Advent of the Archmage

Link’s Mage Tower

Ding! There was a soft sound, and a blue crystal gem appeared in Link’s hand. This was a Level-10 Legendary Replenishment Crystal. It was the reward Link received after completing the mission of protecting the Orida Fortress.

Other than that, he also had 800 Omni Points now. He didn’t need it now, so he just put them to the side.

Link had planned on using the Replenishment Crystal to recharge the Dragon King’s Fury sword. Now, he realized the crystal’s power was less than he’d expected. It couldn’t do much for the Dragon King’s Fury sword, so Link decided to give it to Alloa, the Maiden of Truth.

Lately, Alloa was always in Link’s Mage Tower. She was full of magical knowledge, but she didn’t have any power. In the Mage Tower, she was just an ordinary book administrator.

Obviously, she wasn’t satisfied. A while after Link returned, Alloa had approached him. Other than giving him the notes she had calculated recently, she had also given him a sketch for an enchantment. The magic gear drawn on it was called a "spell-casting circlet."

She had explained, "It can help me gain the ability to cast spells. I can’t fight, but it can help me with enchantments and alchemy."

Link was naturally happy to help.

Actually, he was preparing to return Vance’s favor and make him a flesh magic puppet. This was really troublesome though. It was all repetitive work without anything innovative. Link didn’t want to do it, but now, he had a powerful helper who volunteered herself. He would obviously use her.

The spell-casting circlet was simple. Link completed it in half a day.

After finishing, Link snapped the Replenishment Crystal into the circlet. The light purple circlet made of khorium and thorium flashed. The runes lit up with a blue glow.

Alloa put it on her head and shivered. She closed her eyes to feel it carefully. After a few seconds, her hand moved suddenly. A semi-transparent modification force field appeared on her hand.

Link could see that it was a Level-4 Shattering Force Field. In the enchantment field, it was already quite advanced. However, Alloa took six seconds to cast this spell. She was too slow.

After casting the spell, Alloa opened her eyes and smiled faintly. "The Mana output is quite steady, and it has enough power too, enough for 235 Shattering Force Fields. After I practice more, my manipulation will improve greatly."

Link was quite satisfied, but he was surprised that a Replenishment Crystal could only cast 235 Shattering Force Fields. This was too little and most likely insufficient.

He took out a translucent Replenishment Crystal. This looked the same as the spell-casting circlet, but it didn’t have any replenishment abilities. The material was of lower quality too. It was just a regular Epic crystal.

Link inserted Dragon Power, and ten seconds later, the crystal turned red. It looked like a piece of flawless, red agate.

"Try this one," Link said. The Replenishment Crystal from the system reward would be used up at some point. A replacement was needed. As of now, Link’s Legendary Dragon Power was the best.

Alloa nodded. She took off the circlet and easily popped out the blue crystal. Then she snapped the new red crystal in. Putting the circlet back over her head, she cast another spell. Perhaps she was used to it now. This time, it took four seconds to complete the Shattering Force Field.

She thought carefully about the difference. "The power is steady and easier to control than the blue crystal. This is enough for 257 Shattering Force Fields."

"Huh? It increased?" Link was confused.

"The blue crystal is very powerful, but it’s more agitated. I can’t control it all and waste at least 90% of energy while casting spells. Your power feels more introverted and gentle. I waste less than 10%."

"I see. In that case, I’ll drive out the power inside the blue crystal and recharge it."

Driving out the power was quite simple. He would just use it to charge the Dragon King’s Fury sword. Link put the crystal into the sword’s hilt.

As soon as it touched, the crystal started glowing. Then, the sword buzzed and shreds of blue light poured into the sword, causing the runes to flow.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Crisp sounds came from the sword as it reorganized. Rings of dense dragon scales opened and closed from the sword’s tip to the hilt. Finally, there was another ding and red smoky light shot from the eyes of the two dragons on the hilt.

Link checked the sword’s profile. Some changes had occurred.

Dragon King’s Fury—Burning Wrath Flames—Silent World

Legendary Level-12

Status: Semi-sealed

Current Unsealing Progress: 13%

Effect 1: Input 1200 Flawless Dragon Power Points to activate the Dragon King’s Fury. In this state, the spellcaster’s power multiplies by 12 and speed multiplies by six for two seconds.

Effect 2: All spells’ strength increases by 750%.

Effect 3: Boundless Sharpness. The blade is sharp enough to cut through any solid object and even spells!

Effect 4: All attacks can activate the ranged attack effect. The attack’s range is 885 feet; its power is 10% of the player’s attack.

(Note: Only the strongest have the right to pick me up!)

Its properties were about ten percent more powerful than before. That was not bad.

After charging the sword, the blue crystal in Link’s hand became colorless. It was a very rare Replenishment Crystal of high quality. Link began adding Dragon Power into it.

This time, he could feel that the crystal was like a bottomless pit. He kept adding Dragon Power until he ran out but the crystal still wasn’t full.

He rested for a bit before continuing. After putting in 13000 Dragon Power points, the crystal finally turned red.

Alloa took it and tried it. Then she said, "The power inside this crystal is enough to cast more than 1,600 Level-4 Shattering Force Fields. I can use it without worries."

"That’s great." Link chuckled. "I helped you so now you have to help me." He took out a thick scroll with a flourish. "Look, this is a flesh magic puppet that I designed. The materials are over there, all ready. The specific work is up to you. During this, I’ll look at your notes."

Alloa slapped her forehead, feeling speechless. "I was wondering why you were so willing to help and even pushed aside other tasks to make this circlet for me. You were waiting for this. Alright, I’ll do it."

She looked over the design. A few minutes later, she nodded. "This is an interesting magic puppet and has many theories that I don’t know about. After completing it, I’ll become an expert at controlling the spell-casting circlet."

Alloa was a very direct person. Since she decided to do it, she didn’t waste any time and got right to it.

Successfully finishing this, Link was relieved.

He didn’t waste time either. Taking Alloa’s results from earlier, he walked to the window to read carefully.

The foundation of Alloa’s calculations was basically the same as Link’s. One part was the data for divine gear fusion. The other was Link’s spatial thesis. However, they were different people and therefore had different ways of thinking. Their calculations were naturally different as well.

Link took out his own notes to compare. He felt that there was a shining mountain of gold before his eyes. All he had to do was pick up his shovel and dig.

What else was there to say?

He immediately submerged himself in it. The different perspective and thoughts quickly inspired Link. With the support from the Dragon Power, he was able to keep up his extremely focused state. His hand flew across the scroll as he calculated.

A day passed in the blink of an eye. Link’s spatial thesis developed greatly. When he’d worked with the Red Dragon Queen, he had almost reached the limit, but now, he’d progressed further.

However, he didn’t forget about eating and sleeping this time. Seven hours later, he set down the scroll. Letting out a long breath, he stopped voluntarily.

He turned to look at Alloa. Since she was immortal, she didn’t feel fatigued at all and was still focused on the magic puppet. Link didn’t disturb her and left the enchantment room.

It was only four in the afternoon. Scorched City was still very lively. Link walked to the window and looked to the shooting range in the distance. Lannie and Celine were together. The Yabba seemed to be having an enthusiastic discussion about shooting techniques with Celine.

Link smiled when he saw this. After a moment, he returned to the enchantment room and started constructing modification parts for Celine’s fire gun.

At night, Link finally returned to the room and had a heated moment with Celine before going to sleep together. The next day, they busied with their own tasks.

Because he had upgraded to the Legendary level, he’d caused a big commotion throughout the entire continent, especially with the Magicians. Countless idealistic Magicians from all over hurried over to Ferde.

They all hoped to get advice from a Legendary Magician. Even if they couldn’t become a student, it would be worth it to just hear some words. Of course, traveling took time, and they hadn’t arrived yet. Link wasn’t affected yet. For now, these days were very peaceful.

It was the happiest time since he’d come to Ferde.

Ten days later, Alloa’s magic puppet was close to finishing. She started with the ending work. Link’s spatial thesis had become completely different as well.

During this time, Alloa would come over occasionally. After looking, she always stared at Link with an odd expression as if he was a strange creature.

She came over again now, quietly standing behind Link. He was calculating a critical step at the moment. After a while, he suddenly wrote down a clean Mana structure. Letting out a long breath, he put his pen down.

All these days’ effort finally came to fruition. He had created an entirely new spatial spell. It was practically a monster.

Alloa’s voice came from behind him. "Link, I’m regretting more and more about giving up my power to become immortal. I lost the chance to personally experience this wisdom!"

Link chuckled. "Anything is possible. Even being immortal can be reversed. You contributed the most help for me to be able to create this spell. A lot of inspiration came from your thesis so how about you name the spell?"

"Really?" Alloa asked happily.

"Really."

"Then call it... Despair."