Advent of the Archmage

The Isle of Dawn, royal courtyard of the High Elves, Andwar

There was a clear brook behind the palace under the World Tree. It was called the Brook of Tranquility. The water was always clear, its flow gentle. At night, the whole brook would shine with an ethereal glow under the moonlight.

Palm-sized flowers floated on the water's surface. A soft purple glow radiated from every flower. Soft tinkling sounds rang out from them like wind chimes. The sound was clear and pleasing to the ear, and anyone who heard it would have all their worries and emotional turmoil melt away.

On that day, ten High Elf Elders were by the brook with the High Elf Queen. She was holding a flower that shone with a golden glow. She slowly walked to the brook, knelt down and placed the flower on the water.

The water flowed on, carrying the flower with it. Its golden glow began to form the image of a young High Elf woman in the middle of the flower. It was Ariel. She was holding a long, narrow sword in her hand. She danced and brandished her sword in the middle of the flower, repeating the same form without any hint of exhaustion.

The flower floated off into the distance along the brook.

The queen saw the flower off till it finally disappeared into the hazy moonlight.

A breeze was blowing, and she shrank back against the cold wind.

A middle-aged High Elf man with white sideburns came to her side and put a green cape over her shoulders. He muttered, "My love, Ariel is now finally at rest. Let's go back."

The man was the queen's husband, King Mordena. He was also one of the masters in High Elf society who had chosen to live as a total recluse.

Most people believed that Bryant was the most powerful master among the High Elves. This was not entirely wrong. In terms of sheer power, Bryant, who possessed Level-12 power, undoubtedly was the most powerful High Elf in the Isle of Dawn. However, in terms of magical knowledge and actual competence on the battlefield, Bryant's number one status might not be as secure as one would be led to think.

During his youth, Mordena had been the most prominent High Elf prodigy. Back then, Bryant had looked up to him and had sworn that he would someday be a pillar of High Elf society just like Mordena.

It was because of this that, despite his modest upbringing, Mordena had caught the High Elf Queen's fancy, who at that time was still just a princess in the royal palace. The two fell in love and soon were married to each other.

Ever since then, Mordena had stood in the queen's shadow, maintaining a low profile till he faded away from the consciousness of the outside world. 30 years had passed since. Even the High Elves nowadays would be hard-pressed to remember Mordena's glory days.

Despite living as a recluse, Mordena never abandoned his magical training. No one knew just how powerful he had gotten. This was because no one had seen the fruits of his training with their own eyes for the last 30 years.

The only thing people could sense from Mordena was the power within his body. Though he had already reached Level-11, Mordena usually kept his power hidden deep within him. Upon meeting him in person, normal Magicians would have the impression that they were facing a vast ocean stretching out into the horizon.

The queen did not try to put up a brave face in front of her husband. After putting on the cape, she turned around and leaned her forehead against his chest. She began to weep silently.

Mordena did not speak a word as he patted the queen's back. He said consolingly, "Everything will be alright, Your Highness."

He looked on at the golden flower that drifted further and further away from them as he said this.

His vision was better than the High Elf Queen, who was still a Level-9 Magician. He could still see the image of her daughter brandishing her sword about on the flower.

Looking on at such a familiar sight in the distance, Mordena drew in a long breath. The composure that he had maintained all these years was finally broken by a growing bloodlust in him.

He had kept a low profile for the queen for at least ten years, staying out of the Isle of Dawn's affairs and simply focusing on his magical studies. But now, the Isle of Dawn was under threat. Even their own daughter had been killed. He could not stand on the sidelines any longer.

The queen never knew who her own husband really was, as a person. The love they had shared in their youth had long since eroded under the slow grind of time. Before Ariel's death, the queen had not seen him for almost half a year and did not even know what he was up to during that time.

Suddenly, the queen sensed something in him as she was leaning against him. She shivered and raised her head to look at Mordena. "You..."

She sensed her bloodlust.

"Your Highness, I am Ariel's father. I need to do what must be done," whispered Mordena.

"But you're not his match."

"That remains to be seen." Mordena smiled faintly. He extended a hand. With the force of his will, a noticeable curve appeared in the air above his palm. "I can perform spatial magic as well. As for the martial arts, I wandered the island as a wandering knight when I was young. When it comes to swordsmanship, no one was my equal. Or have you already forgotten this?"

"You..." The queen felt as if she no longer knew the man standing before her.

Mordena said once more, "Your Highness, the Isle of Dawn is in need of my power more than ever. When it no longer requires my help, I will once again return to my place behind you."

According to the traditions of the Isle of Dawn, its king should never dabble in politics. It had always been this way for more than 10,000 years.

The elders behind the queen had heard what Mordena had said. If it had been under any other circumstances, they would have been the first to voice their objections. Right now, the High Elves were facing a problem unlike any other in the past. The elders were silent. A few tried to say something, but in the end, they simply let out a collective sigh.

Mordena had come from humble beginnings. Right now, he possessed power that the Isle of Dawn sorely needed. Once he had done what needed to be done, everything would still be able to return to normal. Besides, there was no immediate harm in breaking the old ways once or twice.

The queen was also of the same opinion. She sighed and touched Mordena's face. "It's been so long, and you haven't changed one bit. I'll allow this, but be careful. I can't bear to lose you again, my love."

With that said, everything was settled.

Mordena nodded. "I won't overestimate the enemy, nor will I underestimate him. I won't even try to confront him head-on. I'll do whatever it takes to facilitate the reunification of the elves."

The reunification of the elves was something the High Elf Elders had come up with after Ariel's death.

The High Elves and Dark Elves had existed on the Firuman continent for a long time. However, 3000 years ago, before the occurrence of the Mana Disaster, the two races had belonged to one race. The fact that they both shared a common ancestral line was grounds enough to work with each other now.

The way things were going, the Isle of Dawn would not be able to keep Ferde under its thumb any longer on its own without risking retaliation. They needed outside help.

That outside help came in the form of the Army of Destruction in the north.

This was the Isle of Dawn's approach to restoring the balance that they had worked so hard to maintain for the last 3000 years. A few years back, the High Elves had formed an alliance with the humans to resist the forces of darkness. Now, they were forced to ally themselves with the Army of Darkness to keep the humans down.

The High Elves would only switch sides if this alliance threatened to wipe out the humans and disturb that balance once more.

However, this time, things were different. The enemy that the Isle of Dawn now faced possessed immense power. As a result, the High Elves were forced to come up with a response to deal with this threat.

The High Elf Queen said in a low voice, "No, it's too dangerous to proceed with the reunification of the elves now. I'll leave this matter to Bryant. Also, this will only be a temporary solution to our problems. The Isle of Dawn is still in need of power to carry out its ends... I want you to execute the reunification of the realms."

Realm reunification was another response the elders had come up with.

Once the two realms of Firuman and Aragu were reunited, with Milda as the center point, the Isle of Dawn would be able to strengthen their forces with the large number of elves living in the Aragu realm.

If they were able to reunite both realms, the humans would effectively lose the advantage they had over the High Elves with their numbers. The High Elves would be able to fight the humans to the bitter end on equal ground.

Hearing what the queen said, Mordena frowned.

"Link was the one who had provided the coordinates for the Aragu realm. Knowing him, he must have set up a countermeasure against anyone trying to use them. Building a realm portal is just too risky."

"I know. That's why I'm letting you do it. My love, our daughter Milda is still in the Aragu realm."

Mordena jolted at the name. He nodded. "I'll do whatever it takes to build that realm portal."

Due to him having stayed out of High Elf politics for quite some time, Mordena did not fully grasp the whole idea of realm reunification. He had assumed it meant building a realm portal.

But that was not the case.

"No, not a realm portal, you're going to reunite the two realms!"

Mordena was stunned. "That's just impossible. Combining both realms would require an unlimited power source!"

"Don't forget, we have the World Tree on our side," said the High Elf Queen.

"I... I understand. I'll do as you asked!" Mordena nodded, letting out a long sigh.