Advent of the Archmage

Ferde Wilderness　　

As every second and minute passed by, Romilson felt increasingly anxious. It would only be around one mile before he would miss Princess Milda's hiding spot. 　

The presence of her blood was getting thinner, suggesting that her life was only hanging on by a thin thread. She must have suffered some fatal wound.

If I do not get there in time, I am afraid the princess…Romilson did not dare to continue on that train of thoughts.　

After ten more seconds, Romilson could not help but look behind him. He then saw Link leisurely following him 150 feet away. Romilson could clearly see the calm expression on Link's face as the distance separating them was short. Link appeared to be in control of the situation and even nonchalant, as though all these things did not matter to him.

Upon seeing his calm demeanor, Romilson could not help but shout, "Link, The Highness has suffered a fatal wound. She can only last for half an hour more!"

Romilson then turned back as the Mana within himself surged immediately, activating the defensive bracelet on his wrist. With a light buzzing sound, a light green crystal barrier surrounded him. This was a Level-5 defensive spell, Natural Rune Barrier.　

Following which, he saw a dark figure standing on a huge rock around 150 feet away.　

This person wore pure black leather armor and was surrounded by a crimson miasma.

He also held two daggers that surged with streams of bloody red brilliance.　

He didn't make a move, only standing on top of the 12-foot-tall rock and said, "It is not very safe to be running across the wilderness at this time, my two dear Magicians."　

"Who are you?" Romilson pulled his unicorn to a halt.

Without waiting for the Assassin to answer, Link had already caught up and ran past Romilson without slowing down his speed. He had also completely ignored the Assassin and said, "Why are you bantering with him? Saving lives takes precedence!"

"But he…" Romilson wanted to say that there might be an ambush lying in wait for them. 　　

However, Link had already run past him as he said, "He is merely stalling time, can't you tell?"

Romilson was immediately enlightened and felt his face turn hot. He then immediately willed the unicorn to charge at full speed and quickly caught up with Link.

He then stared at the Assassin on top of the rock and felt a wave of anger rush through him. He then raised his wand and fired a spell at the rock.

"Venom Ball!"

Venom Ball

Level-5 Spell

Effect: Concentrates natural elements to form an extremely corrosive light ball.

(Note: exclusive High Elf Spell)　

A green light then began concentrating at the tip of Romilson's wand and quickly, an emerald-colored ball of more than one foot in length appeared. Romilson then flung this ball straight towards the rock without hesitation.　　　

"Go to hell!" The venomous ball traveled at an insane speed.　　　

The Assassin snickered and leaped backward right before the venom ball was about to hit his body. He then fell swiftly from the rock and escaped this spell in the nick of time.

The Assassin's speed was so fast that Romilson could not react in time. The venom ball had already flown past the rock and hit the ground around 180 feet away.

Bang! The venom ball exploded, and the ground within a 15-foot radius was immediately reduced to a pile of dark green mush. It also bubbled and emitted a turquoise colored smoke, showing its destructive, corrosive power.

The Assassin then looked behind him and felt a shiver down his spine. He was lucky to have escaped the attack swiftly. If not, even his bones might have been melted by the destructive attack.

He then stared at the distant figures of the two Magicians and frowned. This High Elf was merely a young, immature brat; he would be easy to deal with. However, Link was the problem.

The Assassin felt extremely bitter as he watched them going further away. He then shouted, "Link, aren't you afraid that I will attack Scorched Ridge right now?"

Link then replied, "If you truly have the strength, why would you still be chatting with me?"

Along with the reply, Link had also greeted the Assassin with two Whistle spells. The spell was extremely fast and was fired at a precise angle. The Assassin immediately used his dagger to shield himself from the direct blows of this attack.

However, before the dagger could hit the Whistles, they exploded in mid-air, causing the Sacred Silver fragments to splatter around him, encasing him in a rain of deathly metal fragments. He was unable to escape.

Left without a choice, the Assassin could only retreat while shielding his face using his hands.

Most of the Sacred Silver was blocked by his leather armor. However, a few managed to slip through the cracks in his armor and pierce into his body. A sharp pain then seared through his mind.　　

The Assassin felt terrified and immediately hid behind a rock.

Behind the rock, he observed his injuries and realized that there were a few holes the size of a fingertip in his hands. Silver liquid flowed within these injuries, and turquoise smoke could be seen oozing out from those wounds as well.　

"So this is Sacred Silver; it truly is powerful!" The Assassin decisively brought out his dagger and severed the flesh affected by the Sacred Silver.　

The moment the silver liquid was removed, the gory wounds started wriggling and healing itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.

These wounds then disappeared in five seconds.　

The Assassin then heaved a sigh of relief and said in satisfaction, "The power of the Divine Liquid is truly amazing."　　

He then emerged from behind the rock and realized that Link and the High Elf had already moved forward another few hundred feet. He immediately picked up his speed and chased forward.　

Although Link was a difficult person to deal with, he would stall as much time as he could. As long as he could kill the High Elf Princess, his mission would be accomplished.　　　　

On the other side.

Romilson no longer took the lead arrogantly. He ran beside Link as they charged together towards their target.　

"Link, that guy is chasing us again," Romilson said.　　

"I know. Let him do it. We have two people. He is merely irritating us." Link had a clear view of the situation.　

Romilson still could not help but look behind and gasp.

"How can he be so fast? He should have been injured from the previous attack. He looks completely unscathed."

Link then observed his surroundings, and after making sure it was safe, he explained to Romilson.

"That Assassin is pretty strong. He should be around Level-6 in strength even before he was strengthened. Now that he has received the blessings of the Dark Serpent, he should be at the peak of Level-7. This grants him extreme vitality. The small injuries that I dealt previously probably healed in around a few seconds' time. In order to deal with these creatures, you have to completely destroy their bodies. Even crushing their hearts would not kill them off immediately. They can still maintain a few seconds of combat following that fatal wound."

"Then what is his weapon? Do you recognize it?" Romilson asked again. His attitude towards Link had already changed for the better. He probably didn't realize it himself.

"I don't recognize it. However, for an Assassin to be using such a conspicuous weapon, he is either an idiot or that the weapon is extremely strong. If we really end up in a direct battle, we need to be careful."　　

In fact, Link recognized those two daggers. He had seen them in the game before.

A crimson body and a fiery red aura—this pair was an extremely famous epic-quality weapon called the Reaper's Gaze. He remembered that this pair of daggers had an extremely powerful special effect. If they were forcefully brought into a battle against this Assassin, Link should be able to deal with it. However, if Romilson was careless, he might be killed easily by his opponent.

Upon this thought, Link added, "After we find the princess, I predict that this person will try to intercept us. Do not try to attack him then, just protect yourself."

This was Link's good intentions and him trying to be kind. However, it sounded pretty insulting. One should know that by the ranking of strength, Romilson was a Level-7 Magician while Link was only Level-6. To be warned by a Magician lower in rank was humiliating for Romilson. He thus sneered, "You don't have to care about me."

Link simply glanced at him and smiled faintly.

Romilson could not take it anymore and shouted, "What kind of glance is that? Contempt? Disdain? Let me tell you, while I might not be as strong as you yet, I am still able to take on one Assassin by myself."　　

"Let's hope so," Link shook his head as he spoke. He had exchanged a few strikes with this High Elf just now and already had a basic understanding of his skills. Link could only say that this young High Elf was truly overestimating his abilities and had clearly not gained enough battle experience.

"Heh, are the both of you really afraid of me?" The Assassin's voice sounded from behind again. He sounded really provocative.　　

Romilson then stared at Link and saw that he was unmoved. He hence also kept his rebuttals to himself.

The voice then sounded yet again, "I say, are the both of you cowards? Haha, the Flame Controller that has his name known throughout Firuman is actually keeping silent in front of me."　

Link pretended not to hear those words while he calculated Milda's exact location in his head.

Romilson, on the other hand, could not stand it anymore and growled, "You cowardly mouse! Take one shot of my magic if you dare!" 　　　　

"Oh, do you really think I am dumb? If you can hit me then come at me." As he spoke, this Assassin swiftly ducked behind a huge rock, only revealing his head.

Romilson gritted his teeth as he finally saw through the intentions of this guy. He hence started learning from Link to ignore and not reply to his provocations.

After two more minutes, Link suddenly spoke, "Prepare!"　　　

"What? What do I do?" Romilson could not react in time.　　

Link did not explain and merely surged his Mana through his body and cast the Dimensional Jump spell.

In a blinding white brilliance, Link and Romilson disappeared from their current location, and in an instant, they were transported to a place a mile away.

The moment they landed, Link asked, "Is the princess nearby…Never mind, I already see her."

Just 60 feet away between two boulders, Princess Milda lay on the ground drenched in blood. Her face was turning blue, and her breathing was faint. A crossbow arrow had pierced deeply into her right abdomen.　

Link then quickly walked over, and after some observations, he said, "The arrow did not hurt any key organs. However, there is fatal poison smeared on the arrow!"

As he said those words, he did not hesitate to pull the arrow out from the wound. Blood then gushed out from the wound, and the half-conscious Milda whimpered in pain.　

Romilson was heartbroken by this scene and growled, "What are you doing? Are you trying to kill Her Highness?"　　

"Shut up! I am trying to save her!" Link pressed his hands on the wound and cast the Blizzard spell to concentrate water elements, encasing the wound in ice. It was completed within three seconds.

Although this would not cure Milda's injuries, it could greatly slow the spread of the toxins through her body.　　

Link spent less than five seconds accomplishing all these. He then cast a floatation spell on Milda and turned to Romilson and said, "You bring the princess along; we will head back to Scorched Ridge immediately!"

"Ah, oh okay!" Romilson summoned the unicorn and used the Magician's Hand to place Princess Milda on the back of the unicorn. He then charged straight in the direction of the Scorched Ridge.

Link similarly summoned his Wind Fenrir and stayed by Romilson's side the entire time, keeping his sensors on high alert.　

On the other side of the forest, the Assassin stared at the empty plot of land where Link and Romilson once stood dumbfounded. It took him several seconds before he recollected himself and slapped his thighs in agony. Link you truly got me, I still fell for your trick!　　

Needless to say, the first direction which the High Elf proceeded with was the correct one. The change in direction was definitely something planned by Link. He deliberately chose a twenty-degree turn from the original to give the illusion that they were merely adjusting their direction of travel.

He had gotten information from the Dark Elves that Link's transportation spell had a maximum distance of a mile. It had been four miles since they made a change in direction. As they merely made a slight adjustment of running twenty degrees away from their original trajectory, their displacement would then be only a mile away from their original destination. After a few adjustments in the spell, it would become a perfect distance for Link to cast his Dimensional Jump spell.

Link had managed to use his group transportation spell to once again create a huge time advantage for himself.　　　

"Damn it! I hate this guy!" The Assassin recalled Link's behavior all this while and realized that Link had completely seen through his tactics. This was truly humiliating.　

At this moment, he saw his own underlings in front of him. He immediately bellowed, "Follow me; let's intercept them!"　

Link had already used the group transportation spell once. He did not believe that Link could cast it again! Even if he could, they would merely be a mile ahead. They could still catch up if they went at top speed.

He was interested in seeing how much Mana Points Link still possessed after the huge battle at Scorched Ridge!