Advent of the Archmage

Scorched Ridge

"Whoa!" A coachman stopped his carriage not far from the Mage Tower's entrance.

The door opened, and Bryant came out first. He looked up at the looming Mage Tower and lamented on how it had transformed again after the past couple of months. He could barely recognize it now.

Many Magicians scurried past him, all seeming to be in a rush. They were either discussing magic together or going straight to another building. No one was lost; everyone had a definite goal.

Even more surprising was that each Magician had a strange aura. It was warm and seemed to glow. Everyone was filled with energy. None of the dozens of apprentices that walked by looked fatigued as most Magicians were.

What power is this? I've never seen it before. Bryant was shocked.

Thump. Prince Phillip also jumped down from the carriage. He looked around, impressed. The Mage Tower was honestly too majestic, especially the main tower. It was hundreds of feet tall and even had a wide circular platform at the top. A beautiful Mana net covered the platform while countless beautiful flowers bloomed on it. They were colorful, battling each other with their beauty.

Prince Phillip couldn't help but praise, "What a great garden in the sky."

At this time, all the other High Elves descended too. They grouped before Prince Phillip. During this time, the top level of the Mage Tower probably received the report already, but no one came to welcome them. It seemed that the group of High Elves would be left on this square alone.

People walked to and fro, but the Magicians just glanced at them before turning and going back to their work. They were ignored.

Prince Phillip felt a bit awkward. "So, should we go knock on the door?"

"The Ferde lord is too impolite," a High Elf said angrily.

"Yeah, he's becoming more and more arrogant," another said.

Just as they were all venting their anger, something flashed in the air for three seconds. An arch of pure light appeared. Within it, there was a white dot that expanded rapidly until it filled the entire arch. An image rippled within it like water. At a closer inspection, it looked like a banquet.

"What's this?" Prince Phillip turned to Bryant. He knew this was a portal, but it appeared so strangely. He was a bit scared to step into it.

Bryant sighed inwardly. A few months after their last meeting, Link's tricks had improved again. It was as if he could just casually control spatial magic.

Bryant took the lead to walk towards the portal. At the same time, he said, "Let's go. This is the Ferde lord's portal. He's welcoming us."

With that, he stepped in. The image before him suddenly turned, and he was standing on an open platform. Flowers surrounded him. There was a long table before him, with beautiful girls busying with the food, flitting around like butterflies.

Every girl was beautiful. Even though they wore the same clothes, each had their own unique characteristics. Some were pure as jade; others were sexy and alluring. Others showed tempting long legs, and Bryant couldn't help but steal more glances.

He quickly realized the secret though. These girls were all magic puppets. I wonder which bastard designed the appearance, he had to lament again. They're so tempting.

Collecting his thoughts, he looked to the head of the table.

Link sat there. He wore a thorny crystal-red headpiece and a dark red robe with silver markings. Six people sat to his sides, all dressed elegantly.

Bryant had checked their profiles in the High Elves' Hand of Night. He knew all of them. Starting from Link's left side, they were Death Scythe Celine, Link's companion; half-elf Eliard; Vance, creator of Combat Aura Studies; Alloa, the Maiden of Truth; Secret Magician Eleanor; and Elin, the Lady Fortuna of the Yabbas.

In other words, all core figures of Ferde were present.

Each of these six was at least Level-7. Eliard had reached Level-9, and his power was active. He would soon break into Level-10.

Of them all, Link's appearance was the most shocking to Bryant.

It wasn't just his overly elegant robe. The biggest shock was that Bryant could see that Link had a thin layer of Legendary power across his skin. Under this power, his skin looked like crystal. At a glance, Link gave off the feeling of an eternal statue that was filled with an Epic aura. Anyone who saw him would feel indescribably shocked as if he were a god instead of a human.

Paired with the six emotionless Magicians beside him, Link made Bryant feel that he was facing a group of gods.

Bryant could clearly feel pressure weighing down. But as a Level-12 Legendary Magician, he wouldn't get scared. He just thought, Link is really putting on a show.

Buzz. There were some soft sounds behind Bryant. Prince Phillip and four High Elf ambassadors walked out from the portals under the faint light.

They weren't as firm as Bryant. Faced with this scene, the five High Elves were obviously shaken. They couldn't say a word.

Bryant felt this and sighed inwardly. Seems that Phillip's men won't be of much help.

The light of power glowed faintly around him, adding an emerald sheen to his skin. He was here for support and couldn't lose in appearance.

He walked forward and bowed slightly to Link. "Duke, it seems that you knew we would come."

Bryant didn't call Link lord or by his name. He called him duke for a reason. He wanted to subtly affect the relationship between Link and Celine.

Link smiled. "I am not the duke of the dragons anymore. I am only Ferde's lord. Everyone, please sit."

He had explained his relationship with the dragons with Celine long ago. She wasn't very happy at first. However, after all this time, they were familiar with each other's personality. Everything could be solved with a night in bed. The others also knew about his relationship with the dragons because he'd borrowed greatly from Dragon Power when making the Sunlight Power.

After the High Elves took their seats, Link waved at the magic puppet servants. They started serving delicate desserts for the High Elves.

Link chuckled. "I know that you all probably already had lunch, so I prepared some dessert. I hope you'll like it."

The desserts looked delicately-made, and the utensils were elegant too. This lowered the High Elves' defenses. Out of politeness, they all tried some.

A famous southern chef made these desserts. Not only were they pretty, but they were also delicious. The eyes of the High Elves brightened as soon as the food entered their mouths. They couldn't help but eat some more.

As the saying went, those who ate would be softened. This couldn't change their stances, but it was quite effective in relaxing the atmosphere.

The High Elves had come with a bunch of objections to Link. Now though, they were being officially welcomed in a beautiful garden in the air. Link seemed to have put a lot of thought into this. Their negative feelings softened a lot.

Prince Phillip couldn't help but glance around. He saw the flowers close to him and the vibrant city in the distance below him. He was at the peak right now. Taking in the vast scenery, he had to compliment, "This place really is nice."

Link smiled and entered the main topic. "Thank you for your praise. May I know your reason for coming?"

At this question, Prince Phillip motioned at his men. One High Elf handed a document to a magic puppet. She passed it to Link.

Link accepted it and scanned it. It was a verdict signed by their Elder Council aimed at half-elf Princess Evelina. It listed her many accusations. The gravest one was betraying the race.

"Evelina is a criminal of our race," Prince Phillip said. "The crimes she has committed are enough to warrant the cruelest punishment of our race. We heard from Elovan that she also committed a big crime in the Southmoon Kingdom. She almost destroyed their royal family. This is a disgrace to our race. We heard that she is currently being imprisoned in Ferde. We hope to somehow pay a ransom and take her back to the Isle of Dawn for judgment."

"Oh, I see," Link said ambiguously. He turned to Eliard. "Eliard, you are in charge of guarding Evelina, but I heard that she already escaped?"

"Guilt" filled Eliard's face. "Yes, Lord. I've failed you. You know that Evelina is very beautiful. I was tricked by her looks, and she escaped from the prison. I still haven't found her."

"What a horrible mishap," Link mused. Then he looked to Prince Phillip with "regret."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. We failed at watching this criminal. You must know, Evelina is in the Legendary level. If she really wants to escape, it would be very hard to find any clue of how she'd escaped, so…"

His exchange with Eliard was so fake that even a regular person could tell something was wrong. Prince Phillip knitted his brows tightly.

The female ambassador behind him couldn't help but stand up and refute them. "Lord, we came with sincerity. We will compensate the losses Evelina brought to you in full. I hope you will repay with sincerity as well."

Link shrugged, still looking regretful. "I don't understand why you would think like this. Evelina indeed was our prisoner, but that's past tense. We have no clue where she is now. I admit that it's our mistake for not keeping an eye on her. I will punish Eliard, but honestly, this is our own problem. We aren't responsible for watching the Isle of Dawn's criminal. Don't you think you're minding someone else's business?"

The High Elves stared at each other speechlessly. It was clear that Link was denying things, but his explanation was logical too. If Evelina wasn't in Ferde, the High Elves couldn't do anything to Ferde.

They obviously wouldn't be able to find her in Ferde either. Since Link dared to say this, he must have hidden her well. She might even be in a room in this Mage Tower, but this was a critical location to Ferde. Unless they wanted to invade Ferde, the High Elves couldn't search it.

Bryant couldn't let them enter this stalemate.

He tapped the table and narrowed his eyes at Link. "Ferde Lord, you and I are both very clear about some things. I hope you understand what Ferde will receive and lose if you do this. After all, the Isle of Dawn is never gentle with enemies."

Link didn't give up his act. "Bryant, I don't know what you're saying. Evelina doesn't have anything to do with me or the territory. You can search throughout the continent. Ferde won't stop you."

It was a stalemate again.

Bryant frowned at Link. He didn't know what the man was planning. Had he gone crazy and wanted war with the Isle of Dawn?

But if he wanted that, why didn't he destroy the relationship now and just attack? This was his territory; he didn't have to use overt methods. He could just poison their desserts, and that would be enough, but he didn't do it.

He seemed to just want to take advantage of the Isle of Dawn. Confused, Bryant asked, "Link, the Isle of Dawn isn't weak. Aren't you being a bit too naive?"

If Link wanted to take advantage of a small thing, the Isle of Dawn would endure it to take care of the big picture. This was different though. Evelina was a powerful Legendary Magician. Link was trying to yank out a tiger's teeth. If he wanted to do it, he would have to give up his arm or even his head to the tiger.

Link just smiled, eyes crinkling. He exchanged glances with his Magicians and said, "To be honest, we have some formidable power too."

As he spoke, various Legendary auras emerged from different locations in Scorched Ridge. The auras were obscure and different from each other. Prince Phillip and the others couldn't feel anything, but it was like a psychological attack to Bryant, a fellow Legendary figure.

He shot up, eyes widening like saucers as he gaped at Link. "How is this possible?!"