Badge in Azure

Without hesitation, Saleen stepped out of the divine tree magic tower. He floated in the water in his water shield and headed towards the towering illusory human figure.

Seeing how Saleen did not hesitate at all, the facial features of the human figure became clearer. It was an expression of shock.

“You are quite daring. Did you know I can kill you easily with one hand?”

“Even if I continued to stay inside, you wouldn’t need to spend too much effort to kill me anyway,” Saleen answered honestly. He had already mentioned his identity and his intentions. If the illusory human figure was a soul shard left behind by the ancient humans, it would be full of hatred for the Gods and would be unlikely to hurt him.

The footprint left behind on the divine tree magic tower from the attack was an indication to Saleen that the soul shards left behind in the graveyard were powerful and he could not afford to incur their wrath.

“There is no point using these fanciful words. Mage, you have not fallen, so why is your left hand an indication of being blessed by the Gods?” The human figure suddenly roared.

Saleen spoke calmly, “A few years ago, I was still a grade-1 junior mage. It was because of this power that I obtained that I have managed to survive until today. This power was left behind by the Gods of my dimension. I have yet to hear about the battles that took place between the ancient humans and the Gods.”

The illusory human figure suddenly attacked and burst Saleen’s water shield with a finger. As the finger slid past Saleen’s left hand, he felt excruciating pain. It was so painful, even for someone like him who was used to training with the badge, that he had to grunt.

The shriveled skin on Saleen’s left hand became supple as the hand was filled with flesh and blood. The bones in the hand were taken away and replaced with bones made of water elements. Saleen’s left hand of the Gods was taken away by the illusory figure and it would never be able to produce the Power of Life again.

Saleen’s facial expression remained unchanged, but he was very concerned about his left hand. He never knew for sure whether his entire body would slowly be consumed by the left hand, and eventually turning him into a monster created by the Gods, if he continued to train.

“Hmm? You are not angry? I have taken away an important lifeline of yours.” The expression on the human figure changed. There was a piece of green leaf on his finger. The leaf possessed incredible Power of Life, so much so that Saleen almost mistook it to be a creature on its own.

“In any case, the power was not the result of my training. It would only serve as an obstacle in future. I am better off without it,” Saleen replied calmly.

“I am asking you, why aren’t you angry?”

“Is there any meaning to an ant being angry with a giant dragon?” Saleen raised his head and looked at the illusory human figure.

“Giant dragon? Haha, you are insulting me by comparing me to a giant dragon!” The human figure began to laugh uproariously. Saleen was not disgusted at all. The fellow had all the power and right to be arrogant.

“On the Myers Mainland giant dragons are one of the most powerful creatures around,” Saleen replied. He was not sure what that fellow was up to. After his water shield had been burst, only a small bubble was left behind to enclose his head.

“Would you say the same thing if you possessed the same power as me?” That person seemed to be teasing Saleen. He stretched out his hand and observed Saleen, who was in his palm. Saleen was tempted to attack him with his Eye of Lightning, but considering the huge difference in their grades, Saleen controlled himself.

According to the calculations of a reliable magic formula, it was possible for the poison of billions of ants to kill a giant dragon. In other words, Saleen would have to unleash a power that was a million times greater than his own in order to kill the figure.

In the past, Saleen did not believe in a scenario like that happening but he did then. The correlation of power with grades was connected to rules. When the opponent was able to grasp rules that were beyond you, it was useless even if you were more powerful than the opponent by hundreds of times. Saleen’s lightning rule might be of a very high grade, but he had yet to grasp it completely, not even one percent. There was no way that kind of power could kill the soul shard of ancient humans.

Unless his power reached a transformative stage, he would never be able to bypass the grade of rules and kill opponents of higher levels. Alternatively, he could use his clan badge, which was an attacking equipment that did not need to take the user’s grade into account.

“No. If I possessed great power, you would not be treating me this way.” As Saleen stood on the illusory palm, he could feel himself standing on hard ground. He could almost feel rich ground elements rushing upwards to his feet.

“What a sharp and brave little mage. So, what do you intend to do next?”

“Why are you still listening to his rubbish? Snatch everything away from him!” A sound rang out from the tombstones nearby. Suddenly, Saleen felt very foolish. The difference in their grades was so huge, why would those people even care about how he felt? There was nowhere to escape to. They were probably in the center of the graveyard. When he was in the magic tower, he could not even see an end to the graveyard with his elemental eyes.

“Rubbish? Didn’t you hear him say that the power on some Mainland has weakened to a pathetic level? Some of the things that astrologers said can still be trusted. If we kill him, we may never have a chance of being revived. Leave us!” The fellow that was holding on to Saleen shouted back in return.

“It’s the Myers Mainland!” Saleen reminded the fellow in front of him.

“Myers Mainland?”

“Myers…”

“Myers!”

The graveyard suddenly became very noisy. That was strange to Saleen. If they had never even heard of the Goddess of Myers, could it be that they were born even before her?

“Myers that girl, she finally couldn’t resist the temptation and became a God?”

“What a pity, she was a lovely little lady!”

“She was not little!

“Her bosoms were!”

The commotion continued as plenty of tombstones were making noises all at the same time. Saleen was feeling giddy as a result of the vibration of the soundwaves. They clearly knew who the Goddess of Myers was but had no idea that she was a God.

“Became a God? Can humans really become Gods?”

Saleen thought back to his agreement with Fycro. Perhaps that fellow really wanted to turn himself into a God to replace Lord of Glory as the religion of their dimension.

“Tell me your name, little mage.” The fellow in front of Saleen waved his hands. The commotion stopped. It seemed that the fellow was of a higher status and no one dared to go against him.

“Saleen Metatrin.”

“Haha, with a surname like Metatrin, perhaps you are really the offspring of some king,” a sharp voice rang out from a tombstone nearby.

“Shut up. Metatrin is a common surname. There are beggars with that surname too. Hmm, Saleen, we want your magic tower. Will you give it to us?”

“If I say no, will you snatch it away from me?”

“No, but then you can never hope to leave this place,” the gigantic figure replied Saleen to directly.

“Didn’t you say that if you killed me, you would…”

“Who said I wanted to kill you? Besides, if we have your magic tower, we will have hope. Didn’t you say it belonged to Myers? We knew each other very well, so it would not be robbery.”

“Then what will I get in return?” Saleen asked. There was nothing he could do if they were determined to get their hands on the magic tower. They could even afford to wait until Saleen died before taking the tower. In that case, he might as well ask if there was anything he could gain from them. After all, whatever they decided to give him would definitely be something that could astound the entire Mainland.

“You? If you give the magic tower to me, you can take anything you want in this graveyard, aside from our bones! Not a lot of items were buried with us.” What the giant figure said made Saleen hesitate.

“Saleen, the items that were buried with us are very ordinary, but our tombstones are carved with the record of the passing down of our training. Sometimes, when people came to pay their respects, they would also leave behind some interesting items. If the power outside is as weak as you claimed, then you will definitely find these items useful for a while.”

“The only problem is that I cannot give you the core of this magic tower.” Saleen decided to get straight to the terms and conditions of the transaction. The core of Sky City was too important. Saleen still aspired to build a flying magic tower in the future. Without that core, he would never be able to refine it, even if he advanced.

“Looks like it’s the mechanical core of Sky City, but there isn’t a Heart of the Sky. What can you do with it even if I leave it behind?”

“I want to build a magic tower that can fly,” Saleen insisted.

The gigantic figure frowned. Although he was not happy with Saleen’s reply, he still said, “Ask the people inside to come out first.”

Saleen had no choice but to activate the magic tower for Nailisi and the winged skeleton to come out. At the same time, the 24 ancient warriors stepped out as well.

“Saleen, these soldiers are not too bad. Hmm, a demon and a spirit of the dead. Your grade may be low, but you do have the makings of a king. Where is Grandmaster? Ask him to come out and help Saleen build a magic tower. It must be able to fly!”

The gigantic figure placed Saleen back on the ground. He stretched out both his hands and reached into the divine tree magic tower and dug out the mechanical core of Sky City.

From a white tombstone a distance away, an illusory figure in magic robes stepped out and spoke unhappily, “You want me, a Grandmaster, to build a magic tower for a junior mage? Are you out of your mind?”

“Junior mage? Right now, Saleen is considered as someone of power on the Mainland, just like how we were in those days.”

“What a pathetic mage. Are you even grade-10?” The Grandmaster asked Saleen sarcastically.

“There should be mutual respect between mages,” Saleen said furiously. He knew that he must deal with mages differently. Mages would only acknowledge each other if they spoke in their own lingo.

“What respect is there to talk about when you are not even grade-10!” The Grandmaster laughed. He purposely made his face clearer and he even squatted down so that he could poke at Saleen with his magic staff.

Saleen had no intentions of dodging. He only said, “I once saw in a magic notebook that no one had the right to laugh at others, unless one had already reached grade-24. May I know if the Grandmaster is at grade-24?”

The moment Saleen finished his question, the entire graveyard was filled with deafening laughter. All the souls from the tombstones were laughing uproariously. It was clear that Saleen’s words must have struck a painful chord in the Grandmaster.