Badge in Azure

Chapter 1466: Advancement (Part 2)

The very reason why Rafel worked on the Inferno Spear was so to put her past behind her. However, she was still unwilling to become Saleen’s follower. She had no problem tagging along him, but she did not want to be bogged down by anything.

Saleen did not mind at all, as it was only a matter of signing a contract after all. If it had been in the past, he could have taken her unwillingness to be stemming from her, thinking Saleen to be beneath her. However, things were different at present. Rafel’s powers were no longer even on par with Saleen anymore.

Other than ball lightning, which was a lightning spell that he created on his own, there was yet another level 13, two level 14, and four level 15 lightning magic added to his arsenal.

No. Five level 15 ones. Dance of the Lightning Snakes was something that would not have cost Saleen any lightning magic chords to pull after all.

Despite the immense power of lightning magic, Saleen did not slack on training elemental ones. The reason for doing so was simple—lightning magic was about six times more costly, in terms of power of the soul, to use, when compared to elemental ones.

In most battles, there would have been no need for him to bring the massive damage potential of lightning magic to bear. The Thunder Dragon Blaster would have been sufficient to handle those situations. Furthermore, effects of elemental magic was not something he could have afforded to ignore, especially during special situations where elemental magic would have worked better as control skills, than lightning magic would have.

At the very last, low level spells like Frozen was not something he could have replaced with lightning magic.

Saleen spent about 40 days in the Hall of Gods that time, trading for 1200 years worth of time with a single piece of divine persona. The price was indeed rather steep, but if it had not been for large scale equipment like the Hall of Gods, there was no way Saleen would have been able to change the rate of passage of time anywhere, even if he were to do so using 100 divine persona.

1200 years were more than enough to get Jola and Sul to advance, even if they had been talentless idiots. However, the two of them had not simply blitzed through the processes. They trained methodically and properly grounded their foundations instead.

Truman was pretty much the only genius among them. Saleen had only been able to advance a single level, despite having been through so many mystical encounters and having so many equipment benefiting his advancement. Truman went on to advance to level 14 without much problems.

1200 years were not enough time for conventional mages to advance simply by training as time passed.

Saleen was very surprised and pleased with Truman’s advancement, as he was Saleen’s student. All of Saleen’s experiences and thoughts in magic were made into the most detailed of notes he was capable of making, and he let Truman memorized them all using magic.

Truman’s success would have enabled those precious knowledge to be passed down the generations.

Mages did not exist so as to take from others. Making clear of the relationship between the elements and the world, and how to see through the very fundamental nature of the world, were the ultimate goals of mages.

Saleen hoped that he could have been such a mage someday. However, he knew well that beyond their level 18 crystal wall systems, there were crystal wall systems that were of even higher levels. He may not have been able to eventually make clear of the world’s true nature, so the possibility of the endeavor being accomplished lied with mages of subsequent generations continuing to research.

Having the truth of the world be revealed through the power of humankind, was indeed a very lofty goal.

Saleen found it a pity that he was unable to bring his teacher there. Jason would have probably been able to advance to level 15 in more than 1000 years after all.

Those thoughts ran in Saleen’s mind and before he realized it, he had returned to the Cemetery of Heroes.

He sealed his powers at level 13, in order to prevent the general from finding out his secret—he hid a piece of divine persona from the general. No good would have come to him if the general was to find that out.

Saleen returned the badge while the general did not bother to probe Saleen’s level. He said to Saleen instead, “I have one more thing that I need to ask of you, Saleen.”

Saleen felt that to be rather weird and said, “General, you’re the most powerful of powerful beings in this world. You could have at least traded if you needed anything. If you’re asking for my help, I’m afraid that I’d fall short of your expectations.”

Saleen was being polite, but he was also speaking the truth. If it had not been for the general needing his services, one thought from the general would have probably been all it would have taken, to break his soul completely and thoroughly wipe him out of existence.

“Here’s how it goes. You’re a mage, and you know that planes with gods on them would degenerate very quickly, unless the plane become a divine kingdom. However, a divine kingdom is filled completely with believers, and there would be no one capable of stopping their god. It would be quite a sad thing for humans.”

“I assume you’re talking about Myers then?” Saleen went straight to the point.

“Indeed I am. I won’t be asking you to take her down. You’re still not powerful enough to do that. But...”

“You wish to obtain greater power of the gods?”

“Indeed. Myers could only be killed, if I were to do so personally.”

Saleen shook his head and added, “I don’t have that kind of power. Myers has amassed over 20 million believers now, she...”

“It isn’t the problem with believers. The problem is with her being able to access the Source of the plane to gain power. She could easily be restored to her prime in terms of combat prowess, in less than 20 years at most. Even someone at level 16 would have trouble dealing with her by then.”

Saleen did not say anything. He was wondering if extracting power of the Source of the plane would have accelerated a plane’s decay.

“I did say that I won’t need you to take on Myers. You lack the powers to do so. I’d only hope that you bring some of the heroic spirits with you.”

“Sign a contract? But my power of the soul...”

“I’d help you enhance your power of the soul, enabling you to have ample powers to sign such a contract,” the general said with great reluctance.

The heroic spirits were all very high level beings. If Saleen were to have such powerful beings by his side, there would have definitely been need for a contract. However, signing contracts have requirements on the power of the soul. A level 13 mage like Saleen would be considered very formidable, even if he were to be able sign a contract with just one hero. The task could have only been achieved at the pinnacle.

Saleen put the Ring of Cosmos away without saying anything, dropping his power of the soul to rock bottom. His current level of power of the soul was entirely dependent on the ring to reach pinnacle state. With the general making such a promise, Saleen that the greatest benefit he gained from the trip was no longer getting to level 14.

Training power of the soul was very time-consuming. Saleen had been training for 1200 years, and yet his power of the soul hardly grew.

He was there all alone and everyone around him before had all been inside the magic amplifier, making Saleen feel at ease.

When the grandmaster showed up, Saleen actually smiled at him. The benefits he gained on that trip far exceeded his expectations. He never expected to reap such returns, simply by delivering one news regarding Myers to the heroic spirits.

Saleen had no idea on how to suppress his excitement, so he took to training magic instead. There was a square block of ice spinning around on his hand, gradually splitting into two, four, eight...

Ice Split was a very unpopular spell. Saleen had only learned it because he was familiar with water element.

Doing so allowed him to save a lot of time. If he were to pick up fire magic, while he would have no longer ran into much of any obstacles, honing them to become combat abilities would have taken too much time in training. If Saleen had that much time to spare to begin with, they would have never been any need for him to waste his magic nuclei in the Hall of Gods.

Despite feeling reluctant, the grandmaster saw no choice but to take out a treasured piece in his grave. That thing was originally meant for his student. It was quite a pity that such a day would have never come. The likes of Saleen was beneath the grandmaster, who saw Saleen to be unfit of becoming his student, yet Saleen would have ended up enjoying one such good piece of gear nonetheless.

With a glum expression, the grandmaster handed a jade-colored bottle to the general, before walking back to his grave without saying a word. The general was able to do nothing but chuckle about that. The grandmaster was not to be blamed—he was reminded of his student.

The general did not hand over the bottle in his hand to Saleen immediately. He then said, “The grandmaster has no need for such a thing himself. He’s not feeling reluctant of handing it over. This thing is already useless to him practically, but it is nonetheless a memento.”

“I understand. It was for his student,” Saleen replied in an understanding manner. That thing was about to be his anyway, so there was no need for him to piss someone else off while he was taking it.

“There is no name for this thing here. It could enhance the power of the soul. The height of enhancement, however, is entirely depending on how sturdy your foundations are. Even a magic apprentice would have been able to gain powerful power of the soul right away, after taking in the entire bottle. So, just chuck everything in. I do not wish to see your power of the soul balking under the stress of signing 24 contracts.”

“I understand. Is it dangerous?”

“You have the lightning badge, so you would probably know low level lightning skills. There won’t be any danger to be had,” the general answered.

“Well then, bring me into the grave.”

The general hesitated for a bit. He did not mind that bit of loss, as they had been giving a great many after all. The greatest price paid was the sacrifice of 24 comrades of his.

Saleen entered the grave again, but he was unable to see the general’s coffin. The scene was all grey. It was obvious that the general did not bother wasting any more power. He simply gave Saleen a safe place.

Saleen drank half of what there was in the bottle, leaving the other half inside the Ring of Cosmos. A fire exploded deep down his soul, as if it was out to burn Saleen to a crisp.

Saleen smiled and knew that it was all an illusion.

However, illusions could have made his soul bear great pain nonetheless. He had simply been maintaining the fluctuations in his soul at the frequency of Thundering Explosions. While such low level lightning magic lacked offensive capacities, yet it was best used against such illusions.

Saleen saw his soul expand in his body under the workings of the potion ingested. The expansion felt like a firestorm. If it had not been for his lightning skill, he might have actually ended up dead.

It seemed that the right way to use it was to have his teacher by his side as an aid.

Any bit of favorable impression he had of the general was wiped clean, after he confirmed that thought. The general was hoping to damage Saleen’s soul. By doing so, his soul would have always had an opening to be exploited, even if he were to be able to repair it later.

Lightning runes all lit up within his soul. The power of the potion was suppressed by the lightning runes, preventing it from going berserk and letting it to gradually nourish his soul, enhancing its powers.

Saleen then reconsidered the general’s motives. Half a bottle would have been enough for him to enhance the power of his soul. Any left was used for mending any damages on the soul.

The process hurt immensely, but it was still within Saleen’s tolerance. The training he gained from his family badge made him practically numbed to pain. He was still able to observe the expansion of his soul, despite the situation he was in.

Saleen’s soul gradually expanded to the point where it could have only been achieved by wearing the Ring of Cosmos, and it was still growing. Saleen’s soul and body gradually fused. The fusion was a rather mystical one, as it included even his magic chords. That was to say that his ability to use magic chords would have grown even more powerful, more so that when he had worn the Ring of Cosmos on his finger.

If such levels of the power of his soul were to be used in conjunction with the Ring of Cosmos, it would have indeed enabled him to target a level 15 god.

Saleen’s mind was incredibly at ease. However, the Lord of Glory was no longer his target.

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