Advent of the Archmage

Grinth Magic Academy

Whoosh. With a soft sound, an arrow emitting fiery red light suddenly flew from afar and crashed against the dagger.

Almost at the same time, a creamy white shield of sacred power appeared on Eliard.

Clang. The dagger was hit by the arrow and flew backwards. The blade cut across the sacred light, creating a flash like fireworks. Then the sacred shield flashed a few times and disappeared.

Eliard was terrified. The dagger's blade was so sharp. If not for the shield, he would have been dead even if the dagger was forced to the side.

But who had saved him?

Eliard looked to the distance and saw three people appear. He knew one of them—Skinorse. The other two was a female priest and an archer. They must have been the people who'd saved him.

During this distraction, Magician Amir acted again. His wand twitched, and the dagger on the ground lit up again. The next moment, the dagger jumped like lightning, stabbing toward Eliard again.

Shocked, he reacted immediately.

Someone was faster than him. The archer had pulled his bow back already. With a soft sound, a beam of fiery light shot over. Poof. It buried into Amir's head.

Amir flew back. Green mist floated out of his body when he was in the air.

"Hey, Eliard, what are you waiting for? Come here!" Skinorse waved at him.

"Ah, okay." Eliard had just escaped from death. With no time to feel the fear, he activated Cat's Agility and bounded towards Skinorse.

Halfway there, voices sounded behind him.

"He's there, Magician Eliard from Ferde. He killed the dean!"

"Catch the murderer!"

He even heard some Magician's Apprentices run out from the garden villa, yelling, "He killed Amir! He's the killer!"

Everything shocked Eliard even more. It felt like he was stuck in a pit of vipers. He could no longer tell who was innocent and who was a viper.

Ethereals are so scary! He sped up and ran to Skinorse.

Skinorse immediately pulled out some metal clumps the size of one's fist from somewhere. Throwing it at the pursuing soldiers, he yelled, "Turn around; don't look!"

Eliard immediately turned back. Then he heard some empty bangs. They sounded like toilet seats being opened. And then he felt heat on his back while the entire square turned really, really bright. It felt like a sun had dropped down behind him.

After that, Eliard heard pained cries.

"Ah, my eyes, my eyes!"

"I can't see anything, ah!"

"Despicable!"

Skinorse grabbed Eliard. "It's a bit troublesome. Let's go."

Eliard didn't have a better plan. He could only follow Skinorse and run out of the academy. At the wall, the people leapt up. Eliard had Cat's Agility activated and also jumped up.

There was a small alley behind the wall, filled with cottony white fog. Skinorse and the others jumped down without hesitation. Eliard hesitated a bit, but Skinorse tugged his shirt. He lost balance and fell into the white fog too.

Once inside, Eliard realized that the fog was strange. It was like cotton, but there was a hole that could only fit one person. Eliard discovered a Magician there. He led the way while saying, "Hurry, walk faster. This spell can only last three minutes. Hurry!"

Soon, Eliard found even more interesting points to this spell. The fog almost completely blocked the outside world. Not even a sound could be heard, let alone power auras. They were just inside fog, but it felt like they were isolated from the world.

He followed behind the archer and walked down the tunnel in the fog. After who knew how long, he found that he was in a room. After that, he seemed to enter a cellar.

Boom. There was the sound of a wooden lid closing. The white fog disappeared, and Eliard found himself in an underground tunnel.

"This is the escape tunnel of the Gale Mercenary Group in Full Moon City. We're borrowing it," Skinorse explained.

Eliard felt speechless. So this wasn't theirs?

The tunnel was cramped and low with damp stone walls on either side. Eliard stooped down and walked for half an hour. By the end, he didn't even know where he was. All he was sure about was that they should be outside the city.

After five or six minutes, Morrigan slowed down at the front. "The exit is up ahead," he whispered. "There's a small village outside the city. Most villagers have something to do with the Gale Mercenary Group. We can't disturb them easily. Their leader is a Level-8 Assassin. He's really powerful. We'll use an Invisibility spell later. Make sure you don't get discovered."

This was targeted at Eliard. He quickly replied, "Don't worry. I'll be careful." With that, he cast a Traceless spell on everyone present.

Morrigan chuckled. "Heh, this spell is nice. Much better than my Invisibility. Let's go, we're at the exit."

Eliard looked forward. He found a puddle of water before him with light shining down. This was probably a dried well.

"Alright, climb up. Eliard, do you need help?" Skinorse asked.

"No, it's easy," Eliard replied. When the others were out, he cast a Levitation spell and used the Magician's Hand to pick himself out.

They climbed out of the well and into the alley. It was empty, but people passed to and fro outside. It was very lively. They didn't waste any time and rushed into the woods behind the village under the help of the Traceless spell.

Once deep in the woods, they became visible again and let out exhaled deeply. Finally, Skinorse said, "Hey, Eliard, I heard them earlier saying you killed the dean. Is that true?"

"Yes." Eliard smiled wryly and nodded.

Morrigan didn't understand. "I heard that Andal is a great person. Did he piss you off?"

Archer Irvan was more troubled. "Andal is an important figure. We're in trouble now."

Eliard sighed again. Ethereals were so scary. "Listen, things aren't so simple."

The four looked to him, ready to hear his explanation.

Eliard first looked to Irvan. "First, thanks. You and that priest saved me. I'm Eliard, a Magician from Ferde. And you?"

Everyone introduced themselves. After learning all their names, Eliard said, "Irvan, didn't you find something strange about the guy you killed?"

Irvan thought back and nodded. "A bit. Green smoke came out of his mouth when he did. I've never seen that before."

"Yes, it's the green smoke. When I killed the dean, that also happened. This smoke means that the person was taken over by an Ethereal. Do you understand?"

"Ethereal? From the Soul Realm?" Priest Moya furrowed her brows. She was highly sensitive to this term.

Eliard shook his head. "Not the Soul Realm but the Isomerism Realm. The dean was taken over by an Ethereal and wanted to kill me. I was forced to fight back. Many people in the academy are possessed. The entire royal family might be possessed too. So basically, we're in trouble."

The four stared at each other at this. They didn't know what to say.

After a long while, Skinorse said, "According to what you said, we've just angered a beehive?"

Morrigan gritted his teeth. "This is troublesome. Not only did we not get money, but we're also wanted by the kingdom now."

Irvan scratched his head too. "Eliard, how about we escort you back to Ferde? We'll be safe there."

Eliard quickly shook his head. "No, no, no. I'm not going back. I have to solve this and find the mastermind behind all this. From what I know, Ethreals need a Secret Magician's help to possess someone. I must find and kill him. Otherwise, Southmoon Kingdom will become a blight to the south of Ferde and Norton.

Hearing this, Skinorse shrugged. "Alright," he said helplessly. "I knew the lord wouldn't give such a simple mission. We'll have to work now."

"What lord?" Eliard was confused.

Beside them, Moya explained, "We met the Ferde lord in another city. He gave us this mission to come help you."

Hearing this, Eliard felt warm inside. He knew Link must have prepared for this. "Did he say where he'll be?" he asked.

"No," Skinorse replied. "He said that he'd be busy with something."

"Good. We'll take care of this." Eliard waved a fist. He was a Level-8 Magician now. He couldn't stay cooped up in the safe Mage Tower; it was time to do something big.

"If you insist, then let's do it. But what do you plan on doing?" Skinorse asked.

Eliard had thought of this. "I heard there are robbers outside the city. I think there's something up with them. They must be related to the Ethereals. If I was that Secret Magician, I wouldn't hide inside Full Moon City because that's not safe. It's highly possible to meet a Legendary Magician. I'd definitely hide outside the city. Those robbers must know something."

"Oh, I see. So you're saying that we have to avoid Southmoon's capture while fighting with those robbers. This is a classic example of finding trouble for yourself." Skinorse looked frustrated. The source of all this trouble was that he didn't mind his own business and wanted to help his friend. What had he been thinking?

"What, are you scared?" Eliard glanced at Skinorse, his gaze falling on the man's dagger. "Your dagger looks nice. Crystal-red, high light refraction… it's Level-10 material. Link must have given it to you as a prepayment. You don't want to work after getting paid?"

Skinorse slapped his forehead and muttered, "I hate Magicians."