Advent of the Archmage

After receiving a new magic book, Link was like fish in water. For the next few days, he spent almost all his time on the book Freedom and the Puppet. He practically forgot to sleep and eat.

Celine was unrestricted and could disturb him while he was studying magic spells, but he closed his door to everyone else.

The morning three days later, Link had flipped to the last page. He had pretty much figured out the entire book.

"This is such fine and flawless wisdom, but there's not enough," Link sighed sadly. He picked up the book, ready to look for Milda and exchange for another one.

He was completely obsessed with the puppet theory. After finishing this one, he had his eyes on the other nine books Milda had. If he didn't read them, he would feel something missing from him.

Just as he went to open the door, someone knocked on it. Tuk tuk, tuk tuk. The rhythmic tapping meant that it was Celine.

Link walked quickly and opened the door. He was in a good mood; seeing Celine's lovely face, his mood became even better. Smiling, he said, "My dear, how can I help you?"

It was the first time Link used such an affectionate term. Surprised, Celine blushed and whined, "Go away. I'm not your dear." She looked inside the room. Seeing that the book wasn't on the table, she asked, "Are you busy now?"

"I'm free." Link moved to the side with a smile, letting Celine in.

Once inside, Celine took out her basic wand and said, "For some reason, my power is increasing faster and faster."

With that, there was a Mana influx in her wand. It merely rushed in without constructing any Mana structures, but Link was affected by it. He was shaken.

Wow, it's only been one week, and her power has doubled, Link thought, amazed. Soul Dominator bloodlines were truly powerful.

Seeing Link's surprise, Celine was a bit proud. She giggled and said, "That's not it. My premonitions are getting stronger too. Instead of long-term premonitions, they're short-term, like some really weird gut feeling. Like just now, I was outside and thought that you would be free, so I knocked on the door."

"Huh?" This ability was curious. Link couldn't figure it out, but after thinking for a bit, he pulled out a gold coin. He said, "I'll toss it and guess heads or tails."

"Heads." Celine's answer was definite.

Link tossed the coin, and it fell to the ground half a second later. It rolled and landed heads up. It may have been lucky so Link tried again and again. He tried ten times, and Celine was guessed correctly each time without any hesitation.

This was probably a short-term predictive ability, and she was completely accurate too. The ability was very powerful. However, since it was short-term, there should be a time limit.

Link tried something else, still using the coin. "This time, I'll toss it five seconds after you guess. Try it."

But Celine shook her head. "I can't. There's no feeling."

"Just guess."

"Then tails."

Link waited five seconds and tossed. The coin dropped onto the table with a clink, spun, and landed heads up. He tried this ten times again, but Celine was only right four times. Her rate was about 50-50, just like the average man.

Link reduced the time, going from four seconds to three, then two. Finally, Celine's feeling came back at 1.5 seconds. Her accuracy shot up to 100%.

This meant that she could guess anything that would happen within 1.5 seconds with almost 100% accuracy. Of course, guessing heads or tails was simple. If it was a more complex matter, the time might decrease further.

Link tried other tests. In the end, he concluded that Celine could choose correctly between two options if the time frame was 1.5 seconds. If there were more choices, such as three, four, or even ten, the time frame went from 1.5 seconds to around 0.5 seconds. More complicated guesses were still maintained at 0.5 seconds.

This meant that Celine could accurately predict anything that happened within 0.5 seconds.

Half a second was short, and she couldn't do much to change the big picture. However, if one had this ability in a fight, one's combat power would at least double. If trained well, Celine could become an unbeatable monster.

"Awesome! Awesome!" Link praised repeatedly. He spun Celine in the air and then studied her as if looking at a rare treasure.

A little shy, Celine said awkwardly, "Actually, there's something else."

"Tell me," Link said.

"I don't have any power now, and it feels weird."

"Would you like to learn magic with me?" Link's eyes brightened even more. A Magician with short-term predictive abilities would honestly be unbeatable in battle. If he could have this ability, he would be invincible.

Celine shook her head furiously. "No, no. I have Mana talent, and I can learn some basic spells, but when I look at advanced books, my head hurts. I think I'm better as a Warrior or something but definitely not a Magician."

Link was disappointed, but he understood Celine's interests. He knew she wasn't suitable for learning magic. Pondering, he asked, "Do you have any thoughts?"

Celine furrowed her brows. "I…I haven't thought much, but I don't want to be like now. When the Assassins attacked, I could only stand to the side. I couldn't help you and had to be protected. I don't like this feeling at all."

"Oh, then you think over it, and I'll help you think too." Link started wondering what Celine should do.

It should be a professional that was safe and didn't require killing people directly. It had to take advantage of Celine's talent as well. It would be best if she could develop combat power quickly without needing any difficult training.

This was a lot of requirements. Link racked his mind, and suddenly, an idea popped up. "The Yabba race has a type of Magic Pistol. It's really destructive, and I've seen it before. The structure isn't that difficult, so I can make one. How about I make you a Magic Pistol?"

Celine thought it over, and her eyes brightened. Her blushed cheeks were so cute. "That's a great idea. Please help me make a Magic Pistol. It has to be accurate and powerful."

"It's on me! You'll definitely be satisfied," Link promised.

Link wouldn't dare brag about other weapons, but for pistols, he could use memories from earth for reference. There were a bunch of enchantments he could use too. If he couldn't make something incredibly awesome with all that, he should just jump off a cliff.

Celine smiled brightly. Link's enchantments were renowned throughout Firuman. Since he promised, this Magic Pistol would definitely be powerful.

Actually, ever since the Storm Lord sealed the demonic power in Celine's body, her personality became brighter, and she loved to smile. Whenever she smiled, her eyes would turn into crescents. Her lips were pink and plump, bright and beautiful. Seeing it, Link became happy. He couldn't stop himself from pulling Celine into a hug.

Celine froze. At first, she was tense, but she quickly softened. She didn't protest, but her face was as red as a tomato. The two hugged quietly, enjoying the sweet serenity.

After a long while, Link unwillingly let go. Smiling, he said, "I'm going to find Princess Milda for another book. Your Magic Pistol…How about three days? I'll find time these three days to make it."

Celine shook her head. "No need to hurry. Wait until you're free to do it. I need to start working out again too."

Hearing this, Link suddenly thought of the Epic Battle Art he had taught Jacker and the others. Hitting his forehead, he said, "Your body leans more toward the water element. I have an Epic Battle Art for the water element. Take it to practice but don't work too hard."

Celine giggled. "I was waiting for that. Give me the Battle Art!"

Link placed the book in her cream-colored hands. They shared another moment, and then Link kissed Celine's forehead before leaving. As for the Magic Pistol, he decided to start on it as soon as he exchanged the book!

When he reached the stone house, Link saw Milda working in the small garden. She had recovered well. She was still weak but could do some light physical work. Planting flowers and such helped her recover even faster.

She saw Link and took off her dirty gloves. Smiling, she asked, "What, you finished the book?"

"Indeed." Link returned Freedom and the Puppet to Milda. "I want to get another one."

Milda was straightforward. She took out a book with a purple cover. The title was One Hundred Twenty-Nine Ways to Connect Joints. Rather than a theory book, this was an explanation of specific techniques. Link accepted it, thanked her profusely, and turned to leave.

"Hey, not so fast," Milda called out.

"How can I help you?" Link's attention was already on the new book.

Seeing him like this, Milda sighed. She asked, "I heard you accepted a disciple called Rylai?"

Link smacked his forehead. He had been so busy these days that he practically forgot about Rylai. He was honestly an irresponsible teacher. "Indeed," Link admitted, a bit guilty.

Milda shook her head. "Oh, you're really wasting her high talent. She spends all her days frolicking with the Wind Tiger. I see that you're too busy while I have nothing to do so why don't you let her study with me?"

This was great news. Link quickly agreed.

"Okay, go do what you need. I'll tell her myself."

Link left quickly, unwilling to waste any time. Looking at his back, Milda shook her head again.

"No wonder he's accomplished. He's obsessed with learning."

On the other hand, Link had forgotten all about Milda. When he returned to the cabin, he flipped through the new book and scanned it roughly. Then he took out papers and pens to sketch the blueprint of the Magic Pistol.

This was for Celine. He had to do his best!