Advent of the Archmage

Forest, Rocky Creek.

The Wind Tiger gasped for breath while he spoke spitefully, "Andrew, I recognize you bastard. Heh, you are clever enough to bring two other helpers. If you had arrived alone, I would have absolutely defeated you!"

"Idiot!" The Necromancer named Andrew sneered and diverted his focus back to demonizing the tiger.

The Wind Tiger had given all hope. He merely said, "Andrew, don’t be too complacent. Don’t think that joining the Syndicate will make you invincible. You are a prisoner of the academy and will be caught by them soon enough! I don’t believe that you can defend against a Level-9 spell!"

Andrew merely mumbled coldly, "The academy is in the North. We are currently in the South; they wouldn’t give chase all the way here."

The incident at the East Cove Higher Magic Academy was indeed shocking. He was almost certain that the academy would be destroyed when Tarviss appeared. However, the final results of that battle almost threw him off his feet.

It seemed like a genius who possessed the qualities of a savior had appeared in that damned academy and defeated a Level-8 demon single-handedly. Andrew had originally planned to loot the remaining treasures from the academy after the destruction. However, upon hearing the news, he immediately ran southwards without hesitation.

From his knowledge, he was not the only one who had done so. After the terrifying news got around, all the prisoners who managed to escape from the Tower of Azula went as far as they could away from the Norton Kingdom. A good handful of them went towards the Dark Forest, while a majority of them decided to head southwards where the pursuing hands of the academy could not reach.

This was something to be expected. The Magician was rumored to possess Level-9 strength, suggesting that he was only one step from being promoted to a Legend. Furthermore, he was able to defeat a demon, a race that was known for their natural talent in combat.

As much as the prisoners had faith in their skills and battle experience, this power was not something to be trifled with.

The Wind Tiger could feel that the dark forces had begun to corrode his internal organs. While he was already disheartened, he still would not admit defeat and give Andrew the satisfaction.

"If the Syndicate were to extend their influence to help Morpheus attain the rank of a god, you would have to travel northwards. You will then meet him once again."

"Shut your mouth!" Andrew shouted, looking visibly irritated as he increased the rate of his demonization spell.

"What can you do? What more can you do to me?" The Wind Tiger rebutted. Since he was going to lose consciousness, he was not about to give Andrew an easy time.

A Shield Warrior beside Andrew then whispered, "My lord, do you need me to cut off his tongue?"

Andrew nodded. It was not required for a warbeast to speak. He might as well take away this ability now and save himself the frustration.

The Shield Warrior marched forward with his sword. As he reached the Wind Tiger, he smashed his shield mercilessly onto the tiger’s jaw. Under the full impact of the force, the weakened tiger could only scream in pain, causing his mouth to be wide open. Making use of this chance, the shield warrior then pushed his shield into the open jaw, forcing it to stay open. The scene was extremely brutal.

"I’ll remember you now. You are dead! You hear me?" The Wind Tiger screamed with a muffled voice. Although he still sounded harsh, his eyes were glued to the sword in the Warrior’s hand, his eyes showing a hint of fear.

He had never imagined that a mighty Wind Tiger could suffer such a cruel fate.

"What a sad life I’ve lead! After being imprisoned for 200 years, I returned home only to find my wife and children either missing or dead. Now, I am even going to lose my consciousness and freedom! Why..."

The thought of his miserable fate caused tears to roll down his cheeks. Although his cries sounded weird from the shield keeping his mouth open, the tears were real and visible. The Shield Warrior ignored those cries and stuck his sword deep into the tiger’s throat, prepared to sever the tongue.

At that moment, something happened!

A scream could be heard in the direction behind him. It was the voice of the Necromancer who just joined the team! The Warrior then heard a warning cry.

"Ambush!"

Ambush?

Before he could react, a huge fist had appeared from the side of the stream and was charging towards him at high speed. It was barely visible to the naked eye and was covered in incandescent flames.

As his shield was stuck in between the tiger’s mouth, he was unable to retract in time to defend himself. His sword was also naturally unable to withstand such an attack. At the last moment, the Warrior threw his sword away decisively and crossed his hands in front of his chest while squatting in a stable position. This was the defensive position a Warrior took when they were preparing to release their Battle Aura.

Furthermore, as a pivotal Level-6 Warrior of the organization, he had defensive magic wrist guards on both his left and right arms. He could activate them for a total of three times to defend himself from surprise attacks.

The moment his hands crossed, the magic on the wrist guards was activated. A light tinkering sound could be heard, and a Level-4 circular light elemental shield emerged in between his body and the incoming giant fist.

He had assumed that his Battle Aura coupled with his Level-4 defensive spell and his anti-magic armor would be enough to withstand the collision with the spell.

However, he was wrong.

At the moment when he completed his defensive preparations, the hand changed its form. The spell changed from a charging fist to that of a hand trying to grasp its target. The offensive flames of the hand had also been transferred to the center of the palm.

This hand then gripped the Warrior tightly in its fiery embrace.

The Warrior’s light elemental shield could only defend against single directional attacks. Under such immense pressure from all directions, the protection it offered to the Warrior was close to zero. This had rendered much of the preparations the Warrior had done ineffective. He was totally at a loss when the hand managed to get a grip on him.

In an instant, he could feel his Battle Aura being consumed rapidly by the violent assault of flames. Although his armor had anti-magic properties, it was not strong enough to withstand a Level-6 fire elemental spell. The temperature of the armor rose rapidly and soon glowed with a crimson hue.

As the Warrior thought he was about to meet his doom, the hand released him from its deathly grip and went in the other direction. Along the way, it once again changed form back into a charging fist and collided with a spiral spike spell cast by Andrew.

Spiral Spikes

Level-5 spell

Cost: 700 Mana Points

Effect: Highly Corrosive. Able to corrode 50 ordinary humans instantly in one hit.

Andrew released this Level-5 spell almost instantaneously, a testament to his strength and control over his magic as a Level-7 Magician.

The fire elements in Link’s spell and the dark elements in Andrew’s spell then began to contradict one another in a destructive battle.

A low rumble could be heard from the point of collision. The Spiral Spike disintegrated first as it was the lower level spell. However, the dark energy that erupted after its disintegration had greatly damaged the stability of the flaming fist. The spell eventually collapsed as well and started causing explosions in the area.

Using a low-level spell to deal with a high-level spell was a necessary and basic skill for combat Magicians.

It seemed as though Andrew was successful.

Andrew thought so as well. He pointed to the forest at the side and commanded the Shield Warrior beside him, "He is right there. Charge towards him; I will cover you!"

The Shield Warrior nodded. He had already seen his opponent who was currently hiding behind a large tree. He followed the command and charged forward while holding his shield in a protective stance. A thick and stable layer of dark elemental Battle Aura engulfed his body, and he took courageous strides forward.

However, something horrific happened after he took only a few steps.

The flaming fist that had just disintegrated began to reorganize itself at an insane speed. He did not manage to take any more steps before the fist was fully formed. The familiar incandescent glow once again penetrated through the forest and charged towards him at full speed.

Neither the Shield Warrior nor Andrew were prepared for this.

Who in the world could cast a Level-6 spell in less than half a second?

Andrew had prided himself on being able to cast a Level-5 spell instantaneously. However, the anonymous Magician hiding in the forest completely crushed him in a battle of spellcasting speed.

The fist collided with the Shield Warrior as he was hesitating whether to take any more steps forward.

A loud and dull collision sound echoed through the area.

The dark Battle Aura of the Shield Warrior had served as a defensive barrier against the violent invasion of the flames. However, the Shield Warrior was unable to defend against the powerful impact of the flaming fist that could even break through solid concrete walls.

He flew backwards in the direction of Andrew, who was only nine feet away from him.

Andrew was caught totally unprepared. Before he was hit by the Shield Warrior, he instinctively cast a Level-2 Ice Shield spell.

This low-level spell was smashed to smithereens the moment the Shield Warrior collided with it. However, it managed to absorb some of the impacts and reduce the damage of the impact on Andrew. As the Shield Warrior landed on Andrew’s chest, he could clearly hear the cracking sounds from where he determined was his ribcage.

He was slightly relieved I would have been dead if I was not a Necromancer!

However, the next moment, his relief turned into horror. He could see the flaming fist charging straight at them. His opponent was giving them no time to react and wanted them dead!

Damn it! Andrew pressed the magic ring on his hand, and he was instantly enveloped in a veil of water.

Transportation spell, an essential escape spell that any high-level Magicians needed to have in his arsenal.

This Magician was a monster. He was done with the mission.

In the instant his transportation spell was formed, he saw the Shield Warrior being caught by the flaming hand. He then heard half a scream before he was teleported miles away.

Although he didn’t manage to see it, Andrew could imagine the state of the Shield Warrior after the scream.

The moment he landed safely, Andrew cast his second escape spell without hesitation, The Shadow of the Mist.

Shadow of the Mist

Level-5 Dark Spell

Cost: 653 Mana Points

Effect: Turns the user into a ball of dark energy, giving him unimaginable speed.

Similarly, Andrew cast this Level-5 spell almost instantly. His body turned into a cloud of white mist, and he quickly escaped maneuvering through the woods. Along the way, Andrew could not help but exclaim, "Who was that Magician?

Although his opponent had the upper hand of a sneak attack, they had three people on their side!

Two of them were Level-6 pivotal Shield Warriors from the Syndicate, while he was a Level-7 Magician. To think that the battle would end overwhelmingly in the favor of his opponent with him narrowly escaping and his two other comrades dead. This was too horrifying.

The suppressive atmosphere in the woods, while his opponent was casting his spells, was almost suffocating. This was the second time he felt like this in the 400 over years he had been alive. The first time was 300 years ago when he was facing a young Bryant. He was similarly defeated and had to escape in fear.

Andrew was not the only one in shock. On the riverbed, the Wind Tiger witnessed the entire scene. He spit out the shield that was stuck in between his jaws and swallowed his saliva in fear. He then said with a trembling voice, "Is he the one?"