Advent of the Archmage

After exiting the parliament hall, Link followed behind Grinth and went straight towards the Mage Tower in the palace. He wanted to borrow the enchanting chamber in the Mage Tower to craft a new wand.

In the Norton Kingdom, the strongest Mage Tower would be the Heaven's Thorn, which lay in the East Cove Higher Magic Academy. The one next in line would be the royal palace Mage Tower which Link was heading to.

This Mage Tower belonged to the royal Abel family and was situated in the heart of the capital. The extent of this Mage Tower was thus directly related to the reputation of the royal family. It was extravagantly decorated with a famous rooftop garden at the top of the spiraling tower. Flowers on the rooftop garden would be changed every month to ensure that they stayed in season and in bloom.

The Mage Tower hence got its name, the Miracle Garden.

After entering the Mage Tower, Link saw many royal Magicians clad in silver white robes. These Magicians were all at least Level-3 in strength and had a complacent expression on their face, especially those who were young. Despite their respectful bows towards Link, a trace of disdain could be seen in their eyes.

That expression seemed to be saying, "While I am inferior now, I might become stronger than you in a few years."

All of them seemed to scoff at the Storm Lord sword that hung from Link's waist, their glances deliberate and arrogant.

A Magician carrying a sword around—what an invalid.

This was understandable.

Magicians who were able to become official Royal Magicians were all genius in their own right. Even students from East Cove Higher Magic Academy looked forward to becoming a member of the Miracle Garden one day.

It would be even more amazing if one were young. Coupled with their ambitious attitude, it was completely normal to behave that way after seeing Link. Link did not feel anything from their gazes.

Grinth, on the other hand, was afraid that Link would be unhappy. When they met the third arrogant young Magician, he whispered, "Master Link, they are all young people and may be a bit unthoughtful. But they are all good people at heart."

As he spoke, he seemed to have forgotten that Link was actually even younger. In fact, many Magicians were still apprentices when they were Link's age.

Link merely smiled and said, "No harm. It's just a small matter."

Under the defiant and brazen gazes, Link entered the main enchanting chamber of the rooftop garden. The enchanting chamber had many professional tools. Grinth took Link around the enchanting chamber while introducing their facilities. He saw a spectrometer, an intricate Higgs Field machine arm, an extractor, and many other high-end enchanting tools. He was extremely satisfied.

Grinth introduced with pride, "This is the best enchanting chamber in the entire kingdom. Even Weissmuller's Cauldron of the Gods back in East Cove Higher Magic Academy cannot compare. Let's not even talk about the Southern Magician Alliance. Their enchanting skills are simply inferior."

This was the truth. However, this did not mean that the South was useless. There was a saying, "Intricate Enchanting of the North, Euphoric Alchemy of the South." They simply focused on different aspects of magic.

"Then, I will get started," Link said.

"Alright, please get busy. If you require any materials, as long as we have it in our stores, I will retrieve it for you. Even if we don't have them, we will procure it for you as soon as possible."

Link nodded, "I will inform you in due time."

Grinth then shut the door to the enchanting chamber behind him.

Complete silence then descended onto the enchanting chamber. Link did not proceed to craft the wand immediately. He first carefully took out all the materials he had from the dimensional pendant—the Fire Star Thorium, the Hedel High-Grade Fire Crystal, Broken Moon Gold and ten other rare materials. Apart from the Fire Star Thorium which was a gift from Lady Fortuna Elin, the rest of them were from Vance's treasured collection.

Link then took out a scroll and an exquisite quill before recollecting himself and starting on a design for his new wand.

The situation in the North was changing rapidly. He thus only gave himself one week of preparation time. It was impossible for him to learn another strong spell in this time. Hence, in order to improve his strength as much as possible, he could only improve the weapon he was using.

The weapons that Magicians used were none other than magic wands. The Starcatcher had already been phased out ever since Link attained far greater powers. It was time to craft a new one.

Link quickly got into a state of concentration and squinted his eyes as he poured his creativity into the design. While he was designing the wand, the properties of the various materials he would be using, the magic notes of the various masters in the academy, the unparalleled wisdom in Vance's magic books, and the impossibly difficult space-time thesis that he was writing flashed through his mind.

Link's mind was just like a huge melting pot, and his knowledge was the various ores that were being thrown into this incinerating solution that was Link's burning wisdom. These ores were quickly melted and fused together, eventually forming a flawless piece of alloy.

Time passed in the enchanting chamber as Link sat there seemingly motionless. After 30 hours, Link finally put down the last stroke onto the paper.

Looking at the design of the wand on the scroll, Link sighed, "It's done."

For an ordinary enchanter, the enchanting process was probably the most important part of crafting a wand. However, for a master enchanter like Link who wanted his wand to achieve the Epic rank, the most important process was the design.

After the design was done, all that was left was the physical labor.

He was still lacking in a few materials. Link hence approached Grinth and gave him a list of materials that he needed. Grinth stared at the list as his eyebrows raised ever so slightly. He did not give an answer right away. The problem lay not so much in the price of the material, but the difficulty of even finding some of them.

"Is there a problem?" Link asked.

"Not a problem. Please give me a moment while I procure them for you." Grinth left quickly. This concerned the fate of the kingdom, and he would make sure Link got all the materials he needed.

After concentrating for over 30 hours, Link was feeling slightly tired. He took the time to rest as Grinth was looking for the materials. He cast an Elemental Healing spell on himself before rubbing his forehead gently. He then closed his eyes and sat in a chair for a short nap.

Four hours later, Grinth came back breathlessly with a beautiful wooden box in his hand. "Master Link, I have finally gathered the materials. Please take a look."

Link opened the wooden box and did a comprehensive check. He then nodded in satisfaction. "That is very complete. Thank you."

"That's nice to hear. Please continue," Grinth panted as he said. He was already over 60 years old. All that running he had to do while procuring these materials had taken a toll on him.

Link once again did not start immediately after returning to the enchanting chamber. He decided to first familiarize himself with the tools that he had not used before. Although they were slightly more comprehensive than the ones he was used to, they operated on the same basic principles. Link tested them out separately and only started after he was fully familiar with their workings.

Each material was analyzed, deconstructed, and treated with magic. Link was extremely focused the entire time, his eyes unblinking and his hands steadily maneuvering across the different materials. His movements were so coherent that it felt like a stream of flowing water.

As time slowly passed, the wand started taking form.

Link had completely lost track of time. Just when he felt he was at his physical limit, the magic wand in his hand emitted a slight tinkling sound. Following which, a crimson light enveloped the wand, and many flaming runes appeared in the air.

The runes quickly multiplied and spun at high speed around the wand. They revolved faster and faster till one could no longer see the runes individually. They now looked just like circles of light circling outside the wand. In this dome of light, the wand floated in the air and buzzed with a soothing sound. A myriad of crimson brilliance then started emanating from the wand. These lights looked like silk threads and multiplied around the wand, eventually forming a pupae of flames.

Link seemed to be completely unsurprised by this phenomenon. He merely stepped back and observed the scene with satisfaction. This phenomenon lasted for a whole minute before the pupae of flames suddenly burst open. A flaming crystal wand then appeared in the air.

The whole wand seamlessly fused together and had a translucent, royal texture to it. Countless fire runes circulated within the internal structure of the wand and a fine burst of red light would occasionally appear on the exterior. One look at the wand was enough to impress anyone.

It was simply gorgeous!

The amalgamation of countless rare and treasured materials together with Link's skills and wisdom had resulted in an Epic wand bound to shake the World of Firuman to its very core.

"Oh?" a surprised voice rang in Link's mind. It was the voice of the sword spirit of the Storm Lord. He continued, "This wand is not too bad. It is pretty interesting."

After the Storm Lord commented on the wand, he then asked, "I have a question."

"Speak". Link rubbed his forehead, feeling slightly lethargic.

"I have at least seen tens of thousands of people from your territory all the way to the capital. However, I have not found a single person strong enough. In fact, they are all weaker than you. What happened to this world?"

Link took some time to reply due to his fatigue and said, "I have no idea as well. If you want answers, look for them yourself."

"Alright then. What a peculiar era." After the sword spirit said this, he stopped talking for good.

Link then held his wand in his hand. The moment he touched the wand, new information appeared in his field of vision.

Player has crafted an Epic wand. Omni Points + 100. Please name the wand.

Link thought for a moment and said, "Burning Wrath of Heavens."

He then saw a flash before information of his new wand appeared in front of him.

Burning Wrath of Heavens

Quality: Epic

Effect 1: Increases strength of elemental spells by 150%.

Effect 2: Increases the speed of concentrated fire elements by 200%.

Effect 3: Able to activate the Flaming Surge effect. Under this effect, the caster can choose to deplete 1500 Mana Points to instantaneously cast a Level-7 fire-element spell. The strength of this spell will be increased by 300%. (The charging time for this effect will be ten Level-5 fire elemental spells)

(Note: The work of Master Enchanter Link)

This was a wand that Link crafted especially for himself. Effect two would be used to replace the effects of the Domingo Crystal, while effect three would ensure that Link had a powerful spell in his arsenal to tide him through a crisis. As long as he could successfully cast ten fire elemental spells that were above Level-5 in strength, the Flaming Surge effect would be recharged. This effect was even stronger than the Dark Arbiter staff that Morestern carried!

As he felt the warm, mellow touch of the wand, Link let out a sigh of satisfaction. This was really a priceless treasure!

Link walked out of the enchanting chamber after resting for a moment. After walking only a distance of 30 feet, Link saw a white-haired old man staggering up the stairs. It was not Grinth, but Anthony, the dean of the East Cove Higher Magic Academy.

"Dean?" Link was slightly puzzled.