Badge in Azure
Badge in Azure - Chapter 92: Silver Grand Swordmaster Part 1

"Saleen, a mage should never let himself fall into desperation." Faerun used some mist from a spray bottle to wash the site of amputation on the corpse, revealing the whiteness of the bone.

"Is there really no other answer?"

"Once you become a sorcerer, come and ask me this question again. Sika, test out your weapon," Faerun said to Sika, who had been silent.

Sika drew her boomerang and slashed the thigh which laid on the tabletop. With a crack, the strong thigh bone was sliced through cleanly by Sika’s boomerang, causing no resistance whatsoever.

"Not bad at all. Even though you don’t use the sword aura, the way you control your strength is no different from any other swordmaster. Saleen, you will try now."

"Mm." Saleen used his hands to cast the Ice Blade spell. He carefully controlled the ice blade, and with a crisp sound, the ice blade pierced the thigh bone.

"The attack power is sufficient. I am very surprised that you are able to achieve that. But in actual combat, you may have to train to a higher grade before you can execute this spell as perfectly as you just have. If you face a high level swordmaster, you will weaken yourself if you cannot kill him in one attack. It won't be a good choice."

"I will use the Swamp Illusion spell to control the enemy, and let Sika deal the finishing blow."

"But what if you needed to fight against two high-level swordmasters?"

Faerun had asked Saleen a simple technical question. Saleen was a Grade 2 mage. He could only cast a Grade 3 spell once and his magic chords would be exhausted. Without his magic chords, Saleen would become a burden to Sika on the battlefield. Of course, Saleen knew better that he could actually cast two Grade 3 spells, but the crux of the problem was that his enemy might have been a Grade 3 swordmaster.

"I’d use Acid and Poisonous Fog spells to control the enemy’s breathing, and then use Frost Array to disrupt his tempo."

"But that would require calculations from the Figaro formula…"

Saleen was thinking that he only needed six more months of practice to be able to utilize the Figaro formula in actual combat. To defeat Earl Sufonso, Saleen definitely needed a partner, and his grade was still vital to victory. As long as his grade remained stagnant, he would never have enough magic chords to use. The best solution currently would be to accumulate magic chords. There were not many alternatives that could be used against a grand swordmaster.

When Faerun saw that Saleen had stopped rebutting his arguments, he continued, "Escaping may be the best choice, but if you have enough money, then using magic scrolls is the best solution."

Saleen was speechless. A grand swordmaster would never be able to defend himself against ten thousand Grade 3 magic scrolls. However, the problem with magic scrolls was that a single scroll cost two hundred gold coins. A gold arrow only cost one gold coin, and even better quality arrows only cost ten gold coins. With that much money, Saleen could have already hired some mercenaries. No matter how strong the grand swordmaster was, they would also die from all the chaos that would ensue during the battle.

Faerun smiled and said, "Well, it seems like you’ve finally understood what I was trying to say. No matter how strong a person is, teamwork will still be stronger."

Saleen was extremely grateful to Faerun. Faerun must have noticed that he was so homesick that he might have acted on impulse and sought revenge on Earl Sufonso. The earl could potentially have had thousands of soldiers, and if these soldiers had laid an ambush for Saleen, then Saleen would have lost his life. If Saleen were to die, the Metatrin bloodline would be extinct.

Roar!

As Saleen and Faerun were speaking, there was a roar from a magic beast from afar. Faerun’s face immediately changed, and without warning, Faerun cast a Haste spell and sped out of the tent. That was the first time Saleen had seen a mage running so quickly. He was even faster than a headless rider charging forward.

The soldiers had surrounded the camp with just horses and had not even dug moats. At the entrance of the camp, a man and a beast were speedily killing soldiers as they made their way in. The Bitter Water Army had over a hundred soldiers acting as sentries, but they were all scattered around the compound so they could not stop the intruder’s attack.

Saleen came out of the tent and witnessed a horrendous sight far ahead of him.

An adult thorned dragon had rammed into three cavalry soldiers and sent them all flying. The dragon was roaring angrily, and had crushed a tent under its foot. The soldiers beneath the tent were all crushed, spilling out buckets of blood. There was a man clad in heavy metal armor beside the dragon. He wielded a meteor hammer, and was taking big steps towards the viscountess’ tent.

The intruder’s target was obviously not Saleen, but Saleen felt that all the blood in his body had coagulated and prevented him from being able to move, let alone cast magic. The intruder exuded so much power that the thorned dragon seemed like a cute kitten beside him. Every step the intruder took gave off a rumble through the ground. Dust and gravel were kicked up under his feet, forming a dust cloud as if there were thousands of soldiers and horses charging forward.

His target was the viscountess’ tent. Saleen had merely felt his aura and had completely lost the will to fight. Sika and Nailisi followed Saleen out of the tent, and discovered that there was something wrong with him. Sika hugged Saleen’s waist and began to retreat. Nailisi was very anxious as well. She stood in front of Sika defensively and stared nervously at the man clad in heavy armor.

The man was like a demon to Nailisi. There was no way she could resist his attacks. If Saleen had not been behind her, Nailisi would have run away long ago.

Saleen’s face was flushed. The huge mental pressure had reduced slightly, and his left hand could now move. Saleen immediately cast the magic on his magic robe, and the invisible shield opened up. Even though Invisible Shield was a spell of the lowest grade, it had relieved most of Saleen’s distress.

He watched the intruder obsessively. The intruder was clad in black metallic armor. The armor was in one piece, and with the exception of the joints, there was no exposed skin. The same went for the intruder’s face guard. There were no inlaid crystals covering the eye region, only triangular eye masks.

The parts of the armor covering his shoulders, elbows, knees and other joint areas had sharp metal thorns. His meteor hammer let out whines as it swung from his hands while he walked. Over ten javelins were thrown towards the intruder, but he used his meteor hammer to deflect all of them. The javelins were tossed into midair and landed behind the intruder.

Two soldiers rode on horseback and charged forward, driving their spears into the intruder’s chest.

There was the sound of metal being broken. The spears had broken into two pieces, and the soldiers on horseback fell to the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop. Saleen had not managed to see how the intruder had done that. Then, the viscountess said calmly from her tent, "Tenesee, back down."

Tenesee, who by then had gathered more than a hundred soldiers, held the reins on his horse. He grew anxious as he watched the intruder make his way towards the viscountess’ tent.

Four people came out the viscountess’ tent and blocked the intruder’s path.

These four men were clad in cotton robes and did not have any armor. They only held a basic Qin eight-sided sword. The intruder clad in heavy armor stopped in his tracks. He had not anticipated the appearances of these four men. There had been an error in their intelligence. The viscountess actually had four black metal grand swordmasters with her!!!

Retreat? He was not willing to do so!

Continue? The viscountess still had two mage masters who had not taken any action yet. If he was injured, then the soldiers would not be like ants anymore. They would be his executioners and destroy him.

Hmph!

The intruder clad in heavy armor seemed to have been angered by his own hesitation, and he bellowed in a chaotic manner. The dragon which was stepping on a tent turned around and started charging towards the four men guarding the viscountess’ tent.

The thorned dragon was the strongest among all dragons who traveled on foot. This dragon did not know any magic, but its four meter tall body and metallic thorns were its strongest weapons. Magic attacks against the dragon could not consistently do damage either. Even though the dragon could not be ridden, it could already be considered the strongest weapon in the battle.

Once a thorned dragon charged forward, even a grand swordmaster could not stop it. The intruder started advancing with the dragon, beginning to swing his meteor hammer again.

The four swordmasters holding the Qin eight-sided Sword stealthily moved out of the dragon’s way, sliding past the sides of the dragon and beginning to lunge at the intruder. It seemed like they had already practiced this action tens of thousands of times. Their footwork was organized as they slipped past, mere inches away from the dragon.

The thorned dragon had lost its targets and could not have been more furious. The dragon then began to charge towards the viscountess’ tent.

If the tent was crushed by the dragon, the people inside would surely die. When Saleen saw such a vicious attack, one phrase came to mind – magic beast warrior.

Taming a magic beast and bringing it to battle was not uncommon. However, in order to have full control of the beast, the beast’s grade had to at least be two grades lower than that of its controller. Since the thorned dragon was a Grade 6 magic beast, that meant that the intruder had to be a…

Silver grand swordmaster!

"Saleen…"

"Don’t go over. We won’t be able to provide much help," Saleen interrupted Sika. Sika was at most a mid-level swordmaster. If faced with a silver grand swordmaster, she would not even be able to retaliate. If they really wanted to fight, then Saleen needed to be the one to go. After all, magic could be used to attack from a distance. Even if the enemy could not be damaged, at least he could be contained.

Sika did not attempt to counter Saleen. Even though the viscountess treated her well, most of the help she had received had come from Saleen’s monetary support. If Saleen did not give her the go ahead, then of course she would not go and fight a frightening person like the intruder. People from Caucasus valued unity. In Sika’s team, there was only Saleen, who was her leader. As for the other people, Sika did not feel that they had warranted her help.

All of a sudden, a bright light shot out from within the tent. This light split into six streams, targeting the dragon. The thorned dragon lowered its head and managed to prevent the lights from shining into its eyes. The dragon did not slow down. It was bent on destroying the viscountess’ tent. The six streams of white light landed on the dragon’s body and sliced through a few of its thorns like a razor sharp sword. But the effect was only that. Grade 6 Light Magic could never have done much against a Grade 6 magic beast possessing strong magic resistance. Furthermore, the thorned dragon was a magic beast that was nearly immune to magic.

Immunity to magic referred to the reduction of more than eighty percent of the magic damage from spells which were of equal or lower grade than one’s self.

Saleen calmed down when he saw the Light Magic. The Grade 6 spell was only the beginning, acting as a marker on the dragon. Otherwise, Ground Magic could have been used to stop the thorned dragon in its tracks.

Peng!

The thorned dragon crashed headfirst into a stone pillar in the tent.

Earth Totem, a Grade 6 spell.

Saleen’s eyes lit up. The function of the earth totem was not for blocking, but to give mages a temporary holistic boost in their magic abilities. Earth Totem was much more useful than Magic Staff. Within a hundred meter radius of the earth totem, the defensive and offensive capabilities of a mage would increase several times over. And within half an hour, the stone pillar would become almost indestructible.

Despite the strength of the thorned dragon, it simply could not destroy the earth totem. When it struck the stone pillar, the thorns on its head cracked and the dragon stopped in its tracks, dizzied. Then, two fire serpents slithered out of the ruined tent. In a short while, they had wrapped their bodies around the thorned dragon. The two serpents were very agile. One went into the dragon’s nose while the other went into the dragon’s anus. Since the dragon was in a state of partial consciousness, it did not realize what the serpents were trying to do.

The thorned dragon drew deep breaths, trying to regain its alertness. While the dragon had been breathing, the serpent had taken the opportunity to slither into its nostrils.

Ow!

The thorned dragon leapt up in extreme pain. This ten ton gargantuan beast twitched and jumped up in pain, and then crashed towards the tent.