Advent of the Archmage

Link could not use his spells because the Void Aura around his body interfered with the formation of his Dragon Power into spells.

In his body, however, his Dragon Power still circulated freely.

This gave Link an idea.

He held the Dragon King's Fury in his right hand and clenched a fist with his left, channeling the Dragon Power into it. Soon after, Link's left hand was clad in a crystal red light.

Originally, once the Dragon Power exited Link's body, it would naturally expand into a Dragon Power ball two feet wide. However, under the influence of the Void Aura, the Dragon Power could not even form a ball an inch wide before dispersing. This disruption completely prevented Link from casting any spells.

However, within that small space just around his fist, he could still use a minor support spell. Link used Clear Sign.

Whoosh. Suddenly, all the chaotic noises disappeared. The cannon fire and the beating of wings by the flying demons; even the sound of the wind disappeared.

Other less obvious, yet extremely important sounds suddenly became a lot more apparent.

A hundred and fifty feet away from a wooden cottage, in a small alley, three lesser demons were chattering away. On a beam in the cottage 210 feet away, a cat was trembling in the eaves of the house. Further away, a slight and unnoticeable scent drifted over.

Not only did the Dragon Power enhance his eyesight, but it also enhanced his hearing, sense of smell and taste.

This smell was extremely faint, such that even the demons were unable to discover it. However, under the effects of Clear Sign, Link detected it.

Sniff, sniff. Link's nose twitched lightly.

Only a living person would give off this scent… There is even the fragrance of food… It's meat stew. He's cooking meat stew, and there's also the smell of wine. He's actually hiding in a wine cellar… He's alone… but which direction is he in… Found him. Here! He is about 1500 feet away.

Whoosh. Link canceled Clear Sign, and the background noises instantly returned.

In just this short time, Link already used up 2000 Dragon Points. It could be seen how powerful the Void Aura's interference was.

From outside the house, came the clear sound of flapping wings. Based on the sound, there were three demons. They were attracted here by the smell of Link's Dragon Power.

Link hid in the corner of the house. Not moving at all, he focused his ears and listened to the movements outside.

There are the demons. Based on the sounds of their footsteps, they are Gargoyles. This type of demon has a tough body. In order to kill them, their heads must be cut off… They're coming, they're probably 15 feet away… One is outside the door, nine feet away; one is in the corridor, and the last is on the street, reaching the entrance… Now!

Link was able to tell their positions based on the sound, but never like this. Now, he was essentially using his ears to "see"!

One Gargoyle stood at the doorway. He was five-feet-tall, and his skin was pale grey. He had bat-like wings, a membrane that extended from his back to his underarms. His claws were extremely sharp, protruding from his hands and feet. They could easily smash through steel.

Once the Gargoyle appeared, Link charged forth like the wind. His figure instantly vanished.

A blade flashed, and one Gargoyle's head flew off. Before the head could fly far, Link stamped hard on the ground and changed directions. The blade flashed again and the second Gargoyle's head flew off.

He paused. Earlier, the two Gargoyles were indoors. When their heads flew, it wouldn't fly far and attract the attention of the flying demons. The third Gargoyle was out on the street though, but Link had already made preparations.

After killing the second Gargoyle, he threw out the last grenade which he had set beforehand. It landed somewhere in the city and exploded. Bang! From 1,800 feet away, came an earth-shaking explosion.

All the demons, both in the sky and on the ground, looked over to where the explosion occurred. Many even flew over. Meanwhile, the Gargoyle on the street had just noticed Link and was about to react. Hearing the explosion, he was startled.

In this brief instant, he lost his last chance to call out. Link dashed over and rolled; then he stood up before slashing his sword across. Swoosh. The Gargoyle was split into two.

Immediately, Link continued towards a wooden house that he had identified earlier. He kept his sword raised in a defensive position and didn't slow down for even a moment.

Outside the wooden house, the three lesser demons were still talking when the explosion happened. They were just about to go over to investigate when Link appeared in front of them. Before they could react, Link's blade flashed past, and three lesser demon heads flew into the air.

Link continued onwards until he entered the wooden house.

It was only now that the first Gargoyle's head hit the floor.

Link exhaled slowly in relief after he entered the wooden house. Earlier, he had expended all his strength. Had there been a single mistake, he would have attracted the attention of all the demons. Under the circumstance in which he could not use any spells, he would be hard-pressed to deal with so many demons. Even if he did not die, he definitely would not return in one piece.

Link took a moment to catch his breath. After he had recovered, Link walked towards the window and looked to where he had first detected traces of life.

From the house 1200 feet away at the base of a hill, there was a stone cottage. The left half of the cottage was already wrecked by cannon fire; even the roof was gone. There were no demons in that area.

From where Link was to the stone cottage, there were no other trees except a huge Silver Tung tree. It was so thick that not even three people could wrap their arms around it. Besides the tree, there was also a huge broken statue. These two were spaced about 400 feet apart, and in fact, provided sufficient cover.

Flap, flap. Link heard the sound of beating wings approaching—demons were coming. They probably discovered the slain Gargoyle and lesser demons; that was inevitable.

While the demons had yet to arrive, Link retrieved another grenade and adjusted the timing. Gathering his strength, he flung it out in another direction.

BOOM! Another explosion shook the air.

Link did not waste even a second and dashed out of the cottage. He used all his strength, running as fast as he could. Not only was he fast, but he was also silent.

A second later, he arrived at the broken statue, and beneath the statue was a Yabba Warrior's corpse. Link noticed a musket lying next to the corpse.

"Good find!"

Link picked up the musket and inspected it. The casing was a little dirty, and the scope was slanted, but these weren't serious problems. Link quickly did some necessary maintenance.

The musket had three bullets loaded, and Link searched the corpse to find another 15.

Keeping the musket in his dimensional pendant, Link looked up to check on the demons. Five demons, including a Screaming Demon, were flying to where the demons were killed.

Link thought for a moment before retrieving another grenade. Adjusting the timing of the explosion to 30 seconds and checking the angle, Link lightly threw the grenade. The grenade followed an ideal path, landing softly near the dead Gargoyle 900 feet away.

The grenade was just the size of a fist, and the demons did not notice it. Link waited.

About ten seconds later, the five demons landed and approached the corpse. They still did not notice the grenade.

Link mentally counted down in his head. 10, 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1, explode!

BOOM! The grenade exploded. From where he was, Link saw three Gargoyles flung 150 feet into the air by the force of the explosion. Their bodies were contorted at a weird angle, and they were charred black. Clearly, they were dead.

Screeeeee! The screaming demon was still alive. Of course, it was a Level-8 demon, and a Level-5 grenade could not kill it. It started alerting the rest of the demons by screeching.

The screeching was very loud and immediately attracted the attention of numerous demons who started moving towards it.

Taking this chance, Link darted out from the statue and dashed forward to the large tree. When he reached the tree, he paused and looked back. None of the demons had noticed him. Meanwhile, the screaming demon was still screeching, and all the demons in the sky were flying towards it.

Link dashed out again from under the tree. A second later, he had entered into a portion of the broken down stone cottage.

He had entered into the hall. The hall was filled with rubble, and the ceiling was already split. One column had collapsed and was leaning against a wall, forming a triangular structure. Hidden beneath this triangular structure was a small passageway.

Link crawled into it and discovered that this was the kitchen.

Sniff, sniff. Link's nose twitched. Very quickly, he found the entrance to the wine cellar. The entrance to the cellar was blocked by a giant stone totaling at least one ton in weight. It was essentially sealed. The traces of life he had detected came from inside this cellar.

"We detected danger and hid in this cellar. Do you think we managed to escape the disaster?"

After checking to make sure there were no demons within 300 feet, Link began to clear away the stones.

To the Yabba people, the stones were definitely impossible to move. For Link, however, this wasn't a problem. The biggest stone was 660 pounds. Link only needed a bit of strength to clear it aside.

After doing this, Link listened again and checked for danger. Detecting nothing, Link attempted to open the cover to the cellar.

Creak, creak. the cover shook but didn't open. It was locked from the inside.

That wasn't a problem. Link used a little strength and pulled, feeling where the resistance came from. Then, using the Dragon King's Wrath sword, he stabbed at the spot and cut sideways. The lock immediately broke.

Pulling aside the cover, Link jumped in.

Before he had even reached the ground, he heard a bang. Something flashed in the darkness and a thought passed through Link's mind. Musket fire!

The Yabba inside must have heard the commotion outside and thought the demons were coming. Therefore, they had opened fire.

To be able to shoot at him while he was falling in mid-air, and furthermore accurately target his chest—this gunner's skills were not bad.

If it were before this, Link would use Spatial Shackle to defend himself. Unfortunately, he had to rely on his swordsmanship now.

Judging from the sound of the bullet, Link could determine the trajectory of the shot. Link waved the Dragon King's Wrath sword, and crystal red light flashed in the air as the sword intercepted the path of the bullet. Twang!

The cellar was dimly lit by a small fire that was built on top of a broken barrel in the cellar. On top of the fire was a pot, inside of which something was boiling. A piece of rat skin could be seen floating inside.

A young Yabba eyed Link in fear.

This Yabba's face was very youthful. He did not have a beard, and his skin was still white and tender. He even had a bit of baby fat. His eyes were like little crystals, which, because of fear, were now opened as wide as they could be.

Honestly, if not for the flat chest, Link would have no way of telling his gender… Wait! That did not eliminate either possibility. Was this Yabba a male or a female?

Link was confused.

Once he laid eyes upon this Yabba, a system message appeared in Link's vision.

Mission "Finding Survivors" has been completed. Continue with the rescue.

Player has obtained Assassin's robe. It can be worn anytime.

An image appeared in his vision and Link took a look. It was a dark blue robe with dark silver inscriptions on it. It looked pretty fine, possessing an Assassin's cool demeanor as well as a Magician's mysteriousness.

Link didn't have time to investigate further. He looked at the Yabba child and gestured with his hands, whispering, "Relax, I'm not a demon. I'm a human… messenger. I've come with a message."

Unexpectedly, after hearing Link's words, the Yabba youth was even more frightened. He huddled up and shouted, "You're lying! You hesitated just now; you're definitely lying!"

His voice was also very shrill and did not help in differentiating his gender.

"Wow, that's some keen observation skills you have there," Link said. Link was stunned, that really was only a short pause.