Advent of the Archmage

The group of islands in the middle of the ocean was a distance away from the Ferde Wilderness. If Celine had to make two 380 miles' roundabout trip to ferry them back to camp, she would definitely be drained of her energy. Luckily, there was a group of wild Griffins on the island.

They grabbed a Griffin each after intimidating them with their powers and commanded them to fly back in the direction of the mainland.　

The Griffins were fast. Within two hours, the three of them once again arrived at the entrance of the underground palace. The moment the three Griffins regained their freedom, they flew off immediately, looking clearly startled and in fear. They then proceeded all the way into the deepest area of the underground palace

without any obstructions.　　

Vance carefully observed the furniture in the underground palace and said in disbelief,

"This is a surprise. Everything here is intact. Even the position of the chairs has not been changed. If not for my memories of the past 400 years, I would even feel that I just left this place a day ago."　

Link laughed. "This is the work of your magic puppet. This place is her sanctuary, and her only goal is to protect the integrity of this sanctuary."

Speaking of Nana, Vance sighed, "She was so overprotective that she even forgot who I was."　　

Under the influence of all this familiar furniture and scenery, memories started flashing through Vance's mind. He ran around in this magnificent hall while mumbling things to himself.　

"This scroll…Oh! It's an unfinished spell. To think that it is still kept half open, like how I left it when I left this place!"

"This chair was my favorite. Nothing has changed, not even the dust that settled...Oh, the activation trigger is still active. It still has not rusted."

He pressed the trigger, and all of a sudden, machinery sounds could be heard from the back of the wall. In a few seconds, a wall on the left side of the hall started moving backwards before going deeper underground.

Behind the wall was a space 15 feet deep. There were three antique chests placed within the space. Each of the chests was huge, measuring at three feet tall and six feet wide. From the design of the chest, it could be determined that they were painted 500 years ago when the Assyrian Dynasty was still in power.　　

Vance beckoned to Link and Celine, "Come over here. Look at my treasures."

He went into the hall and opened the chest on the left. Layers of wooden shelves then emerged from the chest, amounting to an astounding 20 layers. Every layer then

had over 40 boxes which were stuffed with items.　　

"This is a Vochit-style chest. It is the most stable dimensional chest which compresses items in a 50:1 ratio. There is a total of 800 boxes in this chest which are filled with a variety of rare metals and materials. For example, this piece of Thorium is close to 1.5 kilograms."　　

Vance then took out a piece of Thorium. It was originally the size of a thumb. However, when it was exposed to the original atmosphere, it expanded to the size of a fist, the silver brilliance nearly blinding anyone in sight. Link once saw a similar chest in Herrera's room. However, that chest was nothing compared to the current one right in front of him. Looking at the brilliance emanating from all the rare materials, Link could finally understand why Vance said his wealth was enough to even build a Mage Tower similar in scale to the Heaven's Thorn.

Celine merely stared with her mouth slightly opened. She could not believe that a man could accumulate this much wealth.

Vance was extremely satisfied and laughed with glee, his bones clattering as his body

shook. "I made a fortune in those days selling my Battle Aura books. Those nobles would purchase them from me regardless of the cost. I was once the world's wealthiest businessman."

He then walked towards the second chest and opened it. This time around, rows of books appeared in the chest. The books were all intricately designed with jeweled

hardcovers and high-quality paper. One could even feel magic fluctuations from the books, suggesting that some of these books had records of powerful magic formations.

There were at least 300 books in total. Link randomly picked out a book titled The

Insane Microscopic Universe. After browsing through a few pages, Link saw a formula which attracted his attention. It was almost identical to the one he had been racking his brains over in his thesis. After a few more pages, Link saw even more identical content. He shared some similar ideas with the author of this book, and there were even some details inside which he hadn't thought of.

Link already felt inspired after just a few pages. "This is just priceless!"　　

Link had a real look of euphoria on his face. The rare materials which almost blinded him merely made him slightly excited. However, these magic books were simply a wonderland.　

Vance once again laughed with pride. It was an achievement to make a genius such as Link lose his usual calm demeanor. He then opened the last chest. This chest was a

lot more empty, housing a few intricately designed scrolls. Vance browsed through these scrolls one-by-one as he caressed each of them with his bony hands. He seemed to be reminiscing about some good memories.　

He smiled emotionally. "The Battle Aura scrolls and all my research journals are housed here. Although it is not as voluminous as the other two chests, this took me at least 200 years to complete. I even had to carry the bad reputation as the Heartless Butcher."　　

Link walked over and opened a scroll. The scroll was titled Earth Shattering Storm

Style. What an extravagant name! He then opened the other scrolls and counted a total of 16 scrolls, most of which were Epic in quality, some of them unfinished.　　

After introducing all his treasures, Vance then spun towards Link and said, "I have no use for such things now; you can have them all."

Although Link had expected this, when he finally heard it from Vance's mouth, he was still overwhelmed with gratitude. "Old man, I have no idea how to thank you."

Vance laughed, "The best way to thank me is to put them to good use. Use this knowledge and wealth to create the best territory there ever was!"

At this moment, Vance seemed to have remembered something. He patted his head before walking to the middle chest and taking out three magic books. He then took out a few scrolls and a journal from the right chest, passing all of them to Link. "These have all the knowledge regarding magic puppets. Take them back for your research. Also, my underground palace has already been exposed to some powerful dark figures. It is not safe to put these chests here anymore. You have to take them away as soon as possible."　　

Naturally, Link would.

Following which, Link and Celine became movers as they made many trips to carry the spoils out of the underground palace. It was not a small amount, and there was a limit to the amount their dimensional equipment could store. They hence had to make three trips before they emptied Vance's treasures.　

After the hard work, the three of them rendezvoused at Shark Bay. At this moment, Vance held a handwritten book in his hand. This book was extremely thick and was titled Treasured War History of the Ancestors.　

He smiled when he saw Link. "The last thing is the terrible climate at the Ferde Wilderness."　

Link was startled when he saw the book. "Are you telling me the answer is right in this

book?"

Vance smiled. "It's very likely." He opened this thick book to somewhere in the middle and pointed at a paragraph of words. "This day, the Storm Lord and the Earth Lord fought at the beach. This battle lasted three whole days. The two powerful lords were both heavily injured as they unleashed their final attack. The Storm Lord destroyed the physical body of the Earth Lord in one swing of his sword. However, he eventually succumbed to his heavy injuries and fell at the same place."　

After reading it, he looked up at Link. "Do you see it? The Ferde Wilderness was the exact location of their battle. The gravel littered around the entire Wilderness is the fallen body of the Earth Lord, while the terrible hurricane that plagued this land is caused by the remnant soul of the Storm Lord."

Celine felt that it was strange. "Isn't this just a legend? Do you really believe it?"　　

Vance was not amused. He merely looked at Celine and said, "Young girl, legends are actually history that has been either dramatized or modified over the years. The truth

often lies behind these legends."　　

Link was lost in thought. As a Magician, he had once read about the history of the World of Firuman. He knew that the World of Firuman had changed over the years. Tens of thousands of years ago, there was a golden era were many Legends walked the ground. The strongest of those Legendary professionals were termed as lords.　　　

The Storm Lord and the Earth Lord could just as well be such powerful beings. Although no one knew the exact reason for their fight, it could really explain the uncanny geography and climate of the Ferde Wilderness to a great extent.　　

After thinking for a moment, Link said, "I have heard that in the golden era, the lords were extremely powerful beings. Most of them would have attained an indestructible spirit which allowed them to remain on the earth in some form even after the death of their physical bodies. Does this mean that if we can find the remnant soul of the Storm Lord, we can stop the appearance of the random hurricanes?

"You are absolutely right!" Vance snapped his fingers. He then flipped to another page on the book and pointed at a chunk of words, "The Lion Heart King came to this Wilderness when suddenly, a hurricane ensued and blew sand across the entire area. The king then lost his way and reached a mysterious canyon while trying to maneuver

out of the terrible weather."

The Lion Heart King was a figure from 2000 years ago. He was a great king that loved adventure, and legends of his exploits could still be found circulating amongst the world of Firuman. Although some of the stories were made up, the passage that Vance read had revealed two important pieces of information: Firstly, the soul remnant of the Storm Lord might very well still be present. Secondly, it was probably still hidden in some canyon. Link was prepared to follow this clue and find a canyon with the presence of strong wind elements.

Celine then raised a question, "The Ferde Wilderness is huge. However, no one seems to have heard of any storm canyon."

Vance nodded. "The canyon is certainly not in the Ferde Wilderness. However, this history has pointed out that these hurricanes seem to have an origin.　

Having a direction that might be false was better than having no direction at all. If one could see through the mist covering the truth, they could very well expose the true history.　

Link frowned and thought for a long while before saying, "There is a Wind Tiger in my territory that is especially sensitive to wind elementals. Perhaps I can task him to find this origin for me."　

"That is a good idea." Vance closed the Treasured War History of the Ancestors and handed it over to Link. "This is the only copy. You can read the rest of the stories in your free time as well. Many of these stories have value to them."　　

"Alright." Link was interested in this book already.

Link and Celine then returned to the camp afterwards. Vance then found a remote place

within the Ferde Wilderness to call home. As for where that location was, he was unwilling to answer. He did, however, give Link a transmission rune to contact him whenever needed. They had also agreed to research on the theories of magic puppets together in the future.　　

Link naturally had no opinion on this arrangement. After returning to the Scorched Ridge, he first headed towards River Cove Town to heal his wounds. He then approached Dorias and tasked him with a mission.　

"What? The origin of the hurricane?" Dorias had been living a good life and seemed to be slightly relaxed. When he heard Link's words, he subconsciously starting sniffing the air in the atmosphere.　

After a while, he nodded. "The wind here is indeed different. I will look into it now."　

He was extremely efficient. Upon finishing his sentence, he leaped from the ground and sniffed the air while walking in a specific direction, quickly making his way out of Scorched Ridge. 　　

It wasn't too nice for him to do nothing while he lived off Link's resources. Furthermore, he had been extremely bored these few days. He could take this chance to go out for a walk.