Advent of the Archmage

Ferde Wilderness.

Romilsin's summoned unicorn was even faster than Link's Wind Fenrir. After a few minutes, he was more than 300 feet ahead of Link.

However, he was not stupid. He knew that if he wanted to save the princess, he needed Link's power. So, after getting more than 300 feet ahead, he did not speed up and just maintained this distance.

The princess's blood aura in the stains was fading. This meant the princess's life was fading too.

Romilson must get to Milda as fast as possible. Not a second could be wasted!

The wilderness terrain had no pattern. Sometimes there would be boulders in the way, but that was okay. His Level-4 unicorn was very powerful and helped him quickly pass through these obstacles.

"Hey!"

Romilson controlled the unicorn to jump over a boulder and then land before continuing forward at breakneck speed. He then heard a call from behind him. It was Link, trying to say something to him.

He wanted to ignore the man. The humans were cold-blooded, selfish, and fake. If he didn't need Link's power to save the princess, he wouldn't even slow down to wait.

So what if you're the number one human Magician? So what if you can do spatial magic? F*ck you! Anger rose inside Romilson. He stopped controlling the unicorn's speed and prepared to charge wildly.

But then, he suddenly heard a whoosh sound behind him. At the same time, there were violent Mana waves—it was a magic spell. Someone was attacking behind with a spell.

Looking back, he saw a metallic tip piercing towards him. The Mana on it showed that it was Link's spell.

"Link? Attacking me! What is he doing?" Romilson grew even more furious. Getting an idea, he instantly cast the defensive spell Shield of Thorns.

Shield of Thorns

Level-2 Elite Spell

Effect: Rattan thorns created by solidified natural elements form a flexible shield. It can effectively block all piercing attacks.

(Note: exclusive High Elf spell.)

A green light flashed in the air, and countless thorns formed instantly. They wove together and created a ten-foot wide shield.

Poof! The Whistle collided with the shield and exploded. However, the countless thorns absorbed all of the destructive force. It was basically ineffective.

Romulsive instinctively began to fight back.

He pointed his wand at the ground. A beam of dark green light shot into the soil.

"Poison Ivy Puncture!"

Poison Ivy Puncture

Level-3 Elite Spell

Use: Creates a bundle of ivy vines that snakes across the ground. These vines are very resilient, highly penetrative, and poisonous. They can pop out of anywhere within 210 feet and attack the enemy.

(Note: exclusive a High Elf spell.)

A flood of vines slithered across the ground, stretching toward Link who was catching up.

Using the delay caused by the Whistle, Link had decreased the distance between them to around 180 feet. Seeing the vines coming for him, he scrutinized the soil for any changes and guided the Wind Fenrir left and right.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

With each explosion, the soil beside Link burst. Bundles of black, thorny vines shot up rapidly. If Link was hit, he would either die or the poison would make him wish he were dead.

Unblinkingly, Link multitasked while dodging the poison ivy. With a slight change of thought, he hurled a Level-1 Vector Protective Force Field at Romilson who was 120 feet away.

While maintaining his summoned unicorn, Romilson focused on controlling the poison ivy to attack Link. Seeing how Link was dodging pathetically, he thought that Link would be unable to cast spells and didn't give himself any defensive spells.

He was wrong.

The Magicians who practiced with him in the Isle of Dawn couldn't do it, but that didn't mean Link couldn't.

Multitasking with two tasks or even three, and counter-attacking while defending was something every Magician needed to know in a battle. If you couldn't do it and didn't want to die, then you should just hide in the back and play nurse.

Boom! Romilson was instantly hit by the force field.

The force field wasn't very strong, but it was still painful for an average man. Romilson was stronger than most people, yet he still toppled down the unicorn in a jumbled mess.

He dropped his wand too. The unicorn and poison ivy all vanished.

Footsteps approached him. The Wind Fenrir had reached him. Link perched on the Fenrir and pointed the wand at Romilson. The Vector Protective Force Field was in preparation; the semi-transparent force field easily restricted Romilson on the ground.

Romilson stared at Link in disbelief. "You want to kill me? Are you really studying dark magic?"

Link sighed, feeling sad for the High Elf's brain. He said coldly, "I'm stopping you from killing Princess Milda!"

Romilson was instantly furious. "Kill Princess Milda? Bullsh*t! I'm saving her!"

Link's patience had a limit too. He pointed in the direction Romilson was heading to. "Is the princess in that direction?"

"Yes! Let go of me!" Romilson roared.

Link said coldly, "There are most likely still Assassins hidden in the wilderness, including at least one Level-6 Magician. If you go directly, the enemies will easily find where the princess is hiding. You're killing her!"

"You…" Romilson uttered before he finally processed it. He shuddered and the blood drained from his face.

Seeing that he understood, Link let go of the force field. He waited for the High Elf to stand up dazedly and growled, "What are you waiting for? Where's your unicorn? Hurry up!"

"But this will reveal Her Highness's hiding spot." Romilson had broken down like a system's collapse; his IQ was plummeting too. It was useless to hope he could do something.

"Summon your unicorn!" Link changed his tactic and ordered.

Romilson mumbled something and wanted to argue, but what he had just done was honestly too stupid. He had no confidence now. After hesitating a bit, he summoned the dark brown unicorn again.

Link said again, "Go. You point the way, and we'll take a detour!"

"Which way?" Romilson asked another stupid question.

Rather than berating him, Link pointed in a random direction. "That way and speed up!"

"Uh…okay." Romilson obediently steered the unicorn and then sped up. He honestly had no self-esteem now; he went at Link's speed.

Link asked, "How far are we from the princess?"

"Around five miles away."

Link quietly estimated and then said, "Then, the princess will be absolutely safe within five minutes. After five minutes, she'll be in danger, so we have five minutes to act."

Romilson didn't understand. "Uh…how did you calculate that? Are you sure it's five minutes? Won't they be confused by the direction we're going in?"

To make him cooperate, Link explained, "It's a simple deduction. I hypothesized that you were discovered the moment you ran out of the territory. The enemy also guessed the princess's hiding spot at once and sent the command immediately. It's around five miles from the territory to that spot. If the Assassins go directly there at top speed, it'll take five minutes."

This was a really simple math problem. The shortest distance between two points was a line. Divide the shortest distance by the enemy's highest speed, and you would get the period of absolute safety.

"They might use magic communication to send the message," Romilson tried to argue.

"Impossible!" Link said decisively and explained, "Firstly, I didn't sense any strange Mana waves around here. Secondly, that command is complicated and temporary. It's hard to use magic communication to send messages like this."

Romilson was speechless and completely convinced. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "What if they're fooled by what we're doing now? Will it help win us some time?"

"A little but not much. If I were them, I'd choose to split my men into two groups. One group would follow the original direction. The other would follow us." Link had thought it through.

Hearing this, Romilson grew anxious. "Then why don't we just go in a straight line?"

"Calm down." Link seemed to have already won. After a while, he suddenly said, "Okay, change your direction and go at top speed, then keep the distance between us to 160 feet."

"But this is the wrong direction! It's wrong by a lot!" Romilson honestly couldn't understand.

"I know, but stop hesitating and just go!" Link had become strict again.

Romilson's self-esteem had recovered a bit, but he still couldn't fight against Link's command. Gritting his teeth, he started galloping towards the direction Link had pointed out.

After a while, he turned around and saw that Link's Wind Fenrir had started galloping too, maintaining the 160-foot distance between them.

This was slightly reassuring.

...

At night in the wilderness.

"Chief, they changed direction."

"Changed direction? How?" The Assassin speaking held two dark red daggers.

"Link caught up to the High Elf, and they seemed to have a scuffle. Then, they changed direction."

"Heh, don't hesitate. Continue searching in the original direction. And send two more men after them. Don't lose them."

"Understood."

Half a minute later, another Assassin came to report. "Chief, they changed direction again."

"They seemed to have argued and the High Elf ran forward again. He's super fast."

"Oh?" The chief sank into thought. After a few seconds, he asked, "Is it the original direction?"

"It's at least 20 degrees off."

"Tell the men to change direction. Follow the High Elf's current direction. Hurry, they must hurry!"

"Understood."

Seeing the man leave, the chief sped up too. He was extremely fast—even faster than Link's Wind Fenrir. After sprinting for two minutes, the High Elf and Link appeared in his vision.

He cackled, "Link, so what if you saw through my plan? It's not my fault that High Elf is stupid, ha!"

Thinking a bit, he felt that it still wasn't safe. The two were too fast and might get to the High Elf Princess first. He must slow them down so his men would have more time to search.