Badge in Azure

Chapter 158: The Grand Swordmaster in the Bandit Gang (Part 1)

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

Saleen released all of his perception, and every action that the bandits made became crystal clear to him. There were more than thirty bandits in the courtyard, while another ten were standing guard outside. Saleen’s icicles encompassed all of the bandits, and a loud crashing sound was heard six times.

The over one thousand icicles split into six pieces, each of them thicker than the ice arrow from an average mage, and crashed into the ground.

In the curtain of rain, the door and walls of the wilderness shop collapsed at the same time. Most of the bandits were killed during the second round of barrage, and only three of them endured it to the end. One of the bandits was the man who had broken the door to the courtyard.

Blood was spurting out from his body. He had used the sword aura to withstand the icicles, but his body could no longer take it. That bandit was still a distance away from becoming a grand swordmaster, so he could only use his weapon to block magic even if the magic was of a low level.

On the Myers Mainland, the segregation between the professions was not standardized. Most people thought that a mid-level swordmaster was equivalent to a Grade 4 mage in terms of lethality. However, in terms of defensive power, the Ice Plate Armor spell of a Grade 4 mage already stumped most swordmasters. Furthermore, if a mage had learned the defense spells of Fire Magic, they would even cause splash damage to their enemies in the process of defending.

The bandit who wielded an epee knew that he would die, so all of his fury was unleashed and he began to walk towards Saleen with his epee in hand. Saleen had the water shield clinging to his body. There was a layer of vapor on the surface of his body, so he ignored the bandit who was approaching. Saleen took one step towards the destroyed wall. Upon seeing him, the two bandits who had been seriously injured whistled with whatever strength they had left, calling for their war horses.

The rain descended mercilessly, and the thick raindrops combined to form a curtain. A slender, transparent water chain formed above the bandits’ heads, and quickly twisted around their necks.

The water chain was at least ten meters long, and similar to an alchemy saw, it had protruding serrated teeth. The water chain only twisted gently around the bandits’ necks, but their heads immediately rolled onto the ground. Blood gushed out but was swiftly broken down by the rain, forming a mist of blood. The redness quickly faded into the rain.

The swordsmen who had been conducting business in the forest were dumbfounded when they saw what Saleen had done. They had seen mages in battle before, but none had been as neat, decisive, ruthless, and instinctive as Saleen.

That bandit wielding the epee had missed his target, so he now panted in the rain. He used the epee to support his weakening body as his back began to freeze. It turned out that an icicle had struck that bandit, and since his sword aura had not been able to disperse all of the magic, the freezing effects of the icicle had detonated on him. They caused the bandit to be gradually engulfed by ice, and he was frozen to the spot.

“Let’s go back.” Saleen walked over to Sika, feeling extremely placid. That was the first time Saleen had cast spells so heartily since being promoted. During this round of combat, Saleen had done his very best, whether it was in terms of his magic techniques or the choices he had made during the battle.

Saleen still had the urge to continue casting magic. When he cast his gaze upon the businessmen, his eyes had a barbaric look to them. All his years of suppression were released in that moment. Saleen was now a mage master, no longer the small fry he had been in the past.

The swordsmen lowered their heads when they saw Saleen glance at them. None of them dared to follow Saleen into the shop.

“Great mage!” The leader of the swordsmen walked up enthusiastically, knowing that he had been wrong about Saleen. This young mage was a rare mage master. It was not overbearing for a mage master to ask for more than ten thousand gold coins for a mission, and furthermore, Saleen had indeed saved their lives. There were more swordmasters in the bandit gang, so those businessmen would definitely have died if not for Saleen.

“I am wet again.” Sika did not seem to notice that the commander of the knights was approaching. She shook her head vigorously, causing her wet black hair to sway violently as water droplets flew in all directions.

A Caucasus warrior could naturally hide in battle, but a Caucasus warrior did not have a magic shield like Saleen’s. Since there was a heavy downpour, Sika was wet once again. She grumbled softly. If Sika had known that Saleen would be able to handle the bandits alone, she would have asked Saleen to bless her with a magic shield.

Killing those forty odd bandits was not a big deal. The crux had been the many swordmasters in the bandit gang. The difference between a swordmaster and a swordsman was that a swordmaster could channel the sword aura into their weapon to break a magic shield or mitigate magic attacks. If Sika had been in Saleen’s place, she would have been able to kill many enemies as well, but she would not have been able to kill every last one of them.

The commander awkwardly stopped in his tracks since Sika was obviously hostile. Saleen had just finished with a battle, so as a mage, he needed a sufficient amount of rest. At such a time, a random swordmaster was approaching, so Sika would naturally be on guard even though she knew that Saleen was still in good shape.

Saleen was also slightly alarmed. As the commander had approached him, he had been able to sense a weak murderous vibe from the commander. Most of the time, Saleen was not able to detect this, but he had just finished a battle so he was still excited from all that adrenaline. A mage’s excitement meant heightened perception and calmer control.

Several thoughts swirled in Saleen’s mind before he finally came to a decision. No matter what these forest businessmen were doing, it was best for him not to partake in it. None of the benefits would be superior to Lex’s mission. In comparison, the motive of those bandits would not be superior to the six element space in the hell of god’s punishment.

In addition, there were the mechanical alchemy tree and Shinra’s Mirage. With all these items, Lex truly possessed the assets to establish a county.

“Sika, keep the money, all those twenty thousand gold coins.” Once Saleen had straightened his thoughts, he stopped wasting time with the commander and returned to Lex.

Gold coins were still important to Saleen. Saleen could no longer rely on a Grade 3 magic nucleus to swiftly restore his depleted magic chords. Now, he required a Grade 4 magic nucleus at the very least. The most expensive Grade 4 magic nuclei cost one thousand gold coins, while cheaper ones cost roughly three hundred to five hundred gold coins. He would deplete his magic chords every day, and that would mean a huge amount of expenditures.

When the commander realized that Saleen did not care about him in the slightest, he actually grew at ease. After this round of trouble, the commander could still avoid punishment if he delivered the items to the family. But if the items were taken by Saleen, the commander would be stripped of all his money and status, and there was even the possibility of execution.

The commander was afraid of incurring Saleen’s wrath, so he gave vouchers worth three thousand gold coins each and forty Grade 4 magic nuclei to Sika. These magic nuclei were of average quality and each of them was worth around five hundred gold coins, but if they had been in a store, they could be sold for around seven hundred to eight hundred gold coins. The commander did not dare be so calculative. He took two boxes worth of magic nuclei and passed them to Saleen.

“I thought you would find fault with those people,” Lex said. She was surprised that Saleen had not done so.

Saleen shook his head in response and said, “It’s not worth it. They are just smuggling things. The profits may be high, but so are the risks. In fact, some people might even have died earlier on. Those bandits came at a weird time. It would be good to let them go, lest we get targeted.”

“Where did you learn all of this stuff?”

“Books.”

Lex did not believe Saleen’s words. She had investigated Saleen previously, and she had not expected a mage from such a poor background to possess so much wisdom.

The rain continued. The forest businessmen called out to the managers and customers who were hiding and gave them their compensation. Two horse carriages and a courtyard wall. The courtyard wall had been destroyed by Saleen, but the forest businessmen were not about to have Saleen pay for it.

After settling all of those affairs, the commander sent a swordsman over to Saleen. This swordsman had seen what Saleen was capable of, so he asked respectfully, “Great mage, if you have nothing else for us, we must get going.”

Saleen thought about it. He said, “Wait, leave after taking care of those bodies.” After he had finished speaking, Saleen took two bowls from a table and created two bowls of restorative water. Then he said, “This water can help with detoxification. Give it to your comrades.”

The swordsman was extremely grateful. He took the two bowls and gave the restorative water to his comrades. The two swordsmen who had been pierced by the arrows were no longer in danger after that.

Saleen had used only a Grade 1 spell to resolve the minor conflict with the swordsmen. Lex finally put her heart at ease when she saw that. As Lex had not brought any swordsmen along with her, she had been worried that Saleen would cause trouble. But now, it seemed that Saleen possessed a great deal of self-control.

The forest businessmen endured the torrential rain and moved the bodies out of the courtyard before burying them at a location far away. With the rain, those bodies would not be found even if particularly perceptive hounds were used.

The forest businessmen did not dare stay any longer and left despite the heavy rain. Only once the sound of the horses’ hooves had disappeared were the people in the shop relieved. All of them knew what had happened. The young mage had killed the bandit gang, helping the rest of them escape terrible deaths.

A few businessmen discussed among themselves and decided to give twenty-four golden leaves to Saleen as a token of appreciation. The golden leaves were beautiful and thin. The total value of this gift was less than ten gold coins, but this gift represented an ancient etiquette.

Lex saw the golden leaves and was overjoyed. Such etiquette was still practiced in the Qin Empire, but not in the other empires. Appreciation from such commoners did not need to be very expensive, and more importantly, it needed to convey sincerity.

Lex summoned the leader of the low-level mercenary group. This man was the leader, almost forty years old, and he was a high-level swordsman. Lex asked for the name of the mercenary group, but it turned out that this group did not even have a name. The group was identified by its serial number. It was a Grade 2 mercenary group, and it had less than one hundred members.

Upon seeing that scene, Saleen thought of the mercenary group that had been formed by him and Sika. This mercenary group was only Grade 1, and it gave him a sense of nostalgia. Saleen gave some encouragement to the leader, and expressed that his team could travel east with the mercenary group.

The speed of Saleen’s team was almost as fast as that of a horse-led carriage. Saleen and the others did not intentionally keep track of their speed of travel. Thus, travelling with the mercenary group did not impede their time at all.

Eventually, the rain died down and clear skies could be seen. The sun shone down onto the courtyard. The drivers in the business convoy began packing their carriages and prepared to set off.

Saleen sat next to the window, reminiscing about the battle just now. He still had more than half of his magic chords remaining. The enemy had possessed many low-level swordmasters. If Saleen had killed them all individually, he would have used at least twice the amount of magic chords.

The last two Grade 4 spells had possessed great effects. Even though they had not been cast perfectly, they were used once the enemy had sustained serious damage so they still demonstrated the power of Grade 4 magic. The bandits wore soft armor, and the special paddings around their necks were there to protect their throats from being slit by assassins. The two water chains formed by the current cutter had only given gentle twists and had already been able to decapitate the swordmasters effortlessly.