Badge In Azure

Chapter 918: Outwitting One Another (Part 1)

Saleen made a decision in his mind. It seemed that the Star Gathering Needle worked like magic books of mages, which was something capable of storing constellation powers and casting attacks.

Saleen hardly used magic books himself, and it was a personal habit more than anything else. In actuality, a mage who had complete magic books would probably have not even considered using magic staffs.

The Star Gathering Needle of astrologers was just like magic books were to mages. It was equipment best suited to their profession.

The elder inspected the magic tower carefully for Saleen and said slowly, “There is nothing wrong with the magic tower, but it lacks magic arrays. The magic power furnace alone will not do.”

“I know, and that is why I need your help.” Saleen sounded way more polite after hearing the elder’s words. It was the normal att.i.tude to take when making trades. Being trapped for eighteen-hundred years, the principle of equivalent exchange was only honored when he helped with the repairs of the magic tower.

“With the original magic arrays installed in the tower being completely destroyed, I cannot even begin duplicating them,” the elder said while feeling insecure within. It was possible for him to duplicate the original magic arrays but doing so would come at a great price. To take constellation power from the astrology tower’s core would have required far more energy than expected.

The astrology tower was the very thing that rooted his existence. If he spent too much energy on it and was unable to regenerate the energy lost, there would have been no need to wait for Saleen to return, as he would have died sooner than those in the cemetery.

“How could I possibly ask a great astrologer for something like that. Sir, I only needed a small favor, and that would be to refine this ma.s.s of element.i.te, upgrading it to grade-18.”

Saleen’s words made the elder let out a bitter laugh. There was no way he could refuse. While it would still take a lot to refine the element.i.te, it was nonetheless something he could easily do. If he was a mage, he would have rejected such a proposal and agreed to craft magic arrays for Saleen instead. As he was not a mage, the crafting of magic arrays, which should have been something simple, would have cost him more than refining the element.i.te.

While the drain for refining the element.i.te was great, it was fortunate that the process would yield some extra energy, which would be able to be absorbed by the astrology tower and make up for some losses.

Saleen felt overjoyed. With the element.i.te upgraded to grade-18, he would then be able to have grade-9 sorcerers craft magic arrays within, when he brought the tower back home.

Grade-18 element.i.te was something incredibly pure. Crafting magic arrays became comparatively easy, and it would have also been easy to rewrite them. As he already had the knowledge regarding the workings of the magic power furnace, he would be able to make the Magical Element Tower into a flying equipment. That would prove crucial, as enemies would not allow one to simply build magic towers. With a tower capable of flight, Saleen would have been able to drop mages on any battlefield any time.

Having such a magic tower also ensured the safety of mages, as they could easily make their escape when battles were lost.

After putting away the Magical Element Tower away and feeling satisfied, Saleen said, “Sir, you are indeed sincere. Please tell me then, how will we be signing our contract next?”

The elder moved his lips about like a living person. Saleen had not signed any contracts with him in any of the actions taken. He thought Saleen would have mentioned it, and so he did not dare undermine the mage in any way when he was working. Saleen had chosen to simply forget about the whole thing instead and opted to sign only one contract with him.

Astrologers believe that the fate between people were interconnected. The higher the number of contracts Saleen signed with him, the tighter the entanglement of fate between him and the mage. With the signing of the contract being proposed by Saleen instead of him, it would not have had much effect on Saleen. He was wondering if Saleen actually knew the rules to such matters, or if the mage was just lucky.

Saleen was composed throughout. Even the astrologer, who was hundreds of thousands of years older than him, was unable to see any openings to be exploited from the mage’s expressions.

He did not know that Saleen had one instinctive reaction, which was to sign as little number of contracts with the astrologer as possible. The initial request he asked was indeed to deceive the elder somewhat, to have the elder believe that he would have asked about contracts.

Saleen was gambling back there, making a bet that the elder would not dare to do anything underhanded to his equipment, for the sake of signing their second contract. Astrologers were different from mages, as they greatly feared the power contracts posed as they believed deeply in fate. The contracts of astrologers were something specialized in damaging fate.

The elder’s soul was housed in the figure, and the reactions of his face were all deliberately made up. While he was frustrated, he nonetheless talked about the contract with Saleen with a smiling face.

“Little mage, we can now exchange names. I’m Gaine, the astrologer.”

“Saleen.” Saleen did not say his surname. There was no need for the exchange of surnames in a contract signed with the astrologer. He wanted as little deep connection with people of that profession as possible.

“Alright, Saleen. Here is my plan. You will learn the script of the astrologers here. I can only teach you the rudiments of astrology. You will need to learn the rest yourself. This won’t be difficult for a mage, and you wouldn’t need to be too powerful of an astrologer yourself. Grade-10 should suffice.”

“And the reason being?”

“Grade-10 astrologers aren’t great combatants, but they are able to read signs of the future. That will help a lot in avoiding untoward incidents.”

“What would I need to do next?”

Gaine took the constellation ring that Saleen had returned to him and said, “When you reach grade-10, you will be able to open this ring, which will provide you with protection. When the ring is opened, you will not suffer attacks when you are back in the Imperial City of the Abyss. The defensive magic arrays in the city will acknowledge you as an astrologer from this place.”

“What happens then?”

“Then you shall head back to the city and release the heroic spirits from the cemetery.”

Saleen was silent and Gaine continued, “they no longer have the ability to survive on this plane. As soon as they leave the imperial city, they will all die. No need to worry. They can’t hurt you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. If I dare to come, then I must be sure I can leave.”

“You are mad at the great grandmaster?”

“No. It is just that if I have the chance, I will let them know the consequences of sneaking up on me.” Saleen deliberately worded it such.

Gaine nodded and thought, “I didn’t know Saleen would actually want to confuse me. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would be mad at such things.” Then he spoke. “You will still have to release them, or the Cemetery of Heroes will continue suppressing the teleportation portal of the palace. If these heroic spirits remain, you will never be able to enter the palace and find me what I need.”

“What do you need?” Saleen had a bad feeling when he was asking the question.

“This.” Gaine took out his own Star Gathering Needle, and said, “This is the weapon of astrologers, as well as their friend. A Star Gathering Needle, I need one Star Gathering Needle from the palace!”

“Don’t you already have one…?”

“No, the one in my hand is a grade-16 needle. The one from the palace is grade-19. Only a grade-19 Star Gathering Needle will be able to take this cursed thing off and let my soul out!” Gaine elaborated and pulled his hair when he was done.

“The figure?”

“Yes…” Gaine hesitated for a moment before decided to continue, “My soul is trapped in here, and that means I’m incapable of feeling whatever good things the world has to offer. h.e.l.l, I can’t even feel pain. You may see me as being no different from a living person, but I can’t so much as even drink water. I’m thirsty all the time, yet there is nothing I can do about it.”

“Will the grade-19 Star Gathering Needle be mine when you are done?” Saleen asked. He felt lucky to have hidden his in the dimension stone, or the old man would have been able to sense it. It seemed that the one on his person now was probably the grade-19 needle Gaine was seeking. Gaine would be able to sense problems within his own equipment after using it personally.

“I can’t give you the needle, Saleen. I will be honest with you. The Star Gathering Needle is something important to an astrologer. I need that needle for me to have a breakthrough.”

“Gaine, you once wanted to have me control my own destiny. That is the time I heard anything about grade-19 equipment. Pardon me, but I have to ask, with your powers being so formidable, will I still be able to control my own destiny?”

“Of course. That constellation ring is something that the grade-19 astrologer left behind all those years ago. He was also the one who designed the astrology tower. I have no problem giving you all that, but I need his lineage!”

“That is to say, if you get his lineage, you would have no problem giving me the needle?”

“Of course, I can craft Star Gathering Needles myself. Once I advanced to grade-19, that thing won’t be of any use to me.”

“But you said that I will only need to reach grade-ten. I’m sorry, but I’m confused. What do I get out of this? A grade-ten astrologer’s lineage? You wouldn’t bother with such a thing yourself, right?”

“Saleen, you don’t understand. When I advance to grade-19, I can no longer be here. Not just this plane, but all planes connected to this plane. I can no longer survive in any of these places and must make for higher planes. I will break through the limit of the Crystal Wall, and I will never ever come back again. After getting that person’s lineage, you will have all the time in the world to train. You can even live here for tens of thousands of years.”

“That…is really tempting in a peculiar way indeed!” Saleen shook his head and said to Gaine, “In my way of seeing it, let’s make the contract this way. When I release your soul, you will forever cease to exist in this world. The needle belongs to me, the astrology tower belongs to me, the constellation ring belongs to me, and you will attain true freedom.”

“Saleen…”

“What do you say?”

“You have a deal!” both Gaine and Saleen laughed out loud at the same time, yet both were skeptical of the contents of the contract.

From Gaine’s perspective, if Saleen wanted all of that to himself, the mage would have needed to fulfill the contract first. From Saleen’s perspective, the moment Gaine attained true freedom was the moment the astrologer left the world he lived in for good. There was to be zero time lag in between those happenings, and there was nothing Gaine could have done to do him harm.

Despite the contract looking so airtight, both Saleen and Gaine were still unable to shake off the feeling that something was amiss.

“Gaine, who should be the one writing the contract?” Saleen asked.

“Have it your way.” Gaine was reluctant to answer the question in a proactive manner. He wanted his fate to be entwined with Saleen’s, and as such, wanted Saleen to be the active party.

“Well then, let’s put the matter of contracts aside for the moment, and let’s have you start teaching me instead.” Saleen obviously wanted to be the pa.s.sive party as well, which frustrated Gaine.

“Alright, I will be the one writing the contract.”

“I agree.” Saleen smiled and took the constellation ring, putting it on his finger.