Badge in Azure
Badge in Azure - Chapter 88: The Power of the Royal Family Part 1

"Saleen," Faerun suddenly popped out from behind and called out to him, frightening Saleen.

"Sir," Saleen answered respectfully. Faerun was now a sorcerer, and Saleen realized that Faerun’s appearance had changed. It seemed like Faerun had become younger.

"Why did you leave the tent? The viscountess was talking about something very important."

Saleen laughed embarrassingly and pointed to his head. He said, "It’s all in here." From the day that Saleen left Ceylon City, he had been assimilating information that he had previously read and was not a rookie to the ways of survival. What the viscountess was talking about was all from the books. Furthermore, he had experienced what it was like living outside, so he had more experience than those mages in the tent.

"Alright. Regarding the Figaro formula, you can come to me if you have any questions. But don’t go around spreading the knowledge to others."

Saleen did not understand what Faerun had said. Viscountess Lex was clearly trying to spread the knowledge of magic far and wide, and she was never stingy when it came to grooming new mages. But what Faerun had just said showed that he did not share the viscountess’ views.

When Faerun saw Saleen’s doubtful look, he said, "Not everyone has the right to control magic. If magic falls into the wrong hands, it becomes a destructive power. You will become a mage master and then a sorcerer in the future. You must remember this point."

"I heard that when I was not around, Hu An had you practice magic coordination?"

Saleen was stunned when Faerun mentioned this all of a sudden. He answered, "Yes, and it went quite well."

Faerun looked carefully at Saleen and said, "I know you have not done anything wrong, but you have Sika and Nailisi with you. You should spend more time with them. To a mage, a warrior is reliable. Have you seen those warriors?"

Faerun pointed at the sentry standing guard from afar. The dark green armor that the Bitter Water Army wore gave off a dark glow under the moonlight. The armor engulfed the warrior’s body like a layer of fog. The warrior gripped their weapon, standing as still as a rock.

"To a warrior, a mage is their key to victory. As long the mages are alive, then there is a chance of victory. A mage is akin to the heart, while the warriors are akin to the hands. They rely on one another."

When Saleen heard what Faerun said, he realized that in recent times he hadn’t spent much time with Sika and Nailisi. He had either been too engrossed in magic, or he had been busy having discussions and training with the other mages.

There was a whistle from afar. It had come from a golden whistle. It was a sign that there were magic beasts, and the whistle was used to scare them away. As the tents were set up near the Bitter Water Prefecture, there would not be any powerful magic beasts and the soldiers could relax. Saleen calmed himself down, and began perceiving the atmosphere of the army camp. By the time his mind had calmed down, he could sense a kind of power emanating from the camp.

That power was neither magic nor the sword aura. It had nothing to do with supernatural power either. This was an air of annihilation. The hundreds of tents and thousands of soldiers had produced a sight to behold. Saleen had never seen soldiers like this before. The soldiers from the Bitter Water Prefecture were like swords that had been drawn out of their sheaths.

Even though a majority of the soldiers were sleeping soundly, people still would have felt afraid of approaching them. Saleen was in the center of the large tent, and he felt as though he were being protected by a thick layer of gold metal. If anybody wanted to harm him, they would need to break down the gold first. That invisible gold was the determination of those soldiers.

Dead, alive, enemy, myself!

Saleen was not able to get that type of feeling from other mages. However, being around all of these warriors made him feel abnormally serene. This kind of peacefulness could not be brought about by magic.

Saleen’s perception was not strong enough to search the entire tent. He could only search a few hundred meters to his left and right. However, he could feel that there was a strong and mighty fortress within the tent, made up of the cores of a hundred combat mages.

These one thousand elite soldiers were like a great wall that could not be destroyed, forming a tight system.

What sort of power was that? Saleen tried communicating with this power, and fell into a state of chaos. His magic chords quieted down, and the power of the elements surrounding him stopped surging. It was as if there was a mage master controlling everything.

Saleen seemed to have touched on something. Sika and Nailisi had not cultivated their sword auras, so Saleen had never practiced combat together with them. However, all the soldiers within the tent also did not have a sword aura even though the majority of them were high-level swordsmen. Even so, Saleen could clearly feel this invisible power.

That meant that even if a warrior did not become a swordmaster, the help they could give to a mage would not really change.

All this power is shared! Saleen thought of this unassuming phrase. He had been thinking along the wrong lines the entire time!

Faerun saw Saleen deeply engrossed in a state of enlightenment, so he did not disturb him and simply returned to his own quarters. Once Viscountess Lex finished her briefing, Sika and Nailisi went out to look for Saleen. All they saw was Saleen standing quietly outside the tent with a look of confusion, as if he was dying.

Sika was shocked. She was about to shout out to Saleen when Nailisi covered her mouth. Nailisi whispered, "Master, Master is, practicing. Don’t, don’t disturb."

Sika twisted her body and freed herself from Nailisi’s grip, her heart beating furiously. Sika had not had the strength to react when Nailisi had grabbed her. If Nailisi had been attacking her instead, she would have ended up like the headless rider in Phoenix whose chest had been torn open.

Nailisi simply smiled widely at Sika, showing her teeth. Nailisi did not try to mock Sika, because she always stammered when trying to speak the Qin language.

Because they wanted to accompany Saleen, they decided to stand there and wait for him. Little did they know, they would stand there throughout the night.

As a low pitched horn sounded throughout the tents, Saleen’s eyes suddenly regained their sharp gaze, and then his mental state and strength recovered. Under the dawn, Sika and Nailisi stood behind Saleen as Saleen looked towards a tent situated at the far end of the camp. The soldiers had woke up and were inspecting their weapons and armor. The support troops had woken up earlier as they were responsible for putting the armor plates onto the war horses and feeding them.

All of these processes were happening in an orderly and systematic manner. Saleen took a deep breath. He had understood the sorcerer’s words while he had been immersed in that amazing state throughout the entirety of last night. As long as he was given enough time, he could slay a golden grand swordmaster.

The powers were interconnected. A magic attack could find an opponent’s weakness, and so could the sword aura. In fact, any kind of power could also do that. They were all governed by certain rules.

Saleen could not believe that he had actually found the path towards progress in an army camp. He would never again be lost in life.

Every single mage had their own direction in their education. They would not follow in the footsteps of their teacher. This was the reason why Jason had left the Qin Empire and gone to a foreign city to try and find his direction. Only by finding one’s own direction could they be promoted to a sorcerer. The earlier someone was enlightened, the smoother their advancement would be.

A case like Saleen’s was rare. He was only a Grade 2 mage, and was still far from becoming a sorcerer.

"Sika and Nailisi. Thank you to the both of you." Saleen smiled gently, turned around, and gave them each a pat on their shoulders. It was only while he was patting them that he realized he had grown taller since coming to Bitter Water Prefecture a few months ago.

Time passed so quickly. If Saleen had been on the road all this time, there was no way he could have improved so quickly. The race against time was a challenge in a mage’s life.

Breakfast was simple, consisting of plain bread and smoked meat. The number of soldiers and mages amounted to over two thousand people, but they did not take up much space. With a sorcerer like Faerun around, the effectiveness of spatial equipment was finally being displayed.

By the time the sun had risen high into the sky, the soldiers had finally gotten ready and continued their journey along the main road. Saleen and Faerun got into a carriage with Viscountess Lex. The carriage belonged to the viscountess. It was spacious and comfortable, and had six wheels.

In addition to Viscountess Lex, the mages following Faerun were inside as well. Altogether, there were over ten people in the carriage. The carriage was not sealed from the outside, and cavalry flanked both sides of the carriage to protect it. The cavalry soldiers were vigilant, and the army gave off a domineering vibe. With the exception of the sounds of the horses’ hooves, Saleen could not even hear the sound of armor plates rubbing against one another.

At this point in time, Hu An lost his air of leadership. He was in front of a sorcerer and a Grade 5 mage, he had no experiences he could speak of. What was more, the Grade 5 mage was the empire’s viscountess, and she controlled tens of thousands of soldiers. Saleen noticed that and felt that Hu An was actually quite adorable.

Saleen was sandwiched in between Sika and Nailisi. Narnia was slightly unhappy, but she could not show it. She liked Saleen, but the two ladies beside Saleen were extremely pretty, especially Nailisi, who had an air of sacredness about her beauty. Furthermore, Nailisi was Saleen’s maidservant.

Most mages either remained single or got together with another mage. However, this was not the case for Saleen, as he was quite close to Sika and Nailisi. By the looks of it, it seemed that Narnia would not stand a chance.

Narnia looked at the soldiers marching beside the carriage and was slightly angry. The competition had not even started, and she had already lost to a warrior and a maidservant. It was such an embarrassment.

Saleen did not notice that Narnia was angry, because he had just been made aware of a new rule of power and wanted to test it out. He leaned back in his seat and hid himself between Sika and Nailisi. Then, he started searching for the people who were secretly protecting Viscountess Lex.

Saleen began to detect four types of terrifying auras around the carriage. He found those auras familiar, as those four people were always hiding in the viscountess’ room. The one on the roof was the person who had hid on the roof of the viscountess’ room the very first time Saleen had met Viscountess Lex.

Very soon, Saleen discovered a fifth person. This person’s aura was unknown to Saleen and was extremely obscure. If Saleen had not understood the powers outside of the elements, he would not have been able to discover the fifth person. This person was more dangerous than the other four combined, because Saleen realized that if he tried to use magic to lock onto this fifth person, he would lose their position.

This person might not have been that powerful and he was definitely not as powerful as the viscountess’ teacher. But the degree of danger this fifth person possessed was unlike anything Saleen had seen before. Saleen had not been this nervous even when he had faced the white deacon.

No wonder Aini had warned him not to anger the royal family. If faced with a person like the fifth person, one might not even know how they died.