Badge in Azure

Chapter 37: The Blessing of the Goddess (Part 2)

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

Along the journey, Saleen had obtained a total of four thousand gold coins from various fallen opponents. Two thousand of them had been distributed to Canghong, and he was left with the other two thousand. The credit for getting more than a dozen of magic nuclei was Sika's, and they did not need to be distributed to Canghong. As these were only worth tens of gold coins, Saleen could use them as consumables.

The witcher spider's carcass. Saleen was not yet able to make a magic puppet out of it. Hence, it was not of any use to him at the moment.

The metal glove with holy prose. This was also useless to Saleen. If he met with an alchemist, it could be broken down into pretty good materials.

The Goddess of Nature's ring. This piece of spatial equipment was Saleen's most valuable item. The space within the ring now included a box and a badge, as well as the Qin eight-faceted sword left behind by the Qin swordsman. Saleen had planned to send this remnant from the swordsman to the Bitter Water Prefecture. As for the three auspicious items in the ring, Saleen had taken all of them out.

The lush green gourd, which was no bigger than his palm, grew warm like jade in his hand. The gourd was not equipment and did not have an opening. Saleen gave it a thorough look, and returned it back into the ring.

The black necklace was made of twenty-four pieces of black crystals strung together. Holding it in his hand, Saleen could not distinguish the kind of crystals it was made of. However, Saleen was very certain that these were neither obsidian nor cheap steel rocks.

Lastly, there was that piece of leaf. Saleen felt that it was something extraordinary. Although the leaf had turned a bit yellow, it still contained a strong vitality. Saleen knew that his grade was too low for him to make sense of the function of this piece of leaf. He could only leave it for later consideration. It might have been mentioned in some of the books he had previously read.

These three auspicious items had definitely come from a nature mage. The nature mages had already disappeared. In order to understand the origin of these items, he would need to check the books he had read before.

Saleen wore the necklace on his neck and returned the leaf back into the ring. Then, he began to examine the ancient Myers script engraved on the inner side of the ring.

These twenty-four characters had been grouped together to form a loop, and there were no sentence breaks in between. Saleen had casually started from the middle last time, and by sheer luck, had unveiled the secret of the space in the ring after only one recitation. When he read it again, Saleen discovered that the twenty-four characters were, in fact, a type of ancient mantra, with every six characters forming a verse.

According to the description in the book, this was a blessing ring from the Goddess of Nature and could be used by any holy master or mage. These twenty-four characters could be recited in different ways to form four different nature spells.

It was indeed an amazing combination. He wondered what the uses of the remaining three spells were. However, at this time, Saleen did not dare conduct such random experiments. His knowledge of magic was vast and also powerful. He knew that since he had been able to use the first mantra to open up the space of the ring, the remaining three mantras should definitely be usable too.

However, if the remaining three mantras were for attacking spells, his magic chords would momentarily be exhausted and would take a few days to recover. In addition to not being able to gain new magic spells, he would completely lose his combat ability.

According to the hierarchal rules of magic equipment, Saleen deduced that once he reached Grade 5, he would be able to use these three spells without them backfiring on him. While the Goddess of Nature's magic was gentle, it was still restrictive in terms of its grading. This restriction in grading had only appeared after the fall of the Goddess of Nature. In olden times, there were not as many restrictions on mankind's power.

It was a pity that for such powerful equipment, he could only make use of it as a common space prop. Saleen memorized the order of the twenty-four characters and wore the ring again. For the moment, he needed to protect his three sleeping compatriots. He could not meditate, and also could not rely on his badge to train his mental power. He could only recall some knowledge that he had memorized using memory magic and processed his thoughts repeatedly, converting the contents into his own.

Memory magic referred to learning by rote. Mastering the contents of magic books and notes required continuous study. Although there were shortcuts in the journey to mastering magic, Saleen had merely been equipped with slightly more resources than others, and it was still impossible for him to accomplish things overnight.

Saleen's memories of the magic books were very concise. He searched for portions related to Myers, the Goddess of Nature, and planned to look for the secret to the ring.

Be it magic books or magic notes, descriptions of Myers, the Goddess of Nature, were few and far in between. Most mages heaped praise on the Goddess Myers. As information regarding the blessing ring was quite extensive, Saleen was quickly able to clear his doubts.

The blessing ring had been created by the Myers Temple, and a total of two thousand one hundred and twenty four pieces had been created. Only twelve pieces among them possessed spatial magic. These twelve blessing rings had been created by four main temples and eight supreme temples, and thus were impossible to replicate. However, the Goddess of Nature was a fair deity, and the mantras on the two thousand one hundred and twenty four blessing rings were identical.

The twelve rings with spatial magic required no consumption of the magic chords to open the inner space of the ring.

The four mantras on the ring were namely the Opening of Space, Gift of Life, Protection of the Goddess, and Order of Nature. Opening of Space was a pure magic spell, Gift of Life was a half spell, Protection of the Goddess was a divine spell, and Order of Nature was unknown.

Having studied it up to this point, Saleen was rather disappointed. The half spell Gift of Life appeared to be was like a holy master's healing spell, while Protection of the Goddess was purely a divine spell. Now that the Goddess had fallen, even if he were very devoted, he would not receive protection from the Goddess. The Order of Nature was unknown? If even the mages and holy masters from the past had not been able to understand the last mantra on the ring, it would be even more impossible for him to get to the bottom of it. It was fortunate that he had received a blessing ring of one of the highest grades, and that he, at Grade 1, could open up the space.

What would be the grade of the three auspicious items in a blessing ring of the highest grade? Saleen touched the black necklace on his neck and was deep in thought.

In chaotic moors during late autumn, the magic beasts were irritable. Sika had fallen asleep, and when Saleen detected a magic beast peeping from afar, he had no choice but to deploy the Fog of Confusion. The rankings of magic spells were not determined by their high or low grades, but by their usage. The Fog of Confusion was not meant for attacking, but it could be used to mask scent, heightened the mage's senses, and was one of the most practical low grade spells in the Water Series.

After the Fog of Confusion was deployed, the peeping magic beast lost its target for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then turned to leave.

These were the magic beasts of the Chaotic Swamp. They did not have any concept of territory and only wanted to fill their stomachs. If they lost the trails of their prey, the magic beasts would not bother with them any further. Saleen patted his chest, feeling relieved that he had deployed the Fog of Confusion in time. The peeping magic beast, while not high in grade, had possessed a mighty body. No living creature that could survive in the Chaotic Swamp could be considered weak.

Being able to deploy only Water Series magic had made him too weak. If he were able to deploy the six series of magic, he would easily trump even a Grade 2 mage.

The longer it had been since Saleen had departed from Ceylon City, the more he discovered that he was different from others. This was, in fact, not because his grade was different from others and was not because he possessed any greater gifts. If a mage master were to judge, Saleen had definitely earned his advantage from his lineage.

A mage without any lineage would definitely not possess such precise control. Grade 2 deployment, second deployment, and instant deployment were abilities that many mages yearned to possess knowledge of.

When Saleen had started to learn magic, he had assumed that these were techniques that all mages had to master. This had resulted in him not mastering that many spells, but being able to deploy each and every of them with precision.

Furthermore, although Saleen's magic chords were flawed and only allowed him to deploy Water Series magic, in terms of quantity, they were double that of other mages of the same level. That meant that the time he could practice magic was also double that of other mages of the same level. In addition, because he did not care about exhausting magic nuclei, he spent even more time on practice.

To increase one's magic's power, one needed to practice repeatedly. To shorten the preparation of a spell to two frames (two-sixtieths of a second) typically required up to thousands of rounds of practice. Similarly, being able to lock onto targets and delay deployment time also required repeated practice. A spell exploding in their hands was considered a mage's tragedy.

If Saleen had practiced this way in the Holy See, he would definitely have attained the rank of an ascetic.

Saleen sighed at his own weaknesses, unaware that if another Grade 1 mage saw his deployment ability, they would be inconsolable. Being a Grade 1 mage like him, how could the discrepancy be so huge?

This was not Saleen's fault. He had read the following description from some magic notes - XXXX was a common method by which mages improved their combat capability.

He had only seen the words common method and naturally assumed it to be such. In actuality, this so-called common method was only meant for extremely gifted, as well as wealthy mages with lineage like Jason. Saleen had always believed that all mages were like Jason, and could build their own magic laboratories while owning hundreds of thousands of books and notes.

Borrowing Jason Statham's magic notes for reading would cost hundreds of gold coins alone, not to mention their actual value. Such wealthy mages were beyond solicitation from noblemen. It would have been futile even if Viscount Gugger had spent more of his efforts trying to solicit him.

After checking his own loot, Saleen retrieved the box that the Qin swordsman had entrusted him with. The box was around the size of two books and was unusually heavy. If it had not placed in the blessing ring, it would have been a burden to Saleen's movement. Saleen, who had from thirteen years of age often carried the leather sack that weighed up to few hundred kilograms between Ceylon City and his ancestral house, was definitely not weak. Even swordsmen of the same age might not have been as strong as him.

What was inside the box? That swordsman had kept it in mind even before his death, asking for it to be handed to his Viscountess.

Just one glance! Saleen thought to himself, I am not doing this out of greed. That swordsman did not say not to look. He took one glance at Canghong, who was in a deep sleep, and discreetly opened the box.

A strong elemental wave was emitted from the box. Saleen only saw a patch of green light and closed the box immediately, hurriedly putting the box into the blessing ring. This had been terrifying for him. The box had contained a magic nucleus. Saleen had never heard of such a powerful magic nucleus, which could emit an elemental wave that could even be seen by the naked eye.

In addition, it had been in the natural shape of a twenty-four-faceted crystal. Beside a the magic nucleus of a dragon, he had never heard of any magic beast possessing such an item of perfection.

Sika sat up with a jerk, her hand already gripping her cudgel tightly. Her hair was almost standing straight up. She had been sleeping soundly, but had suddenly felt a powerful magic beast approach and instinctively entered battle mode.

Canghong and Sarah had also awoken in shock. It was difficult for Saleen to explain anything. However, he had opened up the box and revealed the magic nucleus of the dragon. It might have lured a powerful magic beast, and even the people of the Holy See had been able to sense it.

Saleen was very regretful. Curiosity killed the cat, indeed!