150 Each Other’s Mentor Part 1 (2/2)
”Let’s go down too.” Saleen noticed that Nailisi was observing the magic array with keen interest, so he pulled on Sika’s skirt and went down the stairs with her first.
”Master…” Nailisi said, catching up to Saleen.
”Say no more. Find an opportunity to absorb the power in Raphael’s bones and don’t sustain any more damage. I need to train for a period of time so I can’t take care of you. Sika, try to become a warrior priest as quickly as possible. When we return, our troubles will only be just beginning.”
”What troubles?” Sika asked in confusion.
”We are not dead, but the oracle is. Also, Lex is missing, so the matter will have been exposed already. The oracle defied his orders and went to the Qin Empire to kill someone. The mages from the Qin Empire will definitely go to the Tanggulasi Empire to seek revenge. This is no longer a war between the empires, and this matter might anger Alchemy City. One year is too long. I don’t know what might happen, but the conflict between the mages and the Holy See will be greatly intensified, so there won’t be any safe havens on the mainland anymore.”
”At worst, I won’t go to the Cloudflow Empire,” Sika replied without an ounce of concern.
”Sika, if holy masters went to Caucasus to kill the elder priests, what would your village do?” Saleen rebutted.
”All the warriors will be deployed, and the holy masters will…” Sika did not continue. She was not stupid. It was just that she had been too lazy to think of these complicated affairs. There might have been a handful of mages in the Cloudflow Empire, but they were all concentrated in the imperial family. Since the Cloudflow Empire had inherited part of the Fourth Dynasty, the empire held their mages in high regard as well.
The conflict between the mages and the Holy See was bound to affect the attitudes of the imperial family in the Cloudflow Empire. Originally, the Cloudflow Empire had been able to sit on the sidelines and watch, but now they had also been implicated.
Saleen was right, the oracle was definitely doomed. His actions had completely ruined the Holy See’s efforts in having a cordial relationship with the Cloudflow Empire. Even without the backlash from the god’s ring, the pope would not have spared him either way.
When Saleen arrived on the ninth story, he saw that Lex had cleared a space and laid out her blanket. It seemed like she was going to stay here. Saleen wanted to advise Lex to stay downstairs, but he held that thought back.
Saleen wanted to learn Grade 1 to Grade 5 magic, and the only one he could turn to was Lex.
The god’s ring needed ten months to regain its abilities, and Saleen and Lex knew that it could not be rushed so they could only stay in this magical tower to train. The magical tower was extremely safe, as none of the magic beasts in the forest dared to go near it. They only needed to have the puppets guard the entrances to be able to practice without worries.
Saleen felt that he was quite fortunate. If he had been in the Myers Mainland, he might have never had a chance to advance two grades in succession like this. He might also never have gotten to keep Raphael’s treasures. The largest coincidence was that Lex had brought along huge quantities of materials. Those materials had been given to her by the emperor to help set up her county’s army.
Saleen did not need to search for food either. Being in this barren interdimensional space had been the best possible outcome for him.
Lex did not put on any airs. Saleen had a great wealth of magic knowledge as well, so the two of them exchanged information and time flew by quickly. Saleen felt that he had restarted his journey, learning everything from Grade 1 to Grade 5. At every grade, he needed to master five water-type spells, and an additional five spells belonging to the other element types.
Learning water-type spells was easy to Saleen. The spells of the other element types were more troublesome. Saleen used the water elements to simulate the spells of other elements. He needed to understand all of the details of the spells he wished to simulate.
Lex repeatedly demonstrated and explained the spells in order to shorten Saleen’s process of deduction with the Figaro formula. Saleen needed much more time than other mages to simulate a new spell. For Saleen to cast these spells with ease, he needed at least ten times the original amount of time necessary to achieve it.
Fortunately, such matters were never boring to these two mages. Lex even became addicted to it, spending as much time as possible teaching Saleen. She discovered that her speed of calculation was slower than that of Saleen, who was a Grade 4 mage, and Saleen’s thoughts were unrestrained, which in turn gave her more inspiration.
For example, Saleen converted a Grade 5 earth spell into a Grade 4 water spell. The offensive power did not decrease, but the casting speed increased. This Grade 4 spell produced a totem that was formed by the condensation of ice crystals, and the totem would charge in a straight line and collide into enemies. In addition, the effects of frost array would occur on whatever ground the totem touched.
The totem from the earth spell had a slower activation time. It needed forty frames of time, whereas the Grade 4 ice totem only needed about twelve frames of time. The earth spell dealt stronger physical damage and could even crush rocks, but the ice totem had a freezing effect. When the ice totem was cast in a narrow space, warriors below the grade of a swordmaster would potentially have trouble dodging it.
While imparting magic skills to Saleen, Lex also learned many things. Her teacher was a Grade 8 sorcerer, which was an advantage, but it had potentially restricted the range of her thinking. For Saleen, once he had begun learning magic, Jason had always had him think on his own. Aside from reminding Saleen of some optional methods, Jason had not truly restricted Saleen.
After teaching Saleen for three months, Lex was actually able to advance naturally to the next grade.