Advent of the Archmage

"How is he so brave?" Felina stared at the thief's back in shock.

A Level-6 thief dared to disguise himself, enter a Legendary Magician's Mage Tower, and steal Link's magic notes. The amount of guts he had was crazy.

Felina was now very interested in him.

It was now six in the evening. The sun had just gone down, and there was still some dying light on the flatland. People walked to and fro on the streets of Scorched Ridge. It was still very lively.

The thief walked out of the Mage Tower and onto the streets. He smiled and waved at some Magician's Apprentices that he knew and continued forward.

Reaching an area, he stood at the street corner and talked to the driver of a carriage on the side of the road. Deciding on a price, he climbed in.

The carriage started moving down the avenue from Scorched Ridge to the port.

"He's going to the port." Felina was about to speed up and pursue him.

"Come back." Link walked up and stopped her.

"Why?" Felina didn't understand.

"He didn't get on the carriage. Come with me," Link explained as he walked. "There's no one in the carriage, but there must be a magical object radiating with a similar aura. It should be a rune stone while the thief used the Invisibility Spell."

Also invisible, the two walked along the wall to where the carriage had been. Link pointed at a footprint in the mud. "Look, he walked that way. The thief is very alert and most likely sensed someone following him."

As he spoke, Link cast the Clear Sign Spell.

All insignificant signals, such as the chatter around them, clattering of hooves, and rumbling of carriages all disappeared. All that remained in Link's eyes was the very faint footprints on the ground and the wisp of aura in the air.

He followed it, and Felina stayed close to him.

"He kept to the wall just like us… Wait, he got rid of the magic aura. Now he's an average person… Look, he appeared."

The thief reappeared 150 feet away.

He had transformed. His Magician's robe from earlier had turned into light leather armor. His hair that had been in a ponytail was now down. With his change in aura as well, he now seemed completely average.

Felina was so shocked. "Link, are you sure it's him. I don't think so."

"It's him. His body shape, the way he walks, and his body odor haven't changed at all. Can't you smell it?" Link found it strange. They were both dragons now. Felina should be very sensitive.

Felina shrugged. "There are too many people on the street with too many smells. How can I distinguish it? Anyway, your Dragon Power is more than ten times stronger than mine."

"Oh, I'm sorry. But it's him. Speed up before he can disguise himself again." By the end, Link's tone became more rushed.

The thief walked to an intersection and turned left. At the same time, Link felt that the aura he'd been following disappeared. At the same time, there was a blinding smell of garlic. With that smell, Link couldn't distinguish the thief's body odor at all.

The two ran to the intersection, but the thief was gone.

Felina gasped. "He disappeared completely. He's quite talented!"

Link lost him as well, but he wasn't worried. With the help of the spell, he circled this place and finally stopped before a mansion's wall.

"Look, this brick is strange. Look at its veins." Link pointed at a brick.

Felina looked over. There was fine black dirt on the brick. There was a broken rock at the corner. It was the result of some powerful force.

"He went up to the roof?" Felina looked up. "He put his foot here and another step here… According to the force, he must have gone up to the roof."

Link didn't rush the conclusion. He continued looking and five seconds later, he said, "Look at the indent in the dark corner. There are some fingerprints. He made it with his thumb. The power is highly condensed. The force of that hit was enough to propel him 65 feet upward… Good, he didn't go onto the roof. Instead, he flew past that house. Look, there's a new footprint there."

Felina followed Link over. They went into a small alley, and she saw some fresh footprints on the stone ground. It was clear these footprints were used for unloading power. Some of the stone had crumbled.

This time, the thief seemed to think that he'd completely lost his pursuers. The footprints on the ground became obvious. They reached into the alley until they disappeared again, reappearing on the defense wall of Scorched Ridge.

"He climbed out," Felina said.

"Yes." Link nodded. Felina grabbed the cracks in the wall to climb out, but Link waved his hand. "No need to do that."

Link pressed against the wall and scratched some spatial runes with his fingers. Then he added Dragon Power and slammed against the wall.

With a poof, the wall turned into a wave-like ripple. Then there was a crack, and an opening appeared. It was very strange. It looked like a splashing wave. There were glowing transparent ripples around it while the wall surrounding it was undamaged. It was intriguing.

At the same time, many translucent threads appeared in Link's hands. They connected to the spatial ripples around the magic door.

"The Spatial Door is a small spell. Let's go."

The two walked into the wall. Link closed his fist and the threads grouped together. The glow disappeared too. With a whoosh, the hole created by the strange power closed seamlessly again. There was no sign of destruction on the wall.

Felina glanced over. She was numb to Link's tricks now. This human Magician's power was skyrocketing towards an incomprehensible territory. She couldn't understand it anymore.

Outside the city walls, it was much easier to pursue. There were no stone roads anymore. Instead, there were dirt roads. Footprints were easier to see.

"Ah, it smells." Felina's clean face scrunched up like a dried orange peel. She waved a hand before her nose.

It couldn't be helped. There was waste all over from horses, sheep, and even humans. There were cleaners, but they weren't effective. All the residents of Scorched City were refugees, and most were farmers. They weren't completely accustomed to city life yet. Dumping their toilets onto the street was a common thing because that was what they did in their villages.

Link also made a face. They followed the footprints and walked forward.

Around the middle of the city, Link suddenly said, "The thief sensed danger again. He's started to speed up. Let's speed up too… I'll cast the Levitation Spell for you."

Felina had been hopping around on her tiptoes so she wouldn't step onto horse waste. Link got tired of seeing it, so he helped her float. Then, he used the Magician's Hand to lead her forward quickly.

They soon left the city and entered the suburbs.

"He went towards the port. There's probably someone waiting," Felina said.

"Probably. Don't let him escape on a ship."

Link sped up as well. Here, Felina didn't have to worry about feces anymore. She started sprinting behind Link.

The thief became cautious again in the suburbs. There weren't many traces left behind; he even added some fake ones.

Link and Felina were fast, but they had to keep stopping to check for the marks. Thus, they didn't catch up with the thief.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the port.

Link looked forward. He saw a blurry black shadow jump onto a merchant ship that was slowly leaving the port.

It was obviously strange to leave the port at night.

"He's escaping!" Felina saw it and sped up.

Link wasn't worried. He formed circles with his two thumbs and forefingers. The air inside the circle blurred and formed a two-sided Spatial Lens. Link overlapped them before his eyes, creating a high magnification telescope.

He looked closely at the figure with his telescope. After three seconds, he said, "The thief left but his magic notes disappeared."

Felina stopped. "You mean he was purposely distracting us and making us chase him?"

In order to pretend to be an apprentice, the thief didn't bring any tools or spatial storage gear. He put the notes on him after getting it. Link saw it clearly when he left the Mage Tower.

But now, something felt wrong when he saw the thief jump onto the ship. He made a telescope to check and confirmed that the thief had transferred the notes.

Link's thoughts whirred. A few seconds later, he said, "Felina, here. You follow the thief but don't catch up. Stay back."

"Understood." Felina knew what Link wanted. The thief had transferred the notes so somebody must be on the other end. By chasing the thief, the other would think she was fooled by the thief and think he was safe. Link would hide and catch him.

Felina sped up and rushed to the ship.

Link remained invisible. He crept forward in the shadows. Following the thief's marks, he walked around 1000 feet and reached the cargo storage area.

Here, the cargo was piled up like mountains. Some had just been taken off ships while others were going to be put on ships. It was a mess.

Closer, Link could feel the tracking rune he put on the notes. In order to not catch the thief's attention, it was very weak. He could barely use it to track the notes. But at a close distance, Link could feel it clearly.

He didn't go take it. Instead, he found a hidden corner and started waiting patiently.

Three hours passed. It was now around ten o'clock. The bustling port had quieted down, and the pedestrians lessened. Just then, an average-looking worker walked over. He looked side to side nervously.

When he got to the cargo storage area, he felt around and then left. Link could see clearly that he was holding something. He also contained the notes' aura.

Link still didn't appear because it was obvious the worker was cannon fodder. Someone must have paid him to do something. He didn't know what he was holding at all. Link didn't startle him. He just followed the worker from afar.

The worker kept walking forward and left the port. He walked to the highland beside the port. There was a lighthouse there. He got to the lighthouse and took out the papers, placing them in the crack between two rocks.

After that, he ran back to the port as fast as he could.

Link waited patiently. Three minutes later, a shadow walked out from behind the lighthouse. It was thin and tall with pointed ears. When the shadow got closer, Link could see her porcelain-white skin and fine features. She had a unique elemental aura about her.

She was a High Elf—one that had just left the Isle of Dawn.

Things were getting complicated.