Advent of the Archmage
chapter-347

South Hengduan Mountain Range, 120 miles outside the Orida Fortress

The group was resting inside an abandoned sentinel's cabin. There was a bonfire in the middle and Skinorse, and the Yabba were grilling the rabbit they'd hunted. Nana was responsible for keeping guard while Link was in the corner of the room, learning magic from the black cat.

"Alright, your brain is a bit better than I'd expected," the black cat said. "Now, you've successfully grasped this magic seal. Unfortunately, you still can't save Firuman."

Link thought the black cat was only talking about the world's crack and said, "Don't worry. I'll mend it somehow."

The cat shrugged. "Perhaps."

Link ignored the cat after that. He started flipping through the notes he'd taken page by page, checking over them. When he confirmed that there was no problem, he closed the notes and wrote on the title, "Soul Slalom."

These notes described in detail the process of casting this powerful spell. If a Magician had enough magic knowledge, anyone who received this book should be able to cast the spell after studying it for a while.

Link didn't only learn. He was still cautious of the black cat and verified the spell during the learning process. He was sure that this spell was effective.

The Dark Serpent's godly power was a large scale sucking of souls, while Link's Soul Slalom spell agglomerated a large amount of Mana. It then created a powerful soul-natured storm to forcefully scatter this attractive force.

According to Link's calculations, he needed to use up 50000 Mana Points in one second to achieve this effect. He estimated that 100 Magicians were needed to create a magic circle for this.

It was easy to introduce, but the theory was actually very deep, and there were many details in the casting process. It was beyond all the magic Link had ever learned before.

There were two reasons why Link could grasp it in such a short time. First of all, the black cat explained it in a way that was easy to understand. Second of all, Link's great accumulation of knowledge was also helpful. For some reason, Link felt that his brain worked a bit better now, especially after deducing the spatial thesis with the Red Dragon Queen.

For example, he could multitask with three tasks earlier. He could do this before too, but it had never gone this smoothly.

Maybe I made some breakthrough without realizing? That was the only explanation he could think of.

"Lord, here." Skinorse offered him one of the rabbit's hind legs that had finished grilling.

Link accepted it. As he ate, he said, "We've already gone six days, and my Mana is completely recovered. When we're done eating, I'll use the Storm Eagle, and we'll fly back."

There were around 120 miles. With his current Mana count, they could pretty much fly past.

"Okay." After this trip, Skinorse had become completely submissive to Link.

After that, the small room fell quiet. Everyone ate without speaking while the bonfire in the middle of the room occasionally crackled and popped. Outside, there was the occasional call of birds.

Even the black cat Elodim was quiet. It curled up beside Nana and battled with a blue nightfin fish. It didn't even let the bones go, and crunches sounded as it chewed.

Everyone had become used to this black cat. It had been obedient while on the road and didn't do anything abnormal. Link had relaxed his guard around the cat too.

They were all tense after passing through the Hengduan Mountain Range and facing all the dangers. Here, they were tired and enjoyed the piece of peace.

At this moment, no one knew what would happen later. Skinorse and Melinda had completely relaxed. Even Link felt comfortable and relaxed.

Years later, Melinda, already past her middle ages, would always shake her head and sigh when recalling this part of her life, involuntarily feeling tremors. When others would ask her, she would refuse to say what happened, only saying, "It was too scary. I never want to think about it."

After a while, Link finished the rabbit leg. He took out a clean rag to wipe his hands. Seeing that the others were still eating, he decided to take out the book Talisman Enchanting to kill time.

But halfway through the motion, he stopped. Something felt wrong.

He looked around, and his gaze fell on the black cat. It wasn't beside Nana anymore. Instead, it was at the small window ten feet away. It was still chewing on fish, but it subtly crept towards the window as it chewed.

"Elodim, what are you doing?" Nana also looked over from beside the door. She didn't think anything was off and walked towards the cat, saying, "Little guy, come back."

Unexpectedly, Elodim ignored her. It pounced and leapt onto the windowsill. Nana moved to chase it.

"Nana, don't move!" Link called immediately. For some reason, he smelled an evil aura. While he called, he trained his eyes on Elodim's eyes. "Are you preparing to escape?" he asked quietly.

"Meow, isn't it obvious?" A thin smile appeared on the black cat's round face.

"You know that you can't escape with your power…unless you received strength. The world is cracked, and the demons aren't the only ones strengthened. You're stronger too!"

"Am I? Am I not? Hehe, Link, you're the smartest mortal I've met, but sadly, you're still a mortal. The biggest difference between mortals and gods is patience. I endured for so long just for one mishap from you." With that, the black cat prepared to escape from the window. Nana felt something was wrong and sped up to catch it.

Nana's speed was supernatural. If she sped up, pretty much no one could escape from her, but this time, she failed. The black cat flashed and successfully escaped from Nana's clutches. Its speed was unimaginable.

It disappeared after the flash, but a bright voice traveled back. "Link, I'm sorry. The world's crack is getting wider and wider, and the laws restraining me have become flawed too. Indeed, I've recovered a bit of my strength—just a bit, but it's enough for me to escape. As for you all…I can only say that Link, you've caused so much trouble. I don't even have to do anything other than to leave some tiny marks, hahaha."

The cat's departure seemed to take away some sort of shield. Link suddenly felt terror in his heart. This was fatal danger!

He quickly understood why he had felt so calm earlier. It wasn't that there truly was no danger. Instead, the black cat had used some secret spell to block his perceptions. And now, it went without saying that he was definitely surrounded by demons.

Link immediately wanted to use the Dimensional Jump, but as soon as he moved the Mana and tried to construct a Mana structure, it collapsed by itself. This space was locked.

They had hid here and there while on the road and weren't very fast. If the black cat revealed their tracks, they must be surrounded by layers of demons now.

At this moment, Isendilan's last words sounded in Link's ears. He'd said, "Magician, one day, you'll die in the hands of that cat too."

Link didn't think that this day would come so soon.

I'm only a mortal after all. I can't be the match of a god, even an exiled god. This lesson hurt.

Skinorse was an experienced scout too, and he immediately called, "Lord, let's go!"

"No!" Link took out his notes, Soul Slalom, and handed it to Skinorse. "Take it back and give it to the Magicians in the Orida Fortress. You must bring it back!"

Link made a decision in that moment. The enemy had surrounded them with such fine preparations, and someone had to stay here. That was okay, but the information had to be brought back to the Orida Fortress.

"Lord…" Skinorse knew the meaning behind Link's words.

"Take it!" Link ordered.

Skinorse had no choice but to accept the notes and hide them on him.

Beside them, Melinda felt something, and her face paled drastically. She was just a regular Yabba woman. It was understandable for her to panic at this time.

As expected, Link then said, "Melinda, your injury isn't completely healed. Do you see that cellar? Hide into it immediately and don't come out no matter what!"

"I can fight! I'm a soldier!" Melinda pursed her little lips. She was about to cry, but she gripped her musket tightly.

Link shook his head. "This isn't a fair fight, and there's nothing glorious about it! Don't waste your life!"

On the side, Nana had already opened the cellar. It was a small thing used for storing food. A grown human couldn't fit, but it was no problem for the Yabba.

Melinda couldn't do anything but grab her musket and climb into the cellar, tears rolling down.

After covering the cellar's entrance, Link immediately erased all signs of her existence. When that was done, Link finally told Skinorse, "Nana and I will distract the demons. Their main target should be me. Hide here and wait for the chance to run."

Skinorse wasn't that good at fighting, but he was the best at espionage. If someone distracted the enemy, he should be able to escape successfully.

The wandering vigilante nodded his head seriously. Gray battle aura appeared around him. He moved a bit and hid into the shadows of the room. He quickly disappeared after that.

After that, Link walked to the door of the sentinel's cabin. He took out the Nightingale Statue. He'd modified this ride already. It made a big commotion while galloping and was extremely fast. It could definitely attract the demons. Link believed the demons already knew their situation. As long as he made a big enough scene, Skinorse would have the chance to escape.

When the Nightmare Ride appeared outside the room, Link saw the first demon. It wasn't a stranger; it was Misamier, the deputy officer of Nozama, Lord of the Deep.

She licked her red lips and smiled seductively. Her long whip danced in the air, producing crisp cracks. The strong waves coming from her were at the pinnacle of Level-9.

"Magician, we meet again," she said with a smile.