Advent of the Archmage

In the end, Evelina still saw Skinorse’s group.

Skinorse didn’t mind. He was always more forgiving to beautiful girls and forgot what had happened after seeing Evelina’s delicate features. Instead, he started worrying over her injuries.

"Oh, you seem to be heavily wounded. Are you okay? Do you need Moya to check?"

Hearing that, Priest Moya couldn’t help but scoff. She shot a look at Skinorse. Even though Skinorse and Irvan didn’t say anything after coming back, Moya was skilled and could tell what was wrong with someone at a glance.

For example, she could tell where Irvan was hurt by how he walked. Skinorse also looked like an unconfident pervert. Moya had a basic idea of what had happened after asking some more questions.

Seeing Skinorse like this now, she felt that he was beyond saving.

Irvan had escaped early this morning. What had happened yesterday had traumatized him. He couldn’t face anyone who knew the details.

Evelina was caught by surprise too. She smiled at Skinorse and asked, "It seems that you really liked it. Want to do it again?"

Skinorse’s expression changed, and he waved his hand quickly. "No, no, no. One time is enough, it’s enough."

Everyone in the room looked at him speechlessly.

Getting to the point, Link said, "We’re preparing to return to Ferde. Skinorse, what are your plans?"

"Continuing to explore, of course. I almost have enough Jogus." Skinorse grew serious. This was what he’d been working on all this time.

"Good, I’ll prepare it for you when I return. Oh, you’re Moya, right?" Link thought of something after seeing the female priest.

"Yes, Lord." Moya bowed respectfully.

"I heard about you from Kanorse. He said that not only are you skilled in healing spells, you also have many unique methods for saving one’s life. Ferde opened an academy for doctors recently. I’m the dean right now. If you’re interested, you can be the new dean."

Kanorse had said that Moya was the best at emergency treatments. Oftentimes, she didn’t even need spells. Those spells were just the icing on the cake for her.

Link had created the strong Sunlight Army. Each soldier had powerful recovery abilities. If they were wounded on the battlefield, they would just need some basic emergency treatment. They wouldn’t need Light spells to recover.

Thus, if there were enough emergency personnel, the death rate of his army would lower a lot.

Even better, it wasn’t hard to learn Moya’s tactics. A regular person could learn it too, and this was what Link needed. As for the academy, it didn’t exist yet. But if they had a dean and enough resources, it could be established quickly...

Hearing that, Skinorse grew upset. "Hey, Lord, you’re unethical. Moya is our friend. You can’t just dig her away so shamelessly."

Link really had no shame. Smiling, he said, "Adventures will get old someday and need a way out. Plus, Moya is a girl. Are you really willing to make her risk her life with you?"

"Uh..." Skinorse was swayed. He usually acted recklessly and did ridiculous things, but Moya was different to him. She had an important place in his heart. If she had somewhere safe to go, he would support it.

An academy’s dean would live comfortably and be respected. It sounded nice.

"Moya, what do you think?" Skinorse asked.

Moya was interested too. "Me? I want to, but if I go, you won’t last one month. I’ll pass."

Skinorse was even more convinced after this. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Go if you want. Nothing bad will happen with our skills, right Morrigan?"

Morrigan nodded. "Just go, Moya."

Moya still shook her head. "But..."

Link chuckled. "You’re worried about Skinorse, right? Don’t worry."

As he spoke, he took out three runestones. Dragon Power wrapped around them, and a few minutes later, they became red crystals. Giving them to Skinorse, he said, "These are Seething Vitality runes. Take one each and keep them with you. If you’re hurt, it will heal you automatically. Each stone can heal 15 fatal injuries. Even if your arm is broken, you can press it onto the injury, and it’ll reconnect your arm. Moya, what do you think?"

Skinorse immediately took the stones and chuckled. "This is good." Then he said to Moya, "Go, go. Do well as the dean and your name will be written down in history. Then people who talk about you will mention me too. I’ll get some fame."

Moya finally nodded. "My honor, Lord."

Link smiled and nodded. He was very happy. Turning to Skinorse, he said, "Then we’ll leave now. Also, tell Irvan that he only needs to find 50 Jogu for me to make him a Legendary bow."

"Got it. I’ll tell him." Skinorse actually felt guilty towards Irvan. Skinorse was the one who’d benefited a bit from earlier. If he got laid like that, he wouldn’t be able to take it.

After that, Link left the yard and gave some orders to the servants sent by the king. Then he used the Void Walk to take the others back to Ferde.

Though he had three people with him, the entire journey only took half an hour. When they reached Ferde, Link was still energetic. He didn’t look tired at all.

Evelina had been trying to calculate Link’s power. Seeing this, she was even more impressed. All her plans were destroyed now. She started to seriously consider joining Ferde.

When they reached Ferde, Link said to Eliard, "Take her back. You’re her guard now, so you can decide where you want her imprisoned. Choose wherever you want."

"Alright, no problem." Eliard took Evelina away.

Link turned to Moya. "Come, I’ll take you to see Manager Lucy. She’ll arrange the things with the academy."

"Okay." Moya was happy; she was excited about the academy.

Though she had a lot of Sacred Power, her knowledge was far from those official priests from the Sacred City. She’d learned informally and could now become the dean of an academy. This was satisfying.

Along the way, Moya asked casually, "Lord, where is the academy?"

Link smiled. "The location is chosen already. It’s in the east of the city and will be around 100 acres. It hasn’t been built though, and we’re still enrolling students. You’ll be the first dean."

Moya wasn’t gullible. She chuckled dryly. "So you’re saying that it doesn’t exist yet?"

Link felt a bit awkward. "I think that 100,000 coins should be enough to build a nice academy. I’ll send Magicians from the Mage Tower to help with the buildings for free. What do you think?"

The benefits were great. Moya thought for a bit and decided this was better. She could build the academy herself according to her wishes. She would be the founder of the academy.

"Alright, that’s not bad." She nodded.

After finding Lucy, Link explained simply, and Lucy quickly provided the money. Ferde’s treasury was doing well now and made a profit of more than 200,000 coins per month. She’d been wondering how to spend the money. The academy came at the right time.

After giving 100,000 coins, Lucy asked, "Lord, is that enough? How about 150,000 coins?"

"You have enough?" Link asked in shock. He wasn’t that familiar with the territory’s situation.

"Of course."

"Oh, then 150,000."

Moya was even more satisfied. She had room to work with now.

Getting the money, Link notified Jacker and some others. The matter was set now. The upper level of Ferde all knew Moya, so the academy was on the fast track.

To Link, this academy was only a small detail in his grand plan. After arranging everything, he returned to the Mage Tower and started planning on how to deal with the High Elves.

There wasn’t anything he could say about the High Elves coming for their people. Ferde was in the wrong, and they should hand her over. But he couldn’t do it, so what should he do?

Link got an idea. He would use terror.

The High Elves came to reason with them, but Link wouldn’t win that. He had to use power. Competition between the races had always followed the law of the jungle.

Imagine one man who was tall, burly, and powerful. The other was frail, thin, and weak. The strong man wanted to take the weak man’s pretty wife. The strong guy was wrong, but the weak guy couldn’t beat him. He could only accept reality.

But there was another problem. Ferde wasn’t as strong as the Isle of Dawn. Link couldn’t scare them at all.

What should he do?

There was another option: bluffing.

In the forest, some harmless snakes looked just as terrifying as poisonous snakes. They weren’t threatening at all, but to the others, they were too powerful to be touched.

Ferde had to look like they were poisonous.

How should he bluff?

Link took out what he’d gotten from the South. Placing the crystals on the table, he counted 95. Thirteen of them had amazing quality and could transform Legendary power at the highest rate.

Thirteen Ethereal Crystals can create 13 Legendary magic equipment. If I use it well, they can emit 13 types of Legendary auras... Hmm, I’ll have to arrange this well.