Advent of the Archmage

The Hall of Truth.

...

After Anthony revealed the specific rewards, Link almost let out a laugh. Naturally, with a group of serious high-level Magicians around, he could only keep this joy in his heart and maintain a calm composure.

Anthony was extremely generous. As one of the only two people involved in the mission, Link received 5000 gold coins as a reward.

That was not all.

The most important thing to a Magician was not gold coins. Wealth was simply a means to an end, which was of course, attaining magic-related items such as magic books, magic equipment, alchemy potions, magic scrolls, raw materials and so on.

Apart from the wealth, Link also received 100 pieces of thorium!

Previously, when he looted all the magic equipment from Shade's Mage Tower, he only acquired a total of 123 pieces of thorium. He never imagined that he would receive 100 more in the form of a mission reward. thorium cost at least 10000 gold coins if sold at market price.

With all these magic materials, Link would have a better foundation to work with when he resumed his magic study.

After announcing the tangible rewards, Anthony continued, "Link, although you have already reached Level-4 in such a short time, you are still considered a young Magician. Naturally, you still have not spent enough time with the profound wisdom that is magic. If you are willing, you may choose one of the masters to be your mentor. You do not have to make the decision immediately. You should, in fact, talk to all the masters and only make a decision when you find the best match."

The strength of a Magician was never the main concern when a disciple had to choose a mentor. The mentor's personality, teaching pedagogy and the area of their magic research was often the most important matter. It was also important to find a mentor that you could work well with.

Link was elated upon hearing these words. Similarly, the masters in the hall also immediately had a glow in their eyes. Every one of them wanted Link as a disciple.

A Level-4 Magician at a tender age of 17 was a genius that might not even appear once every century. Even Wavier of the South could not compare to this prodigy.

Perhaps this would be the person who would replicate the glorious achievements of Legendary Magician Bryant and attain the pinnacle strength. If they could be known as the mentor of a Legendary Magician—their names would go down in the annals of history!

However, Link had already made the decision, "Can it be anyone?"

"The person might not need to be a master as long as you think that they are the best fit. Of course, the masters are definitely good choices," Anthony explained. He too, would like to take Link as his disciple. However, as the principal of the academy, he needed to take a step back and open up this chance up to the six-man council.

"Moira has been answering my queries regarding magic all this time and is therefore in essence, already my mentor. When she was fighting the Necromancer, she also cast a Level-6 spell, The Edge of Zenith, proving that she has also become a Level-6 Magician. Hence, I will like to become Master Moira's disciple," Link said.

This was a decision Link came to after careful consideration of the all the different factors. Herrera would definitely share all her knowledge with him without withholding any information. Furthermore, she was also Anthony's most treasured disciple. If Herrera did not have the answer to a problem Link had, she would naturally approach Anthony. Link would thus benefit from the knowledge of two strong Magicians.

Anthony smiled upon hearing those words. He was a wise man and saw through Link's plan immediately. However, in the presence of all the other masters, he asked, "Will you not reconsider? Master Grenci is very adept at alchemy, while Master Ferdinand is unmatched in the area of fire elemental magic. Master Weissmuller on the other hand, is a master at creating magic equipment."

Whenever Anthony was introducing the niche area of that specific master, Link would bow respectfully. When Anthony was done with his speech, Link said, "Principal Anthony, my magic foundation is still very weak. I would definitely consult the masters when I think I am ready to reach the next level. When that time comes, please kindly take me in."

Even though Link had made it clear that he did not want to change his decision, he still kept his options open. He knew that the knowledge from the other masters was also extremely valuable and that it would help him reach the pinnacle of magic.

Link had already made his choice and he was clearly unshaken. The masters could only watch and feel slightly jealous of Anthony.

Such impressive oratorical skills, Anthony thought.

Anthony had a good impression of Link ever since he heard how Link handled Darris' ambush. Seeing it with his own eyes truly made him fond of this young man. To think that he could remain so calm and collected in front of the strongest Magicians in the academy and at the same time, maximize his interest while being extremely respectful.

In contrast, the Darris that he once valued was not much of a prodigy after all.

If all goes well, this kid will become one the core members of this academy in a few years' time.

Anthony had seen many disciples come and go. Link reminded him of another young man that he saw a few years back. This young man had silver hair and a lean physique. He was good looking and had the bloodline of the ancient Neanderthalensis (Note: An ancestral race known for their magical talents). His name was Wavier; he was the most brilliant Magician amongst the young generation in the Southern Free Trade Confederation.

"It's time to pass it on to the new generation," Anthony sighed, looking contented.

Link would surely laugh if he knew Anthony thought so highly of Wavier. From his knowledge, Wavier was indeed heralded as a prodigy in this timeline. However, his flawed and aloof personality would eventually cause his demise in the future. There was only one true genius in this game, and in the current timeline, he was still unknown. That person was the half-elf, Eliard.

"I presume you are tired, please take a rest," Anthony concluded.

Link and Herrera then left the Hall of Truth. Since he was already officially Herrera's disciple, Link went directly to her Mage Tower. Herrera naturally welcomed him and was prepared to give him a spacious and comfortable bedroom on the third floor of her tower.

Herrera's Mage Tower was a lot smaller than Bale's. There were only a total of four floors and the third level was already the core layer. It was also the layer where the largest Elemental Pool in the Mage Tower lay. The fourth floor was where Herrera herself stayed.

However, Link refused and insisted that he stayed on the second floor together with Eliard. When Link told Eliard that he had also become Moira's disciple, Eliard was elated. Now, there was no need for them to meet at the common square every day. He could simply just go to Link's room to exchange magic knowledge.

He was however, surprised at Link's magic powers. Link had already canceled the effects of the Feather of Disguise; Eliard could feel the strong Mana power emanating from him. Eliard was both shocked and relieved. He had always felt it was a waste that Link did not have the magic talent that matched up to his intelligence. Now it seemed perfect.

He was slightly jealous, though. Link showed no signs of complacency and still treated him the same way as he did in the past. Eliard was thus relieved.

Time flew. It had been a week since Link moved into Herrera's Mage Tower.

...

Link originally wanted to surrender his Occultic Rune to Herrera. However, he had been so absorbed in his magic research this whole week, especially reading Herrera's huge collection of magic books. In his free time, he would write his thesis and experiment on new spells in the Elemental Pool.

It did not even occur to him to bring up the Occultic Rune.

Herrera did not have many disciples. The only two official Magician disciples she had were Eliard and Link. After splitting the usage of the Elemental Pool equally, Link had three hours a day to perform his magic experiments. With the Elemental Pool, Link mastered three Supreme Magical Skills in a week. Two of which were ordinary skills, however, the third one was extremely powerful. It concerned the State of Gibraltar.

Ever since he exceeded his limit in the Mist Basin while consecutively releasing multiple Glass Orb spells, he had developed a strong interest in the State of Gibraltar. An idea struck him while he was in the middle of his research and he decided to expand on it.

He had already thought through all the required magic formation and mana flow for the spell. All that was left was to test it out in the Elemental Pool. Link set the room to a "do not disturb" mode and started his experiment.

At this moment, a group of Magicians from the East Cove Higher Magic Academy was preparing to set off for war.

There was a total of 130 Magicians. The youngest was just over 20 years old, while the oldest was 40.

The strongest Level-4 Magician was one of Anthony's disciples named Fischer. He was also the leader of this mission. Around two-thirds of the group was made up of mid-level apprentices. Most of them had limited magic talent and had little to no hope of becoming official Magicians. They were merely trying to gain some merit from the war which would hopefully lead to a better future.

One of them was Marco, an apprentice from Bale's Mage Tower. He boarded the carriage with a dazed expression on his face.