Badge in Azure

When Lex heard the breaking of the magic nuclei, she grudgingly opened her eyes. The high-level magic nuclei in the magic arrays in the six corners all began to crack one by one. The white powder was spread all over the floor, like snow that had fallen from trees.

“Saleen, you’re still the one that understands me the most.” Lex sighed and took out a piece of dragonshard and mounted it in a special magic array just in front of her.

This piece of dragonshard was given to Lex by Saleen when she was preparing to advance. The number of dragonshards that Saleen possessed were few and far between. Even after cutting them out from the giant dragon, Tiago, he only possessed less than twelve standard dragonshards.

It was as if the figure was destined to be the limit because no matter how big the magic beast, they could never produce more dragonshards than that.

The dragonshard was not stored in the spatial equipment. Even God’s ring could not be used when Lex was in the midst of advancing. It would destabilize the elements in the space. Lex kept the dragonshard by her side without really expecting to use it.

After Lex had mounted the dragonshard into the small magic array, she felt the magic tower shake for a moment. Even more elements began to appear from the magic array and were quickly absorbed by Lex’s seven-colored magic chords.

Lex kept holding onto a piece of divine crystal. It was because of the divine crystal that her mental strength was not used up in the short term. Theoretically, after a mage used up all his mental strength, divine crystals would be able to replenish more than half of the mental strength in the shortest possible time. The amount of mental strength that could be replenished each time would keep depleting though. Nevertheless, the divine crystal would still be able to replenish ten percent of the mental strength even after it had been used more than ten times.

A mage possessed large amounts of mental strength. By possessing a long-term solution for replenishing mental strength, a mage would not have to worry. As long as he had magic chords and sufficient mental strength, he would be able to continue using spells for training and battles.

The rainbow-colored robe that Lex had draped over herself now flew off her body and was floating in the air. The elements washed over the rainbow-colored robe continuously. Lex finally understood that Joey must have known about her clan’s secret technique all along, which explained why he refined the magic robe for her. Since then, she was the only who could wear the magic robe. Other mages would never dare to wear it for fear of messing up their elements when they cast spells. She was the only one who had seven strands of magic chords instead of six.

The wisdom of grade-10 mages was really incredible! The ancestors of the Grukos family actually managed to invent a seventh element that could complement well with sword aura. If Lex had chosen to train in swordsmanship instead of magic, she would still have become a very powerful person and might even be on par with her father, Grand Emperor Chanake.

Such a skill set must have something to do with the bloodline of her clan. The purer the bloodline, the easier it was to develop this skill set. The only question was, what was this bloodline? This question passed through Lex’s mind, but she never really gave it careful thought. She was only focussed on making the best of the opportunity to ensure that her advancement was perfect.

The seven-colored magic chords had grown twice as strong. Lex could no longer hold on anymore and even the dragonshard in front of her had dimmed. She knew that if she continued, the piece of dragonshard would be destroyed and her own body might also suffer.

At that thought, Lex allowed the magic chords to withdraw back into her body. The piece of fitting magic attire that she was wearing was also colored with the seven colors. They began to dim and eventually turned into a faint green color.

The magic chords in her body seemed to be disappearing. At that moment, Lex finally felt pain. It was as if she could see a transparent version of herself struggling amidst the seven-colored magic chords.

Was that a soul? Or just an illusion?

Time passed very slowly as the pain grew stronger. She tried to bear with it instead of resisting. She had forcefully grown her magic chords by twice their size so it was expected that she must go through this painful process.

One must pay a price equivalent to what one desired. This was a truth that all mages acknowledged.

It seemed that possessing too many magic chords would cause the process of advancing to become a very painful one. Would Saleen go through the same thing as her?

Lex’s heart softened when she recalled the first time Saleen saw her. Saleen was a junior mage who was carefully trying to hide the fear in his heart.

When such an emotion rose in her heart, the transparent figure became clearer. It merged with the seven-colored magic chords so it became colored as well.

Indeed, that was her!

There was a slight pain in Lex’s heart. Soon, her entire body was burning with the power of the fire element!

The type of spells that Lex was most proficient in were fire-related ones. At this moment after she had completed her advancement, she could sense the vibrancy of the fire elements around her. In the past, she needed to adjust her magic chords in order to sense the elements, but now there was no need to chant any mantras.

All the spells from grade-1 to grade-6 were gradually becoming clearer. All the knowledge that Lex had learned flowed through her brain at the speed of lightning.

The six major elements within ten yards of her body all gradually became clear! At the same time, there was a type of golden element that floated amongst the six major elements.

So, this was what it was like to become a sorcerer!

No book in this world could compare to how she felt in that moment. Lex knew that from that moment on, there were few secrets left in spells that were middle-level and below. There was a new power within her mental strength that could not be described and could adjust the surrounding elements quickly. She could barely sense the existence of the magic chords now. Now, Lex only knew how many magic chords she had utilized when casting spells, but could no longer ‘see’ it.

She never knew that instant magic could be so simple!

A faint blue-colored fireball that was the size of a cherry appeared in Lex’s hands. The fireball vibrated slightly and there was a human face on its surface. This face closely resembled Lex and it even wore the same expression of joy.

Lex flicked her finger lightly and the fireball, that was the equivalent of a grade-7 spell, vanished into thin air. Even the temperature in the magic tower remained unchanged.

The magic robe that was floating in the air draped itself onto Lex once again. At that moment, all the pain disappeared. Lex stood up. The magic arrays on the six windows of the seven-storey magic tower all disappeared practically at the same time and the windows opened.

“Saleen…” Lex’s voice rang out from the magic tower.

“Lex!” It was the sixth night that Saleen was staying there. It was already the beginning of April, yet there was no news of Lex in the magic tower so he was worried. When he suddenly heard Lex’s voice, the surface of his body immediately produced thick fog. He utilized the power of water elements to fly directly to the seventh-storey of the magic tower and was looking in from the window.

The rainbow-colored robe was draped around Lex as she stood at the window. Her hair and eyes had turned into a blue color of an even darker shade, almost as dark as black.

“Sorry to have made you wait.” When she saw the moustache on Saleen’s face, she knew that Saleen must have been waiting downstairs all that while.

Saleen stepped into the magic tower and removed the fog. Although Lex was already a grade-7 mage, it would still be difficult for her to see him through the fog.

“Lex, why did it take so long? It was really…”

Lex smiled and held onto Saleen’s hand before stuffing the dragonshard into it. She already had God’s ring. If not for the fact that advancement required a lot of elemental power yet godly items could not be utilized, she would have no need for the dragonshard.

“You seem to have grown taller!” Saleen pulled Lex over and realized that Lex’s forehead was now higher than his own nose. Even her chest seemed to have grown larger and fuller.

Saleen was a little distracted when his glance swept lower. Lex’s figure could never be compared to Sika’s for the latter’s figure was proportionately perfect and as a Priestess of Caucasus warriors, every inch of her skin was filled with power and elasticity. Lex was a mage, so her level of activity was not as high as Sika. It was not something that Lex had ever thought of competing with Sika in any way.

After advancing that time around, Saleen felt the transformation in Lex’s body. He could not help but say, “It seems like we need to refine again.”

“We will be getting married in a few days’ time. How can we find the time?” Lex gently rubbed Saleen’s face with her hand. She no longer felt so constrained after advancing. Now, she did whatever she felt like doing.

Saleen was at a loss for words, yet Lex did not seem upset. Instead, she became even gentler so he became more at ease.

Lex was the exact opposite of Sika. Usually, Sika would follow Saleen’s lead in any matter. It was only when they were intimate that Sika would take the lead. It could even be said that Sika was able to trigger all of Saleen’s desires, which made her irresistible to him.

On the other hand, Lex had an incredibly strong personality. Even though she gave Saleen the necessary respect, she was still an independent person that was not easily influenced. Saleen felt pressure even as he loved her at the same time.

When Lex was alone with Saleen in a more intimate atmosphere, it was like she was a changed person. Saleen could sense that Lex’s heart was gentler than water elements and needed to rely on him.

There was a long sound of a bamboo flute from beyond the magic tower. Saleen and Lex looked over at the same time. They saw Eleanor flying over from afar. Saleen’s elemental eyes could clearly see bloodstains on the corner of Eleanor’s mouth. The bamboo flute was a magic equipment and the sound was produced by the wings of an elf beneath her.

Saleen was taken aback at first, but then he noticed a smile on Eleanor’s face so he was certain that she was not seriously injured.

Eleanor arrived at the window on her wings of an elf. She was holding onto a golden-eyed fire crow which she then threw into the magic tower. Both of the crow’s eyes had been pierced through by an arrow. Such an archery feat could only be achieved by Eleanor.

“My Lord, Cloudflow is about to launch their attack in nine days’ time. There are many such creatures nearby. They have been reared by Cloudflow. I even bumped into a sorcerer, but luckily this was fast enough.” Eleanor patted the wings of an elf below her.

“You ventured out of the city? Eleanor, don’t take the risk again. Come in and make sure your injuries are healed.” Saleen waved to Eleanor. He could feel that Eleanor was feeling better lately.

Eleanor smiled before pointing at the wings of an elf beneath her and descending down. The wings of an elf would never be able to squeeze through the window.

“Lex, looks like we don’t have much time. Cloudflow is already preparing to attack. This time around, it’s going to be a tough fight. We…”

“We will win and our victory will be a crushing one.” Lex took the golden-eyed fire crow from Saleen and looked at it before saying, “The archers are going to be busy for a while. It is annoying to have these things spying on us. With hundreds of them flying in the sky, we will not be able to hide our military movements from the enemy.”