Badge in Azure

Chapter 212: Drifting (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“No, I only have a map of the roads. This is too far from land. We’re almost two thousand miles out.” Lex brought out some food, but aside from Sika, the others did not have much of an appetite.

“Daniel, do you have the map of the sea?”

“No. Even when I was doing business, I never saw a map of the sea here either.” Daniel shook his head. He was not a professional sailor, but he could still use the sun to get directions during the day. However, when night came, he could not read the constellations.

“How far have we moved?”

“No idea. I don’t have a magic compass, and my instincts are not accurate,” Daniel answered carefully.

“If a bunch of sea demons come now, we’ll all be goners.” Saleen said worriedly, looking at the puppet rowing the boat up ahead. Actually, even if a mere finless whale came, they would be out of their luck then as well.

The sun set and the wind started blowing harder, making the waves taller. Saleen had no choice but to close the cabin door. Looking outside of the window, the puppets on the deck were beaten by the waves until they were completely drenched.

On the surface of the sea up ahead, dozens of magic beasts appeared, their bodies shining with the silver light of the moon. Daniel saw Saleen and Lex tense up and went to prevent them from taking any action. He said, “Don’t worry. They are moon singers.”

“Moon singers?” Saleen looked at the magic beasts that had fallen into the sea from the porthole, shocked beyond belief. These beasts could not be considered beautiful, yet he had heard of them before. The fishermen by the seaside believed that moon singers had been left behind by the goddess to protect them. These magic beasts were incredibly friendly to humans and would use their clear voices to send messages among themselves. They liked to follow behind fishing boats and the fishermen would usually give them some small fish as a prayer for their safety.

Saleen had listened to fishermen describe them since he was young. When he had heard of them, they had sounded almost perfect, with beautiful skin, elegant bodies, and pure eyes.

In reality, what Saleen saw were sharp teeth in the mouths of the magic beasts, signifying that they were carnivorous. What Saleen could not understand was that these moon singers were actually scaleless sharks. They were a little like sharks, having large bodies without any scales. They loved to form groups, and even if they met with a stronger magic beast, they could hardly be bothered. These scaleless sharks were incredibly tightly bonded to each other and could control water elements naturally. Mages suspected that they were intelligent creatures due to the fact that they would sometimes save humans.

Many books had recorded the selfless acts of scaleless sharks saving humans. Some humans that had landed in the sea were guided for over thousands of miles until they found land and the scaleless sharks left.

“Looks like we are lucky.” Lex looked at the scaleless sharks and heaved a sigh of relief. There would not be any powerful magic beasts near them. Any grade-3 or grade-4 magic beasts were prey for these creatures, and whenever a powerful enemy approached, these scaleless sharks would gang up on them and attack them.

“This is lucky?” Saleen grabbed some bread and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing loudly.

“At least we are still alive.”

Lex’s words left Saleen speechless. Back then, he had been fast enough and their escape had been by pure luck. Two grade-6 mages and a grade-7 sorcerer had gone missing. If they had stayed on the ship, their enemy would not have given them any chances. The other mages on the boat had been too trusting of Alchemy City and had never seen anyone who had dared to go against Alchemy City before. Thinking back to Andrew who had called for help in the water, Saleen felt apologetic.

The best outcome for him would be to become a captive in the enemy’s hands. Lex was right. They had been lucky. Whenever they met with a stronger enemy, they always managed to escape. Thinking back to the fleet behind the magic illusion, Saleen could not help but feel a chill go down his spine. That was created by humans?

He knew that if a ship could be that massive, there would definitely be a magic cannon on it. Magic cannons were different from magic stone artillery. Magic stone artillery was mainly used to deal with hunting ships whereas magic cannons could destroy the armor of an armored vessel. Alchemy City could rule the sea only because they had a ship with a magic cannon on it, preventing the Cloudflow Navy from venturing north.

Now that others possessed that ability too, Alchemy City was no longer safe.

“Saleen, do we continue east?” Daniel asked tentatively. Towards the west was land and their boat was only ten meters long. Any storm in the sea had the potential to destroy them.

“Go north. We will shift our direction to the west in three days.” Saleen did not explain, but with his instincts he could feel that the region that the fleet controlled was immensely vast and the flying puppet was still looking for anyone who had gotten away. Once they were discovered by the flying puppet, even if they used their own puppets to destroy it, the enemy would still be able to locate them. The enemy had a huge ship with a magic compass, and their speed would be much faster than this small boat as well. The alchemy engine had lost its power and using a pair of oars would not be faster than a combat vessel.

The scaleless sharks surrounded their boat and played for a while before swimming towards the south. The stars dotted the night skies but Saleen was not in the mood to enjoy them. He turned towards Daniel and said, “Teach me how to steer.”

“I can still hold on.” Daniel’s honest face showed a glimpse of gratefulness.

“I have other things for you to do. Sika, come learn with me. Go and rest once you’ve learned how.”

“Then what do I do?” Lex was not bothered that Saleen was giving out orders, instead asking what she was supposed to do.

“Take a rest. If we meet with any powerful magic beasts, we will need to count on you.”

“Alright… I will go and sleep then.” Lex looked at Saleen’s cold eyes and found it weird. Saleen was not very smart most of the time, but when it came to matters of life and death, he was unusually composed. He had been the first to spot danger and had decided to take the lifeboat to run. He had never thought of assisting Juno.

It had been proven that if Lex had gone to help Juno, the results would have been disastrous. She was the viscountess of an empire and in the past, she had been used to doing everything herself. There was nothing in Bitter Water Prefecture that did not go through her. Now, with someone like Saleen, she suddenly felt more relaxed than ever.

Saleen was not a reckless person, and if there was a problem waiting to be solved, he would seek help from Lex. This was something that greatly satisfied Lex. Saleen knew his capabilities. She had too many mages under her that had could solve matters easily, but she was constantly worrying that they desired authority too much.

Saleen did not have such desires. He was more interested in the art of magic than Lex.

If her father had still been alive, he probably would have liked Saleen even more. Thinking back to what her and her father had talked about, Lex felt a bitter feeling welling up inside of her. Her father had been right. Saleen was someone that could be nurtured. It was only that he had not been able to hold on to see this day.

Controlling the boat was not something complicated and Daniel patiently taught Saleen and Sika. Saleen tried steering by himself, and only when Daniel approved did he ask, “Daniel, a death mage knows how to process bone equipment, right?”

“Yes. With enough magic nuclei, even though I am only grade-3, I might be able to complete some.”

“Good. Take a rest. Tomorrow, we will create another boat that is large enough to carry two people.”

“We already have a boat.” Daniel did not understand Saleen’s intentions.

“It’s in case this boat is destroyed. I’m not afraid of water, but are you afraid? We don’t have the power of the alchemy engine and we aren’t sure how far away land is. Plus, for now, we can only go in a general direction and might drift off somewhere far away. There are too many magic beasts in the sea and I cannot guarantee that nothing will happen to this boat. You can create a small boat that is enough for you and Sika.”

“What about Nailisi?” Daniel was being honest this time. He did not ask about Lex.

“She’s the same as me. We won’t drown underwater.” Saleen did not bother explaining Nailisi’s powers to Daniel. She was indeed not afraid of water and had an added advantage over Saleen in that she was not afraid of low temperatures. Saleen still needed to use magic to maintain his body temperature periodically underwater. Nailisi, on the other hand, did not.

Daniel could not do so. If he ended up in the water, he would either drown or freeze to death.

Daniel did not say too much before taking the blanket that Saleen handed him and lying down beside the window, trying to fall asleep. He was a grade-3 mage and could not restore his powers as quickly as Saleen. If he continued pushing himself, he would quickly lose his combat abilities. He knew the dangers of the sea and they had already crossed the borders of the safe zone of the sea. It was hard to say how many days a small lifeboat could last.

“Sika, keep watch for now. I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up in four hours.” Saleen handed the steering wheel to Sika. He knew that under such hurried teaching, he and Sika would not be able to control their direction accurately. Even Daniel could not read the constellations, so he could only pray that this boat would not stray too far away from land.

Saleen walked towards Nailisi. Under such circumstances, he could only feel safe when he was sleeping beside Nailisi. Nailisi was laying beside Lex, and as Saleen walked over, Lex said softly, “Saleen, come over. Let’s talk.”

“Okay.” Saleen used his leg to push Nailisi aside and laid between the two of them. Lex’s had a fresh fragrance on her that was somewhat faded, and Saleen knew by now that it was a high-grade magic medicine. So long as Lex controlled it a bit, it could become a smell that mixed with any atmosphere, blending with her surroundings.

“Saleen, you don’t ever seem to be afraid.” Lex used a short ranged mute enchantment, preventing the others from hearing. Sika had been steering and started feeling uneasy, suddenly unable to hear Saleen and Lex’s voices.

“What’s the use of being scared? Those who die will die. I’m different from you. I’ve never had a good day before, and if I were to die, I might just be lucky.” Saleen did not hide his emotions with the mute enchantment in effect.

“Aren’t you worried about Sika and your teacher?” Lex’s voice was so matter-of-fact that Saleen thought he had heard her wrong.

“If I do not survive, I do not deserve to be my teacher’s student. As for Sika. I should have let her return to Caucasus a long time ago. Following me, she will only meet with danger. I seem to be quite down on my luck, and sooner or later, I will burden her.”

“You could bear to let her go?”

“What’s not to bear? If I were to die, she would probably be upset. If I survive…I will become a sorcerer and live for a thousand years. It would be my turn to miss her then.”

“You…have you not realized that Sika likes you a lot?” Lex said softly, not knowing why she had asked that.

“Really?” Saleen was shocked for a moment before he thought back to the time at the palace in Holy Rock City. He had barged into Sika’s room and had been hit on the bridge of his nose by her toothbrush. At that time, her face had been red, but she did not seem to be angry.