Badge in Azure

Chapter 1037: Jalin (Part 1)

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

“Mage Saleen, are you there?” A young female mage stopped by outside the magic tower, without attempting to peer into the tower using any magical means. She did not even use sound amplification magic. She simply used her own voice, as if she was talking to Saleen face to face.

The mage wore a white robe and a paper mask. The mask was intricately made, and a pale red peach blossom was drawn on it. Saleen was unable to see the visiting mage through the mask, but her hands were just as delicate and supple as Hogina’s, and she sounded very young.

“I’m here. What is it?” Saleen put the schematics away. All six windows at the 17th floor of the magic tower opened. The windows of the Magical Element Tower were also magic arrays, and the arrays needed to be activated to move in and out of the tower, as one would in a common magic tower.

“I’m Jalin. Lord Chief extends her invitation to you. Are you available to talk now?” The young female mage felt totally different from Dikas. The young man was filled with murderous intent and was suppressing the cold emanating from his body at all times. In contrast, Jalin enabled others to want to approach her simply by talking as usual alone.

“Of course I’d be available, but the time...”

The sky had turned dark and there were no magic arrays for illumination within the Magical Element Tower. Saleen and Jalin conversed in the dark.

“It is fine. My teacher has prepared a feast. She just came back herself and has not rested yet.” Jalin’s voice penetrated the darkness, reaching into the magic tower. The Winged Skull snorted, apparently having a bad impression of the female mage.

From the Winged Skull’s perspective, Jalin seemed to be trying to seduce Saleen. If Nailisi were present, the demon would have shot her Dragon Crystal Needle at her without anyone noticing.

“Please wait for a moment.” Saleen turned to the Winged Skull. “You and Hogina stay here. I’ll go have a look myself.”

“Master!”

“It’s alright. The members of the Grukos won’t do me any harm. They wouldn’t have sent those kids otherwise. It’s totally pointless to lure me outside the tower. If they really wanted to do something to me, do you really think I’d be able to leave Golden Plains easily?”

Hogina mumbled, “That Jalin sounded awful. I think she’s trying to seduce you.”

Saleen chuckled. “It’s a type of secret arts. The Grukos is indeed powerful. I get to see three people having mastery of secret arts within just one day. Hogina, take this. Have fun researching it while I’m not around.”

Saleen took out something that he had crafted. It was a puppet that resembled a Witcher Spider. Saleen’s Witcher Spider was destroyed and he missed it very much, so he crafted himself a copy.

Hogina was used to people treating her like a kid. She took the ‘toy’ that Saleen gave her and said nothing. Saleen leapt out from the window and landed lightly on the ground.

The Magical Element Tower’s 17th floor was about 150 meters from the ground. The height of the tower exceeded the low peaks within the area. Saleen did not use Quickcloud when he dropped, instead using only the simplest Wind Travel, and landed before Jalin without making a sound.

Jalin performed the courtesy gesture among mages and Saleen returned the greeting. This Jalin’s abilities are probably not all that far from my own. Saleen was unable to sense the changes of elements around Jalin’s body. That was the most difficult feat, as even common people affected the workings of elements around them, even if they did not even have magic chords.

The elements around Jalin’s body were completely under her control, as if they were part of her body. That was the strongest state a sorcerer was able to achieve. One step further and she would be a level ten sorcerer.

Jalin did not lead the way right after she saw Saleen coming out. She instead said to Saleen using a very gentle voice, “Mage Saleen, I’ve something that I need your help with. May I?”

“Speak.” Saleen was puzzled at the peculiar attitude that Jalin displayed.

“The tests that the elders did on you had nothing to do with Lord Chief, so...”

“I don’t mind at all,” Saleen answered with a smile.

“What I meant to say was that I needed to test you out.” Jalin smiled. Saleen was being played, but he was unable to get angry.

“But of course, that wasn’t my teacher’s decision. My brother in training is an arrogant one. Shodikas, the guy who came to harass you during the day, that was his friend. Even if I ended up not fighting you, he would have found ways to get you to fight. If the exchange between us is done through magic ,and there is no clear difference between your abilities and mine, he won’t bother to look for trouble with you. He, well...he was never my match. I beat him into submission.”

Jalin was rather quick with her elaboration, but she kept the tone of speech gentle, like the southern nobles reciting a song or poem, with a clear tempo.

“It seems to be something I can hardly refuse. After you then.” Saleen spread his arms to show that he was exasperated. What Jalin said seemed to be for his benefit, but the bottom line remained clear—they had to fight each other.

“Thank you. My teacher is in a rather bad mood now. I’m afraid you’ll get yourself into trouble,” Jalin put her hands together, casting a spell—Absolute Zero.

Most level nine sorcerers were adept at instant magic. Jalin added a magic sign with her spell, which boosted the power of the spell by at least ten percent.

Absolute Zero was an area-of-effect spell, the split second delay was not all that different from the effect of an instant spell.

She went to cast level nine magic. While she sounded very gentle and soothing while talking, she was extremely brutal when fighting. If Saleen’s reaction had been half a second slower and he had been hit by the Absolute Zero spell, not even holy masters would have been able to save him.

Saleen cast Water Shield in an instant. The cloudy water element air was blocked by the Water Shield. A ball-shaped shield formed around Saleen’s body.

In the tower, the Winged Skull watched them fight, feeling nervous. If Saleen was in danger, they would not care about the course of things whatsoever. They would force themselves above level ten and destroy the soul bond between them and Saleen, if that was what it would take to kill the female mage outside the tower.

“Relax, Mr. Bones. Nothing will happen to Saleen.” Hogina observed the battle closely. She was looking at how Saleen used his equipment.

“How would you know?” The Winged Skull asked her.

“Saleen is...the most afraid of death I’ve ever seen. If there were to be any actual danger, he wouldn’t have left the tower,” Hogina answered.

Jalin was surprised to see that Saleen was able to resist her Absolute Zero with a shield comparable to level seven, but she had not been adding the magic sign to boost the spells’ power. She closed her hands and rendered all water element within tens of meters under her control, forming countless fangs and closing in on Saleen.

Level nine water magic: Ice Dragon Fang.

Jalin’s continuous magic was almost all cast in an instant, as if she knew that Saleen would be able to resist her Absolute Zero spell. Her Ice Dragon Fang had a frequency of attack ten times other sorcerers. She had prepped her second spell for over three seconds. She had prepared over a dozen Ice Dragon Fangs, stacking them before releasing them.

If the spell had worked, she would not have needed to cast her second one. Even if Absolute Zero failed to attack its target, its control attributes would render the enemy frozen on the ground, incapable of moving. The vicious attacks of the following Ice Dragon Fang would be something even level nine sorcerers had trouble dealing with.

That attack would have been lethal. If Saleen had used magic equipment to defend the attack, he would have lost in terms of exchange of magic blows. If he were to not use equipment, he might have ended up dead.

Jalin changed her hand signs, preparing for her third attack.

Steam rose from the surface of the Water Shield all of a sudden, as if the spell that surrounded him was not Absolute Zero, but City Inferno. His Water Shield had actually burned. A mutated spell emerged, and a huge fireball expanded outwards.

The spell was probably derived from Fire Ring of Resistance, a low level spell. It was modified by Saleen to expand in the form of a sphere. The Water Shield was consumed and Saleen put up another one immediately. The fireball then burned and expanded.

All of the moves were cast instantly, as if Saleen had prepared long ago.

The attacks from the Ice Dragon Fang were pushed away by the Fireball of Resistance. The huge fireball continued to expand, raising the temperature around instantly, negating Absolute Zero.

Jalin was attacked by layers of fireballs before she was able to prepare more Ice Dragon Fangs.

Jalin stacked multiple magic attacks, and Saleen was equipped with the ability as well. Saleen was rather excited, probably because he had not been fought using solely his own powers for quite a while.

Jalin’s powers were near his own. While the fight was a magic exchange, they did not hold back against each other. Saleen seemed to be able to smell the air of death about him. The feeling focused Saleen’s mental powers like they had never been focused before. His mental calculations exceeded his limits. That was why he had been able to think of a way to break the Ice Dragon Fang almost instantly. Furthermore, he actually retaliated.

An ice spear formed in the air and shot at Jalin. The ice spear appeared outside the area surrounded by the Ice Dragon Fangs, which meant that Saleen’s elemental control powers were totally unaffected by Jalin. The ice spear was solid black. Its surface was covered with complex magic patterns, resembling Grey Memory.

What was more terrifying was that Saleen had even mimicked Grey Memory’s targeting abilities. There were six tiny magic marks around the tip of the spear, locking Jalin’s movements.

If Saleen had not held anything back with the attack, and it had gone right through Jalin, she would have died on the spot. No level nine shields would have been able to withstand the thrust of the ice spear. The magic patterns on the spear were replicated from the Grey Memory itself.

Mages were not permitted to have any other thoughts during battle, regardless of who stood before them.

Jalin smiled. She had no choice but to give up her controlling magic. Her legs moved and she appeared on the other side of Saleen. Her movement skills were only a tad slower than Rainbow. The ice spear was not truly Grey Memory. Its momentary targeting was shaken off just like that.

Saleen was shocked. He probably would not have been able to kill the female mage even if he were to use Crystal Finger. Such speed of movement required her to be restrained with some kind of control magic before anything else could be done.

Saleen’s combat capacity had, most of the time, been forged from life or death moments in battle. Saleen’s killing intent grew increasingly thick as he sensed the danger posed by his opponent. The killing intent was borne out of instinct. It was not to say that Saleen had truly wanted to kill Jalin.

Saleen turned around and flexed his hands, which were wearing black gloves, and instant-cast a Death Impact.

It was an instant death spell, which hit Jalin almost the very moment it was cast.

Saleen heard a sound of paper being torn, and then Jalin’s surprised shout.

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