Advent of the Archmage

Chapter 510: A Piece of Water Meteorite (1/3)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Link walked over to take a closer look.

From afar, he had thought the brilliant azure gemstone was spherical. Upon a closer look, Link noticed that there were a few bumps on its surface. There were also no runes carved into it. It simply looked like a polished rock.

Link took out the purple meteorite fragment that had re-solidified and tapped the azure gemstone gently with it. He then scratched the gemstone’s surface with one of the meteorite fragments’ sharp edges but could not seem to even leave an impression on it.

“It’s extremely hard!” Link exclaimed.

The meteorite in his hand was hard enough to leave a scratch on any Level-10 material. It could even slice through metal plates with ease.

Not only was the meteorite fragment unable to leave a mark on the gemstone, but the latter also did not seem to have any evidence of magical tampering on it. This suggested that the gemstone’s origin was far from ordinary.

What was worth noting was the fact that the wand and the gemstone on it were based on the water element, and water gemstones usually had a high resistance towards high temperatures.

After thinking for a while, Link said, “Since I’m still looking for a suitable dampening material, why don’t we just take apart the wand? I don’t think I would have much use for it.”

Gretel did not object to this. “Go ahead.”

Compared to the gemstone on it, the rest of the wand was merely scrap wood. Link drew out the Dragon King’s Fury sword and cut the wand in two. Without its wooden support, the azure gemstone fell off from the wand.

As soon as he got the gemstone, Gretel suddenly said to him, “With Thoreau defeated, there’s nothing keeping us here on the island. What do we do now once we get back to the castle?”

Link paused for a moment, then said, “The island lacks the resources and facilities that we need to work on the dampening material, and there’s also the problem of the spatial crack outside the Dragon Valley…”

This was certainly a problem none of them could avoid.

“Not to worry, I’ve thought it through,” said Gretel with a smile. She extended her hand and shook the dark green bracelet on her wrist. “See this?”

Link looked at it and saw that the bracelet’s design was almost primitive. The enchantments on it were like nothing he had ever seen. Looking at it even more closely, Link realized that he could only discern less than half of the enchantments used on it.

“What is this?” Link had noticed the bracelet on Gretel’s wrist before, but since it was her personal property, he did not ask too much about it.

“The Dragon King’s Bracelet passed down from ancient times. If anything were to happen to Dragon Valley, this bracelet would notify us of it, and I can even bring you back with me through long-distance teleportation.”

Link was left speechless. If she had been able to teleport them out of the island all this time, why didn’t she use it before?

Gretel smiled awkwardly at him. “I wasn’t able to activate the bracelet’s long-distance teleportation skill as I was not at my full strength before. Also, I can only use this skill once a month. Since Dragon Valley seems to be fine at the moment, I thought that I might as well save it for an actual emergency.”

Her explanation had sounded reasonable to Link, but still, he sensed that there was something off about it, as if Gretel had left out some other details.

Seeing Link’s ruminative state, Gretel continued, “Though Thoreau had escaped with severe injuries, if we were to leave this island, he may come back to continue devouring the souls of the island’s inhabitants. There are at least three million people living here.”

Link nodded, finally convinced by Gretel. “Alright then, we’ll start work on the dampening material here. It shouldn’t take us too long.”

“Hehe, then let’s get back. Honestly, the castle has kind of grown on me. Also, there’s no one else to bother us here…” Her voice trailed off into a mumble, and Link could not hear what she said at that point.

The two of them chatted on as they flew towards the castle. Far out in the ocean, a column of mist was steadily rising from the ocean’s surface. It was Thoreau the soul devourer, whose body had been split in half by Link.

His injury was so severe that he could only keep his body in a mist-like state. If he were to restore his body back to its original form, his severely crippled state would not be able to contain his own soul. He would immediately die from the process.

No, I need to find a new body, he thought. Seeing the two Legendary dragons flying back to the island, Thoreau immediately dismissed the idea of going back to the island and consuming the souls of the island’s inhabitants in order to replenish his power.

He swam further into the ocean in search of a suitable body for his soul.

He remained in his mist-like state as he swam. The spell was extremely taxing, and he did not have much time left. Even though the ocean was filled with all kinds of sea life, their bodies were too weak to bear the weight of his Legendary soul.

After searching for half an hour in the ocean, just when it looked as if his power was about to run out, a black-scaled swordfish appeared in front of him. Its appearance was almost similar to his physical body, and its power level was at most Level-7, which should be just enough to contain his soul.

Though Thoreau was not too pleased with his available options, he was running out of time and power. Reluctantly, he rushed into the black-scaled swordfish’s body.

In an instant, the fish ceased all movement. Its fins began thrashing about wildly; its whole body trembling uncontrollably as if it was being electrocuted. Ten minutes later, a blue glow filled the swordfish’s eyes.

Thoreau had successfully taken control of his new body. He waved a fin and wiggled his body, closely feeling the power in him that flickered like a candle in the wind. He then heaved a long sigh.

“I’m left with Level-8 power. My body’s suffered serious damage, and I’ve lost my magic wand. Years of effort gone down the drain like that… Well played, dragons. From now on, you are now my sworn enemies!”

Though he had lost most of his power, Thoreau had enough experience as a Level-8 Magician. He would not need to spend a thousand years to regain what he had lost.

“If I’m lucky, I’ll be back to my full Legendary power in a year or two. I can’t go back to the island now, but I can still head for the coast of the Firuman continent. There are a lot of boats passing by the coastline, and the soul of a mortal sailor on board should be a few times stronger than a fish. This way, I’ll be able to return to my former glory in no time.”

With this in mind, Thoreau swished his new tail and propelled himself away from the island that he had built with his own bare hands, towards the continent of Firuman in the west.

…

The castle on the island

Link and Gretel finally returned to the castle. After resting for the whole day, they then began puzzling over how best to forge a dampening material that could withstand high temperatures.

It took Link three days to produce his Level-20 experimental magic circle.

In that time, Gretel had begun her experiments with samples they had retrieved from the Sea of Void, including the purple meteorite, the azure gemstone, and the Void Centipede’s stinger, to test their alchemical properties.

When Link was finally done with the magic circle, he then proceeded to construct a number of alchemical equipment. That took him another two days. When he was finished, Gretel had already come up with a concrete alchemical procedure for their objective.

She then explained her plan to Link, “I’ll combine all these things together to produce a totally new piece of material. It will have the property to withstand high energy levels, but according to my estimations, it will only be able to resist Level-18 power.”

Link frowned at this. “There’s quite a difference between Level-18 and Level-20, you know.”

Though it was only a two-level difference, the last two levels after Level-18 were the most difficult stages to reach, especially Level-20, which existed in another realm entirely.

Pondering on this for a while, Link said, “Let’s put it aside for now. Start making the Level-18 material, and we’ll think of something to improve on it along the road.”

Gretel nodded, then said, “The alchemical process is extremely complicated. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it on my own. I’ll need your help in it as well. You’ll probably need to master the basics of alchemy. Don’t worry, I’ll be the one guiding you through it.”

Link did not seem to have a choice on this matter. He said, “Alright then, let’s get started!”

Gretel then began teaching Link alchemy.

Alchemy was essentially a huge branch of magic. Gretel was a master in alchemy, while Link was a master in magic. Both stood on the pinnacles of their respective fields.

Everything and everyone else seemed so small from where they stood.

Link listened attentively to Gretel’s alchemical teachings and was able to rapidly absorb all that he was taught. His skill in alchemy improved in leaps and bounds.

Half a month later, Link’s alchemical skill had surpassed 99.9 percent of the alchemists living on the continent.

Of course, there was still a small gap between Link’s current level and Gretel’s.

One day, he was carrying out an experiment according to Gretel’s instructions, when suddenly, an alchemical inspiration popped out of nowhere in his mind.

He was stunned for a moment, completely forgetting his work in front of him. Ten seconds later, the mixture in the magic cauldron before him began to boil violently. There was an explosion later, and the soup within the cauldron was splattered all across the alchemical laboratory.

Gretel had heard the explosion and immediately came into the laboratory from a room nearby. She saw that Link was radiating with the glow of a defensive spell, and the rest of the laboratory was all but destroyed.

“What happened?” Gretel did not understand how Link could have made such an explosive error.

Hearing the explosion, Link’s eyes came back into focus and groggily stared at Gretel. “I suddenly thought of a way to increase the level of the end-product all the way to Level-19.

“Impossible!” Gretel shook her head. “I’ve already thought of every possible alchemical process. With the materials we have currently in hand, the highest we can reach is only Level-18.”

Even an alchemy master such as herself could not achieve such a feat. How was a novice like Link able to do such a thing? She refused to believe that he had surpassed even his own teacher!

Chapter 511: Link’s Enduring Wisdom?2/3?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The inspiration in Link’s mind was fleeting like a swimming fish. He wanted to catch it, but it just kept swimming around, wriggling out of his hands.

Gretel was doubtful, but Link couldn’t explain it. He chased the shred of light in his mind while instinctively mumbling, “Wait, wait, let me think.”

Gretel didn’t really believe him, but she didn’t interrupt his thoughts either. She started gathering the shards on the ground with her Magician’s Hand.

Link looked at the liquid and shards all over the ground. The inspiration ran back. It was much clearer now, but when Link tried to say it out loud, he couldn’t figure out how to explain it.

After thinking a bit, he decided to take out his magic notes. He strode over to a window and went to work.

At first, Link just wanted to calculate the specific alchemy Mana. As he wrote, his thoughts followed the guidance of that shred of inspiration and floated to a very strange territory.

The process started off very difficult. Link pushed forward bit by bit, feeling like he was walking in mud. Each step was agonizing as if something was dragging him down. It was practically impossible to move, but he still forged on.

Slowly, the obstructing mud disappeared. The road became smoother and broader. Naturally, Link started walking faster too.

Beside the “road,” Link also saw many tools. This was all the knowledge that he already possessed, including enchantment methods, spatial spells, dragon spells, and even the power of time.

Since they were tools, Link started using them to open up the path ahead. Thus, Link began walking faster and faster on this road that he forced open. He ignored everything that happened around him.

He’d instantly forgotten about the outside world.

Gretel finished cleaning up the alchemy room. Seeing Link like this, she waited for a bit. But after he sank deeper into his thoughts, she realized that she couldn’t keep waiting.

At that time, she heard some noise outside the castle. Walking to the window, she saw people coming from the town again.

She went out and looked down from the city walls to see the demon elder with around 30 other mixed demons.

The residents of the small town were all mixed-horned demons. But amongst the dozens, there were mixed succubae, demon-elves, mixed-oxen beasts, mixed Beastmen, demon-dragons and all sorts of strange “mutts.”

When the elder saw Gretel, he immediately knelt down and exclaimed, “Mighty messenger, they are all pilgrims. When they heard that you came to the mortal world, they wanted to see a bit of your glory.”

Thud, thud. The others fell to their knees when they saw Gretel and started praising her with reverant words.

Gretel wasn’t surprised by this. She and Link had been here for almost half a month, and the news must have spread. Though the true messenger had appeared, he was forced to fight Link quickly and probably didn’t have time to spread his influence. Since news of the god’s messenger had spread and the real one was kicked out, she and Link became the true messengers.

Oh, if that Thoreau knew about this, he’d probably get a heart attack. Gretel wanted to laugh. All these people on the island saw them as God’s messenger. If they could take advantage of this, it would be a giant force.

But they’re all mixed. They’re far from demons, but they’re too ugly. It’ll be hard for mainlanders to accept them. I wonder how Link will take care of this.

Gretel’s thoughts were definitely more open than those dragon elders. She knew the situation of the mainland. Even without the crack in the realm, the God of Destruction was spying from the darkness. A small mishap could cause a catastrophe. At that time, any possible ally would be valuable.

Thinking of this, Gretel decided to comfort them first.

The pilgrims were all dressed in rags. Many were injured as well. Clearly, the long journey had been hard, but their faces were still full of devout worship. They must be fervent believers.

Gretel waved her hand and cast a dragon healing spell on all of them.

These people were all under Level-5. The dragon healing spell was highly effective, curing all ailments almost instantly. They were all dazed. Then, feeling their bodies, they became ecstatic. They prostrated themselves on the ground and started praising her again.

Finally, Gretel said, “From now on, you are all God’s messengers. Go back and spread God’s glory. Tell everyone that God’s light will soon descend.”

“Mighty messenger, praise thee.”

“I will not disappoint you.”

“May light remain for eternity!”

To show their reverence, they retreated on their knees and kowtowed towards the castle after each step. When they couldn’t see the castle anymore, they rose and ran away excitedly to spread the glory.

Seeing that, Gretel just sighed. Thoreau, you really scared them too much. Now, they’re willing to give up everything just for the bit of hope.

It was all thanks to Thoreau. Gretel didn’t know what secret spell that guy used to live thousands of years. He’d been terrorizing these mortals all this time and ended up creating such a cult-like religion. If this force was unleashed, it would be terrifying. If used correctly, they could even rewrite Firuman’s history. Gretel felt that she couldn’t ignore this force. She had to use them but had to discuss with Link about how to do it.

Thinking of this, she returned to the alchemy room. Link was still scribbling in his notes though. He didn’t even change his posture.

How long will it take this time?

This type of thought process was very valuable. Gretel obviously wouldn’t disturb Link; she could only wait.

For the next few days, Link didn’t eat, drink, sleep, or even talk. He just fought with his notes. Gretel didn’t rest either. She thought about how to upgrade the materials. The demon elder would bring pilgrims over every day. Gretel would meet them and cast a low-level dragon healing spell to everyone, telling them to spread the glory.

Half a month passed like this. Finally, Link walked out of the room holding his magic notes.

Gretel had been waiting. “How is it?” she asked impatiently.

Link was still energetic. He opened his notes and flipped to the conclusion. “There’s some good news and some bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first.”

“With my idea, we can indeed raise a material to Level-19. More accurately, it’s Level-19.9, the limit of this realm.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“I’m now sure that there’s no way to raise a material to Level-20 with Legendary power. The Origin is the limit of Legendary power…Perhaps it can reach Level-20 temporarily, but it won’t be stable. The material would be destroyed instantly.”

“Oh. And the rest of the good news?” Gretel asked.

“The second thing is that even though we can’t get Level-20 buffer material, we can use a special magic seal, and Level-19 material would be enough. The cost though is that the magic seal would be reduced to Level-23, not the Level-26 that we predicted.”

Gretel wasn’t disappointed. “Level-23 is enough.”

In the Legendary levels, trying to increase one’s level was practically impossible. The Origin was even more so. Level-20 was already like a dream. If Link could create a Level-23 attack, it would be incredible.

Gretel was instantly interested by the idea of the piece of Level-19.9 material that Link mentioned. Disregarding manners, she grabbed Link’s notes and started reading.

The notes were messy, dense, and obscure. It was difficult for Gretel to understand at the beginning. Furrowing her brows, she forced herself through.

A painful half an hour later, she suddenly understood Link’s thoughts. The reading process became smoother after that. It was like an open road after that. The exquisite wisdom rushed down like a waterfall. The conclusion after the road gave her a hearty feeling.

After reading, Gretel looked up sadly. “Link, how do I repay you for such enduring wisdom?”

This type of material production method was the limit of this realm. It was invaluable; it could become the foundation for any race and be passed down for generations.

Chapter 512: Let Time Decide (3/3)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

That’s a good question. How should you repay me? Link wondered.

Hearing those words, Link immediately saw an opportunity presenting itself to him. He then chose his words carefully. “Actually, I’ve been having this idea.”

“What is it? Speak.” Gretel blinked innocently, her eyes twinkling as she smiled at him.

Link began explaining his idea of propagating Dragon Power and developing Dragon Warriors among the human race. Like Dragon Elder Pettalong, he had been thinking about it himself from the perspective of the dragon race.

When he was finished, the smile on Gretel’s face had waned a bit. Neither disagreeing nor agreeing with Link’s suggestion, she simply asked, “The cycle of life and death is an inevitable journey all mortals must take. Though they have survived countless catastrophes for generations, aren’t they still well off in general?”

The human race had occupied the more prosperous regions of the Firuman continent, and it had the greatest populations among all the other races. As he could find no fault in Gretel’s words, Link simply nodded in acknowledgement. However, he sensed that this time, he was not going to get what he wanted.

Gretel then said, “If mortal men were to receive an even greater power after being trained as Dragon Warriors, who knows what manner of catastrophe that might bring to the other races?”

Link was stunned upon hearing this. “I am a human being by birth, perhaps the most respected among my peers. The High Elves schemed still to assassinate me. The Dwarves too are wary of me, and who knows what the Beastmen and their king, whose strength knows no equal, might have in store for me? Every race has a powerful guardian protecting their own interests. Why should the human race be any different?”

One of Gretel’s main concerns had always been the balance of the dragon race. Link, however, was of a different opinion. He had always believed in being more powerful than the other. With enough power in one’s hand, the law of the survival of the fittest, indiscriminating and fair in its judgment, would naturally maintain balance and order among the races of the continent.

At this point, a distinct difference in opinion had surfaced between the two of them.

In truth, Link and Gretel never saw things the same way. It was only when Link had expressed his opinion that such a difference was finally brought to light.

Gretel tried to explain herself, “Link you don’t understand. Being stronger than everyone else isn’t always a good thing, even if you’re just trying to defend your own race. As an example, the dragon race had always lived in near secrecy in Dragon Valley. We never felt the need to interfere with the affairs of mortals, and as a result, trouble from the mortal world never came knocking on our doors. This is how we’ve managed to survive for thousands of years. The fact that the human race has thrived for so long is due to the balance that we have kept in that time. If you do anything to upset this balance, you’ll bring only destruction to your kind.”

“Only our actions will decide whether destruction will come to us, and as a member of the human race…”

“No, you are a duke of the dragon race!” Gretel raised her voice a little. She then spoke seriously, “Balance and our neutrality has been the dragons’ way of life for thousands of years. These two points have been tried and tested by time to be our true path.”

The atmosphere between them had become tenser. Link frowned. “What about the spatial crack? And the Void Tyrant?”

“Those were only temporary troubles. They will soon be resolved. Isn’t that why you’re here with the dragon race?”

At this point, Link sensed that they were not going anywhere with their conversation. Their opinions were just too different.

Gretel had hoped that Link would one day accept his duties as a Red Dragon Duke. But Link never intended to do such a thing. What he wanted was to build a prosperous human city, extend the humans’ influence and one day establish their hegemony over all of Firuman. As the humans inevitably took their place on the pinnacle of the realm, he would also be able to gather all the necessary resources and materials to further his research on magic.

It was a win-win situation for him and the human race in general.

As for the dragon race, Link found their insistence to adhere to their outdated ways stifling and oppressive. Such a mentality might suit the elderly, but it was certainly not something needed by someone like Link, who craved above all else progress and power.

There was no point in continuing the conversation. Both were Legendary masters, their wills hard as steel. They each had their own ideas about the world around them, and the only thing capable of convincing them otherwise was also the world itself. To them, words meant nothing.

Link finally said, “Your Highness, I take it that you don’t agree with me?”

Gretel’s face whitened somewhat. She tried to change his mind. “Link, the dragon race exists to protect the realm itself, and you’re already a Legendary master. The matters of the mortal realm should best be left for the mortals to decide among themselves.”

Link shot back, “Then why do the High Elves have their own Legendary master protecting them? Why do the High Elves have the World Tree? Why do they deserve to live on the Isle of Dawn in peace, while the rest of us get to burn in the fires of war? Are they simply better than the human race?”

“The High Elves live by the rules. Have you seen them overtly starting any war with the other races?”

Link shook his head. “Your Highness, times are changing. There are cracks appearing across the world, and the rise of Mana saturation shows no sign of stopping. We may be witnessing the birth of countless Legendary masters in the coming decades. In such times, we either adapt to them or perish. The dragon race would not be an exception to this rule!”

Right now, the Mana concentration all over the world was 50 percent higher than before. Level-9 masters had been popping up everywhere, and it would not be long before the whole world enters the Legendary realm.

At the same time, Link had seen the rise of talents in every race. Kanorse, Princess Annie, Herrera and Skinorse were among the pinnacles of human talent in this era. The Beastmen had the three warlords, while the Dwarves had the Mountain Sage and the King of the Mountains.

In the not so distant future, the appearance of even more Legendary masters would come to pass, as attested by the previous game world.

“No, the Legendary realm could not be so easily reached. You’re too optimistic about this. It’s not solely predicated on the realm’s Mana saturation.” Gretel shook her head in disbelief.

For more than 2000 years, she had seen far too many dragon masters being stuck at Level-9 Pinnacle for most of their lives, never knowing when they would be able to come out of the standstill they were in.

Past experience had informed her that the Legendary barrier was almost impenetrable. A genius capable of breaking through it would only come by once every few hundred, maybe even thousand, years. The large-scale proliferation of Legendary masters that Link had described was just impossible.

Link was unable to convince her to see his point. Thinking about it for a while, he said to her, “Your Highness, there’s no point in arguing about this any longer. I only wish to train a batch of Dragon Warriors among the human race. Why won’t you at least consider carrying out a test?”

Gretel fell silent for ten seconds. She finally shook her head. “No, I won’t agree to this! I’m the Red Dragon Queen, I’m responsible for the welfare of the dragon race! Dragon Power is the foundation of dragon civilization. I can’t just give it out like candy!”

At those words, the whole laboratory immediately fell into a deathly silence.

Link and Gretel were equally strong-willed, befitting their status as Legendary masters. Before, they were able to work together peaceably with each other, as they both shared a common goal. Their viewpoints were now so different that they were beyond all hope of reconciling with one another.

It was not just the fact that Gretel was unwilling to share Dragon Power with the human race; rather, it was the different paths they have chosen to take.

With Dragon Power beyond his grasp, Link would continue looking for other alternatives to empower the human race. He would walk on further in his path. On the other hand, Gretel insisted still on walking the path of balance. Gradually, the gap between them would widen even more.

The alchemical laboratory remained silent for ten minutes.

At last, Link took out a huge scroll of parchment. He then activated a Copy spell and quickly wrote down his thoughts on it. Half an hour later, when he had finished writing, Link took out the time fragment, two meteorite pieces, and the Void Centipede’s stinger, and handed them all over to Gretel. “I’ve already laid out my designs for the magic circle to repair the spatial crack in the scroll. Bring it back to Dragon Valley. You should probably be able to work out a magic circle with it.”

Gretel scanned the scroll thoroughly. She then spoke softly, her eyes lowered. “You’re not coming back with me?”

Link nodded. “No, since the Dragon Power is out of my reach, I’ll just have to look for some other way to build up the strength of the human race.”

He was only a Level-11 Legendary master. This level of power would not let him surpass the realm of Firuman. With the God of Destruction’s covetous gaze still on Firuman itself, he needed to develop his power even further.

Gretel fell silent again. Minutes later, she accepted the scroll and a few other items from him. When she put them all away, Gretel warned him again, “Link, the path you’re on will lead you only to destruction.”

“It may also be lead me to glory,” countered Link with a smile.

“With that mentality of yours, you have no right to wield the dragon’s body.” Gretel softly touched the Dragon King’s Bracelet on her wrist. An iridescent ball of light appeared, engulfing her whole hand.

“As the Red Dragon Queen, I’ll need to seal your dragon body up. Of course, you can choose to resist and make me fail the sealing process.”

Link shook his head. “No need. It’s probably a good thing, anyway. This way, Dragon Valley won’t be to blame for my actions in the future.”

As he spoke, Link took out the black ring on his finger. It was the seal of the dragon duke.

Tears began welling up in Gretel’s eyes, and glittering teardrops fell from them. She spoke tremblingly, “You can still run. Why aren’t you running? You’re a Spatial Magician. I won’t be able to catch up to you.”

“There’s no need.” Link shook his head, letting the ball of light melt into his body. He distinctly heard a soft chink from the Heart of the Dragon in his body. His dragonification skill was sealed shut.

At that moment, he bade farewell to his Black Dragon body.

When his dragon body was finally sealed, and he had returned the seal of the dragon duke to the Red Dragon Queen, Link gave her a slight bow and then walked out of the room in large strides.

Gretel looked on as he left the room. She had hoped that Link would stop in his tracks, turn back to her and tell her that he finally understood what she had been trying to say, and that he wished to follow her back to Dragon Valley.

None of that happened. As soon as Link left, there was a sudden spatial shockwave from outside the castle. With the sound of a fiercely howling wind, he was gone.

Gretel felt her legs weaken beneath her. She fell to the ground and began shedding tears like pearls falling from a necklace to the ground.

Oh, ancestors, where did I go wrong? asked Gretel, without expecting an answer from anyone.

Outside the castle, Link flew at top speed from the island. Without putting up any defensive spells around him, Link simply let the wind and waves slap about his body.

A thick layer of ice had condensed on his body as he flew for three hours straight. He had also managed to calm himself down.

He was the lord of Ferde, while Gretel was the queen of the dragon race. Both of them had their own responsibilities and opinions. They would gradually lose their own selves if one were to abide by the whims of the other, and they would be no different from puppets pulling on each other’s strings.

It was just unacceptable.

“Let time decide it all.”

Link kept on flying until he finally saw the continent in front of him. It was the southern coastline of the Kingdom of Delonga. Shifting his direction slightly, he began flying towards Ferde.

Half an hour later, after flying for more than 700 miles, he had reached Scorched City. He activated an Invisibility spell and descended on the Mage Tower’s observatory.

He then sensed that the dragons in Scorched City had all left, probably summoned back by the queen herself.

Link sighed. Today had not gone as he had expected. The fact that he was immediately ostracized upon showing his Black Dragon form for the first time back in Dragon Valley must have been a sign for things to come.

He just did not expect things to take a drastic turn so soon.

Link walked to the edge of the observatory and looked out over Scorched City.

The city had expanded considerably since he was gone. The cluttered state of the area outside the city had visibly improved as well. People and carriages teemed the streets, while chimneys busily puffed up columns of smoke into the air.

It was evening. The golden rays from the setting sun gave everything in the city a yellowed, aged quality, accentuating the vibrancy of the bustling city.

At the moment, he was a Level-11 Legendary master, as well as the protector of this city. The High Elves threatened his domain in the East, the God of Destruction in the North. There was also Morpheus the Shadow Stalker. In the west, there were the warlords of the Beastmen of the Golden Plains, and who knew what other threats lurked in the shadows still.

This was the golden age of heroes and great personages. Link just had a head start over the rest of them.

Tellie, I’m sorry… my beloved, my friends, everything I have is right here in this city. I need to become stronger, I need to continue moving forward. Otherwise, I would have disappointed everyone around me, he thought to himself.

Sighing, Link turned back from the evening view and head back into the Mage Tower.

Chapter 513: No Longer a Weakling

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Link received from the dragons—mostly from the queen—dragon power, the book Dragon, various dragon spells, and alchemy. He’d lost the thin piece of time but shared a way to create extraordinary material with the queen.

All in all, he didn’t lose anything.

But at the end, he forced himself to stay there and let the Red Dragon Queen seal his dragon form. Thinking back, he’d been too headstrong. His dragon form was so useful. It was a pity to lose it like this.

Whatever. What’s done is done. No point in regret. Link, look forward! Comforting himself, Link walked into his room at the top of the Mage Tower.

Celine happened to be in that room. She flipped through Link’s enchantment book while one slender hand was open on the table. A small Mithril ball hovered above her palm. Under the modification force field, the ball kept changing shape.

She was practicing enchantments.

Link walked to the comfortable chair beside the hall and plopped into it. Celine flinched at the noise. Ripples appeared in her Mana and the Mithril ball instantly wrinkled.

She turned around. Seeing Link, she patted her chest and whined, “I was wondering who it was. I was so scared.”

She put down the Mithril ball and walked to sit beside Link. Grinning, she said, “You left for one month. I thought you’d spend the rest of your life with the Red Dragon Queen.”

Link shook his head and smiled. He grabbed Celine’s small hands and caressed them. “Don’t worry, baby,” he said, sighing. “I probably won’t ever go to the Dragon Valley again.”

“What, you destroyed the relationship?” Celine was a bit shocked.

“Something like that. Whatever, let’s stop talking about them. Come, tell me what happened in the territory while I was gone.”

Celine stopped asking and started reporting to him. Most of it was good news about the territory’s construction. This included the Golden Rune Workshop’s establishment, which Vance was responsible for. It only enrolled Magic Apprentices now and had many Tutors—more than 100. They’d started producing basic enchantment equipment already.

This was good and of high efficiency. Link was satisfied.

“And there’s this.” Celine handed a small bag to Link. “Skinorse brought it back for you. He said that he only needs around 30 more so you should prepare his reward.”

Link opened it to see a bag full of Jogu. He counted it; there were close to 50. This was a huge gain. With what he already had, he now had more than 70 Jogu. This was great. Link was satisfied too.

“What about news from around the territory?” he asked again. “Such as the Isle of Dawn, the Southmoon Kingdom, the fortress in the North, and such.”

Celine cocked her head and thought for a while. She shook her head. “Nothing big. Oh, right, the Syndicate in the South seems to have changed. They got a lot stronger. I heard that the Leo Kingdom has completely been controlled and turned into a puppet.”

“Oh, that’s really bad news.” Link sighed. He knew this was definitely caused by the Ethereal Knights. Morpheus had started preparing the forces to conquer the South.

There were only four kingdoms in the South. Delonga had mostly been annexed by the Southmoon Kingdom. The latter had a good relationship with Ferde, so Link couldn’t ignore this.

He quickly thought of something. He cast a large scale life detection spell and quickly found Lucy. Then he used a telepathy spell. “Lucy, it’s Link. I need your help.”

Lucy was looking over documents and was frightened when she heard the voice. But she quickly collected herself and replied, “Lord, please give me your orders.”

“Send a document to Southmoon Kingdom’s royalty. Tell them I wish to visit the Grinth Magic Academy in their capital, and they should prepare for it. Then send a small magic ambassador group to spend a few months in Grinth. I’ll choose some time to go… Oh, right, have them bring this long-distance communication rune with them.”

With that, a crystal-red runestone appeared in Link’s hands. It flashed with white light and was sent to Lucy’s table.

“Yes, Lord.” Lucy collected it and started writing the document.

Having taken care of that, Link felt less worried. He did this to purposely cast doubt. His name was known across the continent now. When the magic ambassador group arrived at Southmoon under the name of a Legendary Magician, this news would spread throughout the southern kingdoms.

The Syndicate would learn of it too. Then they’d have to worry about Link’s power if they wanted to wreak havoc in Southmoon. If something really did happen, the ambassador group would send a message with the runestone. He could get to the capital in one hour.

Celine’s voice sounded. “Hey, why aren’t you talking? What spell did you just use?”

Link chuckled. “A small telepathy spell. I told Lucy to do some things. Alright, now ask me any enchantment questions you have.”

“Tsk, look how proud you are!” Celine pouted but still obediently brought her notes over and started asking questions seriously.

Link answered them easily and moved through the dozens of questions Celine had accumulated. Then Celine grasped her notes and ran happily to the enchantment room to try it all out.

Link sat in the room alone, thinking about the future.

First, he still needed to spread some force that could strengthen human Warriors. Pure Dragon Power was out of the question. It wasn’t because of their ban; he didn’t care about it. It was because he couldn’t do it without their help for now. However, he had Dragon Power within him and also their magic books. He could experiment and do research; he believed he could create regular Dragon Power soon.

Once he had a stable Dragon Power seed, he could start spreading it. That was the most important task at hand. Second, if he wanted to turn Scorched City into his main camp, he’d have to create a battle-level magic seal.

Thinking of this, Link decided to create an attack spell that could strike the universe.

In the Firuman Realm, Level-19 was the most powerful. He could create it with a magic seal but couldn’t control it perfectly because he didn’t have Level-19 material.

He gave the thin piece of time and objects from the Sea of Void to Gretel to guard the spatial crack. Without these, he naturally couldn’t create Level-19 material. Without Level-19 material, he couldn’t restrain Level-19 power. If any Level-19 force exploded in Ferde, the entire territory would be reduced to nothing. That would suck.

Link collected all the material he had right now. He discovered that he could at most create a Level-15 magic seal.

Fine, Level-15 is good enough. Currently, other than Morpheus, this power can destroy any existence in this realm.

With this magic seal, things like Bryant forcing into his territory wouldn’t happen anymore. No matter how strong one was, they’d have to surrender at Ferde!

Since he had the idea, he would start. Link immediately began designing.

This magic seal would naturally be set in the Mage Tower. It should use beams for attack and add the power of time. Without the thin piece of time, he couldn’t use fate. He would have to use predictive attacks.

This way, it would be hard for the opponent to escape once targeted.

The attack range should be long enough. Since it was a magic seal, the spell should be as complicated and detailed as possible. Taking advantage of spatial magic’s focus, it should reach a maximum of two miles on a good day. This could protect the entire Scorched City.

Finally, the attack shouldn’t be largescale. Otherwise, the shockwaves could destroy everything. The spell should be as thin as a needle and just be fatal with one hit.

Link thought and designed; the magic seal came into existence under his pen.

…

While Link was focused on magic in his territory, in the Orida Fortress, Kanorse received a letter from a scout from the Black Forest. He was training in the field when he got the letter. He stuck his Lion’s Fury sword into the ground and unfurled the small scroll.

After a few glances, his body trembled. His eyes grew serious.

Turning to the scout who’d brought the letter, he asked, “Are you sure the news of this portal is true?”

“Not sure. There are all types of scouts around the building. We can’t get close. There’s mist around the entire structure, and it’s very hard to see. Princess Annie sent me to alert you while she and the rest try to approach again…”

Hearing this, Kanorse slapped his forehead in worry. “That’s too dangerous.”

“I said that too. The others tried to dissuade her, but you know Her Highness’ temper. She insisted.”

Kanorse couldn’t do anything. Before, he was a general and could go help with his hot-blooded temper. Now, he was the fortress’ supreme commander. He couldn’t be so whimsical. Sending reinforcements could alert the enemy too. Thinking it through, he could only wait passively for Princess Annie’s news.

He waited for three days. In the dawn of the third day, Princess Annie and five elite scouts rushed out of the Black Forest. Covered in blood, they returned to the Orida Fortress.

She was injured all over, but there was no fear in her face. Instead, she looked excited and proud. Without treating her wounds, she hurried all the way back to the fortress.

Kanorse had gotten the message. He was already dressed and waiting for her. When he saw Annie, he realized her power waves were stronger than before. She’d broken into Level-8 and was close to Level-9.

“Kanorse, it’s great that you’re here. I got certain news about those Nagas!”

“Really? Is there really a portal?”

Annie nodded. “It’s a portal—a large multi-realm portal, in fact. Around it, I saw Wild Beastmen, demons, and many Agatha Nagas.”

Kanorse was shocked. “How many?”

Annie gestured with her hands. “More than 150,000.”

Kanorse’s hands trembled. There were only 50,000 Warriors at the Orida Fortress. The enemy was three times larger. Was the scene with the Dark Army from half a year ago about to be repeated?

What made him curious was that Annie didn’t seem nervous at all.

“What else?”

“There are a lot of people, but they’re sundry. The Wild Beastmen are the most at 80,000. They have very crude equipment though. They only wear a leather rag and hold sticks. There are only around 20,000 demons, and they don’t really follow orders. The Nagas aren’t as strong as we predicted either, only around Level-4 and Level-5. They’re equal to our elite army, so they’re far from the Dark Army from before. They still need to go through a lot of training. We have time to get ready!”

As Annie spoke, her eyes flashed with confidence. The humans were ill-prepared for the Dark Army before. She’d only been a Level-4 Assassin too. They’d been completely squashed. Now, the Orida army wasn’t the weak thing from before.

Even the regular Warriors were at Level-3. There were many from Level-4 to Level-6 too and could form an elite army of 10,000 soldiers. The commanders were all above Level-7. There were 15 at Level-8 while Annie was at Level-9. Kanorse was a full-armored Legendary fighter too.

They were all veterans who’d survived the last battle.

From the aspect of individual soldiers and combat ability, they weren’t any weaker than their enemy. They also had the impregnable pass of the continent. They had the absolute advantage.

In that case, they should fight to the end!

Annie’s words reassured Kanorse. He thought a bit and said, “You’re right… I’ll notify the others, and we’ll prepare for war!”

Those bastards had been messing with them for so long. Now, it was time for them to get a taste of the humans’ iron fist!

Chapter 514: Magic Points and the Divine Punishment Protocol

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Link’s Mage Tower had grown by leaps and bounds since its construction a year ago.

From the outside, it looked as if the whole building consisted of only one tower. In actual fact, the main tower was surrounded by six other sub towers. Three of them had been built alongside the main tower from the beginning, while the other three were added to it later on.

At the moment, two additional sub towers were still under construction.

As a result, his Mage Tower now occupied more than a hundred square miles of ground. The main tower was more than a hundred feet tall, while the sub towers around it reached 70 feet tall. From afar, the whole thing looked like a forest of towers.

The Mage Tower had also drawn the attention of a huge number of magical talents.

Indeed, a Legendary Magician’s appeal knew no bounds.

As of now, the number of students who had enrolled in the magical academy of Scorched City numbered more than 800 and showed no signs of stopping. There were more than 60 teachers currently teaching in the academy, which was a relatively smaller number in comparison to the students. Among them were the Half-Elf Eliard, Vance the Lich, Alloa the Maiden of Truth and finally Eleanor, who had sought sanctuary in the Mage Tower. All of them were Master-level personages.

In terms of Mana level, Eliard the Half-Elf had surpassed his seniors by reaching Level-8. Of course, his magical knowledge was still at Level-7, as he had only been studying magic for no more than two years. He was also of the same age as Link.

This sudden growth spurt had startled many people. There was even talk of candidates for future Legendary Magicians among the people of Scorched City.

The number of books in the Mage Tower’s library had gone up to 13764 volumes as well.

Ever since the construction of the Mage Tower, Supervisor Lucy had been busy collecting large volumes of magical books from everywhere. Even the official Magicians of the Mage Tower had generously donated to the library books of their own, which contained all their ideas and magical theories that they had developed over the years. Link too had authored close to 300 magical books and even a few more priceless ones on Legendary magic.

This was the first library to have ever been conceived by the human race. To human Magicians, as well as Magicians of other races, it was a place almost akin to heaven, as it contained countless books on Legendary magic.

One might say that Link’s Mage Tower, in terms of scale and the amount of knowledge it contained, had far surpassed East Cove Magic Academy of the Norton Kingdom. It had even become the central hub of magical learning in the kingdom.

On that day, Link had gathered Eliard, Vance and Alloa, three of the most knowledgeable Magicians he had known, to conduct the last few adjustments to the Mage Tower’s offensive magic circle.

The offensive magic circle was about Level-15. Link had finished the rough outline of the circle itself, though he had invited some of the official Magicians from the Mage Tower to put on its finishing touches.

At first, Link had just wanted the Magicians of the Mage Tower to contribute to the magic circle’s design, as well as let them in on the existence of such a weapon in their midst. The fruits of their discussions had greatly exceeded his expectations.

With the three Magicians’ combined ingenuity, they were able to conceive a rune that functioned as the magic circle’s regulator, which turned out even better than Link had expected. Its function was not merely limited to controlling the magic circle itself.

As the saying went, there was strength in unity.

The magic circle was finally complete. Link stood on the regulating rune of the circle and channeled his power into the circle’s energy pool.

“Link, the energy pool’s reached 95 percent. It’s almost full.” Eliard had been observing the energy pool’s state. At that moment, the pool was a bright red sheen.

Curiously enough, there was not a ripple on the pool’s surface. From a distance, it resembled a shockingly beautiful red gemstone.

So this is Legendary power, thought the three Magicians in unison.

In one corner, Vance was running a few preliminary tests on a magic puppet’s core that was modeled after Nana’s. Considering how much Link had grown since then, the magic puppet’s core was ten times more powerful than Nana’s.

Of course, this was in reference to the original version of Nana which was absent of any combat experience and had yet to receive the Essence of Life upgrades from Gretel. How much Nana had grown ever since was anyone’s guess at that point.

When Vance finally finished his tests, he triggered the last regulating rune and activated the core.

A soft hum sounded. The runestone, which was almost as big as a human brain, lit up instantly. There was then a gentle, melodious female voice resounding in the air. “Core has been activated. Please enter command.”

The other three Magicians stared at each other, then at Link. After thinking for a while, the latter said, “Let’s call you Lily.”

The voice spoke again. “Command received. Please specify user authority levels corresponding to all Mage Tower members.”

As Link had absolute authority over Lily, he could remotely command her to shut herself down or even self-destruct.

Lily would serve as the central core of the Mage Tower’s main tower. With such power in her hands, Lily not only had control over the tower’s offensive magic circle, but she could also even be regarded as the spirit of the tower itself.

Link had prepared a list specifying every Mage Tower member’s user authority level according to their respective magical ranking.

He then entered the list of names into Lily.

As a Level-11 Magician, Link naturally held the highest user authority in the Mage Tower. After him came Eliard and Vance, both of whom had Level-8 Mana and so were granted Level-8 user authority. Alloa, the Maiden of Truth, was a special case. Though her Mana was weak, her knowledge of the mystic arts was much more profound than the other two. She was for the moment granted Level-9 user authority.

After her were the Mage Tower’s official Magicians. The Magicians’ apprentices came last. There were in total close to 1000 people on Link’s list.

The user authority levels corresponded to each member’s level of access to the Mage Tower’s resources. The higher a Magician’s user authority level was, the more resources he or she would have access to, from the Elemental Pool, the Alchemy Laboratory, the Enchantment Workshop to the magical books in the library.

To raise one’s user authority level in the Mage Tower, a Magician would need to increase his or her own level. By leveling up, even more of these resources would be available to him or her.

Link spent the next half hour entering the names of the Mage Tower members as well as their corresponding user authority levels into Lily.

Of course, one’s user authority level would not be enough to guarantee access. As there were a lot of Magicians in the Mage Tower, he or she would be required to contribute in some way to the institution itself in order to ensure greater access to its resources.

When he was done, Lily spoke again, “Master, should I initiate the reward-penalty system?”

Link had conceived such a system with the aid of the others. It was devised to measure the level of contribution each Magician had made to the Mage Tower, in units Link had named “Magic Points.”

For instance, if a Magician’s apprentice had forged Level-0 magical equipment in the Golden Rune enchantment workshop, they would receive 10 Magic Points.

These Magic Points could then be converted to gold coins as well as access to the Mage Tower’s various resources.

Link gave the order. “Initiate.”

With a few hums, history was made in Link’s Mage Tower.

With the Magic Point system working in tandem with the Magicians’ user authority levels, the tower now possessed an extremely fair and transparent hierarchy among its members. With such a system in place, the Mage Tower would experience tremendous improvements in the future, while countless magical talents would be cultivated within its walls. Ultimately, the place would be transformed into one of Firuman’s most glorious magical hubs whose splendor even the High Elves would marvel at.

Of course, this was all in the future. Link had no way of predicting it.

After activating the system, Link then began testing Lily’s control over the offensive magic circle. He ordered, “Lily, activate the Divine Punishment Protocol.”

The Divine Punishment Protocol was what Link had named the offensive magic circle. While it was only at Level-15 for now, Link planned on making further improvements on it in the future.

“Initiating… Activation complete. Lily requires authorization from the highest user authority level in order to initiate attack.” This was Link’s trump card that answered only to Link and no one else.

Link had imposed two usage guidelines on the magic circle. The first rule was that the magic circle would under no circumstance be used on him by anyone else. The second one was the authorization system.

If Link wished to launch an attack using the magic circle while being physically in Ferde, he could personally authorize it to do so. Whenever he was not in Ferde, he could authorize a representative to use the Divine Punishment Protocol in his place. The first rule would be applicable as well to Link’s chosen representative.

As Link was about to begin his test on the magic circle’s offensive capabilities, he turned to the other Magicians around him. The others had finished their tests and nodded at Link in confirmation.

Link then said, “Direction: 30 degrees north of east axis. Target: the flock of birds 3000 feet in the distance. Fire at will.”

Saying this, Link activated the transmitting runestone in his hand. He had already assigned someone 3000 feet away from the Mage Tower to release a flock of seagulls into the air at his signal.

The other Magicians moved to the window, intently observing the moment of impact.

Outside the window, about 30 seagulls were released into the air. They then began to scatter in all directions.

There was a tenth-of-a-second delay on Lily’s part. Then, all four of them heard the sound of a translucent, almost imperceptible beam of light ripping through the air above them.

At the same time, the seagulls in the distance vanished into thin air. They were completely vaporized.

After that, nothing else stirred in the area.

A second later, when the 30 seagulls had evaporated in the sky, Lily’s voice came. “Target neutralized, attack complete.”

It was perfection!

He would probably not survive if he were to be locked down and took such an attack from the magic circle.

Link and the others clapped their hands in celebration of their success.

“With this weapon, no one would be foolish enough to trespass in Ferde,” said Eliard.

“Those High Elves would do better not to overestimate their abilities now,” said Vance, with a hint of concern.

“This place is starting to feel more like a magical city,” said Alloa, laughing.

When the excitement had died down, Link went to check on the energy pool. The attack had apparently expended 0.5 percent of the pool’s total energy. He then checked on the state of the firing magic circle. Some of the circle’s accompanying materials were somewhat overheated, but otherwise, everything functioned normally as before.

The magic circle’s highest firing rate was 200 beams per second. Judging from its energy consumption, it could probably fire around 6000 beams continuously for 30 seconds. Each beam contained Level-15 power.

With such power, he could probably cut a swath through a small army below the Mage Tower!

When everyone else confirmed that they found no abnormalities on their parts, Link said, “Come, a feast awaits us on the observatory. This calls for a celebration!”

Naturally, the other three Magicians had no objection to this.

The observatory’s diameter was more than 30 feet. A windproof magic formation was placed around it. From the observatory, one could look out over all of Scorched City. At that moment, an extravagant banquet had been prepared for them with five attendants around the table waiting to serve them.

As the four of them seated themselves, they began eating and drinking, while relishing in that surreal sensation of towering over everything else below the observatory.

After a while, Eliard exclaimed, “I can’t believe I’m able to experience this moment. To think I had only wanted to remain a normal Magician before…”

He had sacrificed his body and dignity to a rather repulsive countess for half a year in order to pay for his school fees, but now, Eliard had earned the respect and reverence of everyone else for his contributions. He still could not believe what he had been through to arrive at this point.

Vance took a gulp of beer, then sighed, “Me too, I thought I was going to stay a skeleton for the rest of my life. Never had I dreamt that I would be a witness to such a historical moment.”

Alloa, the Maiden of Truth, took a sip from a bottle of fruit wine and smiled. “Leaving the Dark Elves behind was the best decision I had ever made in my life.”

Link laughed, then stood up and vigorously held up his cup. “Everyone, this is just the beginning. The future rests in our hands. Whoever dares cross our path will face our fury!”

Everyone else was in high spirits as well, and they all rose up to raise their cups at Link.

Their drunken merrymaking was then interrupted by a young Magician who had brought in a travel-worn scout. The young Magician looked at the masters of the mystic arts in the observatory with a reverent glint in his eyes. He humbly inclined his head before them, though deep down, he swore to himself that he would one day make a name for himself and be worthy of being invited to such a feast alongside Eliard and the other Magicians.

The messenger, on the other hand, was stunned speechless by such a lively sight. It was also his first time coming to such a high place. He then handed Link the letter in his hand.

“Drink up, then get some rest,” said Link to the messenger. He then tore the envelope open.

There was not much written on the letter. It was news from the Black Forest. When he was finished reading, Link said to the others, “Everyone, it is time!”

It was time to sow the seeds of strength in Ferde and build a magical army that knew no equal in the land of Firuman.

Chapter 515: Amazingly Effective!

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Link’s Mage Tower

Today, when all the Magicians woke up and went to their work rooms, they saw a new clear water mirror in the center.

The mirror had a long announcement. It said that the Mage Tower would enact a punishment and reward system from now on and described it in detail. There was also someone beside the mirror to hand out the special magic signets.

Sorotto was a Level-2 Magician, but he was already 30 years old. Because he was a commoner, he didn’t have the chance to learn magic until he was 20. After that, he began working while learning basic magic. After five long years, he was still a Magician’s Apprentice.

During these five years, he’d worked hard on creating various magic scrolls and basic potions to sell at the cheapest price. After scrimping and saving, he finally saved up 600 gold coins to enter a magic academy in a small northern city. That was when he started learning officially.

However, the tutors there weren’t too skilled either. The dean was only at Level-4. The most advanced book in the library was Level-3; it was seen as a rare treasure and regular people couldn’t look at it.

Sorotto had studied from a 60-year-old Level-3 Magician in the academy. Most of the time, he created magic scrolls for this old guy for almost nothing in return. It was rare for him to have one hour to study seriously.

After studying for three years, he finally became a Level-1 Magician. Then he was forced to graduate and expelled from the academy.

Level-1 was probably amazing for a regular person. They could live a comfortable life off of selling magic items. It wasn’t enough for Sorotto though. He thirsted for magic knowledge and desired after the wisdom of saints. The world was unstable and filled with war. An official Level-1 book that could help bring him power cost at least 100 gold coins.

Sorotto worked hard for more than one year but could only buy four Level-1 books. His Mana reached Level-2, but he didn’t have money for those books. On average, a Level-2 book cost more than 500 gold coins.

This horrible situation didn’t improve until half a year ago.

At that time, Sorotto had traveled thousands of miles from the North to Ferde. Coincidentally, the Ferde Mage Tower needed Magicians badly. As a regular Level-1 Magician, he was fortunate to be accepted.

During this time, Sorotto received his first Level-2 book. He personally witnessed the Mage Tower’s fast development. He also saw many talented youths level up quickly.

All this made Sorotto feel the Mage Tower’s strong vigor. At the same time, he felt pressured. He had to work much harder than before. Otherwise, the others would leave him in the dust.

What improvements are there today? Sorotto walked up in anticipation.

Beside the water mirror, he saw Carrido. He was a Level-5 Magician and the Mage Tower’s Magic Official. Looking over, he chuckled and said, “Oh, Sorotto. Let me see… Here’s your signet. Take it.”

“Signet?” Sorotto found it strange. He accepted it reflexively and studied it.

The round thing was two centimeters in diameter. One side wrote Ferde in runes. The other side had a realistic profile. Looking closer, it was the Ferde lord. The material was special. The surface had many silver veins; it was made of Mithril. Under the veins, it was semi-transparent and had a tinge of crystal-red. The inside had some beautiful bits of silver.

At a glance, the signet looked normal. There wasn’t anything eye-catching about it. But if one inspected it carefully, you’d realize it had too much to discover.

As a Magician, Sorotto instinctively fed some Mana into it. An instant later, a beautiful female voice rang in his mind. Welcome, Mr. Sorotto.

Shocked, Sorotto looked around and discovered that many people with signets around him had the same expression. Good, Sorotto wasn’t an ignorant civilian. He quickly gathered himself. This must be some telepathy spell.

He replied in his mind, “And you are?”

I am Lily, the spirit of the Mage Tower. From today, I will serve you. For the specific details, you may read the announcement or let me explain for you.

Sorotto immediately looked to the water mirror. The announcement was long and detailed, but he read every word. After finishing, he couldn’t contain his excitement. “So my authority is Level-2 now?” he asked.

Yes. With this authority, you are qualified to read all magic books at or under Level-2 in the library. You may request to use all magic material at or under Level-2 in the Mage Tower.

“How many magic points do I have now?” Sorotto asked.

Lily immediately replied, All Magicians will receive a starting number of magic points equivalent to their level. You currently have 200 points. You may use it to buy reading rights, time to use the Elemental Pool, usage rights of enchantment room tools, usage rights of alchemy tools, and more. You may ask me for the price list at any time.

Sorotto grew more and more excited. This improvement didn’t seem like much, but for someone who’d gone through all the hardships of the world, he immediately saw the benefits.

From now on, he didn’t have to get on his tutor’s good side or have connections to learn magic. He could get what he wanted just by earning magic points. All the uncertainty and time wasted on human connections were wiped out by this new system!

He asked for the specific prices and ways to gain magic points. It was another long list. Lily’s voice was sweet and patient as she read it all out for him.

Hearing all this, Sorotto realized with surprise that his 200 magic points were quite a lot. Firstly, he could exchange it for 2000 gold coins. It was ten times as much. Of course, he wouldn’t do something stupid like that. From now on, all resources in the Mage Tower had to be bought with magic points.

With these points, he could buy reading rights to two Level-2 books. He could also request up to 20 hours in the Elemental Pool and more.

There were many ways to earn magic points too. For example, he could collect magic materials, write magic scrolls, create potions, complete tasks in the various city offices, and more.

If he had limited talent, he could still gain many points by doing these things. He could also go find talented commoners. If he found a magic genius, he could even get a reward of 5000 magic points.

This wasn’t the most exciting part. In the items list, there was also a Tutor System.

In this system, every Magician had a respective consulting fee. As long as a lower level Magician paid the price, they could ask high-level Magicians any question. The high-level Magician would not be able to refuse and must try their best in answering.

The system would record and rate the entire process. If a consulted Magician was “irresponsible” three times, their consulting fee would be drastically reduced. They’ll also be given a bad rating. This would negatively affect their reputation.

Every high-level Magician had different fees. Sorotto checked his own and saw that it was 20 magic points per hour. This could be converted to 200 gold coins an hour. He couldn’t help but chuckle wryly. So my power is quite valuable. I wish someone would come to consult me, ha.

Twenty points per hour was much faster than making magic equipment.

What excited Sorotto was that he saw Legendary Magician Link’s fee in the system. It was 2000 magic points for half an hour, and he would only accept five consultations per week.

This was expensive, but he was a Legendary Magician!

Glancing at it, Sorotto felt inspired. Without wasting a single moment, he turned to the Golden Rune Workshop. He planned on making some equipment to earn magic points. Then he could consult the Legendary Magician.

In reality, it wasn’t just him. After all the Magicians finished reading, they all acted the same way and rushed to earn magic points.

Sorotto walked down from the hall for official Magicians and arrived at the apprentice hall on the first floor. He saw the apprentices were in an uproar too.

These apprentices also had signets, but they looked less fancy than his. I’m sure they have a lower starting point for magic points.

Sorotto felt proud but was also alert. When the high-level Magicians see me, they’ll probably feel this way too. I heard there are occasionally banquets on the roof of the main tower. The Magicians who make great contributions have a chance to dine with the lord of Ferde… that is such an honor!

He quickened his pace.

…

One day after implementing the authority and Magic Point system, Link and the other high-level Magicians received Lily’s feedback. According to the data, all production in the Mage Tower had doubled!

The resource usage rate had increased from 60% to almost 100%. Practically not a minute was wasted.

Efficiency had gone through the roof.

This was definitely good news, but Link wasn’t always successful. Their power seeds ran into some trouble.

At this moment, Link, Eliard, Vance, Alloa, and Eleanor were working together to create a new power seed. But after starting it, they realized it was harder than expected.

Human bodies were complex systems. In addition, they had to create something out of nothing and had no starting point. After a whole day, the group didn’t even come up with an idea.

Link knew this couldn’t do. “Creating like this is too slow. We must borrow from others!”

“Borrow? From whom?” Eliard asked. Of the five here, he was the most innocent and didn’t grasp Link’s meaning.

Vance understood though. Smiling, he explained, “High Elves have the power of nature. Dragons have Dragon Power, demons have demonic power, and Beastmen have wild power. These are all unique. If we need to borrow, we’ll borrow from them.”

“But they won’t agree,” Eliard said weakly. “Like the High Elves, they’re so proud. They’re upset with us over the magic equipment now too.” The atmosphere felt weird to him.

Alloa looked up at the ceiling without saying anything. Eleanor’s lips curled upward. “Who said we need their permission? Can’t we do it secretly?”

“Secretly? Are we going to the Isle of Dawn to steal books?” Eliard asked. “High Elves have books, but demons and Beastmen don’t.”

Link shook his head. “No, no. Just using books isn’t enough. The wisdom of sages is abnormally complicated and can’t be understood easily. We need to find some people to try it on.”

He had dragon magic books and the Heart of the Dragon. He still wasn’t clear about the essence of Dragon Power though. It had taken 72 sages’ countless years from ancient times to create Dragon Power. It then underwent centuries of refinement. He progressed so slowly, mostly because there was no real thing to study.

Now, the God of Destruction was already creating a military in the North. They had no time to waste. Desperate times called for desperate measures!

Eliard gulped. Did they want to find someone to dissect? This was dark magic; they were legit Magicians.

Vance cackled. “You all don’t need to dirty your hands. I can do it! I have experience!”

Chapter 516: We Are Magicians

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

What Ferde had plenty of was money, while the black market in the North had plenty of slaves to spare.

In the black markets of the northern kingdoms, if your price was right, the Syndicate would provide you with anything you wished.

The Golle Kingdom, one of the Leo Kingdom’s neighboring states, saw the most active slave trade among the four northern kingdoms.

The Golle Kingdom had a huge geographical advantage, as it shared its borders with the other three kingdoms. With the ocean stretching to its east, the Golle Kingdom had one of Firuman’s first largest ports within its borders as well, called Port Antique.

Incidentally, a slave market thrived in Port Antique.

On that day, an elderly man with thick flaxen hair and gristly sideburns arrived at the market.

With a generous wave of his hand, he tossed out tens of thousands of gold pieces to the slave merchants, buying every slave of any race he could find—from Elves to mixed-blood demons, and Beastmen to half-dragons.

The Syndicate thieves were all taken aback by the arrival of such a benevolent buyer. Despite their immoral ways, they showed good business ethics and professionalism by responsibly transporting the buyer’s merchandise to a designated area in the wilderness outside Port Antique.

Once they were finished, the thieves suddenly fainted on the spot. When they regained their senses, the slaves that they had brought with them had all disappeared.

The group of thieves blankly stared at each other as if they had just seen a ghost. Given the bewildering circumstances of the incident, the thieves silently decided among themselves not to speak further on the subject.

One hundred miles to the east of Port Antique, there was a dense forest. As the North saw frequent rains and the weather was warm and humid, the trees there grew unnaturally tall almost like their tropical counterparts on earth.

The forest was filled with all manner of ravenous beasts and venomous insects. As a result, there was little to no signs of human presence.

Deep in the forest, a castle stood tall. From the outside, the castle seemed dilapidated. Vines entwined themselves around its walls, some of which had collapsed. None of the rooms inside seemed intact.

However, in the depths of this castle was a wine cellar, and in it was an extremely spacious Folded Dimension.

The dimension was a few hundred square feet wide and around ten feet tall. It was divided into two levels. The recently purchased slaves were kept on the lower level, while the upper level served as an experimentation area.

Vance was the one carrying out the experiments.

He had been in the castle’s wine cellar for almost a month. Every day, screams of agony escaped the wine cellar’s cracks like the inhuman cries of a phantom.

Link, Eliard, Alloa, and Eleanor took turns visiting the place. Link had left the place after staying for only a day, no longer able to withstand the cellar’s conditions. Eliard threw up for a whole day after only glancing at the experimentation area. On the other hand, Alloa and Eleanor’s reactions were a little better than the other two, but they did not last long in the cellar either.

The scene in the wine cellar was simply too inhumane to be spoken outside the castle walls.

A month later, the wine cellar’s great door opened with a thunderous thump. Vance in all his balding glory entered the place and shouted into the darkness of the room, “Alright, people, you’re all free.”

There was no response from the wine cellar. Ten minutes later, a mixed-blood Blade Demon timidly poked his head out of the wine cellar’s door. His body was covered with horrible scars, especially around his chest, all of which wound compactly with one another like cobwebs. Though his scars had largely healed, one could only imagine what sort of torment he had been through in the past.

The mixed-blood Blade Demon’s eyes were somewhat unfocused. This was due to the Memory Wipe spell he was under. As a result of the spell, the slave subjects in the wine cellar had all forgotten their time in the ancient castle.

Eleanor the Magician had cast the spell on all of them.

After the mixed-blood Blade Demon, the Beastmen came out next, followed by the half-dragons, and finally the elves. Like the mixed-blood Blade Demon, all their bodies were heavily scarred as well.

Of course, as their body structures were unique in their own ways, their scars were only temporary and would heal soon.

Before long, the slave subjects were all gone. After losing ten of them during the experiments, there were around 80 of them remaining.

When the slaves had all gone their respective ways, Link appeared beside Vance. He then willed the Folded Dimension to collapse on itself, bringing the whole wine cellar down with it.

He sighed and said, “I finally understand why you were called a butcher in the past. To think that I had allowed such cruelty to happen…”

Vance spread out his hands, indicating that it could not be helped. “Sacrifice of some kind is always inevitable in one’s search for ultimate knowledge. This is the last time I’ll sully my hands with such foulness. Oh, I definitely won’t be able to sleep well with the shrieks of agony still ringing in my ears.”

Link patted Vance’s shoulder, unable to come up with any words of consolation for him.

Though the process was barbaric, their experiments had achieved results. Vance had more or less grasped from where each race drew their power. Such information was priceless to them.

When they returned to Ferde, Vance produced five copies of his results to everyone involved.

When Eliard received his copy, his hand trembled a bit. He was able to vividly smell the stench of blood from the experiments they had conducted. Eliard then raised his head to look at the others.

Link’s face was dark and solemn, while Vance looked exhausted from the experiments. Both Alloa, the Maiden of Truth, and Eleanor’s faces were expressionless as if they were already accustomed to such horrors.

Eliard then sensed that there was a stark difference between his worldview and the others. Before, he had seen the world in either black or white. The two color’s purities remained intact even with the insinuation of a few grey areas.

Now, he finally understood that the world consisted simply of shades of grey. There was no such thing as a purely black-and-white world.

For instance, in the hearts of the people of Ferde, their lord, Link, was honorable and intelligent beyond compare. He was a messiah-like existence almost akin to the reincarnation of light itself.

But this time, he was the first to suggest using the strengths and powers of the other races for their benefit. Before, Link had wanted to end the lives of 70,000 people in Orida Fortress of the north, regardless of whether those people were good or evil. Link’s hands were certainly stained with more blood than anyone else in the world.

On the other hand, who would have known that Vance, who usually disputed with him over magical problems as a fellow, mild-mannered scholar, would be willing to dissect countless corpses and even live bodies in his zeal to develop Battle Art?

Judging from their unfazed expressions, Eliard was sure that both Alloa and Eleanor had done their fair share of unspeakable things in the past.

Link looked at Eliard, who remained silent. He then said, “Is there something wrong? You seem shocked.”

Eliard shook his head. “No, I just realized that there’s no line between light and darkness.”

Though he was still a bit shocked, as a Level-7 Magician, he managed to calm himself down and prevent himself from losing composure.

“That’s not usually the case. To some people, absolute light exists. I’ve seen it with my own eyes in Orida Fortress. But…” Link remembered the pope and cardinal who had been willing to incinerate their souls back in Orida Fortress. Such individuals would sacrifice anything for the light.

Eliard raised his brows upon hearing this and waited for Link to continue.

Link fell silent for a while. He then continued, “But… we’re Magicians. To us, the eternal conflict between light and darkness holds little to no meaning. Religion and morality are better left to saints who have long removed themselves from worldly concerns. What we do has concrete value. Our ultimate goal is to change the very nature of the world.”

Before, Link had not given this much thought. As he grew in power and accrued even more experience in the world, his convictions had fortified. To quote a saying from earth, “Be unscrupulous in your methods, and never lose yourself.”

Beside Eliard, Vance spoke out, “We need to be diligent in our efforts to reshape this world. There will be times when we’ll be forced to shake off the shackles of morality in order to achieve our goals.”

Eleanor added, “Link took the words right out of my mouth.”

Alloa the Maiden of Truth then said solemnly, “This is the reason why I left the Dark Elves and sided with Link. He sees through everything more than anyone else.”

To all of them, piety, morality and the values of mortal men were nothing more than impediments. A Magician should not concern himself or herself with the struggle between light and darkness, but rather with an object’s practicality and whether it can be used to fulfill their objectives.

Though Link usually presented a noble exterior to the outside world, it was usually for the purpose of gathering support for his actions.

Hearing their words, Eliard looked at his compatriots around him in awe.

He suddenly had a clearer understanding of things.

Slaughter, cruelty, generosity, greed—all these things were simply a means to an end. These tools would only be used when needed and discarded when they had served their purposes. Most people usually made the mistake of confusing means and ends and ended up losing themselves in the process.

Heaving a long sigh, Eliard sensed that the path ahead of him had become even clearer. There were others like him walking the same path, and they were all doing a great service to the human race.

“I understand.” Eliard nodded.

Link then shuffled the papers in his hands and said to the others, “Alright then, let’s get started.”

Chapter 517: Seed of Sunlight

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

With the unique powers of different races for reference, the progress of Link’s team skyrocketed. They were practically in a different world.

With Link as the leader, the five members of the team all had their own strengths.

Vance had the most experience. He created the Battle Aura field single-handedly. Battle Aura itself was a unique power. It just didn’t seem as powerful or versatile as Dragon Power or the power of demons. However, it gave Vance rich experience, especially in his understanding of the human body. Thus, the work of creating seeds was built on Vance’s foundation. Eliard had a great imagination, and his thoughts were creative. Many times, they broke through bottlenecks with his creativity. Alloa, the Maiden of Truth, had remarkable magical insight. This was an instinctive sensitivity to the truth. She could glance at an idea and know if it had potential. Reality proved that she was always right. This saved a lot of time. Secret Magician Eleanor had great attainments in the Secret spells. Power seeds naturally touched on the target’s soul. She was experienced in this.

Finally, there was Link.

He was the most powerful; this gave him the widest vision. He also had the richest knowledge of magic. He’d studied secret, elemental, spatial, and time magic. In addition, he possessed grandmaster-level enchantment and alchemy skills. He was pretty much a master at magic.

If this team was a ship steering through uncharted seas, then Link was the captain deciding their direction.

The five worked day and night. Eliard and Eleanor had to rest occasionally, but Link, Vance, and Alloa all had crazy bodies. They could work without stop.

This craze lasted for 20 days. Finally, they created the first successful power seed.

The seed was packaged in a high-level crystal Mana bottle. It looked like 30 milliliters of liquid. It was light blue and viscous. At closer inspection, one could see semi-transparent vortexes constantly flashing in and out of existence. It also radiated with a strange aura.

“For some reason, this aura reminds me of sunlight, like sunbathing on a summer afternoon at the beach.” Vance provided a very poetic description.

Hearing this, Eliard’s eyes brightened. He laughed. “Yes, I have a similar feeling. It has to be the beach by Ferde’s pier. You lie on the fine sand and watch the merchant ships in the distance come and go. Seagulls fly in the air, the wind isn’t heavy, but it’s still there—”

“Alright, it’s just an aura,” Eleanor cut him off, not able to bear it anymore. “There isn’t that much to talk about. But it really does feel like sunlight. In that case, let’s call it the Seed of Sunlight?”

“Seed of Sunlight? That name is nice, and it’s similar to its effect.” Alloa nodded in agreement. “As long as the person has human blood, it can fuse with the seed and become effective. Just like sunlight, anyone who can feel it will benefit.”

It was just a name; Link obviously didn’t have complaints. “Then let’s call it that. Now, let’s begin the next step. Find some volunteers and test its effects.”

This seed of power was already very refined and had no theoretical problems; no one could ensure that it didn’t have potential flaws. They must experiment on a human to create a true seed.

“It’s best to find a volunteer from the army. We need Jacker,” Vance said.

Link thought this too, so he summoned Jacker. The man arrived within five minutes.

After receiving Epic Battle Art, he didn’t stop training and improved quickly. He was only a step away from breaking into Level-8 and was a very powerful Warrior now.

Link met with him alone in the library. After arriving, Jacker saluted. “Lord, what are your orders?”

Link pointed at the crystal bottle on the table. “We created a new power seed. It’s similar to the Dragon Power of dragons and the power of nature of the High Elves. It’s new though. We need to verify its effects.”

Jacker’s eyes brightened. “Understood,” he said immediately. “I’ll find a Warrior right away. Are there any special requirements?”

“No physical requirements; a regular person would be fine. This must be kept a secret, so the Warrior must be loyal. It’s best if he doesn’t have any special background. As for the number, 100 would be good.”

“No problem. Lord, give me one day’s time,” Jacker said.

“You can go now.”

Jacker turned to leave while Link returned to the alchemy room with the seed. Clapping, he said to his four companions, “Alright, let’s prepare at least 100 seeds now. Let’s go.”

…

Allen was 18 this year and was very young. Thanks to the rich food of the Ferde army and hard training every day, he was muscular and strong. He was more than six feet tall and weighed more than 180 pounds. If not for his youthful features, he would look like a 30-year-old man.

Despite his age, he was a veteran already. When he was 16, the king of Delonga had gone crazy. He’d been separated from his family during the chaos and fled all the way from the South. He didn’t have anything other than his life when he arrived at Ferde. Coincidentally, Ferde had been recruiting soldiers. He’d been a bag of bones at the time but had a large frame, so he’d been recruited. Almost two years had passed.

He’d fought in the border war last year and killed more than 20 Undead Warriors. Now, he was a captain in charge of more than 50 soldiers. His strength had reached Level-4 too. He didn’t have to care about food or necessities in the army; he could even receive two gold coins for his monthly salary.

To him, Ferde was now his homeland, and the army was his family.

This place contained his brothers, comrades, and the glory he yearned for. Even if his family were alive and wanted him to go back to the South, he would refuse. The South was too messy compared to Ferde.

Today, he returned from the training field and was wiping his sweat in his own room when the door suddenly opened. A middle-aged man stood in the doorway. He had a gold star pinned on his chest—he was an associate general. Allen knew this man. It was General Rotokan, commander of his corps. He was a Level-6 Warrior.

“General!” Allen immediately straightened and saluted.

General Rotokan nodded. He studied this spirited youth, appreciation flashing past his eyes. “Allen, there is a mission,” he said. “It’s very dangerous, but if you succeed, you’ll become a major and have authority over 500 soldiers.”

As soon as he finished, Allen replied without hesitation, “General, I’ll definitely complete the mission!”

“Very good. Remember, this is a mission announced personally by the lord. Don’t disappoint me,” Rotokan reminded.

Allen’s heart started pounding; his body was even trembling. This was the lord’s mission. Did this mean that he would have the chance to see the lord in person?

He was so excited. To the soldiers, even though Marshal Jacker was just a human, he was extremely powerful and had a high status. One would feel honored to meet him. The lord of Ferde, though, was from legends. He was an undefeatable war god—able to do anything, was impossibly wise, and extremely brilliant.

Practically every soldier’s dream was to be appreciated by the lord. They would feel unparalleled honor even if they could only exchange a phrase. Now, he received the lord’s mission! What did he do to deserve this?

“General, I know!” Allen almost yelled.

“Good. Come with me but keep low. This is a secret mission.”

Hearing this, Allen forced down his excitement. He put on his armor and tried to act normal.

He followed the general outside the training grounds and climbed onto a black carriage. There were three other soldiers there.

The four stared at each other. They wanted to speak but remembering that this was a secret mission, they kept silent.

After a while, the carriage rode out of the camp and all the way to a big house in the inner city of Scorched Ridge. After getting out of the carriage, Allen saw that there were almost 100 other youths like him. They all had repressed excitement on their faces. He knew many of them too—they were all elites of the army.

Seems that many people are here for the secret mission. I have to work hard! Allen thought.

The other youths had similar thoughts. They looked at each other, feeling slightly competitive.

More carriages arrived after that. When there were close to 100 people, the carriages stopped coming. After a while, Marshal Jacker actually came.

He announced some rules. Basically, they would rest at this house tonight and head to the Mage Tower tomorrow morning.

Since the marshal was announcing this personally and they’d go to the lord’s Mage Tower, the youths went “crazy.” Thankfully, they were soldiers. Ferde’s military discipline was very strict. Even though they were totally excited now, they didn’t dare make a sound with the marshal present.

When Jacker finally left, they immediately started discussing amongst themselves.

“What kind of secret mission is this? We’re even going to the Mage Tower.”

“Is it to use a portal? The type of magic that sends you hundreds of miles instantly?”

“It’s time to accomplish something!”

“We might see the lord tomorrow. What if I can’t fall asleep tonight?”

All sorts of voices sounded in a cacophony. Allen listened quietly without speaking. He clenched his fists and thought, No matter what, I must accomplish this mission perfectly!

Chapter 518: Birth of the Sunlight Warriors

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was four in the morning, and the morning light outside was still dim.

Allen had woken up half an hour earlier. He had been sleeping on a wide bed with the other Warriors. He looked around him and saw that the others had woken up as well.

With a mission and the pressure of a face-to-face meeting with the lord himself hanging over them, no one managed to sleep at all.

The door slammed open. It was Marshal Jacker standing in the threshold. He barked, “Everyone up, we’ll be heading off soon!”

As soon as he finished, there was an instant commotion in the room. Everyone got out of the bed at the same time. All of them were all dressed up and ready for their orders, including Allen.

“Good!” Jacker looked at his soldiers with a satisfied air. “Now, go out on the courtyard and stand in four groups!”

In no more than five seconds, all one hundred of them arrived at the courtyard and stood in four neat rows. Other than the sound of their footsteps, the Warriors made not a sound as they stood in place.

When Jacker got to the courtyard, he waved a hand at them. “Let’s go!”

The dawn sky was still dark, and they could barely see signs of human life on the streets. With soft, hurried steps, the troop of Warriors headed towards the looming Mage Tower in the distance.

Even after having undergone expansion, the Scorched Ridge was still no more than 500 square feet. The procession of Warriors managed to reach one of the doorways on the side of the Mage Tower.

Jacker knocked on the door, which evaporated into points of light.

“Follow me.” Jacker beckoned at his troop, who all obeyed his command.

Behind the door was a wide pathway. On both sides of the pathway stood two rows of magic lights, which illuminated their surroundings. The walls around the pathway were arranged neatly, its material soothing to the eye and beautiful like jade. The Warriors looked around them in awe and reverence as they walked along the pathway.

Allen too had the same reaction as the others. He also sensed that the pathway would turn once after walking a certain distance. When they had turned a third time on the pathway, Allen calculated the total distance they had traveled and came to a conclusion. We’ve been going up a slope on a square pathway.

When they had walked for a few more minutes, Allen grew more confused. The Mage Tower should only be ten or so acres wide and a hundred feet tall, he thought. But we’ve been walking on this road for more than a few thousand feet, and there’s still no end in sight.

The other Warriors were also visibly perplexed by this, as they began to feel that something odd was going on.

However, not a word came from Jacker. He remained unfazed by the seemingly endless journey. The Warriors had no choice but to keep their confusion to themselves and obediently march on behind Jacker.

Just like that, the group of Warriors marched on upslope for 20 miles along the illuminated pathway. Some of the Warriors were already sweating profusely and gasping for air.

Allen sensed that he could not take much of the exertion any longer. For some reason, he felt that his body was somewhat heavier than usual. His feet sank heavy on the ground with each step he took as if they were made out of lead. Allen would have been fine walking for 20 miles through the mountains without feeling any strain on his lungs. However, the path they were on at the moment did not seem like an ordinary mountain trek.

A few Warriors had already collapsed to the ground, continuing the rest of their journey on all fours. This was really tiring.

“Marshal, are we there yet?” one of the Warriors blurted out.

Marshal Jacker still seemed undaunted. His answer was the same as before. “We’re almost there. Just hold on for a bit.”

The Warriors were left with no other option than to gnash their teeth and soldier on.

They continued on for ten more miles. The pathway seemed almost endless. Completely spent at this point, most of the Warriors had simply given up walking on two legs and now crawled on all fours.

If it were not for the fact that they had been given good food and sufficient training every day, these Warriors would have been lying motionless on the ground a long time ago.

Sweat dripped from Allen like rain. He was the youngest in his group. Though the others were around 20 years of age, he had reached Level-4 power, making him one of the more powerful Warriors in his squadron. He was also considerably strong. There were few among his peers who could rival him in terms of strength. He was especially gifted in the art of combat. How else was he able to slay more than 20 Undead Warriors in Girvent Forest without a scratch on him?

At this point, out of the hundred Warriors in his squadron, he was the only one left standing. However, he was now gnashing his teeth as he took each step with apparent difficulty.

I need to keep on standing. I’m the strongest one here, I need to keep on going! screamed Allen’s mind.

As they continued on up the pathway, some of the Warriors had already lagged behind Allen. These Warriors now lay on the ground motionless, taking in huge gulps of air like fish out of water. Their bodies had all but failed them completely, and their minds were already floating in and out of consciousness.

White light enveloped their bodies. The next moment, they had completely vanished.

The other Warriors were oblivious to their compatriots’ vanishing act. They were all too focused on marching forward to worry about anyone else.

There still seemed to be no end to the path ahead of them. One by one, the Warriors began dropping out of the group, their number steadily declining.

Sweat flowed from Allen’s forehead, blurring his vision. However, he did not wipe it out of his eyes. His hands dangled heavily beside him, and he was too tired to raise them up to his face. Allen could only blink away the sweat that had dripped down his face as he resolutely continued his journey.

HIs lungs were now on fire. His heart beat like tambourines, which sent shockwaves through every blood vessel in his body. His legs had gone numb from the climb for some time now. They ground torturously against their hip joints with each step he made.

Still, he pressed on. Instead of crawling on the ground or leaning against the walls on both sides of the pathway, he resolutely kept pace with Marshal Jacker’s gait in front of him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Marshal Jacker finally stopped. Sweat had now glistened on his forehead, and he was also slightly panting for breath. He turned around at Allen with a weary smile. “You’re quite the sturdy one, aren’t you?”

After trudging on for so long, the young man was already close to fainting. Still, his legs persevered on instinctively, and he would probably have walked himself to death if Jacker had let him do so. This was indeed a Warrior of unwavering resolve.

Allen smiled weakly back at him. He then hunched over to prop himself against his knees, as he took in huge gulps of air.

At that moment, their surroundings shifted. They now found themselves in a spacious hall, where the other Warriors were lying on square platforms.

After regaining a bit of his strength, he lifted an arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He then saw a black-haired Magician on the far side of the great hall. Though he could not clearly see his face, the figure exuded an indescribably oppressive air, as if he was the center of the universe himself.

That must be the Lord of Ferde. Allen’s heart shook with excitement. Without warning, he felt his body being lifted up into the air, and then he landed on one of the stone platforms.

A clear voice resounded in the great hall. “Warriors, do you see the vial beside your platform?”

Allen turned and saw a trough beside his platform. A crystal vial with a cork on it was placed in the trough.

The voice spoke again. “This is the Seed of Sunlight. It will restructure and strengthen your body once you drink it. You will all be endowed with Sunlight Power.”

Allen’s eyes widened with amazement upon hearing this. Some of the more impatient Warriors had already uncorked their vials and drank its contents in one gulp.

Allen was a bit more cautious than the rest. He hesitated for a moment. His limbs still sore from his journey, he feared that his grip would not be firm enough and that he might accidentally spill the Seed of Sunlight from its vial.

After hesitating for half a minute, Allen finally decided to take the crystal vial. He uncorked it and poured the fragrant, light blue liquid into his mouth.

Once the liquid slid down his throat, Allen felt an inferno raging down his throat and into his stomach. From there, the heat spread out rapidly to all parts of his body.

At first, Allen only felt his body temperature rising. Soon after, he could feel a sharp pain cutting through flesh, bone, and blood vessels like a knife.

There were now shrieks of pain around him. Some of the Warriors roared out in excruciating agony. Someone had fallen from their stone platforms onto the ground, where he rolled around as if trying to put out an invisible fire around him. Suspecting that they were all given poison, a few others angrily mumbled curses into the air.

Though he could still withstand the pain, Allen too felt a sense of suspicion rising in him. Could it really be poison?

At that moment, the voice resonated once more in the great hall.

“Warriors, power does not come out of thin air. The strong do not simply descend from the heavens. Only through fire can steel be forged; only through countless battles and bloodshed can a Warrior’s spirit be nurtured.”

An epiphany came over Allen. That’s right, one must experience great pain to become strong. How will any of us be able to attain greater power if we all fall under the weight of this ordeal right now?

Resolve filled his heart once more. He gritted his teeth and lay on the platform, letting the invisible knife carve through his body.

Only one thought surfaced in his mind. Our lord would not lie to us. I will make this power mine… I will succeed, I must succeed…

Time passed. After what seemed like an age, Allen felt that the pain in his body had subsided altogether. He now felt lighter and more at ease.

A mysterious power now lay within the depths of his body. This power was as fiery, domineering and passionate as the afternoon sun. When Allen first felt its presence, he also sensed that all the pain in his body had fled from him. This new power rapidly spread out in him, at the same time rejuvenating his weary body.

“Is this Sunlight Power? It’s really powerful!” Excitement sprang from Allen’s heart. Around him, he could hear shouts of joy and surprise from the other Warriors. They too had received this great power.

The power within their bodies grew from their chests and then to all four limbs. At last, a power circulation network had taken form inside their bodies.

The power in them continued expanding as it circulated through their bodies. Half an hour later, Allen could feel that the power’s rate of growth had started to slow down and stabilize itself.

Still, Allen felt that he was now a few times more powerful than before. He could also feel that his new power seemed inexhaustible and that he did not need to worry about using it up.

The clear voice spoke up again in the great hall. “Congratulations! Most of you were able to endure the experience and received Sunlight Power as a reward. From now on, you are now the Sunlight Warriors of Ferde.”

In the air, runes shaped like a golden sun appeared and drifted down slowly to the wrists of every Warrior who had successfully attained Sunlight Power.

There was a sizzling sound, and Allen felt a sharp pain from his wrist. Panicking, he lifted his sleeve and saw that a golden rune was branded on his wrist. The rune’s design was complicated, but he was able to make out the shape of a sword on it. The sword was in turn surrounded by a number of golden stars.

Allen counted six stars on the rune. He turned to the Warrior beside him and saw that the rune on his wrist bore four stars on it. Out of the Warriors in the great hall, only Allen had six stars around his rune.

Just then, Allen noticed that his sight had improved tremendously. He was able to see the little points of light on the wrist of a Warrior standing ten feet away.

The voice spoke again. “Allen, you possess incredible willpower and have endured the most pain out of anyone else. As your reward, I have bestowed upon you the strongest Sunlight Power among your squadron.”

A pale golden sword floated in the air towards him. Under the envious gaze of the other Warriors, Allen accepted the sword with both hands.

He saw that the light glinting off the sword was as clear as a stream, the runes on it elegant like a master painting. He grasped the sword’s handle, and the sword instantly resonated with the Sunlight Power in his body. Golden light shone out from the sword. On it appeared a row of golden words which read, “May sunlight illuminate the world.”

Allen’s chest swelled with pride. He rose up and held his sword up high.

Everyone looked at him with admiration and envy. With the sword in his hand, Allen had nothing to fear. He could sense that the Lord of Ferde was also looking at him, his eyes filled with encouragement.

I, Allen, will become the strongest Warrior in Ferde! Allen swore adamantly to himself.

Chapter 519: Ferde’s Sunlight Army ##

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Mage Tower, alchemy room

Link, Vance, and the other three were concluding the results of the experiment for the first generation of Seeds of Sunlight.

“The results look good. Of the 100, 97 became much stronger,” Link said. “Though the power of the three didn’t change, they still received the strength of sunlight.” He drank some fire wine. He was quite satisfied with this result.

Vance nodded too. This result was beyond his expectations. He’d thought that it would be good enough if they could have a success rate of 80%. Now, they practically had no failures.

However, everyone in this team saw things from different angles during the fusing process. They obviously had different opinions too.

“The high success rate is related to the fact that they’re all elites,” Alloa said calmly. “I saw the entire process. I think it’s still too painful. It’s okay for these elites, but for regular soldiers, the success rate will decrease greatly. Should we revise it further?”

Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t think so. This is good too. As the saying goes, harsh fire creates true gold. Only after extreme pain can the Seed of Sunlight enter deep into the soul. Only then can the Sunlight Warrior have more potential for growth.”

Alloa and Eleanor’s opinion was completely different. “But the success rate would be much lower,” she argued. “We have a high rate now, but when we move to regular soldiers, I would be surprised if 50% could survive. Each soldier only has one chance. This will greatly affect the expansion of the Sunlight Warriors.”

The critical part was that each soldier only had one chance at the fusion. If they missed it, then they missed it.

Both had very clear standpoints.

Eleanor wanted to create elites. She wanted the Sunlight Warriors to become truly powerful figures in the future!

Alloa, though, saw the advantage in number. In her opinion, the soldiers only had to be at the standard level. There was no need to go for the extreme. While ensuring quality, they could add on more numbers. When there were enough soldiers, the combat ability would improve in quality as well. This was the root of an army’s strength.

Eliard didn’t speak until now. Hearing this, he shrugged. “Why don’t we separate it? One method for elites and one for regular soldiers.”

As soon as he spoke, Vance waved his hand. “No, that’s not fair to the soldiers. Everyone should at least have the chance to choose. And how do you differentiate between elites and regular people? Potential is hard to see. You’ll never know what a soldier can accomplish in the future.”

With that, he looked to Link and shrugged. “Take Link for example. When I saw him a year ago, I had no clue he would rise to the Legendary level so quickly. If we use Eliard’s idea, we might miss a future genius!”

He was right too. Letting every soldier have the right to choose was enlightening. The soldiers would definitely support it if they knew. However, both Eleanor and Alloa disagreed.

Eleanor waved her hand quickly. “No, no, no, that won’t do. Regular soldiers don’t understand the Seed of Sunlight. If they’re allowed to choose, they would definitely choose the most painful method, either due to their impatience to rise up or envy of the strong. The lower option would practically become a dummy. The failure rate would still be high.”

Alloa went even deeper. “Mortals are always controlled by different emotions. They have limited knowledge as well and just can’t see the truth. Giving regular soldiers the right to choose is good treatment, but we won’t be able to maximize our growth. The northern army is already preparing to come southward. We must become stronger as fast as possible. We can’t use your method.”

Vance threw his hands up, speechless. Both of them made sense, and he couldn’t refute them.

Seeing this stalemate, everyone looked to Link for his decision. He already had a mature idea in mind. Chuckling, he said, “As the saying goes, your first impression of someone will be wrong. It’ll be wrong after a day too. But after one year, you won’t be wrong. My idea is that we can have the soldiers choose but without telling them.”

This intrigued everyone. They waited for Link to continue.

“There are 30,000 official soldiers in Ferde. It’s not much. We can increase Tower Spirit Lily’s functions and secretly put all the soldiers into the observation range. We’ll set some testing standards as well and rate them from the details of their everyday lives. We can watch for a while. It’s the first generation of Sunlight Warriors, after all. One year isn’t needed, so how about one month? Those with high scores will use the elite method. Those with lower scores will use the regular method. We can become more specific too and split the methods into different levels. Like five levels with different scores. What do you all think?”

Judging a soldier’s potential from their daily lives was very objective. As long as they set logical standards, they wouldn’t make any mistakes after observing for one month. The soldiers were technically choosing for themselves too.

The four exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

“In that case, let’s start. We have a lot to do.”

The five began working in a flurry again. Upgrading Lily and large-scale production of the Seeds of Sunlight could only be done by them. It was a lot of work.

Link was responsible for 60% of the work. The other four divided the rest equally. Even so, they were still all exhausted.

Another month passed like this. Working so hard wasn’t without its benefits though.

Link was constantly using up all his power. His Dragon Power limit kept rising as he used it without stopping. It rose almost 1000 points, reaching 17,000 in total. He also had many inspirations for spells during the process.

The other four benefited a lot too. They were practically learning and working at the same time, receiving great knowledge from Link.

Eliard especially gave himself the most difficult Seed of Sunlight after finishing all the work at the end of the month. He survived it and received Level-9 Sunlight Power. His magic knowledge improved quickly as well. He grasped a Level-8 spell and officially became a Level-8 Magician.

The first week of the month was spent on modifying the tower spirit and inputting the soldiers’ names. Then they worked on creating Seeds of Sunlight for the next three weeks.

During the process, the five modified their production method and raised their speed hundreds of times. They created 50,000 bottles within three weeks.

After observing the soldiers for three weeks, the tower spirit had a general rating of each soldier. Their scores were out too.

What came next was the large-scale fusing.

This was mechanical and repetitive work. Link didn’t want to do it, so he made Vance responsible. He went back to his regular routine and tried out his new inspiration. When he had time, he would wander around his territory or accompany Celine. His days were comfortable.

Once he was relaxed, time flew by. Another half a month passed in a blink.

Today, Link was reading the fusion reports in the Mage Tower.

The situation was quite good. The regular soldiers all increased one level with the Seed of Sunlight. On average, they were at the pinnacle of Level-3. This was a scary number. The demon army from earlier had only been at this level too.

Those with the biggest improvements were the generals who were stronger to begin with. They had strong willpower and used the most difficult fusion method. It was greatly effective. There were almost 100 Level-7 Warriors now.

There were also some geniuses like Allen. Lily chose them, and they used the most difficult method on him. On average, they reached Level-5 or higher and had a greater potential. It was a great gain.

As the marshal, Jacker naturally chose the most painful method and succeeded. He suddenly became a Sunlight Warrior at the pinnacle of Level-8. He was now the strongest soldier in the army.

Sunlight Power was similar to Dragon Power.

It was practically equal to Dragon Power in terms of fast recovery. This ensured a soldier’s endurance in battle. It could also heal. Though it wasn’t as crazy as demonic power, it could still lower the casualty rate.

There was also a unique attribute. Under the sun, a Sunlight Warrior’s attributes would increase. If they were under the sun when close to dying and had strong enough willpower, they could recover just by sunbathing.

Link had a deep knowledge of each type of Warrior’s combat ability. He estimated that his Sunlight Warriors could completely counter a demon of the same level. This way, Ferde possessed a Sunlight Army of 30,000 that could fight demons face to face.

This huge force could change the entire state of the continent.

Putting down the report, Link walked to the window. Seeing the camp filled with sunlight and confident soldiers, he was very satisfied.

It isn’t enough though. They don’t have sufficient equipment. Ferde also lacks the ability to respond to a large-scale magic attack. All these things need to improve.

Having magic equipment that corresponded with the Sunlight Warrior’s strength could double their combat ability. Paired with the strict military discipline, they might be able to completely crush the demons.

Of course, this required a great amount of resources and money. Things had to be taken step by step. Link couldn’t do it alone either. For example, Eliard was already close to Level-9. If he was trained a bit more and broke into the Legendary level, he could become Link’s, right-hand man.

Just as he was planning further, Link’s heart jumped. It was the communication rune.

The signal is from Southmoon Kingdom. Something must have happened. Seems that the Syndicate still hasn’t given up. In this case, I’ll have to visit… Yes, I’ll bring Eliard too. He’s still too naïve and should have some more experience.

Thinking of this, Link used a life detection spell to find Eliard. Then he used Telepathy. “I’m going to Southmoon to take care of something. Do you want to go?”

“Of course,” Eliard replied immediately. He’d wanted to travel through the continent for a long time.