Badge in Azure

Chapter 1278: Dragon Blood (Part 1)

Saleen narrowed his eyes, and Nailisi got excited seeing the expression. It had been quite a while since the last time Saleen did so. Looks like Grand Duke Iron Blood is going to lose a lot of blood this time.

“Grand Duke, this armor is something that only I and my teacher are able to craft working together. Even if you had the full schematics and Master Imposa is here to help you, you still won’t be able to craft it. As such, I really am not selling this. However, for every one hundred sets that you order, you’ll give you one set of this for free.”

Grand Duke Iron Blood felt like he was going to puke blood. The free armor was the one crafted purely using magic beast shells, and the armor he had to buy would be exchanged only with dragon scales.

He would only get the best armor available if he had enough dragon scales to spare.

Dragon scales were very good materials for crafting armor, but the Grand Duke only had one master alchemist in his employment: Imposa. He could not afford to trade dragon scales without good reason. Dragon scales had always been the least traded item between him and Saleen. He had put a strict control on dragon scales due precisely to their importance.

“By the way, I want only the scales on the backs of the dragons, the places where people could ride,” Saleen added.

The Grand Duke was speechless. Saleen was practically forcing the Grand Duke’s hand. While the armor that Saleen offered were very good, they were not crafted using high level magic beasts, so he thought Saleen was just trying to rob him.

But the bonus armor was very, very tempting.

What Saleen meant by ‘not selling’ was that Saleen had taken the armor to be his own personal, high level equipment, and he was not going to sell them in future either. If Grand Duke Iron Blood got his hands on them, he would only be able to acquire as bonuses through such trades.

“So Grand Duke, how many sets of armor do you intend to purchase?”

“Get me 10,000 — no, 20,000 — sets to start!” The Grand Duke gritted his teeth. He cursed at Saleen. You Sikeqinyan bloodsucker!

“What about the other armor, Grand Duke?”

“A hundred thousand as well,” the Grand Duke answered without hesitation. He had done the calculations. He knew that he had to provide massive amount of armor to Fycro, and thus was unable to sell too many.

“Alright then!” Saleen threw out a list, listing the materials he required and the corresponding amount. Grand Duke was relieved as he read the list. Other than requiring high level dragon scales as payment, the other parts were all fair trade.

While the Grand Duke was frustrated about the trade, Saleen began to rummage his space equipment. “I’ll give you the metal and hybrid armor in a bit. I’ll give you the ones you need most right now. I’m sure that you aren’t going to cheat me.”

The Grand Duke was elated. Trade involving high level equipment was usually done slowly. Saleen would craft the ones for his own use, before he began providing for others.

Saleen took out 20,000 suits of armor, meaning that the Grand Duke’s forces could be upgraded right away.

“Grand Duke, I cherish the treaty between us. I hope that after the treaty expires in about 100 years, we’ll be able to keep signing such treaties,” Saleen said to the Grand Duke as he took out the equipment he was selling.

The good will that was being blatantly displayed made the Grand Duke happy.

“However, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep the good will between Fycro and me for long. How about we sign another personal contract against Fycro, Grand Duke?”

Grand Duke Iron Blood looked at Imposa, who nodded. The contracts had few loopholes to be exploited. Contracts involving a third party were difficult to lay traps in. Imposa was a level ten mage and knew Saleen’s thoughts well. Fycro was a holy master and was not reliable after all.

So long as Fycro existed, the alliance between the two of them would be closer.

Grand Duke Iron Blood agreed. Contracts with a specific target needed to last until Fycro died. It would bind both parties until then. The Grand Duke was on guard as well. Fycro’s powers were growing, so much so that he needed one million sets of Bug Angel Armors.

The Holy See was an enormous monster, shaking the Tanggulasi Empire to the brink of collapse. Even if the Holy See crumbled, its factions would be able to stand independently as powerful forces.

Despite having lost six head inquisitors, the Tribunal still had the Black Dungeon. The Pivotal Council lost Theisio, but two oracles emerged to take his place. Fycro of the Oracle Corps had stayed silent for a very long time and acquired a huge number of warriors. It also meant that he had a lot of holy masters serving him as well.

The main force of the Oracle Corps consisted of the ascetics. They were not considered part of the Holy See’s internal parts. Many ascetics did not even bother praying in churches.

Ascetics were far more terrifying than zealots. In the minds of ascetics, hardly anything could be considered suffering, and there was little joy. Their goal was solely to enter divine kingdoms. Their faith was worn thin due to having such a specific goal.

The ascetics were difficult to understand, even to mages. And Fycro had huge number of ascetics serving him.

Saleen and Grand Duke Iron Blood spoke in length regarding the contract’s contents, the terms both parties were bound to, and so on, before a high level magic scroll was used to seal the deal.

After the contract was signed, Grand Duke Iron Blood said to Saleen, “I know that you have better armor. I’m rather short on mages but I have a lot of powerful warriors. I need armor specifically made for human warriors. All of my warriors are of level seven and above.”

All of them level seven and above?

The Grand Duke continued after seeing Saleen’s puzzled expression, “The ancient warriors on the Ancient would have left me broke sooner or later. Do you really think that my family would rely on that? I have armies that are nurtured for a prolonged period using dragon blood. If I wish, I could have taken at least half of Cloudflow Empire.”

“Half?”

“There are several dukes who are powerful. As for Cloudflow royalty, they are nothing once they leave Misty City.”

Saleen nodded. He was able to comprehend something from the Grand Duke’s words. Misty City did not look like much, but it had absolute defense capacities and the capacity for offense.

The safety of Cloudflow royalty would be guaranteed so long as Misty City stood. While local nobles were powerful, they never thought of revolting, as there was little point unless they were able to kill every single last member of the royalty.

“Grand Duke, you’re not telling me that you’re going to give me the secrets of the Dragon Blood Warriors, are you?” Saleen joked.

It was rather unexpected for the Grand Duke to reply, “Your Highness Saleen, if you’re willing to buy, I’m willing to sell.”

Saleen chuckled. There was little point to him acquiring such things, but he had to pay a hefty price for it. He had no way to rear dragons and he had no coordinates of the dragon plane. Where am I going to find dragon blood?

Furthermore, keeping Dragon Blood Warriors would probably require generations of management before a sizeable number would emerge. Even if he bought the secrets, he would have little use for them.

“What do you want, Grand Duke?” Saleen did not refuse. They were allies, so he saw fit to give something good to the Grand Duke in return. When he had amassed ample dragon scales, he would be able to craft dragon scale armor for his followers.

“I want a safe interdimensional space to keep my future Dragon Blood Warriors,” the Grand Duke said.

Saleen realized that he was able to do so. Furthermore, there was no need for him to search for interdimensional spaces. Sika’s metal totem pole would serve as a suitable space for the Dragon Blood Warriors to live.

While it was true that he would not be able to amass an ample number of Dragon Blood Warriors for the time being, it was not to say that it would be true in the future. The strength of Sika metal totem pole relied on the strength of the beings living within.

If the metal totem pole was filled entirely with Dragon Blood Warriors, they would be able to supply Sika with limitless power so long as they had strong life force, even if their skills were just average.

“Are you’re capable of providing ample dragon blood? What is an interdimensional space, Grand Duke? A space enough to develop a nation!”

Grand Duke Iron Blood hesitated a bit. “Dragon blood, eh? It’s quite costly to keep dragons. If you’re able to provide me with ample magic pharmaceuticals, I’ll give you the dragon blood you need. In that case, both of us will have opportunities for further development.”

Saleen recalled what he saw when he arrived at the Palace At Sea. He was wondering if the Grand Duke also knew if some great disaster was about to happen, prompting him to consider his options for retreat.

Saleen guessed right. The reason the Grand Duke wanted an interdimensional space was to move the entire Dragon Island into it. His family and over half of his power was focused on Dragon Island, and the wealth there was almost incalculable. As long as he was able to keep Dragon Island safe, even if his family’s influence on Myers Mainland was entirely uprooted, he would be able to build his forces up again within 100 years.

Saleen was impressed of the Grand Duke’s vision and vigor. The trade would definitely be their largest.

If he were willing to offer the secrets of the Dragon Blood Warriors, then he was not popular solely because of the wealth and history of his family. It was impossible for such figures to appear in every generation of a family or clan. Grand Duke Iron Blood might actually become a great emperor of an empire.

From the perspective of mages, nobles who guarded their family secrets closely would be eliminated sooner or later. Grand Duke Iron Blood continued to trade for more things with his secrets, enabling his family to continue growing, until they became so huge that they were able to rule a plane.

Grand Duke Iron Blood was already a level ten true might. According to convention, it would be no surprise if he ended up living for more than 1,000 years. So long as he did not die in battle, the next millennium would enable his family’s powers to reach an ideal level.

While Saleen was a king as well, he was also a mage and would not fight for supremacy on Myers Mainland. He would move his nation to interdimensional space that he found suitable for development instead.

A nation of mages that had no quarrel with the world was the shared ideal between Saleen and Lex.

Saleen did not leave the Palace At Sea right away. Grand Duke Iron Blood had a teleportation portal. He delivered the dragon scales Saleen needed, adding a huge amount of dragon blood as well.

Saleen knew of the existence of some interdimensional spaces, but the one truly suitable for the Grand Duke had a link found within Cloudflow Empire territory.

It would need verification from both of them. There was no way the Grand Duke would give Saleen his reward after getting a set of coordinates. The dragon blood was just a deposit, which amounted to 120 thousand pounds in weight.

Saleen finally understood why the Grand Duke did not seem strong. He actually knew how to get to the dragon plane and hunt low level dragons.

The dragon plane was far larger than Myers Mainland and had a huge number of dragons. Nobody paid attention to low level dragons, and the Grand Duke had been relying on the blood of the dragons to nurture and maintain his family’s warriors.

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