Advent of the Archmage
chapter-444

In the Dragon Temple

Within one of its rooms, a silver-haired girl deep in slumber suddenly thrashed about without a sound, her eyes still shut tight.

"Ahhh! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

She let out a piercing scream and then sat upright on her bed, forcing her eyes wide open.

Finally taking back control of her own body, she heaved a sigh of relief.　　

Her name was Lucia Silverstar, and she had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.

In her dream, she was projecting her astral form to peer into the Sea of Void as she always did in order to unravel the secrets of the Void. It was then that she saw a strange, black sphere floating in the sea.

Out of curiosity, she approached it, and without warning, a pair of blood red eyes popped out of the sphere's surface. Emanating an unusual form of magical energy, the eyes instantly fixated on her.　　

Hello, little Magician, I see you!

A voice reverberated in her head, catching her by surprise, and she had tried to pull herself out of the Sea of Void. It was futile, as countless tentacles lashed out from the depths of the sea. In an instant, they tightly wrapped themselves around her and formed into a ball.　

Struggling is useless, little Magician, hahaha! The voice resounded cruelly once more in her head. 　　

A wave of sheer terror assaulted her which immediately woke Lucia up.　　

She looked around at the room around her. Everything was massive in proportion. The ceiling was about five feet away from her, and the bed she was sleeping on was extremely wide, roughly three feet in length. She sighed in relief. I'm in the Dragon Temple; I should be safe in here. 　　

As far as she knew, the dimensional walls in the Dragon Temple were extremely resilient. No form of spatial teleportation magic could be cast within these walls; as such, the Void should not pose too much of a problem to her here.

Her already weakened body felt even more like lead, especially after experiencing such a terrible nightmare. Even the simple act of sitting up was too much for her to handle.　　

Laying back on her bed, she stared emptily at the ceiling above and began pondering on her next move. "I should be safe here, and maybe even within the boundaries of the Dragon Valley. But if I were to take a step outside, it will surely come for me. I can't keep on running, I have to find someone to help me take the Void Tyrant down!" 　　

A menacing voice rang out within her consciousness in reply to her thoughts, You're looking for someone to help you defeat me? Oh, how terribly sad.　

Lucia's body trembled violently, and her eyes widened in horror. "Who are you?"

Don't you recognize my voice? Wasn't too long ago that we had such an intimate time together.　

It was the Void Tyrant. How was this possible? She was in the Dragon Temple all this time! Lucia struggled for a bit, as she tried to get off her bed, to flee and seek help immediately.

But to her horror, she found that she could not move a muscle, and try as she might, her voice would not let her scream for help. In her despair, she screamed inwardly at the voice in her head, What did you do?

Oh nothing, I'm just borrowing your body for a bit. You really think you could escape me? No, I was here in your body all this time? Still, remember that Yabba half-dragon? She had wanted to stop you from summoning me, so I simply let you slay her. Hahaha, your hand is already stained with her blood.

I was the one who killed Emilia? Lucia's eyes widened in disbelief. It was the only part of her body that she could move at the moment.　

Haha, that's just the tip of the iceberg. And now, your body belongs to me. Ah, such a remarkable place, with all kinds of delicacies everywhere, haha!

Lucia soon noticed that she had lost all autonomy of her body. She tried to scream again, but her voice box had stopped obeying orders from her. Now she could not even blink as she watched herself get down from her bed, put on her clothes and walk towards the great door.　　

The silver-haired girl, who had just moments before been thrashing about in her room, now had no control over her body. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, put on her garb and exited the room.　　

She walked out into the corridor and saw a couple of Apocalypse Dragon Guards in her way. They turned to look at her, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, they let her pass.　

Stop me! Stop me! From the depths of her body, she screamed desperately, but to no avail.　　

"I want to go down the mountain to recuperate a bit, this place is a bit too stuffy for my taste," the silver-haired girl said to one of the Red Dragon Warriors.　　

Stop him! Lucia was on the brink of despair.

But it was no use; one of the Red Dragon Warriors did not notice anything unusual, as he merely raised his shoulders, an unconcerned look on his face. "Here, 300 Dragon rupees should be enough to buy yourself the best service from the guesthouse at the base of the mountain." 　　

The silver-haired girl thanked the Warrior, and then headed for the exit of the Dragon Temple.　

Lucia watched all this transpire in wide-eyed horror. She had given up all hope.　

Taking control of her body, the Void Tyrant had exited the place and walked towards a nearby horse carriage outside the temple.　　

Just then, Lucia saw in the distance a familiar figure walking towards one of the horse carriages as well. It was a black-haired Magician.　

She recognized him instantly as the powerful Magician known as Link who had recently reached Legendary status. He was the one who had rescued her back then with the help of the Red Dragon Queen.　　

With his acute senses as a Legendary powerhouse now, he should be able to sense that something was wrong with her as soon as the Void Tyrant walked up close to him. 　　

But what the Void Tyrant did next squashed all hope in her.　　

The silver-haired girl stopped in her tracks and started chatting with a guard at the doorway.　

"Hello, Warrior, would you mind flying me down the mountain in your dragon form?" the girl asked smilingly.　　

The guard shot her a disdainful glance, and said with a sneer, "Sure, I'll give you a ride, and you let me ride your back in return some other day, how's that sound?"　　

"Scoundrel, but oh well, I guess that's fair. Let's give it a try, shall we?" replied the silver-haired girl mischievously.　　

This rendered the guard speechless. Checking the girl's body from head to toe rather hungrily, he swallowed, then nodded frenzily. "Wait here, I'll get someone to take my shift." 　　

"Be quick, I'm not the patient kind," said the silver-haired girl cheekily.

The Warrior immediately turned and bolted off.　

Off on the other side, Lucia noticed that the human Magician seemed lost in his thoughts, completely oblivious to his surroundings. He walked towards one of the horse carriages, got in it, and then it started off down the path of the mountain.　

Don't go! Come back! Save me! Lucia screamed at the top of her lungs, but she did not elicit any response whatsoever from him.

As the horse carriage trotted off, the Void Tyrant patiently waited for the return of the guard, who transformed into his dragon form.

The silver-haired girl grinned as she climbed onto the back of the red dragon. "I don't really like the guesthouse down the mountain, why don't we go somewhere a bit more secluded?"

"Well, as long as you're happy, why not." The dragon Warrior spread his wings and took off into the sky.　　

In the air, the Void Tyrant let out a hollow laugh within the girl's consciousness. Little Magician, you should have known better than to peek into the Void, you never know what might be lurking in there.　　

At this point, Lucia had sunk into the depths of despair.

Back on the ground, Link had gotten into a horse carriage and was now going down the mountain in search of a quiet place to study dragon magic.　　

In the carriage, he concentrated his entire being on the magic book titled simple Dragon in his hand.　　

The book's cover was made of an unknown material, its author unknown. But not only did it contain the historical development of dragonification magic, but the book also introduced the basic magical structures used in it.　

Simply put, this was a textbook outlining the principles of "dragonification magic."　　

Link was already enthralled by its contents.　　

After cursorily flipping through the book, Link came to one conclusion: The dragon's body is too perfect as it is now. The dragon race has been too reliant on it and has long since forgotten one of its most important functions as a ferry through the Void.　　

A dragon's body had been employed in earlier times chiefly as a vessel for traversing the Void, and secondarily as a weapon against the monstrous entities residing in it. It was never a tool for pleasure or reproduction.　

However, with the development of genitals, the Dragon's body was later subject to gender classification, and with said genitals, a large part of the dragon race began engaging in the reproductive process. To Link, this was absolute blasphemy.　

The purpose of his trip downhill this time was clear—to enhance his Black Dragon body, rid it of any vestigial parts, and increase its combat capabilities, especially its ability to travel through the Sea of Void.　　

Though there was the possibility that the dragon race had perfected this vessel to the point that there was not much room left for improvement, but Link still wanted to at least modify his dragon form in order to better suit his combat style.　　

The carriage finally reached the town at the base of the mountain, and Link shouted, "Turn left, to Gray Furnace Peak." 　　

Since he had been accepted as a part of the dragon race, Link had naturally committed to memory most of the geography of the Dragon Valley.　

"Yes, sir." The driver was a dragon commoner. Using his Dragon Power, he was able to figure out Link's place in the dragon hierarchy, and presented himself with the utmost humility, not daring to speak out of turn.　　

The horse carriage trotted on for almost half a day. After galloping on for what felt like a hundred miles, a huge mountain appeared three miles away on the right side of the road. The mountain's structure was peculiar. Mountain peaks formed a ring around it, and inside was a round valley shaped like a furnace; hence its name.　　

The round mountain valley would serve as an excellent place for Link to experiment with his new dragon body. He would be free to do whatever he wanted with it without being seen by anyone else.　　

He tossed a few gold coins at the driver as he descended from the carriage. "Go back now. If one of the higher-ups asks about my whereabouts, just tell them where you dropped me off." 　　

He had nothing to hide; he was simply someone sitting on the fringes of dragon society. As long as he kept himself out of trouble, Link figured no one would bother him.　

The driver stowed the gold coins and hummed a tune as he drove his carriage away.　　

Link now headed in the direction of the Gray Furnace Mountain and soon reached the valley within. The place was deserted, not a soul was to be found, and plant life grew rampant in its isolation. With his magic, Link built a stone hut near a flowing stream and blocked out all forms of distraction from the outside world. He then began to read the magic book Dragon attentively.