Advent of the Archmage

This was very awkward!

It was okay if Nana saw it. She was a magic puppet who didn’t understand this stuff. Link turned carefully to look at Riel. Thankfully, he was still snoring and deep asleep.

Looking back at Milda, Link didn’t know what to say.

Link was very open-minded about sex. He didn’t care that much and had only acted intimately with Celine, but he wouldn’t stay monogamous purposely. He didn’t feel bad about what happened—just awkward.

He never thought that an erotic dream would become real. Milda must have cooperated. Otherwise, he would at most just hug her and rub a little.

But now that they were at this point, should he stop or not? If he stopped, he would feel a bit sad. If he didn’t...what even was this?

While he was still debating, Milda hugged Link tightly and murmured in his ear, "Finish your dream."

Okay. Link decided to continue.

There was a flurry and a storm. Afterwards, Link and Milda both used a cleaning spell and quickly fixed their clothing. He didn’t know how to face Milda anymore. Clearing his throat, he pulled out a book. "Rest well. I’ll read for a bit."

Milda giggled. She sat up and latched onto Link’s lower back. "Now you’re a true man. Before this, I thought you only knew magic spells..."

Link started sweating. Just as he was trying to answer, his ears twitched. He heard something unnatural. Seeing Milda was about to speak, he reached out to stop her. Then he cast the Silence Spell on Riel. The snoring disappeared instantly.

Weak cries of insects traveled in from the trees outside. There were soft scrapes within the noise.

Link’s hearing was very sensitive. He listened hard to distinguish it. After a few seconds, he wrote some words with streaks of light in the air. People are coming. There are three.

They were in the wilderness. No matter who it was or if they were discovered, they must be prepared to defend themselves.

Link gestured at Nana and pointed at Riel. Nana quietly walked to the dwarf and shook him awake.

"Ah, what’s wrong?" Riel asked blearily, not fully awake yet. His voice was quite loud. Thankfully, the Silence Spell surrounded them and the people outside the tree couldn’t hear.

Link increased the range of the spell, covering the outside of the tree. "Shush. There are people outside."

Riel shuddered. He was immediately awake. Climbing up, he asked, "What do we do now?"

The footsteps continued outside, growing more obvious. The other party seemed not to be hiding themselves. This meant they weren’t discovered yet.

Link pointed to the tunnel at the top of the hole. "We’re going up."

Riel was the closest to the hole, but it was a bit high; he couldn’t reach it. Nana walked over and grabbed his neck. Using some power, she tossed him into the tunnel. Next was Milda. She was already wearing comfortable clothes. Link cast the Levitation Spell and pushed her arm, pushing her into the hole.

"Nana, you too," Link said while he chose to leave the tunnel. He walked towards the magic door of the tree.

His magic hole didn’t seal the hole completely. There was still a tiny peephole for him to see the situation outside.

Beside the door, Link tapped beside the peephole. A Spatial Lens appeared in the air. A thin thread extended from the end and through the hole. Then it enlarged slightly, turning into a Spatial Sphere.

It was already light outside. After outer light waves passed into the sphere, they were turned into strands and taken to the Spatial Lens. Thus, Link could see a 360-degree image.

As expected, there are three people. They should be halflings with bloody eyes carved on their foreheads. They’re from the Blood-eyed Robbers...They really won’t leave us alone. It’s already been so long, but they still pursued us to kill us.

Link could understand this. For a group of robbers that used their horrible reputation to instill fear, they must do this to maintain that reputation. It would put fear in everyone and lower their cost for robberies.

Otherwise, rumors would spread that someone killed a Blood-eyed Robber and survived. The horrible reputation would decrease greatly. In the future, people might fight against them during robberies. Then people would die, and the cost would rise.

What Link didn’t expect was that they were so tough!

Judging from their postures and movements, two of them were at Level-9, and one was Level-10. They looked left and right, full of vigilance. They must have felt something odd but didn’t discover anything wrong.

The situation was tricky, but it wasn’t hopeless.

Link grabbed the Dragon King’s Fury sword and carefully watched the opponents’ positions, planning out how to do the sneak attack.

The three stood in a triangle. The Level-10 robber stood at the front while the two Level-9 robbers were fifteen feet to either side of him. This meant Link couldn’t attack the Level-10 robber. It was too risky; if he messed up and didn’t kill the robber, he would be surrounded by the three.

The seconds ticked past. Riel and the others were almost to the top of the tree. Suddenly, Riel stepped on a withered branch and popped up. There was a soft crack that traveled outside the hole. Link saw the three all look toward the branch. They heard it and were distracted!

Now was the time!

Link continuously used Instant Flash. His Dragon Power surged, and 2500 points evaporated instantly. Then Link’s figure slowly faded like an apparition. At the same time, Link appeared abruptly behind the outermost Level-9 robber outside the tree.

His position and timing were perfect. As soon as he appeared, the tip of his sword was right against the robber’s back. All Link had to do was push lightly.

Squelch. Unsurprisingly, the sword pierced the robber’s back and killed him.

"Who is it?!" The Level-10 robber immediately turned around.

"Loch!" The other Level-9 robber shouted his slain companion’s eyes, shock in his eyes. This attack was too sudden.

One down, two to go but Link didn’t have another chance.

Before the Level-10 robber turned fully, he already hurled his axe towards Link. It cut a three-foot bloody arc in the air.

This must be some type of battle technique. It crashed towards Link like a meteor. Under it, the ground split open deeply. Fallen branches and leaves spun quickly under some mysterious power. The trees nearby were bent by the blood-colored light as if sucked by a magnetic force.

It was the torque. The ball of light forced everything else to start spinning. Link was affected as well. He lost his balance and was almost sucked towards the battle technique. His movements were affected too. The light came crashing towards him, and he couldn’t hide.

This Legendary battle technique was terrifying. If hit, Link would die without a doubt. He couldn’t attack again and used the Instant Flash to escape.

Whoosh! The ball of light crashed into Link’s shadow and hit the tree fifteen feet behind him. Crack, crack. With an ear-splitting crack, the thick tree was halved. The cut area had turned into wood splinters. The top half was twisted by the rotating force and flew 60 feet into the distance.

Link didn’t see this, but he was chilled by the sound. After the Instant Flash, he didn’t continue attacking. Instead, he went to the others and used the Dimensional Jump without hesitation.

Whoosh. The group disappeared inside the tree.

The two Instant Flashes used up 5000 Dragon Power points. The Dimensional Jump was 900 points, and so Link now had 1800 points left. Even though it regenerated quickly, it wasn’t enough to face two strong fighters.

After reappearing, Link immediately cast the Traceless Spell on everyone. Then he said softly, "You two stay here and wait. Nana, come with me."

Only running was meaningless when Legendary fighters were after them. It would only use up their strength. He had to attack.

As he spoke, Link sneaked towards their original position. After staying low for 600 feet, he stopped and hid under a large leaf. He gestured at Nana and pointed towards a pile of grass in the other direction. Nana crawled over and hid in the grass with a giant leaf on her head. After adding an invisibility spell, it was impossible to detect her existence.

After all that, Link began waiting patiently.

If the Level-10 robber could find them, his pursuit abilities must be shocking. They could definitely feel their existence, so they followed over. The most probable path was a straight line from where Link used the Instant Flash. This was the best chance for a sneak attack!

...

The other side

"Oyes, that guy escaped again!" The speaking halfling hugged his companion’s body tightly. He was furious and sad.

The one called Oyes had a dark expression. He sensed carefully and pointed in a direction. "He’s there. I can feel them. I’ll go after them and leave marks. Bring Loch back and report to the head. Tell him to bring more people. This guy isn’t that powerful, but his spells are strange. He runs like a rat too. We need more men."

"Okay, be careful."

"Don’t worry. He’s not my match at all. His little tricks are like jokes to me."

Oyes carried his battle axe and charged deep into the forest.