Advent of the Archmage

Clink. Clink. There were two crisp sounds.

Skinorse tossed two fiery red daggers onto the ground before Link. They were the weapons that the lead Assassin had used that night—the Reaper's Gaze.

"The Assassin's body was strange and was hard to kill. I could only burn it, but the daggers are special. It's enough to prove that I completed the mission, right?"

Skinorse smiled, lips curled upward. He started displaying to the people his slightly evil good looks, making some of the women call out softly.

Link activated the Magician's Hand. The daggers floated before him, and he nodded after studying them. "Yes, they're his weapons."

With that, he commanded Jacker before the hundreds of people, "Go find Lucy. I must keep my promise."

The reward for killing the lead Assassin was 10,000 gold. Each dagger provided was 20,000 gold. In total, he would receive 50,000 gold and Link prepared to give it without hesitation.

Jacker was unwilling, but he couldn't go against Link. Sighing and complaining, he went to go find the territory's Chief Executive Officer Lucy for the money.

The spectators were shocked. This offer had spread throughout the entire Mainland. Now, someone had surprisingly completed it, and the lord fulfilled it without delay. In the Ferde Wilderness, Lord Link had very high prestige. No one doubted he would fork out the money, especially after the discovery of the clay mine.

"Gods, it's happening! Are endless coins going to appear before my eyes?" someone cried.

"Oh, I'm witnessing history in the making!" Someone was prepared to take his hat off in respect.

"I have a question. How can he take all those coins away himself? I think I can help." Another man began thinking of how he could benefit a little. The people discussed amongst themselves, highly anticipating the huge sum of money.

"Hey, wait!" Skinorse suddenly called to Jacker. Then he smiled at Link and said, "Lord, I trust your credibility and know you'll definitely fulfill the payment. But even though 50,000 gold is a lot, it's not really useful to me. Can I use another way to exchange for the reward money?"

Jacker stopped. He turned to Link, waiting for the command.

Link actually wasn't surprised by the Assassin's request. Fifty thousand gold was just a gimmick. For truly powerful men, there was nothing more useful than a powerful weapon or some kind of magic medicine.

Not everyone liked gold coins. Too many of the powerful individuals, they only needed enough gold to survive. Skinorse happened to be one of them.

"What would you like? I'll try my best." Link was very friendly.

Skinorse looked left and right. Seeing all the spectators, he said, "Let's find a quiet place to discuss in detail. Just us two, alright?"

It was obviously alright. Link turned to the side and put a hand out to guide Skinorse. "Let's go to my home."

Skinorse strode into Link's cabin; Link followed him. After he shut the door, the civilians all sighed sadly. They'd thought they would see the piles of gold, but they were let down.

Inside the cabin, Skinorse took in the furnishing of the cabin for a while before sighing involuntarily. "You're a lord who can give away 50,000 gold as a reward, but you live in such a shoddy place. It seems like I made the right choice."

Hearing this, Link was interested. In the past game, Skinorse was a wandering vigilante-type character. He was a bit of a playboy, but he didn't have any bad traits. He'd always been part of the Light Camp. Later, when darkness shrouded the mainland, he even joined the alliance against the Dark Army.

If someone like that said these words, did it mean he was another talent who wanted to join him? But it didn't seem right. This guy never liked restraints. He liked going around for adventures and probably wouldn't become his subordinate. Then, why was he here? Link was curious.

"There's no one else here," Link said with a smile. "You can tell me your request now."

Skinorse nodded. He walked to Link's table and took out an old scroll, unfurling it on the table.

"This is a map of an ancient tomb that I came across by chance. I went to the ancient ruins alone to investigate and found that it's very dangerous there. It is filled with ghosts and strange creatures. I tried to enter but failed. The ghosts are very sensitive, so if you want to enter the ancient tomb, you must kill them all, killing your way in. So…"

Here, he looked at Link. His meaning was clear—he needed Link's help.

Without responding to his plea, Link walked forward to study the map. It was drawn very clearly. The ancient tomb was in the Parmiso Plateau in the west of the Southmoon Kingdom. It was called the Tomb of the Late King Taris.

Seeing the surname Taris, related memories popped up in Link's mind. Turning toward Skinorse, he asked, "You said you saw many ghosts and creatures. Were they all very short and stocky?"

"Uh, yeah. They were all like that—short and stocky. How did you know?" Skinorse was pleasantly surprised.

"They're all dwarfs," Link explained. "Taris is the surname of one of the royal dwarven families who disappeared in the Mana Disaster 2000 years ago. The Taris Royal Family had the tradition of immolation burials. They would use a very cruel way to turn their guards into mummies. These mummies would become very powerful ghosts that would protect the tomb forever."

In the game, this tomb was a dungeon quest that contained some ancient books. When Link got bored playing the dungeon, he would read through the books for fun. In this life, he had read many magic books, which contained history. He had a deep understanding of the Taris Dynasty.

Because of this, when he saw the word Taris, he was able to remember the background facts about the tomb. Though the information was shallow, it was enough to shock outsiders.

Skinorse chuckled in surprise. He reached out to pat Link's shoulder but felt it was unsuitable, so his hand shrank back. "Ha, I really found the right person. Lord, if you can help me, I can forget about the gold."

Instead of saying whether he agreed or not, Link asked, "Just the two of us? We're probably not enough."

The ghosts had matured for 2000 years. Now, they had terrifying power and had many unique attacks. In real life, they might even have unexpected tactics. Link didn't want to risk this.

Skinorse rubbed his hands excitedly. "Hehe, two isn't enough, but I also have two friends. One is a Level-6 Warrior, and the other is a genius priest. Oh, she's a beauty too. She's so good she can bring the dead to life. We just need a powerful Magician now, so how about it? Interested?"

Unexpectedly, he had two aces, including a priest. Things were more reliable now.

There would definitely be many good things in the tomb. Link remembered that the most valuable thing was an ore called crystallized sheet metal. Its element was very special, and it was a necessary material for creating legendary weapons. It was the only piece of metal like it in Firuman. Similarly, dwarves were an ancient race. They had a unique knowledge of magic. There were sole copies of some magic books in the tomb; each one was worth a fortune.

It was definitely worth it to explore a tomb like this.

Considering it, Link said, "I can participate but merely offsetting the reward money isn't enough. I'm really busy, you know."

"Psh." Skinorse felt slightly annoyed. He wanted to argue, but after thinking closely, he realized that the money truly wasn't enough to hire the renowned Magician. This man could hand out 50,000 gold easily; he clearly didn't care about money.

"Then what do I need to do for you to agree?" Skinorse asked, throwing his hands up.

"I recently received a magic image." Link had been waiting for Skinorse to ask this and he was well-prepared. Taking out the magic image given by Warter, he gave it to Skinorse. "As you can see, the one with the crown is King Roy the Fifth of Delonga. He's working with Dark Magicians to create a powerful army with dark magic. This poses a huge threat to the Ferde Wilderness."

Skinorse studied the image and asked, "You want me to kill this Dark Magician?"

"Can you do it?" Link asked in return. It would be best if the Dark Magician could be killed.

"No." Skinorse's expression grew somber. He stared at the Dark Magician in the image and said, "This guy isn't a human…No, what I mean is he isn't from any of the intelligent creature on this world. His eyes tell me that he's already sold his soul to a demon god. Someone like that will definitely possess terrifying power. The dark aura around him proves this. I don't think I'm his opponent."

Link nodded darkly after hearing this. He could see all this too, but Skinorse could come up with so much with just a few glances. He was extraordinary.

"It's okay. As a lord, I must know the nearby threats clearly. I want to know the details of their alliance, what kind of power the army they create possesses, what weaknesses they have—all of that."

At this point, Gildern and the others hadn't developed yet. When they ran into truly strong opponents, they were helpless. This was a sign that they had weak foundations and needed time to accumulate experiences. However, he still needed to do things. Now, a powerful Assassin had offered himself to Link. He obviously had to take advantage of the situation.

Skinorse fell silent. After around three minutes, he nodded. "I'll do it. Give me ten days."

Link smiled, his eyes crinkling. "No problem."

Seeing him like that, Skinorse suddenly realized that he'd fallen into the cunning lord's trap. This was a loss for him. He huffed unhappily and put away the Reaper's Gaze daggers. "These daggers are pretty good. Since I'm helping you, I'm not going to give them to you anymore."

"Sure." They were just a set of Epic daggers. If Link wanted to, he could make some whenever he wanted. They were no big deal.

"I'm leaving." Skinorse was annoyed. He opened the door and left without another word.

Just then, he saw Celine who was back from gun practice. His eyes brightened instantly, and all annoyance disappeared. Turning around enthusiastically, he asked Link, "Hey Lord, that girl's pretty. Heh, that face, that body, that grace—I've never seen someone like that before. Can I know her name…Oh, she's walking towards me. Does she like me?"

Skinorse was instantly excited. He fixed up his hair, straightened his collars, and tried to make himself look more attractive. Then the corners of his lips curled, he narrowed his eyes a bit, put a hand behind his back, and reached out the other one. He bowed like a gentleman to Celine, who was now before him. "Beautiful miss, my pleasure to meet you," he said gently at the same time.

As he spoke, he wanted to take Celine's hand to kiss.

Celine was shocked. She moved to the side and walked past the Assassin with a weird expression. Reaching Link's side, she said, "Link, that guy looks weird. Is there something wrong with his brain?"

Link grasped Celine's hand to show that she was his and smiled. "He's not like the average man."

A man who could flirt while investigating demons was clearly in a different world than everyone else.

Skinorse was taken aback. He could see Link and Celine's relationship now and slapped his forehead. "Lord, I'm sorry…I'll go work now," he apologized promptly.

With that, he ran out of the cabin. He looked calm but inside, he was wailing, I'm so embarrassed!

While sprinting, he passed by a stone house. There was a small garden, and it was exquisite that Skinorse glanced at it subconsciously. Then he was stunned as if he was struck by lightning.

How can there be such a beautiful girl…elf? Oh my god, is this Aphrodite? What's with Scorched Ridge? Ah, that girl looks good too.

Skinorse plastered on his mesmerizing smile again and instinctively wanted to go say hi, but he tripped over air and almost fell down.

Heh, thankfully I'm skilled. This is nothing!

In midair, Skinorse adjusted his balance, ready to land with an attractive spin. The next instant, there was a thud, and he crashed. He rolled on the ground a couple of times and then landed facedown.

It wasn't that he wasn't skilled enough, but that he had been attacked by a Magician, destroying his balance. Skinorse hadn't sensed any bad intent, so he didn't dodge, resulting in this pathetic state.

Then he heard a cold voice. "A human must not offend Her Highness!"

Skinorse turned around and saw a High Elf Magician glaring at him. He felt for the other's Mana and realized…he was a Level-7 Master Magician. Skinorse turned back to the garden. The beautiful elf had taken the little girl into the house without even looking at him.

"Oh, it's the princess. Haha, sorry about that, sorry."

Skinorse climbed up quickly and patted the dust from his clothes. He apologized again and turned to leave. He seemed calm but inside, he was wailing, Ah, this place is so unfriendly. It's not suitable for a beautiful man like me!

The more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he felt. After leaving Scorched Ridge, he started sprinting. He didn't stop until Scorched Ridge was totally gone from his vision.

On the other hand, Link didn't care about Skinorse's misfortunes. Smiling, he asked, "How's gun practice?"

Celine was in love with the pistol. Hearing the question, she grew proud. "Pretty good. I can hit nine out of ten arrowhead seagulls within one mile. If I practice a few more days, I can easily get ten out of ten. But mostly, this gun is so powerful."

Arrowhead seagulls were a type of bird with extreme speed. They were agile as well. She was definitely a sharpshooter if she could hit nine out of ten within one mile.

Seeing her animated features, Link was happy naturally. Nodding, he said, "Good, good. Come, I got you 100 more bullets. Take them to practice some more."

The two shared a moment and then Link took out the broken magic puppet Nana. He started organizing the pieces one-by-one.