Badge in Azure

Chapter 271: Expensive Research (Part 2)

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

At first Saleen thought he could continuously use trial and error to understand the theory behind the magic patterns, however; he had not expected the blue current to use up this much energy.

It seemed like only Alchemy City could withstand such expenses. Saleen’s finances alone were limited and he could not afford to use such methods to uncover the secrets of the electric current.

In less than a second, he had used up more than two-thousand gold coins. Such methods of spending had to be the fastest in history, even quicker than dumping gold coins into water.

The standard weight of a gold coin in the empire was twelve grams, two-thousand gold coins were heavier than twenty kilograms. Saleen still did not feel satisfied after spending over twenty kilograms of gold coins.

As a sizzling noise sounded, the blue current on the body of the witcher spider disappeared and black smoke appeared. Saleen immediately used a cleaning spell to clean the witcher spider, holding it in his hands.

The nuclear position of the witcher spider was a piece of crystal, it had Saleen’s focus imprinted on it and was used to command the actions of the puppet. When the blue current appeared, Saleen’s imprinted focus had not been affected, this part of the magic was successful. At least after adding the magic pattern from the lightning dragon, Saleen’s focus had not been hurt.

The problem was that the current produced on the body of the witcher spider was too weak. Even if it did hit Saleen, it would not hurt him at all. Saleen did not even need to use a magic shield to be able to withstand such a current.

That was the only value of this experiment, Saleen knew that if he was to continue researching, he would definitely be able to discover something.

It seemed like he needed his own magic tower now, without it, this experiment used up too much. Saleen also felt that even if he were to have his own nine-storey magic tower and became a grade-9 sorcerer, he would not be able to afford such expenses.

Continuing this experiment meant using magic nuclei non-stop, even if Saleen had that much money, he had nowhere to buy that many high-grade magic nuclei.

High-grade magic nuclei were so expensive not because they were much better in their properties as compared to middle-grade and low-grade magic nuclei, it was because it was limited. Every year the high-grade magic beasts that could be hunted were all found in the sea, those on land were either too hard to deal with or were almost extinct. Even though the Myers Mainland was vast, human powers were too great and their destructiveness was shocking.

The rise of every city meant that the living creatures within that area were being destroyed and hunted.

If a wealthy person were to spot a magic beast, they would definitely hire some soldiers and mages to get rid of it. Besides getting money for it, they would be able to protect their citizens from being threatened.

That was how the magic beasts on the Myers Mainland slowly disappeared, besides some places where the conditions are harsh and no humans would be willing to go. In other places, when a magic beast appeared, mercenaries and adventurers would gather like hornets.

A swordsman was willing to hunt for a magic beast that was one or even two grades higher than himself for gold coins. Setting traps, poison, and alchemy weapons; he would use them all.

The magic powers of a magic beast were limited, the rest of its powers came from its claws, so how could it fight against the armors and weapons of the swordsmen?

Because of that high-grade magic nuclei were not bought over with gold coins, they had to be traded with materials. In the rare occasion that someone lacked money, he could auction off his magic nucleus for gold coins, the price of the magic nucleus would be ten times or even hundred times greater than what it was really worth.

Alchemy City was rich because it defended the seas and it could defend against any attack by the combat fleet of the Cloudflow Empire.

Controlling the seas, one could reap the benefits of it. Human activity had not affected the magic beasts in the sea before. Moreover, the area of the sea was countless times bigger than the area of the mainland. There were far more magic beasts in the sea than the number of people on the Myers Mainland.

Saleen finally understood why Alchemy City could stand for thousands of years. Now he was about to do something similar, building a port and a fleet here, controlling the nearby seas, gathering a group and obtaining the magic resources in the sea.

However, Saleen felt that there was something wrong with that, what if all the resources in the sea were used up by humans? Would humans become weaker then?

During ancient times, the magic ingredients on the Myers Mainland were countless and anyone that was training would not meet with the problem of a lack of ingredients. However, only a few mages could have the luxuries that Lex had on the Mainland. As for the rest, they would usually die before reaching a sorcerer.

Lex wanted everyone to understand the secrets of magic but realistically, the number of people who could become sorcerers were the same now, because the Myers Mainland could only nurture that many sorcerers.

This was merely a flashing thought in Saleen’s mind, he had not given it much consideration. Whatever happened in the future, he could not give up on his magic training.

If he became a mage like Raphael in the future, he would be able to create a world. He could nurture countless of magic beasts in that world; maybe that was what Raphael wanted to do?

Whatever humans wanted, they would need to pay a price for it, this made so much sense. Mages gained magic powers and boundless knowledge but the price to pay was the Myers Mainland getting increasingly desolate as time passed. Sooner or later, it would become like the interdimensional space with no signs of life.

The witcher spider was damaged after releasing a single blue current. Luckily Aini’s parents had processed a magic pattern that was of high enough grade, it did not damage the structure of the witcher spider this time; the natural magic patterns within it had not changed.

Saleen could not do a second experiment anymore, if he did it would really be destroyed. Although this current could not attack enemies, it affected the structure of the elements. The most precious part of the witcher spider was its stable structure because it had the ability to self-restore.

“Master, the lightning dragon has left,” Nailisi said. Saleen immediately rushed to the control cabin. The magic illusion within the magic array was a sea of grey, only the silver light that was left behind in the cave by the lightning dragon shone, lighting up the surroundings of the cave entrance.

“How long has it been?” Saleen had not seen when it left, he did not dare enter the cave immediately. If it returned, he would be stuck within and have no chance of escaping this time.

“Just now.”

“Wait a while.” Saleen did not want to take the risk. Even though it was not very intelligent, it might have a few tricks up its sleeve to survive. Who could guarantee that the lightning dragon was not trying to trick them and was waiting nearby to ambush?

He had spent less than three days on the alchemy ship when it had returned the time before. It should have eaten till it was full, magic beasts and normal animals were not the same, every time they ate it lasted for three to five days.

Under dire circumstances, some insect-like magic beasts could go without food for up to two years. The alchemy ship that Saleen was on was the shell of the Pan Turtle. It could go without eating for two years as well, but the characteristics of the lightning dragon were unknown to everyone.

“Master, this lightning dragon is so powerful, it must eat a lot.” Nailisi tried to influence Saleen. She had a certain feeling that the lightning dragon had indeed left and was not waiting to ambush them. This was her demon’s instinct.

“How do you know?” Saleen didn’t believe in instincts, he believed in logic and deduction.

Nailisi knew Saleen’s character as she giggled at Saleen and said, “The stronger it is, the more it would need to eat, look at Sika.”

Saleen was left speechless at Nailisi’s words, however it did make sense too, there were not any living creatures near the lightning dragon’s place. They were either scared away by it or were eaten by it. It had a big appetite, Nailisi’s words made sense too.

Sika was powerful, almost as strong as Nailisi. She needed to eat three meals a day, any less and it would affect her mood and combat abilities.

Most magic beasts on the mainland were like this too, the lightning dragon had to be as well.

“Wait another hour, if the lightning dragon really went out to hunt, it would be very far from here in an hour. It would be hard for it to return immediately.”

“Alright.” Nailisi pouted, not arguing with Saleen. Anyway, the lightning dragon would not be returning any time soon.

The two of them stared at the magic illusion in the magic array, the dark entrance of the cave shone with a silver light. Even without the help of magic, the light could be seen from a mile away.

“A light that can pierce through the darkness, this colour is similar to that on the surface of the lightning dragon. I have read from notes that the lightning dragon secretes a sticky substance.” The six grade-3 mages had stopped their meditation and training, coming beside the magic array and looking at the magic illusion from it.

The entrance was over two meters wide, whenever the lightning dragon entered and exited, its body would rub against the stone walls. As time passed, the secretions had seeped into the walls.

“Is this thing of any value?” Saleen asked.

“Very, a finger-sized piece of the solidified secretion could be exchanged for dozens of high-grade magic nuclei.”

“Oh? Why, is it valuable? What special properties does it have?”

The mages from Sreeger Island did not hide from Saleen, he was a student of Jason and in their eyes, he was truly one of them.

In turned out that the lightning dragon had never been captured alive before, mages had only been able to find its remains. These remains were usually left behind tens of thousands of years ago. Their skeleton could not withstand the passing of time, unlike those of other magic beasts and had started to decompose after three hundred to five hundred years. The skin of the lightning dragon would fossilize after it died, these fossilized skins had a thin layer of solidified secretion on its surface and this material had an interesting property. When it was added into any magic equipment, it would immediately raise its stability and made it easier to process the equipment.

“Magic stability medicine?” Saleen thought about it, many alchemists were masters of magic medicine too, they could make use of a high-grade magic medicine to increase the efficiency of their alchemy.

“No, it is a solidifying stability medicine.” A mage explained.

The value of a solidifying stability medicine was ridiculously high because there was an ingredient in the medicine which was the solidified secretion from the lightning dragons. Humans could not hunt for lightning dragons and hence, it became lesser and lesser. The natural remains of the lightning dragon were all found deep in the sea and humans did not have the ability to swim to such depth to find them.

Saleen swallowed hard, he had to get his hands on that stuff! “Lightning dragon, I’m sorry but it is your fault that you are full of precious materials,” he thought.