Badge in Azure

Saleen looked into some of the political matters that he had put off for the next several days and met with the dukes. Saleen had even arranged for Daniel and the winged skeleton to meet and have an exchange.

Daniel was once the winged skeleton’s master but cast him aside and handed him to Saleen. Daniel had felt no regret seeing how powerful the winged skeleton grew to be, only shame.

The winged skeleton seemed to have forgotten about the grievances of the past and helped Daniel brush up the Dead Soul Flame. He helped him improve on its quality and even gave him a coordinate on the dead spirit plane.

Good dead spirits could only be summoned with a good coordinate. On a piece of land that was so barren that only skeletons could be summoned, there was no way a grade-9 dragon bone could be summoned.

Saleen even inspected the army both inside and outside of the city, and watched a match held in the arena.

The arena was still earning good money, and revenue even kept increasing. Most of those who walked out of the arena were accepted into the army, while a few were hired by nobles to become personal guards.

That was a fast track to advancement, and many professionals cast their gaze on the arena, resulting in the unusually booming business of the place. The residents of Metatrin also grew more and more interested in such a sporting event, where ticket fares were low yet there was great spectatorship. One or two people were even able to make big money in the arena every day.

Sika brought thirty-six Caucasus warriors. There were more than a dozen grand death mages on the pan’s turtle alchemical boat. The death mages felt as if they were inside a spirit magic tower while being in the ship. The alchemy ship was remodeled in such a way that it could have been used as large scale equipment by the winged skeleton, as that rid them of the concern of whether Saleen could have been protected adequately.

If they were to meet powerful foes again, the ship’s speed and diving depth would have enabled the winged skeleton to quickly leave the battlefield.

The ship’s hold was also remodeled. Saleen’s quarters were moved to the middle of the ship and would have no longer been cramped. The walls of the hold were made of crystals, which enabled improvised magic arrays to be drawn or magic arrays to be set into the walls.

Sika laid quietly on the large bed in the room, complaining to Saleen, “There seems to be nothing to do here. Being on a ship is so boring.”

Just as she finished saying those words, magical lines sparkled on the walls surrounding the room and turning into windows, allowing a better view of the ocean to be transmitted through magic.

They did not set sail with the hunter flotilla that time. The Dragon Skeleton Combat Ship driven by the Jade Skeleton led the bone warships, while the pan’s turtle alchemical boat set sail for the Oceanic Ice Block alone.

The pan’s turtle alchemical boat was already moving at one-hundred and twenty miles per hour in shallow waters. It was still accelerating. Huge bubbles wrapped around the alchemical boat, enabling the ship’s exterior to suffer little friction.

Sika quieted down as she leaned on a pillow. Saleen laid by her side as they admired the view of the ocean.

The distance between Metatrin City and the Oceanic Ice Block had always been difficult to measure. As soon as they reached the outskirts of the region, the magic compass’ distance measurement function started to go haywire. Common warships would have probably gotten lost as soon as they entered.

The pan’s turtle alchemical boat was moving so fast that, if it was not for the effects of the magic array, the view outside would have been rendered a blur and hardly anything could have been seen clearly.

As they were still within nearby waters, the magic beasts seen were hardly powerful ones. The time was July and the fish had not moved southward. The great number of magic beasts in the sea however, was enough to have Sika giggling.

“Hey, Saleen, look. These fishies are so cute!”

“Those are daggers. They can chew the bones of magic sharks clean,” Saleen answered exasperatedly. Sika had little to no idea of oceanic magic beasts. Magic beasts such as daggers traveled in schools, picking specifically on large magic beasts. Once they found their target, they would rush at it and pick it clean with their teeth, which were one-hundred times sharper than actual daggers.

“There are so many reeds, and they are shining!”

“There are only reeds near the shore. These are…sea serpents. Very venomous.”

“That cuttlefish, look. Its eyes look so pretty!”, Sika said as she pointed at cuttlefish following the ship. The alchemy ship was moving at very high speeds, it ended up having magic beasts of one kind or another following it. The beasts were able to save a lot of energy on traveling simply by following them.

“It does look like a cuttlefish…but that thing you spoke of, that wasn’t its eyes. That was the cuttlefish’s exposed magic nucleus.”

“Magic nucleus! Quick, have the winged skeleton capture it!”

“Sika, that is a low-level beast. If we were to stop for it, do you know how much magic nuclei that would cost us instead?”

Sika blushed and mumbled, “Well that magic nucleus was all sparkly and colorful. At least it looks pretty.”

Saleen smiled. Sika used to consider even showering to be troublesome. Now she knew how to dress herself up and became fond of pretty, shiny things. She reminded him of a Silver-beaked Raven.

“But, if you think it’s pretty,” Saleen pointed at the cuttlefish following the ship with his finger. A bubble emerged from the exterior and went past the bubbles protecting the ship. It wrapped around the cuttlefish.

The trapped cuttlefish was a grade-3 magic beast, yet Saleen’s Water Shield was a grade-4 transmuting magic, making it impossible for the creature to struggle free of. Saleen took control of the bubble and had it moved along the body of the ship to the teleportation portal above, sending it inside the alchemy ship.

It did not take long for the cuttlefish to be bottled and sent to Sika’s room.

Saleen held the bottle in his hand and Sika smiled while looking at the cuttlefish in it. The eyes of the creature were very small, and above where the eyes were, was the colorful exposed magic nucleus. Its tentacles, numbering around a dozen, whacked hard on the bottle, wanting to break its cage.

Sika had only found when looking up close that the two exposed magic nuclei were able to shine on each other, and cast effects rendering the creature’s target dazed and confused. It was only due to her and Saleen’s levels being way above the cuttlefish’s, that they were unaffected.

“I remember now. This thing is something the black mages like using. They grind it down to powder and it can even be ingested,” Saleen looked at the magic beast and thought of its origins suddenly.

“Eating a magic nucleus? Isn’t that just like what Nailisi does?”

“It’s grinding it down to powder and making black magic pharmaceuticals capable of enhancing one’s combat capacity. It also enables mental powers to be more focused during prayers.”

The bottle shook gently. The cuttlefish spit ink all over the bottle, rendering the entire content pitch black. The beast had little intelligence, and it was merely trying to struggle with the last ounce of its strength, driven by instinct.

“Can we actually keep this thing?”, Saleen was not able to resist asking. While Sika did not recognize the beast, she was able to understand a particular beast’s temperament and nature, just by having in contact with it for some time.

“Probably. It doesn’t seem to be intelligent, but doesn’t seem to be stupid either,” Sika tapped on the bottle, and there was no reaction from the creature. It was playing dead inside.

“Don’t kill it then. It looks rather cute, really,” Saleen said to Sika.

“Alright, no killing it then. What does this thing eat?”

“No idea. Mages usually dissect magic beasts to understand them.”

“Then we will just catch more and see what it eats.”

“The ink can’t be wasted then. It should serve just fine for writing scrolls,” Saleen mumbled to himself.

Sika punched Saleen lightly, “So that is why you want to keep it. You want its ink. You mages are some people indeed…”

“Well anything wanting to keep living should contribute something. Even we humans are the same, let alone a cuttlefish.”

The two of them left the glass bottle on the bed and talked around it. Sika finally felt her boredom lifted. The alchemy ship kept speeding on, and Sika kept asking Saleen to catch cute beings she had her eyes on along the way.

Most of these low-level beasts managed to survive. Some who kept struggling were dealt with by Sika and had their magic nuclei dug out. The hold was filled with bottles. These bottles were unusually strong and were harder than steel. There was no chance of escape for any low level magic beasts held within.

The Caucasus warriors relaxed knowing that their priestess was having fun inside the hold. They had been reluctant to let Sika out of the temple, but they were unable to refuse as it was Saleen who requested.

“Saleen, thanks for coming out and playing with me. I feel so happy, and I thought I would have done fine just being by my own…”, Sika looked sad all of the sudden, but she shed no tears.

“What are you talking about, Sika? We aren’t going to hunt this time. We’re just touring around the ice, and I’m making a map of what we found. There are no other things to be concerned about. I simply hope that I can stay by your side throughout this time.”

“No hunting!?”, Sika would not have had it. While it was true that the alchemy ship was speeding, they were consuming magic nuclei. Just a two-way trip was going to cost them a fortune. They would suffer great losses if they did not hunt anything.

“I’m just saying that I won’t be the one doing anything, and that the ship won’t be venturing into any dangerous places. It will be like a…like a vacation.”

“Saleen, you are worried for me, right?”, Sika asked as she put her hand on her belly.

“Yes. Putting you in danger for just a little profit, wouldn’t that be stupid?”

Sika gave a long sigh. She was not sure if it was out of grief for losing income, or out of regret for affecting Saleen’s plans.

“Sika, it is alright. When someone wants something, they will need to pay a price equivalent to that something. For you and our children, I’m willing to give up anything.”

While Saleen’s words brought her joy, it brought her to tears. Saleen was not just playing with her; the word of a mage was binding.

“But this would be a very, very expensive vacation!”, Sika was exasperated. She hardly had enough money to buy a bottle of high level holy water when she started out, and yet, Saleen was now willing to bring her out to deep sea tens of thousands of miles away, paying the price of a good number of magic nuclei, just so that she could be happy.

“Hey, I’m still king. I will just cover the cost with some money from the treasury,” Saleen said in a sly manner.

“Heh, what difference does it make? You are the only member of the Metatrin family, and the treasury is overseen by no one. It’s still just your stuff at the end of the day,” as a regent, Sika knew that fact all too well.