Advent of the Archmage

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

One day later, Link brought Elovan, Milose, and Katyusha’s statue to Ferde’s border. By now, Elovan and Milose’s appearances had changed greatly.

First of all, their pointy ears were gone. Link had used a flesh magic puppet spell to round them and change their faces.

High Elves were all very attractive. Even Milose, who was plain amongst High Elves, was above average amongst humans. Now, they looked completely like common men.

If not for their Natural Magic auras, no one would be able to tell they were High Elves from their appearances.

When they got to the border, Link cast a transmission spell to avoid alerting the soldiers. Under white flashes, the group appeared within the main Mage Tower.

Just as the two High Elves steadied themselves, their hearts jumped. They sensed the magic aura coming out of the Mage Tower. It was majestic, deep, and heavy. They felt like they were facing an unshakeable mountain.

Before, they didn’t think much of human Mage Towers by instinct. With their magic knowledge, they thought that they would definitely be at the top level. They obviously couldn’t beat Link, but they could still be second or third.

Now, they weren’t as confident.

Even more shocking, it wasn’t just the Mage Tower that looked majestic. The entire Scorched City was shocking. It was filled with a warm aura like sunlight. It was strange.

This “sunlight” was omnipresent in the Mage Tower and outside in Scorched City. Especially to the north of the city where the sunlight aura was abnormally dense—they could even feel the heat.

Sunlight was warm, but when an immense amount of warmth was gathered together, it would become a sun with unlimited power. There was a sun like that burning in the northern part of the city!

Shock was written in Elovan’s features. He asked without thinking, “Lord, what’s with the north?”

The Isle of Dawn had always paid attention to Ferde, and they thought that they were knowledgeable in Ferde’s basic situation. However, they couldn’t sense this aura. From the outside, nothing special seemed to have happened other than the new buildings they’d built.

But now, he saw an entirely different Ferde in the Mage Tower.

“The military camp is in the North,” Link said, chuckling. All of Ferde’s power was covered by the Mage Tower. The only place they could see the entire city was in the Mage Tower.

“Military camp?” Elovan flinched. He seemed to understand something and was instantly shaken. Not only did they need a lot of people to create such a convergence of power, but they also needed many strong figures. They needed at least 5000 soldiers over Level-6 to create a scene like this.

If they had 5000 Level-6 soldiers, it meant that Ferde now had an entirely new type of power.

He’d interacted with Eliard before and felt the pure and warm aura inside the other. At that time, he’d only thought that Eliard was the exception. He didn’t think that Ferde’s power had reached this level.

At first, he thought he’d only won a chance to survive by joining Ferde. Now, things seemed much better than he’d expected.

Judging from Ferde’s current display of power, they still weren’t a match for the Isle of Dawn. It didn’t mean they had no chance though. Plus, humans had a great population. This was a huge potential. After a few years, Ferde’s power would reach an unthinkable level.

Originally, Elovan had been forced to join Ferde. Now, he saw huge hope. With this hope, he was practically willing to be loyal.

Then he turned to his companion Milose. The other was clearly thinking the same thing. When he turned, Milose had also turned towards him. He saw shock and respect in Milose’s eyes.

During this time, Link had still been walking forward. The two followed in his footsteps until Link stopped before a magic portal door.

“It’s Evelina’s Mage Tower up ahead.”

Evelina was the first High Elf to join Ferde. Elovan and Milose had been scared, but after hearing Evelina’s name, they became calmer. At the same time, they also had complicated feelings.

Link never admitted that Evelina was in Ferde, but everyone knew, so Elovan and Milose didn’t find this surprising.

After opening the portal door, the three stepped in. The scenery changed and they reappeared in a hallway of a totally different style.

The two walls were made of wood with flowing veins. There was the fragrance of wood and grass in the air. A long-tailed green robin perched on one of the lights on the wall. After seeing them, the robin said with a feminine voice, “Welcome, welcome.”

The decorations were completely elven.

Another part of Elovan and Milose were reassured. Link continued leading them all the way to Evelina’s room. Then he knocked on the door. “Master Evelina, are you here?”

The reply came quickly. “I’m here, Lord. What’s wrong?”

At the same time, the door creaked open. Evelina was sitting before a large table, her hands were playing with an Ethereal Crystal. She was making Ethereal equipment.

“I’m sorry. You worked hard these days, but I found two helpers for you.” Link moved to the side, revealing Elovan and Milose behind him.

Seeing them, Evelina felt for their auras and was horribly shocked. “Elovan, Milose, why are you here?”

The two High Elves felt awkward. They didn’t know what to say.

Link felt like he was extra here and left Evelina to take care of everything. “I think,” he said, “it’s better for you three to talk amongst yourselves. I’ll go rest now.”

As soon as he finished, white light flashed around him, and he disappeared from the room.

Evelina pushed down her shock and waved, closing the wooden door. Then she used the Magician’s Hand to place two chairs across the table.

“Sit and tell me what exactly happened.”

Milose and Elovan walked up. Milose was still reserved as before while Elovan was always the leader, so he was the one to speak this time as well.

“I…” He opened his mouth but then realized that he didn’t know what to say. He had some worries. He was afraid that if he said too much and Link heard, he would bring trouble.

This often happened on the Isle of Dawn. There wasn’t any torture or punishment, but if you said the wrong thing, you would be banished to the fringe of society. You wouldn’t be respected your entire life because the Isle of Dawn didn’t lack talents.

It was useless even if they reached the Legendary level because there were handfuls of youths that had the same potential. Within three months, there would be at least five Magicians who would reach the Legendary level.

Evelina had lived in the Isle of Dawn for many years. She obviously knew Elovan’s worries. Waving her hand, she said, “Don’t worry. No one will eavesdrop. You can speak freely with me.”

Milose was shocked. He couldn’t help but say, “The Ferde lord trusts you that much? What if we plot betrayal?”

Elovan had the same suspicions. In his opinion, Link had said he would leave, but he must be hiding in the shadows. He would eavesdrop on them to see if they were honest. This was common on the Isle of Dawn.

Evelina covered her mouth and chuckled. “Betray? Do you dare?” she asked in return.

“I was just saying. Don’t take it seriously,” Milose explained hurriedly. He was afraid too.

Evelina shook her head. “Don’t worry. This isn’t the Isle of Dawn. Here, no one has the time to eavesdrop. As for grouping together to plot betrayal, it’s even more impossible. The system within the Mage Tower makes it impossible.”

“Oh, what do you mean?” Elovan was interested.

Smiling, Evelina raised her voice slightly and said, “Lily, explain to these country bumpkins.”

Lily was the Mage Tower’s tower spirit. As soon as Evelina finished, a gentle female voice said, “A strict surveillance system operates within the Mage Tower. All magic items must be on record. All Magicians, including manager Master Link, who use magic items, will be recorded. By checking the flow of items, one can deduct the user’s intentions. If someone uses too many dangerous items, the Magician will be marked as a ‘dangerous figure’ and be placed under more scrutiny. If…”

Lily’s explanation was very detailed. The system was strict and had no loopholes at all. It was clearly complicated, but because most steps were run by the tower spirit, it was actually quite simple in reality.

When Lily finished, the two Magicians were mostly clear.

Smiling, Evelina said, “See? The system ensures that you can’t do anything big. Even if you discuss for your entire life, you won’t have the weapons.”

Without the help of magic equipment, a Legendary Magician might not even be the match of a fully-equipped Level-9 Magician. They wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“But I can still stab the lord in the back when we work together. He can’t prevent a sudden accident, right?” Milose asked.

Evelina nodded. “Indeed, he can’t prevent it. But let me ask again, do you dare?”

Elovan and Milose met eyes and shook their heads.

Elovan’s reaction was even more obvious. When Evelina asked, he shuddered slightly. He’d thought of the torture on the plains again. He never wanted to be reminded of that painful experience ever again.

They really didn’t dare.

The more one interacted with Link, the more terrifying he became. It seemed that his magic would improve a lot whenever they met. They had no clue what power or tricks he had.

Just the thought of fighting him appearing in Elovan’s mind scared him, let alone actually doing it.

Evelina casually pushed the Ethereal Crystal to the side of the table and brought over a cup of elven honey tea for her old companions. “You two were most likely forced to join Ferde,” she said. “I’d love to know what Master Link did to make you so obedient.”

Elovan and Milose fell silent. After a long while, they started to speak at the same time and then stopped again. Finally, Elovan murmured, “He made us kill Princess Ariel.”

“What? Ariel died?!” Evelina was shocked.

The two nodded and then remained silent.

After a long while, Evelina sighed. “Now, Firuman will have trouble again.”

Almost at the same time, in the palace on the Isle of Dawn, a High Elf messenger brought a confidential letter to the queen. She opened it and paled drastically, unable to even grip the paper. She tottered unsteadily and leaned against the wall.

“My daughter!” she murmured, tears rolling down her shining cheeks.

She had three children—two daughters and one son. Milda was the eldest daughter, and Ariel was the second. Now, Milda was somewhere in Aragu while Ariel was dead. All of this had to do with Link.

Ferde Lord, prepare to pay! She turned and sped to the High Elf Elder Council.