Advent of the Archmage

Link activated the Dimensional Jump and arrived at a tavern in Scorched City. He saw a gray-robed elder at a small table in the corner. There was a small plate of food and two cups of gold absinthe. He was drinking by himself.

After seeing Link, the man smiled. "Come, come drink with me."

Link was wearing regular clothing and didn't worry about getting recognized. He sat across from the elder and sipped from a cup. Then he said, "When we separated at the Dragon Valley, you said you were going to deal with the Dark Magician. Did he cause any trouble?"

The elder sighed and drank some more alcohol. "Yes, quite troublesome. I feel that I can't do it myself so I thought of you."

"Tell me." Link snapped his fingers at a server and motioned with his hands. This was a signal that only regulars at the tavern knew. It meant that he wanted a specialty of marinated beef, sauce, and a bottle of secret Ferde fire wine.

The server seemed to figure out Link's identity and quickly went to prepare the order.

The elder stopped drinking his absinthe. He placed a black pebble on the table and pushed it to Link with his finger. "Do you recognize this?"

The black pebble was round and smooth. It looked like a black Go piece and didn't have any aura. Other than the color, it was identical to the Jogu that Link had been collecting.

He picked it up and sensed carefully. He instantly felt a hidden aura similar to Jogus. Furrowing his brow, he asked, "Is it a Black Spirit?"

In the game, the Black Spirit and White Jogu existed opposite each other. Players of the Light camp collected Jogu to exchange for what they wanted from Travel Magicians. The Dark side also had a similar currency—the Black Spirit.

After a player killed a high-level member of the Dark side, they could also receive this. After giving it to Aisenis, they could exchange it for half the White Jogus.

The Light Magician nodded and smiled. "I didn't expect you to know."

At that moment, the server brought over the dish and alcohol. Link poured a cup for himself and said, "Fire wine and marinated beef is a specialty of Scorched Ridge, especially in the wet winter. Your entire body warms up with one sip. Try it."

The Light Magician did so and chuckled. "These scammers. I told them to give me the local specialties, and they gave me absinthe and fried fish. Compared to yours, I can't even stomach mine anymore."

Link laughed. "I've always wanted to know your name and that Dark Magician. Can I know?"

"Of course, it's not some big secret. My name is Halino, and he's Eugene. We've fought for almost 600 years. You don't know how annoying Eugene is. My only wish in life is to imprison him and spend the rest of my life watching him!"

As he spoke, Light Magician Halino put away the Black Spirit and continued, "The recent event has something to do with Black Spirits. Eugene found Morpheus and had a secret exchange with him. After that, Eugene started collecting Black Spirits everywhere. I don't know what he's planning, but I know it can't be anything good. Morpheus is worrying too. After the exchange, he started constructing realm portals. I secretly investigated for the target of the portal and realized it led to the Delou Ethereal Realm. Eugene must have given him the coordinates."

Ethereals were a type of spirit. They couldn't exist independently in the Firuman realm and had to have a host.

The host could be a human or a beast. After becoming a host, the organism would receive the Ethereal's abilities. The cost was that their vitality would endlessly be corroded. They would lose control of their mind and completely become the Ethereal's puppet.

Ethereal Warriors appeared in the mid-period of the game. It was when the Norton Kingdom was struggling against the Dark Army in the North.

The Syndicate created a powerful Ethereal Warrior army because they were usually extremely powerful and had unique law powers. With this army, Shadow Stalker Morpheus quickly took all power in the Southern Merchant Alliance and prepared to rule over the South.

This wasn't a bad thing at first. In the beginning, Morpheus had teamed up with the Dark Army and killed every human he saw. The relationship with Nozama, Lord of the Deep, quickly soured. He even planned on establishing an army of five kingdoms to help the Norton Kingdom fight against the Dark Army.

The problem was that Morpheus completely over-estimated his control over the Ethereal Warriors!

These powerful Warriors quickly broke free from his control and poured into Firuman. They took over tens of thousands of organisms. The once-gentle hosting turned cruel too.

The Ethereals corroded their hosts' souls to take over their body. It soon turned into a catastrophe in the South.

The Syndicate had no time to care about the others. Even Morpheus was heavily injured by Ethereal Warriors and had to escape. He hid in his turf and didn't dare appear. This was how the storyline quest of the Shadow Stalker happened.

The player would kill Morpheus and go south to fight with the Ethereal Warriors. By the time they poured in their efforts and chased away the Ethereals, the five kingdoms were practically all in ruins.

Of course, this was what happened in the game. Seeing that Morpheus was going to repeat the mistake, Link felt screwed. He'd already changed history so much. Why did the events of the game have to come back?

Despite being a Level-11 Legendary Magician now, Link still felt troubled against these Ethereal Warriors. These creatures weren't that powerful—they were mostly around Level-8 or nine, rarely going past Level-10.

But they had tons of tricks and some really fatal talents. In the game, countless independent Legendary players died at their hands. Ethereal Warriors had another nickname—Legendary Killers!

Thinking of all this, Link sighed. "I read about the Delou Ethereals in a book before. They're an ambitious group. Morpheus wants to use their power. Isn't he scared of drawing fire onto himself?"

Halino shook his head. "I don't know about that. Maybe he has some kind of method of control. He's Level-19, after all, and also has some divine knowledge. His power isn't something we can comprehend."

"Morpheus is just a parvenu." Link drank some wine, his expression one of disdain.

Link didn't get this information from the game; he discovered it from the dragon library. Morpheus was originally a robber and liked adventures. He was Level-9 at his peak. But after a trip to a relic, he luckily found a piece of Godhead.

And then he hit a goldmine!

Halino obviously agreed with Link. Chuckling, he said, "So Morpheus isn't that threatening. Eugene is the one who's actually a threat. To be honest, Eugene is Level-13, and he is a true genius. He also loves taking risks. He doesn't care about mortal lives. I'm truly worried about what he can do."

Level-13. Link's heart jumped. This strength was indeed a bit scary. Morpheus was even stronger than Bryant. In Link's knowledge, all shocking events from the past millennium all had traces of this Dark Magician.

After thinking carefully, Link said, "I'm afraid I can't help you. I'm not his match either."

In regard to absolute power, Link was Level-11 and nowhere near Eugene. Of course, no one could be completely sure about the winner in a battle of life or death. Every Legendary Magician had their own killer skill. They all feared each other.

"No, you underestimate yourself. In Firuman, you are number one in spatial laws. If we work together, Eugene won't be able to escape," Halino said.

But Link shook his head. "No, no, no. Eugene is a very dangerous figure, but he has his own morals. If I don't fight him, he won't come find trouble with me. But if I do, my territory will be threatened. He might even destroy it, so I can't do it."

He had no conflicts with Eugene. Ruining his plans for no reason would make him hate Link. He wasn't scared for himself. At most, they would just fight to the death.

But he had a territory and Celine. He could escape, but Ferde would become Eugene's target for revenge.

Here, Link drank some fire wine and said, "Compared to that, I'm more worried about Morpheus summoning the Ethereals. He doesn't understand how horrible the Ethereals can be and his methods are crude. I can feel that he will ultimately lose control of the Ethereals."

Hearing this, Halino looked unsatisfied. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Link nodded.

"What a pity." Halino took out a runestone. "Contact me if you change your mind."

At their point, all words were spoken after careful consideration. No one would nag and try to persuade someone else. Other than souring a relationship, it was useless.

"I will." Link nodded and took the runestone.

Halino stood up and bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality, Ferde lord."

He retreated into the shadowy corner and disappeared. Link remained at the table. He drank by himself and plotted.

Morpheus summoning the Ethereals was truly troublesome. That guy did this near his turf and was an undefeated Level-19 Magician. He had the absolute advantage. If Link just went to stop him, it would be suicide. He would definitely be squashed.

The other was too strong. He was halfway into godly territory. Even if Link called some of his Legendary friends, he still wouldn't be a match.

Thinking some more, Link couldn't figure out a good way against Morpheus. He could just leave it to the side for now and continue watching the South. When Morpheus was hurt by the Ethereals' betrayal, he would reach out and take care of things.

He couldn't just not do anything during this time though.

Humans are too weak while the upper limit of power in Firuman is too high. Some powerful and ambitious person will always show up and cause a disaster. My plan for spreading my Dragon Power… I can't delay it any further.

For an ant, a slight breeze could be the end of the world. Humans were the ants now.

First, they had the Dark Army, and then, the God of Destruction. Now, Morpheus was summoning Ethereal Warriors in the South, and Dark Magician Eugene was stirring up more trouble. How could Link take care of everything alone?

Since ants have difficulty surviving, I'll turn the ants into dragons!

Magical races like the High Elves were so powerful that no one dared to mess with them. The Isle of Dawn had been as peaceful as heaven for 3000 years. The High Elves could do it, so why couldn't the humans? They weren't any stupider.

Thinking of this, Link emptied his cup and threw down a gold coin. As he left, he was already thinking about how to create the seed of Dragon Power.