Advent of the Archmage

In the World of Firuman, the High Elves were the best at creating life. Using the World Tree, they could create seeds of magical plants. They’d also created various types of tree spirits, flower spirits, and tree people.

But despite their efforts throughout the generations, they could only create lifelike flesh bodies for animals. They had many attainments in creating lives and even intelligent lives, but there was still a long way to go before truly succeeding.

Thus, Milose also walked over after hearing what Link had said. He wanted to see what Link could do.

Nana also turned around curiously to watch Link make the potion.

Link was extremely busy. Occasionally, there would be mysterious flashes of light. At the same time, he explained, “You’re all wrong. I can’t create a true life. I’m not even close to that. Nana’s level is mostly due to her experiences which can’t be copied. All I can do is perfect her a bit more, but I still can’t give her a true life. I recently figured out the improvement method too. I added alchemy and enchantments. I call this… Automatic Enchantment Magic Potion.”

“That name is so simple. It doesn’t match the miraculous potion.” Eliard wanted to stand up for the potion. After thinking for a bit, he said, “I think we should call it Water of Miracles.”

Link chuckled. “It’s not a miracle, but that’s a nice name. We can call it that.”

As he spoke, his hands stopped. There was a new bottle in his hands. The potion looked like white fog. At closer inspection, one would discover that it was a type of sol. Countless glowing dots floated in the sticky substance.

Looking even more closely, one would discover that each glowing dot was actually the glow of a detailed rune. There was a subtle force between each rune’s glow, keeping them equidistant.

“Is it ready?” Eliard asked.

“No, this is only the foundation potion. If the entire Water of Miracles is a ship filled with cargo, this bottle is that ship. Next, we have to make the cargo to fill it with.”

With that, Link took out various enchantment materials and laid them out. There were around 100 types. “Come help me process these,” he said. “It’s tiresome work. It’ll take a long while if I do it alone.”

“Understood.”

The two Magicians walked up while Link instructed them.

“That is replenishment gold. Grind it into powder with the Gritz grinding method. Eliard, you’re familiar with this, so you do it.”

Eliard nodded. He took the precious metal covered in light purple haze. Walking to the enchantment table nearby, he started working carefully.

“This is suppression silver wood. I need it turned into liquid. When the particles are in their natural positions, it should have the effect of a Tier-3 mirror surface. It’s wood, so Milose, you do it with the Marshal Fractal method.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Milose took the dark silver material that looked like the withered root of a tree. Faint green light surged from his hand, and the wood gradually started transforming.

Link himself took a piece of metal with a faint red light and started refining it. He also ground it into powder with high requirements for the size of each particle.

The enchantment room instantly fell silent, the three Magicians all busy with their own work. Whenever Eliard and Milose finished their task, Link would take out new material for them. He didn’t let them rest at all. Of course, it was the same for him. He wouldn’t waste a single second.

A day and night passed in the business. To a Legendary Magician, this kind of work only made them a bit tired. They could recover with some rest. Link and Eliard especially had types of power with great endurance. They weren’t affected at all.

During this time, Link took out 125 types of material in total and used various enchantment methods to turn them into 210 types of materials of different physical properties.

It was far from the end though. This was only the preparatory stage.

After all this, Link finally started to use his actual enchantment technique. He took each material and used enchantment spells or the tools to refine them. Magical light never stopped flashing from his hands. The various materials quickly changed in his hands, either mixing, dissolving, or transforming.

Occasionally, he would give Eliard and Milose some missions. Most of the time, he did everything alone while the other two just watched on the side.

After a long while, Milose whispered to Eliard, “Lord’s Mana output hasn’t decreased at all. It’s been five hours and the Mana he uses every three seconds is equivalent to a Level-7 spell. How can he have so much energy?”

“You wouldn’t know, but Ferde’s Sunlight Power’s strongest characteristic is its recovery rate,” Eliard replied quietly. “It practically surpasses dragon power. Link is the main creator, so his recovery rate means that he basically will never run out of energy.”

“Oh,” Milose said. After a while, he asked again, “Do you understand the lord’s techniques? It seems to be like Isle of Dawn enchantments, but after looking closer, it seems different. There are occasionally dragon techniques, and I even saw the melting techniques of dwarves. It’s so strange.”

“I can understand some but not most.” Eliard’s eyes never left Link’s hands; his eyes were practically shining. “Link created many more intricate enchantment techniques. After a while, he’ll probably write a book with them. If you have the authority and enough Magic Points, you can read it.”

“Really? He’ll share it?” Milose couldn’t believe it. In his opinion, these were probably Link’s most secret tricks. He should treasure them. For example, in the Isle of Dawn, many families treated their Magician’s ultimate techniques as treasures. Like the royalty wouldn’t pass many powerful spells to non-royalty, or even to those not directly in line to the throne.”

Eliard guessed Milose’s thoughts and smiled faintly. “Every new idea is like a brick. After some time, the bricks will form a small magic house. The small house will turn into a big house, and then a tower and a palace. After centuries, perhaps Ferde will become the most brilliant magic temple in Firuman. The Isle of Dawn…might be stronger now, but who knows in the future?”

“But if people learn the lord’s abilities…” Milose mumbled. He understood the logic, but he was still conflicted about sharing. If someone learned his tricks and surpassed him, he would have nothing.

Eliard sighed and glanced at Milose with pity. “That depends on what kind of person you want to become. If you want to stop improving, keep all your good stuff. If you want to improve, you should share your accomplishments. If you do that, you’ll naturally receive the fruits of others. You can only improve by mixing different thoughts… You should know that in Ferde, the Magic Point reward for sharing any unique spell is 1000 times more than creating a potion of the same level. Buying someone else’s wisdom also costs 1000 times more than magical items of the same level. This is the reward for wisdom.”

Milose was affected by Eliard’s eyes. He wanted to refute him but couldn’t find anything and gave up in the end. He still wasn’t entirely convinced, but the idea of sharing wisdom was carved into his soul.

At that time, Link stopped.

He’d used up all the refined magic equipment at that time too. A fist-sized ball was now in his hands. It was brown and completely dull. No magic aura seeped out of it. If he tossed it on the ground, it would be like any small rock.

“That’s it?” Eliard glanced at the “rock.” He knew that it was filled with boundless wisdom, so his eyes were reverent.

“Getting close.”

There was some fatigue in his eyes, and his hand twitched. The white foggy sol flew out of the bottle and spread equally in the air. At the same time, the brown “rock” in Link’s hand broke into a mist with a soft sound. The mist and sol mixed together under the invisible force of magic.

After around half an hour, the brown mist was gone. The originally white sol was now dark red. It looked a bit like blood.

The liquid formed a circle. Though it contained the brown mist, its size hadn’t changed. It was only around two centimeters in diameter. Hovering in the air, it floated towards Nana.

“Open your mouth and swallow it. It will fix your body’s last flaw, Link said.

Nana did so without hesitation. The round liquid entered her mouth and automatically “rolled” down her throat. Around three seconds later, Nana’s body shook. She gripped the enchantment table, and the sturdy table cracked, turning to powder.

But the next moment, Nana stood up with a confused expression. She clenched her fist and then touched her face. Her expression grew more confused. “Master, Nana doesn’t feel any change.”

Link smiled. “That’s right. Life is the most complicated structure in the world, so all changes happen gradually. Wait patiently, and you’ll feel the power of the Water of Miracles.”

“Oh.” Nana was still confused, but she accepted Link’s explanation.

Eliard found it strange too. He’d thought that a potion of this level should cause some things like a giant flash or Nana’s power multiplying. But the ending was so anticlimactic. He just felt like something was missing.

“It seems too simple,” Eliard said.

Link chuckled. “Don’t just look at Nana now. You have to see what’s growing inside her now. Just wait and see.”

“Alright, so what do we do now?” Eliard asked.

Link asked Nana, “Your injuries should be all good now, right?”

Nana moved her hands and feet and then felt her body. Immediately, she said confusedly, “It’s weird. Why don’t I feel anything?”

Earlier, her injury seemed okay on the surface but would subtly affect her movements. Now, it was as if she wasn’t injured at all. She even forgot how it had been.

Eliard laughed and clapped. “Amazing. This must be the first effect of the miraculous potion. It reminds me of a seed sprouting in the spring. It’s soundless but keeps changing. One day, it will grow into a big tree.”

Link also smiled. “Since it’s okay now, we can continue northward… Oh, I almost forgot. Let me see your sword. Perhaps I can strengthen it.”

So Nana gave Link the sword and sheath.

Link slowly pulled the sword out. As soon as he did so, he felt a blazing aura radiate from it. At the same time, his heart turned cold as if someone stabbed him.

“Ah!” A cry came from Milose. He was staring at the sword in Link’s hand. When it was pulled out, he stumbled back and activated a defensive barrier subconsciously.

Eliard flinched as well. Big droplets of sweat beaded on his forehead. Wiping his sweat, he exclaimed, “Is that the Last Nightmare? What a great sword!”

Clang! Link sheathed the sword again and returned it to Nana. “This sword changed a lot. What happened to it?”

“Nothing? Nana has always been using it. Unfortunately, Whispers of the Forest broke in a battle.” Nana found it strange. She took the sword and pulled it out casually. Weirdly enough, the sword was very different when she did that. There was no glow at all, and its surface was covered in marks. There were even many nicks on the blade. It was extremely old and ragged.

At this time, the sword spirit of Ode of a Full Moon spoke in Link’s mind.

This sword has killed at least 1000 Legendary figures. A bit of every victim’s soul wraps around the sword. Those souls are filled with hatred and anger. The only one who can control them is Nana. Thus, only Nana can use this sword.

One thousand? No wonder, this is a weapon of mass destruction! Link sighed inwardly.

He walked over with magic materials in his hands. “Nana, hold it, and I’ll fix it up.”

“Yes, Master.”

It was just a quick fix up, and Link finished within an hour. He also added some very resilient hardening seal to upgrade the sword. It was now at Level-11 and counted as a Legendary weapon too.

“Okay, that’s done. We can go north now.”