Badge in Azure
Badge in Azure - Chapter 98: The Bell of Holy Rock City Part 1

Wild Bear crawled up from the floor, regaining his balance. Although Sika did not know how to use the sword aura, the punch had caused him to feel dizzy. He was a crude fellow and as he walked up to Viscountess Lex, he gave an improper bow.

"Your Highness."

"What is your role here?"

"I cook for them." Wild Bear shook his head in embarrassment.

Viscountess Lex’s heart skipped with joy. A chef was not an official military position. An assessment would not be needed to change his position. "I have just been nicely in need of a chef. You will follow me in the future."

Wild Bear averted his eyes and started looking around. Scott shouted, "Aren’t you going to thank the viscountess?"

"So, Viscountess, how many silver coins would I receive as your chef?" Wild Bear asked courageously.

"Hahaha…" Viscountess Lex could not hold back her laughter. Wild Bear had never trained a sword aura before and unlike Sika, he did not have the blessings of a priest like a Cascausus person. He naturally had the build of a fighter. It must have been because he was poor that he had not even become a normal swordsman. Someone like him, with a good teacher, would easily be a high-grade swordsman or even a swordmaster in a few years. If she was lucky, she would perhaps even have another grand swordmaster in thirty years.

"Wild Bear, I do not have any silver coins. From now on, I will give you two gold coins every month."

Wild Bear scrunched up his face and replied, "Your Highness, I can’t spend all of two gold coins. I think it’s alright."

"Don’t worry, I will change all of them into silver coins for you. You will be able to spend all of them," Viscountess Lex said jokingly. She had not expected Wild Bear to nod vigorously and say, "When do we leave?"

The soldiers around all started laughing upon hearing Viscountess Lex’s words. Saleen nodded in agreement silently. Viscountess Lex might not have been any bigger than him but she was much smarter. Moreover, every word she said had the potential to influence people. Could this be what they call the aura of the wealthy?

Sika shook off her limbs and went back to Saleen. Looking at Wild Bear, she said, "Big fellow, you are quite strong."

Wild Bear was slightly embarrassed. Sika had a petite figure and he would have been embarrassed even if he had won against her, much less lose.

It was not much trouble to reassign a chef and Scott helped Viscountess Lex settle everything quickly. He even helped Wild Bear change into a dry set of clothes and gave him a pair of shoes.

All of these were trivial things as the messenger for the capital had arrived in the small town and handed over the documents. Viscountess Lex was about to enter the capital in the afternoon and now it was time to set off.

Even though she was a viscountess, Lex was not allowed to bring any soldiers into the capital. However, the mages with her were allowed in. A hundred low-grade mages were a little too ostentatious and in the end, they selected fifty mages and fifty swordsmen to follow her into the city.

A distance of fifty kilometers would have taken a normal person one day to travel, but now that the viscountess’ carriage had been light-fitted, the journey took less than two hours. Aside from Faerun, the lifestyle mages such as Saleen also needed to ride horses. All of them wanted to get a good look at the majestic view of Holy Rock City. As the city known as the Myers Mainland’s miracle, it had kept that sense of longing.

The First Dynasty of the Qin Empire had taken seventy-two years to build this city. Back then, the royal family had led ten Grade 9 sorcerers and hundreds of grand mages. A normal mage and their disciples could have formed an army of mages. That was how powerful they had been. To have taken so long to build this city under those circumstances, any mage would have been shocked, curious, and yearning.

Even though Alchemy City had risen to prominence later on, Holy Rock City was still the irreplaceable holy ground for mages.

Perhaps Alchemy City had more mages, magic towers, and sorcerers. However, it did not have history and had never really fought against the Holy See, hence it was not the pride of the mages.

During the chaos of the mainland, the Holy See had conquered their way east and hundreds of thousands of warriors had died fighting for the pride of mages at Holy Rock City. The battle at Holy Rock City was the turning point of history and since then, there had not been any unification and centuries of peace followed.

Any peace was exchanged with blood and without sacrifice. Humans did not know that they had once been able to fight against the gods, and they did not know that in history, they had once had a glorious past.

Saleen had seen all of these things repeatedly in magic notes and every mage had not been stingy with their praise for Holy Rock City.

Who said that mages had no faith? Every mage, before getting their lineage, was told that for a mage, everything needed to be obtained by oneself and no prayers were necessary.

The roads from the town to the capital were unusually wide and after every few kilometers, a majestic castle could be seen peeking through the leaves of the forest.These castles had long since lost their capabilities for battle and were mainly villas for the wealthy. The capital’s messenger was riding in front, leading the way, but they could not ride too fast as Saleen was appreciating the scenery.

This road that stretched along the east-west direction was not crowded and there were mainly carriages along it. Commoners and merchants were rarely seen. Viscountess Lex’s convoy might have gotten smaller but the fifty mages were not fake and anyone who approached them stepped aside to show respect.

The low-grade mages might not have been respected in the capital. However, seeing so many mages protecting a carriage, the person inside must have been of great importance.

From over ten kilometers away, Saleen spotted the front of Holy Rock City. It was a majestic city that was well above sea level. The lush forest had not been enough to block Saleen’s view either.

Saleen’s body felt a little stiff. Facing such a majestic city, he could have never imagined its appearance, much less that he would see it one day. This city was a miracle built by mages. Saleen had never imagined that seeing a city from this distance could be so shocking to his soul.

The city was growing closer, and even without magic, it was as clear as day. It was almost as if this city had been carved out of the mountain. The black castles had no regular lines and had been intricately carved. The higher portions were shaped like a fortress while even the lowest parts were over ten meters tall. Some low-grade magic could not even be fired in. Saleen did not observe the magic patterns on the castle walls. He could not believe that this entire city had been built with granite.

There had not been any details mentioned in magic journals and even the occasional details had been sparse. Saleen had thought that Holy Rock City would have been built with a large amount of magic materials. Who would have thought that the entire city was a magic prop in itself!

A city like this would increase any and all magic powers. The holy warriors back in the day, charging towards Holy Rock City with the support of holy masters, what a brutal scene that must have been!

A city like this could probably only be destroyed if a god descended.

Boom…

The sound of the clock seemed to bang on a person’s heart. There must have been at least a hundred clocks chiming in unison. This clock was not like the one found at the Holy See. Rather, it was an ancient magic clock from the Fourth Dynasty that was made entirely of bronze. The sound could travel over eighty miles. This was to say that Holy Rock City’s clock could be heard clearly even in the towns surrounding and protecting the capital.

Boom…

Viscountess Lex started smiling. Father, I’m home

The messenger at the front was shocked. He had never imagined that the emperor would welcome the viscountess home with such high regards. How many years had it been since the empire had used the magic clock? Could the emperor be planning to abolish the crown prince and have Viscountess Lex take over the throne? This would not be advantageous for the empire. The prince had chased the viscountess out of the empire all those years back. Could it be that the emperor still bore that grudge against him?

Although the crown prince might have been young, did the emperor not see the support he had been garnering throughout the lower house?

The sound of the clock steadily sounded out and the messenger’s face grew paler. He did not have much of an opinion of the viscountess. So long as she stayed in Bitter Water Prefecture, he could not have cared less if she caused any trouble. This was something small that the empire could handle. However, if she came back to take over the throne, wouldn’t that cause chaos?

Saleen did not understand the meaning of this clock sound but his focus was shaking along with it. It had already been near the limit of condensation and yet it began to condense even further, nearly taking on a physical form.

It was a pity that he was only a Grade 2 mage. If he had been at the peak of a Grade 3 mage, under the cleansing of the clock sound, breaking past the barrier to Grade 4 would not have been a problem. His magic chords were too weak. He had an enormous ability to focus, and yet he was unable to promote.

Viscountess Lex had a vastly different feeling. She had been practicing not just magic but a secret royal art. This clock sound had been prepared for her by the emperor and involved the power of three Grade 9 sorcerers. For a normal mage, this clock sound might have only increased their focus slightly, but all the energy within Viscountess Lex’s body had been activated and was repeatedly strengthened. The mages within the team could feel the benefits as well, and even the war horses they were riding on were refreshed and increased their speed.

The messenger gave a bitter smile. This small stunt by the emperor for the viscountess would benefit all the mages within the city. Using the energy that has been stored up for over a decade to welcome your daughter? Emperor, you have made a mistake.

The clock sounded twenty-four times, and not only the messenger, but everyone within Holy Rock City was shocked. Even the wealthy that were loyal to the emperor were stunned. The emperor was usually a smart person. What was this for?

Saleen was a little unstable on his horse. It was good that his focus was condensing, but he could not control his body. Nailisi suddenly ditched her horse and jumped up. Landing behind Saleen, she held his waist and kept him steady.

"Master are you okay?" Nailisi asked anxiously. She could sense that something was wrong with Saleen. Their souls were vibrating intensely together, almost to the point of breaking down.

Saleen could not say a word. His focus had completely entered the necklace of the goddess, at last blocking out the assault of the clock. There was a limit to which a Grade 2 mage could overcondense their focus, and once it was thrown out of balance, Saleen had genuinely become afraid that he was about to die. Something like that had never happened before and it was the first time he had encountered this.

Within the space of the necklace, the Figaro’s formula secret arrangement was shown beneath his heart. He greedily absorbed all of the knowledge, minimizing the damage done to his focus. He was not as weak as before, when it had nearly seemed like a gust of wind could have knocked him over.

"Viscountess, viscountess! Saleen cannot hold on anymore," Nailisi cried.