Badge in Azure

Chapter 198: Hogina’s Tip-off (Part 1)

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

“Saleen, you cannot refuse.” Hogina took a step back and stood next to Saleen.

“Why not? Does Alchemy City have such a rule?” Saleen remembered that Lex had taught him quite a number of things along the way, and he had not forgotten the taboos of Alchemy City. However, Saleen could not recall anything about duels. To a mage, duels were silly events. After the knight class had become obsolete, duels had become the solution to disputes between mercenaries of the lowest levels.

“I hate him, he smells strange.” Hogina covered her nose and looked at that mage with an odd expression. The mage clad in a grey robe was in fury and anguish at the same time. He had tried casting the Cleaning spell multiple times to get rid of the smell. However, the smell seemed to have seeped into his skin after coming into contact with it. No matter how hard he tried, the smell could not be removed.

The mage himself could not help but be appalled by that smell, let alone Hogina. The feeling he had was as if he had entered a nest of scavengers while they were feeding their cubs, and the cubs had strewn rotten intestines all over the place.

“Hogina, that doesn’t constitute a reason for me to take action.” Saleen was not moved by Hogina’s expression. Hogina sulked and wanted to rebut, but when she saw the gaze of coldness and stillness in Saleen’s blue eyes, she could only stifle her breath.

Damn it, his heart must have been drowned in Water Magic. So unfeeling.

Saleen lowered his head and looked at Hogina, who had a wronged look on her face. He simply ignored the mage clad in a grey robe. However, what had caused the mage to become depressed was that the people around Saleen had also stopped walking, but none of them bothered to look at him.

If someone had scolded the mage for blocking their way, he could have at least found a reason to pick a fight with the other party. However, Saleen and his group were not talking or looking at him at all, and this caused him to be at a loss for what to do. The mage could not possibly obstruct the path forever. This was Alchemy City, and not his home.

“Fancy calling yourself a man!” The mage clad in a grey robe directed all his rage at Saleen. He took two steps forward and glared at Saleen.

Saleen then raised his head, and responded coolly, “Do you still dare to call yourself a woman?”

Lex could not help it when she heard the viciousness of Saleen’s words and a laugh escaped her throat. Indeed, when that mage heard what Saleen said, his eyebrows arched upwards and a brutal look appeared on his enraged face.

That mage placed his hands together in the shape of a cross with his index finger and middle finger bent. He chanted a mantra and prepared to cast a spell. Saleen was stunned. The other party was wearing a grey robe. Did he not even know how to cast an instantaneous spell?

However, Saleen did not want to absorb that magic attack without any rhyme or reason. Saleen took a step forward and came before the mage in the grey robe before raising his hand to deliver a punch.

Saleen had never trained in the martial arts before, let alone the sword aura. However, he had witnessed many scenes like this in the past, so he tried to replicate them. Before the mage could prepare his spell, Saleen’s fist had already struck him on the nose.

Ka! The mage’s nose was fractured, causing the nose to become crooked. The mantra was disrupted and the mage in the grey robe blacked out. His breathing stopped abruptly and he collapsed onto the ground stiffly. The three men behind that mage were aghast, and they drew their soft swords at the same time.

“He has only fainted. But if you dare to do anything, he will surely die.” Saleen wriggled his aching hand, having used too much strength in that punch. Without any magic, Saleen’s hand had been completely unprotected. The mage’s nose was broken, but Saleen’s fist was also in excruciating pain.

Hogina cracked up as Saleen’s actions had gone completely beyond her expectations. As a mage, one was not considered to have flouted the rules of Alchemy City if they punched someone. Had the other three swordmasters used magic against Saleen, the outcome would have also been the same.

However, the sword aura and magic chords could not coexist. Even if the three swordmasters changed their profession midway through their careers, they would only be at the standard of magic disciples. The most they could do was remain in their positions and cast level-0 spells. However, in that window of time, a mage would have already been able to thrash them.

“Don’t create any trouble in Alchemy City.” Hogina shoved the three fuming men aside and entered the lift. She turned a blind eye to the soft swords in the men’s hands, but Saleen did not dare to be careless.

“If you do not leave, I will shout for the patrolling guards of Alchemy City.” Saleen raised his ice plate armor while Nailisi and Sika took a step forward to block their line of assault.

The rules in Alchemy City might have been a big deal, but many matters could not be controlled using rules alone. One example was this mage clad in a grey robe who had tried to cast magic against Saleen. If a person went berserk, they were capable of doing anything.

Since their young master had not died, the three swordmasters did not dare to launch any attacks. They put away their soft swords and carried the mage away, making way for Saleen and the others to pass.

“Saleen, that punch was so beautiful!” Lex said in a commending tone when she entered the lift. In the Qin language, “beautiful” also had the meaning of “perfect”. Saleen’s punch had been executed just as the mage’s mantra was about to be completed. The resulting magic backlash, which was neither too weak nor too powerful, had then caused that mage to faint.

If Saleen had punched slightly earlier, the mage’s magic would have been broken, but he would not have fainted. And if Saleen’s punch had come just a little later, the strength from the magic backlash would have been amplified by thousands of times, and the mage’s brain could have exploded. If that happened, Saleen’s fist would have been destroyed as well.

From a martial arts perspective, Saleen’s punch had been full of weaknesses and loopholes. However, in terms of magical calculations, Saleen’s punch had been pretty perfect.

Saleen blessed his own fist with a Chunlin spell, and said, “It hurts a ton. That guy’s nose was really hard. Hogina, who is that man? Why does he not know about the rules?”

“How would I know where he came from? There are so many foreigners in Alchemy City that I can’t be bothered to get to know them.” Hogina was peeved at Saleen’s words just now, as her request had been completely neglected by him.

“But he did that in front of you. Don’t you want to investigate further? You could at least teach him a lesson. If every foreigner behaved in that manner, wouldn’t Alchemy City be a total mess?”

“That is the elemental hand’s issue. It doesn’t concern the alchemy tower.”

“Doesn’t concern? But what if he had hurt you accidentally?”

“Hurt me? Hmph, those Cloudflow scumbags. If they had hurt me, my teacher would have sent people to their hometown to obliterate every last one of them.” Hogina’s face was filled with a murderous aura. She had unknowingly revealed a part of that mage’s identity. Obviously, she knew where that mage had come from.

As the lift traveled upwards, the halter gave out a low rumble as if no grease had been applied whatsoever.

Hogina’s words caused Saleen to become alarmed. The people of Alchemy City were not good people. In the future, it would be best not to execute any attacks on people who had the markings of Alchemy City, unless all the witnesses could be killed.

“Don’t be so nervous. People like that are all over Alchemy City. When they first arrive, they’re full of themselves, but they sort out their thoughts after some time,” Hogina turned around and told Saleen as she walked out of the lift after the doors had opened.

“Aren’t you curious? Fancy a grade-4 mage being so jumpy.” Saleen did not give up. He still wanted to extract some information from Hogina.

Hogina’s face broke out in a sly smile. Then, she sniffed with her nose and said, “Saleen, if you want information, you can buy it. There’s information for sale on the first story of the alchemy tower.”

“If I buy it from this place, will it be cheaper?”

“I don’t accept gold coins. But if you give me a few pieces of objects like that alchemical component, we can be friends.”

Upon hearing Hogina say that, Sumano’s face brimmed with worry. If Saleen agreed to Hogina’s deal, he would lose his job. Furthermore, the money he had received from Saleen would have to be returned.

“Friends do not demand remuneration and benefits.”

“Do you think I care for that? Hmph hmph…” Seeing that Saleen had no response, Hogina tolerated her annoyance and continued, “You’re fortunate to have met me. Usually, I can’t be bothered with these miscellaneous matters. I am only helping my senior tend to them for a day. It will be difficult for you to find me in the future.”

Hogina was throwing a childish tantrum. Even though Saleen was not old, he had stopped acting like a spoiled child after his parents had died. Saleen was more mature than most people his age, and he could only chuckle when he saw Hogina acting in this manner. He said, “Hogina, we cannot keep talking while standing here. Bring me on a tour of the apartment first.”

The layout of the forty-ninth floor was different from that of the lower stories. The lift faced a spacious counter. This counter was about six meters wide, and a beautiful lady with an amiable smile stood behind it. The receptionist noticed that Hogina was arguing with Saleen, so she did not try to interject. When Hogina walked towards her, she then opened her mouth and said, “Miss Hogina, you are here. Are there any issues?”

“A friend of mine wants to purchase an apartment. Give me the keys to Room 2.”

“Yes.” The lady took out an alchemical key from beneath the counter and handed it to Hogina.

Hogina’s expression became jovial once more as though she had forgotten what had just happened. She twirled the key in her hand and said to Saleen, “Let’s go and see your new home.”

“Mm.” Saleen nodded and followed her. His icy sight was activated all the while, and he spotted the concealed alchemical contraption under the counter. There were at least ten complex alchemical crossbows which were aimed at the lift. These crossbows were not employed by the military, and Saleen could feel that the magic arrays in the crossbows were fitted with high-level magic nuclei.

The military wanted their crossbows to be economical and versatile, so their magic nuclei were only of intermediate grade at most. However, the crossbows under the counter were banned in all other countries. Saleen intuitively felt that these crossbows could easily penetrate his ice plate armor.

In reality, if there were people creating trouble, the crossbows would not even need to be deployed. The alchemy tower simply needed to snip the halter on the lift and the people inside would be smashed into pulp.

It was safe to stay here. Even if there was any sort of trouble, no one would come here anyways.

The surface area of the hall on the forty-ninth story was much larger than that of the tenth floor. It was decorated into a gigantic living room. Artwork was displayed throughout the hall while the ceiling was equipped with an elaborate network of magic lights. Crystals refracted the light rays onto the walls which were filled with enormous paintings.

On three sides of the hall were four doors each. Hogina led Saleen and his team past the lift, and they arrived at a door which was facing the center of the counter. In the center of the door, there was a beautiful metallic lock. Hogina stuck the key into the lock and the door slid open to both sides.

“Come this way. I don’t care whether or not you are satisfied. Once you hand the items to me, this apartment will be yours.” Hogina waved her hand to allow Saleen and the others to follow her through the door.

Behind the door was a small hall that had a length and width of six meters, entirely empty. Hogina told Saleen, “This is the place where you can set your magic array. Without your permission, no one can enter, not even the people of Alchemy City. For example, if that mage back there wanted to barge in, Alchemy City would not interfere no matter what you did to him.