminate the pirates. When we report to the emperor, I will say that the elimination was successful with the help of the grade-5 mage. By then, the whole empire will know I have a powerful mage supporting me. No one would then oppose my attaining the baron title."

"But it is so impoverished here. Where are the so-called pirates?"

"I have put away many offenders all these years. In fact, they are still alive. When it is time, I will throw them on board the ship. Who will know if they are pirates or offenders? The key is to get that Saleen to follow me. Get me that ship I lent to your father. I must do it personally this time around."

"What happens if that mage comes to know about it?" The Lady was a little worried. If a mage were to be antagonized, even a viscount would have to be prepared to give up his life.

"I have spent much money just to make sure that lad keeps it a secret. If he does not reveal it, the mage will naturally not know. Even if he knew, he would attribute it to his student's greed. Why would it be linked to us?"

"Gugger, you are such a genius. Come, again!" Lady Viscount pressed on her husband's head and pushed him towards her crotch desperately. Her father's investment was truly spot on. This Gugger was indeed a clever and ambitious man. Such kind and ambitious noblemen were rare. If it were someone else, they would have just killed some fishermen to make up the numbers. Gugger was still conscientious enough to set aside some offenders as substitutes.

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Chapter 13: Viscount Gugger's Invitation (Part 2)

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

Saleen had no idea he was being described as the sh*t of a powerful mage. He was prepared to accept the invitation from Lord Viscount, but was worried about his outfit. Where could he get a mage's robe?

He lay on his bed, tossing around. A token of five to six thousand gold coins in appreciation. Five to six thousand gold coins!

Three years ago, when Jason appeared in front of Saleen, Saleen was about to starve to death. Besides the huge stone house itself, he had exchanged all the furniture and furnishings for food. However, no one would buy the house. The interested buyers understood the principle that the house would be even cheaper if Saleen starved to death.

After joining Jason, Saleen used all his time to improve his strength. When he discovered that the badge could increase his power, he even suppressed the fear of pain within his heart to torture his senses each and every day, only for the slight increase in strength it offered. His suffering was in hope of the success of the magic chord medicine.

Saleen had no idea why it had to be so tough. He only knew that once he became a qualified mage, he would no longer need to live the life he'd had before. No one understood the fear an orphan had. When Saleen had accumulated his first gold coin, he immediately bought fifty pieces of bread weighing five hundred grams each and hid them under his bed.

That night, Saleen slept soundly for the first time, feeling blessed.

The bread had turned moldy later. Saleen began to understand that bread could not be amassed, and even gold coins could potentially be grabbed by others. Only when he became a mage would he not need to seek approval from anyone. Even the Lord would equally need to show him due respect.

Saleen could not reject this offer of five thousand gold coins. Five thousand gold coins represented five sets of materials for the magic chord medicine. Based on his current method, it would take him at least two years to earn these five thousand gold coins. Decca had tried his best, and Saleen really had no better way. Taking the money to start a business? That required time. Saleen did not have time for such secular matters; he had placed all his energy into magic and acquiring knowledge.

The problem was, what did Viscount Gugger have in mind for him to do? Saleen was not confident. No matter how clever he was, he was ultimately a youth who did not know the power games of the nobility. Surely, Saleen could not let his teacher know about this, so he felt apprehensive.

He forced himself to stop pondering, dragged the box out from under the bed, and retrieved his family badge.

The magic elements in his body were instantly exhausted, the debuffs flooding in. Saleen was already used to it, and treated his body as though it were not his own. He recalled the magic books and magic notes that he had read previously, steadily enriching his own knowledge on magic. Initially, he had lost control of his body for as long as twenty-four hours, but now he only needed six hours to recover.

Saleen used these six hours to conduct his learning. Reading magic was like "forced memorization", but did not include the understanding of the words' meanings. As though ruminating, Saleen searched through what he had been forced to commit to memory and pondered them continuously. He did not notice that a tinge of blue had flashed across the lightning-shaped mark on the badge in his hand. This tinge of blue was remarkably dark, and was completely different from what he had seen the first time.

"He left the money behind, and left?" Viscount Gugger and Ulysses were having an in-depth conversation in the Lord's house.

"Yes, he did not bat his eyes even once, and had only one expression from start to finish."

Viscount Gugger paused to think, and then said, "You did quite well. Wait for him at the city gate next week, and do not alarm the mage."

"Yes. But, what time should I go?" Ulysses asked this question specifically, not wanting to make any mistakes.

"Idiot, go and wait at dawn." Viscount Gugger was obviously in good spirits, smiling as he lamented without anger.

Ulysses retreated unwillingly. To wait for the apprentice early in the morning, when he had always entered the city in the afternoon? He, an elementary swordmaster, having to wait for a mere mage's apprentice!

Feeling satisfied, Viscount Gugger stretched his body. Although it was unexpected that Saleen had not taken the money, because he was willing to come over for a discussion, there was hope. Now he felt that his marriage to Narsha had been a very wise decision. If not for his father-in-law's support, where would he have found the money to make this possible?

Without money, there would be no way to feed those good-for-nothings at the Presbyterian Council, not to mention to entice this little apprentice. As long as he restored the nobility ranking of his family, this sum of money would be returned..

One week passed quickly. Ulysses, along with Chris, had gone to the city gate early in the morning to wait for Saleen patiently. The weather was getting colder. The two of them put on the leather robes that Viscount Gugger had supplied, and stood at the entrance of the city gate, feeling a little silly. The soldiers on guard at the city gate collecting taxes had offered them the resting house as a bid to please them, but ended up being reprimanded by Chris.

If they missed Saleen, they would definitely be reprimanded when they returned. They would rather stand there in the cold as a form of practice. The Ceylon City walls were very high, being almost ten meters. The city gate was wide enough to allow four horse carriages to move through side by side. Despite the decline of the city, there were still remnants of its former buzz.

It had been many years since the Myers Mainland had been at war with the four big empires. Ceylon City had been peaceful for such a long time that the trees outside the city had not been cleared. Both sides of the wide official road were full of tall and low scattered trees and shrubs. Over the years, the ruts on the slate had become messier over time, having not been repaired or polished by anyone.

Saleen appeared on this old official road. He was still carrying the huge leather sack on his back, with nary a change to his outfit.

Ulysses heaved a sigh of relief. It would have been boring and torturous to have to wait until the afternoon. At the same time, he felt relieved that he had heeded Lord Viscount's instructions to wait here in the morning.

"Mage Saleen!" Ulysses went up to him quickly.

"So it is Swordmaster Ulysses," Saleen smiled and cracked a neither serious nor light-hearted joke.

Ulysses' face turned red but he was not too embarrassed. Saleen was warmer than the last time around. His expression was no longer cold and emotionless.

"Lord Viscount had asked that I welcome you."

"I shall go and collect my goods first, you see…"

"Let Chris take care of it." Ulysses called out to Chris, and the red-haired swordsman meekly took over Saleen's leather sack, along with the store tickets.

"They have been paid for. You just have to inspect the packages. You know the place, right?" Saleen reminded Chris.

The economy in Ceylon City had declined, and there were limited shops. Gugger had actually specially studied Saleen's movements. Of course he knew which store Saleen had placed his orders at. Chris controlled his urge to beat Saleen up, and left quickly like a meteor.

"Swordmaster, let's go."

Ulysses gave a wry smile, and replied to Saleen, "I will call you Saleen from now on. Please do not call me swordmaster. It is embarrassing."

"I am glad that you realize it." Saleen had won the first round. He adjusted his robe and followed Ulysses onto the carriage. The exterior of the carriage was already old, but the fittings within were luxurious.

The interior of the spacious carriage was covered with carpet from the Caucasus Region. The seats were wrapped in velvet from the Tangulasi Empire, and the cushions were made simply with precious silk from the Qin Empire. In fact, the carriage body had been made in the Cloudflow Empire. There was almost no jolt when the carriage was in motion, in essence not affecting skilled shooters in battle.

Although Ceylon City had declined, the Sikeqinya Empire was still flourishing. The largest trading and mercenary groups in the entire mainland were based in Sikeqinya, where one could buy anything they could think of.

Saleen could not appreciate Lord Viscount's hospitality. He only thought that the fragrance inside the carriage was a little strange. He deployed a cleaning spell. With the cleansing of the fresh water vapor, the fragrance in the carriage quickly dissipated. Within six hours, he could release six level-0 spells. Could that Viscount Gugger have invited him to perform?

Saleen leaned against the soft cushions, an indescribable feeling in his heart. Three years ago, he was hungry and freezing. Who would have thought that this day would come when he would be received by the Lord in his very carriage? He felt gratified; all of this was magic, brought to him by Jason Statham. When would he have true glory?

The more Saleen thought about it, the more eager he felt about the payment of those few thousand gold coins from the viscount. He did not speak to Ulysses, but began to meditate in his seat.

Viscount Gugger did not come out to greet him. Ulysses brought Saleen to a small sitting room to wait. This was not considered disrespect, as the small sitting room was used by nobility for extending hospitality to the people close to them. Common visitors would not have such a privilege.

As Viscount Gugger had financial aid from his father-in-law, even though tax revenues had not been profitable, his life was still very comfortable. Saleen was now sipping tea imported from the Qin Empire, and eating dried nuts from Baidi City. The maidservant who had served him was young and pretty, and was looking at him flirtatiously.

Mages were rare. The maids did not care about Saleen's current grade. In any case, once they managed to seduce him, they would have very different statuses.

Although Saleen was not reserved, he felt it was silly. It was fortunate that Ulysses was accompanying him; the two maidservants did not dare to do anything.

"Mage Saleen, I heard that mages can fly in the sky, is that true?"

"Even a grade-5 mage would need the use of an aviation prop. I am just an apprentice. Only mages above grade-6 could own the sky." Saleen straightened his clothes while sitting, and answered according to the standard answer from the magic books.

"You must have read a lot of books. You speak just like a nobleman."

"This is not a compliment, even to an apprentice." Saleen did not want Ulysses to treat this like a joke. He put on a stern look, with no intention of engaging the two maidservants any further.

The maidservants covered their mouths and giggled, "Do you intend to punish us?"

Saleen did not reply; he was not angry. If Viscount Gugger were to punish the two maidservants, he would certainly agree with it. These two maids were obviously not worth a few thousand gold coins. But Saleen remembered how he had been in the past, and felt that such punishments were meaningless.

The people at the lowest level would desperately climb their way upwards, regardless of what was at the top. They would be unwilling to turn back.

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Chapter 14: Trouble with a Lesser Nobleman (Part 1)

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

Luckily, Gugger did not keep Saleen waiting for long. Although he was also from Ceylon City, Saleen had not seen him before.

Gugger looked to be about thirty-four or thirty-five years old, with a face typical of a nobleman from the North. He had a wide forehead and his brown eyes were neither large nor deep-set, unlike that of those from the South. His blond hair was tied in a wavy fashion that resembled a flame, making him appear even younger.

He was more than a head taller than Saleen and almost 1.9 meters in height. His thick shoulders were quite obviously not made of fat, and his wide palms did not appear delicate. Both were testaments that the viscount had not given up his pursuit of the martial arts and practiced it occasionally.

"Mage Saleen!" Gugger warmly enveloped Saleen in a hug. Saleen frowned. He realized what that strange smell had been; it was Gugger's cologne.

"Lord Viscount." Saleen took two steps back and saluted.

The two of them sat down. Gugger said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting. I was meeting some people from the South."

"Lord Viscount, please be forthcoming about what you require of me. The payment you are offering is too much. I do not understand." Saleen wanted to dispose of the formalities; he wanted those few thousand gold coins, no matter what it took.

After a quick evaluation, Viscount Gugger decided not to beat around the bush with Saleen. He said, "Then I shall be direct. I plan to eliminate pirates during the winter. Your teacher was not willing to come along so I decided to seek your help instead."

Saleen laughed. "My Lord, you must be pulling my leg."

Gugger said solemnly, "I know you are still an apprentice, but I am not asking you to kill any enemies this time. I just hope you can make some restorative water for the sailors on board. You may not have learned Grade 1 magic yet and I should not make this request of you. But with the troops at sea, many will be sick or even die during these two to three months. Hence, I hope you can help."

Saleen kept quiet. He was a Grade 3 apprentice and because of his strong mental power, he was just barely able to learn a Grade 1 spell. He had intended to learn the elementary Fireball skill, the most commonly used method of attack among Grade 1 magic.

Restorative water was a type of auxiliary magic, and about one hundred and twenty grams of medicinal water could be produced. Whether ingested or applied, it worked well, and while it did not work exceptionally fast, it had no aftereffects and was harmless.

If Saleen were a Grade 1 mage, such a request would not be a tall order. But Saleen was only a mere apprentice and only could learn a single Grade 1 spell. Before he became a qualified mage, he would have no chance of learning another Grade 1 spell after this.

If a mage skipped a grade to learn these spells, it would determine the direction of magic the mage progressed in during their future advancement. The earlier one learned a spell, the more familiar one would be with it. Upon advancement, the speed of release for the spell would increase.

"Saleen, I know this is asking too much of an apprentice, hence you must accept this payment for the request." Gugger retrieved that small box, causing Saleen's heart to stir again.

"Why not hire a holy master?" Saleen had to question further.

"Senior holy masters are too costly. Besides, divine spells need to be released on the spot. If any problems were to arise, they may incur the wrath of the Holy See. It would be different for you. You can stay with me on the largest battleship and won't be at any risk."

"When do we start?" Saleen took the box indifferently, and stuffed it into his leather bag without opening it.

Gugger heaved a sigh of relief, and said with smile, "The end of the year. It is still early. Today we have two guests visiting from other cities. Please stay for a meal."

Saleen was relieved as well. The money was finally in his hands; it had been unbearable for him up until now.

"Saleen…"

"Lord?"

"I ordered an outfit to be made for you. Would you like to change into it?"

Saleen looked at the robe on him, and finally understood. As the clothing was not made-to-measure for him, it was too big and worn out. Jason did not pay attention to such things. To him, people would respect you no matter what you wore. If Saleen were to stay for dinner, he would need to show the viscount proper respect.

"Mage Saleen, follow us," the two maidservants giggled as they led Saleen out of the small living hall.

Following the maidservants to the guest room, Saleen saw that the clothing prepared for him had been placed on the table. He shooed the two maidservants out, not allowing them to wait on him. Although the fifteen year old youth had some urges after looking at their bosoms, there were more important matters at hand.

After bolting the door, Saleen immediately retrieved the small box from his leather bag and opened it.

Light from the nuclei shot out, temporarily blinding Saleen. After putting the nuclei into the money bag he had prepared and attaching the bag to his waist, Saleen took out the stack of Qin Empire bank notes from the box.

Each note was worth a thousand gold coins, and there were five of them in total.

Saleen grasped the notes in his hand. He felt like laughing, but was afraid the maidservants would hear him. If only he knew a mute enchantment… Saleen counted the bank notes a few times and then stuffed them into the interlayer of his belt.

The two maidservants held their breaths and pressed their ears against the door. They could not hear anything. What was this little mage doing? Only then did Saleen remove his own robe and replace it with the clothing Viscount Gugger had prepared for him.

It was a white robe, modeled after the style of a mage's robe. The belt was tucked around the waist on the inside of the robe. The robe was made with exquisite workmanship, using quality Qin Empire silk.

It was a pity this was not magic silk, and could not help keep his magic constant. The fine, thick silk was indeed beautiful. Its base was silvery white, and embroidered with magic patterns.

There was a magic staff on the table. It was an authentic piece. Saleen picked up the magic staff to feel its magic affinity but was slightly disappointed by what he found. Viscount Gugger had already exhausted it quite a bit, and although this magic staff was of the cheapest kind, it was worth at least a few hundred gold coins.

Saleen gave it some thought, then took out a black metal ring from his leather bag. It was not a piece of magic equipment, but more of a weight used when practicing magic gestures. It was for the purpose of deceiving the unknowing, as the simpler the item, the more difficult it would be for them to figure out what it was.

He looked at his reflection wearing new clothes in the mirror. The skinny, sallow youth he had been had disappeared. The youth in the mirror had a pair of gleaming brown eyes and was taller than before. Using the magic staff, Saleen struck a pose as though he were releasing a spell.

The two maidservants were eavesdropping behind the door but still could not hear a thing. After more than ten minutes, Saleen opened the door suddenly. The two maidservants, caught by surprise, fell into the room at the same time.

Saleen laughed, and pulled one of them along in each of his hands, saying, "Come, let us go meet with Lord Viscount."

The two maidservants turned bright red in embarrassment, and dashed off before him hurriedly. They could not fathom what Saleen had been up to in the room; there was nary a sound made. Furthermore, this little mage's hands were warm to the touch.

No matter how extravagant the lifestyles of the noblemen in the North were, they made sure to maintain certain traditions concerning food. Saleen entered the dining hall and saw a large table in the center. On the table was a copper brazier topped with an iron mesh, and surrounding the copper brazier were Qin Empire porcelain plates. There was raw meat on a porcelain plate almost two feet long. Silver cutlery was placed next to each plate.

There was neither rhyme nor reason to such an arrangement, but even the particular Qin Empire folk would not object to this. The Sikeqinya people, being the nouveau riche, would probably take another two thousand years to develop refined tastes.

The meat carving knife was razor sharp. In the Tangulasi Empire, such cutlery could never appear in a nobleman's dining hall.

Saleen casually glanced at the guests who were already seated. The beautiful voluptuous lady must have been Lady Viscount. Although he had never seen her before, he had often heard about her. The two unfamiliar guests must have been the foreigners. Saleen's nose twitched. There was no smell of fish from them.

"Mage Saleen, allow me to introduce you…" The young Lady Viscount spontaneously volunteered to introduce the two foreigners, since by now Gugger was seated in the host's seat. Her tone made it sound as though the two of them were well-acquainted.

"This is Baron Rick from Krudya City, and this is Baron Minghui from Metropolitan City." Lady Viscount was young and beautiful. Dressed in formal noble attire with her waist bound, she looked even more well-endowed. Towards the two young barons, she was far from shy and very lively.

Rick pretended to look steadily forward, maintaining an elegant demeanor. His gaze would linger for an extra second or two when he looked at Lady Viscount's bosom. Gugger acted as though he did not notice. He was confident in his wife, who would not be attracted to a lowly baron.

Baron Minghui appeared to disregard Lady Viscount's introduction, and looked at Saleen with his lips curled in disdain.

"Mage Saleen? Pretty young, huh. I wonder if you know how to release the Fireball spell?"

Seeing Baron Minghui's attitude, Saleen was tempted to move forward and give him a few slaps. This way, he could quell his anger and also save his magic power. However, as there was a stone-faced swordsman right behind the baron, Saleen would be on the losing side if there were a fight.

Viscount Gugger gave his lady a pinch on the thigh under the table. Lady Viscount understood the hint and interjected, "Mage Saleen, please excuse Baron Minghui's impoliteness. We are common folk and are very curious about magic."

"Magic is not used for showing off," Saleen said icily, not having understood Baron Minghui's intentions.

"Tsk…" Baron Minghui sneered, his triangular-shaped head resembling a type of gecko. He asked in a taunting manner, "What showing off? Could Mage Saleen be lacking confidence in his own abilities?"

Metropolitan City had flourished in the last two years. He had come to Ceylon City mainly to show off his wealth. Unexpectedly, Gugger had brought out a mage, causing him to lose face. Even the senior swordsman behind him paled in comparison.

"Baron Minghui has a large ring," Saleen sighed softly, not continuing his sentence but only touching his own black metal ring.

Baron Minghui's face swelled and turned red. The ring on his finger had a magnificently large thirty-two-facet gem, but it could not be compared to a mage's ring at all.

True noblemen would not attempt to anger a mage. Even if the mage was of a lowly grade, he could still bring about much trouble.

Baron Minghui was from a small area, and had never seen a mage. He had few concerns, and after holding back for a long while, finally spoke, "So as long as one has a white robe, one is a mage."

Saleen chuckled softly, and said, "Baron Minghui seems to think that those who are able to release fireballs are mages. Although I can understand your ignorance, I cannot stand to accept it."

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Chapter 15: Trouble with a Lesser Nobleman (Part 2)

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

Baron Minghui clenched his fist and whispered something to the swordsman behind him. He was not furious, but was not content with letting a child insult him in this manner. Saleen's age did not suit the term "mage" at all.

"The people of Sikeqinya always say that everything can be bought with gold coins. Mage Saleen, I would like to hire you to perform some magic for everyone here right now."

"Sure, I can go to Metropolitan City tomorrow and register myself as a mercenary. You can send someone to go with me."

"Why go to all that trouble? Mage Saleen, why don't I decide? Let's do it right now. Please name your price. Let us all gain some insight. Baron Minghui is a man of status, and he will not refuse you." Lady Viscount settled the matter immediately. Baron Minghui's mouth fell in some distress, but he could not refute a beautiful lady's compliment. That would be shameful.

"Make it two thousand gold coins. It will not be easy for the baron, since he is away from home." Saleen looked indifferent but was delighted in his heart.

"I offer three thousand gold coins. You duel with my swordsman, and it is yours if you win." Baron Minghui was now angered.

The atmosphere at the table grew tense. Saleen's pupils shrank; he had forgotten one thing. Mages induced fear in most people, except for one group – those from remote areas, who had not encountered much of the world. They would fear a mad dog but would certainly not fear a mage.

Fearing a mad dog was understandable, but not mages who had never appeared.

Saleen switched his gaze to the swordsman behind the baron, slowed down, and asked, "Do you intend for this to be a fight of life and death?"

There were neither emotions nor emphasis in what Saleen had said. The swordsman's cold sweat had already soaked his back. He was cursing his baron in his heart. He was only a senior swordsman, and could probably kill this youth. But mage apprentices and swordsmen were different. If you killed an apprentice, their teacher could get angry and take even more lives.

He was a newcomer and did not know the mage grade of Saleen's teacher. If he was further along than Grade 4, the emperor would not be too angered if he were to kill the baron.

He was still young. Could it be that his bright future was about to be ruined by the baron?

Saleen kept looking at the swordsman's eyes, taking in the swordsman's emotional turmoil in his mind. Saleen was slightly relieved. This swordsman would not dare to kill him.

Saleen's heart settled down. He looked at Baron Minghui, and said with a smile, "Baron, I said it was two thousand gold coins for the performance of magic. To win the duel, it will cost extra. Forget about it if you cannot afford it. I do not care for these few thousand gold coins. This is on account of the viscount."

Saleen's speech was befitting of his feigned identity. Baron Minghui gnashed his teeth helplessly.

"How about this? You may not have that much money on you. Use your ring as the prize, and if I win…"

"Sure!" Baron Minghui removed the eye-catching ring and placed it on the table.

"This is yours if you win. But if you get hurt, it has nothing to do with me."

"Let's start." Saleen waved his hand suddenly. The swordsman behind Baron Minghui reflexively drew his sword. The table stood between the both of them. He could not jump onto the table to attack Saleen, as that would be too ill-mannered.

Saleen did not think so. He waved his hand and the flame in the copper brazier at the center of the table soared instantaneously, nearly hitting the ceiling. The originally red flame turned blue in that moment, dancing devilishly.

At the same time, the swordsman felt pain in his eyes and nostrils. He could not see anything and immediately summoned the sword aura. The sword formed a field in order to protect him. He was filled with immense fear as he did not know what magic had come over him.

Saleen was not using magic. He had thrown "witch's sight" straight into the fire and everyone aside from him had temporarily lost their vision. Saleen jumped onto the table silently and used the magic staff in his hand to forcefully whack Baron Minghui's head.

Unlike Viscount Gugger, Baron Minghui had no martial arts background. He was already shouting in panic after having lost his sight. His head received a solid whack. Seeing stars, the baron still did not know what had happened. Saleen gave his head another whack.

"Stop, don't hit me, don't hit me. I concede defeat!" Baron Minghui finally realized what he had been hit by after a few whacks. His throat was sore and his voice hoarse. He was almost in tears. Was that demon not a mage? Why would he hit me?

Saleen stopped and bent over the table to pick up Baron Minghui's ring. He put it away and then crossed the now-extinguished flame before returning to his seat.

Everyone gradually recovered their sight. The swordsman saw the swell on Baron Minghui's head and glared at Saleen in anger.

Viscount Gugger did not know what to say. Saleen was, after all, his mage in name. He had beaten up his guest, and if word got out, Baron Minghui would be shamed.

Saleen shrugged, saying, "If your master is killed in battle, even if you kill all the enemies responsible, you will still not recover your honor, right?"

The swordsman looked at where Saleen was pointing with a chill in his heart. A hole, the size of a face basin, had somehow appeared at the center of the table. The position of the hole was directly in front of Baron Minghui.

He was aware of the Acid Sputtering spell and was not afraid of it. But if the baron was sputtered upon and did not die from it, he would still be ruined for life. The earlier spell had already made him lose his sight for thirty seconds. All it took was for the other party to release a Grade 1 spell, and he would perhaps be unable to survive it.

He felt gratitude towards Saleen. He did not know that Saleen was incapable of any Grade 1 magic, or else he would have hurled a fireball at his head. Only dead enemies were safest. Anyone could understand this.

"I concede defeat." The swordsman hung his head and put away his sword.

"The baron will not go back on his word, right? Two thousand gold coins." Saleen held out his hand shamelessly.

Baron Minghui, simmering with the loss of face, took out two Qin Empire bank notes and handed them to the maidservant behind him. Having received the bank notes, Saleen's look softened. He took out a small bottle and poured its contents onto the fiery coals. A light scent immediately permeated the house.

"Lord Viscount, I'm sorry for damaging your table," Saleen apologized to Viscount Gugger while dispelling the aftereffects caused by the "witch's sight".

Viscount Gugger felt a chill in his heart. He knew that his martial arts skills were inferior to that of Baron Minghui's swordsman. If Saleen had wanted to kill him, it would have been a piece of cake. Mages were indeed evil creatures. Was his own plan too risky?

He had originally thought that it would be harmless to make use of Saleen, who was a mere apprentice. But now it seemed that even a mage apprentice could bring death without rhyme or reason.

"Saleen, to have seen such exciting magic, the loss of one table is nothing. Let us go elsewhere." Gugger beckoned everyone to rise. He knew that it would be unbearable for Baron Minghui to stay in this house for a minute longer.

Baron Minghui was filled with a belly of anger and wanted to make offensive remarks. Viscount Gugger whispered, "Even I, a viscount, would have no control over a mage."

Baron Minghui deflated. He might have been wealthy but he was three titles below that of Gugger. If even the First Viscount said so, it appeared that he would have no way of seeking vengeance on Saleen.

Saleen passed through the city gates, feeling pleased with himself as he leisurely walked home. These days, when Saleen entered the city, there was no need to pay any taxes. It was the same for all cities on the mainland; mages had special privileges.

Saleen's mood improved significantly after thrashing Baron Minghui. He enjoyed the feeling of overturning the situation and emerging triumphant. From that point on, he was not the old Saleen. The name Metatrin no longer represented decline and poverty. He had beaten up the nobleman who led a city. Why wouldn't he be pleased with himself?

Of course, the requirement was that he needed to become a qualified mage. If Baron Minghui were to learn that he was an apprentice, he might seek revenge on Saleen once he was not in Ceylon City.

Now that he had ten thousand gold coins, he had better expedite his production of magic chord medicine. Once it was winter, Viscount Gugger would need his help eliminating the pirates.

Saleen was not enthusiastic about the elimination of the pirates. His ancestors had never been fishing folk, and had started out as noblemen. Later on, when they had lost their titles, they were successful traders travelling to and from the North on the mainland. There was no animosity between Saleen and the pirates, but what Viscount Gugger had said about saving sailors and soldiers had changed his mind.

Jason was engrossed with his magic experiments and did not question Saleen about anything. Saleen spent six thousand gold coins on six sets of materials in preparation for the magic chord medicine.

He was unable to deploy the Magic Flame on his own, and had to rely on alchemy equipment such as the crucible. The procedure of the magic chord medicine did not go well. Saleen failed four times in succession. Nothing was produced, except for dregs in the crucible.

Four thousand gold coins were gone just like that. Saleen's heart ached. The more he invested, the harder it was for him to let go. The date for the mid-autumn sea ceremony was approaching. Saleen hoped to attend the ceremony as a qualified mage.

It was another morning. Jason had taken his breakfast early and gone into his laboratory, keeping the door tightly shut. Saleen was in his own room. He was holding his crucible, into which he had added Magic Flame Medicine. He did not light it up. Instead, he took out his badge, held it in his hand, and released a Grade 0 spell, allowing the badge to exhaust his magical power.

Each time he did this, Saleen's mental power would increase after he had recovered. If not for his poor affinity to the elements, he would have long since become a qualified mage. There would not have been any need for magic chord medicine.

The mysterious badge exhausted all of the power within Saleen's body. Saleen lay on the floor, quietly waiting to recover. A tinge of blue appeared in the lightning-shaped mark at the center of the badge, bringing about all sorts of negative effects. Saleen did not feel anything, and was instead rehearsing the procedures for producing magic chord medicine.

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Chapter 16: The Early Formation of Magic Chords (Part 1)

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

The majority of the seventy-two types of materials were very inexpensive, and not difficult to buy. The most difficult was the maintaining of the time and heat. Saleen's mental power was extremely stable, yet he still failed seven times. These failures helped him gather much experience. He still had two sets of materials left for the medicine, and he did not wish to continue failing.

Six hours had passed. The door to Jason's laboratory remained locked. He usually conducted his experiments for three to five days. After he prepared the food, Saleen did not have any other things to do.

The last trace of the achy feeling left his body. Saleen sat up, feeling that the increase in his mental power this time was extremely obvious. He could even feel the minute movements of the air in the room. An insect had hit the window without making a sound. Saleen turned his head, looking at the insect as it shook itself before flying off.

Saleen leapt up, and swiftly came to the front of the table. He lit the magic flame, and began to add materials into the crucible. His current mental power was strong yet clear, such that he could quickly sense the minute changes to the medicine. He used his limited magic power to control the stability of the flame while he stared attentively at the materials as they changed in the crucible.

Ten hours passed, and Saleen did not even feel hungry. The last portion of the stabilizer had been added into the crucible. The medicine in the crucible had already completely melted into a liquid, and was emitting various colors.

Success was imminent! Saleen swiftly added the magic flame medicine into the crucible to catalyze the flame.

A strong magic wave was emitted. Saleen's heart pounded violently. This had given him a big shock. There was no advanced magic array ornament in his room, and within three seconds, Jason would be able to discover the abnormality in his room.

The conspiracy between Saleen and Viscount Gugger had been carried out behind Jason's back. If Jason found out that Saleen was making such medicine, he would certainly know that Saleen had collected money from Gugger.

Saleen grabbed his badge and pressed it into the liquid in the crucible while releasing a Grade 0 spell. The mysterious badge drew in Saleen's magic power, and absorbed the new burst of magic wave at the same time. Saleen fell to the ground with fear in his heart.

Being a mage's apprentice, he would not be able to clearly explain why he had received so much money from Viscount Gugger.

Only when night came did Saleen climb up from the floor. As he looked at the empty crucible, he wanted to cry. There were no dregs left this time around. Success had been so close! When he had been shaken by the powerful magic wave, he had destroyed the magic chord medicine with his own hands. That damn badge!

Saleen picked up the badge, his eyes drawn to it.

The dark green magic pattern on the black-metal badge was now a luxuriant green. The center part of the crack exuded a blue liquid. He did not detect any magic wave within the translucent blue liquid. Saleen did not dare release a magic detection spell, lest he had to lie down for another six hours.

What was it? Magic chord medicine?

Normally, magic chord medicine was supposed to be colorful. Saleen looked at this blue liquid. He would not dare drink it immediately regardless of the circumstances. He retrieved a green jade bottle and stored the blue liquid in the bottle. That tiny jade bottle, shorter than a finger, had cost Saleen two hundred gold coins. It had originally been prepared to store the magic chord medicine.

Saleen did not know what it was that he had made. He was also afraid that this strange medicine would evaporate so he contained it first. He cleaned the table and ate his dinner without even tasting it. Then, he lay on his bed, thinking hard.

It was two weeks to the mid-autumn festival. He was left with four thousand gold coins and two sets of materials for the magic chord medicine. At most he could prepare six sets of materials, but it was possible that he wouldn't succeed with those six sets of medicine material, judging by his past failures.

Gritting his teeth, Saleen decided to wait until the next day. If he could not succeed with the two sets of additional materials, those four thousand gold coins needed to be saved. Once he progressed to being a Grade 1 mage, he would need to spend even more money. If he spent all of his gold coins on magic chord medicine, his future education would be arduous nonetheless.

Saleen could not ask Viscount Gugger for money. This was different from when Viscount Gugger had hired him. Asking for money was the same as selling himself out to the viscount.

In the next two days, Saleen exhausted the last two sets of medicine material. In the end, all he obtained were dregs. The feeling of success in producing the medicine that he had previously experienced was not to be. Even an error-free procedure did not guarantee success.

With no other option, Saleen considered using the translucent blue medicine in the bottle.

It was ten days to the mid-autumn festival. Saleen waited until Jason was conducting his experiments again before hiding in his room to drink the bottle of blue medicine in secret.

A cool, refreshing feeling glided down his throat and entered his stomach. Saleen strictly followed the requirements stated in the magic book. He drank only milk the entire day and did not eat any solid food. He also took medication which removed impurities from his body. His famished body immediately absorbed the medicine that had entered his stomach. Saleen felt as though the medicine had penetrated the walls of his stomach, infiltrated his blood vessels, and flowed through his entire body.

This outcome was different from what the book had described! Saleen was a little nervous but it was too late for regrets.

Now, Saleen's condition became a little strange. He was obviously feeling changed all over, but could not stop sweating. His sweat smelled very disgusting, and was a dark black. After more than ten minutes, Saleen could feel that his body was extremely dehydrated. He used a ladle to scoop up at least half a kilogram of clear water from the wooden pail and guzzled it down into his stomach. Still, the feeling of dehydration worsened.

Saleen knew that something was amiss, and he did not dare hesitate. If he did not act now, he could end up as a corpse in less than half an hour. He quickly put on his robe while trembling and dashed out of the ancestral house.

His ancestral house was built in front of a mountain. Saleen ran desperately towards the back of the mountain where there was a small stream.

Usually, it took half an hour to get there; Saleen had dashed there within five minutes. He dove straight into the stream and found a relatively deep area. He then threw off his robe, removed his clothing, and immersed his entire body in the water.

The water of the stream entered Saleen's stomach and simultaneously passed through his nose into his lungs. Saleen did not feel as though he were choking. Every pore on his body was now respiring, inhaling the stream's clean water and expelling dirty bodily fluids.

This was not a painful process, but a physically exhausting one. Saleen felt extremely hungry, but there was no food, and he dared not leave the stream. Although he had already immersed himself in the water, Saleen still felt as though there was not enough liquid in his body. It was not a feeling of thirst, but a sign of dehydration.

The magic chord medicine flowed through Saleen's blood vessels, absorbing the water within his body and forcefully expelling the impurities from his body at the same time.

This process continued for nearly six days. Saleen thought he was going to starve to death in the deserted wilderness. At this time, there was finally a new change in the magic medicine within his body.

Saleen sensed the water element in the area, and his mental power immediately became active. Shutting his eyes, Saleen felt his body become transparent, and he seemed to be able to observe all activity within his body. The blue translucent medicine was diminishing, and was fine like gossamer. It was probably only as long as a finger. After it had flowed into the blood vessels throughout his entire body a week ago, the medicine entered his brain, and appeared to have exploded without warning.

Saleen was startled. He thought he was doomed, but then he realized that the explosion was only an illusion.

An empty space suddenly appeared in the middle of his brain region. A fine translucent blue line floated in this space, and continuously absorbed the water element between heaven and earth.

Originally, when he had used his mental power to sense the water element, it had been formless. Now it seemed as though Saleen was watching from the sides. The formless element was objectified. Numerous transparent blue elemental bodies were closely lined up in the empty space, resembling a massive blue crystal. It was so enormous that there were no signs of any of its edges.

Saleen observed the basic structure of the water element carefully. Before becoming a Grade 4 mage, this was his one and only chance of sensing the element this way.

The filament in the middle of the empty space of his brain region was absorbing the water element, but did not seem to get any bigger. It was still as long as a finger, and much finer than hair. This was the magic chord that the books had described. This elementary magic chord would eventually develop into a network of complete magic chords.

These networked chords would have six properties, representing the six core types of magic. The longer a mage's magic chords, the more powerful the magic he would be able to cast.

Each time, the magic chords would automatically restore themselves after being exhausted during the deployment of magic. Mage apprentices could also use meditation to restore their magic power. However, the magic power that magic apprentices could store was very little, and was incomparable to magic chords.

With the use of magic chords, a Grade 1 mage could deploy one Grade 2 spell, ten to twelve Grade 1 spells, and almost a hundred Grade 0 spells. Fundamentally, the most advanced mage apprentice could only deploy one Grade 1 spell, and around ten Grade 0 spells.

This was the power of magic chords; they were the cornerstone of the entire world of magic.

Coupled with meditation, the restoration of the magic chords that the mage had exhausted would be swift. A powerful mage would only need one or two hours of meditation to restore combat effectiveness. For ordinary mages, six hours would be sufficient to restore all magic chords that had been lost.

The magic chords in his brain finally began to grow steadily. They continued to grow until they were a foot long, before becoming as thick as a thumb and then stopping. Thereafter, they began to grow branches. Saleen had no clue as to how much time it had taken. The senses in his body had disappeared, and all observational power was concentrated in his mental realm, observing the growth of his magic chords.

The space formed in the middle of his brain was very large, as though it were a water droplet more than three meters tall. The branches that grew out of the foot-long magic chords were very tiny. They resembled the veins of tree leaves, and were mostly spread out throughout the brain region.

Saleen carefully recalled the illustration of magic chords in the book. A foot-long magic chord was a special characteristic of a Grade 1 mage. He had bypassed the stage of being a senior mage apprentice and had advanced directly to being a Grade 1 mage. This was truly thrilling.

However, there were two other problems regarding things that were different from what the book depicted.

The first problem was that the book had mentioned that the space of a mage's magic chords would be about a cubic meter or so. But the space of Saleen's magic chords had exceeded what was recorded in the books by at least six times.

This was not a big problem, though. When the space for one's magic chords was big, it illustrated that one could learn more elementary magic. But the second problem was serious.

There were twenty-four branches of magic chords in the space. They were divided into six colors. Yellow represented Ground Magic, blue represented Water Magic, clear represented Wind Magic, red represented Fire Magic, black represented Dark Magic, and white represented Light Magic.

These six-colored magic chords represented the various magic types he could use, but all of Saleen's magic chords were translucent blue, without any exceptions. This meant that he would only be able to deploy Water Magic in the future. Until the magic chords had been completely formed, he had not sensed any other element.

Saleen lacked some ability in releasing Grade 0 magic. Other than the six series of unpopular magic, he was now also unable to deploy the Invisible Shield.

Saleen remembered the sentence in the book –"Whatever you pay out will exceed what you receive".

Was that the payment? Saleen crawled ashore, feeling depleted of energy. He lay face down at the side of the stream, desperately gulping down water. Having starved before, Saleen knew that by filling himself with water, he could temporarily provide his body with a little energy, allowing him to rush home.

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Chapter 17: The Early Formation of Magic Chords (Part 2)

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

His body felt as though it weren't his. This was worse than torture, and worse than usage of the badge. But Saleen was smiling, because magic chords had been formed. He had finally become a qualified mage. He ran towards his home unsteadily. When he entered his room, Saleen saw Jason sitting on his bed, meditating.

"Teacher…"

Jason opened his eyes and looked at Saleen for a while, then said, "My materials are nearly used up. Make a trip to the city tomorrow."

Saleen was uncertain, not knowing whether he should tell Jason that he had formed his magic chords. Jason did not say anything else, and left Saleen's room straight after.

Saleen did not know if Jason had discovered anything. He did not have time to ponder, his stomach was rumbling. He ran to the kitchen, yanked down the smoked meat hanging on the stove, and chewed it hungrily. He ate as he walked back to his room. He looked at the magic clock on his table and realized nearly ten days had passed.

Tomorrow was the mid-autumn festival!

Saleen had no energy, but desperately tried to stay focused in order to learn a Grade 1 spell – Icicle Magic.

He succeeded in his first deployment; a white light appeared between his hands. A piece of icicle with the thickness of a finger flew out and hit the opposite wall. A hole was made in the stone wall. Saleen stood up, used his finger to reach in, and felt around the hole, but could not feel the end.

He was astonished in his heart. The power of Grade 1 magic was indeed adventurous, incomparable to Grade 0 magic.

It was a pity that he lacked proficiency, and needed both his hands to cast this spell. His preparation time was as long as six seconds. According to the rules, he could cast such spells twelve times at most. It seemed like he needed to continue with the Grade 0 Acid Sputtering spell. Magicchords were a mage's safety net, and so should not be completely exhausted.

It was a pity that he would only be able to deploy Water Magic in the future. It would be great if he could learn the Fireball skill. It caused a smaller amount of magic depletion and required a short preparation time, but was still powerful.

Facing the messy display of his magical tools on the table in the laboratory, Jason did not have the heart to continue with his experiments for now. He had felt the magic wave in Saleen's room, but did not know what Saleen had done. Had he showed enough concern for this student of his? Saleen was still young, and could easily be deceived if Jason did not pay more attention to him.

Saleen's appearance had changed. Something that Jason could not guess was definitely happening.

The whole night, Saleen practiced the Icicle Skill. He was surprised to find out that he could actually continuously release the Icicle Skill more than twenty times. That was to say that he had almost twice the magic chords of a Grade 1 mage. In addition, through meditation, the restoration of his magic chords was an exceptionally fast two hours.

The two hour restoration rate was an ability which only genius mages possessed. Saleen knew his capabilities were average, but did not know that the magic chord medicine had completely changed his body structure.

Only at dawn did Saleen lay on his bed to sleep for a while. His nerves were too stirred up, and his sleep this time was hardly sound. Before noon, he jumped up from his bed and approached his mirror, planning to get dressed.

At this time, Saleen was stunned to find that there were changes in his appearance.

The youth in the mirror was slightly taller, and his hair had turned from brown to black. The most noticeable thing was his pair of eyes which had become as blue as the sea.

He was dazed for a while, recalling that his master had seen his appearance yesterday, and felt a little guilty. Hence, he did not bid Jason goodbye, but immediately picked up his leather sack and left his ancestral house in a hurry.

No matter how many books he had read, Saleen was still a child. He did not know how to explain things, and so chose to avoid doing so instead.

Feeling troubled, he came to the outside of Ceylon City where a joyous sight beheld him. Wreaths of green plants were hung outside the main doors of all buildings. Three kinds of plants had been bound together – wormwood which ridded plague, millet sprays which represented bountiful harvests, and a branch of silk leaves.

This was an ancient Myers Mainland custom, and was the vestige left behind by the Goddess of Nature. Even though the Holy See had influenced more than half of the mainland, it could not change the people's customs.

Sikeqinya was an empire established by trade. There were squares of various sizes in each city, provided for small traders with no permanent stores to set up stalls. Today, these squares had been renovated, and Viscount Gugger had used his own money to invite some performance troupes to perform for the people of the city free of charge.

Strictly speaking, Viscount Gugger was a traditional nobleman. During such a festival, his biggest expense was to distribute money and food to the poor. Saleen's life had once been saved by Viscount Gugger's flour. Hence, despite knowing that Gugger was making use of his relationship with Jason, Saleen had still chosen to accept his proposal.

Viscount Gugger had announced earlier that the taxes for this month would be waived. There was joy on the faces of the people, coming from the happiness radiating in their hearts. On the dilapidated rooftop stage, the travelling performing troupes were putting in their best at their performances. Saleen felt a little unwell. All this felt a little surreal.

Everyone's smiles and voices seemed to bear a layer of invisible film. This had nothing to do with him though. Saleen suddenly had a feeling of desolation as he carried his leather sack and weaved through the various sized squares. His mood was abruptly dampened.

Everyone who saw him deliberately kept a distance from him, as though Saleen were a demonic beast who had intruded into the city.

Saleen suddenly understood why Jason did not live in the city. It was an uncomfortable feeling. The dignity of a mage was simultaneously a chain of shackles, separating mages from commoners into two types of beings. The commoners intentionally remained reverential, whereas mages had to be reserved, and maintained their dignified manner at all times.

A group of people were walking up from afar. They were a troop of soldiers carrying a statue of a sea monster. The Goddess of Nature had instructed the sea monster not to disturb the fishermen near the sea. After the fall of the Goddess, the fishermen had decided to honor the sea monster, to pray for the safety of those out at sea.

Saleen silently turned away. If he continued to walk in the middle of the road, this troop would probably turn away. As he was brooding, there was suddenly chaos amongst the soldiers. A youth dashed out of the crowd, having seen Saleen from afar, and shouted loudly, "Saleen, save me!"

Saleen frowned as that youth ran towards him, staggering. One of his sleeves was torn, the bloodied flesh of his left arm partially visible. This person was the young bandit that he had been peddling magic medicine with.

"Decca, return their things to them." Saleen knew what had happened.

"Returned. They want to kill me." Decca had come before Saleen. Saleen saw that the white bone of Decca's left arm was visible. The bone was broken. This was an injury caused by the sword aura. The opponent was at least a junior swordsman.

Saleen sighed. Should he deal with this matter or not? Decca then noticed that Saleen's eyes had turned blue, and pointed at Saleen in shock speechlessly.

"The person up ahead, catch that little thief!" Four swordsmen emerged from the chaos of the crowd, fiercely shouting at Saleen.

Saleen's frown deepened. When he was young, he had not been short of scolding. Today, he had stored the fake mage robe in his leather sack, but had lacked the time to change into it. However, even so, the people in Ceylon City could recognize him and knew him as the mage apprentice whose teacher was a Grade 5 mage. No one had dared to even speak to him.

This was a group of foreigners!

Decca had obviously acted because of this. In general, a senior bandit would not target the locals in case it caused a disturbance among the people and made future business tough. It was unfortunate that Decca had met with trouble this time. The other party was comprised of four swordsmen, and Decca had been unable to deal with them alone.

The four swordsmen were dressed in fine metal armor; Decca's small dagger would be up against the long weapons of the swordsmen. He was doomed. Saleen moved back and began to prepare magic.

A whole night of practice had not only increased Saleen's release speed, but had saved him the step of chanting. After Saleen silently prepared three Icicle Skill spells, he started to speak, and said to the swordsman who had by now slowed down, "Give him grace and let him off. Just name the compensation you are after."

Saleen's Icicle Skill was induced but not released, and continued to exhaust his magic chords. He did not dare act hastily, because Saleen was unsure whom Decca had provoked.

"Kill him!" A young man dashed out of the crowd, his beautiful long robe ripped open in the front. His forehead was bruised, something likely caused by Decca. This young man's extremely thin lips had been painted a faint green color.

Saleen was in a serious dilemma. Decca was considered a friend of his in Ceylon City. Was he worth starting a feud for? Based on the other party's attire, he must have been a nobleman.

At this thought, he deployed the readied Icicle Skill. This was because the other party's swordsman had exhibited an attacking stance. Once they came close, Saleen would not have the magic to defend himself against four long swords.

Saleen had previously learned the Grade 0 Invisible Shield, which was a form of Wind Magic. After the formation of his magic chords, this Wind Magic had disappeared. No matter how accurately Saleen chanted, or how powerful his mental power was, he was no longer be able to cast any other magic besides Water Magic.

"Mage!" The swordsman opposite him hurriedly leapt away. Except for the swordsman in the middle who had used his sword to block Saleen's icicles, the other three swordsmen were struck in their abdomens. Fresh blood instantly spluttered out.

The swordsman who had blocked the icicle was shocked. He had just developed the sword aura, which was why he had managed to block the magic attack. The long sword in his hand had become so unusually cold that he almost could not hold on to it. In addition, the force of the icicle was stronger than he could have ever imagined. It had shaken both of his arms, numbing them. The sword aura had completely dispersed.

The worst part was that the extremely young mage opposite him had started to prepare his magic once again.

The embarrassed young nobleman screamed, pointed at Saleen, and shouted, "Little brat, do you not recognize who I am?"

Saleen was suddenly filled with killing intent. It had been three years since anybody had berated him in such a manner. Those humiliating days had seemed non-existent. This young man instantly brought Saleen back to reality. He looked at the young nobleman coldly, and opened his mouth to chant a spell. The swordsman who was unhurt was unable to call upon the sword aura, and could only shout loudly, "Young master, run!"

As he shouted, he leaped forward with his long sword. He had experienced many battles, and could easily see in Saleen's blue eyes the intention to kill. Only one who was determined to kill the other would look at his opponents in that way.

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Chapter 18: In Exile After the Killing (Part 1)

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

Decca saw the other party rush forward. He disregarded his injury, lifted his dagger, and charged at the swordsman. Even though the other party had not called upon the sword aura, his sword still knocked Decca's dagger into the air. Decca's wrist bled profusely, and he was unsure if his muscles and bone were hurt.

With this block, Saleen had finished chanting his spell. In his hand, a strong green light lit up, and a trace of a white line shot out into the air towards the swordsman's face.

The swordsman lifted his sword with difficulty; the stainless steel sword was broken with the sound of a click. The icicle pierced his head, and exploded behind him. The chilly trail dispersed all around. The young nobleman was stunned momentarily.

The green light in Saleen's hand did not disperse, a second icicle shooting out even more swiftly. The young nobleman opened his mouth, looked at the gaping hole the size of a bowl in his chest, and collapsed.

"Stop!"

A familiar voice sounded out, but it was too late. The heart of the young nobleman had ruptured, and not even deities could save him now. Saleen felt someone approach him from behind. Decca fell to the ground. He struggled to get up but to no avail.

Saleen turned around, the green light on his finger lit up again. However, it was not Icicle Magic this time around, as there was no time to prepare it. Saleen could only quickly prepare Acid Sputtering, but was not confident he could stop the person who was approaching.

The sharp growl drew near, Saleen's wrist suffered a heavy blow, and the magic instantly dispersed. Someone grabbed Saleen's shoulder, and Saleen could feel pain in the muscles all over his body.

"Come with me."

Only now did Saleen see clearly that it was Ulysses, the swordsman from the House of the Lord, who had captured him.

In the battle, Saleen had badly mauled three swordsmen. The procession had become a big mess. Ulysses kicked Decca's waist. Decca gave a grunt and looked at Ulysses as he got up.

Ulysses looked at him coldly, then cast a glance at the three injured swordsmen lying on the ground before dragging Saleen off. Decca broke into cold sweat, instantly understanding what Ulysses meant.

Decca withstood the pain as he produced a second dagger from his chest. He then added another stab to the necks of each of the three injured swordsmen.

Ulysses brought Saleen into a pitch black alley, let him go, and started by saying, "Saleen, you are in trouble."

"Who was that person?" Saleen asked in a low voice as he struggled to calm himself down. Decca had stumbled into the alley by this time and stood in front of Saleen.

Ulysses saw that Saleen's appearance had changed. His mind was racing as he thought about how to deal with this. Swiftly, he made a decision and said to Saleen, "He was the son of Earl Sufonso from Yaoyang City. You had better leave the city. Your teacher will not be able to protect you. Buy a horse and go as far as possible."

Saleen felt as though his heart had been dealt a blow. He had killed the son of an Earl, and it was the Earl of Yaoyang City. Yaoyang City was considered the biggest city within these several thousand square meters. Earl Sufonso had a large army. Even worse, just outside of Yaoyang City was a magical tower with a Grade 6 mage.

Regardless of whether this Grade 6 mage would help the Earl kill him, his own teacher would definitely not be able to protect him, lest he ended up angering another senior mage.

There was chaos in Saleen's heart. He was unable to accept this truth. When he had nearly been on the proper path to begin practicing real magic, he had suddenly landed himself into such big trouble.

Yaoyang City was certainly not a small place like Ceylon City. There were many swordsmen there and at least a few hundred had attained the grade of swordmaster. While Saleen had just killed an elementary swordsman, their death had to be attributed to Saleen's precise control of distance. Ulysses was also an elementary swordsman, but had seized him with just one move.

Decca knelt down with a flop, and said with his head lowered, "Saleen, I'm sorry."

Ulysses drew his long sword with force, intending to silence him. He had wanted to kill this bandit earlier, but as he had needed to flee the scene, he had left the dirty work to this bandit.

Saleen extended his hand to block Ulysses, and said, "This is my friend. I trust him."

Decca lay on the ground, looked at Saleen, and did not get up for a long while. He forced back the impulse to cry. Saleen had said he was his friend. Since he was young, no one had ever looked him straight in his eyes, except for Saleen. After Saleen had become a mage's apprentice, he had thought that Saleen had become like the people of Ceylon City. Now, Saleen had not only stopped the swordsman from killing him, but had also said he was his friend.

The term "friend", to many people, was used for betrayal. However, to others, friends were people to whom you could entrust your life.

"You go. I can't put all the blame on you. I was too rash," Saleen finished saying. He turned to Ulysses and bowed, then said, "I am unsure why you are willing to let me off. One fine day, I will return to thank you. Please tell Lord Viscount that I am terribly sorry to have taken his money without being able to get the job done. I will not let his money go to waste. I shall set off now. What about you?"

"Earl Sufonso is currently a guest at the House of the Lord. You had better leave as soon as you can. I will go back to report that you killed someone. However, since your appearance has changed, I will only describe your past appearance since no one in the house knows about this. Before you go, it is better that you inflict it on me too."

Ulysses pointed at his own arm. Saleen knew that he could not delay any further, gnashed his teeth, and released an Acid Sputtering spell. Ulysses groaned as the acid instantly burned his arm, white smoke rising.

After Ulysses left, Saleen said, "Decca, let's go."

Decca lifted his head, guilt written all over his face. "Saleen, if I had been caught, I would not have survived. I will not breathe a word regarding your affairs. If I escape, I will go to the Tanggulasi Empire and never return to Ceylon City."

Decca finished speaking, pressed his head hard against the ground, and then left.

Saleen was distraught as he pulled out a face towel to mask his face before exiting the alley. He headed directly eastward, escaping Ceylon City in a hurry. Having rushed back to the ancestral house, Saleen stood outside Jason's laboratory. He hesitated for a moment but still knocked on the door.

Ulysses slowed down as he headed back to the House of the Lord. As he entered, he sped up, and dashed into the living hall straight away. He then shouted loudly, "Master, something has happened!"

Viscount Gugger had been speaking with Earl Sufonso when he saw Ulysses rush in with his clothing disheveled and his arm obviously hurt. Instead of reprimanding him, he asked gently, "Ulysses, how did you get hurt?"

Ulysses knelt down immediately, but faced Earl Sufonso. "Lord Earl, something has happened to your son. I had arrived late and was unable to protect him…"

Gugger and Sufonso were both stunned. Earl Sufonso was not much older than Gugger, and was about forty years of age. However, he looked slightly younger than Viscount Gugger.

Earl Sufonso had a pair of pitch black eyes, his irises appearing as though they were masked with a layer of mist. This was a result of him acquiring a certain level of his family's traditional practice of the sword aura. Upon hearing that something had happened to his son, Earl Sufonso's body instantly flared with powerful killing intent. If Ulysses had not knelt down earlier, he probably would have had to get down on his knees now anyways.

"What happened to him?" Earl Sufonso gave Ulysses a deadly stare, the mist in his eyes increasing.

"The young master was killed by a mage. I witnessed it when I went there, and also suffered a spell." Ulysses fearfully pointed at his arm.

"Where did it happen?"

"The east entrance of square number 12."

"Bring me there," Earl Sufonso stood up, towering like a mountain.

"Lord…"

"What is it?"

"I know the mage who killed him."

"What did you say?" Earl Sufonso grasped only empty air but had actually lifted Ulysses up. His black irises quickly shrunk, and stared into Ulysses' eyes.

"Lord Earl, hear me out…"

Ulysses was unusually shocked. Earl Sufonso's sword aura could not only overflow in vitro, but could control objects. Had he become a swordmaster? Had Ulysses chosen poorly in letting Saleen off? However, because it had already happened, he could only grit his teeth and endure it to the end. If they were seen through, he would need to shoulder the blame and avoid implicating Viscount Gugger.

He tried to narrate Saleen's background as quickly as possible. After Earl Sufonso heard that Saleen's teacher was a Grade 5 mage, he put Ulysses down gently, and pondered.

He was no match for a Grade 5 mage. He had not brought along that many guards this time. If a conflict were to arise, he would be on the losing end. But if he were to return to Yaoyang City to request for the great mage to write a letter, that murderer would have escaped by then. Would Gugger be willing to offend a Grade 5 mage on his accord? If Gugger would help him gather Ceylon City's army and troops, it would be possible to kill that mage.

A scowl appeared on Gugger's face. He was good at calculating. The moment Ulysses had said he was related to the matter, he had nearly guessed what had happened. He did not think that a mage's apprentice could kill four swordsmen and then escape. However, as Ulysses had already let him off, he did not have to pursue the matter any further. Ulysses was doing him a favor.

He coughed, disrupting Earl Sufonso's train of thought, and said, "Let us not speak of this. Ulysses, go and manage the scene. Chris, bring all our people and lock the city gates. If you see Saleen, kill him straight away if he resists. Lord Earl, I will go with you to see the mage, and explain the situation to him."

Although that was what he said, because Ulysses had taken half a day with his narration, Saleen had most likely escaped from the city by now. He had redeployed his people so they would not have to face the mage directly. He would go with the Earl to see the mage. The mage had lived in Ceylon City for three years, and since Gugger had not offended him, it was unlikely that he would lose his life.

The outcome would not have anything to do with him.

"Many thanks. Snow, bring our men and follow me." Earl Sufonso suppressed his anger temporarily as he called out to the person who had been standing behind him all this while.

This man by the name of Snow looked pale, his eyebrows drooping. The ten fingers on both his hands were pitch black. He was thin, and was not wearing any armor. Upon hearing Earl Sufonso, he turned and vanished outside the living hall. An experienced assassin! Viscount Gugger felt a chill behind his back, as well as an inexplicable uneasiness.

In battles, there were not much use for assassins. However, during normal times, these assassins were most lethal. In a one-to-one face-off, a swordsman would be no match for an assassin, even if they were of the same grade.

Viscount Gugger nonchalantly followed beside Earl Sufonso as he weighed his gains and losses. If he helped the Earl apprehend Saleen, what benefits would he obtain?

No! The few thousand gold coins from earlier plus Ulysses' favor would definitely reap more in the future. As long as Saleen was not an utter blockhead, he would certainly get his returns.

If he killed Saleen, Mage Jason would likely vent his anger out on him. Even if Earl Sufonso were to compensate him, he could not possibly move the magical tower over from Yaoyang City.

It was still best to go with the current course of action. Viscount Gugger heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.

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Chapter 19: In Exile After the Killing (Part 2)）

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

Saleen burst through the door to the laboratory. Jason saw Saleen in a dishevelled state and asked in surprise, "Saleen, what happened to you?"

"Teacher, I am in trouble. I killed the son of Earl Sufonso."

"Just an earl?" Jason was not very concerned about worldly matters. To him, it was not a big issue to have made an enemy of an earl. Having witnessed Saleen's growth these past few years, he knew that Saleen was not a troublemaker.

"Teacher, there is a magical tower in Yaoyang City!" Saleen replied in a panic.

"Oh?" This had gotten Jason's attention. If the other party had a powerful mage, he would not interfere directly. Based on Saleen's current level, offending the Earl would be punishable by death.

"How did you offend him?"

"I was only passing by, and saw him about to kill someone…" Saleen did not dare mention his relationship with Decca. What he had said was not wrong. Saleen had already agreed to the request for compensation by the other party, which had been quite low. If not for the tyrannical behavior and rudeness of the Earl's son, Saleen would not have injured or killed anyone. His first round of attack had not even been intended to be lethal.

"Saleen, even if you were in the wrong, I should still protect you," Jason said as he sighed. "However, should the other party's mage write me a letter, I will not be able to interfere with this matter. You have killed someone and must pay for it."

"Teacher, have I caused you trouble?" Saleen asked the question that had been bothering him. He was worried that the other party's mage would be angered, and that he had implicated his teacher.

"No, this is between you and the Earl. That mage and I will not do anything. Saleen, you will not blame me for not intervening in this matter, will you?" Jason looked at Saleen, and asked this somewhat guiltily. He had planned to start coaching Saleen in magic once he had advanced, but now there would be no such opportunity.

"Teacher… this matter was due to my rashness. I must leave." Saleen was very aware of his predicament. If Jason were unable to help, that furious earl would definitely tear him into pieces.

"Wait a moment."

Jason pulled out a few boxes from beneath the experimentation station and opened them, searching for a few items for Saleen.

A white worn-out mage robe; a balaclava with some tears and a magic symbol near the chest; a necklace, set with a long chain of smokey quartz. Smokey quartz could increase a mage's affinity to elements. A rugged leather sack that could be worn diagonally across the torso.

Saleen's gaze landed on the last item. That item was a ring; a piece of clear white crystal had been set on the silvery grey-colored metal.

White crystals were very precious, and could augment the restoration of magic chords. It was too advanced for a mage apprentice. Saleen did not know what to say, and did not know whether he should tell Jason that he had already become a mage.

"Saleen, this magic robe was given to me by my teacher. It can be worn from Grade 1 to Grade 3. There are three constant magics on it."

Jason touched the remaining few items, and continued, "Your affinity to the elements is very weak. This smokey quartz necklace will probably be of some help to you. There are some magic books I used to read in the sturdy leather sack and should be sufficient for you to read until you attain Grade 3. This ring with white crystal… you will find it useful."

Saleen put on the magic robe in silence, donned the necklace and ring, and slung on the leather sack. Jason said to him, "Go pack your things. I need to prepare for the earl who should be appearing soon. You should set off immediately."

Saleen did not say anything else. Ulysses had let him off without anyone knowing. His teacher had let him go to face the earl's wrath directly. He hurriedly returned to his room, retrieved the family badge from his box, and tucked it into the inside of his belt. He also stuffed the stack of meaningless debt collection slips into his leather sack. They were useless but since they had been left behind by his father, he would keep them just out of remembrance.

Four thousand gold coins worth of bank notes and ten Grade 3 magic nuclei, together with one hundred and eight gold coins in two money bags, were put into his leather sack. Spending money of eight gold coins was put into his money bag, which hung at his waist. He put on his new boots, and without bidding farewell, Saleen leapt out of the window and hurriedly escaped into the mountains.

He did not have a horse. Even if he had one, he would not be able to outrun the Earl's troops.

After threading through the wilderness in the mountains for more than half a month, the weather had become colder. Saleen had yet to spot any way out. He did not even come across a village. It was a good thing that he had formed his magic chords, as his movement had become more agile. An ordinary wild beast would have required him to use a Grade 0 spell to deal with it, but he did not meet with any danger.

He was alone and distinguished the directions based on the sun, moon, and stars. He walked towards the southeast; his destination was the Qin Empire.

While Earl Sufonso was powerful, his power could not have extended all the way to the Qin Empire. Even the Holy See was unable to have any influence over the Qin Empire, failing to build a church even after operating for a hundred years.

On this day, Saleen discovered a waterfall in between the mountains. White silk that resembled snow divided the mountain peak, pounding at a pool which emerged from the ground. The pool was cold; the torrent of the waterfall created a faint misty cover.

Saleen could feel the potent intensity of water element here; it was full of energy. Although he could not detect the existence of any battle formations, the life of the water was unusually harmonious. Saleen jumped into the pool and began to meditate.

To many people, the practice of magic was a boring matter. Firstly, one needed to acquire magic knowledge, chants, and gestures. Then, there was the constant exhaustion of magic chords, so as to be familiarized with operating the magic. When the magic strings were exhausted, one would need to meditate to recover.

Saleen, however, did not find it boring. The joy he felt during meditation far exceeded many other forms of pleasure on this earth. That was when the mind entered a state of extreme relaxation. During this time, one could feel the life within an element even without any chanting.

His affinity to the water element was exceptionally perfect. Although he was unable to view his magic chords directly like the time they had first formed, he could feel the water element penetrate every cell of his body, nourishing his physical form.

Particularly when he first entered the water, Saleen did not need to release the Water Breathing spell and could move and meditate in the water for a long time. The effects of meditating in the water far exceeded that of meditation done on land. Saleen surmised that he had only taken one and half hours to recover the magic chords that had been exhausted.

The small silvery-white fish in the cold pool surrounded Saleen, and looked at him curiously. Saleen reached out his hands to touch them, and instead of hiding, they weaved in and out of his palms.

Saleen was, after all, a curious youth, and had a sudden thought. He opened his mouth and blew a chain of bubbles, trapping a few small silvery-white fish in the bubbles. The surface of these bubbles had been formed by magic, and hence they did not float in the water. The trapped fish struggled a little, panicking when they were unable to escape.

There were a few thousand small fish in the vicinity. As though sensing the danger in unison, they immediately dispersed. Saleen used his hands to touch the bubbles, observing the small silvery fish within them. These small fish were about the size of a thumb, and had unusually fine scales. The fishes' eyes were golden, and there were actually magic waves within their bodies.

They were in truth demonic beasts, albeit low grade ones that were barely Grade 1. Such mere demonic beasts, even if they had magic nuclei, would produce nuclei that were smaller than the tip of a needle. The effort of digging them out might not have even been worth a gold coin.

Saleen was now at Grade 1, and was still unable to dispel the spell he had cast. He used his fingers to pinch the bubbles, hoping to release the small fish. Unexpectedly, as he had exerted force with his fingers, he had activated the power of his magic chords. These bubbles were instead pinched flat, and did not burst at all.

Saleen instantly realized that he had unknowingly created a new spell.

He tried to recall how he had created these bubbles. At the very beginning, it seemed like he had cast a Water Shield, then used his mental power to control the magic shield bend created via the condensation of the elements. Then, he contained the air before the bubbles he spit out had floated up.

Saleen gave up trying to control these bubbles, and let these bubbles that had trapped the small fish float up. He then spit out another bubble, and cast the Water Shield again. He discovered that he could not perfectly contain the air within the bubble no matter what he tried. The bubbles he spat out swiftly floated up, leaving a layer of faint green wave lines, and stayed in front of him.

Originally, Saleen had no choice but to learn this spell. He was unable to learn the Grade 1 protection spell – Magic Skin, and could only rely on the three constant magics in the magic robe. However, activating these magics required the usage of magic nuclei. Therefore, in terms of defensive powers, Saleen's standard was still that of an apprentice. He liked to practice in water, and had incidentally learned this spell which could be cast in water.

There was no other way. The protection magic in the water series was very powerful, but none of it was rudimentary. Even the weakest skill, Ice Plate Armor, was a Grade 4 spell which was too far off for him to consider.

The Water Shield was considered a spell of little value, as it had to be released in water. Additionally, the shortest duration for its release was nine seconds. In battle, using nine seconds to summon a magic shield meant that one could die more than ten times over.

Saleen, due to his deficiency in magic chords, treasured every chance he had to practice magic. Thus he had learned the Water Shield.

He persevered in his experiments, aware that this form-changing magic he had conjured up could be released quickly depending on the existence of air. With practice, it could become an instantaneous spell. If it really did work out, then he could possibly rely on this spell for his survival before he attained Grade 4.

However, Saleen had lost the playful mood he had been in earlier, and just could not find that natural feeling again no matter how hard he tried.

After more than ten attempts, almost half of his magic chords were exhausted. When the air in his lungs was nearly used up, Saleen finally managed to release a magic bubble. He took three seconds this time and was three times slower.

This magic bubble was a little fragile. Saleen released an icicle and immediately burst the bubble. The bubble that had lost its magic quickly floated up.

Saleen could only follow the bubble and swim to the surface. The lack of oxygen in his lungs would not cause him any harm, but merely prevented him from continuing his experimentation. Before his head had surfaced from the water, a shadow in the light jumped into the pool. Saleen twisted his body and easily avoided it.

It landed with a thump, the water splashing in all directions. Saleen broke through the surface and came face to face with a pair of pale white breasts.

Saleen nearly sunk back down again. He separated his hands, thinking about his retreat, but then he heard an angry voice saying, "Oh no, a wild pig!"

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Chapter 20: The Battle with the Girl from Caucasus (Part 1)

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

It was a lovely voice, crisp and clean. It was just that Saleen did not understand its meaning in saying "wild pig". He only saw a delicate fist growing bigger in his view, before he felt a pain in his eye and then passed out.

Before passing out, Saleen had felt no fear. On his mind, instead, was the bright red mark leaping above that bosom, as though it held control over his heart. He did not have time to react to it, and had then been struck by the fist.

"Wake up. Quickly, wake up." The lovely voice was heard again. With effort, Saleen opened one eye. It felt as though his left eye could not be opened. He managed to open it slightly but everything seen through it was a blur. A small soft hand was slapping his face, intent on waking him.

"Alright, I'm awake!" Saleen struggled to move backwards. The girl who was hitting him had put on her clothes, and was glaring at Saleen ferociously. Saleen was relieved. The girl did not seem like she was going to kill him. He had killed before and could sense when killing intent was present.

Saleen sat up, indicating that he meant no harm. He sized up the girl while she did the same to him.

Both of them were about the same age. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. Her choice of clothing shocked Saleen. She was wearing animal skins that were hardly sewn together with the fur facing out. Many parts were already worn out. The animal skins looked very rugged. Dried purplish-black blood was all over her body.

The main thing was that the animal skins were in two parts, revealing her midriff. Her pale translucent skin glowed, enough to cause a person's eyes to ache. Saleen had wanted to open his injured eyes wider but the pain caused him to grit his teeth.

The boots on her feet were obviously not of Sikeqinya style. To think that the soles of her boots were made from the paw pads of demonic beasts! Even more shocking was the weapon she was carrying on her back. It was a long cudgel, thick on one end and thin on the other. It was as tall as her.

The stick had a metallic sheen but Saleen recognized that it was made from the bone of a senior demonic beast. It was frightfully heavy. He was lucky that she had used her fists on him instead, Saleen thought to himself.

The girl was very pretty, with a set of dark eyebrows, snow white skin, and a pair of pale blue eyes. She was similar in height to Saleen. Her body was well proportioned, and her look was natural. She seemed to have forgotten that Saleen had seen her naked, and showed no hint of embarrassment.

"My name is Saleen Metatrin. What about you?" Saleen did not know what to say, since he could not possibly keep staring at her with one big eye and one small eye.

"I am Sika. Tell me honestly, why were you hiding here to peep?" Sika pointed at Saleen's head with a slender finger, seemingly having recalled the earlier incident.

Not knowing whether to cry or laugh, he said, "This place is not a bathhouse. Such a cold, wintry day, and I am hiding here to peep?"

"Very logical!" Sika was easily convinced. She thought Saleen's point made sense and began to calm down. Feeling sympathetic after seeing that Saleen's face was twitching, Sika took out a bottle and handed it to him.

"What is this?"

"Holy water from the Holy See, for you to treat your eye. I am sorry if I used too much force," Sika said apologetically.

"It is fine. You were only reacting according to your instincts," Saleen said, showing understanding towards Sika.

"I'm so sorry. I wanted to take a shower but I was worried you would wake up, so I punched you again…" Sika looked at Saleen innocently. Saleen felt his anger rising. No wonder he could not open his eye.

But… forget it. He could not peek at people for free. There was a price to be paid for everything. Such was the case for obtaining his magic chords, and the same for looking at beautiful women. Saleen consoled himself as he opened the bottle and poured the holy water on his wound.

"Ah!" Saleen jumped up in pain. He had never used holy water before but had read that when used to treat wounds, it was warm and soothing, not painful as though being burned.

He threw the bottle on the floor and said angrily, "What is this that you have here?!"

Sika was stunned. She picked up the bottle, looked at the image on it, and muttered to herself, "It looks correct. Hang on and let me take a look."

If there was a wall nearby, Saleen definitely would have bashed his head against it. This girl's brain must have been short-circuited. The contents of the bottle, however, were indeed meant for healing. He had secretly tested it before use, and so could not blame this on Sika.

Sika removed the leather bag from her waist and looked inside it. Then she said with certainty, "This was indeed the water from the Holy See. I spent five silver coins on it."

Saleen had his doubts, as his eyes now hurt even more. Although five silver coins could only buy inferior products, there should still have been healing properties, and should not have caused additional pain.

He could not figure out the reason behind it. Saleen suddenly realized how stupid he had been. He removed the metal water flask from his waist, raised his head, and poured the liquid onto his wound. His eyes immediately felt much better. This was the restorative water he had produced himself.

Restorative water was a healing liquid produced using Grade 1 magic. It could effectively repair wounds. While it took longer to take effect compared to similar spells, it did not have any side effects.

Saleen had hundreds of spells in his head but could only learn a dozen or so at the moment. The practicality of restorative water was immense, especially for use within a team. The restorative water made by senior mages could even heal old wounds.

"This is the wilderness. Why would you come here for a bath?" Saleen said as he raised his head to let the restorative water enter his eyes and immerse his eyeballs. He was afraid that the blood vessels in his eyeballs would tear. That would affect his vision in the long term.

"I also do not know. I was intending to go Holzer City. As I walked, I somehow entered this mountain."

So she was a fool with no sense of direction. Saleen grew even more frustrated. The blows he had received were too uncalled for. To think that he could even bump into a lost wanderer.

"Why are you going to Holzer City?" Saleen wondered about how bold she could be to enter the water in such cold weather. It was possible that she was a swordsman who had already attained the sword aura, although what she was carrying was a cudgel. Hence, he had better not make her angry.

"It has not been easy to survive in the mountains recently. I am thinking of becoming a mercenary," Sika said, lowering her head.

"You are not from Sikeqinya?" Saleen had just then realized that there was something off about Sika's accent. Although she was also speaking the common mainland language, her articulation was quicker and she ended her sentences in a terser manner.

"I am from Caucasus." Sika unpretentiously sat on the floor, revealing to Saleen the portion of her legs uncovered by her boots.

"What is your grade?" Saleen thought that Sika was fairly amicable, and that people from Caucasus were simpler. He decided to befriend her. As a junior mage, he needed the partnership of powerful swordsmen.

"Don't know. In any case, whenever the demonic beasts near the village saw me, they would run off," Sika said, looking confused. Saleen was discouraged. It was common for Caucasus swordsmen not to know their own grade. He felt silly for asking.

The Caucasus Region was neither affiliated with Sikeqinya nor any duchy. It remained a primitive mountainous region which produced high quality swordsmen.

The regiment liked swordsmen from Caucasus, who were strong in both near and far ranging battles and were team players. The male Caucasus swordsmen were at minimum skilled in the use of the axe, and could attack from a radius of a hundred meters away. The injuries they caused could be far worse than an archer's attack.

The Caucasus Region was the only place which had maintained the primitive profession of a priest. A priest's offensive capabilities were inferior to that of a mage's but their healing prowess was similar to a holy master's.

"You did not know the way and yet you still ventured out?" Saleen's eyes were better, although still swollen. To think that Sika's fingers looked slender, yet were harder than a hammer.

"What was there to be afraid of? Getting lost doesn't mean you will starve. There are more wild beasts around here than where I was from. I have been in the mountains for more than a month and nothing has happened so far."

Saleen finally understood that looks and intelligence were not mutually exclusive. Sika, being such a muddled Caucasus girl, had a high chance of being deceived. Perhaps he had better approach her first. If he had been too late, the unimaginable could have happened…

"Why don't you go with me to Dean? There are more work opportunities there." Saleen tried to entice Sika. Actually, he also only knew this from books. There had not even been a professional union in Ceylon City.

"Ok, but I haven't got any money. If we were to enter the city…"

Saleen was exasperated. No money and yet still out and about. It also cost money to join the regiment. But this was fine as well. If Sika were unable to register as a mercenary because she had no money, she would have to follow him.

"Meals in the city are expensive. And you have this rule against 'eating humans'. So troublesome."

"Eating humans!" Saleen was frightened. Although the Caucasus Region was primitive, he had not heard they were cannibals.

"I do not mean we eat humans when we see them. Um, in Caucasus language, it means to eat everything your enemy has." Sika made an attacking gesture with her hands. Saleen understood. She was referring to robbery. There had been records of tribes robbing one another. Saleen hardly came across such incidents and only knew vague details regarding them.

"Why don't you be a lone adventurer first? It would cost less." Saleen explained the difference between an adventurer and a mercenary to Sika. A mercenary would have to pay a deposit after they registered at the professional union. Should they fail at their mission, the loss would be deducted from their deposit.

An adventurer, however, would only need to pay the registration fee. But they would not be allowed to undertake missions such as escorting the delivery of gifts, as they were the most frequent and most lucrative.

This rule did not apply to mages. Even for Grade 1 mages, they did not need to pay any deposit to join the regiment.

"Saleen, what do you do?" Sika asked curiously, as she thought Saleen seemed very learned.

"I am a mage."

"Oops, then I have been rude." Sika bowed in a manner that baffled Saleen. Then she explained, "When I left home, the elders reminded me that out here, mages are highly revered, just like priests."

She looked at Saleen's eyes still swollen eyes as she said this. Sika began to feel anxious. She had actually assaulted someone similar to a priest.

Both of them had begun to feel guilty and so the conversation flowed more easily. Saleen encouraged Sika to go to Dean City, which was away from the sea. It was close to the border and at any point in time, one could cross the Saxon Principality to enter the Qin Empire.

Saleen's calculations were very good. He would first take some professional missions at the border, to increase his grade and ability to battle, so as to avoid the type of trouble he had encountered in Ceylon City. If he could progress to Grade 3, then he would not be afraid of Earl Sufonso coming after his life. He could not possibly get a swordmaster to appear, could he?

Even if a small probability of this existed, he could flee to the Qin Empire. Earl Sufonso's influence would not work there. In the Qin Empire, swordmasters counted for naught, as there were mages everywhere.

It was said that every city in the Qin Empire had a magical tower. Judging from this, there were at least hundreds of Grade 6 mages. Although the number was small in comparison to the billions of Qin Empire people, it meant that only one great mage emerged from tens of thousands of people. However, the Qin Empire was infallible with the help of these mages. Even the three powerful empires and the Holy See could do nothing about this.

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Chapter 21: The Battle with the Girl from Caucasus (Part 2)

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

As they walked east, Saleen finally witnessed the strength of the Caucasus people. The cudgel that Sika was carrying was never used. She used a boomerang over one foot in length to hunt instead.

The V-shaped boomerang had sharp edges on both its inner and outer sides. It was kept in a leather sheath when not in use. Sika would hold it in her bare hands, as though the razor-sharp metal edges were nonexistent. Be it wild beasts, demonic beasts, huge trees, or rocks, Sika's boomerang would hack them in half.

Sika was not afraid of the cold. Her animal skins exposed her belly button and thighs. She did not change her outfit even in this autumn weather. The leather bag she was carrying was at least five times bigger than that of Saleen's, and was completely filled. Luckily her appetite was not as large, and was only about two to three times that of Saleen's.

The two of them spent a month in the mountains. It was already winter before they found their way out. They had found out at a village that they would reach Dean City if they continued to walk another two hundred miles east.

Sika was full of admiration for Saleen. It was incredible that this person who did not have any maps was able to find the way directly out of the mountain to the city.

Once they left the mountainous area, there was a more populated large plain to the east. The total population of the four empires was more than four billion. There were more than a billion people in Sikeqinya alone. There were hundreds of cities, and it was a pure coincidence that Saleen had ended up going in this direction.

After more than a month, Saleen had developed a better understanding of Sika. Like most people in Caucasus, she had been born to a poor tribe. Although the tribe was poor, they were very brave. Demonic beasts had not been able to affect the tribe's increase in population. Every year, many Caucasus warriors like her left the mountain area, just to seek a living.

Sika was very intelligent, and simple. Although she was muddled in some areas, she was outstanding in terms of combat.

No matter how strong they were, such people would find it hard to earn money unless traders did not have bad intentions. Sika used her intelligence for combat. Her body was strong and robust like a magic leopard's. In terms of managing her money, she was as dumb as a pig. This had caused Saleen to drop his schemes, as he was worried about having to look after her once they were in the city.

Sika was glad to be following Saleen. She was illiterate. Being a Caucasus native, it was already an achievement for her to be able to speak the common language. In being able to follow a learned mage, Sika felt as though she had found treasure.

Dean City's flourishing locale exceeded Saleen's imagination. The stores were filled with adventurers and mercenaries. It was already winter but the vibrant atmosphere made it seem like it was mid-summer.

Saleen brought Sika around to a few stores, feeling as though he had a pathetic amount of gold coins. He could not even buy a decent piece of equipment. The goods meant to be used by mages cost a minimum of ten thousand gold coins. Those in the range of one to two thousand gold coins seemed crude to him.

There was another pesky matter. Sika's looks drew attention from the adventurers. There were even some mercenaries who blocked their path, hoping to recruit Sika. It was rare for anyone to have such a beautiful Caucasus native who was both good-looking and strong, judging by the weapon on her back.

It was fortunate that no one had made any moves. The people here had recognized Saleen's mage attire, only noting that it was odd to have such coarse speech coupled with his respectful expressions.

Saleen, with a headache, said, "Sika, you should change your outfit."

"I haven't got any money. Once I left the mountain, I spent all my money on that holy water." Sika shook her head matter-of-factly.

At the mention of holy water, Saleen's eyes started to twitch as though there were still pain. He was uneasy at how the holy water had not had any effect on him. After losing his concentration temporarily, he said, "I will pay for you. You are drawing too much attention like this."

"Ok." Sika did not care for formalities. She was irritated by the mercenaries who had impeded them. She was not attracted by their abilities, but being in the city, she could not chase them off too harshly. She also understood that while she was popular with the junior troops, it was difficult for them to earn money. She wanted to earn a lot of money, so that she could buy many things to bring back to her tribe.

Giving consideration to the experience he'd gained in Ceylon City, Saleen brought Sika to a more deserted street and walked into a store at random. It was not a large store, about fifty meters in size, and had stairs leading to a mezzanine.

Upon seeing a mage walk in with a Caucasus warrior, the proprietor welcomed them warmly in person.

"Master mage, what do you need? We can offer you a discount," the proprietor said with a smile. He was warmer and less hypocritical than those in Ceylon City. It was easy to make money off of mages, as they usually carried large amounts of gold coins.

"I would like some leather armor, suitable for her." Saleen pointed at Sika.

The proprietor was a little disappointed that he was not here to buy mage equipment. He would be making much less money then. However, he did have quality leather armor and nevertheless, it was still a business deal. He maintained his smile, bowed, and gestured the way to go.

After following the proprietor to the mezzanine, the proprietor asked his worker to bring tea and snacks. He then went with Saleen and Sika to retrieve the leather armor. Being a small store, their goods were not displayed at the counter.

Soon after, two workers brought in a huge wooden case from the warehouse in the backyard. The wooden case had not been opened. There was a company label on it, along with a few slips of paper with a symbol of the location, date, and store.

Opening the case and its cover, a set of leather armor was unveiled under the light of the magic lamp.

Saleen's pupils shrank. He could sense a slight magic wave movement on the leather armor. This was leather armor that had been treated with magic. There was not constant magic on it but it was of very good quality. It could be converted to magic armor. Such equipment must have been very expensive!

Sika's eyes lit up. The leather armor was grey, and black floral patterns emerged where it had been treated with medicinal liquid. The patterns were suited for camouflaging in the wild, and were not completely useless designs.

The leather armor was made in Qin Empire style. Although complicated, it was very practical. Hair could pass through the inside of the helmet which protected the forehead. The portion for the chin had a clasp for attachment, which also made it easy to remove.

An additional layer, possibly made of metal pieces or demonic beast bones, had been added to the chest portion of the leather armor.

The arm portions only covered up to the elbows and were then followed by the wrist portions, unlike Tanggulasi Empire armor which had gloves.

There was no metal on the leather armor, and no pins could be seen. It could be bothersome to put on, but once worn, it would be malleable and not affect movement during combat.

This leather armor was similar to the armor made in the Qin Empire, but there were additional attachments in the case. A person could make repairs or changes. As it was a speciality store for adventurers, they also gave out a complimentary leather sack, blanket, and daggers.

Sika turned the leather armor over carefully. There was a leather ring at its back, affixed to the keel of the inner layer and meant for hanging weighty weapons such as sabres. Sika stroked the leather armor and looked at Saleen expectantly.

She also knew that this thing was not cheap, and so was hesitant in asking Saleen to buy it.

"How much is it?" Saleen asked calmly. His eyes were sharp. It seemed as though the leather armor had been made for Sika, down to the size of the boots.

"Nine hundred and sixty gold coins. I have already given you a twenty percent discount." The proprietor removed a slip of paper from the case and showed it to Saleen. On it was the location where the leather armor had been produced –"Items from Jungle Arms Dealer are quality assured."

Saleen heaved a sigh of relief. Although it was very expensive, he could still afford it. To think that the original price of the leather armor exceeded one thousand gold coins. He had completely misjudged it. Normal leather armors cost about one or two gold coins, with better ones costing tens of gold coins. Those that cost more than one hundred gold coins were magic armors. This leather armor was quite costly, most likely due to its unique material.

"You accept Qin Empire bank notes here, I assume." Saleen picked up the small booklet in the case as he asked. The booklet included an introduction of the item. Blinking his eyes, he saw the name "saltwater alligator" inside it.

A Grade 6 magic beast! This leather armor was actually made of material from a Grade 6 magic beast! The saltwater alligator was usually very ferocious, and was frequently mentioned in books depicting magic beasts that Saleen had read.

"Of course, of course I accept them." The proprietor was delighted. Since the mage had asked this, it meant he had decided to buy the leather armor.

"Um, I also need some materials for making scrolls."

"Mage sir, if you are planning to use them for practice, the inexpensive kind will do. I will ask someone to prepare them. How much do you need?"

The proprietor was an honest businessman. He could tell that Saleen was only a junior mage, and did not have use for superior scroll materials. Saleen hesitated for a moment. He did not have experience in making scrolls, and only knew the technical knowledge. If he bought too little, they would be useless to him. However, he did not have the money to buy too many.

"I will get fifty blank scrolls, and just one set of a magic brush and dragon's blood ink. Give me a better magic brush."

"Eight hundred gold coins," the proprietor quickly calculated the cost of these materials.

"I also need ten Grade 3 magic nuclei," Saleen estimated how much he had, and said cautiously.

"One thousand gold coins."

Saleen felt as though something had been drained from his body, just like how he had bled after falling at some stone steps when he was young.

A quick calculation told him that he was left with four hundred gold coins, in addition to the one hundred and eight gold coins he had. He felt poor once again. He took out the ring he had obtained from Baron Viscount and asked, "Do you accept this?"

The proprietor took an experienced glance and said, "We do not accept jewelry. The ring is gold-plated, though it was set with a diopside stone. Its size is worth one hundred gold coins. If you plan on selling it, I will take it for one hundred gold coins."

Saleen was frustrated about having misjudged this. It was actually a fake. There were large quantities of diopside stones, and this one had obviously been processed. If it had been a green soapstone, it would have been worth one thousand gold coins.

That damn Baron Minghui. If he had known that this was a fake, he would have bashed his head into a mess.

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Chapter 22: Registering as a Mercenary (Part 1)

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

The proprietor glanced at the ring with white crystal on Saleen's finger and said, "Mage sir, if you are in need of money, you can pawn the ring on your finger to me. My offer is twenty thousand gold coins."

"No need for that." Saleen took off the ring with the diopside stone and tossed it at the proprietor. He then took out two bank notes worth a thousand gold coins each. "Just give me back the change and get a room for my friend to change in."

Sika stood up as soon as she heard this, bending over the large wooden case and looking around. The worker held back his laughter and took Sika to get changed.

After examining the bank notes, the proprietor had his worker provide eight full bags of money, with four hundred gold coins in total.

Saleen took the gold coins, threw them into his leather sack, and asked, "Proprietor, have you got a map?"

"No, I haven't got one. Mage sir, when you register as a mercenary, the professional union will provide one. It is a very useful magic map," the proprietor said, realizing that it was probably Saleen's first trip since he did not even know this.

Saleen turned red, and replied calmly, "I am inexperienced. Thank you, proprietor, for the information. Which way to the professional union, please?"

The proprietor took out a pen and some paper, drew a simple map, and passed it to Saleen. Sika, having changed into the leather armor, walked out after. Saleen's eyes lit up. In the leather armor, Sika looked less rugged and even more delicate. If she were not still carrying that huge cudgel on her back and holding that old torn animal skin bag, no one would be able to tell she was from Caucasus.

The proprietor saw the two of them off warmly, and could not help but smile to himself. This was by no means a small transaction. That mage had actually bought a set of high quality leather armor. But he did not have good foresight, to have gone after a Caucasus girl. If he only knew how tough Caucasus women were…

Saleen followed the map that the proprietor had drawn, and found the professional union.

The entrance to the professional union was nothing to clamor over. It had a large door, with the union sign depicting a sword piercing a wheel on its lintel. There was not even a mercenary standing guard at the door. Upon walking through the door, he saw a large pillarless hall of about a few hundred square meters.

It was crowded in the hall, with the majority of the people concentrated on the right side. The left side was comparatively deserted. Saleen looked at the directional sign and walked towards the deserted side.

To the left of the hall was a room separated by a metal board. The side facing the hall was a large mirror which blocked noise but not sight. Upon seeing Saleen, a swordswoman approached him and asked with a smile, "Are both of you here to impart a mission or to register as mercenaries?"

"I would like to make an inquiry first," Saleen replied with a smile.

"Please follow me." The swordswoman smiled sweetly, and led Saleen and Sika into a room.

There were a table and eight chairs. Saleen sat down. The swordswoman handed him a book to read first. Sika pushed away the book the swordswoman handed her, and shook her head saying, "I am illiterate."

The swordswoman gave a professional smile and gently retrieved the book saying, "I shall go make some tea. What tea would both of you like?"

"Anything will do, as long as it is free," Sika said outspokenly. She did not want them to spend money needlessly. Her leather armor had cost a lot, and she did not know when she would be able to pay for it.

The swordswoman was used to seeing poor mercenaries. While Sika was clad in a costly leather armor, in the swordswoman's eyes, she was not considered well off. Mercenaries usually spent all their money on equipment, and did not have much money left over.

"Saleen." Sika used her pale finger to poke at Saleen's ribs.

"Ah…" Saleen acknowledged her, feeling the pain. He did not raise his head. Sika whispered, "Look."

Saleen turned his head and looked out through the glass, in the direction of Sika's gaze. He saw the front of the hall. There was a large magic wall with a mosaic of dozens of magic screens set in it, projecting various magic images.

The magic screen on the wall was worth millions of gold coins. If a person had the audacity to commit robbery here, they would not ever need to worry about their future sources of income.

Saleen was not thinking of such things. He looked at the screen and saw that his own magic image had appeared. He shivered. This place was almost at the border of the Qin Empire. Would Earl Sufonso still have influence here?

The reason his own image had appeared on the magic screen was because he was on the wanted list. Luckily, the image was drawn and while the technique had been very good, there were differences between it and the present Saleen.

The image on the magic screen had brown hair and brown eyes. Saleen's hair had turned black and his eyes blue. His body had become more muscular. If not for Sika's astuteness, a person would not have realized that the image had any connection to Saleen.

Saleen had a lingering fear. If Sika had not seen this image, he would have been in big trouble.

Whether one was registering to be a mercenary or an adventurer, they would need to leave behind their name and image. If he had used the name "Saleen Metatrin", he would have been discovered in no time.

The name Metatrin was too rare. Even a fool would able to discover who he was through this name.

The hated person in Saleen's heart had chased him from the seaside to the border. He had walked straight through the wilderness for three months but still could not avoid the Earl's relentless pursuit.

Many thoughts passed through his head before Saleen calmed down. Earl Sufonso would never let the matter of him killing his son rest. Viscount Gugger had provided a dated image and with his change in looks, it only barely resembled him. The favor he owed Ulysses, he would have to return in the future.

He had to temporarily change his name. At this thought, he waved his hand and the swordswoman soon entered the room with the tray.

"Will both of you please try this fog-tipped tea?"

The swordswoman poured the tea into dainty teacups, each about twice the size of a gold coin. They were green, and made of porcelain. There were no patterns on them, but they looked like they had been carved out of green jade. The green tea sat within the teacups, diffusing a light scent.

"We are planning to register as mercenaries," Saleen changed his mind. Adventurers also had to leave their images behind but could not access as much information from the professional union. Furthermore, mercenaries were protected by Qin Empire laws. It would be more dangerous to be adventurers, who needed to be in the wild. The fighting amongst adventurers had gone on since ancient times.

"Do you plan to register as freelance mercenaries or to join a mercenary regiment?" The swordswoman's eyes were large. The tone of her voice seemed to be a result of training and did not exude any pressure.

Saleen was unaffected. In terms of looks, Sika was superior to this swordswoman. And it was only when he saw Sika's naked body that he had felt some palpitations. It seemed that since the formation of his magic chords, his state of mind had stabilized even more.

This was normal. A mage who allowed his emotions to fluctuate from time to time could not be depended upon during crucial periods. The release of magic required the control of strong mental power. Many junior mages had remained below Grade 3 all their lives because they did not have sufficient mental power.

"A mercenary regiment. Um, the one of the smallest scale."

The swordswoman laughed, realizing that Saleen was a newbie. She reminded him, "The smallest mercenary regiment can only recruit eight people and cannot take on high-level missions. The difference between them and adventurers is negligible."

If Saleen had read the book the swordswoman had given him, which described the regime, and looked at the relevant chapter, he would have known what the smallest mercenary regiment was like. He shook his head and said, "I do not have the money for the deposit."

"Alright." The swordswoman did not turn around as she waved her hand. In no time, someone brought a box and placed it on the table.

In the box were two contracts. Saleen glanced at them and nodded his head before asking, "Where do we pay?"

"Both of you, follow me." The swordswoman led Saleen and Sika out of the room to a small door at the corner of the hall. There was a passageway through the door and many small rooms on both sides of the passageway. The swordswoman pointed at a small room and said, "Go and leave your magic images, and then sign the contracts before handing me the money."

It cost money to register as a mercenary. Each mercenary needed to pay a deposit, in case they failed a mission and the loss was unaccounted for. Saleen had registered for a Grade 1 mercenary regiment. It cost one hundred gold coins to register and each recruit needed to pay a deposit of fifty gold coins.

If his eight-member regiment was full, they would need to pay five hundred gold coins. This was a large sum, which many could not afford. Many mercenary regiments were controlled by their leaders. As the poor mercenaries had no money, they signed separate contracts with their leaders and end up working themselves to the bone.

This was not surprising, to say the least. How would an ordinary person be able to raise fifty gold coins for the deposit? If they had fifty gold coins, most junior mercenaries would rather return home to be farmers. Fifty gold coins would be more than enough for them to take wives and have two or three children.

There were two of them. In addition to the registration fee of one hundred gold coins, Saleen would only need to pay another hundred as deposit. In this way, he would be able to take on escorting missions worth four hundred gold coins or less. Even if his regiment were full, he would only be able to undertake escorting missions worth a thousand gold coins or less.

Like the swordswoman had said, such a regiment was not too different from the adventurers. Escorting missions worth four hundred gold coins would only pay twenty gold coins at most. They would take a month to complete. The value of killing a Grade 2 demonic beast was more than such a mission. Saleen was a mage. Twenty gold coins was, in fact, not very meaningful to him.

If war broke out, these mercenaries would have to be deployed by their country. The junior mercenary regiment would be stationed at the most dangerous place, without being paid much.

Saleen did not place any value on this. The reason he had set them up with the regiment was not to take on escorting missions, but to gain access to information provided by the professional union. Only mercenaries were privy to such information. Other common information could be bought cheaply with silver coins.

He wanted to know what sort of person Earl Sufonso was and what power he had. Such information would not be readily available to adventurers.

After recording the magic images, the swordswoman had within ten minutes brought new contracts. On them were Saleen and Sika's magic images. Sika did not know how to write and so Saleen signed the contract on her behalf.

Saleen did not leave his real name, and filled in the fake name "Merlin" under the name category. They then made their respective fingerprints. After handing over the gold coins, Saleen also received the mercenary badge provided by the professional union.

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Chapter 23: Registering as a Mercenary (Part 2)

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

The Grade 1 mercenary regiment had no name, only a serial number. One could always come up with a name but it did not matter how nice it sounded. It was best if it were not a name already used by another mercenary regiment, as otherwise one could be exterminated.

The mercenary regiment was divided into nine grades; mercenary badges came in three different colors. The copper green one that Saleen had received was a badge for junior mercenaries. As Saleen was pinning the badge on his chest, loud cheers erupted from the center of the main hall. Saleen turned around but only could see hundreds of mercenaries crowding around the counter indignantly, unable to tell what was going on.

Saleen looked at the swordswoman. She shrugged, not knowing what had happened. These mercenaries were usually very down-to-earth, and not boastful.

"Sal…"

"Please call me chief in the future. Come, let us take a look," Saleen interrupted Sika, and dragged her up from the chair. Reluctantly, Sika finished her tea, even down to the tea leaves which she started to chew on.

"What are you doing? This is not meant to be eaten, spit it out." Saleen patted her back.

"I know, gulp… but this is expensive tea." Sika forcefully swallowed the tea leaves down, turning a little red in the process.

Saleen could not help but think that it was lucky she did not smoke, or else she would swallow the butt as well.

The two of them approached the front of the crowd. It was noisy. "Hey brother, what happened?"

Saleen found a junior swordsman and questioned him. Seeing that a mage had spoken to him so politely, the junior swordsman was overwhelmed and hurriedly explained, "The union has announced a new mission. A green dragon has been discovered at Kosan Prefecture."

"Green dragon?"

"Yes. No dragon has appeared in the hinterland of the Myers Mainland for many years now. This time, the union has asked for the capture of this dragon, and is offering five hundred thousand gold coins as a reward. Mercenaries of any grade can take on this mission, which has no deadline."

The swordsman's eyes were gleaming. He was an intermediate swordsman, and far from being a swordmaster. Without the sword aura, he would not even be able to pierce the dragon's scales, so it was not clear why he would be so excited.

"The green dragon is a Grade 6 creature," Saleen reminded him with good intent. Although the green dragon was the lower grade of dragons in the dragon family, the perception that they gave off was completely different. Creatures like dragons had terrifying defenses, and they could fly. To kill a green dragon would require the help of at least a Grade 7 mage. Otherwise, the green dragon could take flight when defeated, and there would be no way for one to pursue it.

Saleen's words fell on deaf ears. These mercenaries were illiterate and had not read a single book in their lives. Their understanding of the green dragon was naturally inferior to that of Saleen's.

The green dragon had a bad temper and would attack anyone. But it was also intelligent and would observe its prey from the dark. Once it felt that its prey could be captured, it would make its appearance. Such a creature feared the strong and bullied the weak, and was more difficult to manage than the explosive red dragon.

Saleen shook his head helplessly. The counter was swarmed. He did not have any space to sign up for a mission. Looking at the situation, he should probably not attempt it within the hour. Sika poked him again. Frustrated, Saleen asked, "What is it?"

He found a positive trait in Sika. She had only needed a brief reminder to know that she should not call him by his name. The bad part was that she liked to greet him with her finger, especially with a poke to his ribs.

"Chief… I am hungry," Sika answered pitifully. As if for added effect, Sika's stomach rumbled noisily, causing her to look embarrassed. Saleen felt that he had taken in the wrong person. This Sika could really eat as much as a bucketful of rice. However, Saleen was in a good mood, as it was fortunate that the green dragon had been discovered. At the very least, it meant that in the southeast, the mercenaries would focus on the green dragon instead of the mission to kill him.

Green dragon, please do not get killed soon! Saleen prayed in his heart.

"Hey, gorgeous miss. May I know if you would be willing to join our regiment?"

Saleen raised his head to see an unusually good-looking man who appeared to be in his twenties. His handsome brows and charming eyes did not seem to match his tall, straight nose. However, they came together in perfect harmony to give this man the juxtaposition of feminine and masculine appeal in each and every one of his expressions.

He had purple eyes and light blond hair, as well as patterns in the hollows of his thin metal armor. This man did not look human, appearing as though he were from the legendary Asmodian tribe.

"Sorry, I already have my own regiment," Sika finally replied after sensing that this man was not lacking in power.

"Then just withdraw. I will pay the fees incurred," this man persevered.

"Ask him." Sika pointed at Saleen.

"Mister mage, may I know if you are willing to part with her, and will let her join my regiment?"

"You will pay?" Saleen asked.

"Of course, name your price."

Saleen looked at Sika, stroking the new armor she wore as though it were a magic weapon. Saleen snorted and asked, "You have a lot of money?"

"Grade 4 regiment. I've got some savings," the man said contentedly, not minding Saleen's mocking attitude. A Grade 4 regiment would cost more than ten thousand gold coins to register for, and being one of the main forces, could recruit more than a thousand men. Such a regiment could even have a mage in it.

"Since you're so well off, how about recruiting me?" Saleen was clearly being sarcastic.

"Oh, mages. We have two or three of them in the Falcon Regiment."

"So you don't have many swordsmen?" Saleen grew impatient. This bloody man was too self-absorbed to be provoked.

"You have no intention of parting with her!" The man whom Saleen regarded as a demon said regretfully.

"You are wrong about one thing. Sika is not a commodity. I do not have the right to decide whether she should stay. I am, however, her chief, so you'd better give up on trying to poach her from me. Since you are well off, it should not be an issue for you to cheat many other Caucasus folk," Saleen replied coldly.

This was Dean City. No regiment would dare cause trouble here. Dean City was itself a property owned by a Grade 9 regiment. It was the one and only Grade 9 regiment – the Dragons and Roses Regiment.

"I have been impolite. How about I buy both of you a meal?"

"I do not eat with strangers."

Saleen's words had finally caused the demonic-looking man to react. Saleen quickly added, "So I had better introduce myself. Merlin, chief of Regiment 1745360."

In the distance, a few men who were looking in their direction saw that the man had turned bright red, and burst into laughter all together. The demonic-looking man recovered, took a deep breath, and said, "Yours truly, Canghong, chief of the 10th squad from the 10th camp of the Falcon Regiment. Those laughing away are my men. "

The mercenary regiments were not like regular troops with a hundred men per camp. A squad had only ten men. The demonic-looking Canghong had a mere four men under him, and had yet to fully assemble his squad.

As Dean City was flourishing, one could still find restaurants to dine at after midnight. There were no restrictions placed on mercenaries, behavior-wise. The city gates did not shut, even at midnight. Although it was near the border, it was adjacent to Loulan Duchy which was under the jurisdiction of the Sikeqinya Empire. The Kaoshan Prefecture where the green dragon was found was within the boundaries of Loulan Duchy.

It was safe here, as no one wanted to offend the Dragons and Roses Regiment. This Grade 9 regiment had twenty thousand mercenaries, which violated the rules set by the Sikeqinya Empire. But even the emperor himself made no mention of this matter.

The two chiefs of the Dragons and Roses Regiment were Grade 9 professionals. One was a golden grand swordmaster, and the other was a Grade 9 black robe mage. With such powers, it would not be an issue for them to even set up a duchy.

Only with strong powers could one protect their prosperity. The southeast frontline was almost completely under the Dragons and Roses Regiment's sphere of influence. Dean City was in the center, flanked by Didypus to its north and Willow County to its west.

With much familiarity, Canghong led Saleen and Sika to a five-story restaurant. There were seven of them, including his four men, so he requested a single room.

"Mage Merlin, do try the pear wine here. It has been imported from the Qin Empire. One small glass costs a gold coin." Canghong presented it warmly. His good looks, coupled with his narrow waist and broad shoulders, portrayed him as a man of strength.

"We mages only drink clear water." Saleen declined his good intentions, emptied the glass, and took out his own metal flask to pour out some restorative water.

Even if one did not have any injuries, it was still beneficial to consume restorative water. Most mages could only produce one hundred grams of it at a time, but Saleen could produce nearly three hundred grams. It was easy to store restorative water, but as it would lose its effect after a month, Saleen decided to drink it as though it were clear water.

He remained guarded about Canghong. Being in Dean City, he may not have wanted to use his weapons, but there was nothing to stop him from using poison instead. Saleen had previously produced all kinds of magic medicine, which were useless on experts but could easily be used on Grade 1 mages like himself.

"What were you laughing at?" Canghong's face turned stony, and he told his men off, "Do you not know how to introduce yourselves?"

The four of them then started to introduce themselves. The pale, tall, and thin junior swordsman was Pino. He wore a suit of clean leather armor and carried a long, thin sword on his back.

The muscular one with a scar was a commoner, whose weapon was concealed just like Canghong's. There was only a meaningless syllable in his name – Cook.

Saleen had thought that the lady in a leather mask was a mage, but she was actually a swordswoman from the Qin Empire named Sarah. The youth with a symmetrical body was an archer named Lucas. Barely twenty years old, he was probably the youngest in this team, though his face did not show any trace of his youthfulness. He laughed uninhibitedly together with the rest, making it evident that they enjoyed a strong sense of camaraderie.

Saleen was puzzled. There was no mage in this squad, but Canghong had wanted to entice Sika and had completely disregarded him. The archer could also attack from a distance but he could not replace a mage. A Caucasus warrior was valuable to have, but would never be more popular than a mage.

Could this Canghong have some sort of special mission to complete?

"Both of you, I shall be direct. I had wanted to hire a Caucasus warrior for a mission. It is not a dangerous mission but it will encounter a rare creature. Only a Caucasus warrior will have the best chance of succeeding." Canghong noted Saleen's bored expression, and knew that if he did not tell the truth, he would not be able to rope in Sika.

He had also predicted such a result. No matter how junior a mage, Saleen would not bother with a mere squad leader like him. Hmph, as long as he accomplished this private mission, it would not be an issue for him to leave the Falcon Regiment and start his own squad.

At this thought, Canghong's face revealed yet another charming smile. Although Saleen was inexperienced in his travels, he had been poor since he was young, and so was adept at analyzing people's emotions from their expressions.

He was unsure of Canghong's motives, but he knew that Canghong was definitely withholding many things from them. Besides, as a squad leader of a Grade 4 regiment, it was definitely unusual for him to want to hire from another regiment

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Chapter 24: Relic from the Dynasty (Part 1)

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

What a rare find! Saleen could not have imagined that he would be able to pick up such an appealing Caucasus warrior in the deserted wilderness

"What kind of contract is it? What kind of rewards are there? Name those first." Saleen lifted up his cup to take a drink, not raising his head to avoid looking at Canghong's annoying smile.

"The reward is five hundred gold coins. We will distribute ten percent to you once the mission is completed. For the official employment contract, I will pay a deposit of two thousand gold coins, and the professional union will be the guarantor." Canghong listed out all the conditions in a single breath.

"Let us dig in first." Saleen was not very satisfied with the conditions, and did not agree to Canghong immediately. In reality, a Grade 1 mercenary could not earn tens of gold coins within a year, even in good economic times. However, because Saleen was a mage who could produce magic medicine, a mission worth five hundred gold coins was not substantial to him.

A succulent leg of lamb served on a large bronze plate was brought to the table. Without waiting for the others to start eating first, Sika drew her dagger from her waist. With one leg on her chair and a chop by her dagger, she cut off half the leg of lamb.

As though no one else was present, she started gnawing on the lamb. Everyone was stunned. They had known about the ruggedness of the Caucasus folk, but this beautiful young girl was eating as though she were no different from a bunch of hairy barbarians.

Squelch squelch….

Sika felt that the taste was a little bland and shouted, "Proprietor, did you not add any salt?"

"Proprietor!"

Canghong gave an explosive shout, giving Sika a fright. She widened her eyes and looked at Canghong. Canghong resisted the impulses within him, gnashed his teeth, and shouted, "Send some salt over."

Saleen grew more suspicious of this Canghong. Was there a need for this Grade 4 mercenary regiment with silver-colored badges to befriend two recently registered mercenaries this way? He extended his hand, grabbed the other half of the leg of lamb, and began to gnaw at it like Sika.

Canghong and the others looked at the empty plate, feeling troubled. Were these two really stupid or did they hold no regard for the mission at all? A commission of five hundred gold coins, together with the dividends, was a sum impossible for a Grade 1 mercenary to earn in two years.

By the time the second dish of wild buffalo was presented, Sika had already finished her half of the leg of lamb. She moved the wild buffalo in front of her and continued to eat, disregarding the people around her.

As Canghong watched her, he grew certain that this mage could not care less about a remuneration of five hundred gold coins. How could he entice him? He was not willing to increase the sum. The mage robe on Saleen indicated that he was just a Grade 1 mage. It was a reasonable offer. It would be entirely possible to instead hire a Grade 3 mage if they were going to raise the offer.

Unfortunately, it would not be easy to control a Grade 3 mage. If the mage were to turn on them after the completion of the mission, the whole troop would be in a crisis.

"Then why don't you name a price? As long as it is reasonable, I will agree," Canghong told Saleen, who was still gnawing on the leg of lamb.

"Hmm." Saleen put down the lamb. He had waited for these words for a long time. At this point, he said, "I want to know what the mission is. The remuneration shall be calculated based on the number of days and is to be paid in advance weekly. It will be thirty gold coins per day, twenty for myself and ten for Sika. You will pay a deposit of five thousand gold coins when you sign the contract at the union. I want thirty percent upon the mission's completion. If this is agreeable, you may share details of the mission. If not, we will leave after eating."

"Do you think you are some mage master?" The swordsman with a scar on his face flared up. He was also starving, and was unhappy that the two dishes served had been finished by Saleen and Sika. Upon hearing Saleen's demanding terms, he could no longer control himself and thus exploded, pounding the table and jumping to his feet.

"If I were a powerful mage master, I would ask for seventy percent," Saleen said. "I have seen the price list at the union. Is my request too demanding?"

Canghong was nearly going to vomit blood. It was true that mage masters would be able to get seventy percent of the income, but Saleen was just a junior mage and was not even worth ten percent. He had given a good offer, and felt that Saleen's request was outrageous.

"Alright, I agree," Canghong consented, gritting his teeth. If not for the fact that he had to keep this from the others in the troop, he would not have agreed to such ridiculous demands. He would empty his savings of five years for the deposit of five thousand gold coins.

"Then tell me, why are you so insistent on hiring Sika?" Saleen was nearly full, rubbing his stomach as he looked at Canghong.

A faint redness appeared on Canghong's coy face as he said in a low voice, "Now that you are going to hear about it, you must not go back on your words. Even though this is Dean City…"

Saleen glanced across the five of them, and saw each one looking at him nervously. Although he was only a Grade 1 mage, they were still afraid. Because Canghong's words had contained a threat, they did not know if this rash young man would fly into a rage.

Naturally, Saleen was not angry. He was also from Sikeqinya, and possessed the calculating nature of a businessman. If the other party's request was reasonable, he would not feel that his pride had been damaged.

"Alright, you may tell me. Since I have agreed to be hired by you, there is nothing for you to worry about."

Saleen was a little impatient. It was a real chore to be a mercenary, and it was not as easy as producing magic medicine. However, he could only earn a thousand gold coins each year by making magic medicine, and that was given that he was the only mage apprentice in the entirety of Ceylon City. For this mission, he would get twenty out of thirty gold coins each day, and would, in less than two months, earn the same amount as he had earned the year before.

Both Pino and Cook, without waiting for Canghong's instructions, had already left their seats to stand guard at the door.

Canghong took a deep breath, and said slowly, "It is a relic mission, and is not issued by the union."

"I knew it. Otherwise, you would not need to hire outsiders," Saleen laughed happily. He was just a rookie mercenary, but he possessed the genes of outstanding businessmen. Therefore, his sharp observation had detected Canghong's secret. This mission was indeed profitable, and it would be a shame not to milk it for what it was worth.

"The mission venue is within the Chaotic Swamp, so I will need a Caucasus warrior to clear out the four hundred meter long passage filled with dinodemons. Their grades are low but there are many of them. Only a determined Caucasus warrior will be unaffected. Of course, the Grade 7 Spiritual Deterrence spell would be even more effective, but I cannot afford it."

"Dinodemons? Those things are rare," Saleen muttered, being overheard by Canghong.

Canghong warned, "They are only Grade 1 monsters, so I am unable to increase the offer."

"Got it, got it." Saleen calculated that Sika was at least a senior swordswoman or even a swordmaster. It would not be an issue to deal with Grade 1 monsters, even if there were hundreds of them. Every Caucasus warrior had been blessed by the Warrior Priest, receiving immunity against the dinodemons' spiritual attacks. As for the dinodemons' physical attacks, even there were thirty or fifty of him, he would be able to block them by depending on the constant magics of his mage robe.

It was an easy mission. They had got it made.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's head over to the union." Sika wiped her mouth, and put down the now empty plate.

"But… we have not eaten anything."

"Why did you not eat?" Sika's expression was puzzled. The faces of those of the Falcon Regiment were as black as the bottom of a burnt pot, thinking in their hearts: You finished all of the food. Are we supposed to eat air?

After Sika had eaten her fill, those from the Falcon Regiment quickly ate and brought Saleen to the union to settle the employment contract. There were occasions when even large regiments with many mercenaries could become shorthanded. That was especially common when hiring low grade mercenaries. After the contract was signed and the deposit of five thousand gold coins was paid, even if Canghong and his men were wiped out, Saleen would still be able to get his compensation from the union.

In order to speed things up, Canghong had reluctantly bought horses for Saleen and Sika. Saleen and Sika did not know how to ride, but because Saleen had strong mental power, he deployed a little elemental power and it was easy to stabilize the mounting. Sika possessed the innate ability to calm animals, so the group of seven quickly left the city and headed northeast.

The Falcon Regiment's destination was Didypus. It was the closest place to the Chaotic Swamp and offered all the supplies they needed. Because Didypus was under the control of the Dragons and Roses Regiment, it would be relatively safe to enter the Chaotic Swamp from there.

The seven of them took three days to reach Didypus. Saleen had already earned sixty gold coins by then, and of course, Sika's thirty gold coins belonged to him as repayment for her leather armor.

Canghong showed a smile when they saw the city wall of Didypus. It had grown a little deserted. The green dragon in Loulan Duchy had led the majority of the adventurers southward. It was a godsend to have chosen this time to enter the Chaotic Swamp. He would rather have spent more money to sign the contract in Dean City than leave any traces in Didypus.

There was not a single member of the Falcon Regiment here anymore. Canghong did not venture far into the city. He replenished some food and water at a place right by the city gate, bought tents for Saleen and Sika, and left Didypus immediately.

The expanse of the Chaotic Swamp was vast, and its exterior was mountainous. To enter the swamp, one needed to trek for more than two hundred miles along the mountainous route. Horses were, in fact, not suitable for such expeditions. After entering the mountains, everyone would need to dismount from their horses and trek by foot. The road became uneven as they faced the desolate sights ahead of them.

The early winter mountainous wind was already very chilly. Herbivorous magic beasts passed by occasionally, but did not even look at the expedition squads. By now, they had grown immune to the sight of expedition squads. The magic beasts in the Chaotic Swamp were usually poisonous, the surrounding low grade magic beasts practically worthless, and most adventurers did not bother to lay their hands on them.

Deep in the mountains, Saleen finally felt relieved. They were away from the city, with no one trailing behind. It appeared that the attention of most had been lured to the green dragon. Would anyone be interested in the mission of pursuing him as a wanted person? He doubted so.

Sika and the people of the Falcon Regiment became familiar with one another. Saleen never talked, but merely quietly observed this mercenary regiment. Although the contract had been signed at the union, Saleen still remained cautious. Since this Canghong had come to the Chaotic Swamp behind his chief's back, there was a possibility of him exterminating him and Sika after the expedition.

The people of the Falcon Regiment were also observing Saleen. The few of them had seized the rare opportunity to hire Sika in a hurry, but had not expected her to come with a mage who added on to their costs.

Generally, mages were very popular aside from their high prices. They held important roles in mercenary regiments. Even a Grade 1 mage had the combat capability of a swordsman who possessed the sword aura. In addition, an elementary swordsman whose sword aura could not leave his body, compared to a mage, would have fewer styles of attack.

In this environment with many potential complications, a mage was much more valuable.

Everyone was satisfied with Saleen's performance. He did not have the arrogance of most mages. Aside from not speaking, he did not create any trouble for them. Even when trekking on the bumpy mountain roads, this young mage had not complained once. This was a normal mage with a good constitution, which he had most likely inherited.

Everyone formed their own opinions of Saleen, and were gradually reassured.

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Chapter 25: Relic from the Dynasty (Part 2)

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

There was a reason Saleen was not speaking. He had realized that his intonation stood out too much. Those from the north who had travelled by sea would be able to tell he was from Ceylon City just by hearing him. A person often lost out when they spoke too much. It was inevitable that discrepancies would be revealed after increased interaction with these people. In the event that they held an arrest warrant, his real identity would soon be discovered.

It was easier for the ever-carefree Sika to gather information. After a few days of interaction, Saleen already knew their ultimate target – that was, a relic from the Second Dynasty.

Before the fall of the Goddess of Nature, the Metatrin Mainland had been unified by mankind four times. It had been twenty thousand years since the Second Dynasty, which had been an unusually glorious era of magic. However, not many relics remained in existence. Each time the mainland had been unified, the wars had destroyed many cultural relics.

Every single magical tool produced during the Second Dynasty had been elaborate; none of them were worth less than a thousand gold coins. Even the smallest relic with the slightest association to any mages would be sufficient for the squad to become wealthy.

If their luck was good, everyone in the squad could receive more than a hundred thousand gold coins. They could then retire, return to their hometowns and have a castle restored, purchase the title of earl, and never again lead a life in the shadows of swords. As for Saleen, this money would be enough to sustain him until he became a Grade 4 mage and escaped to the Qin Empire to practice in safety. Sika could buy enough equipment and food to return to her village and help her tribe. Perhaps this money could be used to create a new powerful tribe, and the tribe could even come into some duchy's favor.

In this world, possessing power alone was not enough, and thus having money was essential. The people of Sikeqinya had long understood this logic, and hence they owned the most businesses on the mainland, the biggest bank, and the most popular mercenary regiment.

The wealthiest person in the Qin Empire was His Majesty the Emperor. Even if he waived all of the farmers' taxes, he would still be the wealthiest in the mainland.

Upon learning that this mission involved a relic from the Second Dynasty, Saleen understood why Canghong had not hired a holy master. The emperor of the Second Dynasty, who had unified the mainland, had favored magic and did not believe in divinities. His extremeness had exceeded that of the current Qin Empire. The Holy See would completely destroy everything here if they knew of this relic.

The Second Dynasty was also known as the Unholy Dynasty.

Saleen could care less about the beliefs of mages from twenty thousand years ago. He only knew that if he could get his hands on the magic props from the Second Dynasty, he would not need to be on the run for the next few years.

After walking for six days, it suddenly began to snow in the mountains. The snow was fine and dense, and the road became muddier. Everyone had to abandon their horses. The road here was narrow and dangerous. Many places were close to the cliff sides, making it impossible for horses to pass through.

Sika carried both her and Saleen's sacks. The possessions of Canghong and the others were carried by Pino and Cook. Sarah, who donned a leather face mask, led the way while Lucas, the archer, crouched at the rear. The speed of the group did not slow down but instead sped up significantly. As evening neared, a mountain emerged before them. Sarah suddenly stopped and sent out two short twitters.

The whole squad swiftly went into hiding. Speedily, Sarah retreated back.

"What happened?"

"We've met with Vulture." Sarah's expression could not be seen with her mask on, but the worry in her voice was obvious.

"Were you discovered?" Canghong grew cautious.

"What is a vulture?" Sika asked innocently.

Canghong hesitated. He thought to himself that since he would be able to break free from the regiment upon the completion of this mission and was indifferent about getting those five thousand gold coins, sharing a little information could express his sincerity to this mage of an unknown level.

At this thought, he replied, "Vulture is the code name of a mercenary regiment, but they rarely take on regular missions. This mercenary regiment are like vultures, preying on rotten food. They will track and pursue adventurers who are in danger until their deaths. This way, they can get the fortune of the adventurers without violating the rules of the union."

Saleen gave it some thought. If that was the case, unless they were in times of war, there was no obligation for mutual assistance between mercenary regiments. People were not allowed to attack other registered mercenary regiments, but could also refrain from offering assistance when they faced danger.

"What is the ranking of the Vulture Regiment?" Saleen finally said.

"Grade 4. Sarah, please continue." Canghong had been interrupted by Sika, and did not reveal the relationship between the Falcon Regiment and the Vulture Regiment. He did not fear the Vulture Regiment, but this mission absolutely could not be made known to the men of Vulture. It was already winter. Who was still running about here and being eyed upon by Vulture?

"There are three small Vulture squads, which should be all of them. In addition, there are two more groups of people. One of them is on the run, and the other batch is pursuing them. I am unable to deduce the number of people."

"Are we able to route around them?"

"Impossible. The people on the run entered the tunnel and that is our only route."

"Damn." The five members of the Falcon Regiment looked grim. It would not work to keep waiting here, as the Chaotic Swamp was unusually dangerous in the winter and the starving senior magic beasts were even more frightful.

"Mage Merlin, do you have any good ideas?" Canghong turned to Saleen and asked.

"Map." Saleen's reply was extremely short.

Pained, Canghong cleared a large surface area, took out the map, and opened it. This was a detailed map of the Chaotic Swamp. Canghong pointed to the bottom left corner, and said, "This is the tunnel that we will need to go through, that was discovered by me."

Saleen gave a slight smile. He cast a memory spell which was a Grade 0 spell with no special properties. As long as he had sufficient mental power, it could be used. After memorizing the map, Saleen then calculated the length of the tunnel.

It was roughly twelve miles long. Saleen said hesitantly, "If we meet with these people, how confident are you in obtaining victory?"

"I am only unconfident about wiping them all out." Canghong noticed that Saleen understood what he meant, and did not hide his intention to kill. Although Saleen and Sika would not publicize this mission, it could not be made known no matter what.

"What is the configuration of the Vulture Regiment squad?" Saleen carefully recalled the mercenary manual using his memory magic, finding the key to the question in his mind.

"Five-two configuration. Heavily armored swordsmen, archers, assassins, gun swordsmen, and a holy master."

"No mages?"

Canghong smiled bitterly and did not reply to the question. He thought to himself: mages are not potatoes that can be dug up from the soil at anytime. Within the Falcon Regiment that was a thousand people strong, there were only three mages and the highest grade was of Grade 3.

"I can cast the Fog of Confusion which has a thirty mile wide radius and can last two hours. We will pass through with normal speed. In the tunnel, I will add a Fluorescence spell so everyone can have a visionary range of around ten miles without alerting the enemies. Of course, it will be different matter if the other party has a mage."

"Fluorescence spell?" Canghong had never heard of this spell, but illumination magic was often mentioned.

"It is a Grade 0 Water Series magic. The light created is very dim so it is suitable for hiding in unlit environments such as caves and underwater places. However, I cannot guarantee us absolute cover. If we are discovered, all of you will deal with the opponents' archers. I am confident in eliminating the assassins." Saleen said this calmly, but was uncertain in his heart. After all, he possessed little combat experience, and the only thing he could count on was the other party not having a mage.

As long as they did not meet with a mage, it would be easy to kill two assassins with a covert attack.

Canghong was thrilled. He was worried about the other party's assassins fleeing during the conflict. In a dark cave, it was most troublesome to have to deal with assassins who were apt at hiding. He felt lucky to have hired a mage. Otherwise, he would have been stranded.

"Then, let's go in. Mage Merlin, please prepare the magic. Lucas, you will go to the front with me. Sika, I will trouble you and Sarah to stay in the back. Cook, you will protect Merlin. We have to depend on him to get us through. You will kill anyone who attempts to get near him without hesitation."

Canghong gave Cook a special reminder, since it was possible they would meet with their acquaintances. Any hesitation would result in the mage meeting with danger. In the Falcon Regiment, the mages were allowed to only deal with important missions. In other times, they simply spent money to support the mages. Everyone was already used to protecting mages, and regarded them as the cores of battles.

Saleen did not oppose it. His Invisible Shield was a constant magic on his mage robe. It could be deployed in as fast as a second, but was never instantaneous.

Instantaneous meant that a spell was prepared, cast, and completed within the shortest amount of time. This speed was generally one thirtieth of a second, and was many times faster than the release of sword aura.

Only at Grade 4 would a mage have their second instantaneous defense magic – Ice Plate Armor. Before then, there was the Invisible Shield under Wind Magic which was the start of defense magic, followed by the slightly slower Skin Fossilization and the unstable Ring of Flames. Saleen had not finished studying that obscure Water Shield spell, which was even slower than constant magic when it came to deployment.

The sky darkened, and Saleen began to prepare his magic. The Fog of Confusion was a Grade 0 Water Magic spell. He had hardly practiced it but took only three seconds to deploy it. With him in the center, the greyish fog diffused in all directions, and swiftly extended to cover fifty miles in diameter.

While awaiting the completion and stabilization of the spell, Saleen began to prepare the second spell – Grade 0 Fluorescence spell. He had been compelled to practice this magic because he was unable to learn the illumination magic of the Light Series and the flame magic in the Fire Series. Night Vision was a major Grade 6 magic, and was unattainable for him. Thus, he was forced to work with such obscure magic.

The Fluorescence spell had advantages comparable to those of the Illumination spell. Although it was dim, it would not create any magical waves that could arouse the attention of others.

While the fog was spreading, the members of the Falcon Regiment had their hearts in their mouths. This was because they had suddenly lost their vision. They could neither see nor hear Saleen or Sika's breathing.

Only when their sword auras revolved could they subtly detect the existences of the two. However, Canghong and the others were experienced mercenaries, and had dealt with mages before. Therefore, they knew that what they felt might not be real. If the young mage launched an attack at this time, only a ranged attack would be of any significance in this fog.

Saleen himself was not disturbed by the fog. He could see the expressions of the five in the Falcon Regiment, and smiled to himself. I had wanted to give you a warning, in case you turned the tables after accomplishing the mission.

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Chapter 26: The Holy Master (Part 1)

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

When the weak fluorescent light lit up, everyone gradually regained sight of their surroundings. They also saw Saleen's half-smile. Canghong was shocked. He had indeed harbored thoughts of burning bridges after the mission, but now suppressed them. It would not be wise to turn against a mage over money.

"Let's go." Saleen deployed the second Fluorescence spell. The view of their surroundings was even clearer now. Canghong waved his hand and Lucas came forward to join him.

Usually, no mercenary regiment would assign their archer to be at the front, especially since Canghong was not a heavily armored swordsman himself. But at the moment, it was more important to guard their backs. The sunset had passed. Before darkness fell, a mass of grey fog floated into the crevice at the foot of mountain.

This tunnel was unusually wide, but had a narrow entrance which was not easy to find. Upon entering, the squad immediately slowed down.

Lucas patiently observed the track marks on the road to calculate the distance between them and the adventurers ahead of them. They would definitely meet the Vulture Regiment first. Based on their habits, the three squads would be separated, so for the first encounter they would meet ten people at most.

The fluorescent light was surrounded by the fog and did not seem to seep out into it. Concealed in the darkness, Saleen and the others moved forward slowly. Nobody saw Saleen open his mouth and gently release three air bubbles. These three bubbles were almost transparent, and kept growing larger until they were as large as a face basin.

The transparent bubbles which could hardly be seen with the naked eye floated past Saleen. Saleen felt much safer with this.

He could control three Water Shields at the same time. Any more than that, and he would not be able to withstand the exhaustion. The mutated water shield was much safer than the Invisible Shield, and only a Grade 2 mage at minimum could destroy it.

Saleen was also wary of the men from the Falcon Regiment. Cook, who had a scar on his face, was well built. Saleen could not see his weapon, and so deduced that he could be a martial arts exponent or a bandit-like assassin who used daggers. Regardless, it was a threat to have him in such close proximity to a mage.

Cook was secretly surprised as well that the young mage could actually sustain six spells at the same time. Although they could have been supported by magic nuclei, it was evident that the mage had strong mental power. Was he really a Grade 1 mage?

The inside of the tunnel was extremely gloomy. Under the glare of the fluorescent light, an area with a radius of dozens of meters was illuminated with a soft green glow, as though filled with evil spirits. Canghong, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped, and Lucas began to sign complicated hand gestures.

Saleen had no idea what he was gesturing but he sensed the presence of enemies.

Hiding at the fork road ahead of them were two men. If Saleen had not cast the Fog of Confusion, he might not have perceived their presences. Nothing under the cover of the fog could escape Saleen's senses.

Lucas removed the short bow from his back as Saleen tried hard to find his enemies among the fog, but to no avail. Suddenly, a sharp sound pierced through the air. The opponent's archer had fired an arrow.

Usually, each squad would only include one archer, but the Vulture Regiment used the relatively rare five-two configuration, which had two archers. Instantly, six arrows were shot into the area covered by the fog, straight into the center of the mist.

The opponents were not able to detect the mage's position and could only attack based on experienced judgement. The six arrows sealed off their entire range of movement. There were blue rays on the tips of the arrows. Poisonous arrow tips!

Although Saleen did not have legitimate combat experience, he had read a vast amount. After each time he had used the mysterious badge, he had used the time during which he lost control over his body to review his knowledge. Jason had a wide collection of books, especially magic notes. Most of them collected the experiences of mages, including that of their combat experiences.

When Saleen had deployed the Fog of Confusion, he had adjusted the spell slightly, so that the place he was standing was off-center. All six arrows went straight towards Pino. Saleen quickly moved to the front, his hands ready with a spell. His targets were the two enemies within the area of the fog.

The two men had concealed themselves extremely well, possibly because they were assassins.

A white light flashed, and a giant ice ball flew out from Saleen's hands. Flying faster than the arrows, it shot towards the two men hiding at the fork road. His action had exposed his position, and six arrows came again from afar, heading towards him.

At this time, Lucas took action. He half-opened his short bow, attaching two metal eagle plumes. Lucas stood right in front of the squad. Anxious to exterminate the mage, the two archers had chosen to attack Saleen at the same time. Lucas immediately found the position of the archers. A red glint appeared in his eyes and his pupils dilated swiftly as the metal eagle plumes flew out of his hand with a explosive sound.

Cook was now standing behind Saleen. The six arrows flew overhead, and he pounced towards the top of the tunnel. There were no people waiting to ambush them there, and with this leap, he had jumped out of the area covered by the fog.

Two assassins hid in ambush at the fork road. If this squad were to move forward another three meters, they would attack. However, because Canghong who was leading had suddenly stopped, they could only wait. In the fog, they had heard the mage's uneven breaths.

As long as the mage was dead, this squad of seven would not be a threat. After they retreated from their attack, they would let the other two squads follow up with their attacks and harassment. In less than three days, this squad would collapse.

At such wishful thinking, a huge ice ball flew over, and for some strange reason, it had not made any sound.

The snow white ice ball was twice as big as a person's head. The two bandits jumped up in fright. Could this mage's aim get any worse? The ice ball was flying towards the space in between them. Even if they did not move, they would not get hit.

It was a delayed release. The chilly ice ball exploded and out flew dozens of sharp icicles. Because the distance was so close, almost all of the icicles were shot into the chests of the two bandits.

The temperature of the icicles froze the wounds. The two bandits felt their bodies turning numb. Amazingly, they did not die instantly but instead gave blank stares to their compatriots who stood opposite to them.

A Grade 2 spell! This rare term appeared in the minds of the two bandits before they died.

If it hadn't been for Saleen, the entire squad would have been exposed to the ambush. The five from the Falcon Regiment were not wearing any heavy armor, and would definitely have been harmed by the arrows' precise attacks. The Fog of Confusion had caused the archers' arrows to lose their accuracy. Saleen had deflected these two rounds of attacks with ease.

Pino, however, was flustered. When his sword had been knocked away by the first round of attacks, there had been a small explosion. The opponent did not have any magic archers, only self-exploding magic arrows. The scattered fragments were blocked by Saleen's bubbles and Invisible Shield, and were not of any threat.

Saleen continued to traverse along the stone wall. Two brief cries were heard, the opponent's archers having been killed by Lucas. There were sounds of fighting coming from behind him. Sika was shouting something in that distinct voice of hers. He could not make out what she was saying, as it was in the Caucasus language. There was a spurt of fresh blood from at least fifteen meters away, which was blocked by Saleen's Invisible Shield.

The fresh blood spread out on the Magic Shield, making it a demonic shade of purple in the fluorescent light.

The winner of the clash had been determined in less than twenty seconds. The assassins' attack had been thwarted by Saleen. The two rounds of attacks by the opponent's archers had not hit their mage target but had instead exposed their locations, and Lucas' two eagle plumes had been drawn back to fire shortly after their release.

Although the archers had been slain, there were still the swordsmen with heavy armor, spear swordsmen, and holy master. The swordsmen with heavy armor could be hammered into a pulp by Sika's cudgel. In terms of strength, Caucasus women definitely had the upper hand.

Cook crawled against the ceiling of the cave and soon discovered the holy master, who was desperately trying to cast a divine spell to save the spear swordsman. Canghong and Lucas were dealing with the other spear swordsman. There was a long whip in Canghong's hand, whereas Lucas had swapped out his bow for a three-edged dagger.

There was a hole as large as a bowl in the injured spear swordsman's chest armor, which had likely been brought about by the three-edged dagger. The three-edged dagger had its uses on the battlefield, primarily against heavily armored foot soldiers. Regular weapons were not able to pierce heavy armor, but heavy armor could easily be penetrated by the three-edged dagger. The three-edged dagger was short and was usually used as a form of auxiliary arm.

The three-edged dagger was a weapon that was much detested by mercenaries when they were in combat. Most mercenaries would not be protected by heavy armor, much less magic armor, and leather armor was useless against a three-edged dagger. Although the three-edged dagger was sharp, once it penetrated the flesh, it would tear the wound. This spear swordsman had suddenly attacked Lucas, but had ended up being the one attacked by the archer instead. The treatment by the holy master would not have any effect.

Cook moved down from the ceiling, a metal glove on his hand. Using the sharp blades on each of the fingertips, he pounced at the holy master. Although a holy master's attacking prowess was not strong, they were good at treatments and defense. It would be difficult to pursue him once he had escaped. Cook had a wealth of experience behind him. When he noticed that the holy master had not assisted in attacking and had gone to treat the wounded instead, he knew that it would be irksome to deal with these two men. Hence, he had decided to be ruthless and kill off this ceremonial figure.

Although the spear swordsman's wound had stopped bleeding, he still looked pale. The holy master stopped his treatment and pointed his finger skywards. A white glow engulfed his entire body instantaneously. Cook's movement was obstructed, and he felt as though he was being pricked all over by needles. Instead of pouncing, he found himself falling downwards forcefully.

He was shocked. This was a senior holy master, who did not need to say any prayers to release offensive divine spells.

To fall from the ceiling of the cave which was ten meters tall without the protection of the sword aura would at the very least cause a fracture. In the midst of the white light, Cook took a good look at the holy master.

He was in his thirties, middle-aged, and dressed in a white robe. He looked saintly against the white light. Cook was paralyzed with fear, seeing the holy master's finger point towards his head.

Saleen did not dispel the Fog of Confusion. He leaned against the stone wall, carefully sensing and scanning for enemies who had fallen into his trap. Although Canghong had said that the opponent had only ten men, any slip up could be fatal. The latent ability of the two men he had killed was almost at Grade 4. If they were of any higher level, he would not have been so confident of their true locations.

If an assassin at the level of Grade 4 appeared, he would be in trouble. A shadow moved. It was Lucas who had appeared next to Saleen. Fresh blood was smeared on one side of his body. Sarah dashed to the front like a gust of wind, holding a Qin Empire flexible sword. Weapons such as the flexible sword were only used by swordsmen from Qin Empire, mainly because the use of it involved arduous practice.

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Chapter 27: The Holy Master (Part 2)

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

When Lucas saw that Cook was in danger, he withdrew his three-edged dagger and charged towards the holy master without hesitation. Without even turning his head, the holy master waved his hand and a shield of light appeared behind his body. The shield blocked the three-edged dagger and brought it to the ground with a clang. Lucas jumped out of the battle zone and took out his short bow. At that moment, Sarah dashed forward, her snake-like flexible sword aimed at the holy master's ankle. However, when she curled up her body and positioned herself at a low angle, she had poised herself for defeat.

Seeing Sarah, the holy master frowned. He pointed his finger downwards and a white light shot out, hitting Sarah's flexible sword. Sarah felt a scorching heat on the palm holding her sword, and practically smelled her flesh burning.

Bang! Cook fell heavily to the ground, the impact of his fall greater than if he had fallen naturally. Even Saleen, who was far off in the distance, could hear the breaking of Cook's bones.

Immediately, a shot of black light aimed at the holy master's chest flew from Lucas' bow. Lucas, afraid that the holy master had killed Cook, repeatedly shot arrows at him. The holy master's white robe continuously emitted a bright light and with every arrow, he retreated half a step. However, none of the arrows pierced his white robe.

Lucas withdrew, as Canghong had gotten himself into a precarious situation. The last standing swordsman who was clearly the squad leader was dressed in magic armor. On some occasions, he did not duck from the leather whip that was aimed at him by Canghong. Sparks of fire splattered out as though the strikes could hardly hurt his body. Despite this, he did not stop moving his sword, creating two gashes on Canghong's metal armor.

Pino was already injured, as he had been shot by four of the arrows. Of the arrows, two had carried explosives. His face was full of scratches, and there were several metal arrows protruding from his leather armor. When it came to defense, he was not as capable as Saleen. It was his agility that had helped him escape from the most fatal attacks. The opponent had managed to cause such damage to their squad despite not being able to aim accurately. If Lucas had not used those two eagle plumes against them, the squad would have been crushed.

As the white light entered the fog, the holy master appeared in front of Saleen. Grade 1 magic was no match for senior divinity. This he already knew. Once the holy master emerged, there was no chance that their opponents would launch a surprise attack. The result of this battle was doomed.

Saleen's magic had destroyed the opponent's archers and also killed two bandits. Sika had demolished the opponent's heavily armored swordsman, which prevented Canghong's squad from being attacked from all sides.

Saleen felt that Sika was truly brutal. Her huge cudgel had hair attached to it, which he found disgusting. On the other end of the cudgel was the swordsman in heavy armor who had a steel helmet. If he hadn't been struck into pieces with one blow, the hair at the end of Sika's cudgel would not be there.

On the other hand, Sika did not see anything wrong in what she had done, as she was only protecting Saleen. In her heart, his standing was equivalent to that of the priest in her village. Protecting the priest was the responsibility of every Caucasus individual. In addition, she owed Saleen a few hundred gold coins. Therefore, whoever dared to touch Saleen would have their skull broken in one blow by her cudgel. It was the fear of every Caucasus individual to have his or her creditor die.

Pino quietly dressed his wound. Saleen took his metal water flask and passed it to him.

"This is restorative water. There is poison in your wound. Give it a wash." Saleen saw that Pino's flesh had begun to turn black and purple, and could not stand by doing nothing.

"Thank you." Pino grit his teeth and took the water flask from him. He was now well aware that Saleen had placed him in the center of the fog to bait their opponent into firing. He did not hold any grudges towards him, for if it had been up to Canghong, he would have done the same. No regiment would be foolish enough to allow a mage to face off with their opponent's archers. As long as the mage was alive, the squad had a chance of reversing their fates.

As expected, Saleen's restorative water worked better than medicine. It might have taken effect more slowly with internal injuries, but after a wash, the poison in the surface of Pino's wound had been cleared away.

Sarah ran towards Canghong and he dodged, giving up his place. As Sarah held her sword in her left hand, ready to attack, Canghong used his long whip to pull the injured Cook back.

In less than a minute, this was followed by the sound of the Falcon Regiment grouping together.

"Stop!" The holy master shouted, having no place to retreat. However, no one stopped as they had already killed eight people and it was too late for talks of diplomacy. The opponent had laid an ambush and had not had good intentions to start with.

"I am from the Holy See. Today's incident was an accident," the holy master yelled in frustration. His power was greater than his that of his opponents, but he lacked coordination. Attacking divine spells were, after all, not magic. It would be impossible for him to kill all of his opponents.

Saleen narrowed his gaze and whispered, "Sika, did you kill the holy master in the back?"

"Yes, he could not endure it. I killed him easily with my cudgel," Sika said casually, as though she had stepped on an ant. Caucasus people liked mages but not holy masters, as the latter had been infiltrating the Caucasus Region to spread the glory of god. In the past few years, two to three tribes had begun to be controlled by the Holy See and as a result, the Caucasus people had declined and forgotten their basic dignity.

"Hmph." Saleen huffed through his nostrils, glancing at Pino. He saw Pino's hesitation and knew that the Falcon Regiment would not risk offending the Holy See. However, Sika had already killed a holy master, and who could be sure if that unlucky fellow had not been someone from the Holy See?

Pino felt the air turn colder by a few degrees and tried to hand the metal water flask back to Saleen. Saleen did not take it and instead walked a few steps forward, telling Canghong loudly, "Leave that swordsman to me. If you still want to carry on with your mission, kill this person. We can't turn back now."

Canghong grit his teeth and nodded, as he knew that the dead holy master had probably had ties with the Holy See. Since the deed had been done, there was no room for regret, unless he was able to kill Saleen and Sika as well. However, it appeared that there was no reason to do so since both of them possessed unexpectedly strong combat power. He also needed replacements for the two people who had sustained injuries, and thus had no reason to break ties with Saleen.

The holy master saw that the mage had spoken and his eyes were filled with fear. Saleen did not even look at him, beginning to prepare his magic. At the battle earlier, Saleen had not even used up ten percent of his magic chords. But now, he was preparing a Grade 2 spell which he only had one chance with. That swordsman was wearing magic armor and a Grade 1 spell would not be sufficient.

A Grade 1 mage would usually only be able to learn one Grade 2 spell. In addition, all it took was one use and the magic chords would be completely exhausted. However, Saleen's magic chords were different and were double that of his peers. In situations where none of his magic chords were exhausted, he would be able to deploy two Grade 2 spells consecutively.

In terms of combat range and power, Grade 2 magic was an entirely different concept from Grade 1 magic. Saleen was not well versed in Grade 2 magic, and required the use of magic hand gestures and chants to release the magic. The opponent's spear swordsman started to panic, but he had been trapped by Sarah's flexible sword and could neither attack nor escape.

In the midst of his low indistinct chanting, a white mark appeared between both of Saleen's hands. The white line extended through the air, straight towards the spear swordsman's chest. A bright red ray emerged from the blade of the swordsman's spear as he tried to defend himself.

He gave it his all, forcing all of his newly attained sword aura onto his weapon. This was equivalent to a self-crippling stroke. Even if he were able to defend against Saleen's magic, he would not be able to avoid being badly hurt. He had hope in his heart that if the holy master could settle this matter, his injuries would be inconsequential.

His hope was quickly diminished. Once Sarah saw that Saleen was dealing with him, she released him from her sword and ran towards the holy master with no intention of attacking him.

The white mark had been an ice arrow. Ice arrows and icicles were used similarly in attacks but were different in terms of power and the appropriate distance for usage. The spear swordsman's weapon had been frozen solid after blocking Saleen's attack. The blood flow in both his arms had nearly been frozen solid as well. If he were only a grand swordmaster instead of a junior swordsman, he could have broken out of Saleen's spell with a strike.

Once Sika saw that Saleen had made his move, she leapt over ten meters in distance. In just a few steps, she had reached the spear swordsman and struck him with her cudgel.

Her cudgel was thick in front and thin at the end, and was heavier than the war hammer used in battles. The spear swordsman had just taken a relieved breath when Sika's cudgel appeared before him. He could not dodge or raise his spear to protect himself. He was relieved that Sika was a female and that her weapon, while thick, did not appear genuine.

"Crack!" The spear broke into three pieces after being hit by Sika's cudgel. The cudgel landed heavily on the spear swordsman's shoulder. Sika herself was shocked by the impact and later realized that Saleen's ice arrow had frozen the sword and made it brittle. No matter how powerful her opponent was, they would not have been able to withstand her single blow. Looking at the bloody battleground, Saleen shook his head. As a delicate and beautiful girl, Sika's method of attack was too bloody. However, Sika herself did not seem to think so, wiping off the blood on her cudgel on the opponent's body before returning to Saleen's side.

The Falcon Regiment had no more worries. Together with Cook, who had fractured his right shoulder, everyone began to head towards the holy master. If word got out that this incident had occurred, everyone would be in big trouble. The inquisitors in the Holy See were not vegetarians, and were, in truth, maniacs. The thought of the legends involving the inquisitors sent chills down everyone's spines. The only way out would be to silence the holy master.

The holy master's face turned fierce. He knew that a single command by Saleen would send him to his death. Knowing that there was no way out, the holy master suddenly knelt down. Saleen was shocked by his actions, thinking that he was perhaps asking for forgiveness. However, in an instant, the light rays from the holy master's body intensified and landed on everyone in a magnificent brilliance, causing piercing pain and making it impossible for them to open their eyes.

He started to recite a prayer: God had said followers, you do not have to panic…

Canghong felt a chill go through his heart – he was actually summoning God! 'Summoning God' was what it was commonly referred to as; the Holy See referred to it as the descent technique. In an instant, it could increase the holy master's power. Of course, after God had been summoned, the holy master would suffer a sorry fate. Usually, no holy master would do such a thing, unless he was a fanatic.

The descent technique could not be used by just anyone – only holy members of the Holy See could use it and minimally, only a high priest of Grade 1 level could deploy it. A Grade 1 level high priest of a formal position would own at least a large cathedral, with thousands of followers.

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Chapter 28: The One Who Should Not Have Been Killed (Part 1)

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

This time, things had gone awry. If a Grade 1 high priest were to die here, the Holy See was bound to investigate. Canghong felt that either way, they were all dead. He made an featureless facial expression, straightened the soft whip he held in his hand, and pointed it directly at the holy master as though it were a gun.

The light coming from the holy master's body intensified and it seemed practically as though his clothes were burning. A part of Canghong's soft whip suddenly transformed into a black snake head and took a ferocious bite at the holy master's chest.

After the snake head entered the holy light surrounding the holy master's body, it shrank in size. Its bite did not hurt the holy master, and he only jerked once and continued chanting his prayers.

The metal eagle plumes shot by Lucas were deflected by the holy light, while Sarah's attacks with her flexible sword did not even pierce his clothes. Worst of all was Cook, who had twisted his wrist after trying unsuccessfully to use his steel claws to strike the holy master's stomach.

"Sika, you and Pino go…" Saleen said. He did not want Pino to stay at his side, but if Sika still did not act, it was possible that they would be too late. Once the holy master finished his prayers, everyone would die. As to whether there was another ambush waiting for them, Saleen could not care less. Without saying anything, Pino raised his long sword and charged towards the holy master.

Sika followed after Pino. Once she saw that Pino's long sword was about to pierce through the holy master's throat, she sped up and raised her large cudgel to strike the holy master. Boom!

Both Sika and Pino had hit their target simultaneously. The long sword fell to the side, while Sika's cudgel bounced upwards, causing Sika to roll backwards. The light from the holy master's body faded, and fell forward lifelessly. His face hit the ground with force, as he gave out a frightening cry.

As an archer with recent war experience and the one with balanced power within the squad, Lucas reacted quickly. He picked up the three-edged dagger from the floor and stabbed the holy master in the back of his head. The light surrounding the holy master completely extinguished. Everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief and stopped their attacks in fatigue.

The three-edged dagger had penetrated through the holy master's skull and struck the floor, forming a large palm-sized wound. Even if the oracle arrived, it would be impossible to treat such an injury. The holy master was still writhing on the floor, refusing to die. At this time, Sika stopped rolling and looked in amazement at the holy master who had been pinned to the ground.

"Good job, Sika!" Pino turned back to praise her.

"It wasn't me!" Sika said doubtfully, thinking that it was impossible for her cudgel to have broken the holy master's defense. It was only possible that she had slowed him down.

"Be careful!" Canghong yelled, his soft whip letting out a whistling sound as he struck.

Lucas should have used his short bow to attack but it would not have prevented the following from happening. A shadow wormed its way into Cook's abdomen, causing Cook to bounce up violently to a height of almost three meters before he was forcefully dropped to the ground. There was a gaping hole in his abdomen, fresh blood dripping from the wound.

"What was that?" Everyone was at a loss. Cook was writhing about on the ground. While his abdomen no longer hurt, it had begun to grow numb. He felt that his life was fading away as the organism in his abdomen released poison profusely, absorbing his fluids at the same time. Soon, the wound in Cook's abdomen had widened to a chasm nearly one foot wide in diameter.

Saleen clutched a Grade 3 magic nucleus in his hand, frantically trying to speed up the recovery of his magic chords. However, because only one minute had passed since the battle, the magic chords he had recovered were not sufficient enough to support a Grade 1 spell. Saleen regretted not having anticipated the dangers they would face. He should have bought a few magic scrolls as a precaution.

"Cook …" Sarah knelt down, wanting to help. A black creature leapt at Sarah, coming from Cook's abdomen. Sarah rolled away and Pino's sword struck this black creature. It made a squealing sound and flew towards the stone wall. At this moment, everyone realized that it was a black spider covered in black bristles, with six revolving eyes.

A similar spider appeared from behind the body of the dead holy master. Both spiders huddled together and did not attempt to escape.

"Witcher spiders!" Saleen exclaimed loudly. Canghong and the others were furious that it appeared Cook would not be able to survive. The holy master had also been killed by the witcher spider. Sika's attack on him had only paused his divine spell, allowing the witcher spider to find a gap to enter the holy master's body.

While absorbing the magic nuclei in his hands, Saleen tried his best to control the three large air bubbles and protect himself. In ten minutes, he would recover his fighting power. Canghong and the others seemed to have forgotten the danger and headed towards the two witcher spiders.

Saleen sighed and whispered, "Sika, go help them. I am fine here."

He knew that while it should not have been a problem for four people to deal with two spiders, the spiders were hard to kill because they were agile. And, if their attack was prolonged, accidents could occur.

The witcher spider was a Grade 4 creature and did not have a magic nucleus. However, it possessed lethal poison and was fast. It also had fangs that could gnaw at magic or holy shields. It was good at hiding and did not know how to spin webs. Instead, it preferred to roam within caves and hunt for magic beasts. It would enter the bodies of magic beasts and release venom, absorbing the mass of juices from the melted internal organs. Most of the time, the witcher spider acted alone.

The eight claws of the witcher spider were usually sharp and could penetrate the skins of magic beasts before entering their bodies. This creature was the favorite pet of mages. However, given that Canghong and the others were intent on killing them, Saleen did not advise them otherwise. Oh, what a waste of two magic pets!

Canghong's soft whip had caught one of witcher spiders. Its front claw moved and cut through the whip, and then it retreated. Sika rushed over, taking two to three steps. Her cudgel landed on the witcher spider's body. The spider squealed upon being smashed but it did not die and instead spat out black venom. Sika dodged the venom, and the flattened spider shook it claws and unbelievably stood up.

Saleen felt that he had recovered some of his magic chords and attempted to prepare magic. After his chanting was completed, a white light appeared from the ground and successfully trapped the other witcher spider.

Saleen's spell had caused the witcher spider to instantaneously be coated by a layer of white frost. Lucas's eagle plume shot out quickly enough to pin the witcher spider to the floor. Saleen knew he did not have any potent spells he could use. At first, he had intended to use two Grade 2 spells. However, in order to speed up the deployment when killing the spear swordsman, he had needed to exhaust his magic chords. After he had exhausted his magic chords, he had to rely on the magic nuclei to recover. As such, it was impossible to use Grade 2 magic. He could only use Grade 1 magic, which was his Water Magic with pathetically low capabilities.

Without the support of the swordsmen, he would not have been able to kill the pair of witcher spiders. Likewise, without Saleen's magic, the swordsmen would not have succeeded in killing the fast-moving Grade 4 creatures.

Saleen began to understand why mages were so well regarded. Even a Grade 1 mage could change the outcome of battle. He stopped Canghong and the others from destroying the spider carcasses. He said, "I need a complete witcher spider's carcass to create a puppet. You can also sell the other carcass for money."

Canghong and the others calmed down, and realized that what Saleen had said made sense. Cook was already dead and even if they destroyed the bodies of the witcher spiders, it would not bring him back. All of them wordlessly went back to the inside of the cave to retrieve their baggage, and Saleen held onto the carcass of the spider that had been flattened. Currently, he could not even produce a scroll, much less a puppet which required even more profound knowledge in magic. However, the witcher spider, as an element, was hard to come by as they roamed alone and were hard to spot in dark caves. Even without a magic nucleus, the claws of a witcher spider could be used to break spells or defend against a holy master. It was one of the best elements to use in the creation of a puppet.

Placing the black witcher spider in his leather sack, Saleen's magic chords had recovered by twenty percent. He was able to deploy four Grade 1 spells. At this moment, his water shields disappeared, the three large air bubbles not existing anymore. Saleen silently made a calculation; now that the water shield had mutated, it would not last any longer than three minutes. He reckoned that the spell could only support one battle and was not sufficient for a long, drawn-out defense.

The remaining four members of the Falcon Regiment began to dig a hole to bury Cook. Saleen started to collect the loot. The people killed by Sika had their armors completely broken, leaving no value for them to be collected. The opponent's archers did not have any magic arrows, and only had a few gold coins.

After the bodies were gathered together, Saleen finally found a letter on the holy master, as well as his badge. The back of the badge had inscriptions in Tanggulasi. Upon reading it, Saleen was speechless. The badge indicated that the holy master was a Grade 1 high priest from the Cathedral of El Salvador and his name was Kosian.

To make matters worse, the writer of the letter had used an authoritative tone to ask that the Grade 1 high priest be allowed to enter the Chaotic Swamp to carry out a mission for the Holy See. There was only a code name, and no description on what the mission was.

Kosian himself had not known what the code name referred to. He was a forerunner, making use of the Vulture Regiment to enter the Chaotic Swamp to await further orders. The author of the letter had a strange sign off – Fycro. At the end of the letter, there was a seal. While Saleen did not know much about the Holy See, he recognized the seal. It represented that Kosian, the unlucky holy master, had received orders from the Holy See. Saleen passed the letter around and the mood in the cave turned even more somber.

In the Myers Mainland, the Holy See held control over the Tanggulasi Empire. Having managed it for more than two hundred years, they had become a formidable entity. In addition, the sacred knights which patrolled the glorious plains and the inquisitors which were disassociated from the Privy Council were known to strike fear in the hearts of many people.

And these were just the conventional forces. People feared the seven oracles under the Pope most of all. It was said that the seven oracles had received the grace of god and each possessed power that was out of this world. Each oracle possessed the power of a Grade 9 mage. Saleen and the team had killed the forerunner of the seven oracles. Thinking this, Canghong just about wanted to commit suicide.

If it had been an unimportant high priest who had disappeared, the Holy See would not come all this way to investigate. However, this high priest was on a mission and his sudden disappearance would definitely imply a mishap. While the Falcon Regiment had not left any visible traces at the professional union apart from hiring two low-level mercenaries, there would definitely be someone who had seen Canghong and the others appear at Didypus. If the Holy See were to investigate, Canghong and the team would not be able to hide this fact.

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Chapter 29: The One Who Should Not Have Been Killed (Part 2)

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

"What shall we do?" Everyone looked at Canghong. This devilishly handsome man had lost his composure at the moment. He could not respond to Saleen's question.

"From what I see, since the deed is already done, what we need to do now is think about how we will escape from being killed by Holy See," said Saleen who was unsurprisingly calm. He had planned to go to the Qin Empire anyway, so he simply needed to bring up his plans. He had registered as a mercenary only to earn some money to pay for his expenses while practicing magic.

Canghong was speechless. He had family back home. If this matter were to leak out, the inquisitors would attack his family, regardless of whether they were involved in this. He would not be able to stay in the Sikeqinya Empire and if he ran away, he could only go to the Qin Empire where there were no unions. By doing so, the five thousand gold pieces would go down the drain along with his own savings, as they were all placed in the Sikeqinya Empire's bank. While the bank would not confiscate his assets because of his crime, he would be too afraid to return.

All of his savings from the past few years and the deaths of five close-knit mercenaries in exchange for the status of a fugitive? The relics at the Chaotic Swamp would either be of some consolation, or he would end up with nothing.

"Let's complete the mission at hand first. Regardless of what we find in the relics, after we have completed the expedition, Sika and I will go to the Qin Empire. All of you might as well take the boat to the Cloudflow Empire. If the Holy See cannot find any of you, it will not be impossible for them to conclude that it was done by you," Saleen said eloquently, as though he had not been involved in the killing of the holy master.

"This is the way things have to be then," said Canghong agonizingly. He could only hope that the relics from the Chaotic Swamp would not disappoint.

"Let me rest for twenty minutes. Once I have regained my magic chords, we can continue to advance," Saleen said. He did not want to aggravate Canghong and the others but wanted to remind them that there could be unknown enemies up ahead. This was not the time to be upset and nervous.

"Everyone enter the fork road and get some rest. We will leave in twenty minutes." Canghong gave a simple order, feeling a little dejected.

While Saleen appeared to be calm on the surface, he was, in fact, panicking inside. The consequences of offending Earl Sufonso were nothing compared to those of offending the Holy See. It was bound to end badly. Even if he were a Grade 6 mage with a magical tower, the lunatics from the tribunal would still attack him anyway.

Any contradictions involving religion only resulted in a situation without an end. The Holy See did not have any churches in the Qin Empire but the religious inquisition was everywhere, which would make it difficult for Saleen to practice in seclusion.

Saleen continued to maintain his outwardly calm composure and focused hard on absorbing the magic nuclei to recover his magic chords. The situation had reached the point of no return. There was no use being vexed over it, and the only way forward would be to improve his abilities. After killing the son of Earl Sufonso, Saleen finally understood the importance of a person's capabilities.

If he were a mage master, Earl Sufonso's son would have released Decca on his account. He would have not have needed to run away, would not have met Canghong, and of course, would not have killed the high priest from the Holy See.

This was destiny – an insignificant beginning had determined the outcome. Canghong was influenced by Saleen and had unconsciously calmed down. It was very clear to him that from now on, he would not be able to return to the Falcon Regiment. While they were a Grade 4 regiment, they would not offend the Holy See over a squad leader like him. The most important thing right now would be to kill his way through this tunnel and eliminate everyone ahead of them so that his squad was not exposed. Once he obtained the relics from the Chaotic Swamp, he would leave and never return to Sikeqinya.

The Cloudflow Empire had many islands and it would be impossible for the claws of the Holy See to reach any of them there, much less find him. However, there were four squads ahead of them, of which two were from the Vulture Regiment, one was a fugitive squad, and the last was a hunting squad. The combined strength of these squads was more than that of his squad. In addition, Cook was dead; Lucas had used up half of his eagle plumes; Pino was hurt and one of Sarah's arms was injured. Would such a squad be able to reach the relics successfully?

Canghong looked at Saleen. More than half of Saleen's magic chords had recovered and the fluorescent light had returned along with the Fog of Confusion, placing the entire team under the protection of his magic. Canghong could not feel any fluctuations in the emotions of this young mage. It was as though the person they had killed was only a normal person, and not a Grade 1 high priest under the seven oracles. Canghong was relieved that he at least had a Grade 1 mage who could allow the squad to display their extraordinary fighting capabilities.

This young mage knew a thing or two about assassins. Therefore, the remaining four would only need to deal with the archers and holy masters, which were comparatively easier opponents. Saleen raised his gaze and looked at Canghong with his blue eyes, smiling and saying, "Do not worry. If this were the wilderness, we would have no chance of winning. However, in this environment, unless there is a mage of a higher grade, we will not meet with any danger. Let us continue."

The remaining four people from the Falcon Regiment gathered in silence. This time, Sarah was in front, Lucas was at the back, and Pino and Canghong followed Saleen. Sika carried her large cudgel and followed closely behind Saleen. Any sounds within the cave could be heard from afar, and Sarah did not dare go too far beyond the Fog of Confusion. The squad maintained a steady but slow pace as they moved forward.

After about twenty minutes, Sarah stopped and waited for Saleen and the others to catch up before making some hand gestures. Canghong sighed silently. It seemed that luck was back on their side. There was only a small squad ahead of them. The Vulture Regiment did not seem to know that their compatriots behind them had met with mishap, and were instead focused on the squads ahead.

He knew that Saleen was only a Grade 1 mage and would not know the Mute Enchantment spell. He wrote on the ground with his fingers, "Same spell as before, but at half the speed."

Saleen nodded his head, indicating that he had understood.

In the fog, the entire squad reduced their speed to half of what it had been before and continued to edge forward. Saleen began to use his instincts to search for the opponent's assassins. For a junior mage, assassins were most troublesome. Without a high level magic shield, a mage would find it hard to anticipate the sudden attacks of assassins. If the assassin had mastered the sword aura, an attack out of nowhere would easily pierce the defenses of an invisible shield.

Before a mage attained Grade 4, assassins were a mage's natural enemies, putting them at unease. Saleen did not have much combat experience and most of his knowledge was from books. However, he had committed to memory the one experience shared by mages, which was that in a battle, the assassins should be killed as soon as possible. Regardless of how strong a swordsman was, his skills were balanced at best. As long as the mage did not commit any major errors, it would be easy to win the battle if their opponent was of the same skill level. Although assassins also practiced the sword aura, they were better at hiding. Their sudden bursts of power made them more lethal than swordsmen. The best way to deal with an assassin was to kill them before they could react.

Fortunately for Saleen, while the Fog of Confusion was only a Grade 1 spell, it could not be countered by means other than magic. It was also difficult to determine if the fog was caused by magic or was a natural phenomenon. It was the autumn season, and there was a great deal of fog surrounding the Chaotic Swamp. Saleen found the locations of the two assassins in no time. They were in a crevice in between the rocks at the top of the cave. If Saleen's manufactured fog had not covered such a large area, it would have been difficult to spot the two assassins.

While Saleen was initially happy, he suddenly wondered why the two assassins were at the back instead of in front of the squad as they typically would be. They could not have discovered his existence, because if they had known that the fog was created by a mage, they would have known that they had been exposed. If that were so, they would not still be hiding at that spot waiting for his magic to take effect.

Saleen grabbed hold of Canghong's hand and held on to him. He steered his eyes towards the top of the cave, not knowing how to express his thoughts. He regretted not having learned more about mercenaries. Their hand gestures were complicated and were good enough to replace sign language. In desperation, Saleen controlled the Fluorescence spell and beamed a green fluorescent ray into the air to create a sentence: "Assassins at the back, situation not good."

Canghong had more experience than Saleen and immediately understood what he meant. At the same time, he was full of admiration for this young mage. Canghong could tell that Saleen and Sika were rookie mercenaries and did not have much experience. However, throughout the journey, they had not created any trouble for him and had instead been the main forces during combat. Without the young mage, the squad would have died at the last encounter. Even if they had killed the holy master, they would have been killed by the witcher spiders after.

Canghong gestured his hand against his throat, indicating for Saleen to kill both of the assassins. Saleen nodded and a white light began to appear in his hands. Despite it being an old fashioned method, a large ice ball flew up towards the top of the cave, aiming for the area in between the two assassins.

The two assassins were more powerful than the previous two. With this sudden attack, not caring whether the ice ball was aimed at them, both leaped out from the crevice.

These were competent assassins, the natural enemies of mages, given their acute sensitivity to dangers. In terms of mental power, a strong assassin was not weaker than a mage, and some assassins even used magical tools.

Saleen sneered to himself: If you could escape this, I would not be a mage. He pursed his lips into a line and focused his mental power, bringing the flying ice ball to a stop right in between both assassins.

To most people, a mage's magic and a bow and arrow worked the same way. Once a bow was released, there was no way for the arrow to be retracted. However, magic could be manipulated. Such techniques that could pause a spell after it had been released were quite rare. However, not many mages were willing to spend that much mental power to control their spells this way. Given the current scenario, a senior mage would only need to release a magic spell for both assassins to be killed. A mage's usual consecutive attacks used a Grade 2 release coupled with an instantaneous release, creating the effect of a thunderstorm.

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Chapter 30: The Ascetic (Part 1)

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

Saleen was different from other mages in that he especially cherished his magic chords. As his mental power was always brimming and never lacking, he strived to practice his control of magic. This ice ball suddenly stopped in midair and exploded, causing tens of icicles to pierce the bodies of the assassins.

These two assassins had mastered the sword aura, but the low temperature of the icicles had caused their blood to coagulate instantly. If their blood was not flowing, they would not have any energy. Sika, who was beside Saleen, had been extremely alert, as her boomerang had already flown out of her hands.

Saleen grew more reassured. Unless these two assassins had mastered the Dead Soul spell, they would not be a threat to him dead.

The attack this time was efficient. However, the existence of the squad was exposed. In an instant, the battle before them had started. Saleen said to Sika in a low voice, "You go up front and kill their holy master."

"What about you?" Sika was a little worried. In the Caucasus region, the greatest honor for an outstanding warrior like her was to protect the priests. Sika was a muddled girl, but she held high regards for the word 'honor". If she had not met Saleen, there was a high possibility that she would have been tricked by a mercenary regiment into performing hard labor instead.

Saleen's face was green under the illumination of the Fluorescence spell. He grit his teeth and said, "Go quickly!"

Sika had no idea why Saleen was irritated. From what she had seen, she did not consider such a battle tough. The opponent's swordsmen possessed similar abilities, and the mage on their side would be sufficient in influencing the result of the battle.

Sika was not to be blamed for not understanding Saleen's anxiousness. Saleen appeared composed, but he was, in fact, regretful of this expedition. His greatest regret was killing that holy master. In this group, he was one who read the most, and he understood the significance of the oracles of the Holy See.

On the surface, the status of an oracle was below that of the religion. However, the capabilities of an oracle were superior to that of the religion. Since what was done was done, he could not turn back. Saleen wanted to kill all of the people who had seen him and try his best to escape to the Qin Empire before the arrival of an oracle.

For a Grade 1 mage, it was not embarrassing to be on the run, especially in a situation where the forces of the enemy could be compared to that of a Grade 9 mage. Saleen's decision could be considered smart.

Sika put her boomerang back into the leather case and removed the huge cudgel on her back. With a leap, she jumped out of the cover of the Fog of Confusion. Saleen was shocked by the distance of her leap; that was an unbelievably huge leap!

Sika held some grievances in her heart and they could not be vented out on Saleen. Thus, she vented it all out on their opponents.

The physiques of the Caucasus people were constitutionally stronger than that of standard swordsmen. Sika was from a warrior lineage; her humongous cudgel was made from the thigh bone of an exterminated magic beast and was a hundred times sturdier than a metal rod. She leaped out of the Fog of Confusion and had in one blow, hit the holy master on his head.

With a titter, the holy master who had been attending to his compatriot had his head smashed into pieces like a watermelon by the cudgel. The hot fluids from his brain splattered everywhere. The spear swordsman, whom the holy master had been attending to, was instantly drenched by the white shiny liquid and some entered his mouth and nose.

Without waiting for him to be disgusted, Sika's cudgel landed on his head in an instant.

The defensive power of a spear swordsman was not lower than that of a shield swordsman. The problem was that Sika's cudgel was not something their heads could withstand. The blow instantly intensified the disgusting smell in the air. This spear swordsman had suffered incontinence just before his death, and the cave was filled with a strange smell as though a carnivorous beast had just passed through.

After wiping out the wounded, Sika went in search of the other holy master. The battle ahead was very intense. Lucas' eagle plumes were used up, and he was using his three-edged dagger in combat. He was fighting the heavily armored swordsmen; two heavily armored swordsmen together attacking an archer. Even if Lucas had mastered close combat skills, it was not possible for him to be a match for the heavily armored swordsmen.

Sika ignored him, because Sarah who wielded a flexible sword was in a more dangerous situation. Sarah was using martial skills from the Qin Empire which were more effective in a small scale battle such as this one compared to in a war. If the sword aura was not taken into consideration, Sarah would surely be the one with the strongest martial skills in this squad.

Now, Sarah was being attacked by a short-haired, middle-aged man. Her right hand, which had been treated by Saleen earlier, was injured again, and there was blood seeping through her leather jacket.

Canghong and Pino were in no better of a situation. The first round of sneak attacks had killed a spear swordsman and two archers. Now they were up against a heavily armored swordsman. Canghong's brilliant armor had lost its sheen of yesteryears and grown greyish. There were prominent cuts on his chest, one of which had almost caused his armor to be chopped into two.

Canghong's armor, which appeared hardly substantial, was in fact a piece of magic armor. The heavily armored swordsman waved around a heavy sword that was as broad as a door plank, and was leading the battle despite fighting one-to-two. Both Canghong and Pino did not dare clash with the heavily armored swordsman's weapon and struggled to dodge it in the narrow cave.

The soft whip held on Canghong's soft boot had already been cut, and Pino's thin sword had long since been thrown off. In his hand was a sword blade that he had picked up. Sika glanced around the battleground and discovered something amiss. The opponents had eleven people. Saleen had killed two of them, she had killed two, and three corpses were on the ground, but there were four more opponents on the battlefield.

Sika did not find the second holy master, and thus ran straight towards the short-haired man whom Sarah was battling.

This short-haired man had no expression. He wore a simple linen robe and was an extremely normal-looking commoner without anything unusual about his appearance. However, his martial skills were extraordinary. Sarah's wealth of battlefield experience was ineffective before him. Her flexible sword was like a dead snake, no longer agile like before.

"Be careful, he is an ascetic!" Canghong had been slashed thrice by the heavily armored swordsman's heavy sword. His body flew through midair, but he did not neglect to remind Sika of this. Sika was now their primary force, and Canghong realized that his gold coins had been well spent.

What was an ascetic? Sika blinked as her huge cudgel flew sideways to block the short-haired man's attack on Sarah.

On the short-haired man's hands were a pair of metal gloves which looked like the big hands used for constructing puppets. Sika's cudgel struck this big pair of hands with such a tremendous sound that Sika was dizzied by the vibrations.

For the first time, she had lost to someone in terms of strength. In her tribe, even strongmen possessed less strength than her. This cudgel with a massive amount of kinetic energy had been blocked by a pair of normal-looking metal gloves.

The short-haired man displayed an astonished expression on his face. This girl was strong. Without this pair of gloves, he would likely be defeated in no time.

"Mage, come on out." The short-haired man was not bothered by Sika, instead calling out to Saleen who was inside the Fog of Confusion.

Saleen refused to emerge. His awareness was exceptionally alert in the Fog of Confusion. This was a battle, not a competition of martial skills. Saleen was well aware that his skills would probably not do much harm to this ascetic. That pair of gloves was probably a high-level magical tool. This ascetic was practically indifferent to the lives and deaths of his compatriots. Saleen decided to kill the others first. As for this ascetic, things would come down to his own luck.

High-level magical tools required their users to be at least Grade 4. As this ascetic was of a much higher grade than himself, Saleen even had the urge to turn around and flee. However, Sika was holding the fort at the front, and he could not leave her behind.

Sika gave her numbed hands a shake. With a grave look, she began to speak in the Caucasus language. Saleen also knew the Caucasus language, but Sika's dialect carried an intonation from a special region. He basically did not understand what Sika was mumbling. However, Saleen was certain that Sika was not scolding anyone. The rhythm of her voice was clear, and carried a mysterious energy.

As Sika chanted, scale patterns began to emerge from her huge cudgel. The patterns were dark green in color, and faint flashes of light seeped through the lines. The cudgel came alive, as though it had been filled with an aura.

The ascetic's face grew ashen, and he yelped, "Heresy! Put down your evil weapon and return with me. Obey Lord Oracle's instruction."

"You are sick!" Sika replied to the short-haired man in the mainland's common language. She took a high leap, and delivered a blow with her cudgel.

The material of Sika's weapon had come from an ancient magic beast. She had chanted a spell which was only used by Caucasus priests. This meant that Sika had received the blessings of the most senior priests. A common Caucasus warrior could not use any witchery.

Such an ability could only be bestowed upon someone by others. Progression was difficult to achieve, but it did not mean that such an ability was not strong. The cudgel had been revived by the chanting, and gave out a bellowing whine like the sound of the wind. The ascetic felt as though the weapon in the girl's hand had suddenly become an evil monster volleying down upon him.

The ascetic was vigilant by nature. He bit the tip of his tongue, and spat a mouthful of blood on that pair of metal gloves. Blood red runes immediately appeared on the golden gloves. Saleen, who had been watching the battle, recognized them as holy prose.

Holy prose was not the words of the gods themselves, but were the words used to communicate between prose believers and the gods. Only devoted believers would receive the holy prose. In other words, such people did not need to visit a temple to pray, and had the ability to receive the blessings of the gods on their own.

An ascetic who knew holy prose! No matter what, he was not going to let this fellow get away. Saleen had forgotten about his fear at this moment, or rather, his fear had reached its peak. He had not been careful and had landed himself into one of the Holy See's plans. This plan was obviously no small affair, since it had been entrusted to an oracle. If he did not get rid of the oracle's people immediately, he would not need to wait for the people sent to kill him by Earl Sufonso. He would be killed in the Chaotic Swamp.

Out of their group of seven, one was dead, and there was no knowing how many of them in the squad would make it out of the Chaotic Swamp. Saleen began to chant a spell, trying to get his Grade 2 magic to reach its peak potential.

The Grade 2 spell that Saleen knew was the Ice Arrow spell. Be it speed, degree of penetration, or freezing capabilities, the power of an ice arrow was more than ten times stronger than that of an icicle.

Ordinarily, Saleen could cast a Grade 2 spell twice, but his ice arrows had been induced without being discharged and his magic chords continued to be exhausted while he waited for the best chance to act. Such a high-level deployment method was not only demanding on his magic chords, but was demanding on his mental power as well.

If a mage with low mental power attempted such a thing, the ice arrows would detonate directly in his hands, and the mage would freeze himself to death.

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Chapter 31: The Ascetic (Part 2)

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

Magic was a double-edged sword; when used improperly, it could cause harm to oneself. After all, Saleen was now maintaining three Fluorescence spells, four Water Shields, and one Fog of Confusion. He had never experienced such a depletion of mental power before.

The ascetic had sensed the danger the mage could bring, but the female Caucasus warrior in front of him was equally dangerous. He told himself not to be distracted. He reached his hand out to clutch the air and the metal gloves suddenly held a short golden spear, which he threw at Saleen into the Fog of Confusion.

The mental power of the ascetic was very powerful, and thus the Fog of Confusion was nearly ineffective on him. The golden spear headed straight towards Saleen's chest. Sika's cudgel had been lowered, the face of a magic beast appearing at its tip. The face was not particularly ferocious, but it carried an ancient prehistoric air and a force that towered like mountains.

Roar!

The cudgel let out a heart shaking growl, and struck at the ascetic's right hand. Fortunately for him, it was only the high-level magical tool golden glove which took the brunt of this cudgel's blow. The metal pieces flew about, revealing the dried, branch-like fingers of the ascetic.

The ascetic turned pale out of shock, clenched his left fist, and hit the face of the beast on the cudgel.

The prose flowed speedily. The beast's face released a chilly growl, and suddenly disappeared. As though she had been depleted of her energy, Sika released her grip and her cudgel dropped to the ground.

Saleen's face fell like water. The short golden spear was about to stab through his heart. There was no time to hide. The shields of water instantly stacked up on their four corners and blocked the short golden spear.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

There were three continuous sounds, the three layers of water shields instantly broken. The short golden spear had dimmed, glided off the fourth layer of water shield, and diverted its direction to strike Saleen's waist.

Saleen felt as though he had been kicked by a sprinting horse. Although the short golden spear did not pierce into his waist, the blow churned his internal organs. He could no longer sustain his magic, the ice arrow in his hands was released, and a white line flew towards the space in between the ascetic's eyebrows at an even higher speed than the spear.

The ascetic smiled bitterly. An end by magic was not something he cared for. The holy prose on the intact metal glove on his left hand started to flow again, and he caught hold of Saleen's ice arrow at once.

Snigger…

The ascetic's bitter smile was frozen onto his face. The ice arrow that he had crushed had become a pool of liquid which splattered around.

The Grade 0 Acid Spluttering spell. That mage whom he had looked down on had actually completed his combined spell despite his injury. The metal glove corroded into fragments, and with that, the holy prose also stopped flowing.

Saleen was paralyzed within the Fog of Confusion. Sika kneeled on the floor with her weapons released from her grip. Pino laid on the ground, dead, because Sarah's attempt to save him had been too late. Canghong's soft whip was now wrapped around the body of the heavily-armored swordsman. He did not have any other weapons left. Lucas' three-edged dagger was up in the air. Sarah grit her teeth and did not assist Lucas, but continued to attack the heavily-armored swordsman whom Canghong had wounded up.

If Canghong died, Lucas would also not survive. Other than the ascetic, their strongest opponent was this heavily-armored swordsman.

The small Falcon Regiment squad was faced with the threat of being completely wiped out.

The ascetic groaned in pain, burnt in one of his eyes by the sputtering acid. Letting out a squeaky sound from time to time, he doubled over in pain. Sika, who was kneeling in front of him, continued to chant in the Caucasus language. The boomerang at her waist flew out suddenly from its leather case, drawing an arc which no one took notice of, and flew past the left arm of the ascetic.

The ascetic gave another painful whine. The boomerang had cut his wrist and with a clang, the metal glove in his left hand had dropped to the ground.

Sika then slowly lifted her head and screamed at the ascetic, "If you wish to kill the priest, kill me first!"

She no longer had any energy left to attack, but her words were exceedingly determined. The ascetic with a broken hand and a single remaining eye was astonished by Sika's demeanor. His decades of practice and prayers seemed inferior to the simplicity and flawlessness of Sika's one sentence. How could her heresy be so?

The ascetic's source of power had come from his faith. However, in that moment, Sika had crushed his faith.

The power of the magic beast on Sika's cudgel and her own power were intertwined in spirit. The magic beast had been defeated by the holy prose embedded in his glove. She should have been broken mentally. How could it be so?! Could it be that even the gods were unable to suppress this heresy?

Saleen withstood the extreme pain. His extensive use of his mysterious family badge all throughout the year had given him a high pain threshold that far exceeded anyone else's. Even if he was struck by magic that was entirely negative, he would not lose his consciousness or mobility. He did not examine the injury on his waist, but instead brought out the witcher spider from his pocket, dispersed the Fog of Confusion, and walked slowly over to the ascetic.

The ascetic's only eye seemed abnormal, as though he did not see the mage approaching him. Saleen grabbed the front limb of the witcher spider and stabbed the area between the ascetic's eyebrows with all his might. His hard skull was feeble before the claw of the witcher spider, and the life slipped out of the single remaining eye of the ascetic.

Saleen gasped for air. This attack had depleted him, but he did not have any time to recover. Lucas had been impaled by a sword blade, but his three-edged dagger had killed an opponent. Judging from this, it was fine to fight one-on-one but the price to pay for fighting two opponents was death.

Saleen raised his hand, and without chanting, used three Acid Spluttering spells to kill the spear swordsman. The face of the spear swordsman was corroded by the acid. As his skin and flesh dissolved, he dropped his sword blade and struggled to cover his face, but he was simply unable to stop the acid from causing its damage.

The last heavily-armored swordsman had already loosened the grip of Canghong's leather whip. His heavy sword flew sideways towards Sarah, about to kill Canghong first, but he instead witnessed his compatriots dying one after another. To think that this mage still had enough strength to attack!

"Go to hell!"

Saleen raved with madness in both of his eyes. A green ray landed upon the body of the heavily-armored swordsman. The heavily armored swordsman was frightened, lost his composure, turned on his heels, and escaped towards the back of the cave.

Only a pair of legs had fled. The torso of the heavily-armored swordsman remained in the same spot. The green ray on his body remained for just a single second and then disappeared. The severed body had an injury with a crystallized surface and showed no signs of any fresh blood. When Saleen saw that his plan had been effective, both of his legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground.

His magic chords were completely exhausted. This had been his last Grade 1 spell – Ice Ring spell.

The Ice Ring spell was a unique spell in that it could only attack a specific target. The duration of the attack was only one second long. In this one second, the target would be encircled by a razor sharp ice ring. As long as there was no movement, this ice ring would simply disappear in one second.

Despite the huge power of the ice ring with its extreme razor sharpness and ability to slice through any high-end magic armor, it was deemed a worthless spell.

If the heavily-armored swordsman had not been startled and tried to escape from the spell's clutches as soon as possible, this ice ring spell would not have caused him any harm. If he had been too petrified to move, this would not have been the end result.

This was all due to Saleen's planning. He had dispersed the Fog of Confusion and used the witcher spider to kill the ascetic to mislead his opponents into thinking that he had depleted his magic chords. Then, with the speed of lightning, he had cast three Grade 0 spells to stealthily attack the spear swordsman and deal a blow to the spirit of the heavily-armored swordsman. This was followed by the Ice Ring spell and had caused the heavily-armored swordsman's hasty getaway.

The spear swordsman had not died, but his face was corroded to the point of exposing bone. He had also been blinded in both his eyes and no longer able to cause any damage to Saleen and the others. In a single fleeting moment, Saleen had devised a plan to crush his opponents. That was the kind of power a mage could have.

As long as he could control his opponent's soul, a mage would be undefeatable. Saleen recalled this sentence that Jason had told him, and only now understood its meaning.

The sounds of breathing in the tunnel had become labored and could be heard from a distance. Everyone had been badly injured. Sarah was even laying on the ground, unable to get up and not moving an inch. If it hadn't been for her breathing, Canghong would have thought she was dead.

Saleen suddenly lifted his head. He looked at Canghong, who was walking towards him, and asked, "Canghong, do you plan to kill me?"

Canghong's footsteps suddenly stopped. He met Saleen's clear gaze, took a deep breath, and said, "Let me take a look at your injury."

"No need. You should go take a look at Sarah," Saleen said as he removed a metal flask from his waist, helped Sika up, and poured a big mouthful into her mouth. The restorative water would be of great help to Sika's injury, but Saleen had no intentions of giving it to Canghong.

He understood a little of how Canghong must have felt. If he hadn't insisted on killing the holy master, Canghong's squad would still have had room to maneuver through the situation, and would not have to risk their lives.

Sika took a sip of the restorative water and the numbness in her limbs disappeared. She then retrieved her boomerang and inserted it back into its leather case. Canghong saw the humongous cudgel that Sika carried on her back, and knew that he was no match for her. He then turned and walked towards Sarah.

"Sika, are you alright?" Saleen had witnessed the scene where the magic beast on Sika's cudgel had been demolished and was exceptionally worried. Sika had regarded him as a priest. He had heard that sentence clearly. No matter how precocious Saleen was, he was still extremely touched.

"Yes. I just temporarily lost some strength." Sika flexed her limbs, but did not go and clean up the battlefield. Instead, she stayed beside Saleen, able to tell that Saleen was exhausted and would temporarily be unable to deploy any magic.

Saleen ruffled Sika's hair, smiled, and said, "Sika, I am not a priest. Next time, do not risk your life for me."

He had said it in the Caucasus language. Sika lowered her head and whispered, "Noted, chief."

Saleen drew back his hand in embarrassment. Sika's face was rosy and extremely beautiful. If it hadn't been for her slightly dirty hair which was rough to the touch like the fur of stray dogs, Saleen's heart would have fluttered.

To a mage, this was not a good thing, especially since the battle before them had not yet come to an end.

Saleen suddenly had a weird question. When he had first met Sika, she had called him a wild pig, but not a lecher. What was that supposed to mean?

Sarah's injury was serious and she was still unconscious. When Saleen saw that Sika had nearly recovered, he passed the restorative water to Canghong while he and Sika started to clean up the battlefield.

Canghong's emotions had also stabilized. He bandaged Sarah's wound, fed her the restorative water, then took care of his comrades' bodies. It was not right to put all the blame on Saleen. After all, Saleen had been hired by him. When faced with opponents, how could he spare any consideration for their positions instead of eliminating them?

His earlier killing intent had gradually diminished. Canghong watched Saleen as he used a black powder to ignite the bodies, and deployed the Fog of Confusion again. He began to consider the next steps he should take.

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Chapter 32: The Red Line Bandits (Part 1)

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

"There are still three squads. We will not be able to fend them all off." Canghong spoke to Saleen only after Sarah had woken up.

"I know, but there is no turning back. If we return, we will probably bump into people from the Holy See. It is not safe at Didypus. We want to leave Sikeqinya, and the only way out is ahead of us."

"Sarah cannot engage in anymore combat," Canghong's eyed were a little red. Coupled with his devilish appearance, he looked like a beautiful girl even more stunning than Sarah.

"Give me half an hour. We will charge through." Saleen held a Grade 3 magic nucleus in his hand, without the slightest trace of innocence on his face. His words had the ability to reassure others.

The four people sat in the field of the Fog of Confusion, a small amount of fluorescence light shining onto everyone's faces and giving them a pale green sheen. When Saleen realized more than half of his magic chords had recovered, he then worriedly checked on the injury at his waist. The spear that the ascetic had used in combination with his holy prose had burst through three layers of his Water Shield, leaving Saleen with lingering fear.

In reality, Water Shield was a Grade 1 spell. After Saleen's improvisation, its defensive capabilities were close to that of a Grade 2 spell at its peak. It possibly could have been passed off as a Grade 3 spell, but it had a flaw in not being instantaneous.

The Water Shield formed a spherical shape, such that any form of attack would not be received directly. The short, gold-colored spear had glided off after breaking three layers of the Water Shield. If Saleen's response had been delayed by just half a minute, he would have been dead by now. It was not only the mutated magic that had saved his life. Saleen checked his waist. His belt was damaged, but one item inside had blocked the short, gold-colored spear.

Saleen dug into the hole in the belt with his fingers, hooking out an item. It was the ring that Earl Minghui had lost to him. He had sold the diopside stone on the ring for a hundred gold coins, and was left with a bare yellow-gold ring. Saleen had originally decided to keep this ring as it was plated with raw gold – the kind that had not been refined – and he could use it for magic medicine.

There was now a faint scratch on the ring. The short, gold-colored spear had cut through the gold-plated layer of the ring but had been stopped by the material within. That was why it had not pierced through Saleen's waist.

Saleen began to worry, as this item was made of a sturdy material that was much stronger than his magic shield. A person had to understand that a shield made from Grade 2 magic was much tougher than steel. The short, gold-colored spear had pierced through three consecutive layers of magic shields before gliding off, but had only scratched off a trace of gold from the surface of this ring.

It was a strange ring!

Saleen did not know alchemy nor Fire Magic, but he still had ways to go about this. He retrieved his crucible from his leather sack and threw the gold-plated ring straight into it. Then, he added in the black Magic Flame Medicine.

The burning point of the gold was very low and the Magic Flame Medicine gave off an orange-red flame. The gold slowly liquified, revealing the true colors of the ring.

The ring had turned green; it was made of a metallic material, and had some spots on it. An inscription in ancient Myers language had appeared on the inside of the ring. Saleen was able to recognize every word, but was unable to understand the meaning. Based on simple deduction, it must have been an ancient natural magic mantra.

Long ago, the majority of mages had worshipped the Goddess of Nature. After the fall of the Temple of Nature, this line of mages had also disappeared. Even if they existed now, they would not openly admit their convictions.

This magic ring must have belonged to a mage who had been a believer of the Goddess of Nature. After being disguised, it had somehow landed in the hands of Baron Minghui. Saleen had originally thought he had been cheated. He could not have imagined that after the gold had been smelted, he would be left with this magic prop with a history spanning at least twenty thousand years.

Natural magic was no longer used by anyone. Even if that were not the case, Saleen would not be able to learn it. However, he felt far from discouraged and thought, How much would this item be worth?

Without no potential for disappointment, Saleen casually recited the inscription on the inside of the ring.

There were a total of twenty-four characters, and Saleen finished reciting it in four seconds. A green flash hardly visible to the naked eye illuminated from the inside of the ring and seeped into Saleen's palm. Saleen felt a hum in his brain, and was dizzied for a moment.

Sika noticed that Saleen had suddenly entered a daze while holding the rubbish ring. His eyes were losing the aura they usually had. She instantly became worried and used her finger to poke at Saleen's rib, asking, "Chief, what's up with you?"

"Ah!" Saleen let out a scream that made both Canghong and Sarah turn and look over. Saleen blushed, shaking his head and saying, "Nothing. I am checking on my injury."

"Why don't you drink a little of this?" Sika took out her precious holy water, which she had spent all her silver coins on after she had left her village. Saleen pushed Sika's hand away. He could vividly remember his previous experience of trying to use the holy water to cure his injuries. Holy water was supposed to be very soothing, but when applied on him, it was stronger than alcohol and more dangerous than poison.

Seeing Sika pout, Saleen laughed. He felt happy from the bottom of his heart. In reality, this ring was spatial equipment. What made Saleen happy was that he could actually make use of this spatial equipment. He was merely a Grade 1 mage and could not even make use of normal magical tools. He could only evoke a scroll or the constant magic on the mage's robe.

Spatial equipment was equipment that only mages of Grade 5 and above could make use of. However, the space within this ring had already, by this point, been expanded by him.

There was an annulus space within the ring. Although it was not big, discovering it caused Saleen to quiver. This was because there were three items within the space of the ring. These three items were, without a doubt, ancient magic props.

Saleen suppressed the excitement in his heart and slipped the ring onto his finger. He did not immediately retrieve the items inside to examine them. Canghong was still looking over, and Saleen was still a little afraid of him.

During the Third Dynasty, mankind had been gradually losing its faith with the decline of the Goddess of Myers. The worth of this ring would probably far exceed that of plain spatial equipment. Saleen was well-read, and he had an authentic teacher. By now, he had understood just how formidable Jason was. A regular mage would not be as wealthy as Jason to have owned so many books and memos.

It would be very difficult for a mage without lineage to get his hands on even one book. Saleen had read continuously for a few years and had not even finished all of them. One also needed to understand that he had not used the normal method of reading, but had relied on memory magic to memorize them.

The three items in the ring, were, namely – a jade-green gourd which was smaller than one's palm and a necklace which appeared to have been made of obsidian. Saleen was unsure of its material as he had not taken it out to examine it. Steel rocks, black crystals, some smokey quartzs, and some tremolites could also be black.

The third item was a piece of leaf. This piece of leaf was a little yellow and wilted. Saleen was also unable to see its connotation. To be frank, the majority of Saleen's knowledge had come from his memorization. He had neither digested the knowledge nor achieved the ability to use it in the spur of the moment. Having discovered the secret within the ring, Saleen even considered abandoning the mission to search for the relic. The sale of any of these three items would be able to fund his practice for a few years.

However, Saleen quickly dismissed the thought. If he had only offended Earl Sufonso, it would be understandable why he had done so. The problem now was that he was in deep trouble, having killed the Grade 1 holy master under the oracle as well as the ascetic. Saleen already knew that had no other alternatives aside from desperately improving his power.

If he could find a suitable magic prop among the relics of the Second Dynasty, his survival would be a little more assured. Saleen no longer felt secure depending solely on money. The items in the ring were better left unsold. Since he could use the ring itself, it was probable that he could use the items in it.

When Saleen had first begun practicing magic, he had only hoped to be able to eat his fill everyday and not suffer through anymore days of harassment.

Now, this wish was growing more and more far fetched. His first priority would be to survive and not be caught by the people of the sacred Holy See.

His magic chords were recovering quickly. With the Grade 3 magic nucleus in his hand plus the white crystal ring that Jason had given him, the recovery speed of Saleen's magic chords far exceeded that of a regular Grade 1 mage.

Sarah also sat up. The restorative water was unable to cure her injury completely, but it at least allowed her to move freely. However, she could not be counted upon to do any fighting.

"Canghong, how far are we from the relic?" Saleen could feel his internal injury improving significantly, so he stood up and went to Canghong's side. The Invisible Shield on his mage robe was activated, defending him in secret. In the event that Canghong turned on him, he would kill this devilish-looking man without hesitation.

"There are five hundred miles to go, at the very least," Canghong was pale even though his injury was not serious. The deaths of his compatriots were the cause of his poor condition, and they had made him depressed.

"How long does Sarah need to recuperate?" Saleen was unconsciously beginning to take control. Despite the fact that Saleen had been hired by Canghong, Canghong was no longer able to overrule him and had to heed Saleen's advice in everything they did. Otherwise, if Saleen walked out on them, they would not be able to leave the cave.

"We do not have to pay attention to the squad ahead of us. By now, the people of the Vulture Regiment will probably have noticed that something is amiss. If we were to attack again, it would be difficult to win. Let Sika carry Sarah on her back. We will go through the Red Forest as quickly as possible. There are dinodemons as well as soul killers in the Red Forest, so our opponents will not choose to battle with us in that area."

Canghong drew in a breath of cold air, marking out a designated plot of the Red Forest on the map. Half of it was submerged in water. Since it was an extremely dangerous area, it was best for a person to trek along its perimeter. With a glance, Saleen had seen that it was a shortcut which they needed to risk taking to avoid direct confrontation with the squad ahead of them. This young mage had such a strong temperament.

Even Canghong himself considered giving up the search for the relic. However, he was worried that if he gave up, Saleen would give up on Sarah as well.

Seeing that Canghong remained silent, Saleen smiled and said to Canghong, "The people whom we have offended this time cannot be defeated through strength alone. If we do not benefit from finding the relic, even if we escape from Sikeqinya, we will be like homeless dogs in the future with no futures at all. Do you want to be a farmer in some village or be a nobleman's hired henchman?"

Canghong bit his lip, and replied angrily, "Sure, let's go."

The life Saleen described was not one he could accept. That was the sorrow of being a mercenary or adventurer. Once they had grown accustomed to their current lives, they would not be willing to lead dull lives. When the majority of mercenaries or adventurers registered, they thought they would save their money and eventually return to their hometowns to lead their lives just as they had before. However, once their adventurous journey began, none of them were able to turn back.

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