Advent of the Archmage

"Damn it, why did you stop me!"

Romilson was extremely agitated the moment he woke up. He rushed towards Link and grabbed him by the collar as he screamed.

Even if he were to ignore the fact that Link prevented him from going to Milda’s rescue, Link actually knocked him out using brute force! How could a Magician ever resort to such tactics?

It’s simply unbelievable! A savage, crazy man!

Link allowed this High Elf to roar and go berserk for half a minute. After making sure that he had calmed down, Link laid out his hands helplessly and said, "Have you calmed down? You must understand that every second you waste is also one second more dangerous for Princess Milda."

This sentence was akin to a bucket of ice water, dousing Romilson’s fiery rage in one blow. He then picked up the blood-stained rocks on the table and strode towards the door. As he walked, he turned to Link and said coldly, "Magician, I’ll remember you! When I return to the Isle of Dawn, I will request for an audience with the queen. I’ll make sure you are blacklisted as one of the unwelcomed people of my race!"

He then opened the wooden door in rage. After taking just a step out of the house, Romilson stopped and stared at the scene in front of him in horror.

There were bodies lying helplessly on the ground as the mercenaries and residents cleaned up the mess silently. One could see some people weeping for their losses, some places on fire, some collapsed wooden houses. The stench of fresh blood filled the atmosphere. It was the complete opposite of the peaceful and calm Ferde Wilderness Romilson had seen just a while ago.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Romilson asked as he imagined the fierce battle that ensued.

"Not more than half an hour," Link said as he walked towards him.

"There were many assaulters I assume?"

"There weren’t many, only 50 of them. However, each one of them was extremely powerful. If I wasn’t present, my territory would have been in ruins by now." Link’s voice was calm. He seemed unaffected by Romilson’s previous threat.

Romilson could not help but turn to look at the human Magician beside him. There was not a shred of agitation or rage on Link’s face. Usually, a lord would have been enraged and depressed after suffering such huge losses. How could he stay so calm?

Romilson was baffled by this Magician in front of him. He also did not want to understand his peculiar mindset. The tragedy in front of his eyes completely doused the rage he had as he whispered, "I will be going off to find the princess."

"I’ll accompany you." Link stayed by his side.

Upon hearing those words, the rage that just subsided within Romilson’s heart was once again ignited. He bellowed, "Oh, you are finally interested in saving the princess? To think that the princess gave you the Heart of the Puppet in the carriage just now. It would be fine if you refuse to save the princess yourself, but how could you stop me from going as well? What a cruel and heartless lord you are!"

"You will die if you go alone," Link reminded.

"Then I will die with no regrets!" Romilson growled.

Grenci had had enough of Romilson’s tantrum and shouted furiously, "Young lad, Master Link did what he was supposed to. The person who made the decision to leave was Your Highness herself. Since she was the one who made the mistake, she naturally has to bear the consequences."

"Hmph, I know what you people are planning. You guys are afraid to be implicated by the princess’ death and are only leaving me alive as a witness. Humans are such hypocrites!" Romilson shouted as he strode out of the territory.

When Romilson reached an open space, a warm glow enveloped his wand as he summoned a black horse. He then mounted the horse and headed straight towards the East gate of the camp.

"He is a young lad after all. How stubborn," Ferdinand sighed.

There was no right or wrong in the decisions made throughout this incident. The only thing that mattered was the difference in perspectives. Ferdinand was of the human race and would definitely support Link’s approach to the matter from his perspective. He would have done the same if he was met with this dilemma.

Grenci then sighed, "He is still too young and arrogant. He is talented and powerful, but he is not seeing the big picture."

As Romilson was about to leave the territory, Link said, "Alright, I’ll leave the territory in the hands of the two Masters. I’ll be accompanying him to find Princess Milda. Celine, you will stay with the Masters."

Link knew what he had to do and would not be easily swayed by Romilson’s insensitive words.

Link could care less about what Romilson said; the High Elf Magicians in this timeline were generally the same after all. They had enjoyed peace and luxury on the Isle of Dawn for over hundreds of years. The younger generation had never quite understood the cruelties of the world.

"Alright, you take care then," Celine said in a concerned tone. She was also not angry at Romilson. In her eyes, the High Elf was merely just a little more than a moody little brat.

Lin nodded and summoned the Wind Fenrir immediately, chasing after Romilson all the way out of the Scorched Ridge.

Grenci stared at the disappearing figures of the two young Magicians into the darkness and finally said, "Let’s hope that Romilson will stop throwing his tantrums on the road."

Ferdinand nodded as he said, "Both of them are young genius Magicians. However, Romilson’s character is a far cry from Link. He is too unreliable, indeed, a disappointment."

Why did the two Masters not harbor a single shred of suspicion towards Link when they received the letter and the dark soul stones? Apart from the fact that it was a clear framing technique, Link’s usual conduct was a major reason as well.

From the beginning when he handled the Darris’ ambush incident with maturity, to the revelation of Bale’s experiments with dark magic and finally to his glorious victory against Demon Tarviss, Link had displayed a large number of commendable qualities.

He was thoughtful, sensitive, objective and rational. He would never judge anything or make a decision purely based on personal emotions.

When Dean Anthony did not believe Link’s warning regarding Tarviss’ appearance, Link did not even utter a sentence of defiance. He simply spent all his time studying magic and eventually saved the entire academy.

While it was fallacious to say that Link would never experiment with dark magic, it would be fair to say that Link would never allow himself to be exposed by such careless tactics. All in all, Link was a young lad that deserved their trust.

...

Around 600 feet outside the Scorched Ridge, two dark shadows were overlooking the situation in the camp from behind a small hill.

"It’s over," one of them said.

His voice was raspy and low. He wore black leather armor and tied a dagger to each of his thighs. These daggers looked slightly special, having a rare crimson color and were enveloped in a layer of flaming brilliance. They looked gorgeous.

From his gears, one could tell that he was an Assassin.

"He has become even stronger. Our plan this time has failed," The other person spoke. This person was clad in a hooded robe and held a wand in his hand—he was a Magician.

Although they had killed many people, they were all insignificant mercenaries. Their primary targets had all been well-protected and suffered practically no damage. The framing techniques that they had employed right from the beginning were all meaningless.

"He is already building his Mage Tower. Based on his current progress, it will be completed in about a month’s time. With the monitoring ability of the Mage Tower, we will not have another chance at a sneak attack."

The ambush this time around took advantage of the absence of a Mage Tower in the Scorched Ridge. However, now that this disadvantage would be addressed, the only way to deal with Link after the completion of the Mage Tower would be to use brute force.

This was a devastating result.

However, the black-robed Magician suddenly emitted a quizzical sound and pointed to the Scorched Ridge in the distance before saying, "Look, two people are running out from the territory. It is the escaped High Elf and Link."

The Assassin squinted his eyes to take a look and eventually nodded. He then said, "It is indeed them. From the direction of their travel...they should be looking for the High Elf Princess. We have a chance!"

The Magician then shook his head and said, "We have around 13 Assassins left. Even after adding us both, it would only make us 15 men strong force. It would be more than enough to deal with the High Elf. However, Link would be a problem. That guy knows how to use a group transportation spell."

A transportation spell like Burst might not increase the combat powers of a Magician. However, it was an exceptionally useful spell to use for escape purposes. Not only could Link manage this spell, he could even bring people along with him, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

Even if they were to send 100 people to ambush him, he could also easily escape from the predicament.

This was the exact reason why they did not intend to kill Link from the beginning even with over 60 Assassins on their side. They chose to frame him with the crime they committed instead. Alas, the Assassins that they sent to the Scorched Ridge did not seem to get the memo and fought against Link in a direct battle. The end result was telling enough.

However, the Assassin thought otherwise. He stood up and chuckled, "The task of framing Link had not completely failed. As long as we kill the High Elf Princess, not only would the Ferde Wilderness be in trouble, so would the Norton Kingdom! The ties between the High Elves and the human race would then become estranged, giving less pressure to you guys in the North."

The Magician nodded but was still hesitant. He then said, "That might be true. But the High Elf Princess is extremely good at hiding. How will we find her?"

"That is easy!" The Assassin smiled as he said. He then pointed at Romilson from afar and said, "Look, the High Elf didn’t take the main road the moment he left the camp. Instead, he ran straight into the wilderness, why do you think that is?"

The Magician was extremely smart as well. He immediately continued the sentence, "He can bring us to the High Elf Princess!"

"Yes. Notice the direction that he travels in. It is basically a straight line. This suggests that he is finding the princess through some sort of connection. Extrapolating this line of travel would probably lead us to the High Elf Princess. We can totally get ahead of him and kill the princess first. If we have the time, we can even plan another ambush. Perhaps we can kill the High Elf this time around."

The Assassin was extremely pleased with himself the more he thought about his plan. By making use of the High Elf’s eagerness to save the princess, they would follow his tracks and first kill off the princess. It was a perfect plan!

The Magician also praised him from the bottom of his heart.

"This plan is indeed good. It is worth a try. I will then wish you success in the advance."

The Assassin was taken aback and said, "You are not taking part in this?"

"Me?" The Magician smiled as he said, "Of course not. The only reason for my trip to the South is to bring you the Divine Liquid. Furthermore, I have just reached Level-6 and do not specialize in combat spells. I would only drag you down if I join this mission."

The Assassin then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Alright then, watch my wonderful performance!"