Advent of the Archmage

Forest in the mountain

Using Link's thoughts, there was a ding. The Blood-eyed Robber's short sword was flicked 1000 feet by the force field. Finally, it buried into a tree. At the same time, Link undid the robber's restraint. With a plop, the robber fell onto the ground.

Link retreated ten feet and put his sword away. His action had a strong hinting effect. The robber saw this and let out a breath. He climbed up slowly and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Link didn't ask about the slave ring immediately. Instead, he explained his situation, "I have two friends, one Laguan and one a dwarf. Because of an accident, slave rings were put on them. I want to take it off for them."

The halfling's expression relaxed slightly and the animosity reduced by a bit. Sneering, he said, "Since when were Araguans nice enough to see Laguans and dwarves as friends?"

Link smiled faintly. "Not everyone is like the Bloody Butcher Balha. Actually, I don't support slavery."

The halfling fell silent. If someone else said this, he wouldn't believe it. However, to assassinate Link, he'd watched the man for many days. He truly treated his slaves well. It was understandable if he wanted to get rid of the ring.

More importantly, if he didn't answer, he would die.

Thinking of this, he said, "The one who helped us get rid of the ring is the Laguan prophet Greer Seymor…ah…ah…ah!"

Halfway through, an accident happened! Link saw smoke suddenly come out of the halfling's throat. A few seconds later, his neck turned black from the inside out. The smoke coming out of him turned into scalding sparks of fire.

Link smelled the thick smell of something burning. Then, right before his eyes, the halfling caught on fire. He burned for more than ten minutes. When the fire went out, all that was left was a human-shaped pile of ashes.

Shocked, Link squatted down. He sifted through the ashes and sniffed it. A spicy, garlicky scent rushed into his nose.

He closed his eyes and felt for the aura. There was a very subtle and mysterious power within the ashes.

It's a silencer curse for a specified target. This type of curse is extremely difficult and is at least Level-17. It is probably done by the prophet Greer Seymor that he mentioned. This was the experience Link received in the game. The game had replicated the signs of the spell very well.

This was strange.

According to the halfling, the prophet was Laguan. If he didn't want to be revealed, he could just say so. Why did he use such a powerful curse?

From the halfling's reaction, he didn't know about the curse at all. This meant that the prophet wasn't a secret amongst the halflings. They didn't know about the taboo either. The curse would only be activated if the information was revealed to an Araguan.

The process was very interesting as well.

The man didn't completely make the secret forbidden. The curse only started after uttering the name. That means the name has a special power.

With that thought, Link took out his Burning Wrath of Heavens wand to write down the name. He wanted to see if the name contained any special magic or contract. But just as he was about to start, he stopped.

If the name contains power, the other must be extremely strong. I have to be prepared.

Thinking of that, Link returned to Nana. He and Nana had a special magic bond, so he quickly found the group.

"How is it?" Milda asked. She'd returned to normal without a sign of the past. The redness on her face had faded and returned to the alabaster color. She looked at Link normally as well. There was no difference—at least, none that Link could see.

He let out a breath of relief. Composing himself, he moved on from that ridiculous thing. "I might have found a way to remove the ring, but it's extremely dangerous."

"Oh, tell me." Riel was interested as well. His power was rising quickly; he was about to break into Level-9.

Link began recounting what happened to the two halflings. During this, he replaced Greer Seymor's name with "elven prophet." Then he said, "I don't know what kind of power the prophet has. Milda, do you have suggestions?"

The scope of elven magic was very wide. Link believed Milda could help him.

Unexpectedly though, Milda had spaced out. Hearing his voice, she jolted and asked with embarrassment, "Sorry, what did you say?"

Beside her, Riel instantly lost his temper. "Your Highness," he huffed, "how can you be distracted about something so important? What are you thinking about?!"

Milda looked ashamed, and she reddened again. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Okay, I'll say it again." Link knew the reason. It seemed that last night had indeed affected Milda. He really regretted sleeping so close to Milda now, resulting in that stupid thing. Now, it was getting between their friendship… It was so awkward.

Composing himself, Link repeated himself.

This time, Milda was finally back to normal. After listening attentively, she pondered and said, "According to our secret records, names carry power. This usually appears after Legendary Level-15. The power a name contains is different and divided between three categories—Mana, soul, and law. Legendary Level-15 can only contain Mana power. Above Level-17, it will involve the soul. At Level-19, it will involve the laws. The next step would be a demi-god."

This was the elven heritage. Hearing those details, Link suddenly thought of someone—Morpheus, the Shadow Stalker of Firuman. In the game, this guy actually reached Level-19 as a human Assassin. He even understood a portion of the god territory and started searching everywhere to be turned into a god.

Even though he'd always lived in obscurity and never did anything big, once he reached Level-19 in the game, he'd sense whenever someone in Firuman said his name. If he was mentioned multiple times within a period, he could even cast down bad luck. His name probably carried the power of the laws.

Thinking of this, Link said, "Then we'll test what kind of power the name carries. Nana, get ready."

Nana nodded. She pulled out the Breakpoint dagger.

Milda didn't understand. "How will you test it? He'll definitely find out and might even find us with it."

Link pointed his wand at the air and cast a Spatial Sphere. Then, the sphere started warping. Finally, it formed a special structure. It was entirely caved in with a thin link connecting to the outside world.

"Break this link if anything happens," Link said to Nana. Then he said to Milda, "Nana's dagger is a bit special. It can break many illusory things. I can't explain it, but we're safe."

The Breakpoint dagger could even destroy a god's soul. No matter how strong the prophet was, he couldn't be stronger than a god. Link wasn't worried.

After the distorted space appeared, Link wrote Greer Seymor in the air with Mana.

Once he finished, his heart started pounding. It felt like someone had his eyes on him. At the same time, the constructed space was disturbed by some strange power. It started undoing itself uncontrollably.

"Nana!" Link exclaimed.

Nana brought the dagger down. The link was cut with a snick. The heart tremors instantly disappeared. Looking at Milda and Riel, they looked relieved too.

"It felt like I was at the edge of a cliff and could fall down at any time. It's terrifying!" Riel patted his chest, still not recovered.

Milda clutched her forehead. "That power is very strong. Not only did it instill fear, it even destroyed the spatial structure…"

The answer was close to being revealed.

Link was the constructor of the Spatial Sphere and felt it deeply. He uttered what Milda didn't say, "It's the power of the laws. Judging from this, the prophet should be the strongest in Level-19. He… might be looking to be made a god!"

"Is that possible?" Riel started tugging at his beard again. This world felt more and more dangerous. It was one thing to find Legendary people everywhere. Now, there was someone at the pinnacle. What could a mortal like him do?

Milda agreed with Link. "Your thinking is right. In Aragu, the hatred between the Laguans, dwarves, and Araguans have accumulated for centuries. Now, it's like an active volcano. Once the power is released, it's enough to change the world and push a Level-19 into the godly level."

She said what Link was thinking. He continued, "The Blood-eyed Robbers are just a start. They're the first weapon of this Legendary man!"

"Who is he?" Riel asked. "Araguan? Elven? A dwarf?"

"He must be an Araguan," Link and Milda said at the same time. Then they met eyes and smiled knowingly.

In this world, Araguans held absolute knowledge and power. Only they could reach the pinnacle of Level-19.

Riel was shocked. "Are you sure? An Araguan is purposely making elves and halflings to go against his own race? Doesn't he know this will destroy his race? Oh my god!"

Milda shook his head. "Before eternity, races are just a shackle that can be abandoned."

"Races are cradles. You can't stay in a cradle forever," Link explained.

Aragu was on the brink of a revolution; they were right when the sparks were about to be ignited.

Riel looked miserable. "So there's no hope of getting rid of this damn ring?"

The one who could undo it was at Level-19 and they'd become rivals with the Blood-eyed Robbers. They were looking for death if they tried to ask the prophet to remove the ring.

Link smiled. "Actually, there's a lot of hope."

"How? He's not a good guy." Riel shook his head furiously, not believing Link at all.

Link put his wand away and explained, "The church should appear soon. With that, there would be altars and the first batch of priests. These priests might not know curing spells, but they'll know how to undo the ring and free the slaves."

Each freed slave would be the church's fervent believer. They would become the church's Warriors and begin massacring the Araguans under the motivation from centuries of hatred.

Not only would the church give them freedom, but it would also give them power and knowledge. With time, the slaves would become a force that could not be ignored.

At that time, Aragu would become chaotic. They could take advantage of it and find a priest to undo the rings.

"What should we do?"

"Hide somewhere and focus on strengthening. Between half a year and a year, we should be able to leave this world."