Badge in Azure
Badge in Azure - Chapter 89: The Power of the Royal Family Part 2

The viscountess was chatting away happily, but Saleen never spoke a word. He was hiding in between Sika and Nailisi, busy sensing the person’s aura.

This person brought with them a powerful mental pressure, and this pressure was being concealed. However, the pressure was not directed at Saleen.

Saleen had been very proud of his mental power all along, but he now realized that although his mental power was more than ten times stronger than that of other Grade 2 mages, his mental power seemed to crack under this mental pressure. If the fifth person tried to attack Saleen with all their might, Saleen might not even be able to retaliate with a Grade 0 spell.

Mental power was needed to cast spells, in the same way that a swordsman needed to use his sword. If the swordsman did not have the strength to wield his weapon, then he might injure himself first.

Saleen did not give up and continued sensing that mental pressure. Because the mental pressure was not directed at him, Saleen’s mental power did not crumble. Instead, Saleen’s mental power gradually became more cohesive.

Saleen could not sense the auras of anybody aside from the mental pressure from the fifth person. It was all around him, and it was tempering his mental power.

The fifth person was Bain. He had been hiding in between the carriage driver and the viscountess. When Saleen started searching for Bain and his team, Bain was amused. But when Saleen found him, he was very surprised. Even a mage master was hardly able to discover him. How had a Grade 2 mage managed to do that?

Bain grew very curious and found out that Saleen had been observing him all along, using his power to undergo growth.

The guts of Saleen. He was not afraid of sustaining a breakdown in mental power!

Bain secretly increased the magnitude of his mental pressure, and this time he directed it at Saleen. Saleen immediately felt the impact. Saleen felt as though he had been tossed into the ocean in the midst of a raging storm filled with huge waves. Saleen felt like he was a helpless little bird engulfed inside of a huge wave, and could be disintegrated at any moment.

The power was monumental. Saleen had no choice but to stop his training and turn defensive. Bain’s power greatly exceeded that of Saleen’s. If Bain had just slightly increased his power, Saleen would have died, and even a death mage would not have been able to save him.

Saleen did not give up. He knew that if he had really persevered, he could have hidden inside of the Myers Goddess’ necklace. Inside the necklace, all external power would also be subdued regardless of its strength. No matter how strong the person was, they could never control the necklace. But the power had not seemed like it was trying to kill Saleen, it had been more like it was playing a game with him.

Saleen should have been angry since someone was teasing him. But to Saleen, it was a precious opportunity. As long as Saleen persevered, his mental power would eventually undergo a revolutionary change. If Saleen ran away from this situation, then this training session would leave a traumatic scar on him and haunt him forever.

That being said, Saleen could not just mindlessly resist the mental pressure. His mental power had been engulfed by such a power that he could take this chance to do an in-depth analysis on the rules governing this power. He recalled that the first time he had entered the space within the Myers Goddess’ necklace, the powers within the space had felt like that too. Thus, Saleen began to analyze the mental pressure.

The moment Saleen entered a state of learning, his heart and mind began to totally relax. The continuous compression and scouring had lessened as well. At the same time, Saleen started absorbing this energy and added it to his own mental power. Even though he had only absorbed a small amount, it could already greatly increase the studiness of his mental power.

Bain noticed this change and immediately concealed his power. That power was too invaluable for Bain to allow Saleen to absorb it, even if it was only a minute amount. What had astonished Bain was that Saleen was merely a Grade 2 mage. How was Saleen so familiar with the rules of his power? Had Bain known this earlier, he would not have teased Saleen. The tiny loss of power this time around would require Bain to train for a few months in order to get it back.

As Bain withdrew his power, Saleen also heaved a sigh of relief. If other mages had been in Saleen’s shoes, they would have used the Meditation spell immediately to recover their lost mental power and stabilize their condition. But, Saleen would never have done that.

Instead, Saleen secretly took out his family badge and cast a Grade 0 spell.

"Hmm," Nailisi whispered. She leaned against Saleen. By now, Nailisi had already grown accustomed to the negative effects that occurred whenever Saleen used his family badge. But, Saleen had used his badge too suddenly just now, and Nailisi had been caught off guard and let out a whimper.

"Ker…"

Seeing Nailisi slumped against Saleen in a way that their bodies were nearly entangled, Viscountess Lex intentionally coughed to warn Saleen to be more discreet. If they wanted to be intimate, it was best to do it when nobody was around.

Saleen could not even obey the viscountess, as he could not speak. Only his left hand could still move, and the rest of his body was lax and immobile. The badge had absorbed a lot of strength from Saleen’s magic chords and mental power. Saleen could only flutter his eyelids, hoping that all these things would pass quickly.

That family badge hidden in his sleeve had drained all of Saleen’s mental power and caused the lightning shaped scar to be lit in an azure color. This time, the azure glow did not disappear immediately, but became like a liquid and was slowly being absorbed by the badge. Saleen’s body shook. The badge seemed to have come alive in that instant, but more accurately, it had become a part of Saleen’s body.

However, that sensation of it was too blurry. It was not like Saleen’s left hand, which had a pulse. Saleen could only feel a familiar energy being bounced back by the badge, and this energy entered his body. This energy was from the power Saleen had absorbed from Bain just now. Originally, it would have been extremely dangerous for Saleen to absorb the power forcefully because it could not fuse together with his mental power.

However, the power that had bounced back could actually fuse perfectly with his mental power. The fusion had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that from now on, Saleen’s mental power would contain this natural aggression. It had also become strangely intense and tough. The disadvantage was that if Saleen wanted to analyze this power, then he would need to enter the Myers Goddess’ necklace in order to do so.

The mental power of a mage could not be split. The reason had something to do with the study of the soul. Once a person’s mental power was split, their soul would be damaged as well. In order to observe one’s own mental power, the space within the Myers Goddess’ necklace could be used like a mirror. The only other method that Saleen could use was observing his own mental power during combat. But that would be a long and slow process.

Saleen felt helpless as he still could not figure out what exactly this badge was. Aside from using it to increase his mental power, the badge had one new attribute. The badge could purify Saleen’s mental power, and then fuse it with other powers. When Saleen had read his collection of magic books, there had been little information regarding souls. Usually, only a sorcerer could learn a few secrets about interacting with other souls. Even a death mage did not have this privilege.

Saleen opened his eyes and realized that Viscountess Lex was staring at him. Viscountess Lex nodded at Saleen when he woke up. Bain had been too naughty in using his power to disturb Saleen. Fortunately, Saleen had not died, or else she would have been in trouble. Who knew what sort of status Saleen’s teacher held in Alchemy City?

Viscountess Lex grew worried as she did not know whether Saleen had suffered any damage to his mental power. If Saleen had sustained serious damage to his mental power, then it would be very hard for him to be promoted in the future. If that was the case, then how could she ever find peace of mind?

Once a person chose the way of magic, there was no turning back. Harming a talented mage could cause severe consequences to one’s own mood. When Viscountess Lex thought of this point, her gaze became queer.

If Saleen sacrificed himself during battle, then she would not feel guilty since that would be his choice. However, if Saleen had become useless because of Bain’s actions, then she would feel extremely guilty. To a mage, knowing the truth superseded life itself.

When Saleen saw the concerned look on the viscountess’ face, he smiled and nodded at her. He had nearly lost his life just now, but he had gained tremendous benefits as well. However, he could not tell the viscountess that if she truly cared about him, she should give him magic nuclei as recompense. Saleen daydreamed about this conversation instead of meditating. He simply leaned against Nailisi in exhaustion, and waited for everything to return to normal.

Saleen had not realized that the changes that had occurred to his body were of such great importance. In the past, after the badge sapped his mental power, Saleen needed to wait for his mental power to recover before he could meditate to regain his magic chords. However, from now on, his mental power would immediately be reflected back to him from the badge and he would no longer need to wait before entering a state of recovery.

Throughout the journey, Saleen never spoke a word, and the viscountess was too embarrassed to probe him further. The entire convoy traveled west. Six months later, the convoy came to a wide river. The flow was not fast, but the river was at least two hundred meters wide. The current was comfortable and slow, and the water was sparkling clear. A metal bridge that was a few meters wide stretched across the river.

The convoy stopped, and the soldiers outside the carriage whispered, "My Viscountess, there is someone blocking the way."

"Oh really? Did the forward troops reveal my identity?

"Yes, they did. They even flashed the badge."

"Then why are you still telling me this? Just cross the river," the viscountess replied nonchalantly. The troops obeyed her, and began to advance.

There were thirty soldiers clad in armor blocking the convoy’s way. The thirty of them stood guard at the entrance of the bridge. These soldiers seemed proud and looked at the oncoming convoy with contempt. At the end of the bridge were two groups of one hundred light cavalry soldiers staring at the other end of the river. These soldiers held double-bow crossbows.

The commander sneered and drew his sword, pointing it towards the entrance of the bridge. The commander thought, "What damned viscount is this. I reckon they’ve got the guts to cross the bridge. I have two hundred crossbows with me, and I can fire six hundred arrows at once. No matter the broadness of the bridge, I can definitely cover its entire width. The bridge belongs to the earl. If you dare trespass, then I will kill you."

The Bitter Water Army had just over a hundred forward troops. All of them sat upright on their horses, ignoring the looks of provocation from the soldiers on the bridge. Soon, the soldiers from the back of convoy rushed forward on horseback and announced, "Lord Tenesee, the viscountess has given the go ahead."

Lord Tenesee’s eyes lit up and answered, "Yes!" Lord Tenesee was the commander of the forward troops.

He kicked the abdomen of his horse and wrapped the reins at the front of his saddle, shouting, "My brothers, let’s advance!

"Onward!"

Over a hundred soldiers answered in unison. The commander named Tenesee drew his sword from the side of his saddle and was the first to charge forward. The soldiers behind him drew their swords as well. The sounds of clanking metal were so loud that they dealt a huge blow to the hearts of the opposing forces. A few of them even jumped off of the backs of their horses and ran off. The rest of them were at a loss for what to do. Before they could think up a countermeasure, the viscountess’ troops were already right in front of them.