Badge in Azure

“Since I’m here now, I figure I might as well see for myself what you’re made of.” The young grand swordmaster pointed at the false dragon spirit circling in the air, and a warrior and a sorcerer promptly leapt into the air to take on the spirit beast.

Pale silver flames shot out of the winged skeleton’s eyes, penetrating the magic tower and reaching straight into the soul flames of the false dragon spirit. The false dragon spirit howled and dived for the two who leapt into the air. Its long tusks were more fearsome than the dragon spears of the ancient dragoons. The body of a dragoon was nowhere near as hard as the false dragon’s bones. A dragoon’s ability to take on impacts laid solely within their skills.

The one who flew at the front was a black metal grand swordmaster. That youngster from the Grukos carried a very common spearblade in their hand. The tusk of the false dragon spirit snapped right away after clashing with the blade. The blade of the grand swordmaster shattered as well, as they were flung onto the ground. The sorcerer behind them cast a Wind Travel spell in a hurry to wrap around the body of the grand swordmaster. The false dragon spirit opened its mouth wide, spewing congealed black toxic gases and sending them flying at the sorcerer.

While the level of the false dragon spirit was by no means low, the toxic attack had next to nothing to do with levels. The toxin within the false dragon was injected into it by the winged skeleton, and it was something that even grade-9 professionals would have to be wary of.

None of those who provoked Saleen were professionals lower than grade-5. They evaded as they saw the incoming blob of black shadow. The youngster who was taking lead drew their weapon with a serious look on their face. A golden beam of light shot out, cutting the toxic mist spewed by the false dragon spirit in half. The golden light scattered into shiny golden spots. Most of the remaining black toxic mist quickly dissipated as it touched the spots, but there was still a bit left scattered around.

The misted toxin quickly seeped into the ground, oozing an unbearable stench. Any toxic mist that scattered among the surrounding fauna quickly killed any plants it touched. Most of the plants on the hill were killed right away, turning into ashen dead scruff in mere moments. The ashen fauna, was in turn, turned into ash and dust as winds blew at it.

“You b**tard!” The young silver grand swordmaster cursed. Forests within a several hundred yard radius were destroyed by one single attack.

“Hey, you are the b**tard here. If you didn’t come looking for trouble, I wouldn’t have needed to attack with that false dragon of mine. Are you suggesting that I should just let you guys kill it just like that? No one asked for you to be here. Get lost while I’m still in the mood for mercy.” Saleen’s tone was as sharp and unforgiving as a knife out for blood.

“Really. So, you think I shouldn’t kill that thing, do you?” The young silver grand swordmaster leapt at the false dragon that was merely 20 yards away. The golden sword aura on their sword blasted away again. It was an attack of the rank of a silver grand swordmaster. It had a damage potential that was only slightly inferior to that of a golden grand swordmaster. It was no wonder then, that they dared to bring a group to mess with Saleen, a grade-9 sorcerer.

Golden grand swordmasters had always been known to be able to overwhelm sorcerers, unless sorcerers had the advantage in numbers, or were doing battle from within their magic towers.

The young leader was only in their early twenties, yet many within their clan pledged their loyalty to the youngster. As soon as they became able to leave the Golden Plains, the youngster would be able to get themself a nice status of some sort north of Qin. They had already intended to leave before catching wind of the king of Metatrin’s arrival, bringing Lex’s mark of the Six-winged Flying Snake with him.

While it was clear that the young grand swordmaster was egged on by someone, mastering one’s own mind became a crucial part of a grand swordmaster’s training at such levels nonetheless. The youngster would not have come looking for trouble with Saleen if they did not feel offended somehow.

Lex was the pride of the Grukos. She had a great reputation even within the Golden Plains, and suitors were aplenty. Someone like Saleen, who just happened to have seized the opportunity with Lex, was very unwelcomed in a place like that.

Saleen knew in his mind that the youngsters outside his tower were no fools, especially the grand swordmaster who served as their leader. They might not have come for him out of their own volition though. “Are the Grukos trying to test me or something? If I knew things would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have come!”

Saleen had anticipated the trade to be a fast and no-frills one with the mark of Six-Winged Flying Snake. The Grukos had only needed to pay the price equivalent to the mark of Six-Winged Flying Snake itself. From the looks of things with them sending their youngsters out like that, it was apparent that the Grukos were simply waiting for the highest bid to come in.

The trade might end up not happening after all.

If Saleen’s might proved insufficient, there would be no further business to talk about. They would simply take the mark, and then send someone to Daliang City as a token of sorts in Lex’s service.

Saleen would not be able to come to such a conclusion quickly if he had not been running a country of his own for some time. If he had only been a simple mage, the number of possibilities of why such happenings took place would have seemed endless to him.

Saleen smirked as he made sense of what was happening. There was nothing he could have done about the Grukos’ methods. All there was left to be done was to face what was to come as a mage.

If Lex wanted him to hand over the mark of the Six-Winged Flying Snake, it was only natural that she had her own ideas about things, and none of those ideas would have worked against Saleen; she would not have left something so important to him otherwise.

The mark of the Six-Winged Flying Snake was more than a symbol; it was also a powerful equipment. Saleen had yet to be able to unravel its secrets, as the mark was something only someone of the Grukos’ bloodline would be able to use.

It was something similar to his own family badge. He had let others around him have a go at trying it out, and no one was able to figure out the secrets within.

The winged skeleton had no mind for such politics. While he sported a more stable temperament than Nailisi, he was still a spirit who swore loyalty to no one but Saleen. With someone coming to look for trouble and Saleen letting him have free reign to deal with the troublemakers, all he had to do with simply order the false dragon spirit to spew another blob of toxic mist.

The young silver grand swordmaster was practically clad in sword aura as they burst through the toxic mist, landing a blow right on the neck of the false dragon spirit. A huge gash was quickly made to the neck of the beast. It retaliated by swiping its very thick tail at the grand swordmaster’s midsection, which they easily evaded.

The difference in power between two parties was too great. While the false dragon sported formidable combat capacity, the silver grand swordmaster would have made short work of it if it was not armed with such powerful toxic attacks.

The problem there was that the false dragon spirit was doing battle while being the winged skeleton’s thrall. The winged skeleton’s combat capacity was clearly greater than the grand swordmaster. When the grand swordmaster was done evading the swiping tail attack, their body was quickly rammed by the head of the false dragon and they were sent flying. The false dragon followed up by spewing another blob of toxic mist with a diameter of about five yards.

The winged skeleton thought that, while the beast was not a big deal itself, it was still capable of doing massive damage when used in battle.

Every city of Saleen’s Kingdom went about collecting waste produced by the residents. The wastewater produced would have done great harm to the cities’ surrounding environments if it were to simply be let into rivers and the sea. As Saleen had a great number of mages at his disposal, he had them collect such waste and had its toxic components extracted before disposing of the purified water and harmless waste of other kinds.

The components of such toxins were unusually complex and were easily made into very potent poisons when repeatedly refined.

The extracted and refined toxin was mostly kept by the winged skeleton, and leakages of any kind packed the potential of ruining an entire city. The toxin that the false dragon spirit spewed exploded when it got near the ground, encasing everything within the vicinity of its explosion, including the Magical Element Tower itself.

All professionals of grade-7 and higher took to the air. While the silver grand swordmaster was thrown off, they suffered no injuries. They were simply surprised and angered, as the toxin would have destroyed yet another mountain given time. The Grukos would have dealt severe penalties on them for the losses suffered.

“I’m here on official business. If you insist on getting in my way, I’ll have that false dragon spirit self destruct. I’ll sit back and enjoy what your family is going to do to you.” Saleen’s voice reverberated in the mountains. That made it so that it could be heard from tens of miles away.

The false dragon took to the air again with its head almost severed. The ground was covered with toxic mist. The vibrant peaks were quickly corroded, turning everything into a dead, ashen white wasteland.

“I will bring my men away, Your Highness, Saleen. Can you please clear the toxin away?” The young silver grand swordmaster sheathed their sword and they became calm again.

“Hmph.” Saleen mumbled in the tower. An opening was made on the tower that began sucking in all the floating toxin. All toxic matter within a several hundred yard radius was cleaned in an instant. The Magical Element Tower then began to cast cleaning spells repeatedly. The spells that were only grade-1 began breaking down the toxic matter within the soil under the workings of the Magical Element Tower.

“Go home and tell the one that sent you people that I will continue to wait for the head of your clan to return, and there is no need to send anyone else here. I will leave after six days.” Saleen shut off the magic sound array as he finished relaying his message, not bothering himself with listening to any replies from outside.

The Grukos outside the tower all retreated, without even a single person uttering another thing. The winged skeleton was puzzled and asked, “Master, what do they mean by that?”

“Nothing much. I’m just fed up with all these tests and whatnot. If they dare piss me off again, I’ll just wreck everything around these parts with the poison. I’m not the one asking for trouble here, and there is nothing the Grukos can do about me pulling such a stunt. I have the mark of the Six-Winged Flying Snake in my hand, and they will have to tolerate my presence, whether they like it or not.”

The winged skeleton pondered for a bit before adding, “That was a very stupid attempt at testing you, master. You were able to build your nation, tear down Ironwall City, take out the royal harbor, protect Lonestar City, and make Ceylon City your own. All that should be more than enough to prove your worth.”

“I think they see all that to be the work of Lex instead of me.” Saleen’s tone was a calm one; the thought would have thrown him into an unquenchable rage if he was who he once was.

“Saleen, will we run into further trouble?” Hogina was very irritated by the Grukos’ methods. Her view of the Grukos became influenced by Saleen without realizing it, and she began disliking the clan itself.

Saleen sighed. The great task of unifying the mainland laid before him, and it was only a matter of time before he clashed with the Grukos. It was fortunate that said great task was some far-reaching goal, and that things could still be peaceful between them at the moment. They were even able to cooperate on many levels if they were up for it.

“No more trouble for the time being. It’s hard to say about in the future though.” Saleen took out a piece of metalized steel rock and began his attempt to make an even smaller version of Hogina’s gun.

Waiting was a chore, and mages were against wasting time. Hogina spoke all the sudden after seeing him attempting to make yet another piece of new equipment, “Saleen, I’m not quite satisfied with the weapon. Do you mind taking a look at another one of my schematics?”

“What would that be?” Saleen was barely able to keep his curiosity contained. If Hogina was not being limited by her level, her designs would have made her a renowned figure in the annals of history. From the looks of things, what Hogina mentioned existed only in paper and not in a three-dimensional, tangible form. It was apparent that her current abilities prevented her from bringing her prototype into reality.