875 Blue Ice Maiden Part 2 (1/2)

That meant that the two yard tall body of the stone statue soldier leader was also its core.

A hole slowly closed up at the center of the brow of the elemental core. Nailisi's thrust had all six devilish eyes lock the blue ice maiden down. The resulting attack landed right onto the elemental core itself.

Saleen had only begun to appreciate the true value of the six eyes, regretting the fact that he had all six eyes crafted without studying them further. Even if he was to study them it would have been impossible to analyze the very principle allowing them to lock down their target, thus making it near-impossible to replicate the phenomenon or use the eyes to create a new magic spell.

The elemental core was the blue ice maiden's true body. The water element congealed into hard ice, emanating cold air about it, yet the core did not freeze the seawater at its surface. The cold was instead dispersed far and wide, having the seawater around it take in the coldness. As a result, the area within more than a dozen miles from the blue ice maiden's core was rendered below freezing point.

”What...are you…?!”, the blue ice maiden was lying almost flat on the ground, struggling to keep its head up. It dared not lift a hand against Saleen, after enduring excruciating pain in its soul from the electrical shock.

”I am your master, Saleen Metatrin.”

”I...yes, master,” the blue ice maiden's soul had just formed, and the being had been waiting for its master's summon for tens of thousands of years. Humans in the imperial city had ceased to exist, so its waiting had been destined to be fruitless.

Elemental creatures were not known for their resistance. Upon hearing that the blue ice maiden acknowledged him to be its master, Saleen wasted no time and had her summon her underlings. Grade-9 blue ice maidens filled the areas nearby the walls around those parts. One-hundred and forty-four grade-9 blue ice maidens returned to the military depot after hearing their leader summoned for them, and stood in two lines in front of Saleen.

The one-hundred and forty-four blue ice maidens standing before him had him feeling rather regretful, as the number of the creatures he would have been able to control was still no more than thirty-six. There would be no improvement in that particular area even if he was to advance to grade-9. Such difference in levels would have only been improved after advancing to grade-19. He might even remain stuck with being able to control only thirty-six elemental creatures at most.

”You need a name. You will henceforth be known as Julia,” Saleen named his new servant without giving much thought on the name, yet the creature replied in a surprising manner, ”Master, I already have a name.”

”You do?”

”It was a name I gave myself, Gloria.”

”Well then Gloria, I won't need you to come out to do battle much in the future. Just focus on advancing then,” Saleen said to the blue ice maiden.

”Yes, master,” Gloria had not wanted to keep a human form, and Saleen's lack of need for her to fight for him personally was exactly what she had wished for. Gloria transformed into an elemental badge in an instant and dropped onto the floor. All one-hundred and forty-four of the blue ice maidens went inside the badge, and Saleen set the completed badge into his belt.

There were four elemental badges left to be collected. Saleen's eyes looked east. Large fallen buildings were seen everywhere in front, seemingly without end.

Only with all six badges collected would Saleen's combat methods be rich and diverse. To mages, who were all known for their acumen in calculations, one's combat tactics would be far more versatile with all six major elemental creatures under their command. Saleen did not feel secure with only Nailisi following him into the heart of the imperial city.

The water puppet's finger attack missed entirely. The resulting recoil was very small, as most of it was taken by the crystal ring though. It did not suffer any damage, but transforming into an ice mirror was nonetheless an act of putting its life on the line.

A grade-9 Icy Reflection would have still been shattered by the water element slash. The water hesitated when Saleen was in danger, but it nonetheless went on defending its master.

Nailisi squatted on the floor and panted as Saleen put away his water elemental badge.

Saleen put up a water shield and enveloped Nailisi within, asking with a concerned tone, ”Nailisi, what happened?”

”Master, the mental power drain was immense. My mental powers looked like it was being sucked dry by those six eyes!”, Nailisi answered with a tinge of fear in her eyes.

”Don't you have divine crystals with you?”, Saleen was taken aback as well, as he thought the mental powers consumed by using the spear's technique would have been replenished using divine crystals.

”Master I had them, but I have used them all up,” Nailisi knew she would not have been able to weasel herself out, and thus chose to speak the truth.

Saleen's expressions darkened and he spoke calmly, ”Take this then, but be prudent with it.”

Saleen took out one of his divine crystals and shoved it towards Nailisi. He had a rather clear idea of what Nailisi used these crystals on. Repairs to the Twelve Notes of Purgatory required lots of materials, and divine crystals were one of such vital materials. Only by repairing the purgatories with divine crystals, would her control of them be able to reach its greatest.

The recent use of the Twelve Note of Purgatory all used very large portals. Such effects would not have been possible without the use of divine crystals. There was little else he could have done to stop Nailisi from wasting the divine crystals. Nailisi was an extremely greedy person. Having her be too wasteful with resources would have been even more impossible than having the Mechanical Soul become obedient, or the winged skeleton rebelling against him.