Badge in Azure

Even though this world revered the experts, one needed the support of the local nobles if they wanted to dominate the world. Without having a suitable identity, the nobles would not follow a person. Saleen had been vexing over this matter, but with Lex’s help, all these troubles would be solved inherently.

Saleen also knew that Lex had said such words in front his close subordinates to convince them, and both parties would stand a chance of enjoying long term cooperation.

If a duchy was really established, then both parties, regardless of rank, would be bound together. If the fraud was exposed, no one would stand to gain anything. Saleen would lose his influence over the nobles, while Lex’s reputation would be worthless.

After ironing out some details, Lex left. She still had many things to tend to on her side. Other than ensuring her army’s standing in Metatrin City, she still had to manage those defected nobles, and all these tasks couldn’t be completed in a day or two.

Saleen did not dismiss the rest of the people, he began allocating new jobs to them.

“On my trip to the Holy Rock City this time round, Sika and Nailisi will not follow me.”

“Master!” Nailisi was anxious. Even though Saleen was a grade-6 mage, his offensive power was greatly lowered if Nailisi was not around.

“Nailisi, you shall stay behind and learn from Eleanor,” Saleen said with determination. “When I return, I don’t wish to see that you are still at this level of proficiency.”

Nailisi had tears in her eyes, but after some contemplation, she agreed. She was going to summon demons in Metatrin City. It was only safe when she summoned them in Saleen’s shrine.

“Sir, do you want me to tag along?” Daniel spoke. Since he was a death mage, he could summon many spirits for combat if any trouble arose. At least in terms of number, Saleen would not be at a disadvantage.

“No, I will bring Aini along. Daniel, you need to control the army, you cannot leave everything to Lex.”

“Eleanor, once I leave, you shall stay here. Nailisi, you are not allowed to leave Eleanor’s sight. If she gets into any danger, you can forget about following me anymore.”

At this moment, Nailisi realized why Saleen made her stay behind. Eleanor was of extreme importance to Saleen. This elf had a complicated identity and she possessed too much knowledge, it was possible that she was a royal among the elves.

“Master, then bring Cuisi along, she can protect you.”

“Okay, I will take Cuisi with me. Su, you need to follow me too. Jola, you shall stay behind, I want you to train an emblem group, the best emblem group, can you do it?”

“Stronger than Lex’s one?”

“Yes.”

“I need five years, and the candidates will have to be selected by me.”

“Sure.” Seeing that Jola asked for a duration of five years, Saleen knew that he was serious about it.

“All of you… need to pay special attention to safety. On the most recent trip, Lex and I have lost two grade-5 mages, which was a huge loss. If anything crops up, let Daniel’s and Gurney’s army handle it. Your only mission is to practice magic,” Saleen instructed the mages from the Sregl Island.

The temple’s guards and the army defending the city belonged to two different systems, these people consisted of the elite Caucasus people and barbarians, as well as the pirates who had followed Saleen from the beginning. The area where the mages were active in would not be out of the temple’s perimeter, which meant that it was a land with a radius of almost nine square miles.

Almost one mile from the temple, there was a plot of empty land reserved beforehand which hadn’t been developed yet. This land would belong to the Sregl Island mages in the future.

After delegating these matters, Saleen said, “Daniel, you shall settle the remaining matters. Su, you and I shall go to the port to take a look.”

“Master…”

“Stay with Eleanor.”

Saleen wanted to go to the port because he wanted to check out the defensive installations. “If the port is safe, then I better bring along the winged skeleton. I will ask the winged skeleton to travel down south on the ocean. If I meet with any danger, I will have to flee, and there are two options. One, I can go north and return to this city directly, but I will be easily intercepted along the way. If the winged skeleton waits for me at sea, then I will be able to go east. As long as I go underwater, even a grade-9 mage will have no tricks to deal with me.”

However, the pan’s turtle alchemical boat was in charge of the port’s safety, so Saleen had to witness it for himself to decide whether to bring along the winged skeleton or not. By allowing the winged skeleton to wait for him at a few regular spots, Saleen could build a sound transmission magic array and contact the winged skeleton anytime.

Su followed Saleen and left the shrine on foot. When Su arrived at Metatrin City, he received quite a shock. In his eyes, Metatrin City was a place which was like the center of the world. In the subcontinent plane, palaces usually stretched for about four miles, which translated into an area of sixteen square miles. However, the nuclear region of Metatrin City alone already spanned for almost nine square miles.

If such a city was placed on the subcontinent plane, it would undoubtedly be one of a kind. And this was actually a city which had not been completed, and there were countless of castles surrounding it for defense.

“What are you all following us for.” Saleen turned around, looking at Gurney. Gurney led four-hundred soldiers, closely following Saleen.

These soldiers seemed very ferocious, it was obvious that they had seen blood before. In the past, Saleen went to the Chaotic Swamp once and trained a batch of experienced soldiers. And now, these soldiers were following Gurney.

“Sir, it is to ensure your safety.” Gurney would not budge. “If Saleen met with harm in his own city, then it would surely be laughing stock. Currently, there is a number of nobles in the city, and these nobles had their own private soldiers. Some might be less wise, thus provoking Saleen. No one recognizes Sir either.”

“Okay fine, but ask them to spread out. You can lead 50 men and follow us from afar.”

“Yes, Sir.” Gurney waved his hand, and this large group of soldiers immediately split into eight small teams, with each team having fifty men. Saleen thought to himself, “The composition of this army still needs to be improved, but this shall be left to Lex. I should resolve the issue in the Holy Rock City first, it is not a good thing to let a grade-10 expert pine for me.”

About one mile east of the temple was the place where the Sregl Island swordsmen were stationed. There was a tall building here, which also acted as a pass. Only by attacking this building could one travel east and breach the temple.

Metatrin City was built on an extremely humongous rock, and it was almost impossible to dig underground passageways into this white rock. Even if Saleen possessed the capability, he would also waste a lot of time.

“Su, do you miss home?” Saleen was not much older than Su, but his experience was definitely hundreds of times more interesting than Su’s. Saleen’s words might appear old-fashioned, but Su didn’t mind at all. Right now, Saleen was the commander, and Su had also decided to follow him for the rest of his life.

“Yes, but my father hopes that I can carve out my own career, he doesn’t want me to be confined to the family. If I am in the subcontinent plane, I will be able to lead troops after completing my mission. I will be guarding the borders, and be battling with the demonic race.”

“I am bringing you along to the Holy Rock City so that you can witness some of the experts, and true power, in this world. Metatrin City is incomparable to that city.”

“How powerful?” Su did not look fearful, he only had exhilaration in his eyes.

“The person I am going to meet cannot be defeated even if a Golden Grand Swordmaster teams up with a grade-9 sorcerer, how powerful do you think he is?”

Su inhaled a breath of cold air, “On the subcontinent plane, a Golden Grand Swordmaster is already an indomitable presence, not even a grade-9 sorcerer can beat them. If both characters team up, they can defeat a city with a few hundred thousand people already. This is indeed the main plane, people like that still exist in this world!”

“By following me, you may not have to fight with the demonic race, but danger is still apparent.”

“If the sword is not grinded, it will never be sharp.” Su didn’t waver.

As the two persons chatted, they had already reached the port. Currently, Metatrin City’s port was very busy. As the frozen period was just round the corner, the cargo ships were busy trying to transport all the goods. Qin had all along effected tough protection over their forests, only such premium wood could be found in the north. In the Qin Empire, even the mines were controlled by the imperial family, but there were premium ores sold in the Metatrin City.

In the middle of the port, there were magic disciples commanding some puppets to move large crates around. Even though the sky had turned dark, work hadn’t stopped yet. There was a huge number of magic lamps illuminating the entire harbor, it was as if it was still daytime. On the metal tracks, there were snaking lines of freight trains producing raucous noises, Saleen even saw businessmen from Cloudflow rushing some giant spirits to move their goods.

It was cheaper hiring a spirit than a puppet, because hiring a puppet meant that a magic disciple had to be hired too. The mages onboard a merchant ship weren’t willing to engage in menial work, while the disciples had to steer the ship. Of course, those colossal spirits had been summoned by the three kings. No money had to be spent, and there was more flexibility in controlling them.

Hundreds of large ships were docked at the port. The largest merchant ship was over one-hundred meters in length, it belonged to Cloudflow. The smaller ones were also more than fifty meters long, and most of them were from Lianyun City. After the Grand Duke of Lianyun got defeated in war, he had to sign free trade agreements atop of paying reparations. As a result, the relationship between both parties actually became intimate.

The towering stone mountain on the left had been fully protected, and there were fortresses at the foot of it. Structures were constructed atop the mountain, there were magic cannons watching over the entire harbor. The buildings in the port were also constructed to be sturdy, many two-story buildings contained magic trebuchets.

Along the way, Saleen did not see any soldiers patrolling the grounds, but each harbor had strict checkpoints. Whenever someone passed through a checkpoint, they had to pay taxes.

“Su…”

When there was no response behind him, Saleen’s heart shuddered, and an intense wave of devastation swept over him. Without hesitation, Saleen released the Water Shield, protecting his whole body. Turning his head around sharply, he realized that no one was behind him.

The scenery had changed completely, as the sights of the port became blurry, and Saleen got engulfed in a ball of white light.

Su was taken aback, he wielded his sword, but he didn’t know how to deal with that ball of light. Saleen’s silhouette had disappeared in it. Gurney rushed forward and blew his whistle. Out of nowhere, hundreds of people appeared, they were all fully equipped.

“Sir Gurney, what’s going on?”

Gurney’s face turned pale as a sheet, he waved his hand and said, “All of you can go back, its fine.”

“Gurney!” Su was very anxious as Saleen had disappeared into thin air in front of him just like that. As a follower, he had a responsibility he could not shake off.

In Saleen’s hands, the water flames began burning. “I got ambushed by someone, and I didn’t even see the enemy’s shadow.” The enemy was too powerful, and perhaps other than Joey, no one in this city was Saleen’s match.

“Mage Saleen, why are you so nervous? I mean no harm.” A youthful voice filled the air. Before Saleen, a silhouette emerged. This silhouette went from being blurry to clear in less than three seconds.

Even though Saleen had seen someone, he realized that his mental strength couldn’t lock onto that person. He decided to retract his water flames, then said, “Who are you?”

“Me?” This young man smiled and said, “My name is Fycro, they say that I am the person who is closest to God.”