Advent of the Archmage

There were no eternal enemies between races, nor were there eternal allies.

Amongst all the races in Firuman, Link’s fear of the High Elves was second only to the Dark Elves. The longer he stayed in this world, the more cautious he became.

In the game, the High Elves did everything to fight against the flood of the Dark Army from the North. They deployed an army of 40,000 Magicians and contributed greatly to the battle.

But now, the times have changed!

The Dark Elves were no longer a threat, and the demon army had been defeated. The God of Destruction had come, but it annoyingly stayed in the darkness, accumulating power without doing anything. No one discovered their threat for now. Even the Syndicate in the South had hidden away.

The threats to Firuman seemed to suddenly disappear. Now, the allies from before became competitors. Link had no need to hold back.

Returning to the Mage Tower, Link went to find Celine. He glossed over the details so she wouldn’t worry. Then, he went to the enchantment room to start working on the detection equipment.

The light in the room was still on. As always, Alloa was practicing her enchantment. Hearing the sound, she turned around and glanced at Link. "Your brows are five millimeters closer to each other than usual, and you seem pale. You have a cold aura, and there’s dust on your shoes. Did you kill that thief?"

Link winced at that and shook his head. "It’s much more complicated than you think."

"Oh. Can you tell me?" Alloa asked.

Link thought about it. It was uncomfortable to keep it in, and Alloa was intelligent. She was also a reliable ally. He could discuss this matter with her.

Pulling a chair over, Link described what had happened. At the end, he took out the High Elf Queen’s Legendary spell book and tossed it on the table. "That’s her gift of apology."

Alloa flipped through it. A few minutes later, she nodded. "It would be a feat for High Elves to have 50 books of this level. The gift is quite sincere."

Link agreed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let go so easily. Looking up, he saw that Alloa’s Replenishment Crystal on her spell-casting ring was a bit dim. He reached out and said, "It seems like you’ve practiced hard today. You’ve used up one-third of your Dragon Power."

Alloa took off her spell-casting ring and gave it to Link. She continued to flip through the book and said, "You must have come to the Mage Tower at this time to make equipment. Are you worried that the High Elves will take advantage of the spatial coordinate to go to the Aragu Realm and train strong soldiers?"

"Huh, I can’t hide anything from you." Link started replenishing the spell-casting ring. "Actually, I can open the portal too, but I can only transport people at the Legendary level there. The High Elves are more advanced so..."

They could probably transport people under the Legendary level too.

Alloa sighed. "Then you shouldn’t have given the coordinates to the High Elf Queen."

"But Milda really does need reinforcements there." Done replenishing, Link handed the spell-casting ring back to Alloa.

She accepted it. Hearing Link’s words, she suddenly laughed. "Your voice becomes gentle when you say Milda’s name. Did something happen between you two?"

Link’s hands shook.

Alloa burst into laughter. "Seems like something really did happen. Okay, okay, I won’t say anything. Don’t worry. I won’t tell Celine... I already forgot everything."

The Maiden of Truth lived up to her name. Link was impressed.

Going straight to the point, he said, "I’m going to build detection gear that can teleport between realms. It has to be as small as possible, best if I can wear it on my hand, like a ring or bracelet or something."

"Oh, let me think... How about you come by tomorrow? By then, I can give you a rough idea. It’s getting late. Celine will overthink if you’re here," Alloa said, smiling.

That reminded Link. He nodded. "Thank you for reminding me. I’ll pay attention in the future. I’ll go back and draw up a draft right now. Tomorrow, we can compare. You can take the book for now."

"Go." Alloa agreed.

When Link left, Alloa flipped through the book and sighed. "Link, you still don’t understand the High Elves," she muttered. "You’re probably already on their to-kill list."

As someone who used to be high up in the Dark Elves, Alloa was much more familiar with the High Elves that used to be of the same race. Of course, she didn’t have any evidence. This was just a guess, so she couldn’t say much.

But Link is already taking precautions. If I remind him again, there shouldn’t be any problems. Thinking of this, Alloa took out some paper and started drawing the design for the detector.

...

On the other hand, Link returned to the main room on the top floor. He saw Celine curled up on the chaise, as usual, flipping through a book about myths. This was Celine’s favorite pastime.

Hearing a noise, she turned around. She smiled sweetly when she saw Link. "I thought you would spend the night in the enchantment room."

Link chuckled. "Of course not. I just went to ask Alloa to help me design some equipment."

"Huh, you keep making her do tiring work," Celine said casually. She closed her book and sniffed. Then she stood up and said, "You smell like blood. I’ll prepare the hot water for you."

"Okay." Link nodded. He knew that Celine knew everything but just wouldn’t say anything.

When the water was ready, Link took a nice bath and put on comfortable pajamas. He sat down beside the table and took out a large piece of paper to start drawing the draft.

Celine sat beside him, but she couldn’t understand it and quickly grew tired. Link felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned and saw that Celine had fallen asleep.

Silly girl. Link smiled. He used the Magician’s Hand to adjust Celine’s posture and had her sleep on the chaise with her head on his lap. Then he continued drawing.

The night passed quickly.

Around morning, Link was almost done. As he busied around, there was movement on his leg. Celine was awake.

"You’re still working?" She yawned.

"I’m almost done."

"I’ll make breakfast for you."

"Okay." Link nodded. He continued drawing, and when the delicious breakfast was brought over, he was basically done. He put away the paper and ate with Celine.

They started off by eating properly. But then Celine drank some goat milk and moved over to feed Link with her mouth. Seeing her pink and plush lips, Link felt something inside him churn. There was a flurry of movement and Celine, who had just woken up, was exhausted thanks to Link and went back to sleep.

On the other hand, Link was feeling spirited. He took his drawing to Alloa.

As expected, Alloa didn’t disappoint him. Her drawing was similar to Link. There were many strong points but also some flaws. The two drawings complemented each other.

Link compared the two and revised it. He was finally done by the evening.

Seeing the detailed design, he laughed. "The High Elves won’t be able to fool me now."

The bracelet was very intricate, and Alloa was powerless. Link had to do it himself. It took him three days to create an ordinary-looking light gray magic bracelet.

Link once saw Bryant’s Prophet White Stone and had been shocked by how detailed the runes inside were. Now, he was close to that level. One couldn’t see any runes from the surface of the bracelet. There weren’t any magic waves either. It looked just like an ordinary stone bracelet.

Checking it with the game system, the following information was revealed:

Eye of the Realm

Legendary

Effect: When the current realm is disturbed, the bracelet will vibrate. Disturbances include activation of realm portals, enlargement of cracks between the realms, or any large power waves that can shake the realms.

(Note: this is an eye that is always open.)

With this bracelet, Link felt reassured. If the High Elves activated a realm portal, he would be alerted at once and plan accordingly. It was about time to leave for the Dragon Valley. Link spent a few more days with Celine and headed out with Felina.

They didn’t speak on the road.

When they got to the Golden Plains, Felina suddenly said, "The current situation at the Dragon Valley is very bad. Not only has the Mana density risen greatly, but there are also many spatial cracks in the Colorado Mountains too. Many creatures from the Void ran out. We must be careful."

Link furrowed his brows. "Are they difficult to deal with?"

"Most of them are Void Beasts around Level-8 or nine. We can handle them. But a month ago, one appeared with Legendary power. The queen had to defeat it personally. We even lost seven Apocalypse Dragon Guards because of this."

"It’s already that bad?" Link didn’t expect things would develop so quickly.

"That’s why all the powers are gathered. Ah, Duke Isendilan really did such a stupid thing!" Felina sighed.

After a while, the Colorado Mountains appeared and Felina lowered her elevation. "Force fields will appear randomly in the air. I have to fly lower or else we’ll be in trouble."

She dropped to 1500 feet in the air and then flew carefully. After around half an hour, Felina started descending.

"There’s a big void up front filled with the Void’s aura. It’s too dangerous to fly so we should go on foot. Here, this is for you. It’s a necklace the queen made specifically for you to protect your mind from the Void’s aura.

Felina handed a thin and delicate golden necklace to Link.

He accepted it. Putting it on, he looked up at the sky. There were no clouds, and the sky was gray as if something had swallowed the sun.

Link felt heavy. "The crack is widening faster than the black cat had predicted."

The two walked timidly. Link could feel the Void’s aura thicken as they walked. The Mana density increased as well. It was almost three times higher than at Ferde. The sky grew darker as well.

They walked for around half an hour. Then, Link suddenly heard cries for help.

"Help me! Help!"

"Is someone in trouble?" Link was surprised.

Unexpectedly, Felina sped up. "Hurry, ignore it. It’s a Bewitchment Void Beast!"