Badge in Azure

Chapter 143: Gamble (Part 2)

Chapter 143: Gamble (Part 2)

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

Lex approached the fourth floor of the magic tower. She turned her head and said to Saleen, “Saleen, want to do it again?”

“Again?” Saleen looked at the fourth floor’s door, stunned. It took him a while to understand what Lex was saying. “How?”

“The fourth and fifth floor are one section together, and the sixth floor is another section. You choose.” Lex laughed, in a good mood. In any case, she was satisfied with what she had gotten on the second floor, and even if she lost this time, she would not care. She wanted to see what Saleen would choose.

“Then I shall pick the sixth floor.”

“Don’t regret it.” Lex winked, showing off her youthful side.

Saleen gave a snort. What was there to regret? He had already absorbed the energy of the magic array that had been protecting this ten story magic tower and learned the essence of water-type magic. He had even promoted to a grand mage. All these things were enough to satisfy him.

Lex extended her hand and opened the door to the fourth floor. She released an Illumination spell. Inside was a tunnel in the shape of a cross. She walked into the tunnel and realized that it had been the room of a disciple.

The daily necessities of a mage were taken care of by their disciples. For example, Lex was a Grade 5 mage, and even if she had not been a viscountess, she would have been able to find magic disciples or even low-grade mages to follow under her. Even Saleen currently had that privilege.

For some reason, looking into this room, Saleen felt sorry for Lex. There would not be anything valuable on the entire fourth floor, and if the disciple living here had still been alive, they would have been the ones with the greatest amounts of wealth. To have been accepted as a student of a Grade 10 mage, their talents must have been one in a million.

Lex gave a light laugh and said, “Let’s go to the fifth story.”

It was possible that there were valuable things in the disciple’s room, but they were too sparse and Lex did not even bother looking for them. Saleen nodded. Lex’s attitude was much more stable than his. Back on the third floor, he had not been this calm.

Walking up to the fifth floor, Saleen began to feel nervous and had to readjust his breathing using the guidelines of meditation.

Lex opened the door without hesitation and even Saleen had to respect her luck. At least in these two stories, Lex had not met with any danger. On the other hand, he had nearly been killed by a magic beast from thousands of years ago.

The fifth floor was also separated into rooms. In this moment, Saleen realized that on the fifth floor, despite having expected it to be smaller, there was the same amount of space as the other floors. He had heard that Grade 9 mages were able to create such spaces, but he was a little shocked seeing them for the first time.

There were four rooms on the fifth floor and all the people who had lived here must have been grand mages at minimum. This time, Lex did not even bother walking in. She cocked her head and said to Saleen, “Looks like fate is fair. Let’s go to the sixth floor.”

Fate is fair? Saleen thought back to his childhood.

Saleen had played the right cards with this gamble. As Lex opened the door to the sixth floor, the interior glowed with a soft light. This light was a magic lamp.

At the center of the hall was an enormous magic array. There was nothing inside, but on four of the walls to the side were bookshelves. This must have been the place where the owner of the magic tower had imparted their knowledge to their students.

The bookshelves were filled with books, and as Saleen walked over, he picked up a book and started flipping through it. It turned out to be a book on magic languages.

When mages learned a new spell, they had to go through a phase where they recited the spell. The pronunciation and focus of the mage determined the accuracy of the adjustment of their magic chords. This technique was incredibly important, as it determined the speed with which a mage could familiarize themselves with a new spell.

If the notes on the second floor contained targeted knowledge, then those on the sixth floor contained the guiding principles and foundations of magic. The more knowledge a mage possessed, the greater his or her achievements would be.

“Nailisi,” Saleen called out softly. Nailisi understood what Saleen wanted as she started putting away the books. These books may not have been as numerous as the ones which Jason possessed, but they were not lacking in quality. The wealth left behind by a Grade 10 mage was even able to entice Lex.

Nailisi moved quickly while Lex and Saleen waited. Sika had no interest whatsoever in these magic books and she had already gotten what she wanted the most. A skeleton necklace would allow her to become a warrior priest, and the remains of that magic beast had provided her with a magic beast soul. She took out a piece of jerky from her bag and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing roughly.

“Sigh…” Lex let out a sigh. Her teacher already had enough books in his collection, however, looking at the books on the sixth floor, she could not help but feel her heart flutter.

“Lex, again.” Saleen was in a good mood, and with these books, he would go back and search for his teacher so he could share all of them with him. Now that he felt completely balanced again, even if there was not anything on the other floors, it would not matter to him any longer.

“How shall we split it?” Lex immediately regained her clarity. Both her and Saleen had noticed that with their ascension up the magic tower, in addition to gaining unexpected wealth, they had also managed to train their wills. Lex was glad that she had managed to control herself today and she would not be tempted in the future. They were merely magic books, and even without them, she would be able to reach the peak of magic.

“Same rules. The seventh and eighth floors will be one section and the ninth floor will be another. This time, you choose.”

“I will take the seventh and eighth floor.”

“Don’t regret it.” Saleen realized that since he had become a grand mage, he had felt more relaxed speaking to Lex. Saleen had been able to disregard Lex’s position in the royal family in the past, but he had not been able to ignore the fact that she was a grand mage. Now that he was a grand mage as well, some of the boundaries between them had disappeared. If this had been the past, he would not have cracked a joke like this.

“I’ve never done anything regrettable in my life.” Watching Nailisi finish putting away the magic books, she led Saleen towards the seventh floor. The staircase between the two floors was still as cold and narrow as before. Lex gave Saleen another ice plate armor while Saleen continued with his water shields.

The seventh floor represented the position of the sorcerer, and both of them had thoughts of escaping if danger arose. Even though the previous sixth floor had been relatively calm, nobody was able to read a mage’s temper.

At the entrance to the seventh floor, Lex carefully prepared to push open the door. Saleen held his clan badge in his hand as well, waiting to provide aid at any time. He realized that this badge of his was a weapon that could be used to break down magic arrays. Even a magic array that had been set by a Grade 10 mage had been unable to escape the fate of having its energy sucked away by the badge. When they returned to the Myers Mainland, at least he would not need to worry about being trapped in a magic array.

Lex stood at the door to the seventh floor and pushed.

The door did not budge. Lex stared in surprise. There were no elemental vibrations on the door and it seemed no different from any of the other doors. And yet, she could not push it open.

Saleen gave a laugh. Standing behind Lex, he reminded her in a low voice, “This door needs to be pulled.”

Lex grew red in embarrassment. Even a grand mage could make such an elementary mistake. The past few doors downstairs had been opened with a push, but the one on this floor was reversed. She should have thought of that. Lex placed her hand on the door, and with a light pull, the door to the seventh floor of the magic tower opened without a sound.

The room glowed brightly, engulfing the outside of the door entirely. Saleen stared directly into the room, seeing nothing within the room. The only thing present was a colorful light that seemed to move around like a cloud.

Lex closed the door with a loud bang.

“What is it?” Saleen could not understand. The energy in this room was similar to the one in the goddess’ necklace. However, standing outside the room, he could not uncover the secrets in the room.

“It is a space for mages to train; however, it is meant for sorcerers. We are not allowed inside.”

“A six element space?” Only then did this unfamiliar term pop into Saleen’s mind.

“Should be. It is impossibly difficult for a sorcerer to advance, and if they are inside the six element space…” Lex did not finish, suddenly having a thought. In ancient times, the strength of humans had been incredibly powerful, as everyone back then had possessed magic knowledge. Places like the six element space could have easily been set up by anyone.

If they could create a permanent teleportation portal between the Myers Mainland and this interdimensional space, would they not be able to make use of this long forgotten magic array?

A six element space had been rare even during the Third Dynasty, and there were no such things in the records of the Fourth Dynasty.

Lex even entertained the thought of training in this place. Once she advanced and became a sorcerer, she would be able to enter the seventh floor and train at a speed six times faster than normal.

However, she needed to go back. The Qin Empire was at war, and with her father personally leading an expedition, she could not abandon everything to stay here.

She had to find a way to create a permanent teleportation portal! At this thought, Saleen said a little hesitantly, “Let’s go to the eighth floor. We can only take a look at this place.”

Saleen did not have as many thoughts as Lex. He was only Grade 4 and was at least decades away from becoming a sorcerer if he was lucky. Someone like Faerun had the backing of the entire royal family and had received the guidance of Grade 8 mages on a daily basis.

Lex made her way to the eighth floor with great difficulty, and with her hand on the door, pulled. Saleen understood this time. A vacuum existed on Lex’s palm and all the air had been sucked away. The suction on her hand was even stronger than that of a lizard. Mastering this skill, even if a mage could not fly, he or she would not be defeated by their terrain.

This skill was much more useful than a zipline used by a bandit and it did not seem to consume too many magic chords either.

This floor was the last of the gambles the two would make. Even if Lex made no mention of it, Saleen would not split the things on the tenth floor by the number of people. The essence of the magic tower was on the highest floor.

In the center of the hall was a cubic pillar that reached straight to the ceiling. Around the metal pillar were six giant magic arrays that were embroiled within the stone floor. The pillar itself was four meters wide and was a dim silver color with colorful magic patterns on it. The rich colors had been formed with various types of metal.

There were numerous small holes on the thick pillar and they were of varying diameters. None of the magic arrays surrounding it were activated, and there were no elemental vibrations coming from the surface of the pillar.

“What is this?” Lex asked Saleen. She did not understand. Saleen shook his head as well. The placement of this pillar on the eighth floor of the magic tower showed that it was certainly not something ordinary.

Hundreds of thousands of small holes lined the metal pillar, and yet Saleen’s senses could not sense anything inside of them. His focus had been blocked out, and this metal pillar that seemed to let air pass through from all directions was, in fact, an entirely independent existence, almost as though it were not part of the magic tower.