Badge in Azure

Chapter 222: A Storm (Part 1)

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

Nailisi chortled silently as she stayed in Saleen’s embrace. She lifted up her head and whispered softly in Saleen’s ear, “Master, if you wish, I can make sure he dies a slow, agonizing death.”

Saleen knew that everything she was saying now was going to somehow end up as part of her plan later on. However, he did not feel like rebuking her anymore.

“Have you replaced the dragonshards for the puppets?” Saleen asked.

“Yup!” Nailisi replied cheekily. She knew that Saleen was not going to pursue the matter any further. She knew that Saleen was well aware of the fact that Lex was not someone who was easily manipulated. The fact that Nailisi had even been able to convince Lex to proceed with her plan meant that it was doable and the returns were huge relative to the risks.

“Once Lex successfully seizes control of the ship, don’t listen to anything she says about mercy. We must kill everyone on this ship. None of them are good people. What kind of people would venture up north to play pirate after finishing a business deal?” Nailisi egged on.

If there was one thing that Saleen could agree upon with Nailisi, it would be that very statement. While Lex was thinking of merely incapacitating the sailors, Saleen thought that it would be better to completely strip Fellett of any protection. That way, he would not try anything funny when they descended upon him like a snowstorm.

The fall of a nobleman was never a short process. Fellett might have lost his territory, but there were still plenty of swordsmen under his command waiting to cater to his every whim. Saleen wanted to eliminate all of his protectors. Once Fellett was captured, he would let Lex decide his fate.

“Master… that’s just so cruel,” Nailisi said, pouting as she did so. A person could even see confusion in her eyes. People who did not know what was going on would have thought that Saleen was the mastermind behind everything.

Saleen did not dignify the Nailisi’s words with a response. He knew that Nailisi would carry out her orders to the best of her ability. He was her master, after all. With that, he dispersed the water shield and signalled for Sika to come over. Sika placed her weapon on the floor and stared blankly at Saleen, confused as to what was going on.

“I’ll be busy tonight. Help me take care of Daniel,” Saleen said.

Daniel did not actually need any assistance since he had woken up and was recovering rapidly. Saleen was just making up excuses to separate Sika and Nailisi. He was afraid that the more time they spent together, the more Nailisi would be able to instigate Sika into doing something potentially dangerous. The chances of that happening were quite high. Sika possessed the intelligence of a block of wood while Nailisi was a cunning, manipulative fox.

“Okay,” Sika said, smiling. After Nailisi had matured, Sika no longer felt indispensable, and that made her feel uneasy. That was why she had been fervently studying the bone necklace as well as her newly refined weaponry. She wanted to feel useful again. Now that Saleen had asked her for help instead of Nailisi, Sika was, of course, overjoyed.

As Saleen opened the door to his cabin, he saw Daniel practicing his magic. Daniel did not try to avoid him this time. He merely continued to focus on the magic spells at hand. Saleen pulled Sika over to a corner and started speaking to her softly.

Daniel’s entire body was surrounded by the green death flames. It was obvious that the death flames had grown stronger. Not only had the giant octopus’ mental attack not left a single scratch on Daniel’s body, but it had also boosted Daniel’s power. Saleen was truly envious of how Daniel had progressed so quickly.

Necromancers did not need to refine their magic chords. As long as they were able to fuse themselves partially with their death flames, they would be able to find the approximate coordinates of the death dimension. From there, the death flames would continue to absorb energy from the death dimension and grow stronger and stronger. What all necromancers aimed for was the complete fusion of their bodies with their death flames. In other words, becoming one with the flames.

Once that happened, necromancers would have power equivalent to that of a sorcerer. Their bodies would be able to absorb energy from the death dwhenever they needed to recharge. Not only that, but they would be able to retrieve the exact interdimensional coordinates needed to facilitate the summoning of strong death creatures.

However, as grand as everything sounded, the death flames had to be fed with energy first, and that required magic nuclei. Even so, compared to the energy expended by elemental mages, it was nothing. Although necromancers had to fork out huge capital to acquire their death flames, they would be able to save more and more money later on as they realized that they would need to fork out less cash replacing their magic nuclei.

One of the nine kings had been destroyed, and eight skeletal puppets were hovering amongst the green flames. Daniel was controlling all of them at once and making them execute complicated moves.

This was more than enough evidence to prove that Daniel was a strong necromancer on the mainland. If he had not been strong, he would not have been able to flee from Tanggulasi to the Qin country.

“Sika, what abilities do warrior priests possess?” Saleen asked cautiously as he tried to avoid bringing up Lex’s plan. He could not be bothered to activate his soundproof water shield again. Plus, he had already talked things over with Lex. They were going to strike when the ship was about to dock.

As Saleen waited for Sika’s answer, he brought out a bronze magic book and unleashed all of the magic spells inside of it before dispersing them.

The last time Saleen had replenished the spells of the bronze magic book after exhausting it had been a disaster. The new spells had not only been unable to strike their targets directly, but were also unfit for battle on warships. Saleen was going to make sure that the bronze magic spellbook had new, better spells inside of it.

Sika, on the other hand, leaned against the wall with the wooden cudgel beside her. She took out her boomerang before retrieving a black crystal from her pouch, intending to sharpen the boomerang blade with the crystal.

“Warrior priests are a little bit like wizards, except that they focus more on battle skills. Their healing powers are pretty weak,” Sika replied.

“Wizards? Do you have the ability to attack using magic?” Saleen asked.

“No, no… it’s not magic. Wizards don’t use magic either. Those skills… are rarely passed down…” Sika trailed off at the last sentence. Saleen could sense that she was unwilling to explain any further. He was understanding enough not to press her for more answers, knowing that it might be taboo for Caucasus people to speak about these matters.

“Then let’s not talk about warrior priests. I just want to know… what abilities do you have?” Saleen asked.

“If I become a warrior priest, I can conjure up magic beast souls and control them. They’re like… spirits in a way. I can’t really describe it. They’re not really spirits per se…” Sika said.

“If you really did have that power, how many Daniels could you take on?” Saleen asked as he glanced at Daniel, trying to make a comparison.

“Even if I did not have this power, I’d still be able to defeat him,” Sika replied in displeasure as she curled her lips upwards in disdain. She had progressed rapidly over the past two years. Plus, she had just gotten some powerful new weapons. Necromancers had not scared her then, and they would not scare her now, especially since she was becoming stronger and stronger as she began to see her priest powers awaken. With just one glance, she could tell exactly how much power Daniel would and could put into one magic spell.

In a single glance, the bright green death flames and the eight tiny bone puppets might have seemed like two distinct aspects of magic. However, their connection and links were as clear as day for Sika. She was able to foresee what Daniel was going to do with the death flames before he even did anything. If she had managed to discover the ability earlier, she might not have suffered the humiliation of being wounded by the black deacon’s evil spirits.

She would forever remember how the evil spirit had managed to stab her in the back. Determined to never let something like that happen again, she put even more effort into practicing her craft as soon as she had fully recovered.

“Sika, what I meant was, if you did not have any weapons with you, would you be able to deal with Daniel using your bare fists?” Saleen asked.

“It would be a bit difficult, but I’m a warrior. Why would I not have a weapon with me?” Sika asked, perplexed.

“Well, you can’t always bring a weapon with you wherever you go, right? Do you bring them with you when you’re showering?” Saleen asked.

“Of course! I’ll guard my weapons with my life until you tell me not to. Otherwise, I’m going to carry them even when I’m pissing or sh*tting,” Sika said. Her words might have been crude, but they exuded the character of a true Caucasus warrior.

“Sika, as we continue working together with Lex, we’ll encounter even more danger than before. I’m telling you now to never let go of your weapon, even if I tell you to do so. You hear me?” Saleen said sternly.

“Yes, I’ll remember!” Sika exclaimed, her eyes narrowing into slits as she smiled happily. Back in Holy Rock City, Saleen had forbidden her from carrying her weapons everywhere. That had made her feel uneasy. The people outside of her village were vastly different from the people in her local village. Without anything to protect herself with, she often felt insecure.

“Wait, I’m not done yet. I’m telling you now to never ever believe whatever Nailisi tells you in the future,” Saleen instructed sternly before realizing that Nailisi was too smart for Sika. Nailisi would be able to find ways to dupe Sika. That, Saleen did not doubt. With a sigh, Saleen added, “Just follow your gut instincts. Don’t be overly influenced by her words. If she wants you to do something, think about how it would affect people at your village before proceeding with your next course of action.”

“Really?!” Sika exclaimed in disbelief. Her eyes widened as she stared at Saleen. Her slender eyes tilted upwards slightly as she raised her brows. As she did that, Saleen saw something flash in her eyes, and his heart jumped slightly.

Lex once told me that Sika liked me. Is that true? Saleen thought.

It would be terrible if it was true. He was a mage, and his goal in life was to become a sorcerer, or even better, a grade-10 mage. Even if he settled for the rank of a grade-9 sorcerer, he would be able to live for a thousand years. How could he choose to spend his life with a Caucasus warrior? Sika had the lifespan of a human. She would die after a hundred years. It was just not worth it.

“Of course! You should know her background very well,” Saleen decided not to speak any further. Who knew whether anyone else was listening in on their conversation? Plus, this was a secret between just him and Sika. Lex did not even know that Nailisi was an imp. On Nailisi’s end, she had also been trying her best not to reveal her identity, and that included hiding her true form from anyone but Sika and Saleen.

Upon hearing Saleen’s explanation, she sighed in relief and smiled again, her eyes narrowing into slits once more.

Saleen looked at Sika apprehensively as she continued to sharpen her boomerang, worried that he might have said something wrong. Deciding not to just stand there awkwardly, Saleen silently transferred some of his magic into the bronze magic book. At that moment, the whirring sounds of the blade coming into contact with the black crystal had never been more sharp and piercing.

Night came quickly. Fellett had been busy for the past few days and could not find time to host a dinner to welcome Saleen and his friends. Instead, he ordered his sailors to bring dinner up to them. Upon receiving their food, Saleen, Daniel, and Sika started guzzling it down. Saleen had not seen Lex once since he had stepped into Sika’s room. Lex had been too busy preparing the magic scrolls to practice magic with him.

Before the three of them could even properly start on their meal, the blaring sounds of a magical alarm rang through the air. Saleen instantly kicked the cabin door open and walked down the corridor towards Nailisi’s room. Nailisi’s cabin was only separated from Lex’s by one thin wall. Saleen knocked on that wall, hoping to get a response from Lex’s side. Lex, who had been practicing her Wind Magic, yelled in response. However, compared to the gusts of wind blowing across her room, her voice seemed weak, soft, and fragile.

Upon hearing Lex’s voice, Saleen sighed in relief. He had thought that Lex wanted to bring forward their plan without telling him.

“Master Saleen! Master Saleen…” a sailor yelled as he stumbled towards them, his face bearing a look of panic.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel and Sika said in unison as they prevented the sailor from entering Nailisi’s room.

“We’ve run into a storm! We’ve deviated from our shipping route and now our magical compass is down!” the sailor wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

“What do you want me to do?” Saleen asked, maintaining a neutral expression. The ship that they were on was a big one, which meant that as long as they were not smack dab in the middle of the storm, they would still have a chance to escape.

“It’s not safe here. The captain has asked me to escort you upstairs,” the sailor said.

Saleen’s heart raced again. The ship might actually sink, he thought in dread.

“Alright, let’s go up!” Saleen said, not trusting the sailor’s words entirely. After all, Fellett was not a good person. If he did not trust someone, he would not even bother trying to find any incriminating evidence. Instead, he would just eliminate them. Saleen did not want to be the one eliminated. Then again, he did not want to potentially drown either.

Saleen calmly told Nailisi and Lex to have Daniel walk in front of them as they made their way towards the deck. Suddenly, the entire ship started to shake violently. Without hesitation, Saleen cast a mutated Windspeed spell on himself, allowing him to rush towards the deck at full speed without even making contact with the floor. Just when Saleen thought he could take a breather, a huge wave came crashing towards him. Instinctively, he activated his water shield and forced it to quickly expand to cover his entire body with the exception of his feet. Not wanting to be swept away by the giant waves, he then unleashed a Frost Array spell on his feet to keep them firmly rooted to the deck.