Badge in Azure

Chapter 127: Magic Beasts from Hell (Part 2)

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

A dozen of the spikes from the black magic beast managed to pierce through the magic shields and shot into the bodies of the six magic beasts. Saleen could not tell how they had managed to break the magic shields through the alchemy binoculars, but he knew that they must have had similar abilities to a witcher spider. However, the spikes did little damage to the magic beasts that were surrounding it. One of them began to growl furiously and opened its mouth, shooting out a giant fireball.

The fireball landed directly on the head of the black magic beast, burning the top half of its body into ashes.

“It’s a Grade 4 magic beast,” Saleen said to the comrade setting up camp beside him as he watched on. The fireball had obliterated any defensive powers of the low-grade magic and had killed the black magic beast instantly. It could not have been released by any magic beast that was of Grade 3 or below.

Magic beasts were not like humans. Whatever grade they were, they could only release magic of that grade. That meant that they could not control the depletion of their magic chords. Hence, humans could use weapons and tactics to hunt them down and kill them. Through continuous harassment and depletion of the magic beast’s powers, even a swordsman could kill a Grade 4 and above magic beast so long as they could outrun it.

Seeing that its prey had a large part of itself burned away, the leader of the magic beasts pounced forward angrily and used its front claw to shoo away the magic beast that had caused trouble. The dead black magic beast did not have a large body, and now that half of it was burned away, there was even less of it for the other magic beasts to eat. The leader of the magic beasts bared its fangs and the magic beast that had been shooed away flew over ten meters and was knocked against a large tree.

The large tree started shaking violently as its tree bark split from the impact and began spewing black juice. The magic beast landed on the ground and stood up with a hiss. It also bared its fangs and gave a low growl, but it did not dare cause trouble with the leader.

Lex and the others continued building the camp. This time, Lex did not dare have the others stay in a tent and began to build a barrack. She was building a general’s barrack where even the roof was surrounded with metal. She was not afraid of a Grade 4 magic beast. However, if there were too many of them, she might not be able to avoid casualties.

If there were giant mosquitoes in god’s hell, there were likely to be even scarier flying creatures. The Myers Mainland had similar insect-like magic beasts and these magic beasts were never at the top of the food chain. A large number of giant mosquitoes could become prey for even scarier insect-like magic beasts, and even though they were only similar to Grade 1 beasts, she had been forced to use her magic scrolls.

This place was barren and was close to a forest. Insect-like magic beasts would be abundant. If they did not construct a sealed barrack, no one would be able to sleep well at night.

Saleen observed carefully. These leopard-like magic beasts had a strict hierarchy. The leader opened its mouth and ate the half of the magic beast that had not been burned, quickly swallowing it. The other six magic beasts stood around, not approaching to fight over it.

There were magic leopards in the Myers Mainland as well, but they moved around alone. These magic beasts were more like the magic wolves of the savannahs, moving around in orderly groups. However, magic wolves lived in savannahs while these magic beasts were active in the forest. They were obviously more dangerous.

“Saleen, do not worry.” Lex heard Saleen’s breathing speed up and comforted him. “I still have enough magic scrolls with me. Once the camp has been built, so long as a Grade 8 magic beast doesn’t appear, we should be relatively safe.”

Saleen’s breathing slowed down. When the leader had been eating his prey earlier, he had turned and looked in the direction of Lex’s camp. In those purple-red eyes, Saleen had seen hunger and brutality. The magic beast had seen the camp. It had not just looked over by chance. Saleen was unusually sensitive to danger, and as he saw the magic beasts retreat into the forest, he had thoughts of turning back.

According to his knowledge of the Myers Mainland, there should not have been any high-grade magic beasts on the edge of a forest. Moreover, this area was close to the volcanoes and there would be less prey here. However, even if magic beasts that were similar to magic wolves had appeared here, his knowledge of the Myers Mainland might not have been applicable here.

If they turned back, it was possible that the volcano would explode again. If they continued forward, a vast forest awaited them. There were innumerable dangers in the forest. Staying here was not realistic either, as they would be caught between the volcanoes and forests. If the volcanic activity continued shifting north, it would be dangerous here as well. Moreover, it was possible that the magic beasts would not stay in the forest waiting. The magic beasts from earlier might come back for them.

“Lex, I think the magic beasts have noticed us,” Saleen said dryly.

“I know.” Lex began placing traps outside of the camp. The two swordmasters, Nailisi and Sika’s powers were great, and what would have taken dozens of people to build was quickly completed by the four of them.

A wind blew across the forest. After the volcanic explosion, the currents in god’s hell had grown more erratic. Beneath the grey skies, dark clouds began to gather.

Kaboom! Boom!

A bolt of lightning flashed down and disappeared into the forest in the distance, and what followed was the sound of thunder. Saleen nearly threw the alchemy binoculars onto the ground. If he had been a commoner, he would not have naturally been afraid of the sound of thunder. However, mages possessed a wealth of knowledge. Without the sun, where had the thunder come from? Inside of his books, Saleen had read that the formation of lightning was due to clouds absorbing the energy from the sun and releasing it. Could the magic books have been wrong? There is no sun in the interdimensional space. Just now…

Boom! Swoosh…

The loud sound of thunder caused the earth to shake. It was almost as though the sky was breaking apart. Saleen stared dazedly at the forest. He was going through a major psychological transformation. What the books said would not always be correct.

Without a sun, there were still plants in this interdimensional space that could stay alive by directly absorbing the energy of the elements, and there were still powerful magic beasts active in the area. The volcanoes provided a good source of thermal energy to create clouds and rain. The natural lightning was not caused by the sun.

Many mages could fly, but not many dared to go deep into the clouds for the purpose of research. Lightning that formed naturally was too scary and even a Grade 9 sorcerer would not be able to stand a chance against lightning.

A desire arose within Saleen’s heart. He wanted to uncover the truth about lightning. If he did become a sorcerer in the future, he would find a way to look within the clouds to discover how lightning was formed. Clouds were formed by the condensation of water vapor. If he could grasp the secrets of the formation of lightning, he would be able to control such powers. Even if the powers of that lightning were minimized by a few thousand times, it would still be powerful magic.

As the heavy downpour approached them, Saleen did not hide inside of the barrack. Since gaining his special magic chords, be it water elements or water in nature, he had gained a sense of closeness to them. Saleen did not even need to cast an Underwater Breathing spell to be able to move around freely in the water like a fish.

As the sounds of thunder continued, Saleen stood under the rain and felt the water elements in god’s hell thickening. Slowly, he felt as if his body was gaining a special connection with the storm. It was almost as if he was standing within a Fog of Confusion, his senses magnified to the point where they nearly reached the forest.

Saleen focused his senses up into the clouds. Before he had gone two kilometers up, an unknown burst of energy attacked him, breaking down his senses. He broke out into cold sweat; this energy was immense, but it was not gathered and had not been targeted towards his senses. If this energy were to reach the ground, it would easily destroy the camp that Lex had created.

Any magic shield, scroll, or array would not protect them against such an assault. It was almost like a giant hammer was within the skies and the six of them were like the desserts from the palace, sweet and crispy.

Saleen calmed himself down, his desire not extinguished. However, he knew that without adequate protection, breaking down the mysteries of lightning would only be a dream. From outside of the clouds, he had not even been able to defend himself from the burst of energy deep within them. Perhaps only the gods could do it. He did not know if Joey could, but at least for now, he dropped the idea.

He turned back and took a look at the barracks behind him, thinking about the god’s ring on Lex’s finger. The god’s ring could defend against the power of god’s punishment. He wondered if it could defend against the lightning. If it could, would Lex be able to take him for a walk among the clouds?

Saleen had not spent a lot of time with Jason, but he had learned the most from him. His desire for magic could not be considered crazy, but his determination was the same as his teacher’s. He was not one to give up.

Out of one hundred people, one person could become a mage. This seemed to be a lot, but how many of them would give up everything to practice magic? When a mage practiced, they needed to be alone and would need more gold coins than even the wealthy. Along the way, they would come across many dangers as well.

Many mages lost their way and struggled solely for money and power. How many could become sorcerers in the end? The successful would always be the minority. Many gave up when they were only magic disciples to learn swordsmanship, medicine, or arts. Some even became accountants, or worse, bandits. Low-grade mages joined mercenaries to earn money and satisfy their desires for knowledge. Even when a person became a grand mage, they would need to prepare to build a magic tower. Some accepted the help of the wealthy, but they could not choose the location of their magic towers and could only become mages for the wealthy.

Only those like Jason and Lex who had a great deal of money could race along the path of magic. This wealth did not only consist of gold coins, but knowledge as well.

Even if he had the chance to study magic, a poor man like Saleen would probably have stayed a disciple and spent his life helping other mages if it had not been for the help of Jason.

The storm lasted for over two hours before the clouds began to disperse. Saleen felt much better and was no longer as unsteady and erratic. Without the rain, he could not expand his senses as much as he had been able to earlier, and they soon returned to normal. His magic robes were still dry, not a single drop of rain seeped through. The temperature that had been raised by the volcanic explosion had cooled down rapidly, and a satisfyingly cool breeze blew past.

Saleen picked up the alchemy binoculars and thoughtlessly looked at the forest. After the rain, the forest seemed to resemble a giant magic beast, absorbing the powers of the water elements, ready to expand to a shocking size at anytime.

A magic beast appeared within Saleen’s field of vision. Its gaze was set directly on the camp, appearing cold and brutal.

It was the red furred magic beast from earlier. It cocked its head and growled, and hundreds of purple eyes appeared within the lush forest. One by one, magic beasts of the same type appeared, following their leader and starting to gather towards the camp.