Advent of the Archmage

Chapter 536: Profit beyond One’s Imagination

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

The medicine that Eliard gave Evelina worked really well. A few hours after taking it, she had recovered much of her strength and was able to walk herself.

But her body was still weak. Lazy to walk on her own, she allowed Eliard to carry her all the way.

The three of them were headed north. Link had activated his Void Walk to hasten their journey. In half an hour, they managed to arrive outside Full Moon City.

Once they landed, the three of them then entered the city.

Evelina looked around. She noticed that everything was still in order. There did not seem to be any sign of chaos. She then gave Link a perplexed look as he walked on in front of them.

Link felt her gaze and chuckled. “The second stage of your plan was almost perfect. The only problem was that the Ethereal Warriors had been too slow to carry it out. When I got here, they still hadn’t arrived in the city.”

“What about the king?” asked Evelina. She had noticed that the wanted posters plastered around the city had been torn down. This meant that the king had been taken care of.

Link smiled and took out a pale yellow crystal. He tossed it up and down in his hand, then threw it to Eliard. “Catch. Let her have a look at it.”

Evelina looked carefully at the crystal held up by Eliard in front of her eyes.

The crystal somewhat resembled a piece of amber, and a cotton-like substance swirled abundantly inside it. She held out her hand and touched it. It was smooth and warm to the touch, and it did not feel sharp or angular like other gemstones. At the same time, she sensed a familiar aura coming from it.

“This is…” She turned to Link, still uncertain.

“You guessed it. The Ethereals that you’ve brought in are now inside the crystal. In it, they can neither live nor die.”

The Soul Crystal was a unique item. It could store souls in a way similar to pendrives back on earth. Any file stored in a pendrive would be preserved as it was, a dead thing removed from all external influences. The file would only be subject to change via user input once it was extracted from the pendrive and run on a computer.

The Soul Crystal was a pendrive of sorts, while the possessed victims were the computers infected by the Ethereals. Once they were stored within a Soul Crystal, the Ethereals remained a dead thing inside it.

These “dead things” possessed peculiar properties. Their sophisticated structures contained a large number of rune groupings. By infusing one’s power into the crystal with the right technique, one could reactivate these rune groupings and draw out the Ethereal’s power.

In other words, the Ethereal Crystal was a magical item with an immediate effect.

Evelina swallowed. She eyed Link incredulously and asked, “They are living beings capable of speech and thought, and you’re storing them like mere objects. Aren’t you afraid their guardians will have an issue with such abuse?”

Link laughed out loud. “I neither bought them like merchandise nor slaughtered them like mere sheep. They got what they deserved. Why shouldn’t I have my way with them? It’s not my fault their essences have such useful properties.”

Eliard listened on to all this, confused. He asked, “Link, what are you two talking about? Evelina, who’s capable of speech and thought? And what’s this talk about guardians?”

Evelina looked at the crystal in Eliard’s hand, still finding the whole thing difficult to accept. She then explained to Eliard, “Link stored the souls of the Ethereals inside this crystal, turning them into a piece of magical equipment.”

Eliard was shocked upon hearing her explanation. If he had heard of this before, he would have leaped up in protest. However, right now, his mentality had undergone a major upheaval.

He observed the crystal carefully in his hand. He then asked Link, “How useful is this?”

Link replied, “Ethereals possess unique powers inside their souls. For instance, by imbuing your power into it with the right technique, the Ethereal Crystal that you’re holding now will be able to produce Level-10 Earth Power.”

Eliard’s eyes brightened up. His mind was able to immediately grasp what Link was saying. He then said, “By that logic, does that mean any ordinary Magician will be able to summon out Legendary power with any magical equipment forged with this crystal as its base?

Link nodded in agreement. “Exactly, and its conversion efficiency is extremely high. Around a hundred apprentices would be able to muster a Level-10 attack with their combined Mana. On the other hand, only 20 Magicians above Level-5 would be needed for such an attack.”

“What about the crystal’s cost of production?” asked Eliard.

“Not at all high. On average, a piece of crystal would cost more than 70 gold pieces. With the added cost of alchemical potions required to exorcize the Ethereals from their host bodies, the total cost would amount to around 130 gold pieces. Also, these crystals can be used at least 100 times.”

At this point, Eliard had fallen silent. A few seconds later, he said, “This Soul Crystal business feels a bit shady to me, but it would be a waste not to take advantage of it now. With this, the military might of Ferde would improve by leaps and bounds. Besides, these Ethereals aren’t exactly peaceful beings. If they had just stayed in their own realm, none of this would have happened to them.”

The risk of being reprimanded for violating the rights of these Ethereals seemed trivial in comparison to the immense profit that could be reaped from them. It was highly unlikely that there would be anyone who would go so far as to defend these evil spirits.

Evelina listened on to their discussion. She felt as if a whole new world had been laid out before her. In front of her stood not Magicians, but rather vulgar merchants who would do whatever it took to earn a buck. For some reason, she was not at all displeased at the way they handled things. Both Link and Eliard were fastidiously weighing the gains and losses of the matter at hand. They would only choose to do something if its gains weighed more.

Also, it seemed that Link’s method of forging magical equipment with the souls of Ethereals would most certainly bring in a huge profit. Evelina was impressed by this.

Her gaze alternated between Eliard and Link for a few times. She then asked, “Can I join you guys in this?”

She did not believe that Link would lock her up indefinitely. She must have impressed him with her magic and talent. Her imprisonment was simply a way for him to tap into her skills. Why else would he have agreed to let Eliard watch over her? She was not one to sit quietly on the sidelines and let an opportunity like this pass her by.

Link smiled. He knew that a maiden bold enough to commit treason against the Isle of Dawn like her would find a way to spice things up. He then asked, “And what if we refuse you?”

“If you let me in on your plans, I’ll tell you where you can find plenty of Ethereals and the safest spots to trap them. I’ll even tell you the spatial coordinates of the Delou Ethereal Realm. If not, well, I won’t tell you anything then.”

Link and Eliard were stunned. This lady was incredible. She had betrayed the Ethereals to them at the drop of a hat with such thoroughness that even Link found it a bit too extreme. She had even suggested capturing these creatures from the Ethereal Realm, as if their complete eradication meant nothing to her at all.

But then, only a fool would refuse such an offer.

Link nodded. “It’s a deal, then.”

The three of them then continued their path through the city. A while later, the gates of Full Moon Kingdom’s palace rose up before them. At that moment, Link whispered, “Before I forget, you seemed to have messed up Skinorse and Irvan quite badly back then. Try not to provoke them when you see them.”

“Got it.”

Eliard was the only one who was unaware of what had happened. Apprehensively, he asked, “What happened to Skinorse and the others?”

Link did not know how to tell him what happened. Thinking about it for a while, he said, “Physically, they’re both alright. It’s just that their prides have been somewhat injured. Don’t ask them about it later on. Just let the whole thing pass.”

“If you say so.” Eliard nodded, still confused.

At that point, the king of Southmoon Kingdom had returned to normal. The palace opened its gates to Link without much fuss. As they entered, there were a few attendants already waiting there to guide them through the labyrinth of corridors and alleyways until they finally reached a small courtyard on the western side of the palace.

“Skinorse and the others are in there. Our business here in Southmoon Kingdom has come to a close. After I’m done giving out my orders, we’ll head north immediately.”

Eliard looked at Link strangely. “What’s the rush?”

“I fear that the High Elves will catch up with us if we stay here for too long.”

Eliard was startled. They definitely needed to watch out for the High Elves. He then thought of a graver problem. “The Isle of Dawn would not give up their search so easily. If they were to come looking for Evelina in Ferde, what should we do then?”

Right now, Evelina was in their hands. It was simply out of the question to hand her over at this point. But Eliard had no say in the matter; the only one capable of putting up a fight with the Isle of Dawn was Link himself. It was up to him to decide what to do with her.

Evelina too looked at Link, waiting for a reaction from him. She would literally be sent to her death if he succumbed to the Isle of Dawn’s demands to hand her over to the High Elves.

Link laughed. “Of course we won’t hand her over. If we do, the information on the Ethereals will forever be out of our grasp. Once we get back to Ferde, we’ll wait for the High Elves to make the first move. Then we’ll proceed as planned at the first chance we can get.”

Chapter 537: Bluff (1)

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

In the end, Evelina still saw Skinorse’s group.

Skinorse didn’t mind. He was always more forgiving to beautiful girls and forgot what had happened after seeing Evelina’s delicate features. Instead, he started worrying over her injuries.

“Oh, you seem to be heavily wounded. Are you okay? Do you need Moya to check?”

Hearing that, Priest Moya couldn’t help but scoff. She shot a look at Skinorse. Even though Skinorse and Irvan didn’t say anything after coming back, Moya was skilled and could tell what was wrong with someone at a glance.

For example, she could tell where Irvan was hurt by how he walked. Skinorse also looked like an unconfident pervert. Moya had a basic idea of what had happened after asking some more questions.

Seeing Skinorse like this now, she felt that he was beyond saving.

Irvan had escaped early this morning. What had happened yesterday had traumatized him. He couldn’t face anyone who knew the details.

Evelina was caught by surprise too. She smiled at Skinorse and asked, “It seems that you really liked it. Want to do it again?”

Skinorse’s expression changed, and he waved his hand quickly. “No, no, no. One time is enough, it’s enough.”

Everyone in the room looked at him speechlessly.

Getting to the point, Link said, “We’re preparing to return to Ferde. Skinorse, what are your plans?”

“Continuing to explore, of course. I almost have enough Jogus.” Skinorse grew serious. This was what he’d been working on all this time.

“Good, I’ll prepare it for you when I return. Oh, you’re Moya, right?” Link thought of something after seeing the female priest.

“Yes, Lord.” Moya bowed respectfully.

“I heard about you from Kanorse. He said that not only are you skilled in healing spells, you also have many unique methods for saving one’s life. Ferde opened an academy for doctors recently. I’m the dean right now. If you’re interested, you can be the new dean.”

Kanorse had said that Moya was the best at emergency treatments. Oftentimes, she didn’t even need spells. Those spells were just the icing on the cake for her.

Link had created the strong Sunlight Army. Each soldier had powerful recovery abilities. If they were wounded on the battlefield, they would just need some basic emergency treatment. They wouldn’t need Light spells to recover.

Thus, if there were enough emergency personnel, the death rate of his army would lower a lot.

Even better, it wasn’t hard to learn Moya’s tactics. A regular person could learn it too, and this was what Link needed. As for the academy, it didn’t exist yet. But if they had a dean and enough resources, it could be established quickly…

Hearing that, Skinorse grew upset. “Hey, Lord, you’re unethical. Moya is our friend. You can’t just dig her away so shamelessly.”

Link really had no shame. Smiling, he said, “Adventures will get old someday and need a way out. Plus, Moya is a girl. Are you really willing to make her risk her life with you?”

“Uh…” Skinorse was swayed. He usually acted recklessly and did ridiculous things, but Moya was different to him. She had an important place in his heart. If she had somewhere safe to go, he would support it.

An academy’s dean would live comfortably and be respected. It sounded nice.

“Moya, what do you think?” Skinorse asked.

Moya was interested too. “Me? I want to, but if I go, you won’t last one month. I’ll pass.”

Skinorse was even more convinced after this. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Go if you want. Nothing bad will happen with our skills, right Morrigan?”

Morrigan nodded. “Just go, Moya.”

Moya still shook her head. “But…”

Link chuckled. “You’re worried about Skinorse, right? Don’t worry.”

As he spoke, he took out three runestones. Dragon Power wrapped around them, and a few minutes later, they became red crystals. Giving them to Skinorse, he said, “These are Seething Vitality runes. Take one each and keep them with you. If you’re hurt, it will heal you automatically. Each stone can heal 15 fatal injuries. Even if your arm is broken, you can press it onto the injury, and it’ll reconnect your arm. Moya, what do you think?”

Skinorse immediately took the stones and chuckled. “This is good.” Then he said to Moya, “Go, go. Do well as the dean and your name will be written down in history. Then people who talk about you will mention me too. I’ll get some fame.”

Moya finally nodded. “My honor, Lord.”

Link smiled and nodded. He was very happy. Turning to Skinorse, he said, “Then we’ll leave now. Also, tell Irvan that he only needs to find 50 Jogu for me to make him a Legendary bow.”

“Got it. I’ll tell him.” Skinorse actually felt guilty towards Irvan. Skinorse was the one who’d benefited a bit from earlier. If he got laid like that, he wouldn’t be able to take it.

After that, Link left the yard and gave some orders to the servants sent by the king. Then he used the Void Walk to take the others back to Ferde.

Though he had three people with him, the entire journey only took half an hour. When they reached Ferde, Link was still energetic. He didn’t look tired at all.

Evelina had been trying to calculate Link’s power. Seeing this, she was even more impressed. All her plans were destroyed now. She started to seriously consider joining Ferde.

When they reached Ferde, Link said to Eliard, “Take her back. You’re her guard now, so you can decide where you want her imprisoned. Choose wherever you want.”

“Alright, no problem.” Eliard took Evelina away.

Link turned to Moya. “Come, I’ll take you to see Manager Lucy. She’ll arrange the things with the academy.”

“Okay.” Moya was happy; she was excited about the academy.

Though she had a lot of Sacred Power, her knowledge was far from those official priests from the Sacred City. She’d learned informally and could now become the dean of an academy. This was satisfying.

Along the way, Moya asked casually, “Lord, where is the academy?”

Link smiled. “The location is chosen already. It’s in the east of the city and will be around 100 acres. It hasn’t been built though, and we’re still enrolling students. You’ll be the first dean.”

Moya wasn’t gullible. She chuckled dryly. “So you’re saying that it doesn’t exist yet?”

Link felt a bit awkward. “I think that 100,000 coins should be enough to build a nice academy. I’ll send Magicians from the Mage Tower to help with the buildings for free. What do you think?”

The benefits were great. Moya thought for a bit and decided this was better. She could build the academy herself according to her wishes. She would be the founder of the academy.

“Alright, that’s not bad.” She nodded.

After finding Lucy, Link explained simply, and Lucy quickly provided the money. Ferde’s treasury was doing well now and made a profit of more than 200,000 coins per month. She’d been wondering how to spend the money. The academy came at the right time.

After giving 100,000 coins, Lucy asked, “Lord, is that enough? How about 150,000 coins?”

“You have enough?” Link asked in shock. He wasn’t that familiar with the territory’s situation.

“Of course.”

“Oh, then 150,000.”

Moya was even more satisfied. She had room to work with now.

Getting the money, Link notified Jacker and some others. The matter was set now. The upper level of Ferde all knew Moya, so the academy was on the fast track.

To Link, this academy was only a small detail in his grand plan. After arranging everything, he returned to the Mage Tower and started planning on how to deal with the High Elves.

There wasn’t anything he could say about the High Elves coming for their people. Ferde was in the wrong, and they should hand her over. But he couldn’t do it, so what should he do?

Link got an idea. He would use terror.

The High Elves came to reason with them, but Link wouldn’t win that. He had to use power. Competition between the races had always followed the law of the jungle.

Imagine one man who was tall, burly, and powerful. The other was frail, thin, and weak. The strong man wanted to take the weak man’s pretty wife. The strong guy was wrong, but the weak guy couldn’t beat him. He could only accept reality.

But there was another problem. Ferde wasn’t as strong as the Isle of Dawn. Link couldn’t scare them at all.

What should he do?

There was another option: bluffing.

In the forest, some harmless snakes looked just as terrifying as poisonous snakes. They weren’t threatening at all, but to the others, they were too powerful to be touched.

Ferde had to look like they were poisonous.

How should he bluff?

Link took out what he’d gotten from the South. Placing the crystals on the table, he counted 95. Thirteen of them had amazing quality and could transform Legendary power at the highest rate.

Thirteen Ethereal Crystals can create 13 Legendary magic equipment. If I use it well, they can emit 13 types of Legendary auras… Hmm, I’ll have to arrange this well.

Chapter 538: The Bluff (2)

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

On this day, the sun shone brightly while the sea breeze rolled in gently.

Seagulls screeched in the sky, squabbling with each other over scraps thrown out by the guests of a nearby inn. A few kids frolicked around the port’s open plaza. Near the docks, workers called out to each other as they bustled about, loading and unloading cargo from their ships. Further away, shop houses were in the midst of construction.

It was an ordinary day like any other.

At noon, a seemingly ordinary merchant vessel appeared on the horizon. It slowly made its way towards the port of Ferde.

High Elf merchant ships were a familiar sight to the port’s inhabitants. Though nothing stood out from it on the surface, this particular merchant ship was different from the others that came before it.

On the outside, the merchant ship and its deck seemed normal enough. In reality, it had an extremely spacious hold beneath its deck. Only a small portion of that space was reserved for holding cargo. The rest of it was emptied out for its passengers. There was even enough space for a great hall.

It was lunchtime. In the ship’s great hall, eight High Elves were seated around a long table. The three High Elf Legendary masters, Bryant, Sonya and Milose were in their midst.

The other five High Elves were no ordinary folk. One of them was a young High Elf who bore a resemblance to the Elf Princess Milda and was almost as old as her. He was Prince Phillip, who also happened to have been saved by Link once. The four High Elves around him were among the best diplomats and negotiators the Isle of Dawn had to offer.

When the port of Ferde appeared before their ship, the voice of a sailor called out to them from the deck, “Your Highnesses, Ferde is just ahead of us.”

Hearing this, Bryant turned to Sonya and Milose. “It’s time. Go get ready.”

“Yes, Prophet.” The two young Magicians wiped their mouths clean with their napkins. They then rose from their seats. With a slight movement, their bodies dissolved into a green mist and vanished from the ship’s hold.

The merchant’s vessel was just a facade. Its true cargo were the negotiators inside its hold. Six Silver Storm Sparrow ships hung back a few thousand feet from the merchant’s vessel. If anything went wrong, the Silver Storm Sparrow’s magic spells would descend upon the port of Ferde in retaliation, which would result in grievous injuries on both sides.

Of course, this was only a contingency plan. If Ferde would peacefully accept their terms, they would not need to resort to violence.

There were two reasons as to why the High Elves preferred a peaceful resolution with Ferde.

The first one was that the Army of Destruction had amassed its forces in the northern region. The Isle of Dawn needed the humans to be their first line of defense against the Army of Destruction there.

The second reason was that Ferde now possessed a powerful army of 30,000 men. It also had a Legendary master watching over it. They could not possibly ignore such military might. Even if the High Elves were to act against Ferde, they still had to make thorough preparations for such a confrontation.

The merchant’s vessel continued on its path. Prince Phillip had just finished his meal as well.

He had been to Hot Springs City. Back then, Link was the one who had rescued him. He had felt much gratitude for what he had done. Even now, Prince Phillip still had a high opinion of Link.

It was a shame, though, that good and evil never meant much when it came to dealing with interracial issues.

“Prophet, do you think he’ll be willing to hand her over?” Phillip asked. Deep down, he knew that Link would resist. He still remembered the time they met at the magic market. Back then, Link had faced off against three masters all on his lonesome without even a hint of panic. He had beaten all three of them up, leaving two dead and one running off with his tail between his legs.

There was no way someone with a strong will like Link’s would ever submit so easily to others.

Even Bryant could not say anything for sure. He was silent for a moment. Then, he spoke, “If what we’ve heard of Ferde’s military strength is true, Link will probably hand Evelina over to us. He’s an intelligent man, and the port is the lifeline of Ferde.”

Phillip was no longer the naive young man he was before. He sighed. “I hope so.”

After a moment of silence, he asked again, “What will happen to Evelina? Will she really be executed?”

Though Evelina was a half-elf, she had lived in the High Elf royal palace, Andwar ever since she was little. Phillip knew her for as long as he could remember. Among the High Elf Princesses, Evelina was always so full of life and good-tempered. He would always follow her around wherever she went when Phillip was still a child.

They had played many pranks together, like the time when they threw a beehive into a guard post where the imperial guards were having their afternoon naps. There was also that one time when they poured unicorn urine into the wine barrels in the wine cellar. At a banquet on the next day, most guests felt that the wine did not taste quite right, but finished their glasses anyway out of courtesy. A wide smile would spread across Phillip’s face every time he thought of all the pranks he pulled together with Evelina.

But now, they had both grown up. With the power she possessed, Evelina posed a real threat to the safety of the Isle of Dawn. She had even defected from the Isle of Dawn. As a High Elf prince, Phillip was ordered by her mother to bring back this traitor to the island.

Big Sis Evie, why would you do this? Phillip sighed inwardly.

In truth, he knew the answer to this question. But he could not bring himself to say it out loud. He was also powerless to change anything.

Bryant too had conflicted feelings about this. Due to her half-elf identity, Evelina had suffered constant discrimination from the other High Elves. As a former human Magician, Bryant’s life was also anything but an easy one. He understood more than anyone what Evelina was going through. His granddaughter had paid the ultimate price for it.

After a long silence, Bryant finally said, “Probably not. Once we bring her back, the elders will then decide her fate.”

This meant that certain death awaited Evelina back on the island. The elders had already made their decision, and they had all come to the conclusion that Evelina would be sentenced to death if any evidence of her committing treason against the Isle of Dawn could be found. Evelina had indeed betrayed them and nearly killed Elovan.

They fell silent again.

A while later, Phillip asked, “Will there be war between us and Ferde?”

This time, Bryant’s reply came immediately. His voice did not waver as he spoke, “Yes.”

“Why?”

Bryant thought about this for a moment, then settled on using a metaphor as his reply. “If Firuman was a mountain, then we High Elves would be the tiger living in it. Before the rise of Ferde, all the prey living in the mountain belonged only to us. The whole world belonged to us. We were rich and peaceful. But now, another tiger has appeared on the same mountain. The two tigers would then fight over their share of the mountain until they starve each other out.”

Phillip tried to argue. “But there are only 3 million people on the Isle of Dawn. The imported goods we received are all stacked up high in our warehouses every year. Most of the excess food is simply left in it to rot. It is obvious that the yearly supply of resources we receive greatly dwarfs our demand.”

Bryant shook his head and smiled. “We may have enough, but to the human race, it will never be enough. Ferde represents the entire human race. This particular tiger has a huge appetite. It will not stop growing. Once it reaches a certain point of maturity, the whole world won’t even be enough to sate this beast’s hunger. No one will be able to rival its strength. When that happens, our race will be at the mercy of the humans.”

The human race occupied the richest regions of Firuman. There were more than three hundred million of them, a few hundred times more than the High Elves. If they were allowed to develop freely, it would be a complete calamity for not just the High Elves, but the other races of Firuman as well.

It was not that the High Elves were incapable of harmonious coexistence with the humans. Rather, they would not be able to bear the consequences of letting the humans flourish rampantly, which was why they had endeavored for so long to maintain the power balance between the kingdoms on the continent.

Prince Phillip now understood somewhat the relationship between the two races.

He looked out of a porthole. Outside, a magnificent port built out of huge white stone had entered into view. Hundreds of merchant vessels were parked around the docks, forming a forest of masts bobbing gently on the water. A magnificent lighthouse stood in the distance. Rows of houses were arranged neatly around it while people swarmed the streets. Farther still, more houses were being built.

The whole port was brimming with so much life, and energy one might not find back on the Isle of Dawn.

The port was massive, perhaps three times bigger than Monoson, the biggest port on the Isle of Dawn. This all came into fruition in the span of merely two years.

At that moment, Phillip felt the threat that the humans posed to them.

“Prophet, if we go to war with them, will we win?” asked Phillip.

Bryant looked out at the port and let out a soft moan. He then said, “Can’t say for sure. What we do know is that we are a lot stronger than Ferde right now, and we are positioned strategically well in comparison to the humans. Alright, let’s not discuss this any further. Ship’s entering the port. When you meet the Lord of Ferde, remember not to show any sign of weakness, no matter what happens. I’ll be right beside you.”

“I understand.” Prince Phillip nodded. He calmed himself down, stood up and climbed out onto the deck. Bryant walked beside him, and they were then followed from behind by their entourage of diplomats.

Once the ship entered the port, the High Elves immediately headed towards the port administration office to show their papers. When the officers confirmed that it was the High Elf prince himself, they immediately summoned extravagant carriages for them, which then drove them straight towards Scorched City.

Prince Phillip and Bryant were in the same carriage. The prince looked out of the window at the wide, smooth road ahead of them. He murmured to himself in surprise, “He’s already expecting us.”

There was no way he would have prepared all this in such short notice.

Bryant remained impassive to their extravagant reception. “Don’t think too much about it. This is his domain after all. He should already know we’re coming. There’s nothing to be too surprised about.”

Phillip nodded and tried to keep himself calm.

…

When the High Elves’ carriages drove towards Scorched City, Link, Vance, and the others were making their final adjustments to the magical houses.

There were thirteen magical houses. They were all hastily built and distributed across different parts of Scorched City. Each house contained a huge number of Magicians. They were all assigned the task of focusing their power into ethereal equipment. The magical houses also concealed their collective auras and only allowed Legendary power aura to seep out from within.

From a far enough distance, it would seem as if each house contained a Legendary master in it.

Ten seconds later, Link began collecting the results of the Magicians’ test runs.

“Everything normal in magical house number one.”

“Everything fine in number two.”

“Sunlight Power leaking out from number three, proceeding to turn off power.”

“Number four…”

Out of all thirteen magical houses, only two reported malfunctions and were forced to power down. On the other hand, the other eleven were operational and capable of carrying out Link’s deception.

“Thirteen Legendary masters (eleven magical houses plus Link and Evelina), this will surely give those High Elves a good scare!” Vance laughed out loud.

According to Evelina, the High Elves had five Legendary masters at the moment. Four of them had only recently reached Legendary. This was impressive in itself, but now, thirteen Legendary masters had sprung up in Ferde, which was more than what the High Elves had at their disposal!

Legendary masters were not to be trifled with. Anyone would be scared witless by such power.

Chapter 539: Bluff (3)

Scorched Ridge

“Whoa!” A coachman stopped his carriage not far from the Mage Tower’s entrance.

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

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

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

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

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

Prince Phillip couldn’t help but praise, “What a great garden in the sky.”

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, he’s becoming more and more arrogant,” another said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Link smiled. “I am not the duke of the dragons anymore. I am only Ferde’s lord. Everyone, please sit.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bryant couldn’t let them enter this stalemate.

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

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

It was a stalemate again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 540: The Bluff (4)

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

Mage Tower, rooftop platform

Bryant’s face had gone pale. A shiver ran through his body. The only thing that could unnerve a Legendary master like him was the presence of a power equal to or higher than his.

If there had only been two or three other Legendary masters, Bryant would not have batted an eye. But there were now 11 Legendary masters, which was more than enough to strike fear in him.

Bryant could sense the sudden appearances of these Legendary auras around him so vividly that he was surprised that Prince Phillip, who was standing beside him, did not notice anything unusual.

Phillip asked in a low voice, “Prophet, what’s wrong?”

Bryant did not hear what he said. He was staring at Link for at least 20 seconds, dumbfounded. Finally, he asked, “How did Ferde manage to acquire this level of power? Were you able to make contact with the realm of Aragu?”

Realm of Aragu?

Link was impressed by Bryant’s imagination. Since Bryant had come to such a conclusion by himself, Link decided not to reveal his secret. He laughed coldly. “This is the source of Ferde’s might. Do you really think I would just tell you where I got it? As for the realm of Aragu, the Isle of Dawn would be wise to leave it alone. I have my ways of cutting off the passage between realms.”

In truth, there were only a few ways of doing such a thing that Link was aware of. But there was no harm in him boasting about it to Bryant. Link’s goal, after all, was to instill suspicion and dread in the High Elf.

Bryant fell silent again for a long while. He then opened his mouth and spoke, “Since Evelina has fled from Ferde, then we have nothing more to discuss. Thank you for the feast you’ve prepared for us. We still have a traitor to pursue. We’d be most grateful if you would let us go back.”

Saying this, he rose up and waited for Link to open up a portal.

He had admitted defeat.

Prince Phillip and the other diplomats had also hurriedly gotten up. Phillip walked to Bryant’s side and muttered, “Prophet, are we leaving? Just like that?”

Negotiations had not even begun. Even though Link had admitted that Evelina was no longer in Ferde, Phillip figured that the amount of compensation they had offered Link was not enough. If Link had been properly incentivized, he might have been more willing to aid their search for Evelina. He might even be able to bring her to them on the same day.

Bryant’s sudden decision to leave had left Phillip scratching his head in confusion.

Bryant shook his head. “There’s nothing left to talk. No amount of compensation that we can offer would be enough to a Legendary master like Link. Let’s go.”

The number of Legendary masters he had sensed in the enemy’s territory was enough to rival the Isle of Dawn’s might. As of now, Ferde and the Isle of Dawn were now on equal standing. Unless both sides went to war with each other, there was no way the Isle of Dawn would be able to take back what had been theirs from Ferde.

This was a depressing stain on the history of the High Elves. For thousands of years, the Isle of Dawn had managed to prevent such a thing from happening. Right before their eyes, the humans had acquired such formidable power to match theirs. The world was indeed evolving at an unprecedented rate.

There was a soft hum, and a portal appeared once more. Bryant’s gaze bore on Link. He said in a deep voice, “My lord, I do hope you’ll place greater emphasis on the bigger picture. The Army of Destruction up north is our true enemy.”

Conflict would be inevitable if tension persisted still between Ferde and the Isle of Dawn.

Link raised his wine glass and gently tipped its content over the edge of his lip. “We humans are more aware of this than the Isle of Dawn.”

He had accentuated the pronunciation of the word “humans,” which pierced through Bryant like an arrow. Bryant trembled slightly, bitterness welling up in him.

He was once human, but he was also young and brash back then. In his pursuit of a love so pure and true, he gave up on his humanity and became a High Elf. To put it more precisely, he was no more than a lost spirit wearing a High Elf husk.

He regretted making such a decision hundreds of years ago. But now, there was no going back. He had to see his path through to the very end.

Dejected, he stepped into the portal without another word. The other High Elves then followed him through it.

Hum, hum, hum… An instant later, a few figures appeared in the magic arena. There were already a couple of horse carriages waiting for them there.

The High Elves then got onto their carriages in the same order as before. Bryant had got on his as well, though his thoughts had drifted off somewhere else.

Once inside their carriages, Prince Phillip immediately asked, “Prophet, what happened?”

“Ah?” Bryant snapped out of his reverie. He then let out a long sigh before explaining to Phillip, “There were 13 Legendary masters in Ferde, including the Lord of Ferde himself, and from the looks of things, there will soon be 14.”

If he was not mistaken, the 14th Legendary master should be Eliard.

Phillip was speechless. There were only five Legendary masters in the Isle of Dawn, and now Ferde had twice that number. This was simply outrageous!

After a long silence, his eyes suddenly lit up. Hope sprang up in him as Phillip muttered, “Maybe they’re just Legendary Warriors? If they’re just Warriors, I don’t think we have anything to be frightened of.”

A Legendary Warrior would be able to mow down thousands of people on a battlefield with ease. This was an incredible feat, certainly deserving of the title of a God of War. But a Warrior’s brute strength proved useful only in ground warfare. Even if there were 13 of them, it was not something worth bragging about.

If these masters were all clumped up together, a high-level offensive area-of-effect spell would be able to eliminate them all in one hit.

Only a Legendary Magician had the power to alter the grand scheme of things to his or her favor.

A Legendary Magician may not be as skilled as a Legendary Warrior in one-on-one combat, but what made them redoubtable opponents was their vast knowledge of the powers of the world.

Legendary Magicians were capable of casting powerful magical formations and concocting potions with extremely potent effects. They could even forge unfathomable magical equipment and push the boundaries of knowledge with the fruits of their research. Through their profound wisdom, they were able to nurture the young talents of their race, paving the way to a brighter future through them.

If Ferde had 14 individuals with such power, the Isle of Dawn might as well concede this game of chess being played out on the chessboard known as Firuman.

Hearing Phillip’s words, Bryant jerked up in surprise. He carefully recalled what he had felt back then and realized that he had made a mistake. He had assumed that since Link was a Magician himself, the other Legendary masters he had sensed must have been Magicians as well. But now, thinking back about it, they did not actually reveal themselves to him. Only the core Magicians of Ferde had attended the banquet on the rooftop. This was sufficient proof that the new Legendary masters were not as strong as the core Magicians. There was even a strong possibility that they were only Legendary Warriors.

“If that’s the case, things may not be as bad as I had anticipated… Wait, no, something’s not right.” A change came over Bryant’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Prince Phillip’s heart was now thumping hard against his chest upon seeing the perturbed expression on Bryant’s face, dreading whatever terrifying conclusion the prophet had come to this time.

Bryant continued, “These new Legendary masters may not be as strong as Ferde’s core Magicians. They may even be Legendary Warriors, which means that Ferde only has two Legendary Magicians, Link and Evelina, and 11 other Legendary Warriors. Here’s the problem now. These 11 Legendary Warriors did not just appear out of thin air. Link must have used some sort of secret technique to endow them with Legendary power, and he was able to do this in the span of a few months. This means that…”

At this point, Bryant’s heart was racing as well. He did not dare finish his sentence.

Prince Phillip was able to fill in the blanks himself. His face had whitened. “Ferde is in possession of a secret technique that allows them to forge Legendary Warriors. With this technique, they can produce all the Legendary Warriors they need. This…”

Imagine for a moment that there were thousands of Legendary Warriors on the opposing side of a battlefield. These Legendary Warriors would also be armed with powerful magical equipment that Link had forged for them.

Who would be able to oppose such an army?

Despite only being skilled in ground warfare and battle techniques, Legendary Warriors manufactured this way could easily overpower any army with sheer number.

Both Phillip and Bryant were now filled with dread at the scenarios they had played out in their minds. They still did not know what was true or false, nor did they have any way of confirming their theories. Even so, it was better to be safe than sorry. Assuming that Link was indeed in possession of such a secret technique, the Isle of Dawn would not be able to win any war against him if they were not prepared for it.

Finally, Bryant said, “We’d best hurry back to the Isle of Dawn and report this to her Highness immediately.”

Phillip nodded in agreement. “You’re right, things have gone completely out of control.”

In the midst of the two High Elves’ discussion, the splendid horse carriage rattled down the road towards the port. A few Memory Crystals were hidden in a corner of the compartment, recording every word they spoke.

Bryant and Phillip were all so shaken by the sudden turn of events that they did not notice anything strange in their carriage. When they finally reached the port, the two of them got out of the carriage and boarded their ship without a moment’s delay.

Half an hour later, the High Elves’ merchant ship finally departed from the port. Another five minutes later, a green mist issued out of the ship and tore through the sky towards the Isle of Dawn at unimaginable speed.

It was Bryant. He could not wait any longer to deliver his message back to the Isle of Dawn.

…

Ten minutes later, Link had retrieved the Memory Crystals from the horse carriage. He and the other Magicians listened intently to the conversation between Bryant and Prince Phillip.

When they had listened to the whole thing, Alloa was the first to speak. “Judging from his tone, Bryant does seem sure of his theory. When he left, he was quite shaken up by this.”

Link nodded. “I even tried to provoke him a bit with that bit about humans. He had already seemed unsettled back then. He probably didn’t even notice the Memory Crystals planted in his carriage. I think he’s speaking the truth. What do the rest of you think about this?”

The crowd around them was silent, pondering on all the possible measures the Isle of Dawn would take against Ferde.

Three minutes later, Vance spoke, “I fear that the Isle of Dawn may overstep their boundaries.”

Everyone was stunned at those words.

Overstep… their boundaries?

What boundaries?

Chapter 541: Maintain Balance of Power

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

The so-called “bottom line” was the foundation for both parties to maintain tacit cooperation. Now, Ferde and the Isle of Dawn’s cooperation was built on the fact that both had to face the Destruction Army. In other words, the Isle of Dawn wouldn’t mess around while the humans, led by Ferde, were facing the Destruction Army.

Once the Isle of Dawn felt that Ferde was a great threat, they might possibly break this tacit agreement.

Eliard didn’t believe this. “Would they really?” he asked.

Vance shrugged. “I can’t be certain, but from how they treated Evelina, they really care about their so-called tradition and noble bloodline. They might even see it as a glory they must protect with their life. They’re probably able to do anything if their tradition is threatened.”

Celine was also present, and she didn’t believe it. “I don’t think so. There are less than three million High Elves. Once war starts, even if we sacrifice 100 men for one High Elf, we’ll lose one billion people and have three billion left. The High Elves, though, would be at risk of extinction. Plus, is their tradition really that important?”

“Yes, very important,” a bright voice rang out. It was Elin.

She stood up on her chair, pushing against the table. Her large and bright eyes were serious. Of course, to others, she looked adorable. People would want to pinch her pink cheeks.

But the Magicians present wouldn’t do that. They all perked up their ears to listen to Lady Fortuna.

“Any ancient race in Firuman would place importance on tradition,” Elin said seriously. “The High Elves, dragons, dwarves, and my Yabbas are all like this. Tradition is the precious experience accumulated over the years. It is the sign that guides a race’s ship safely through the river of time. We follow these traditions to live in Firuman for longer and better… However, emphasizing tradition can be both a blessing and curse. Especially when faced with a drastic change, tradition can be the biggest obstacle.”

At the end, Elin was a bit down. She’d thought of her own race.

She’d predicted that a huge catastrophe would fall and encouraged her people to move south since the beginning. It had been useless though. They didn’t want to leave the land that they’d lived in for thousands of years. They believed that their power could save them, but in the end, they almost went extinct.

Looking at everyone present, Elin said seriously, “The High Elves are difficult to deal with because they’re truly powerful. Their Magician army has no match, but they’re easy to deal with too. They are a very steady race; they won’t make any risks. You can find something similar in history for everything they do.”

Here, Elin looked to Link. “History tells us that, when faced with an existential crisis like this, the High Elves would go past any bottom line to save themselves. During the Mana catastrophe 3000 years ago, they did that. That time, their actions forced a faction to flee into a dark region and become the Dark Elves of today. Three hundred years ago during Bryant’s era, the High Elves did the same thing. At that time, Bryant had the ambition to empower humans. The so-called love wasn’t everything to him. However, he gave up in the end. There were some secret things that were too terrifying. You know what the end result was: he became one of the High Elves.”

Elin finished, and the Magicians in the garden all fell silent.

After a pregnant pause, Link clapped. “What has passed has passed, but the future is still uncertain. We must strengthen ourselves. The fastest way to become stronger is with the Ethereal Crystal. Not only should we use it to create more Ethereal equipment for Magicians, but we can also make them for powerful Sunlight Warriors. The more Ethereal Crystals we have, the stronger we become. Any objections?”

Everyone present had witnessed the benefits to Ethereal Crystals. Coupled with Elin’s willingness to help, it greatly reduced the risks. No one would refuse such an easy benefit.

“No objections,” Vance said first.

“I am interested in the power of Ethereals,” Alloa, Maiden of Truth, said. “Not only can they directly help us become stronger, but the Mana structures are also abnormally intriguing. It is valuable to study. Thus, the more crystals like this, the better.”

Secret Girl Eleanor smiled. “I pity those Ethereals, but since they like Firuman, we should let them stay here forever.”

Finally, Elin raised her small hand and said seriously, “The Yabbas wish to join this hunt.”

It passed unanimously.

Link nodded. “Very good. We still have to perfect the way to catch Ethereals. It isn’t mature yet.”

Perhaps due to Link’s influence as lord, the people of Ferde gradually started having the habit of doing everything efficiently. Once they decided on something, they would get to it immediately without wasting any time.

Since everyone agreed now, they immediately moved from the garden to the alchemy and enchantment rooms in the Mage Tower. Everyone worked together to create a strong Ethereal catching tool.

Just as Ferde was feverishly raising their strength, Bryant returned to the Isle of Dawn. Once there, he hurried to Andwar, the High Elf palace in the heart of the island, without stopping.

The Isle of Dawn was less than 200 miles in radius. With Bryant’s speed, the giant tree that rose into the clouds appeared in his vision two minutes later. This tree was truly huge. It was more than 600 feet tall, and the trunk was over 180 feet wide. The treetop was spread out like a giant green umbrella.

Emerald light shone down from between the leaves and branches. When the light reached the air, it would turn into floating balls of light. These light balls spread out, some entering the dirt, others scattering into even smaller balls. They kept dividing until the air had a tinge of green.

This was Level-19 Natural magic!

Even a god couldn’t see the mysteries of the World Tree. The High Elves’ palace was under this tree.

Andwar had beautiful light purple buildings. The outer walls were covered in silver, magic veins. The ground was made of jade tiles. Along the path, there was a lamp tree every few steps, glowing softly.

The entire city was mysterious, intricate, peaceful, and serene. Here, Bryant’s heart, frustrated from the visit to Ferde, gradually calmed down. He knew this was the power of the tree.

On the Isle of Dawn, every aged elf’s last dream would be to accompany the mother tree of the world for eternity.

Bryant breathed out deeply. He slowed and walked down the jade path. While walking, he organized his thoughts. By the time he reached Hierdani (in Elfin, it means “pavilion of starry slumber), his heart was completely at peace.

He saw the queen at the entrance.

Barefoot, she leaned against a lamp tree. Gazing emotionlessly at Bryant, she said, “I can feel the anxiety within you. Bryant, tell me about Ferde.”

Bryant bowed and recounted everything that had happened.

The queen listened quietly. Her brows would sometimes furrow but would quickly smooth again. When Bryant finished, she sighed. “This isn’t good news, but it’s not the first disaster we have experienced, nor will it be the last one. Bryant, I have a secret mission for you.”

Surprised, Bryant said, “Yes.”

“Go to the Black Forest in the North and ensure that the northern army and human army have balanced power… Do you understand?”

Bryant bowed slightly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

He knew that this simple command meant that countless lives on the continent would be lost. It wouldn’t be thousands or tens of thousands. In the end, it might lead to millions, close to tens of millions.

But these lives would not be High Elves, so they didn’t care.

It wasn’t the first time the High Elves would do something like this, nor would it be the last time. Everything was done for the safety of the residents of this island.

Chapter 542: Capturing the Ethereal Prince Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the outside, the South was bustling with activity as always.

Golle Kingdom, which housed the largest port in the South, had grown so prosperous that it was known as the “money bag of the Free Trade Federation.”

The accumulation of wealth naturally drew much-unwanted attention to the kingdom. This had always been the case in the past. The thieves of the Syndicate were not immune to the lure of the kingdom’s prosperity.

The Syndicate issue was especially serious in Golle Kingdom.

…

Golle Kingdom, Port Antique

Ding, ding… A clear bell sounded as a merchant vessel slowly entered the port. As it approached the dock, ten or so people disembarked from their sampans. These were the passengers of the merchant’s vessel.

Once on the dock, two men and two women quickly left the crowd. All four of them were disguised as normal travelers. The clothes they had put on were somewhat worn. One of the men had black hair, while the other had dark green hair. They were dressed in almost the same way, wearing leather armors, and equipped with steel swords dangling from their waists. One of the two women was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a long dress woven with a coarse fabric. The other woman had hidden her face behind a mask and was wearing a conspicuously oversized leather armor which had tufts of fur coming out of its edges.

The party of four walked along a small alley and before long integrated themselves with the throng of people like fish in the great ocean.

Half an hour later, the four people appeared before the entrance of an inn called “Adventurer” to the west of the port city. The black-haired man was first to approach the counter. He handed ten silver coins to the innkeeper. “One large room for the four of us.”

“No problem.” The innkeeper giddily put the silver coins in a drawer and took out a large copper lock. “Third floor, just follow the signs, and you’ll find it. Here’s your key and lock. Don’t lose them.”

The black-haired man nodded and beckoned at his companions. The other three followed behind him as they walked up the stairs.

Once they were inside their room and the door was securely locked, the black-haired man cast a magical barrier around them. The young woman wearing the leather armor let out a long sigh and laughed. “Finally, some fresh air. It was really stuffy back in the ship.”

Saying this, she sat on a chair in the corner and began wiping her long magic rifle with a piece of deerskin cloth.

The magic rifle was a pale blue from tip to stock, and it gleamed with the faint light of magic runes. Three delicate lenses were equipped on its barrel. There was also a rune crystal with a diameter of about an inch on the middle of the barrel.

Its user was apparently quite fond of its exquisite details, which contrasted with its rather crude design. Such a magical item befitted the woman’s status, which one could infer from her luxurious garment.

The woman was Celine. The other three in the room were Link, Eliard and Evelina.

Link had seated himself on a chair as well. He held in his hand a dark red, hollowed-out metal ball which was as big as a fist. He began inspecting the magical runes contained within. He then said, “Evelina, I trust your injuries have healed by now?”

Evelina took down her wide-brimmed hat and handed it over to Eliard. She then undid her cape and threw it onto a clothes-rack nearby. Finally, she stretched out her arms rather sensually before Eliard, who could not help but stare at her.

She glanced at Eliard and grinned, satisfied by his reaction. Evelina then said, “My father’s part of the dragon race. I’ve been recuperating for half a month. I would be damned if my injuries were not healed by now.”

Link began infusing his Dragon Power into the hollow metal ball. With a whoosh, a spherical display of countless magical runes with a diameter of more than twenty inches spread out. The runes floated in the air, twinkling like intricate constellations. They felt almost palpable.

The ball was an Ethereal Trapper of the highest level that they had created. Its main purpose was to capture the entity pulling the strings of the Ethereal Warriors, the Ethereal Prince.

The Ethereal Prince was extremely crafty. Even with the leads that Evelina had provided, Ferde’s scouts had searched for him for half a month and was only able to estimate that the Ethereal Prince was currently in Golle Kingdom.

The Ethereal Prince was also very powerful. He was not something a normal Warrior would be able to deal with himself. Naturally, any Ethereal Crystal made using the Prince as its material would also be extremely powerful. Link needed such a crystal to forge a strategic-level set of magical equipment, and so he had personally come down south with the other three to capture the Ethereal Prince.

He tested the magical runes for a bit. Then he said, “I think that should do it.”

After completing another one of his tests, Link spoke again, “I think I’ve found an answer to the problem concerning the purification of Dragon Power that you asked me back on the ship. My answer is: I can’t do it, but Gretel the Red Dragon Queen may be able to.”

Hearing him mention Gretel, Celine raised her head to look at Link. She was a bit sensitive about any subject concerning the Red Dragon Queen. When she saw that Link remained expressionless, she lowered her head in relief and resumed inspecting her magic rifle.

Evelina was disappointed. “I see. I hear that the Red Dragon Queen isn’t an easy person to get along with. She’s a fossil like the High Elves. If she actually agrees to help me purify my Dragon Power, chances are she’ll apply limitations to it as per the customs of the dragon race. I am curious, though. Link, you managed to receive the Heart of the Dragon, and yet, here you are, far away from Dragon Valley. How did you do it?”

Link was almost finished with his adjustments of the Ethereal Trapper. He put away the metal ball and walked to Celine’s side. He then began looking over her new rifle for her.

For this mission, Link had made some improvements to her rifle. A large number of Ethereal runes and an Ethereal crystal had been added to it. Her shots were now capable of inflicting Level-11 damage. With its spatial acceleration ability and Celine’s clairvoyant talent, there was no escaping from her bullets.

Of course, such power always came at a great cost. Celine was required to use Dragon Power bullets specially made by Link for her. These bullets were exquisitely designed. Each contained 1000 Dragon Power points. At the moment, Celine only had 5 Dragon Power bullets. Though she still had other bullets at her disposal, they were all normal ones, each with only Level-9 power.

While inspecting her rifle, Link noticed that Celine was especially fixated on this subject. He had guessed what was on her mind. With no intention of hiding the truth from her, Link said, “One thing led to another, I guess. At the time, the dragon race was in need of powerful masters, and I had just attained Dragon Power by accident. At the same time, the Red Dragon Queen thought that she could control me, and so she brought me to the Ancestor Altar.”

Saying this, Link stopped inspecting the rifle and began scrutinizing Celine’s hand. The back of her hand was soft and white, but her palm was slightly callused, the result of her rigorous training in marksmanship and swordplay. Celine did not pull her hand back from him.

“And then?” Link’s story had piqued Eliard’s interest. He pulled out another chair and sat on it beside Evelina.

“I managed to obtain the Heart of the Dragon, and when I brought out my Dragon form, it was not the Red Dragon that they had hoped, but rather a Black Dragon. The elders were quite shocked by this, because to them, a Black Dragon is another word for the herald of destruction.” Link chuckled at the memory.

“Herald of destruction?” Evelina laughed too. “That’s just preposterous. It should have meant ‘bringer of change.’ I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising, since change is exactly what ancient races like the dragons fear most of all.”

Link nodded and continued, “True. A series of events happened later, the most significant of which was the time I helped the dragon race defeat a Void Tyrant that had infiltrated our realm. The Red Dragon Queen assumed that I would be able to integrate into the dragon race, and so she made me a Dragon Duke. She assumed wrong, of course. In the end, we parted ways due to the widening gap between our opinions on many things. All of you probably knew the rest of the story. I had wanted to build an army of Dragon Warriors among the human race, but she thought that it was an act of blasphemy against the royal dragon bloodline. She also thought the status quo they had upheld for so long was the safest path to walk on, and that my actions would eventually bring ruin to the human race. We did not split on good terms. My dragon body was even sealed off by her.”

Celine seemed visibly upset about this. She twisted her lips. “Humph, I don’t think Dragon Power’s all that impressive. How selfish can she be?”

Link nodded. “Haha, true. Our Seed of Sunlight may not be as potent as Dragon Power, but in terms of combat power, it certainly holds a candle to Dragon Power itself. That should be enough. However, the road ahead of us is uncertain as ever. The Red Dragon Queen may be right for worrying. One misstep is all it would take to send the human race not on a path towards glory, but plunge it deep into the depths of despair.”

His last statement sounded so ominous that the other three could not help but shiver upon hearing it.

The path that Ferde had set out on was indeed fraught with as much peril as climbing up a steep rock face.

Eliard chuckled suddenly. “Even if we fail, we’ll drag the High Elves down with us into that abyss. A few hundred years later, our race will be able to accrue enough strength to climb back out of it, while the High Elves will be left lying in the mud hole.”

It was true that the human race indeed had more latent potential for growth in comparison to the High Elves.

Link laughed at this and said, “Enough about this. Let’s discuss the Ethereal Prince. Evelina, you said that he possesses Level-12 power and is especially proficient in spatial magic. Try to recall what other particularities he has.”

Evelina held her forehead in her hand, deep in thought. A few minutes later, she shook her head. “I’ve only seen him twice. He’s always so secretive. He also likes hiding himself in a corner.”

“Then let’s talk about his get-up,” said Celine.

“Get-up? Let’s see, he likes to wear a long grey robe. He also usually wears a grey hood over his head. He has a pair of silver gleaming eyes. Uhm, he also wears a bracelet, which is carved with a set of magic runes that I don’t even recognize.”

“Oh?” Link was now curious. He said, “Do you still remember what those magic runes look like?”

“Of course.” Evelina took out her wand. With a few strokes, ten curious magic runes floated in the air.

Celine observed them and shook her head. “I don’t understand any of these runes.”

Eliard examined the runes intently. He then closed his eyes, ruminating on them. Ten seconds later, he shook his head. “Me neither.”

Under Link’s instruction, Eliard had seen much himself. Though not as proficient as Link, he had a rough knowledge of dragon runes, time runes, spatial runes and many other profound areas in the mystic arts. But he had never come across such runes in his studies.

All three of them looked at Link.

Link gazed at the runes, mesmerized. In truth, he was reading the game system’s translation presented before him.

The runes floating in the air had nothing to do with magic. They were actually a series of words in the Ethereal language. The runes’ translation read “Point 1852, master of the secret arts, Haromed the Third.”

As soon as the translation appeared, the game system presented a new mission to him.

Mission Activated: Pursue the Intruder

Description: Search the Free Trade Confederation in the South, pinpoint the exact location of Haromed the Third.

Mission Reward 1: Omni Points +500

Mission Reward 2: Moonstone

Link regarded the 500-Omni-Point reward with indifference, but when he saw the Moonstone reward, he immediately accepted the mission. However, a frown appeared on his face when he reread Haromed the Third’s name.

He had known the fellow back in the game. His power was impressive, but the man was as timid as a mouse. He always shied away from danger and never stayed in one place for too long. His penchant for disguises made him as slippery as an eel. Even if Link knew that he was in Golle Kingdom, capturing Haromed would still be an extremely difficult hurdle to overcome.

Chapter 543: The Fire of War Has Been Lit

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

Moon Stone sounded pretty, but the only relationship between the type of stone and the moon was that both had the same soft, watery glow.

If a piece of Moon Stone was put on the ceiling of a pitch black room, it would emit light like a moon. It would be beautiful.

Of course, it wasn’t just beautiful. It was actually an astral meteorite that could reach Level-19. However, it wasn’t material for combat. Biologically, it wasn’t that strong—not even as strong as a Level-11 meteorite. It was very difficult to force its power into the territory of combat.

Its biggest use was for filtering!

In addition to physical objects, it could also filter power, souls, and other semi-solid things.

Take power for example.

A person would be affected by their mixed bloodline, talent, emotions, and even their environment. There would be many impurities in their power too. Take Celine for example. No matter how her demonic power was sealed, her Secret Mana would still have a tinge of demonic aura.

It was very faint, and a regular Magician wouldn’t be able to tell, but at Link’s level, he could sense it.

Once he got the Moon Stone, he could help Celine filter her power. After many filtrations, only pure Secret Mana was left in her. In turn, that power would affect her body and repress the demonic bloodline further. It might even eradicate the demonic bloodline entirely.

Also, take Link for example.

He supposedly had Flawless Dragon Power, but he could feel that it wasn’t that pure. Whenever he cast spells at an extreme speed, his spells would ripple uncontrollably. This showed that his power wasn’t pure.

If he could filter out these small impurities, his spells would be even more perfect. It would be helpful for leveling up in the future too.

And this was only one of the Moon Stone’s uses. It could also filter distracting thoughts, purify one’s heart, and many more miraculous things. All in all, the stone’s uses were endless!

After accepting the mission, Link said, “I don’t know some of these runes, but since he always has the bracelet on, it must be useful. If we meet him, we’ll just keep an eye on the bracelet’s changes.”

In reality, Link already knew the bracelet’s use when he saw the name Haromed.

The word meant “Lord of the Secret Node.” This meant that the bracelet was the ring of the secret node. Its use was to help Haromed make short-distance and dense teleportation trips.

It was a bit abstract. The detailed process was that in one second, Haromed could teleport more than 1000 times between predetermined spatial nodes with barely any energy loss. The result was that, to the naked eye, Haromed would be at multiple places at the same time. It was like an undefeatable division spell.

This spell was great for escaping and terrifying during combat. Haromed loved escaping, but that was because he was careful. If he really started fighting, his tactics were troublesome too.

If Link had come alone and met this guy, he would have a hard time while fighting. Unfortunately for Haromed, he had three friends with him. More importantly, Celine happened to have a prediction talent that could equal Haromed’s trick.

No matter how tricky he was, Celine would know where he would appear next. If she shot, he would be done for. Because of this, Link didn’t worry too much over the bracelet.

At that time, everyone had finished checking their equipment and was ready. “Link,” Eliard said, “can we go now?”

Link nodded and turned to Celine. “Be careful on the road. Keep your small guns handy for defense.”

He’d added Ethereal Power into the pair of guns called Link·Celine and Link made 20 Level-11 bullets.

“I know.” Celine patted the two magic fireguns at her waist.

“Then let’s go.”

As soon as he finished, white light flashed. The four disappeared from the tavern. An instant later, they reappeared on the business avenue in the southern suburb of Port Antique.

They walked westward according to the map. After around 15 miles, there was a branch. They went left and reached a hill after ten miles. There was a small town in the hills called Glen Heights.

According to the scouts, this was where the Ethereal prince last appeared in.

Ethereal King Haromed was very sensitive to spatial magic. In order to not alert him, Link had set the transmission location to somewhere 12 miles away from Glen Heights.

After reaching the business avenue, they walked westward. Along the way, they ran into two groups of lower-level bandits from the Syndicate. They avoided the first and dealt with the second. After walking for two hours, they saw Glen Heights.

The town was basically built halfway up the hill. The buildings were all plain wooden cottages. From the distance, they could see people walking to and fro. It was actually quite lively. An open road spiraled up along the incline. They walked up at a steady pace like ordinary mercenaries.

Evelina was more familiar with the South. “There’s a large jungle south of the hills,” she introduced. “It contains rich resources while Glen Heights is built right at the edge. It’s also close to the port. Merchants often buy medicinal herbs, fur, and other jungle products here.”

“They must have a diverse population,” Eliard said.

Evelina nodded. “Indeed. That’s why foreigners don’t attract much attention here. It’s logical if Haromed appeared here.”

Link chuckled. “But he’s still a guest from another realm and slipped up.”

The scout had reported that there was a merchant living in Glen Heights who liked to eat ants. The bigger and darker the ant was, the more he liked it. He would also buy it specifically from people. According to his servant, he had to fry the ants for him.

At first, the scout didn’t feel anything strange. Everyone had their own weird habits. However, Link knew immediately that this was a high-status Ethereal Warrior after seeing this information.

In the game, ants were a delicacy for the Ethereal Warriors. Ants had some special nutrients that could relieve the pain caused by not fitting well with their host. The more powerful an Ethereal was, the more insufferable the pain was. A regular Ethereal could force himself through it, but high-level Ethereals had to eat ants to get rid of the pain. Otherwise, it would be more painful than death.

This would happen in the first half year after the Ethereals entered Firuman. Half a year later, someone discovered a way to relieve the pain, thus finally ending the strange habit of eating black ants.

Half an hour later, the four reached Glen Heights.

Link looked left and right. He found a farmer chopping firewood outside a secluded house by the roadside. “Hey, I want to ask something.”

“I’m busy…ah, what would you like to know?” He immediately changed his tone after Link tossed him a silver coin.

“I heard there’s a strange merchant who likes to eat black ants,” Link said.

“Oh, you’re talking about Mr. Goodall, right? Why are you looking for him?” the farmer asked offhandedly. At the same time, he applied force and split the firewood into two.

“See, us four, we’re mercenaries. We heard that he’s willing to pay a good price for ants and we found some really big ones.” Link shook his bag.

“Oh, I see.” The farmer pointed at a wooden building with a pointed roof in the heart of the town. “See that? That’s where Mr. Goodall lives. Just go there.”

“Oh, thank you very much.” Link nodded and turned to wave at his companions. The group walked “casually” over.

The wooden building was only a few hundred feet away. After some minutes, they were outside.

The building had a yard and was surrounded by high walls. The door was shut tightly; there was no sound inside at all. Link listened, and his expression changed. He walked to the door, placed a hand on it, and got ready to force it open. But just as he was about to apply force, he felt something and immediately snatched his hand back.

“There’s a security spell. Go to the side.” Link walked towards an alley on the side. Once he got there, he held onto Celine’s shoulder. Using physical strength, he jumped and flipped over the ten-foot-high wall.

Eliard and Evelina all had strong bodies and jumped up too. Once inside the yard, they saw that it was filled with strange flowers and plants. There was also a big pot with bubbling liquid inside. Beside it was a small bag. The bag was half-open, revealing all the dead ants inside.

Getting an idea, Link walked over and sniffed the vapor of the pot. “This guy is trying to extract the fusion substance in the ants… He must have gone out but will return soon. Let’s hide in the yard!”

The yard was more than 60 feet long and 30 feet wide. There was also much vegetation. The four could use the plants to cover themselves without any spells.

Link waited for the three to hide first. Then he started wiping away all of their traces. Finally, he hid too and waited for the Ethereal prince to appear.

The four waited patiently. After around two minutes, the door creaked, and someone pushed it open. Then two young men walked in.

One of them wore a gray-white robe and had no mask. He looked to be around 30 years old. The one beside him was a woman, but she’d covered herself well. She even covered her aura, not letting even a bit out. Her only characteristic was her height. She was half a head taller than most human women.

According to Evelina’s descriptions, the one on the left was the Ethereal prince. Then who was the woman on the right?

Link glanced in confusion at Evelina who was hiding in another corner. What he saw shocked him. Evelina was shaking her head and saying silently, That’s not the Ethereal prince. That woman is a High Elf.

Chapter 544: Ariel Newmoon

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

The man was not Haromed. To complicate things even further, there was a High Elf in their midst.

The former’s presence was not too surprising. As Evelina had said before, Haromed was not the only high-level Ethereal. But the Ethereal and the High Elf before them seemed to be working together on something, and the High Elf had deliberately hidden her identity. This demanded further scrutiny.

After thinking for a while, Link mouthed noiselessly at Evelina, “Inspect them. Get ready to act.”

As Link and Evelina were the Legendary masters of their four-man squad, they acted as its vanguard. Eliard and Celine served as their backup, providing their assistance whenever they saw fit.

Their targets did not notice the four of them lying in ambush in their yard. They chatted on while walking side by side.

“Envoy, are you sure this method of yours will be more effective?” asked the Ethereal Warrior. He was holding a crystal vial. It contained a light purple fluid.

“Of course it is. There’s nothing unusual about your current conditions. It’s simply due to the incompatibility between your souls and your new host bodies. Black ant essence can help alleviate your symptoms, but this is only a temporary solution. An antidote concocted with purple lotus extract should be able to completely cure your conditions,” explained the High Elf woman. Her voice was hoarse. She sounded like a middle-aged man whose throat had suffered a terrible injury. Obviously, she, or he, was wearing a disguise.

The Ethereal Warrior still seemed unsure. He turned the vial around in his hand. After observing its contents from all possible angles for a few minutes, he finally said, “The decision isn’t really mine to make. We’d best wait for my master to return. However, I do approve of some of the demands you’ve made in exchange for your remedy.”

“I see. And when will your master return?” asked the High Elf.

“Not today, that’s for sure. The earliest he’ll be back is tomorrow afternoon. And if I’m being honest, your demands may sound a bit excessive to him. I would be more than happy to help you out a bit if it was up to me. But my master would probably not take kindly to the requests that you’ve made. He may even chase you out of here without a moment’s hesitation. If it comes to that, you’ll probably not be able to get anything from him.”

As he spoke, the Ethereal put away the purple fluid and walked to the bubbling cauldron in the middle of the yard. He knelt down to add more firewood beneath the cauldron. He then began stirring the potion inside the cauldron with a stirring rod. As he stirred, the Ethereal sprinkled in the black ant carcasses into the mixture, leaving the High Elf woman standing in a corner.

The High Elf looked on at this, deep in thought. Ten seconds later, she opened her mouth to speak. “Then how many Stabilizing Crystals will you give me?”

“Hehe.” The Ethereal chuckled. He brushed the dirt off his hands and said, “You give me the recipe for this purple lotus concoction and its preparation method, and I’ll give you 300 pieces every month. That’s around 22 pounds of Stabilizing Crystals.”

“22 pounds… That’s too little.” The High Elf was not satisfied by this offer.

The Ethereal shook his head. “This is as much as I can give you. If I give you any more than that, our affair here will be revealed, and I will of course be severely punished by my master. But my punishment would also hurt you as much, since you won’t be able to get a single piece of crystal from me then.”

The High Elf fell silent for a while. Finally, she nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it. 300 Stabilizing Crystals per month. Let’s move on to the second item in our agenda. We’ve found that you Ethereals had a run-in with Ferde a while back. Since then, the number of Legendary masters in Ferde has increased. I would like to know the reason behind this.”

As she said this, a drastic change came over the Ethereal’s face. His brows shot up in anger. Power flowed off him in waves, sending out faint ripples in the air around him.

The Ethereal’s demeanor switched instantly from the vulgar mannerisms of a haggling merchant to the ferocity of a wild beast.

He stood up and walked slowly towards the High Elf. His voice was dripping with hatred when he said, “Step away from this while you can, or else. Just wait and see. We’ll get our revenge on Ferde. We’ll raze that place to the ground, turn it into rubble!”

The High Elf woman was again silent. She seemed unmoved by the Ethereal Warrior’s threat, but she did not ask any further. A while later, she took out a magic book with a purple cover and handed it over to the Ethereal. “If you don’t wish to tell me, that’s alright. This contains detailed instructions for preparing the purple lotus potion. Take it, and remember, 22 pounds of Stabilizing Crystals per month. No less than that, or we’ll cut off our supply of purple lotuses.”

“Got it. You seem like a reasonable person,” replied the Ethereal moodily. He was still fuming.

At this point, the two of them had come to an agreement. As the High Elf turned to leave, Link, who had been hiding behind a clump of grass in the yard, shouted an order to Evelina, “Now!”

He leaped into action at the same time.

Link willed his Dragon King’s Fury sword to point at the cauldron in the yard. A white spatial ball flew out from it. It then struck the cauldron in an explosion.

It was an upgraded version of the Spatial Shackle spell: Spatial Seal.

A resonant hum sounded. A white mist spread out in all directions. In an instant, the Ethereal was enveloped in it and was turned into a spatial statue. Deprived of all movement, the Ethereal was about to fall to the ground when suddenly, something happened.

As the mist surged towards the High Elf, a dark green light radiated from her body.

The light cloaked her body in an instant, blocking off the white mist. Upon a closer look, Link realized that the barrier of light did not completely block it off, but was rather slowing down its advance.

Taking advantage of this, the High Elf’s body dissolved into mist itself. In the blink of an eye, she was able to retreat back a few feet away from the white mist. Once she was out of harm’s way, the dark green light around her dissipated immediately.

When the light faded away, dark green leaves appeared out of thin air, swirling at high speed around the High Elf like a cyclone. The leaves lashed out in all directions, hitting everything in their paths, including the frozen Ethereal.

The High Elf had whipped up a terrifying leaf cyclone.

Whoosh… The leaves slashed across the Ethereal’s body, tearing it into pieces. Nothing was safe from the High Elf woman’s fury now. Not even her deal with the Ethereal was enough to guarantee the Ethereal’s safety.

Before long, the cyclone ripped through Link’s spatial white mist and was now heading towards Link and the others. It was spinning with such destructive momentum that everything in its path was ground to dust.

Link gazed intently at the High Elf woman. It turned out that she was also a Legendary master with a frightful temper. She had seemed composed back then, but once provoked, her wrath now threatened to swallow up the whole world like a raging torrent.

In spite of its ferocity, the leaf cyclone’s power was only at Level-10. It was able to pierce through the white mist only because Link was not using his full power against her.

Link did not feel at all threatened by such an attack.

With a force of his will, a band of spatial runes surrounded the leaf cyclone. The runes then formed a thick spatial barrier around it. With a thunderous sound, the cyclone was shut within the barrier.

Bang, bang, bang! The dark green leaves of the cyclone rattled against the rune barrier repeatedly. A moment later, the cyclone faded into a dark green mist.

The dark green leaves were reduced to pieces through repeated collisions against the barrier. Before long, the leaves dissolved back into pure Nature Power. The dark green mist within the barrier was so thick that no one could see what was going on inside.

This went on for half a second. Suddenly, Link sensed a gap in the dark green swirl, as if there was something missing in it.

The sensation was akin to missing one’s step while walking as if the ground had disappeared beneath his foot. In much the same way, his spatial barrier felt as if it had lost its support from within.

A thought surfaced in his mind. She escaped. That certainly took some resolve!

The dark green mist behind the barrier began to subside just as soon as the thought popped up in his head. Two seconds later, the mist had completely disappeared, revealing a yard that had been ravaged by some force of nature. The grass and flowers had been completely pulverized. All that was left in the yard were deep pits and cavities in the thoroughly loosened soil.

Link dispelled the spatial barrier. Celine and the others came out of their hiding spots. They looked in utter amazement at the ground beneath them, which still sizzled with thick Nature Power aura.

It all happened so fast, not even Evelina was able to join in the fight. In the blink of an eye, the whole thing was over.

“Evie, do you know her?” Eliard looked at Evelina. None of them had anticipated such ferocious power from the High Elf woman, not even Link. In the end, she managed to escape from them.

Evelina was still dazed by the scene before her. Upon hearing Eliard speak, her body trembled a bit. She frowned. “Of course I do.”

She looked at Link and said, “Do you remember when I told you that the High Elves now have five newly promoted Legendary masters?”

“Of course. Including you, that makes five. We’ve already seen the other three who went by the names of Elovan, Sonya and Milose.”

Evelina sighed. “That was the last Legendary master of the High Elves. She’s called Ariel Newmoon. She was the first to reach Level-10. She’s younger than me by three years, but she was able to reach Legendary half a month earlier before I did. Elovan and the others were all High Elf geniuses, but I’m not too worried about them, since I know where their limitations lie. Ariel, however, is a different story. Honestly, I don’t think I would be able to defeat her myself.”

Ariel?

Link narrowed his eyes, visibly troubled by this.

The High Elf known as Ariel had appeared in the middle to later stages of the game. She was also a High Elf princess. Her High Elf blood was as pure as Milda’s. The only difference was that she was younger than Milda by five years.

In the game, when she first appeared, Ariel was only a captain of a High Elf outpost. After receiving a few promotions in the span of three years, she finally became a general of the whole High Elf army, second only to Milda.

Ariel was the main mission in the later stages of the game. She had many interactions with the players during her mission. She was also portrayed frequently in the game’s battle cut scenes.

She would calmly enter a fight and come out victorious without a spot of blood or dirt on her every time. She was also not programmed to deliver lines like “I’m tired, let’s rest for a bit,” as if she was driven by a perpetual source of power from within.

On the other hand, though Marshal Milda of the High Elf magical army had a glowing list of military achievements, she always came out worse for wear after every battle.

A few players who had too much time in their hands had made a comparison of the battles of every renowned Magician, followed by an evaluation of their respective power levels and combat prowesses.

They finally came to the conclusion that Eliard, the half-elf, and Ariel ranked at number one in terms of combat prowess. However, Eliard was a high-profile Magician, which earned him the attention of opponents with equal repute. As a result, his achievements were much more impressive. As for Milda, her combat power was only half of Ariel’s.

Putting it simply, this High Elf princess was a genius among geniuses in the art of combat!

Ariel had even managed to make Evelina lose her nerve through their daily interactions back on the Isle of Dawn.

Link’s head was throbbing slightly. He asked, “She’s probably gone back to the Isle of Dawn by now. Evelina, do you think she’ll give up her end of the bargain with the Ethereals?”

Evelina shook her head. “It doesn’t seem likely. She’s someone who won’t let something go until she’s seen it through. She always gets what she wants, as if Lady Luck’s watching over her all the time.”

Link’s headache worsened. They were still nowhere near to finding the Ethereal prince, and now, they had to deal with such a troublesome individual.

Slapping his forehead, he finally calmed himself down. “I guess there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Haromed, the Ethereal prince, will return tomorrow afternoon. We’ll just have to wait for him here.”

Chapter 545: A Big Sewing Needle

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

Glen Heights

A day passed quickly. The next morning, the people of Glen Heights woke up as usual. They started up their stoves to make breakfast. Soon, plumes of smoke mixed with the white fog of the mountain air.

Woof, woof! Some dogs barked from town entrance, meaning that strangers had entered again. But the barking quickly died down, which meant that the strangers were ordinary. There wasn’t anything abnormal on the surface.

This seemed to be the case.

At the entrance, an ox-driven cart carried seven or eight foreigners into Glen Heights. There were both men and women with worn clothing and tired faces. They also had some very crude metal weapons at their waists.

This type of group was extremely common in Glen Heights. They were mercenaries who wanted to change their lives. They would enter the southern jungle to try their luck at collecting valuable goods like rare and pretty birds, valuable herbs, furs, and more.

On average, 30 in every 100 mercenaries would die in the jungle. Of the other 70, more than 60 would only make enough to survive. The remaining few would earn much more in comparison. There would also be one lucky guy who could make a fortune.

These mercenaries were dressed poorly. The people and dogs of the village were used to people like them and didn’t even spare them an extra glance.

After entering Glen Heights, the mercenaries got off the cart. They would usually find somewhere in the village to rest, eat a meal, and enter the forest after refreshing themselves.

There was a woman amongst this group; she looked to be around 30 years old. Her features were plain, her body was fat, and her greasy long hair was piled carelessly on her head. She held two axes and wore ragged leather armor. She joked around with the mercenaries, vulgar words streaming out of her mouth.

The woman walked with the mercenaries down the road. When she passed a small building, she glanced over casually and then continued walking.

Everything looked normal.

The small building they’d passed by had a large yard. This was where Ethereal Prince Haromed hid. Link’s group was observing the mercenaries in the yard.

“This is the third group of mercenaries this morning,” Link whispered. “Evelina, do you think that woman looks like Ariel?”

Evelina shook her head without thinking. “No way. Arial is a noble elfin princess. She would never make herself look that ugly. Look at her hair. It looks as disgusting as a piece of turd.”

Celine shook her head too. “I don’t think so either. She’s probably just a regular mercenary.”

“Should we test her?” Eliard asked.

As soon as he finished, Evelina pointed at the female mercenary and uttered, “Go!”

A thumb-sized pebble flew up from the ground and whooshed toward the back of the woman’s head. It was as fast as lightning. If the woman was hit, her head would explode, and she would die.

Half a second later, the pebble had crossed 1000 feet and was at the mercenary’s head, but she was still clueless. She was joking with a man beside her and even reached out to hit him. The man laughed and jumped to the side with a sleazy expression.

In the last instant, Evelina stopped the pebble. By that time, it almost touched the woman’s hair. Without the power’s support, the pebble dropped the ground. Hearing the sound, the woman finally realized something. She turned around in confusion. Seeing that nothing was wrong, she hurried to catch up with her friends.

“A regular person,” Evelina said.

During this entire process, Link didn’t see any sign of pretense either. The woman had acted naturally. She was just a low-class female mercenary.

“Indeed,” Link replied a bit belatedly. He wasn’t suspecting the woman. He just felt that something was wrong, but when he thought carefully, he couldn’t pinpoint it.

After thinking some more, he could only say, “Alright, no need to keep looking. Ariel has most likely already gotten here. We just can’t find her right now… No need to purposely look for her. Let’s just be prepared.”

Ariel was at Level-10 while Link was Level-11. He had the upper hand in terms of power. Paired with Evelina’s help, if they were prepared enough, Ariel wouldn’t be able to change things even if she tried.

The four nodded and returned to the wooden building.

There was a very wide basement in this building with a long-distance portal seal. Link believed that Haromed would most likely come out of that.

Before, they wanted to keep Haromed from escaping, so they only had to guard against a one-sided attack. Now, they also had to guard against Ariel’s sneak attacks from the outside. Thus, they had to add a powerful outer defensive spell too.

They got to work immediately.

In the basement, Link was responsible for the core construction. Evelina took care of the refinement while Eliard assisted, learning as he went. Celine was in charge of surveillance outside.

The three Magicians worked together and progressed quickly. Within two hours, they added a sturdy spatial defensive seal outside the imprisonment seal outside the portal seal.

Once this seal started running, it could block all attacks from spells under Level-12. With this insurance, they shouldn’t have to worry about Ariel. Despite this, Link’s anxiousness still wasn’t reduced. This time, he didn’t express it, but he kept his guard up.

After the seal was completed, everyone became free. They rested alone in the building, replenishing their energy. After around three hours, Link’s eyes flew open.

“Get ready! He’s coming!” He could feel the space vibrating in the basement. The ground shook as well, with soft creaks. This was a sign of a long-distance spatial seal operating.

Everyone was shocked.

“Evelina, activate the spatial imprisonment seal when he appears.”

“Got it.”

“Eliard, get a good position. If anything happens, activate this runestone for an energy flood and kill him!”

This rune took a lot of work and resources. It was the product of many Ferde Magicians working together. There was only one currently. It could activate a Level-13 energy flood for emergencies.

“I understand.” Eliard took the runestone and stood in the predetermined spot.

“Celine, stand here. When the magic seal is activated, a strong shield will appear around you. The magic waves that appear after that might disturb your vision, but you must hold tight. Wait until the shield stabilizes before shooting. You must hit the Ethereal prince!”

“Don’t worry. Leave it to me!” Celine’s expression was serious. Grasping the big fire gun, she stood in her spot. Link had specifically modified the space here. She could see others, but others couldn’t see her. It was the safest place in the entire building.

They’d all practiced this many times before and they got into position within half a second now.

The spatial waves in the basement strengthened. Link didn’t do anything in order to not alert Haromed. As soon as the man appeared, Link would make a fatal attack to his physical body!

Link also took out the Ethereal-catching weapon.

Nothing unexpected had happened up to now. After two seconds, there was a flash of silver-white light above the magic seal in the basement. It expanded to around five feet wide, turning into a door.

They could see the scenery on the other side through the door. It seemed to be a big black castle. Link was shocked at this; he recognized it. It was Shadow Walker Morpheus’ hideout—the Palace of Darkness.

The door remained for half a second, and a person walked out.

This guy was dressed in a gray-white robe and hood. His entire body was covered. As soon as he appeared, Evelina mouthed to Link, “It’s him.”

This was Haromed, the Ethereal prince.

The moment he walked out, a message flashed past Link’s vision. He’d completed the mission of finding the Ethereal prince and received a Moon Stone.

Another mission appeared at the same time. He stole a glance and saw that it was to kill the Ethereal prince. He immediately accepted it.

On the other hand, Evelina had acted without hesitation. Her Dragon Power rushed into the magic seal. Countless magical runes overlapped under her foot and illuminated, spreading. Within one-hundredth of a second, the entire space was filled with runes.

They were like anchors that nailed the space down. Affected by the spell, the door behind the Ethereal prince flashed and went out like a candle in the wind. It abandoned Haromed in the death trap Link’s group had set for him.

At the same time, a Level-12 spatial barrier over three feet thick shot up outside the imprisonment seal. It blocked everything that happened inside this building.

Up to this point, everything had gone smoothly according to plan. But for some reason, the unrest in Link’s heart strengthened. It practically hindered him from casting spells normally. He couldn’t attack the Ethereal prince under this situation, so he walked to Celine’s side for protection.

Almost simultaneously, he saw a dark green wooden sword gradually appear in the air behind Celine. It was so secretive and subtle, hiding all murderous intent. It was like a shadow hunter hidden in the sea of space.

The sword’s appearance was very unique. Its body was dark green and so thin it looked like a large sewing needle. If tossed onto the street, people would think it was a thin rusted rod.

Seeing this, Link’s heart jumped. Oh no, it’s a World Impaler!