Advent of the Archmage

March 18th

The cold winter had passed, and the warm rays of the sun had once again graced the World of Firuman. When Link opened the window in the morning, he could smell the distinct fragrance of vegetation nourished by the heavy rain last night.　　

From afar, Link saw that the Willow Forest beside Bryant's Inspiration Courtyard seemed to be covered with a layer of yellow velvet edges. When the spring breeze blew, the petals would be carried along with the wind like snowflakes in the air. Under the warm embrace of the sun, the moisture in the wet ground continued to evaporate, pushing the petals around in the air. The slow and graceful whirlwind of petals was indeed a sight to behold.　

Link also saw many other apprentices who woke up early to view the flowers or for the couples, a romantic getaway on the morning of spring. Some others found a remote spot to concentrate on their magic research. From time to time, crisp and hearty laughter could be heard.　

The current East Cove Higher Magic Academy indeed looked a setting from a fairy-tale.

Link involuntarily smiled and looked out from his window for a few minutes before returning to his desk.

He first brought out the Prophet's white stone and began charging it with mana. It took barely a few minutes for Link's Mana Points to be completely depleted. A light sound was then emitted, and the material of the stone started to change.　　　　

The stone was originally opaque and white in color. However, it had turned into a clear and brilliant crystal with many shining spots sparkling inside it. It was like peering into an endless bounty of stars in the sky.

Link then checked its status.　

Prophet's White Stone (Fully Charged)

State: 100/100

Uses: 3/3　

Link heaved a sigh of relief. It is finally charged.

He then took a short rest before picking up the quill to dip it in the pot of ink right beside it. He then started to expand on his space-time thesis.　

He had been struck with inspiration last night in his dream. He had to write it out as soon as possible before his memory faded.　

The thesis had been expanded to a level that was way higher than before. After six months of tireless effort on Link's part, the thesis had reached an incredible stage. It was extremely tough to understand and even to the point of being obscure.

The question that inspired this paper was extremely simple. Why would a stone fall?　

Every person on the continent should be able to understand this simple problem, and this basic question was the basis of Link's entire thesis. However, the current state of the thesis had already contained ideas that were almost beyond the intellectual capabilities of a normal human.

Even if Link were to publish his paper to the world, there would only be a handful of people who would be able to understand it. 　　

You could not even understand it even if he gave it to you for free. That was how arrogant the thesis itself was.　　

This situation was akin to letting an ordinary person on earth listen to a world-class physicist's deduction process of his theories. One would be lucky enough to recognize all the symbols they were looking at, much less understand the entire speech.

That was the truth about Link's thesis.　

When Eliard came to visit a few days ago, he took a glance at Link's recent discoveries and gave up after half a minute. He then had a look of frustration on his face.　　

Herrera also used to be interested in the thesis. She would often request for the newest copy and even discuss with Link about the details of the thesis. However, ever since she got the latest paper a month ago which took her three whole days before she grazed the surface of the contents, she stopped reading the thesis entirely.

It was way too difficult. She felt as though her mind was exploding when she read it. It had turned from being a joyous task to one that was torturous.　　

Link could only depend on himself now that no one around him would be able to give any constructive comments anymore. He felt like he was walking in a pitch-black wilderness. What will he find and achieve? He had no idea.　　

After half an hour of deduction, Link arrived at a beautiful formula. It was the perfect expression for a spatial curl.

He admired his work, but his expression quickly turned pained. What a waste! This spatial curl can totally be the basis of an ultra-long-distance transmission machine. However, the required magic compression level is way too high. It is impossible for a human to reach that level of strength alone. They would need a variety of equipment made from extremely high-quality materials. I predict that 10000 gold coins would not even scratch the surface of the cost to build such a transmitter.　

He could only temporarily shelf his idea as it would be impossible to realize this dream in the near future.　

Link then continued expanding on his thesis and quickly became immersed in the process. He would often frown and had various quirky expressions on his face. Sometimes, he would put down his quill to wonder about the many mysteries he was going to discover, completely neglecting the passage of time.

After a while, Link arrived at another formula. His quill came to a sudden stop as he stared hard at his new product. Around ten minutes later, he broke out in laughter.

"The Gods have blessed me! I have been thinking about how to increase the spellcasting speed of the Titan's Hand. To think that I have achieved a breakthrough in my thesis!"　

Link had already mastered the Level-6 spell Titan's Hand for a month. However, he had never used it in battle. Even when he was facing the demon in the Girvent Forest, he merely used the Level-5 spell, the Fire God Hand.　　　

The sole reason for that was the slow casting speed. It needed a full five seconds for the spell to be fully formed. Amidst a battle between high-level opponents, this casting speed was simply a joke.

Unless someone was protecting him while he channeled the spell, this Level-6 spell had practically no actual combat value. Furthermore, there would always be shortcomings when one depended on another person for protection. Link hated the feeling when his life depended fully on the performance of others.

Hence, his main aim was to increase the Titan's Hand spellcasting speed. However, he had not been able to obtain a new Glyph of Soul from the in-game system. This greatly reduced the limit to which his spellcasting speed could be heightened. After half a month of research, he had only hastened the spellcasting time to four seconds.　

The breakthrough that he got from the thesis was thus enough to make him ecstatic.　

I know of a machine gun Supreme Magic Skill and a Glyph of Soul spell that could be released almost instantaneously. If I can combine them all together with the space dispersion field, I can reduce the casting time to less than a second!

The theory behind this was simple. Link would first release a Fire God Hand enchanted with his Supreme Magic Skill, the Machine Gun. Under the effect of the Glyph of Soul, he could almost release the Level-5 spell instantaneously. He would then cancel the Fire God Hand immediately which would trigger the magical resonance effect of the machine gun, creating a new Fire God Hand spell.　　

The original cause and effect would be that a Fire God Hand spell would call out another Fire God Hand spell. However, Link's idea was to make use of the space dispersion field effect to call out a Titan's Hand spell instead.

This would not be feasible for spells which were completely unrelated. However, the Fire God Hand spell and the Titan Hand spell were two almost homologous spells. It would totally work!　　

Link wasted no time and began to design the spell immediately.　

He was the main architect of the Machine Gun, the Fire God Hand spell, the Titan Hand spell, as well as the space dispersion field. He thus had a good understanding of these respective components and began working quickly.　　

It took merely two hours for his design to take shape. By then, it was only 10 o'clock in the afternoon.

He checked his Mana Points and realized that it had already recovered to 600 points. Link thought for a moment and drank a mid-level Mana Recovery Potion to recover 500 Mana Points. He then dashed to the Heaven's Thorn excitedly. He desperately wanted to test out his hypothesis.

If he succeeded in this attempt, he would have made the record for the fastest Level-6 spell in the entire history of Firuman. Even those Magicians who had worn countless equipment that increased their spellcasting speed previously in the game were unable to reduce the spellcasting speed of Level-6 spells to less than two seconds. His hypothesis might allow him to release one almost instantaneously!

The world is really filled with possibilities! Link could not wait to get started.

He made a quick dash to the Heaven's Thorn. He was now a celebrity in the academy and would attract everyone's attention.　　　

Many Magicians on the way would greet him to which he replied in kind. He then rushed off at an even faster speed, causing the Magicians on the way to have a perplexed expression on their faces.

"What is Link up to again?" Someone asked.

"He is the kind of person who only thinks about magic all day long. It is pretty boring to be honest." A beautiful female apprentice pouted.　

"I remember you saying that he was charming last time. What happened? Did you get rejected?"　　　

"None of your business!"　　

Link ignored all those statements and made a beeline for the Mage Tower. He was already panting and gasping for breath when he reached the Heaven's Thorn. After seeing Selasse, he immediately asked, "Is the sub-elemental pool empty?"

Selasse helplessly said, "Someone just entered. You'll have to wait for half an hour."　

"Oh…" Link was disappointed. This was the inconvenience of not having a Mage Tower of your own. One would have to wait even to further their own research. This made him desire his own Mage Tower even more.　　　

Link could only wait.

However, Selasse then continued, "The dean had instructed me that if there is a need, you can use the main elemental pool reserved especially for him. It is currently empty."　　　

Link's eyes glowed as he said, "Can I really?"

The main elemental pool in the Heaven's Thorn was Level-9 in strength and was termed the Celestial Pool. It was well-known throughout the entire Norton Kingdom and even the human race. The only other elemental pool that was comparable in strength was the elemental melting pot in the sky city that belonged to the Magician Alliance in the South. This Celestial Pool was usually reserved only for the dean's usage.

"Of course. It is the dean's instructions. I'll bring you there."　

Link hastily followed behind.

The main elemental pool was on the fifth level. Link was dumbfounded by the spectacular sight. 　　

The entire fifth floor was made up almost entirely by the Celestial Pool. The room was 500 square feet in size, and the elements amongst the pool seemed exceptionally concentrated. From afar, there seemed to be no fluctuations in the elements at all, much like staring into mirrors of many different colors. The materials used to ensure the stability of the magic formation were also extremely rare. This spectacular sight almost blinded Link.　

In the fire elemental area, Link saw the Fire Star Thorium. In the water elemental area, he then saw the Aquatic Silver that was reflecting sapphire brilliance off one another ever so confidently. The earth elemental area naturally had the Fissure Crystal—they were all extremely expensive materials.　　　

Link could not even begin to estimate the cost needed to create an elemental pool of such scale. This was the hallmark of a kingdom's strength, and definitely a strategic battle resource. Link had the confidence to build a Level-6 elemental pool from scratch. However, an elemental pool the level of the Celestial Pool was another question altogether. Judging from Link's current strength, he could merely stare and watch in awe.

Let's stop thinking about it and start experimenting. Link took a deep breath and stepped into the elemental pool.

Selasse gently closed the door behind Link and immediately was inspired to write a new poem.　　

He took out his notebook and started writing with fervor.

He is always disheveled, his hair as messy as the beggars outside of town. However, an intellectual brilliance shines through his eyes. Today, he stepped into the Celestial Pool. What miracles will he create? Mortals should not hope to even understand or predict his actions, but simply exalt those that he will bring.