Advent of the Archmage

Chapter 525: Time to Do Something Big

Grinth Magic Academy

Whoosh. With a soft sound, an arrow emitting fiery red light suddenly flew from afar and crashed against the dagger.

Almost at the same time, a creamy white shield of sacred power appeared on Eliard.

Clang. The dagger was hit by the arrow and flew backwards. The blade cut across the sacred light, creating a flash like fireworks. Then the sacred shield flashed a few times and disappeared.

Eliard was terrified. The dagger’s blade was so sharp. If not for the shield, he would have been dead even if the dagger was forced to the side.

But who had saved him?

Eliard looked to the distance and saw three people appear. He knew one of them—Skinorse. The other two was a female priest and an archer. They must have been the people who’d saved him.

During this distraction, Magician Amir acted again. His wand twitched, and the dagger on the ground lit up again. The next moment, the dagger jumped like lightning, stabbing toward Eliard again.

Shocked, he reacted immediately.

Someone was faster than him. The archer had pulled his bow back already. With a soft sound, a beam of fiery light shot over. Poof. It buried into Amir’s head.

Amir flew back. Green mist floated out of his body when he was in the air.

“Hey, Eliard, what are you waiting for? Come here!” Skinorse waved at him.

“Ah, okay.” Eliard had just escaped from death. With no time to feel the fear, he activated Cat’s Agility and bounded towards Skinorse.

Halfway there, voices sounded behind him.

“He’s there, Magician Eliard from Ferde. He killed the dean!”

“Catch the murderer!”

He even heard some Magician’s Apprentices run out from the garden villa, yelling, “He killed Amir! He’s the killer!”

Everything shocked Eliard even more. It felt like he was stuck in a pit of vipers. He could no longer tell who was innocent and who was a viper.

Ethereals are so scary! He sped up and ran to Skinorse.

Skinorse immediately pulled out some metal clumps the size of one’s fist from somewhere. Throwing it at the pursuing soldiers, he yelled, “Turn around; don’t look!”

Eliard immediately turned back. Then he heard some empty bangs. They sounded like toilet seats being opened. And then he felt heat on his back while the entire square turned really, really bright. It felt like a sun had dropped down behind him.

After that, Eliard heard pained cries.

“Ah, my eyes, my eyes!”

“I can’t see anything, ah!”

“Despicable!”

Skinorse grabbed Eliard. “It’s a bit troublesome. Let’s go.”

Eliard didn’t have a better plan. He could only follow Skinorse and run out of the academy. At the wall, the people leapt up. Eliard had Cat’s Agility activated and also jumped up.

There was a small alley behind the wall, filled with cottony white fog. Skinorse and the others jumped down without hesitation. Eliard hesitated a bit, but Skinorse tugged his shirt. He lost balance and fell into the white fog too.

Once inside, Eliard realized that the fog was strange. It was like cotton, but there was a hole that could only fit one person. Eliard discovered a Magician there. He led the way while saying, “Hurry, walk faster. This spell can only last three minutes. Hurry!”

Soon, Eliard found even more interesting points to this spell. The fog almost completely blocked the outside world. Not even a sound could be heard, let alone power auras. They were just inside fog, but it felt like they were isolated from the world.

He followed behind the archer and walked down the tunnel in the fog. After who knew how long, he found that he was in a room. After that, he seemed to enter a cellar.

Boom. There was the sound of a wooden lid closing. The white fog disappeared, and Eliard found himself in an underground tunnel.

“This is the escape tunnel of the Gale Mercenary Group in Full Moon City. We’re borrowing it,” Skinorse explained.

Eliard felt speechless. So this wasn’t theirs?

The tunnel was cramped and low with damp stone walls on either side. Eliard stooped down and walked for half an hour. By the end, he didn’t even know where he was. All he was sure about was that they should be outside the city.

After five or six minutes, Morrigan slowed down at the front. “The exit is up ahead,” he whispered. “There’s a small village outside the city. Most villagers have something to do with the Gale Mercenary Group. We can’t disturb them easily. Their leader is a Level-8 Assassin. He’s really powerful. We’ll use an Invisibility spell later. Make sure you don’t get discovered.”

This was targeted at Eliard. He quickly replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” With that, he cast a Traceless spell on everyone present.

Morrigan chuckled. “Heh, this spell is nice. Much better than my Invisibility. Let’s go, we’re at the exit.”

Eliard looked forward. He found a puddle of water before him with light shining down. This was probably a dried well.

“Alright, climb up. Eliard, do you need help?” Skinorse asked.

“No, it’s easy,” Eliard replied. When the others were out, he cast a Levitation spell and used the Magician’s Hand to pick himself out.

They climbed out of the well and into the alley. It was empty, but people passed to and fro outside. It was very lively. They didn’t waste any time and rushed into the woods behind the village under the help of the Traceless spell.

Once deep in the woods, they became visible again and let out exhaled deeply. Finally, Skinorse said, “Hey, Eliard, I heard them earlier saying you killed the dean. Is that true?”

“Yes.” Eliard smiled wryly and nodded.

Morrigan didn’t understand. “I heard that Andal is a great person. Did he piss you off?”

Archer Irvan was more troubled. “Andal is an important figure. We’re in trouble now.”

Eliard sighed again. Ethereals were so scary. “Listen, things aren’t so simple.”

The four looked to him, ready to hear his explanation.

Eliard first looked to Irvan. “First, thanks. You and that priest saved me. I’m Eliard, a Magician from Ferde. And you?”

Everyone introduced themselves. After learning all their names, Eliard said, “Irvan, didn’t you find something strange about the guy you killed?”

Irvan thought back and nodded. “A bit. Green smoke came out of his mouth when he did. I’ve never seen that before.”

“Yes, it’s the green smoke. When I killed the dean, that also happened. This smoke means that the person was taken over by an Ethereal. Do you understand?”

“Ethereal? From the Soul Realm?” Priest Moya furrowed her brows. She was highly sensitive to this term.

Eliard shook his head. “Not the Soul Realm but the Isomerism Realm. The dean was taken over by an Ethereal and wanted to kill me. I was forced to fight back. Many people in the academy are possessed. The entire royal family might be possessed too. So basically, we’re in trouble.”

The four stared at each other at this. They didn’t know what to say.

After a long while, Skinorse said, “According to what you said, we’ve just angered a beehive?”

Morrigan gritted his teeth. “This is troublesome. Not only did we not get money, but we’re also wanted by the kingdom now.”

Irvan scratched his head too. “Eliard, how about we escort you back to Ferde? We’ll be safe there.”

Eliard quickly shook his head. “No, no, no. I’m not going back. I have to solve this and find the mastermind behind all this. From what I know, Ethreals need a Secret Magician’s help to possess someone. I must find and kill him. Otherwise, Southmoon Kingdom will become a blight to the south of Ferde and Norton.

Hearing this, Skinorse shrugged. “Alright,” he said helplessly. “I knew the lord wouldn’t give such a simple mission. We’ll have to work now.”

“What lord?” Eliard was confused.

Beside them, Moya explained, “We met the Ferde lord in another city. He gave us this mission to come help you.”

Hearing this, Eliard felt warm inside. He knew Link must have prepared for this. “Did he say where he’ll be?” he asked.

“No,” Skinorse replied. “He said that he’d be busy with something.”

“Good. We’ll take care of this.” Eliard waved a fist. He was a Level-8 Magician now. He couldn’t stay cooped up in the safe Mage Tower; it was time to do something big.

“If you insist, then let’s do it. But what do you plan on doing?” Skinorse asked.

Eliard had thought of this. “I heard there are robbers outside the city. I think there’s something up with them. They must be related to the Ethereals. If I was that Secret Magician, I wouldn’t hide inside Full Moon City because that’s not safe. It’s highly possible to meet a Legendary Magician. I’d definitely hide outside the city. Those robbers must know something.”

“Oh, I see. So you’re saying that we have to avoid Southmoon’s capture while fighting with those robbers. This is a classic example of finding trouble for yourself.” Skinorse looked frustrated. The source of all this trouble was that he didn’t mind his own business and wanted to help his friend. What had he been thinking?

“What, are you scared?” Eliard glanced at Skinorse, his gaze falling on the man’s dagger. “Your dagger looks nice. Crystal-red, high light refraction… it’s Level-10 material. Link must have given it to you as a prepayment. You don’t want to work after getting paid?”

Skinorse slapped his forehead and muttered, “I hate Magicians.”

Chapter 526: An Ethereal’s Use

An hour after Eliard fled the Magic Academy, wanted posters had been distributed throughout the city. Wanted posters with a portrait of Eliard had been plastered everywhere throughout the streets. The bounty put on him was even more ludicrous: 5000 gold pieces. Every poster bore the seals of the Magic Academy and Southmoon Kingdom.

The capture of one person for such an extravagant amount of gold pieces seemed easier and far more rewarding than going after those slippery bandits. At that point, the mercenaries in the city had all given up on the bandits’ bounty and now began their search for this wanted felon.

Naturally, Link heard about the bounty as well.

He was strolling along the street leisurely when he heard the news. Immediately, he turned around and headed for the Magic Academy. Eliard had slain Andal and Amir… I fear the Ethereal crisis in Southmoon Kingdom is even worse than I had imagined.

The Magic Academy could be seen from Full Moon City. By simply raising one’s head up, one could easily see in the distance the Magic Academy’s Mage Tower of Enlightenment.

After walking for half an hour, Link reached the outer walls of Grinth Magic Academy. From there, he searched around him for an isolated corner. A translucent film rippled across his entire body, which gradually began to fade till he was gone completely from sight. He had slipped into the vacuum of space. Link had just recently invented this technique, which was similar to the Demon Illusory Assassins’ racial trait.

Compared to the Demon Illusory Assassin, Link’s spell was much more flexible and stealthier. It was essentially one of the most effective Invisibility spells in the realm of Firuman.

In his current state, Link was like a fish at the bottom of a shallow pond, observing the outside world through a thin layer of water.

Without even moving an inch from where he stood, Link was able to have a full view of what was going on within Grinth Magic Academy through the light-refracting property of space.

Behind the walls of the Magic Academy, Link could see that each Magician’s face was tense and alert as if expecting an enemy attack at any moment. A magic light shone from the peak of the Mage Tower of Enlightenment. Link recognized it as a large-scale detection spell usually cast to seek out intruders.

With the Magic Academy’s dean and Ferde’s envoy killed, Link had expected such a heightened level of caution. However, after observing this for a while, he began to sense that something was not right, but he could not find the words to describe what it was.

Calmly, his view shifted to the two corpses that had been put away.

Link knew both of them. One belonged to Andal, who had visited Ferde a few times. There was a huge hole that had been recently burned through his chest. Carefully observing it, Link recognized it as a wound consistent with a Radiant Sunbeam spell. This must have been Eliard’s handiwork. The other body was Amir. He was one of Ferde’s official Magicians. It was a shame to have lost him as well. There was a hole on Amir’s head. From the shape of the hole, Link deduced that he must have been struck by an arrow.

Must have been shot down by Eagle Eye Irvan. From the look of things, Skinorse had met up with Eliard. Good. Link was relieved, knowing that Eliard was now with Skinorse and his entourage of experience adventurers.

He continued observing the two corpses.

On the surface, nothing odd stood out from the two bodies. Link could not even detect any residual aura from them. This was fine, as he still had his Assassin’s Vision of Truth up his sleeve.

Link activated his Legendary eye mask’s special effect. A sudden change came over his vision. What had been a perfectly normal Magic Academy before was now filled with hazy hues of color.

The Magicians inside all radiated with various colors of light, representing the energies that resided within their bodies. Most of the Magicians’ energies seemed normal, but there were a few whose bodies were giving off an extremely faint green energy. Traces of the energy were mingled with the Magicians’ normal energies, making them almost difficult to perceive.

Moreover, a fine thread of green light connected two of these Magicians that exhibited such an abnormality.

Link looked at the corpses. He could see the same green light from them, the only difference being that the light had ceased all activity and was now in a state of stagnation.

“It seems that they were possessed by Ethereals and had transformed into Ethereal Warriors. Also, they seem to be connected to each other in such a way that they are all aware of each other’s condition at any given time.”

This was the first time he had encountered Ethereal Warriors in the real world. They had definitely piqued his curiosity.

In the game world, it was possible to exorcize an Ethereal from a body with the right method. There were in total two such methods. The first one was to treat an Ethereal as a malevolent spirit and cast a powerful exorcizing spell to expel it out of its host body. The other method was to treat it as a type of toxin and concoct an antidote through alchemy to disrupt the material basis for its possession. Without a solid basis, the Ethereal would be forced out of its host body.

Link had planned to capture one of these Ethereal Warriors and to study it himself. However, from the looks of things now, if he were to act imprudently, the other Ethereal Warriors would immediately be alerted to his presence, and he would lose the element of surprise as a result.

He still did not know what the Ethereals were scheming. If he were to be spotted, there would be a mass hysteria within the academy walls.

He needed to think of something to quietly abduct one of the Ethereal Warriors.

As he pondered his next course of action, he suddenly noticed that an Ethereal Magician had stepped out of the Magic Academy and got on a horse carriage. He then trotted off towards the city gates.

Link saw his opportunity and followed the carriage, his Vision of Truth still activated along the way.

Half an hour later, the carriage had reached the city gates to the city’s south. At that moment, Link realized that the green thread connecting the Ethereal Magician with the other Ethereals had become faint.

When the carriage left Full Moon City, the green thread had dissipated completely.

The mutual energy link between the Ethereals probably has a limit of 2000 feet, thought Link. Now that Ethereal Magician has isolated himself from the rest, it’s time to act.

With a burst of Dragon Power, Link activated Instant Flash and tore a hole through space.

In an instant, he had teleported himself inside the carriage. The Ethereal Magician’s eyes went wide, caught off guard by his appearance. He began to raise his wand, but Link did not give him any chance to react. He managed to grab the Magician by his head and cast a spatial seal on him with a rush of power through his fingers.

This technique was also something Link had come up with recently. It was intended to freeze space around its target, effectively encasing it in a spatial bubble.

With a soft ting, the Ethereal Magician went rigid like a statue. His body looked the same still. However, ensnared completely within the spatial bubble, the Magician was now rendered incapable of all movement and oblivious to his surroundings.

To him, the outside world had stopped moving. Time had also frozen completely around him. His body was wrapped beneath a one-inch crystalline layer, which was the result of Link’s Dragon Power freezing space around the Ethereal Magician. Frozen space was also known as spatial crystal. Link had acted with such speed and lightness that the driver outside did not notice what had just occurred inside the carriage.

Link rapped at the carriage’s window with a finger and said in a low voice, “Hey, stop here.”

“Is there something wrong, boss?” asked the driver.

Link softly sucked in his breath and let his Dragon Power flow into his voice. He then activated a Secret spell: Incite.

He had learned it from Eleanor. It was only a Level-2 spell, and it could only be used on human beings. Though its effect resembled hypnotism, it was more potent than the latter. The spell’s target would still behave normally while being made to forget a few things in the process.

“Now, keep on going west without stopping until you reach Dunwall City 100 miles away. Then, find an inn to stay there for a month. Understand?”

“Understood.” The driver’s voice sounded absent.

“There was no one here in your carriage. You have been traveling alone all this time. There are 20 gold pieces in your pouch, given to you by the Magicians in the Academy. For safety reasons, you have kept it hidden beneath the wooden planks of your carriage.” Saying this, Link took out 20 gold pieces and placed them inside a box in the carriage.

“Yes, no passengers. I had enough money with me as well,” the driver repeated.

After judging that the level of suggestion he had placed on the driver should be enough for now, Link grabbed the frozen Ethereal Magician and with a flash of white light, teleported themselves into the woods a few thousand feet away.

In the woods, Link found a shady spot. He raised a hand, and the soil beneath him instantly surged up to form a 10-square-foot stone hut. Once inside the hut, Link erased the door outside with the force of his will. The hut’s appearance changed as well, transforming into a relatively normal-looking hill. Inside the hut, a stone platform floated from the ground. A ball of light appeared near the ceiling, illuminating the hut’s interior.

Link laid the Ethereal Magician on the platform and tapped a finger on his body. With another ting, the frozen space melted around him and began flowing normally. The statue had come back to life.

His thoughts were paused at the moment when they were still back in the carriage. When he woke up, he swished his wand, ready to retaliate.

The next moment, Link sensed a peculiar aura coming from the Ethereal Magician’s body. His surprise then turned to joy.

This was due to the fact that the Ethereal Magician seemed to be capable of using Time Power.

Ethereals possessed an assortment of abilities, other than body possession. They could also be used for an even crueler purpose: the manufacturing of Ethereal Crystals. An Ethereal Crystal was a magical item that contained an Ethereal’s unique traits and properties.

Right now, the Ethereal was ready to use its Time Power. Link would be able to craft an Ethereal Crystal if he could find a way to extract the Ethereal from the Magician’s body.

This would be of great benefit to his research on Time Power.

Chapter 527: Ethereal Time Crystal

Stone house in the woods

As soon as the Ethereal Warrior moved, there was a crisp ding in the air. Two 20-centimeter-long, silver-white daggers shot out from his arms. His entire arm changed strangely.

The daggers were strange too. The material looked like crystal while rings of silver runes wrapped around it. It was intimidating.

“Blade of Time: Fate! Die!”

As this guy roared, he crossed his arms and went into the attack position. His body turned into an illusory streak that shot towards Link.

This incredible speed was equivalent to that of a Level-8 Assassin. Paired with the power of time, basically anyone under the Legendary level would be helpless against him. Even a Legendary figure might be caught by surprise and be at a disadvantage when faced with a time attack.

But it was ineffective against Link.

He’d faced the Spear of Victory from the Nagas before. The time power within that spear was far greater than this Ethereal Magician. The Dragon King’s Fury sword could slice apart this type of casual attack. He wouldn’t need much more effort when faced with this weaker attack.

When the silver Blade of Time reached him, Link didn’t even bother to use a spell. He just blocked it with his sword.

Cling, clang, cling. There were a few consecutive hits. Link could easily block the Ethereal Warrior’s silver-white dagger with only a bit of his strength.

After blocking three moves in a row, he sped up with the fourth move. When the opponent switched to another move, he swept his sword over.

Thud. There was a muffled sound as he slapped the opponent’s chest. His strength was just enough to force the Ethereal back.

“Argh!” the Ethereal Warrior roared, wanting to charge again.

“Enough, stop fooling around.”

Link was too lazy to mess with him. The moment the other moved, Link stuck his left hand out. Semi-transparent ripples appeared in the air and crashed towards the Ethereal like a tidal wave. When it reached the Ethereal, it turned into four circular shackles that wrapped around him and lifted him to the sky.

The Ethereal Warrior struggled but to no avail.

Of course, his ability with time was very unique. He’d even surpassed the understanding of some Legendary Warriors, but that was it. He was like a regular man with an assault rifle. He had a powerful weapon but was still just an average person. A truly powerful opponent could easily defeat him.

Coincidentally, Link was that type of powerful opponent. His Dragon King’s Fury sword was an even better “assault rifle.” Under this situation, there was no way the Ethereal Warrior could win.

Using his mind, Link nudged the spatial shackles. The Ethereal Warrior in the sky was dragged to the stone platform and prostrated.

“Who are you?” The Ethereal Warrior was so shocked. Link had changed completely now and looked like a regular mercenary, so the Ethereal couldn’t recognize him.

Link obviously wouldn’t answer. He walked up and jabbed the Ethereal’s head, neck, limbs, waist, and other places. Semi-transparent spatial shackles popped out of nowhere to anchor and immobilize the person on the stone.

“What are you doing?!” The Ethereal had a bad feeling.

Link tapped his mouth to shut it. “Quiet.”

“Mmmm, mmm!” The Ethereal’s shock and terror grew heavier. He struggled with all his might, but it was in vain.

Link ignored him. He walked over and flipped the man’s eyelids to check his eyes. The possessed Magician had deep blue eyes that were actually quite pretty. Of course, Link wasn’t appreciating his eyes. He studied the deep blue orbs and saw faint green light deep inside.

“Aha, so there are abnormal signs.” Link chuckled.

If Ethereals really wanted to hide, they could do it quite well. The possessed basically wouldn’t have any visible signs. Link had to use the Vision of Truth to find abnormalities before. After looking closely, he realized that even a regular person could discover what was amiss.

The Ethereal was even more terrified. His pupils constricted to a point.

Link ignored him. To him, the Ethereal in this Magician’s body was something to be eradicated and used. There was no pity to be had.

He didn’t know the Secret spell to drive away the Ethereal, but he could use alchemy. Thinking of this, Link stepped back. He grabbed downward, and Dragon Power surged out. Another boulder rose up from the ground. He started taking out all his alchemy tools one by one, placing them neatly on the stone.

“Mmm, mhm!” The Ethereal struggled crazily, but it was no use. Before Link, his strength was like an ant’s.

First, Link pulled out a small knife and sliced the Magician’s arm. He let out half a cup of blood and started testing for its attributes.

The foundation of an Ethereal’s existence is in the host’s blood. This was what an alchemist from the Southern Magician Alliance said in the game. Of course, it was a game, so the master just explained it that simply.

Before, it would have been useless even if Link knew about this. Now, his attainments in alchemy were comparable to that master alchemist. He only needed this breakthrough point; everything else was easy.

Cling, cling, clang, clang. After a bunch of noises, Link completed the blood test ten minutes later. A thin layer of blue appeared on the bottom of the crystal cup. He sniffed it; it smelled like garlic. He shook it and discovered the liquid was viscous. At closer inspection, it glowed faintly too.

Link extinguished the magic light on the ceiling. Now, the glow was even more obvious. The blue viscous liquid under the light glowed green in the dark. Through this light green glow, Link could see the physical attributes of the liquid even more clearly. Paired with the previous test, he knew what the liquid was made up of.

“It’s a Soul Drug made with mink, thorn flower, and gold antlers, right?”

He saw the Ethereal Warrior shudder and Link knew instantly that he was right.

Smiling, he continued, “Using the Soul Drug to repress the host’s soul is a good idea. Sadly, you can’t do it yourself. It must be the trick of some Secret Magician. Where is he? Can you tell me?”

As he spoke, he loosened the shackles on the Ethereal. He immediately shook his head and exclaimed, “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Answer my question!” Link said harshly.

The Ethereal Warrior shuddered. He felt great pressure come from the Soul Realm. It felt like he was a candle facing a hurricane. If he tried to resist it, he would immediately shatter into pieces.

“I won’t say it… I won’t say it.” He gritted his teeth; his consciousness was wavering already.

“Fine. I’ll find him anyway. But first, let me take care of you.”

“What are you—”

Before he could finish, his mouth was sealed again. Link picked up more alchemy material and went to work. Half an hour later, he’d concocted dark yellow liquid with a sharp odor. The liquid bubbled, looking like horse piss.

“Yeah, it doesn’t smell good, but it should get rid of Soul Drug.”

Link carried the cup of yellow liquid to the Ethereal Warrior. He pointed at the man’s mouth, and the force field there opened his mouth. The Ethereal’s muscles kept shaking; he was still struggling even though it was useless.

Ten seconds later, the cup had emptied down his throat. Ten more seconds later, he started trembling uncontrollably. As he shook, green smoke expanded from his body.

The smoke spread for more than ten minutes. Then a shadow appeared above the body like something rushing out of it.

It was obvious that this thing was doing everything to stay inside the Magician’s body. But without the Soul Drug’s restrictive effect, the Magician’s own soul was waking up and forcing the invader out.

Link was well-prepared. He took out a colorless fist-sized crystal. This was a Soul Crystal that Eleanor gave him specifically to store souls. As long as it wasn’t used to store souls of intelligent beings, this crystal was part of the field of Secret Magic. If he went past that, it would become black magic.

Now, Link was using it against an Ethereal from another realm. This was a gray area. Technically, he’d stepped over the boundary, but this guy was an invader so it should be fine.

Dragon Power surged into the crystal, and it emitted an attractive force. The illusory shadow on the Magician was sucked towards the crystal.

It struggled so hard, but it was to no avail. Five seconds later, it was completely inside the crystal. The crystal had also turned silver-white, just like the Ethereal’s Blade of Time.

The crystal wasn’t flesh, after all. It couldn’t provide the energy or environment needed for operation. Thus, the soul could only exist quietly inside the crystal.

Link added some Dragon Power in to test the soul’s other structures. Three minutes later, he found the part with time.

Haha, this is nice.

Link poured Dragon Power into this structure. An instant later, the silver-white light glowed around the crystal. Rings of overlapping runes appeared in the glow. The aura of time thickened in the air. It was just like when he’d used the Blade of Time.

The world’s imagination is boundless, Link couldn’t help but lament. An organism can evolve to have such a peculiar type of power.

At this time, the Magician that had been possessed moaned from the stone. He was about to wake up. Link put the Ethereal time crystal away and walked up, waiting patiently for the Magician to awaken.

He should be able to provide a lot of valuable information.

Chapter 528: The Prodigy That Rivaled Eliard

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

In the stone hut, the Magician who had been lying on the stone platform finally woke up.

“Oh… where am I? How did I get here?” He rubbed his forehead, his brows bunched up in a frown. At times, his body would shake involuntarily like a leaf. He must not be feeling well at all.

Link was sitting beside the stone platform. When the Magician had woken up, Link quickly said, “Easy now, you’re safe.”

The Magician sat up and stared at Link. He did not recognize the scruffy-looking mercenary sitting beside him. Confused, he asked, “And you are?”

“Just your everyday busybody,” replied Link casually. He then added, “You were possessed by an evil spirit. I expelled it from your body. You should be able to feel its absence from your body.

“Expelled from my… you know magic?” The Magician surveyed Link from tip to toe. His surroundings seemed unreal to him. At the moment, he was more intrigued by Link’s presence than his own current condition.

Link did not respond. He continued asking, “Do you not feel that you have just woken up from a terribly vivid dream?”

Despite not answering his question directly, the mercenary did not seem to harbor any ill intentions. The Magician had no choice but to repress his curiosity and rake through his brain for his most recent memories. He nodded. “Yeah, I think so. In the dream, I did many… many terrible things. Oh god, did I really do these things?”

Realization quickly dawned on the Magician.

“No, that wasn’t you. Rather, it was the evil spirit who had taken possession of you, but I’ve already exorcized it from your body.” Link paused for a moment and stared at the Magician. He then said, “You probably should know that you weren’t the only one being controlled by these evil spirits. These spirits were no ordinary entities, they’re extremely intelligent, and they seem to work in coordination with one another. I need to know what these spirits are up to now.”

According to the natural laws of Firuman, Ethereals were classified as a type of incorporeal entities. They usually did not retain their own memories in them. Instead, they would store their memories in their hosts’ minds. After being ejected from a body, an Ethereal would leave behind its memories in its previous host. He or she would be able to recall these memories if they dug deep enough.

This was the Ethereal Warrior’s biggest weaknesses.

The Magician pressed his head against a hand, trying to recall his dream. After a few minutes, he grabbed his head in both hands and moaned out in pain. He began tossing and turning on the platform. “Argh, no, I can’t do it. My head feels like it’s about to split open…”

The Eliards voice went hoarse. His eyes were protruding from their sockets. Blue veins began appearing across his face, and he was biting on his lower lip until it bled.

Link frowned at the sight of this. He drew out the Dragon King’s Fury sword and swung it a few times in the air. Hum, hum… An almost inaudible sound rang out in the air as if the sword had sliced through something invisible. When this was over, the Magician’s face had relaxed somewhat. He lay on the platform, grasping his head in his hands while taking in huge gulps of air.

“What just happened?” asked Link.

“I don’t know. I was trying to recall the things that had happened before. I did remember a few things, and then my memory… no, my entire mind was invaded by a huge black shadow. It told me that I was dead. And then there was pain.”

“Black shadow?” Link frowned. After thinking for a while, he suddenly stepped forth and pressed his hand on the Magician’s body, feeling for something. After that, he turned his body around, so that the Magician was now lying face-down on the platform. He then lifted the Magician’s shirt up behind him.

The Magician was around 30 years old. His Level-4 power meant that he must be among the upper middle-class members of the Magic Academy. His skin was a delicate white. However, a purple rune had been imprinted on his skin at the midsection of his spine.

The rune was shaped like an eye. As Link had already severed the connection between the rune and its caster, the rune now remained dark. This, however, did not affect Link’s ability to discern its purpose.

He wiped at it with a hand. The rune peeled itself off the Magician’s back and floated in the air.

The Magician lifted his head and was startled to see the rune. “What is this?”

“Shadow Eye. The evil spirit that was possessing your body had activated the rune before it left your body. The rune’s caster would be able to shatter your memory and even your soul through it.”

Saying this, Link looked at the Magician. “How do you feel now? Can you remember anything from before?”

“I’ll try.” The Magician was still unnerved by all this, especially what this nameless mercenary had done before him. But this was not the time to whine. He calmed himself down and tried to recall his dream again.

“Most of the memories have been erased… I see the king, the queen, the dean, all of them were my compatriots… wait, I also see a Magician. I only saw her once. She was wearing an emerald robe and a cape. She held a magic wand. The wand was strange. A green crystal was set on its tip. It looked almost like jade. Around it floated two smaller crystals. The three crystals were tied to each other by strands of energy. These smaller crystals orbited the wand continuously…”

Hearing this, Link’s brows furrowed. The wand’s description sounded familiar to him. The name of the wand that matched the Magician’s description popped up in his head, and he even knew its user. But this was Southmoon Kingdom; what was she doing here?

This made no sense. The person he had in mind should be on the Isle of Dawn.

Stumped, Link asked, “Do you remember what the Magician looked like?”

The Magician thought for a while, then shook his head. “The memory’s foggy… wait, I remember her hair. It was a dark red. Her hair shimmered, and it looked almost transparent. It was also soft to the touch, like dark red water. I can’t really find the words to describe her hair texture. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Hearing this, Link was now sure of the female Magician’s identity. He let out a sigh. “Who would have thought that she would betray the Isle of Dawn? There could be trouble soon.”

The World Tree grew on the Isle of Dawn. The tree was approximately Level-19. Under the suppressive aura it gave off, the island was able to maintain its peace, at least on the surface.

However, where there were people, there was also strife. The Isle of Dawn was no exception to this rule.

In the game world, there was a mixed-blood High Elf living on the Isle of Dawn called Evelina. Royal High Elf blood flowed in one half of her body, while the other half contained pure Dragon blood. Two of the most ancient and powerful blood circulated through her body, combining to form a completely new power: Nature-Dragon Power.

This power was strange as it was potent. Despite being a mixed-blood, as Evelina’s mother also happened to be the High Elf princess, she was forced to reside on the Isle of Dawn. Even as part of royalty, she was bombarded by contempt and disdain for not being of pure blood. She had even earned the moniker “half-breed” among her peers.

If Evelina was any other person, she would probably shrug off the constant insults and name-calling. But she was extremely talented, even more so than Bryant’s niece, who had been killed by the God of Destruction. At 30 years old, she had already reached Level-9. At 33 years old, she was able to enter the Legendary Realm. She had most likely become a Legendary master by now.

Not only was she powerful, the woman was a reasonable person.

She did not leave the Isle of Dawn out of anger after having endured years of discrimination. Rather, it was due to the fact that she knew that she would not be able to make a name for herself on the Isle of Dawn as a mixed-blood. She would be ostracized forever if she were to remain there. This was not what she wanted, and so she decided to leave the island.

In the game world, Evelina did not side with any other power. She was simply a wandering heroine character. However, in this world, she was now aiding the Syndicate. This could be troublesome.

Evelina was a true genius. Her strength came from her intellect and resolve. In the game, she was one of the few who could rival Eliard in terms of physical beauty.

Though Link was a Legendary master himself, in the face of such talent, he could not help but feel anxious.

He was not sure whether he would be able to beat Evelina. Unless the difference between their power levels was huge, the only way to know who would win in a battle between two Legendary masters was to actually let them fight it out.

At this, Link said to the Magician, “You should know what we’re up against right now. The higher-ups of Full Moon City have been possessed by evil spirits. You are now free to go as you please, but only death awaits you if you choose to return to Full Moon City.”

“I know. I’m not ready to go back. The South is not under the protection of any strong masters. It’s just too dangerous. My safest option would be to take refuge in Ferde.” The Magician had decided on his destination.

“Be my guest. Goodbye.” Link took a step backwards. The stone wall behind him split into two halves, opening up a door. He stepped through it and disappeared from the Magician’s line of sight.

With Evelina’s involvement in this matter, Eliard would not be able to deal with all this on his own. Link needed to group up with him, immediately.

Chapter 529: You Two Have Fun

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

In the woods

Eliard, Skinorse, and Irvan hid behind a 15-foot-tall boulder. Eliard cast a water mirror and carefully watched the camp on the other side.

This temporary camp was set in a cave. Through the water mirror, they could see that there were some bedrolls and wooden buckets inside. There were three people, all 20-something youths. One of them seemed injured and was resting in a corner. Another sat on a rock and smoked while keeping guard. The last focused on whittling an arrow. He looked like an archer.

“Judging from the bedrolls and buckets, there should be around 30 robbers,” Skinorse said. “The others probably went out. We can take advantage of this and capture them for interrogation.”

Irvan had already pulled his arrows out. “Then let’s hurry up. I’ll kill one and leave the other two for questioning.”

Eliard nodded. “Okay… wait, something feels wrong.”

His wand was already out and glowing, but he suddenly motioned for them to stop. He canceled the water mirror and pressed against the stone without moving. This scared Skinorse and Irvan. The two went into defensive poses.

“What’s wrong?”

“What happened?”

Eliard’s eyes were fearful. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “But I feel depressed. My heart feels heavy, like something frightening will happen soon.”

“Maybe you’re overthinking.” Irvan looked around but didn’t see anything. The woods looked normal; there was nothing strange.

This showed that he was inexperienced. He hadn’t cooperated with such powerful Magicians before and thought Eliard was just getting paranoid and scaring himself.

Skinorse didn’t think this though. He knew that Magicians had great predictions. Morrigan was only at Level-5, but he often used his gut to lead Skinorse and Moya through the relics, helping them avoid much danger.

Eliard’s power was practically equal to him. Such a powerful Magician wouldn’t feel this depression for no reason. There must be something horrible coming.

“No need to explain,” he said decisively. “Drop the mission and retreat!”

He turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Eliard grabbed him. “Don’t.”

“What?” Skinorse was confused now. “Since it’s dangerous, we can come back some other time. I didn’t say to completely give up.”

Eliard shook his head, smiling wryly. “It’s not that simple. I don’t think we can leave now.”

“Someone’s watching us?” Skinorse was shocked. “Can you sense him?”

“He must be nearby, watching us, but I can’t sense where he is exactly. He’s more powerful than me.” Eliard had already taken out the runestone Link gave him. He decided that as soon as something went wrong, he would run and contact Link. Things were out of his control now.

Skinorse immediately curled up and swore. “Fck, if he’s more powerful than you, then he’s Legendary, isn’t he? What the fck. How come all the powerful guys are running around? How are people supposed to live?”

Eliard shook his head. “No, there actually aren’t that many Legendary figures. There are more than one billion people in the world, but less than 20 people are over Level-10. We probably run into them because of Link.”

Link had entered the Legendary level so his enemies would send someone at or above that level. Otherwise, it would be useless. However, they were only a few bigger ants between these two powerful figures.

Hearing this, Irvan grew anxious. “Hey, honestly, stop talking and think about what we should do now.”

Eliard and Skinorse exchanged glances; both of their eyes were helpless. They shook their heads.

“I have no solutions. We can use the runestone to ask for help, but I think that we’ll be dead before Link can get here.” Eliard shrugged and smiled bitterly. The repressive feeling was getting worse. He had never felt something so strong before. The runestone could only notify Link but most likely couldn’t save them.

“I guess we’ll have to compete with patience. The enemy is watching us but hasn’t done anything yet. He must have a plan. We’ll just wait and see what he has planned.” Skinorse decided to lean against the boulder and pulled a pipe out of his spatial ring. He knocked it against the boulder, cleared the ashes, and started adding tobacco.

His attitude was: I’m not your match so just do whatever you want.

Irvan hadn’t given up though. He wasn’t like Eliard and Skinorse. He’d heard about Legendary figures but had never experienced their strength. To him, they were just people but stronger. It wasn’t like they could be immortal. If they fought to the death, they might still have a chance.

Thinking of that, he prepared his bow and looked side to side. His expression was serious and cautious; he was ready to put his all in.

Seeing him like this, Skinorse breathed in and exhaled a ring of smoke. “Irvan, do you have a pet?” he asked.

Irvan shook his head. “Who has time to do that?”

“Then do you have kids?” Skinorse continued.

“My wife was killed when she was pregnant.” Irvan shook his head with a bitter expression.

Skinorse patted his shoulder and sighed. “If you’ve raised them before, you’d know that to a Legendary figure, you’re just like his pet or son. If he wants to hit you, you take it. Don’t think about fighting back. Here, copy me and have a smoke. Enjoy your last moments alive.”

He passed the pipe over.

Irvan felt hopeless.

At this time, Eliard suddenly said, “Shh, don’t say anything. Someone’s coming.”

The two mercenaries instantly sobered. At times like this, any change was a chance. They might have an opportunity. After all, they didn’t want to die. Any shred of hope should be taken.

Eliard stopped using magic. He just sprawled on the boulder; Skinorse and Irvan did the same.

After a while, they saw a Magician with a dark green robe and hood appear by the cave. Judging by the figure, it was a woman. She was quite tall—almost six feet. Though she was covered in the long robe, she still had a great body.

To Eliard, the most eye-catching part about her was her wand. It was silver with three green crystals. Two small pieces orbited around the big one. The aura was as deep as the sea. Just a glance shocked him, making his heart pound and almost leap out of his throat.

Skinorse involuntarily looked again and praised, “Tsk, such great figure, great hips, great ass, great boobs, nice height too. And that hair looks good. I’ve never seen that color before. If she comes with me, I’ll even be okay if she isn’t that pretty.”

Eliard was speechless. He grabbed the man over. “Do you want to die? I’m pretty sure she’s the Legendary figure who was spying on us!”

Skinorse instantly shuddered. He retracted, feeling like he should slap himself. Irvan quietly scooted away from him, afraid he would be affected by the guy.

Scolding came from the cave.

“Are you all dead? Get up, all of you get up. You don’t even know that people are watching.”

The voice was sweet, like a little girl’s, but also with the beauty of a mature woman. Skinorse listened to it and exhaled deeply. “Ah, I’m probably done for, but it’s worth it to die in the hands of such a beauty.”

Irvan couldn’t take it anymore. “You bastard,” he muttered. “Can’t you be serious?” He didn’t want to die yet.

In the cave, the three bandits were as submissive as rabbits. They hung their heads and didn’t reply.

“Alright, get out. Go to Full Moon City and tell the king that plan A failed. Tell them to start plan B.”

“Yes, yes, Master, understood.” The three scurried away and disappeared deep into the woods.

The next moment, the female Magician pointed her wand towards where Eliard’s group was hiding. The boulder they were leaning against popped and disappeared into a plume of smoke.

The three were revealed; they were completely helpless. This spell shocked all of them.

Red and green flashed on the woman, and she instantly shot forward 300 feet. Sixty feet away from the three, she looked at them and said in her laughing voice, “Oh, Ferde’s Eliard. I really caught a big fish this time.”

Eliard gulped. He regretted his lack of power now. He couldn’t say anything useful, so he just kept quiet.

The woman looked to Skinorse. “I heard what you said. Thank you for your compliments. As an adventurer, you’ve had some great accomplishments.”

Skinorse’s lips curled up by habit into a smile that he thought was the most attractive. “I have a request before dying.”

“What is it?”

“Let me see your face. Then I won’t have any regrets,” Skinorse said.

The woman burst into laughter. Her laugh was like wind chimes and was definitely ear candy. After laughing, she shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I must refuse.”

Then she looked to Irvan. “A Level-7 archer. You’re not bad either, but sadly, you three still aren’t strong enough…”

As she spoke, her wand twitched. Eliard gravitated towards her and quickly reached her side. She grabbed him like grabbing a chicken. Eliard couldn’t fight back or even speak.

The female Magician looked at the other two and laughed. “Don’t worry. You two won’t die because I don’t like useless murder. I’ll keep you two alive to send Link a message. Tell him that if he wants to save Eliard, go to Grizzly Hills alone. Remember, he has to be alone. He can’t have any helpers at all.”

Hearing this, Skinorse let out a breath. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.”

“I believe. But even though I won’t kill you, I will still punish your impoliteness. You like women, don’t you? I’ll change your interests now.”

With that, fragmented silver light shot out from her wand. It separated halfway through, one beam shooting at Skinorse, the other at Irvan.

The light didn’t look too fast, but they couldn’t defend themselves at all. They were hit simultaneously.

“Alright, you two go have fun.”

She grabbed Eliard’s arm. “Let’s go. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die so easily.”

After speaking, she stepped back and somehow teleported thousands of feet away. She paused, turned, and then disappeared into the woods.

Soon after they left, someone appeared in the woods. It was Link. Seeing Skinorse and Irvan, his brows furrowed.

Dazed and nude, they rolled around on the ground, moaning in each other’s arms. It was not a delightful scene.

Chapter 530: The woods

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

With a soft bang, an explosion pulled apart Skinorse and Irvan from each other’s arms.

But the two were still not sated. Once separated, they immediately scrambled back towards each other. It was as if there was a magnetic attraction pulling them together.

“Wake up!”

Link shouted, his voice infused with Dragon Power.

Hearing his voice, Skinorse and Irvan trembled, then stood there as the dazed expressions on their faces began to fade.

Skinorse was the first to regain his senses ten seconds later. Numbly, he turned around to observe his surroundings and saw the leather armor scattered around them. He looked at Irvan, who stood naked in front of him, and then at himself, who too was stripped of all clothing. He also noticed that there were traces of blood on his lower body. Whose blood was it?

He swallowed, then ran to pick up his armor without a word. As he put his armor on, he also managed to catch a glimpse of Irvan and saw that there were traces of blood as well between his thighs.

Skinorse gulped again. That spiteful woman! If anyone finds out about this, I can kiss my reputation goodbye!

At this point, Irvan had also woken up. He looked around at the mess around him and felt a slight ache in his rear. His brown face blushed furiously, realizing what had happened. Without a word, he strode around to pick up his leather armor and began putting it on.

Skinorse tried to explain himself. “Eagle Eye, I wasn’t really feeling myself…”

An arrow shot out from Irvan in reply. Skinorse immediately dodged the arrow and did not dare speak any further.

“If you so much as breathe a word about this to anyone, I’ll kill you!” stammered Irvan.

Skinorse waved his hands in front of him. “I won’t say a word. This is just too humiliating. I’m embarrassed about it as well.”

“Alright, this was all just an accident.” Link tried to calm the two of them down.

He asked, “Where’s Eliard?”

“Eliard?” Skinorse was still a bit woozy. He then patted his head as his memory came back to him. “Eliard was kidnapped by that witch. She wanted you to go find her at Grizzly Hills in the South, alone, or else Eliard’s life will be forfeit. Oh, and she had also ordered the bandits to go look for some king in Full Moon City. She said something about abandoning the first stage of their plan and moving on to the second stage.”

“Looks like I’ve come a bit too late.” Link frowned and pondered silently on this. He then said, “Come, we need to go to Full Moon City now. Whatever this second stage to their plan was, we have to stop them at all costs.”

For the time being, the matter in Full Moon City took precedence over saving Eliard, whose life did not seem to be in any immediate danger. There was no telling what the bandits would do to the higher-ups of the city they were now holding hostage.

It was clear to Link that Evelina simply wanted to slow him down so that he would not have enough time to save anyone.

“Alright.” Skinorse did not raise an objection to this. He was eager to leave the place as soon as possible.

…

As Link returned to Full Moon City, Eliard was being transported to Evelina towards the south.

Evelina was not traveling fast. Along the way, she carefully cleared away her tracks in her wake.

An hour passed, and she had traveled 100 miles. At this point, Eliard was now able to speak. He said, “Since you’ve initiated the second stage of the evil spirits’ plan, what are you still being so careful for? Link won’t be able to catch up to you so soon.”

Evelina continued what she was doing. “And what if he gets all emotional? I hear that the two of you are quite good friends.”

“He won’t.” Eliard shook his head. “I know him, he’ll deal with what’s going on in Full Moon City, and only then will he come to Grizzly Hills alone. He’ll be sure to come fully prepared for you, and your death will follow shortly.”

Not at all angered by his words, Evelina smiled. “You seem to believe in him a lot. While I may not have a chance in beating him in battle, Shadow Stalker Morpheus may be able to.”

“Your plan sounds so simple. I’m sure whatever you can think of, Link will be able to see it coming. As for Morpheus, he may be powerful, but everyone knows his secret. He still hasn’t completely mastered his Level-19 power.”

Evelina was still smiling at him. “Say what you will, we won’t know for sure who will come out victorious until we actually battle it out.”

Eliard could not find the words for a retort. Though he was confident in Link’s abilities, his opponent was also a Legendary master who had allied herself with another even more powerful master. The odds were clearly stacked against Link.

He then fell silent.

Evelina continued heading south. She did not cast any Levitating spells but instead, simply walked along a winding trail, which saw few travelers.

After walking for an hour, the two of them reached a wide river valley in the mountains. The sky had darkened considerably. Evelina had stopped. She found a cave gaping from the stone wall on the riverside. She then entered it, bringing Eliard along with her.

“With your power, do you even need to rest here? Can’t you just walk all the way to Grizzly Hills?” Eliard was confused.

Evelina said smilingly, “I’m saving up my energy for Link. He probably thinks I’m going all the way south without stopping. I’d like to see how he tries to stop me.”

Eliard was speechless. The woman was being excessively cautious. However, unlike her, Eliard knew Link. If he were in the woman’s shoes right now, he would probably exercise the same amount of caution as well.

Once inside the cave, Evelina pushed Eliard into the stone wall. The stone behind Eliard turned into putty. When Eliard had sunk into it, the stone hardened around him once more, forming a stone prison around his body. Only his head remained hanging out from the stone wall.

“Alright now, don’t try anything funny.” Evelina gently patted on Eliard’s face and then chuckled. “Little one, your skin’s still as smooth as a maiden’s.”

Eliard remained silent. He watched as the woman spread out a fur bedding in the cave, ready to spend the night here. He then said, “May I ask you something?”

“Ask away. I’m bored anyway.” Evelina had laid down on the bedding and put her cape over her body like a blanket.

The cave was dark. Eliard did not possess night vision and so could not clearly see the woman’s face. All he could see was a curvaceous silhouette in the darkness and the outline of her pointed ears. However, he was not at all curious about what she looked like. He asked, “I was wondering, as a High Elf Legendary master, why are you helping the Syndicate?”

Evelina laughed. “High Elf? No, only half of the blood flowing in my body is of High Elf origin. I’m like you, a half-elf. Do you really think my life on the Isle of Dawn was a happy one?”

Eliard was stunned. Due to his own High Elf ancestry, he understood what it was like for half-elves like him to live on the Isle of Dawn and be subjected to constant discrimination and disdain from the other High Elves. He was able to understand the woman’s motivations. Why continue staying on such a tiny island and endure the contempt of its inhabitants when a master such as herself would be celebrated anywhere else for her talents?

“Then why choose the Syndicate?” Eliard asked again. He felt that there was no way to compare Ferde and the Syndicate; they were polar opposites of each other. What good could there be in siding with a shadowy group like the Syndicate?

“You ask too many questions.” Evelina laughed and continued, “Though I suppose it’s okay to speak about this to you. There are two reasons why I’m doing this. The first one is that Morpheus had given something good. Naturally, one good deed deserves another, don’t you think?”

“I guess. So what’s the second reason?”

“The second? The second reason is that Link has made way too many enemies. He’s still not strong enough, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets himself killed. If I were to go to Ferde, won’t I be embroiled in his troubles as well?” Evelina chuckled.

Saying this, she turned towards Eliard. “Truth be told, seeing that you’re a half-elf yourself, if you choose to abandon your allegiance to Ferde, I’ll spare your life. If I manage to defeat Link, I may even let you go free.”

Eliard shook his head. “That’s out of the question. Link is my friend. I’ve known him for a long time and have been through many things by his side. I will not betray him.”

“Hmm, and what if he betrays you?” Evelina asked.

Hearing this, Eliard laughed out loud and said, “That won’t happen.”

“If you say so. It’s still too early to be sure of anything. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Eliard added, “I’m aware that Ferde has many enemies. Followers of the God of Destruction, the Syndicate, they’re both enemies of Ferde on the surface. On the other hand, the High Elves pose a threat to Link from the shadows, but if you knew just how powerful Ferde really is, you’d be in for a surprise yourself.”

Evelina was now more inclined to continue the conversation. “Well, at least you aren’t completely clueless about the state of Ferde. But don’t get too cocky. You need to understand just how powerful the High Elves are.”

“How powerful are they?” Eliard was curious about this himself. It was a question he had been meaning to find an answer to. But the Isle of Dawn was too isolated from the outside world, and so the answer had eluded Eliard for a long time.

Evelina raised three fingers. “Three things to keep in mind. Firstly, the High Elves have a huge number of Magicians. As of right now, there are 80,000 Magicians above Level-6 among the High Elves.”

“What? That many?” Eliard was taken aback upon hearing this.

“Of course. Most of these Magicians are below Level-10, but with the increase of Mana concentration around the world, there are now 5 Level-10 masters from the Isle of Dawn, myself included. Soon, this number will increase.”

Eliard sucked in his breath. “And the other two points?”

“The other two… I won’t tell you.”

“Why?”

Evelina explained, “I simply left the Isle of Dawn, doesn’t mean I intend to betray it. Why would I tell you the island’s layout? Unless…”

“Unless what?” Eliard asked hastily.

“Unless you promise that you’ll leave Ferde as well. There doesn’t seem to be much hope left in that place, anyway.”

Eliard shook his head. “Forget it then.”

Despite saying this, Eliard was still trying to figure out how to extract such an important piece of information out of her. He needed to report this to Link.

Evelina yawned. “Fine, it’s getting late. I’m going to sleep. I’ll need to save up my strength and be prepared for anything.”

Silence fell upon the cave. Only the sound of wind and flowing water could be heard from outside.

After spending two hours in silence, Eliard’s ears suddenly pricked up to a muffled commotion outside the cave. Has Link caught up to them? thought Eliard hopefully.

Evelina had sat up. She strained her ears to listen to the sound outside. A few seconds later, she said with an irritated voice, “Oh, these people just won’t leave me alone. I already told them I wouldn’t be going back, and still, they keep pestering me.”

Chapter 531: Demi-Elves Are Lost Souls Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Night, river valley

“Stay here. Don’t talk or move and I’ll go check the situation,” Evelina murmured.

“I can’t move even if I wanted to like this.” Eliard sighed.

Evelina realized he was right and left the cave without speaking further.

The sky outside the cave was starry. It was warm in the South. Frogs in the valley croaked, and some nocturnal birds sang occasionally. It was very lively.

She used a spell and levitated. Soon, she reached the top of a stone wall on the side of the river valley. There was a narrow platform there. She chose a place to stand and waited quietly.

Around half a minute later, three shadows arrived soundlessly. They stood in three different directions. Their features were obstructed in the darkness, but they had sharp ears. Their eyes also glowed with eerie silver light. These were the most obvious characteristics of High Elves.

Furthermore, the silver eyes were a symbol of pure High Elves. A mix like Evelina wouldn’t have something like that.

Evelina recognized these three, and she was a bit surprised. The Isle of Dawn was for real this time. However, she pretended that she didn’t know anything.

Impatiently, she said, “Eloven, Sonya, Milose, it’s you three this time? Is the Elder Council planning on forcefully bringing me back? Don’t forget that I’m a princess. My mother is the queen’s sister!”

The three elves were the best of the Isle of Dawn’s younger generation. Eloven, the eldest, was only 50 years old. This was equivalent to 30 years in human age. It was the prime of their life.

They could only quickly raise their power according to the changes in the world’s Mana during this time. The elders couldn’t do it because their vitality had decreased. Their powers were already set.

This situation was similar for the other races. Evelina was like this, and so were the three. They were all part of the new generation of High Elves about to enter the Legendary level.

On the other side, a tall High Elf walked forward. It was Eloven. “Evelina,” he said coldly. “It is because of your status that Her Majesty tolerated you time and time again. However, there is a limit to her tolerance. Now, I will ask you one more time. Will you return to the Isle of Dawn with us?”

Evelina had a bad feeling and furrowed her brows. “What if I agree? And what if I don’t?”

Sonya, the woman in the middle, walked forward. She looked average, but her talent was above average. “If you agree, nothing will happen. If you don’t… we can only apologize first.”

As she spoke, she stared at Evelina’s practically perfect face. She hated that face because it wasn’t hers.

“Apologize?” Sensing danger, Evelina grasped her wand and went into full alert. “You’re ready to attack me just because I don’t want to go back?”

The elf with the least sense of existence walked up. He was Milose. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. This isn’t what we want. This was the decision of the Elder Council. Your mother knows about this. She agreed too.”

Evelina winced at this. “My mother… she actually agreed?”

Her blood ran cold. Her mother could have abstained from voting, but she actually agreed. Even the one closest to her had chosen to abandon her? Was she just a lost soul now?

Evelina didn’t know what she was feeling now. She wanted to cry, but she knew that the three High Elves would just mock her if she did.

Elovan sighed. “Your Highness,” he said, voice a bit gentler. “You should know the tradition of our race. We never impulsively participate in the matters of the mainland. You are from the royal family and joined the Syndicate. Their reputation is horrible. Your actions will damage our race’s reputation.”

Evelina hadn’t wanted things to become so out of control. Softening her stance, she said, “Then what if I give up my status as a princess?”

“We cannot decide,” Milose said. “Our mission is to bring you back to the Isle of Dawn. As for anything else, you can explain to the Elder Council.”

“It’s not open to discussion?” Evelina didn’t want to give up. She knew what would happen if she returned. She’d escaped this time. If she went back, she probably would never be able to leave again. That wasn’t the life that she wanted.

She wanted to explore the mainland and learn about new worlds. She wanted to be respected, not mocked behind her back.

The Isle of Dawn couldn’t give her any of this.

Milose shook his head while Elovan said, “Come back, Your Highness. The Isle of Dawn is where our race should be.”

“But I don’t want to go.” Evelina pursed her lips tightly, unwilling to give in.

Sonya’s face was expressionless. “Your Highness, stop being stubborn,” she scolded. “Don’t force us to act.”

Evelina fell silent. She stood between the three without moving. Wind rushed past her, blowing her flowing dark red hair. It looked like flames.

The three High Elves were silent as well. They went into defensive poses, ready to react to this so-called princess’ sudden attack.

This stalemate went on for three minutes. Finally, Evelina slumped and sighed. “Fine, I’ll go with you all.”

The three High Elves relaxed. Elovan exhaled deeply. “That’s the right choice, Your Hi—”

Before he could finish, Evelina suddenly moved. She pointed her wand at Elovan, the strongest of the three—Natural Flames!

Natural Flames

Level-10 Talent Spell

Casting Speed: Instant

Effect: Using the power of nature as fuel and the power of dragons as fire, ignite an extremely powerful and bright pillar of fire.

(Note: Evelina’s talent.)

This spell was Evelina’s strongest attack. It wasn’t the most powerful, but it was the most suitable for battle. Paired with the instantaneous might, the opponent could be hit if they weren’t careful enough.

This attack was too sudden, and Elovan wasn’t prepared at all. He only had time to activate his defense ring before he was pushed down the cliff by the red and green pillar of fire.

This heavily wounded him even though Evelina had held back some power. Otherwise, she could have killed Elovan with that.

“So cruel!” Sonya screamed.

“I’m not going to play nice,” Milose uttered.

The two attacked at once. Two black vines with a golden shine broke through the boulders of the mountain. They transformed into poisonous thorns that flew towards Evelina.

She’d just used the Natural Flames, so she was a bit delayed. Faced with these two fatal attacks, she could only defend herself.

Red and green light flashed on her, and a crystal shield spread across her body. Fire burned outside the shield. The black vines arrived the moment the shield was completed.

Boom, boom, crack. Under the continuous attacks from the vines, the shield shattered. After that, the vines retracted, preparing to spring towards Evelina again.

“Go away!”

At this critical moment, Evelina cast a range defense spell. This type of spell was very effective in a battle with regular people. But against the strong, it could only lower the density of power and was rarely used. There was no perfect spell in the world. There was only one that was most suitable.

This type of spell could be incredibly effective at the right time.

Natural Dragon Power surged in Evelina’s body, transforming into the illusion of a dragon. It roared, soundwaves spreading throughout the air. When the soundwaves hit Sonya and Milose, they shook violently. Their attacks paused.

It was only for one-hundredth of a second, but to Evelina, this was the chance to turn the tides.

She slightly adjusted her body and sent another Natural Flames attack towards Sonya.

Boom! Sonya was also thrown back from the attack, but she’d added a defense spell that was powerful enough. When this attack hit her, flames shot in all directions and the air screamed. However, there was an emerald barrier on her.

Once the barrier was consumed, the flames’ power was used up too. In the end, Sonya was only lightly wounded. Before she was thrown back, she was still controlling her black vine and pierced Evelina.

Milose didn’t hold back either. He was affected by the soundwaves, and his mind paused, but his attack continued. The dark vine pierced Evelina’s chest.

There were two reasons why he didn’t hold back.

First, this was between Legendary fighters. Evelina was publicly recognized as a rising star, and he didn’t dare to hold back. Second, even though Evelina was a princess, she was only a half-elf. Since she had traitorous thoughts, she deserved to die!

Poof, poof. Evelina was stabbed through by the vines, but she’d dodged at the last moment. The vines missed her critical organs; she didn’t die.

Dragon Power gave her a powerful body. Though she was heavily wounded, her mind was still clear. Power surged, and she cast her specialized Natural Flames. Milose, who’d thought that everything was set, was thrown into the air.

Without hesitating, she gritted her teeth and grasped the vines in her. Applying force, she yanked them out. The vines had barbs and high resistance to spells. Regular spells were completely ineffective against them. Only someone with Natural Power could control these vines.

Evelina could only use her hands. Blood streamed down her hands. When she yanked the vines out, the barbs came away with a lot of flesh.

“Ah!” She involuntarily screamed in pain. However, she didn’t slow down at all. The vines were extremely poisonous. She immediately gulped down Elf Nectar and jumped down the cliff without hesitation. When she reached the cave, she grabbed Eliard and used all her might to flee.

She was heavily wounded in her stomach and the left side of her chest. She desperately needed treatment, but she had to run as far as possible. Elovan was heavily injured, but Sonya and Milose only had light wounds. They would catch up quickly.

If they caught up again, it would be a fight to the death.

Chapter 532: She’s an Incredible Woman

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

It was nighttime, and the dark sky was dotted with stars.

The wind howled past as Evelina soared through the night sky with Eliard in tow.

She had sealed up the two wounds on her body with her ice spells in order to stop the bleeding. But her internal injuries were severe, and the vines that had struck her were poisonous. Their poisonous thorns remained still within her body.

She had taken some Elf Nectar, a High Elf medicinal specialty, but the antidote only prevented the poison from entering areas of her body that were not yet damaged by it. Its effect would not reach parts of her body that were already touched by the poison. As a result, it would not be able to neutralize the poison itself. The vines’ poison and thorns were effectively disrupting her body’s ability to heal.

At that moment, her Natural Dragon Power swirled rapidly within her body. Due to her injuries, she was forced to endure incredible pain every second.

She was holding Eliard in one hand. At first, Eliard did not know what was going on. After a few minutes, he suddenly felt a sudden chill on the back of her neck. He reached around to touch it and realized that it was water.

Where did it come from? He turned around strangely. With the magical light swirling around them, he was able to make out Evelina’s form.

Her face was pale. Beads of cold sweat seeped out from her forehead. What startled him most was her chest area, where two large holes had been torn on her clothes. The fabric around the two holes was drenched in her blood.

Shocked by this, Eliard shouted, “Hey, how did you get those wounds? Aren’t they supposed to be your comrades?”

He had heard a commotion outside and figured that they had started fighting. Judging from her movements before, he had assumed that she was still alright. He did not expect that she would be so severely injured.

Evelina squeezed out a bitter smile. “Before, yes. Now, not so much. They’re coming to kill me soon.”

Finishing her sentence, she let out an uncontrollable cough. Eliard could smell the thick, metallic odor of blood. He also saw traces of blood on the corner of her mouth.

Eliard was stunned speechless.

He had been listening to Vance’s stories about the High Elves for a period of time and noticed a trend in them. The High Elves placed great emphasis on their traditions and customs that were passed down for thousands of years. They tended to straighten out those who did not abide by them.

For instance, any half-elves conceived from a union between a High Elf and a non-High Elf would be exiled from the Isle of Dawn. Other examples of their conservatism include the fact that the High Elves would do anything at all costs to eliminate any variables that could upset the strategic balance they had worked hard to maintain on the continent, like Link himself. They also did not tolerate traitors and rebels in their midst.

Their adherence to traditions bordered on extremism. If they could not rectify an irregularity through normal means, they would most certainly resort to violent measures without any mercy.

It would seem that Evelina had no way of reconciling with the Isle of Dawn.

“How many are there behind us?” Eliard asked. He sensed that things had gone awry for them. Ferde and the Isle of Dawn had not been on good terms recently. There had been a few clashes in the magical equipment business between both sides. Eliard figured that if those High Elves caught up to them, they would most probably not survive the encounter.

“There are three of them.” Evelina turned around a few times to look behind her. She could now sense her pursuers’ auras. They were gaining on them, including Elovan.

Even though he was hurt badly, Elovan was a Legendary master as well. With the medicine he had in hand and the aid of his companions, Elovan would soon be able to restore his combat capability.

Eliard shivered and said, “To be able to beat you up like that… are all three of them Level-10 masters?”

“Bingo.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to ditch them?” Eliard drew in the cold air.

“I don’t know, guess we’ll have to find out…” Before she could finish, Evelina’s body suddenly lost its balance. She wobbled a few times in the air before finally regaining her balance. She almost crashed into a tree in front of them.

Petrified by their close shave with death, he quickly asked, “You’re badly wounded. Can you still go on?”

“Even if I can’t, I still need to keep on flying. If they catch up to us, we’re dead,” said Evelina through gritted teeth.

Eliard was able to sense the approaching powerful auras behind him at this point. Panicking, he said, “You don’t seem sure that you’ll be able to shake them off. Why don’t you find someplace to hide? I may be able to help you with that.”

“You?” Evelina looked sideways at Eliard. “You can’t even escape me before, how do you expect to help me escape now?”

“That was different.” Eliard quickly tried to explain himself. “I did not expect to be confronted by a master like yourself. I was caught unprepared. If I had made preparations beforehand, you would not have found me back then.”

“What do you have in mind then?” Evelina was now starting to believe him.

Eliard’s forehead was now sweating profusely. He turned around and saw that three small green points had appeared behind him and were steadily getting bigger.

“Link had given me a runestone. Release me from your restraints. With this runestone, we’ll be able to escape the High Elves.”

Evelina was silent for a few seconds. She then released him. “You go then. I don’t want to get you killed.”

Eliard was stunned for a moment. “You’re not coming with me?”

Evelina laughed and looked at him. “You really are greedy. Saving your own life should be more than enough, now you want to bring me along with you? Besides, we’re still enemies. This is a perfect chance for you to flee now.”

Saying this, she let out another uncontrollable cough and a spurt of blood from her mouth. Eliard was shocked by such a sight, but he knew that Evelina was right. He was already released by his captive, and there was no need for him to bring her along with him.

However, Eliard was not comfortable with abandoning her here to meet her fate.

Under the current circumstances, he did not have enough time to think things through. He took out the runestone, embraced Evelina and let his power flow into the runestone.

Hum… There was a soft white light around them. The two of them instantly vanished. A few seconds later, they had reappeared a few thousand feet from where they were before, in the middle of a tropical jungle.

The moment they reappeared, a faint red light shone out from the runestone. It flashed out, covering the trees and rocks around them with a layer of magical runes. The runes flickered for a moment and then vanished.

Soon after, Evelina felt that the energy ripples around her had finally subsided, as if nothing had happened there.

“What is that?” asked Evelina, surprised.

The runestone had teleported them across a few thousand feet and smoothened out all energy ripples at the same time. It had also formed a perfect invisibility barrier around them. The runestone was the ideal magical artifact for narrow escapes.

Eliard was a bit pleased with himself. “It’s a defensive runestone that Link had given me. I’ll bet those three won’t be able to find this place.”

Evelina was still incredulous about this. She walked around the rune barrier, carefully feeling it. Astonishment gradually came over her face until finally, she let out a sigh.

“I’d heard from the High Elf elders that Link was an absolute magical genius. I wasn’t convinced back then, but it’s clear from this that his magical achievements are equal to none. My abilities can’t even compare to his. Those three will surely not be able to find us here.”

The rune barrier gave off large amounts of Law Magic, which included the enigmatic Time Power. She had seen the whole thing and was only able to understand half of it. It might take her a few years to fully comprehend the whole rune barrier.

Evelina figured that not even Bryant or the three upstarts pursuing them would be able to decipher the barrier. In other words, both Evelina and Eliard were safe in it for now.

She slackened her shoulders in relief. As a result of this, waves of pain washed over her from her injuries. Her vision blurred, and the world spun around her.

Before she hit the ground, she saw Eliard running towards her. She felt a sudden relief. Even though they were enemies, she did not feel the least bit worried at the sight of him. For some reason, she believed that Eliard would not harm her.

True enough, before she fell, Eliard managed to catch her in time.

“What’s wrong… hey, what did you do?” The concern in Eliard’s voice suddenly turned into a mix of confusion and anger.

What he received from her was not a response, but a sudden rush of power from Evelina, which once again sealed up his own power.

“Hehe.” Evelina chuckled evilly in Eliard’s embrace. “Little one, here’s a lesson for you. Never feel sorry for your enemies. Now help me over to that tree. Don’t try to think your way out of this, or I’ll show you what I’m really capable of!”

Eliard was taken aback. “You still haven’t given up on your mission?”

“Of course not. I already promised Morpheus that I would bring you to the South. There’s no going back now. I simply saw the opportunity, and I took it. Also, I still haven’t received my reward.”

When Evelina reached the tree, she lied back against it. Not at all bothered by Eliard’s presence beside her, she pulled off her clothes and revealed her snow-white skin. She then began treating the wounds on her chest.

Eliard blushed and turned away immediately from her.

“Hey, don’t just stand there. Give me a hand here. There are still a lot of poisonous thorns inside my wounds. I need your help extracting them out.”

Eliard now harbored no good will towards her after what she did to him. He replied coldly, “Aren’t you supposed to be the better Magician? You deal with it yourself.”

“Come and help me, quick. Or I’ll really die, and I don’t intend to die alone here,” said Evelina.

Eliard had no choice. He turned around and made a conscious effort not to look at her pristine white body. He then stammered out, “What should I do?”

“Use your hands. Clean them first, then reach into my wounds and pull the thorns out.”

Eliard lowered his eyes to look at her wounds and was shocked to find two bloody holes, each as big as a fist. He was momentarily shocked. “Are you out of your mind? You’ll die for sure if I do what you asked. Can’t I just use the Magician’s Hand?”

“Won’t work. These thorns are immune to spells below Level-10. Quick, I won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

Eliard was left with no other choice and did as he was told.

When he reached into her wound, Evelina let out a pained moan. She pulled out a root nearby and bit on it hard. Sweat now flowed down her forehead like a waterfall. Her body was also slightly trembling from the pain.

Eliard was also trembling. This was just too much for him. He had never done anything like this.

“Stop dawdling and hurry up! I can’t take any of this much longer,” urged Evelina.

Eliard quickly tried to calm his nerves and began pulling out the thorns one by one. Each thorn was at least five inches long. There were barbs on each of them, which drew even more blood and torn flesh out of her wound every time he pulled a thorn out. The sight was horrifying.

He looked at Evelina and saw that she had been biting hard on the root throughout the process. Her eyes had glazed over.

At this point, he did not know what to feel. His hatred towards her had faded somewhat and was now replaced by respect and admiration for her tenacity.

She’s truly a remarkable woman. If only she had sided with Ferde and not the Syndicate… Eliard sighed and resumed pulling out the thorns.

After much effort, Eliard managed to finally pull out the thorns from Evelina’s body.

“You alright?” he asked.

There was no response. Eliard looked at her and saw that Evelina had lost consciousness. Startled, he tried to feel for her breathing from her nose. It was faint. He then pressed his ear against her chest to listen for her heartbeat. It was faint as well. She had probably fainted from the extreme pain.

Eliard heaved a sigh. He did not know what to do at this point. His power was sealed off by Evelina, which rendered his spatial gear unusable. He had at first thought about using the communication rune in it to contact Link, but now he could not even take it out from his spatial gear.

As he thought about this for a while, he pulled Evelina’s shirt back up. He had heard that patients who had sustained severe injuries and lost a lot of blood were especially susceptible to the cold. He then took off his robe to cover her body.

He then waited.

Before long, midnight came. Exhausted, Eliard laid against a tree and was just about to doze off when all of a sudden, he was woken up by a peculiar sound.

He strained his ears. In an instant, fear gripped him. It was the High Elves. They had managed to track them all the way here without the aid of any spells.

Chapter 533: A True Strong Figure

Because he had the Seed of Sunlight, Eliard was much stronger than before. His five senses were much more sensitive too.

For example, he heard some abnormal noises now. In reality, the High Elves should be more than 3000 feet away and hadn’t discovered them yet.

Eliard had many choices now. The safest one was to abandon the woman who’d kidnapped him and escape alone. The High Elves would leave after finding this woman. But after thinking, he didn’t choose that.

She was only working with Morpheus. If I find the right method, I can make her turn around and join Ferde. At that time, we’ll become even stronger.

Eliard found a high and mighty excuse for himself. Now that he had a goal, he had to think about what to do next.

All his power was sealed; he couldn’t use anything. The only thing he had was a body stronger than the average man. With the Sunlight Power, his body was like a Level-6 Warrior.

Of course, the was just his strength. He didn’t have any of the skills.

He couldn’t stay here anymore. The High Elves were getting closer; they would soon find this place. He had to take this half-elf and leave.

He went to work as soon as he got this idea. Bending down, Eliard carefully picked up the unconscious Evelina. While doing so, he carefully checked her wounds. After he was sure she’d stopped bleeding, he carried her and ran away from the pursuers.

After a while, Eliard felt that he couldn’t just run like this. They were deep in the woods, and he’d left many marks. The two also left behind their auras. The High Elves would definitely use it to trace them.

Eliard thought of an idea. I must find a river and go downstream. That can keep us from getting discovered.

Finding a river in the forest was a survival ability for regular people. For a Magician like Eliard, it was easy. He only had to follow the water element in the air to pinpoint the location of the river.

He stood quietly and felt around for a while. Then he started hurrying northwestward.

He walked carefully. After walking through the fallen leaves, he would cover his footprints with leaves. Every few hundred feet, he would stop to listen and distinguish where the others were. He would only continue after he was sure of their safety.

After traveling a few thousand feet like this, Evelina’s breathing grew heavier in his arms. Some more seconds later, she opened her eyes.

She didn’t say anything. After looking around and understanding what had happened, she asked, “They’re chasing us?”

Eliard was happy. He nodded and said, “They’re not far, just a few miles away. I need my power freed right now. Unlock it for me.”

Evelina seemed not to hear him. “Since we were discovered, why did you bring me with you instead of running by yourself?”

“Stop, we can talk when we’re safe. Hurry, they’re going to catch up,” Eliard urged.

But Evelina kept saying, “Are you afraid that you’ll die after I die, so you want to trick me into unlocking your power? And then you’ll escape alone?”

“If I wanted to escape, I’d have done it long ago. I wouldn’t wait until now.”

This reasoning made sense and Evelina believed it. “Alright, seeing as you brought me with you, I’ll trust you.”

She unlocked Eliard’s power once again.

Eliard felt the frozen power inside him suddenly start flowing again. He exhaled deeply and immediately pulled a special potion from his spatial pendant. Uncapping it, he put it to Evelina’s mouth. “Drink. It’s really effective.”

The potion was crystal-red and glimmered in the night. Evelina hesitated but still opened her mouth.

Eliard was still angry at this half-elf, so he poured the entire bottle down her throat. Evelina gulped it down and choked. “Can’t you slow down?!” she exclaimed.

“Hmph. This is what I got to save my life. Be grateful that I’m letting you drink it. Did you want me to spoon feed you?” Eliard made a face.

He put away the bottle and stopped looking for the river. He turned northward.

After a few steps, Evelina felt something wrong. “Why are you going north?”

“To go back to Ferde,” Eliard replied nonchalantly. With that, his hand moved to grasp Evelina’s wrist. Grinning, he said, “I won’t fall for the same trick twice. Don’t think about locking my power again.”

With that, Eliard let go of Evelina’s hand and cackled. “I suggest that you don’t try any more tricks. That potion you just drank isn’t that simple. Link made it. It looks like a healing potion, but it’s actually poison. You’re poisoned now, and only Link has the antidote, hehe.”

“Really?” Evelina didn’t believe him. She felt warm now, and her wounds didn’t hurt anymore. How could it be poison?

Eliard shrugged. “Why else would I force it down your throat?”

With that, Evelina was close to believing it. If a regular potionist made this potion, she wouldn’t believe it. But it had to be made by Link, whom she feared greatly. It really might contain some fatal thing.

Now, she didn’t dare try anything. Glaring at Eliard, she said, “You’re so despicable!”

“I learned it from you, haha,” Eliard said, grinning.

He continued walking north. Soon, he climbed past a tall mountain. Reaching the foot of the mountain, he took out a runestone that had the same crystal-red glow. He added power into the stone, and it glowed a bit brighter.

“What are you doing now?” Evelina asked despite guessing what he was planning.

Eliard didn’t keep it from her. “I’m contacting Link. The mountain is behind us so the High Elves shouldn’t be able to sense it. Link will hurry over after I send the signal.”

He maintained the runestone for three seconds. Then he put it away and continued northward.

In order to keep hidden from the High Elves, he walked slowly and carefully. Starting and stopping, he only walked around 1500 feet after five minutes.

As they walked, Evelina suddenly said, “Oh no, they’re coming towards us… They must have discovered your traces.”

Eliard was surprised, but he didn’t panic. He took out a runestone again and looked around. Finding, a big tree, he cast a Levitation spell and floated to the top. He activated the rune, and half a second later, watery ripples appeared in the space surrounding them. It stayed this way for three seconds before everything went back to normal.

“And what was that for?” Evelina couldn’t help but ask. The runestone was also crystal-red. She supposed that it was from Link too.

“To fold space,” Eliard explained. “Now, we can see under the tree, but they can’t see us… Or more accurately, they can see but won’t notice us. We’re smaller than sesame seeds to them now.”

While speaking, he found a comfortable place to sit and started waiting patiently.

After around five minutes, three figures appeared beneath the tree. They were High Elves Elovan, Sonya, and Milose. The three circled the place many times and finally stopped.

Eliard and Evelina could hear their voices.

“Strange. They disappeared.”

“I can feel that they’re here. They must’ve used some invisibility spell. Keep looking.”

The three started circling again and used many detection spells. They still didn’t find anything. Finally, they regrouped under the tree.

“Nope. They vanished.”

“Maybe they’re hiding in another realm?”

“It’s possible. Let’s go look.”

The three disappeared on the spot. Clearly, they went to another realm.

Evelina was entirely shocked at this. Only by being in it could she feel just how powerful the runestone was. They were less than 100 feet away, but the High Elves couldn’t sense them at all. And it was just a runestone. If Link himself was here, the three could search their entire lives without finding anything.

Eliard looked down too. He wasn’t as relaxed. The others were only fooled temporarily and would realize at some point. At that time, they would be dead.

The seconds ticked by. After another ten minutes, the three High Elves returned. They weren’t stupid and had an idea of how Eliard was hiding now.

“They must’ve used a spatial spell. Let’s look more carefully.”

The three split up again and regrouped five minutes later. Then they looked up towards the big tree.

“There’s something wrong with the tree.”

“There’s something wrong with the sky too. It’s kind of red.”

“It’s morning. That’s the sunrise… No, there’s something wrong. It’s too red.”

In the tree, Eliard’s heart pounded and almost leaped from his throat, but now, Link was finally here. He let out a long sigh and said to Evelina, “It’s alright now. Link’s here. We’re safe.”

Evelina didn’t say anything. She looked up and saw that the sky was fiery red now. Pressure covered the sky and kept coming in waves. She couldn’t breathe.

Link wasn’t here yet, but the sky had already changed.

Evelina trembled inwardly and thought, We’re both in the Legendary level. How come he’s so powerful?

Chapter 534: Is He Trying to Kill Himself?

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

The sky was a fiery red. In the midst of the inferno, a red silhouette landed with a bang like a meteorite.

When the silhouette approached, a white light flashed across it. All sound died off, and a man materialized beneath a tree out of thin air.

The man’s black eyes gleamed beneath his black hair. He was wearing a dark blue battle robe with silver linings. A red magic sword with dragon scales dangled from his waist. His body was shrouded by a mist, which gradually thickened around him until he was completely obscured by it.

From the mist, a deadpan voice rang out, “Quite a party you have here.”

Dread came across the three High Elf Magicians’ faces. They were aware of Link’s feats. Half a year ago, he had dueled with Bryant, one of the most powerful Magicians among the High Elves. Since then, Bryant was reluctant to share the outcome of their duel with anyone. It was clear that he had lost badly to Link.

Half a year had passed, and young Legendary talents had emerged from the Isle of Dawn ever since. However, none of them had forgotten that the Lord of Ferde was a lot younger than any of them when he reached Legendary and possessed an innate potential to develop himself even further.

There was no telling how much more Link, who was first to reach Legendary in Firuman, would still able to grow. It was simply unthinkable.

Right now, his mere presence had managed to unnerve the three High Elves.

Despite not knowing why he had come, they were not so foolish as to dispense with formalities, especially when they were dealing with Link himself. Elovan stepped forth and bowed down before him. “My lord, it is an honor to meet you.”

Without a word, Link eyed his surroundings and noticed a heavily injured Evelina on the top of a tree near him. She was leaning against Eliard, whose hand gingerly held her body. He had not anticipated such a development.

Eliard had buried himself in his magical studies and was generally unmoved by the female gender ever since his last breakup. Link had never seen him so concerned over another woman’s well-being.

From the looks of things, he must be infatuated with this woman, who seemed to reciprocate his feelings as well. In that case, Link saw no reason not to help them out here.

After thinking for a while, he said to the High Elves, “I’ve come to apprehend a fugitive of Ferde. She’s a half-elf called Evelina. Have you seen her?”

The three High Elves looked at each other for a moment. Elovan then asked carefully, “I don’t suppose you would care to share with us what crimes Evelina has committed?”

Link gravely replied, “She was found guilty of conspiring against the Southmoon Kingdom. Her actions have basically turned the kingdom upside down. She has even abducted my best friend, Eliard. Don’t you think she should be tried for such crimes?”

“Well…” Elovan was left speechless.

Just then, Sonya walked up and said, “My lord, I won’t try to hide the facts. We’re also trying to bring Evelina to justice, but we did not realize that she had committed such offenses. Though she is a princess of the High Elves, she has shamelessly joined the Syndicate. The Isle of Dawn does not tolerate traitors like her. Rest assured, she’ll be executed on the spot once we find her. We will most certainly not cause you any trouble.”

“Straight execution, you say?” Link was stunned. He did not realize that Evelina was in such a tight spot. She had basically turned her back on the Isle of Dawn. He had never encountered such a scenario in the game.

On the tree, Evelina had gone pale.

Eliard too was shocked by this. He then immediately came to his senses and smiled coldly at her. “Ha, so your name’s Evelina. Nice name, not too bright though. See, this is the Isle of Dawn you’re trying to protect. These people are intent on killing you.”

He was not worried about being heard by the High Elves beneath the tree. The Folded Dimension was soundproof. Though he could hear everything outside the Folded Dimension, no one else could hear him.

Beneath the tree

Link was the only one who was aware of everything around him. He glanced up at the two on top of the tree and noticed Evelina’s dejected expression. For a moment, he had the same thought as Eliard: it would be a great boon to him if she were to join forces with Ferde.

And so, he waved a hand at the three High Elves and said, “No need to concern yourselves, I’ll handle this myself. I’ve already found her anyway. She’s hiding on top of that tree, so why don’t you just go back home and let me take care of this?”

Elovan immediately caught on to what Link had in mind. If Evelina was any other Magician, they would be fine letting Link take her in. But she had mastered a wide array of Legendary spells native to the Isle of Dawn. If Ferde took in someone like her, the Dawn of Isle’s magical knowledge would be revealed to the outside world.

He looked up at the top of the tree. As a Folded Dimension was cast on it, he could vaguely sense the presence of someone in it. He had no way of knowing who was in the Folded Dimension, though.

Left with no other option, he spoke, “My lord, I would not dare hide this from you, so I’ll just say it right now. Evelina has betrayed the High Elf race, and the elders on our island have demanded that she be executed on the spot…”

Link slowly shook his head. “I think you misheard me. There’s nothing else for you to do here. Whatever goes on in the Isle of Dawn has nothing to do with me. If you still wish to carry out an execution, you’ll have to wait until I’m done interrogating her.”

“You…” Elovan choked up in exasperation.

The three High Elves exchanged solemn looks with each other. This time, Milose stepped forward. His expression was one of humility and respect. “My lord, how about this? We take Evelina with us, while you take back Eliard, and the Isle of Dawn will compensate you for your losses. What do you think?”

Link fell silent. A few seconds later, he spoke, “I’m not in the habit of repeating myself a third time. Go. Now.”

There was no turning back at this point.

The three High Elves were in their youth. The oldest among them, Elovan, was no more than 50 years old. They were all brimming with youthful vigor. Seeing that their negotiations had hit a dead end, their faces darkened considerably.

The female High Elf took another step forward. “My lord, we respect you, but that doesn’t mean you can do as you please. If still you insist on walking this path, I guess we have no choice but to settle this the old-fashioned way.”

Saying this, she pulled out her magic wand. Though it seemed like an ordinary tree branch, unimaginable amounts of Nature Power flowed within it.

The other two High Elves had followed suit. Their wands resembled branches as well.

Though their wands did not look aesthetically pleasing, they were in fact carved out from the High Elves’ World Tree, and they possessed unimaginable power. In the game world, these branches were the standard gear of every Legendary High Elf master.

Judging from the stances they had taken, it seemed that they were now ready for combat.

Link sighed. He placed a hand on the pommel of his Dragon King’s Fury sword. His voice had grown cold. “You are among the finest the Dawn of Isle has to offer. It would be quite a waste to throw away your lives like that before my sword. How about this: I’ll just stand here without moving, and I’ll let you youngins hit me first with your best spells. If you’re able to make me move an inch, that means I lose, and you get to take Evelina away. But if you can’t even do that, you go back home. What do you think?”

If he were anyone else other than the Lord of Ferde, Link would not have given himself such a handicap. He would have struck first and killed all three of them with three quick stabs of his sword.

However, Ferde was not in a position to incur the Isle of Ferde’s wrath at the moment. He could not just kill the youngest talents of the Isle of Dawn without any reason.

Even so, it was arrogant of Link to offer such a handicap. They were all Legendary masters, and Link stood all alone against the three High Elves. He was evidently belittling them!

All three High Elves were now red with anger. They would not stand for such mockery!

Youngins? They’ve been studying magic for more than 30 years, and how long had Link only been a Magician? Only two years or so!

Evelina looked on wordlessly at this. She asked Eliard in a low voice, “He’s not serious, is he? He’s going to kill himself! Even Bryant would not dare pick a fight with all three at the same time!”

Eliard shrugged. “I don’t know. But I know for a fact that Link would not do anything he was unsure of.”

Below the tree, Elovan took a deep breath and calmed his nerves down. He knew that this was the only possible road out of their current dilemma. “My lord, isn’t this a bit ridiculous?”

“I’m not one to joke about such a thing.” Link gave him a faint smile.

“Alright, then allow us to give you a taste of the true power of the High Elves’ Nature Magic!”

Chapter 535: Too Embarrassing

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

Forest

Link stood steadily on the ground. Blue haze wrapped around him, covering his body.

His Dragon Power limit had reached 17000 points. One point was equal to five Mana points for humans. This meant he had 85000 Mana points in total.

The magnitude of this was unbelievable. Only five people in all of Firuman had power of a larger scale than Link—the Red Dragon Queen, Bryant, Dark Magician Eugene, Light Magician Halino, and Shadow Walker Morpheus.

The three High Elves before him had only broken past Level-10. Their power wasn’t even one-fourth of Link’s. If converted to Dragon Power, they had 4000 points at most. They couldn’t even be compared.

Regardless of power, Link’s knowledge of magic was on a completely different scale too.

The High Elves lived on the Isle of Dawn, the home of magic. They’d practiced magic for more than 30 years too. From this, they should be masters, but this wasn’t so.

Life on the Isle of Dawn was too peaceful. There was no pressure and obviously, no motivation either. The High Elves mostly studied due to their own interests.

It was different for Link though. He was putting in his all every second of the day.

Link had only studied magic for two years, but he’d received tips from various strong figures—the Red Dragon Queen, the exiled god, Bryant’s Revelations Scroll, the God of Light’s rewards, and more. He even learned martial arts and was at the point of starting his own school.

Right now, Link was skilled in every aspect. His abilities were immeasurable.

As for the magic equipment, it went without saying too. As the lord of Ferde, he was rich and didn’t lack any materials. Combining the ones he’d made and received by chance, he had at least six Legendary pieces of equipment. The High Elves were geniuses of their race. Though they had more than enough equipment, they couldn’t be compared to a territory’s lord. If this was a physical distance, the High Elves probably had to use a telescope to see Link.

He had the absolute advantage in every aspect.

Even if Evelina came down from the tree and joined the battle, fighting four against one, Link still had no fear. He was confident in ending the battle within two seconds.

On the other hand, the three High Elves thought they could win this gamble too.

It was like a joke. Link would stand there without moving and let them attack. They also had the advantage of attacking first. And instead of defeating him, they only had to make him move his feet. If they couldn’t even do that, they’d be humiliated.

“Lord, we will start now. Get ready,” Elovan reminded before starting. He thought it was too easy for them this time. He had to be polite.

Link wanted to shake his head. These High Elves were too young and hadn’t experienced the cruelty of the world. If he was in their place, he would find a chance for a surprise attack instead of saying this.

He just stood in place without using any defense spells. “Stop wasting time and do it.”

As soon as he spoke, Elovan, Sonya, and Milose moved at once. They used the Black-Gold Thorn, their most powerful and handiest trick.

Boom, boom, boom. Three poisonous black vines, thick as one’s fist and gleaming gold, broke through the ground. Like pythons, they came for Link from different directions.

The spell was similar to what they did to Evelina, but the force was different.

Against Evelina, they’d still held back, thus letting Evelina escape. But against Link, they didn’t dare go easy on him. They used all their power at once.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The three vines attacked together with extreme speed. The air cracked with wind and thunder. Poisonous thorns sprouted from the vines. The vines waved at the same time, and the thorns swarmed towards Link like wasps.

The three vines and clouds of thorns blocked all of Link’s escape routes.

Every thorn flashed with emerald light. This was the toxin. Once inside Link’s body, he would be affected no matter how powerful he was unless he had the High Elves’ antidote. Even if he didn’t die, his combat abilities would be decimated.

Seeing this, Evelina clapped her hand over her mouth and cried softly, “It’s over.”

The Black-Gold Thorn was the High Elves’ best trick. The seeds of the vines were from the Level-18 World Tree and nurtured by Natural magic. Their attributes were very special. Other than Natural magic, practically no other magic could equalize them. They were also extremely sturdy, with an excellent resistance to magic. To them, iron was as fragile as paper. Shields below Level-11 practically didn’t exist before them.

Faced with an attack like this, even the most powerful Warrior would commit suicide. Magicians only had one solution: use a spell to escape.

But Link had said earlier that he wouldn’t take even half a step. That meant he could only die.

Just as the thorns were about to reach him, Link’s Dragon Power flared. The buzz shook everyone’s hearts as the space around him suddenly expanded. It stretched like a rubber band until the entire space swelled.

To everyone else, it was as if Link’s body suddenly became thousands of feet away.

Evolan, Sonya, and Milose stood in a triangle around Link, but they felt the same way. Eliard and Evelina also felt that way in the tree. They watched as their tree shot up like they were thousands of feet up in the air.

What they couldn’t comprehend was that Link really didn’t move. He was still in the same spot.

Here was the problem: they were suddenly so far away from Link. No matter how powerful the vines were, there was a range. One thousand feet was the limit, but now they were thousands of feet away. How could this work out?

What happened was that the vines of the Black-Gold Thorn spell slackened after around 300 feet. The thorns were able to fly to the limit, but then they dropped helplessly too.

When all attacks ended, the space buzzed again and went back to normal. Link’s body “snapped” back from thousands of feet away.

He really hadn’t moved during this. He just stood there without doing anything.

The three High Elves lost.

The forest was deathly silent.

The High Elves gulped in unison. How could they compete with such a miraculous spatial technique? No matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t hit Link. When they used up all their energy, he came back to harvest the fruits. This was hopeless.

After a while, Elovan put away his wand first. Speechless, he bowed to Link and turned to leave. Sonya and Milose were also shocked. Sonya opened her mouth to speak but gave up. She left with Elovan; Milose followed.

The three weren’t powerful enough. They’d attacked first but couldn’t even make Link budge. It was too embarrassing.

When the three were far away, Eliard brought Evelina down from the tree. “See, I said Link would win, but you didn’t believe me,” he said excitedly. “You’re so ignorant.”

Evelina couldn’t refute it. She was still shocked, but now she had to worry about her own fate.

“Lord, how will you punish me?” All thought of fighting back disappeared after seeing Link’s skills.

Link canceled the blue haze around him and looked coolly at Evelina. “You created 97 Ethereal Warriors in the Southmoon Kingdom and, either directly or non-directly, affected 12 people, including the dean of the Grinth Magic Academy and Amir, Magician of Ferde’s ambassador group. These are all grave sins that must be punished.”

Hearing this, Eliard opened his mouth to speak. However, he quickly realized that he had no reason to defend Evelina, so he kept quiet.

Evelina was much more resigned than Eliard. She shrugged as if she’d given up. “Then say what you’re planning. I only have this life. Take it if you want.”

“You must give something to the Southmoon Kingdom and me, as well. I must know the specific details about the Ethereals and the Syndicate in the South. I also need to know anything about Legendary High Elf magic. If you tell me, you can live. Of course, you’ll still be imprisoned.”

He wanted to have Evelina on their side, but the territory had laws. He couldn’t let her go just because she was useful. There was nothing free in the world.

“Fine, I’m a captive now. I can’t choose, so just ask whatever you want to know. I have a requirement though. If you don’t agree, I’d rather die.”

She was more like the Syndicate’s mercenary. As for loyalty, she’d ended all thoughts for the Isle of Dawn after learning that her mother agreed with the Elder Council.

“Alright, what is it?” Link asked.

“I can be imprisoned, but I want Eliard to be my guard.”

Eliard was speechless. He didn’t know what this woman was thinking but… he was kind of happy.

Link stared hard at Evelina. Her eyes sparkled and wavered. After a while, Link had a guess as to what she wanted. Smiling thinly, he said, “I agree. You have to ask Eliard if he agrees though.”

She obviously wanted to use Eliard’s feelings for her to escape. Sadly, she underestimated Eliard. It wouldn’t take long for her to fall into his trap.

“Eliard, do you agree?” Evelina turned to look at him.” I… I’ll listen to Link.” Eliard was confused but still agreed.