Advent of the Archmage

Theron and Olisa flew in the sky, getting further and further away from Link's group. They didn't seem to be planning on coming down to fight with Link.

The dragons flew high up and escaped quickly. If they didn't want to fight, Link's group couldn't do anything about it. They could only speed up and hurry over to the lake in the east.

After a while, Link suddenly stopped. He ran to the roadside and dug up a clump of green herbal medicine. As he dug, he explained, "This is the Cattleya orchid. It's the ingredient for antidotes. There are many here so come over and help."

With that, Masos, Felina, and Nana all came down from their war wolves and started digging up the herbs.

Three minutes later, Link had around ten pounds in his hands. "Okay, that's enough," he said. "Let's keep going."

They ran for around 20 miles, and a boundless lake appeared before them. It was the Crystal Blue Lake, the biggest lake in the Golden Plains. It was more than 40 miles wide and never dried. The Beastmen called it the sacred lake.

Felina had sharp eyes and pointed at the shoal. "Look, they're over there!"

Everyone looked over and saw more than 100 Beastmen scattered in the shallow water. They had taken off their hide armor, revealing their burnt red bodies. Though they were lying in the water, it couldn't relieve them of their pain. They still tossed and turned, crying out pitifully.

Some of the Beastmen had already stopped breathing, turning into corpses. They floated in the water, tossed about by the waves.

No one cared about them; they were all tormented.

After seeing these people, a message appeared in Link's vision.

Mission accomplished: Defeat?

Player Link +100 Omni Points

Begin next mission: Suspicious Beastmen

Mission details: Gain the trust of the Beastmen and receive help from them.

Mission reward: 100 Omni Points

Link immediately accepted it.

On the other side, Masos sighed when he saw this. "This really is a horrible dragon catastrophe."

Felina opened her mouth to speak but then stopped. Her fellow dragons had done this, and she couldn't refute it. She just felt extremely shameful. She involuntarily clenched her fists.

Link had jumped down from the war wolf and was walking towards the Beastmen. Hearing Masos, he said, "Masos, watch your words. Isendilan did this, but he can only represent himself. He can't represent the entire dragon race, just like how there are horrible humans too."

Masos flinched. He glanced at the quiet Felina and realized that he'd said something wrong. Running to Link, he pointed at a Beastman sitting quietly on a rock beside the lake. "Master, that's the Sky Shattering Warlord Holun."

Link saw him as well. This guy was abnormally big, at around seven feet tall. His muscles bulged, filled with powerful tension. The hide armor on him was a bit damaged, and his dusty brown hair was kind of burnt yellow. There were some burn marks on his skin as well, but he wasn't in bad condition.

He sat on the rock without moving, gazing listlessly at his struggling brethren. It was as if he couldn't hear the pained cries from the lake. Or rather, he heard them, but he couldn't do anything. He'd already done everything he could do.

Footsteps sounded. Holun looked over with his red eyes and saw four people who looked like humans walking toward him…No, there were three humans and one Red Dragon… Ah, it was a Red Dragon!

Why was the damn four-legged lizard here?!

Holun felt something explode inside him. He jumped up from the rock and prepared to fight but realized he had no weapons. He instantly turned around and bent down to pick up the boulder.

He applied force, but the rock didn't bulge. It was much bigger than he'd expected and the part he could see was just the tip of the iceberg.

Holun roared in anger. Was a rock going against him too?

"Move!" he yelled. The Titan Battle Aura was activated.

There were countless cracks. Holun had shattered the rock with his bare hands. Hoisting up the boulder, he used all his might and hurled it at Felina.

"Die, dragon!"

The two-ton rock whistled through the air. It was two feet wide and cut the air with shocking power.

Felina was shocked. She knew she couldn't catch it, so she quickly jumped aside.

Boom! The rock crashed into the riverbank mud and sank in. Mud splashed in all directions while there was a shockwave visible to the naked eye.

Felina had just dodged and hadn't even steadied herself before she was slammed by the tidal wave of mud. She was practically swept off her feet, and her legs were already sore and numb. She almost collapsed.

At this time, Holun had already broken off another giant piece of rock. He held it high up and hurled it at Felina.

Seeing that Felina would get stoned to death, Masos hurried over and yelled, "Holun, stop! She's our friend. She's here to help."

"Masos? Did you leave the White Cloud City to die here?" But Holun still listened to him and tossed the rock aside. He glared at Felina. "Help? Others can come help but not a dragon. I want to kill them all!"

Felina paled. Rather than becoming angry, she felt guilty. She wanted to apologize, but Link stopped her. "He's lost his temper," he murmured. "Your words might make things worse. Let me talk to him."

"Okay." Felina nodded lightly.

Masos had already explained to Holun why Link's group had come. At the end, he said, "I'm really telling you to the truth, Holun. They're here to help."

Holun huffed, his nostrils flaring. Fury still burned inside him. "The two humans can help but that dragon…I don't trust her. Make her leave. If I see her again, I won't hold back again!"

His threat was very heavy. Felina couldn't leave, but she couldn't stay either. In the past, she would definitely walk away without looking back. She wouldn't take the mistreatment.

However, the Beastman was stronger than her, and she wasn't confident in her own strength, so she lost her pride. Furthermore, a dragon had caused this. She felt that she had to make up for it.

Seeing her like this, Link sighed. She was such an innocent girl. If it were him, he would leave if the other party didn't accept his help. Then he would return after he became stronger and teach the guy a lesson!

Now, he had to stand up for Felina. He walked forward and said coldly, "Beastman, you should apologize to the lady for your crude words!"

"Apologize?!" Holun's repressed anger flared up again. "You want me to apologize to a dragon? Those damn lizards killed countless of my brethren. They killed the grand shaman and so many of my brothers. They're still in torment now, and I have to apologize to her? Human, do you want to die?!"

As he spoke, Holun looked left and right. He was looking for rocks to teach this human a lesson.

Masos hurriedly urged, "Ah, Holun, don't be angry. This girl really came to help. She saved the people of the Uda Village before. The Magician helped too."

"Masos, scram. I'm going to teach this Magician a lesson today. Since he saved the Uda Village, I won't kill him."

Holun picked up the rock he'd tossed down earlier. He felt its weight and looked at the Magician. He was even thinner than Beastwomen, and this rock would definitely kill him. Holun tossed it down again and chose a smaller one. Weighing it, he still felt it was too much. He decided to not use a rock. A fist would do for such a small thing.

Waving his fist, he strode over to teach Link a lesson.

Link didn't hide, retreat, or use a spell. He pointed at the Beastmen Warriors in the lake and said, "They're gravely injured, but I can heal them. Would you rather waste time fighting with me and watch your brothers die one by one or…"

He trailed off. His words were effective.

The last moment, Holun was still intimidating. The next moment, he sagged like a leaking balloon. "What did you say? You can heal them?" He looked eager.

"Of course. That's why I came."

Thud. Without caring about his dignity as the Sky Shattering Warlord, Holun knelt down in the mud. "Save them! Please! I apologize for what I said. Please save them now!"

The change was so dramatic that even Masos who was used to the Beastman's temper was dumbfounded.

Link wasn't surprised though. Beastmen were much more straightforward than humans. They didn't care about pride. As long as they didn't feel disgraced, they would do whatever they want. Kneeling down in apology was child's play.

Link nodded reservedly. "Good, I accept it. However, Felina is my friend. You should apologize to her too."

Gritting his teeth, Holun glanced at the suffering Beastmen. After a few seconds of hesitation, he unwillingly apologized. "Sorry, I was too brash."

"It's alright. Indeed, I-"

Link knew that Felina was saying the wrong thing. Beastmen were straightforward and only respected the strong. If someone softened their stance, the Beastmen would think they were easy to bully and do that. Holun would definitely take advantage of Felina if she acted like this.

"Okay, Felina," he cut her off. "I'm going to look for some antidote ingredients. Take me there."

Holun also said, "Yes, yes, the Magician is right. Woman, stop wasting time and go save them."

See, he already guessed that he could bully Felina and spoke casually. If Felina continued to soften, Holun would get all over her.

Link scoffed. "Is that your attitude?"

Holun flinched and immediately changed his attitude. He slapped himself too, producing a crisp crack. "I'm sorry, miss. I spoke improperly again. Please don't be offended."

That sounded better, and they couldn't waste any more time, so Link said to Felina, "Let's go. The other ingredients are all in the lake. Take me there."

"Oh, okay." Felina's voice was rarely this gentle, but she'd felt warm inside from Link's protection.

She transformed into a dragon. When Link climbed on, she flapped her wings and flew towards the heart of the Crystal Blue Lake.

Holun didn't let out a breath until he watched them leave. "What's with this Magician?" he asked Masos. "He's so powerful. I can't even talk properly in front of him."

He didn't know the other's background, but there was an invisible pressure from the man's tone and expression. Holun couldn't act imposingly at all.

Masos smiled inwardly. He knew the reason—Link was powerful, but he also found Holun's Achilles' heel at once. No matter how strong you were, you'd still surrender obediently if the other had you in their palm.

He couldn't say that though. Instead, he had to make Link sound even better.

With a face of reverence, he said, "Oh, him? He's probably the strongest Magician in my race. I think that he'll be comparable to Bryant in the future."

"Bryant? Alright, I'll give it to him." Holun ran back to the lake and yelled, "Brothers, hold on! That human is the new Bryant! He's here to save us!"

The legendary Magician Bryant wasn't just a name to the Beastmen. To them, it was a title for the humans—a glorious title like the warlord of the Beastmen.

Hearing that the new Bryant had arrived, most of the despair in the elite Warriors disappeared. They started hoping.