86 Bitter Water Army Part 1 (1/2)

Saleen did not take Viscountess Lex’s words to heart. The Qin Empire was strict but they were generous with mages. In the capital, it was hard for mages to meet with any danger.

Moreover, Bitter Water Prefecture was not close to any borders, and even if they met with any bandits on the way to the capital, they would be mere small fry. Any who saw the viscountess’ army would have fled a long time ago, and a mage would not be necessary.

However, Viscountess Lex seemed to be taking this very seriously. She sent people to measure the body sizes of Saleen and Sika and carefully asked for the needs of Sika and Nailisi. Hence, Saleen did not stand by ceremony. If a war truly was about to break out, for the sake of self-defense, he could not do nothing either. Since Bitter Water Prefecture had plenty of money, he might as well help himself.

Saleen received a new set of magic robes. The white robes had patterns fashioned out of green magic silk, and a belt that was suitable for battle and hidden out of view. There were no signs of stitching throughout the entire robe and Saleen knew that this robe must have been created using alchemy. It might not have been high-grade enough for him, but it had definitely taken a lot of time to make. Splurging like this might not have been entirely bad. A magic robe was meant to stabilize the elements in the space surrounding a mage, and wearing this magic robe could prevent him from needing a magic wand.

The belt that had been fashioned out of the horns of a magic beast had an empty space carved into it to inlay magic nuclei, forming six beautiful patterns.

Aside from the robe, his shoes were alchemy equipment as well. The soles of the shoes had a layer of magic beast’s armor and the shirt inside had been made of fine cotton put together with magic powder.

This magic robe was incredibly useful and Saleen stored the magic robes that his teacher had given him into the Ring of Gifts. He could not bear to wear them any longer and changed into his new robes.

Aside from the magic robes, Viscountess Lex had given them all an inventory so they could obtain some scrolls. These scrolls were not free, but they were incredibly cheap. A Grade 3 magic scroll cost only fifty gold coins. On the market, they could fetch up to two hundred.

Even if a person did not use them, selling them away would net a profit. However, Saleen was quite certain that no one would be willing to sell them away. Saleen thought for a while before spending a thousand gold coins to purchase twenty Grade 3 scrolls.

He was a Grade 2 mage and the use of a magic scroll could only extend one grade further. He would not be able to use any magic scrolls above Grade 3. Because he had a vague understanding of Figaro’s formula, Saleen only chose Water Magic spell scrolls, and they were the few that he had been practicing with.

Usually, learning magic that was above one’s grade was not advisable as it could wipe out a person’s magic chords with just one cast. Saleen had twice the number of magic chords than other mages of his grade and possessed much greater focus too. It would take him less than half of the usual time to master Grade 3 magic.

Before coming to the viscountess’ residence, Saleen had a few near-death experiences. He knew fully that even though magic was not only used for battle, a mage who did not know how to fight would die much too early. Hence, he had put more effort into studying, and whenever he was presented with an opportunity, he would improve his focus using his badge. Now with Nailisi sharing his burden, using his badge, Saleen only needed half an hour to return to his original state.

By now, Saleen already possessed a basic understanding of three Grade 3 spells: Ice Blade, Swamp Illusion, and Acid Rain.

Out of these three spells, one was a burst attacking spell, another was a control spell, and the last was a sustained attacking spell.

Ice Blade spell was a very powerful single object spell as demonstrated by the sorcerer. This Grade 3 spell was purely meant for attacking single objects and was much sharper than a Wind Blade spell. Swamp Illusion was a sinister control spell. It could create a three-dimensional space and control the objects within this space. The targets would feel as though they were drowning in water element, and would perceive it as high-grade magic.

Despite having a short duration, this magic was still powerful low-grade magic.

Acid Rain was not anything out of the ordinary but it had many uses on the battlefield like causing large scale destruction to the enemy’s armor. Saleen chose this magic because he could not harm himself with it. Moreover, during combat in narrow spaces, acid rain would not disappear from a loss of focus. It could last for a long time, sometimes up to an hour.

If Acid Rain was cast in an entirely enclosed space and gathered and combined with Swamp Illusion, it would be a hundred times more powerful than the Swamp spell.

Saleen was not bothered by the limits of a particular spell. He had not had many choices to begin with. Before becoming a grand mage, he could only learn less than a hundred Water Magic spells. The spells with a wide range of uses barely amounted to twenty.

The twenty magic scrolls that Saleen had chosen were all one of these three spells. Using Figaro’s formula, Saleen knew vaguely that even if the magic was cast using these scrolls, they would still be controllable. Moreover, the magic from the scrolls could allow the user to more clearly understand the workings of these spells, allowing them to master these spells even more quickly.

Which was to say, with enough money, one could buy a large number of scrolls to continuously cast and understand them. This would allow one to master the spells in the fastest time possible.

Hence, Saleen had not chosen magic scrolls of various types, despite the fact that they would have allowed him to have a thrill and try out spells that were not water based.

Twenty scrolls would not be of much help in his study of these three spells but Saleen believed that the practice of any spell happened through the accumulation of experience. Even if there was only a one in a thousand chance of accomplishing something, he would not let it go.

Saleen was grateful that Sika’s weapons had been fully replaced.