Advent of the Archmage Chapter 38

-Chapter 38, DGM-

The flamingo group was thoroughly convinced. Once the archer Greedin woke from his faint, they would start moving.

Hank had already done reconnaissance. Their target was echo valley, located in the northwest of Gwinnett forest.

"There are members of the dark brotherhood guarding the mouth of the valley. There is a cave 100 meters into the mouth of the valley. From our information, Witt hides in that cave most of the time. There are also many people guarding the cave and inside the cave. Furthermore, they are the best members of the dark brotherhood, and are strong."

On their way there, Hank relayed all the information he had gathered to Link.

"Do you know their numbers?" Link asked.

"There are at least 60 people within the valley, and we're not too sure about the cave, but it can't go below 30.190 in total We are only 4 men, and our strength can't face theirs. Our original plan was to wait in ambush for Witt. Witt is the head of the dark brotherhood, and must be very busy. He can't possibly lock himself up in his cave forever. When he leaves, we'll intercept and kill him." Hank explained.

"That's enough, this is absolutely useless. We've already lay in wait for 2 weeks." Greedin spread his hands with a helpless expression.

Link didn't really understand. He looked at the member with the strongest attack, Lucy. "Elder sister, exactly what happened?"

Lucy begin to explain. When she was done, Link more or less understood the ins and outs of the situation.

Initially, the flamingo mercenary group was a group that operates in the north. However, after the incident with Glaston city, the leader, Hank, felt that the north was not safe anymore as encountering the regular armies of the dark elves had become a probaility. Those red-eyed bastards never did negotiations with humans. If they met one, it would end in blood. No words were needed.

This wss too dangerous. Hence, the trio decided to shift to the south.

Over 20 days ago, they had reached Gwinnett forest, and accepted the bounty mission from the river valley village government office. After they did some snooping and investigations, they more or less understood the situation.

Therefore, they had lay in wait for over 2 weeks. Unexpectedly, not even the shadow of Witt was seen.

Link tapped his magic wand against his noggin, thinking deeply. He got a vague idea quickly. “Witt can’t possibly hide forever, but he has never appeared. Either he wasn’t in the valley to begin with, or the valley has another exit.”

“No way, he’s definitely inside the valley! This is his old nest. We’ve already captured a few of the dark brotherhood members guarding the valley. Every member claims the same.” Hank sounded out his thoughts.

“Then it can only be the second.” Link spread his hands. “A crafty rabbit has multiple burrows. Witt is this crafty rabbit. It is unlikely he’s always holed up in the valley. If I’m not wrong, there should be another exit from the cave in the valley.”

In reality, in the previous game world, echo valley’s cave was a duplicate, called ‘quiet mine’. The channels in the ‘quiet mine’ were complicated and tangled, with at least 3 different exits. A lot of players who first entered the ‘quiet mine’ would easily get lost, spending more than half a day just going in circles. They would not even see Witt.

Because of this, this transcript was also known as the quiet labyrinth.

In the current world, Link estimated that the insides of the cave were even more complicated.

Link’s logic was very sensible. The mercenaries were convinced. Lucy creased her brows, “The only other exits are probably Witt’s emergency exits, and probably very well-hidden. Unless it’s a core member of the dark brotherhood, nobody would know anything about it. There’s no way to find it.”

“This damnable tortoise. Does he have the courage of a mouse?” The archer Greedin shook the bow he gripped in his hands. When he thought of the two hard weeks he foolishly spent camping at the valley mouth, it made his teeth itch.

Hank looked at Link. “Any ideas?”

He already regarded Link as an equal because of Link’s brawn and brains.

“Let’s storm it.”

The three mercenaries stared at Link with wide eyes. Hank frowned. Greedin had a stupid expression on his face. If he had not been shut up by Link a while ago, mockery and ridicule would have spouted out of his mouth. A sour smile had formed on Lucy’s lips, “Link, we are only four people. Our opponents are over 30 people.”

Link smiled. He did not immediately give a reply, instead distributing his free points first.2shit’s going down for the dudes in the valley. Another thing i don’t understand is that they can set the entire place on fire, especially with link

He had 105 free points.

According to the rates of conversion, a free point could be exchanged for 10 mana capacity points. However, with his ‘mana deficiency’ state, all attributes would be decreased by 90%. 1 free point could only be exchanged for 1 mana capacity point. Although this was pathetic, he had plenty of free points to burst.

After pondering, Link converted 75 free points into mana capacity. His mana capacity shot up to 99.1 points. Adding his inferior mana potion, which could give him 100 mana in a short period of time, he could fully replenish his mana. Thus the mana which he actually controlled was 198 points currently.

His ‘glass pearl’ spell consumed 1 mana. Thus, he could fire off 198 glass pearls. With 3 helpers, one glass pearl could easily deal with a bandit. If he threw in some auxiliary spells into the scene, taking the valley by storm was not out of the question.

Of course, Link did not short-sightedly upgrade his mana capacity just for this. Rather, he had to do this sooner or later.

A level 4 ‘flame burst’ spell required 320 mana, while his mana capacity was only 241 points, and he was unable to even discharge one ‘flame burst’. Now that he added 75 points to his mana, he would have 991 mana. When the moment came which he needed a level 4 magic spell, he could purchase one, or he could even splurge for a level 5 magic spell. He could simply cast them straightaway, and did not need to let them rot just because he did not have enough mana capacity.

Even if he did not have enough free points, he still had a ‘flame burst’ spell.

That said, the existence of free points wasn’t a safety pass. Storming the valley was still a risky move, because if he did not have enough mana, he would be finished. If he still miserly used his free points sparingly, he would really be finished.

Now, he still had 30 free points. This was kept as insurance in case some unforeseen incident occurred.

These transactions were all done inside Link’s head, and completed in an instant. Link grinned, “Of course, it would be impossible with just you three. But with me, it’s not out of the question.”

“…”

Hank and the others looked at each other in dismay. His words had cut deep into their self-esteem. But when they thought of the strength Link had previously demonstrated, they could only remain speechless. The only spell the young magician had revealed was the fireball spell. Who could deny he didn’t have more?

However, this was still slightly crazy.

Looking at the hesitation of the three people, Link brandished his magic wand, urging them. “It’s getting dark soon. We need to decide quickly. I only have one life too, and I can’t possibly throw it away either. Are you guys in?”

His words seemed to make sense.

Hank believed a young magician like Link with such terrifying ability would not joke with them. He asked, “Is there any concrete plan?”

Link had already formed a plan. He purchased a magic spell: Real body double

Real body double

Level 1 earth elemental magic spell

Use: Construct a magic phantom. The phantom is able to project footstep sounds, capable of holding conversations and has scent. It is almost similar to a real human.

(Note: The phantom is not immortal. Don’t allow it to touch water, or you’ll be discovered.)

This magic’s effect on magicians was not very useful, but to the bandits who were blind about magic, it was sufficient.

After he prepared the magic, Link begin discussing his tactics while walking.

The flamingo members’ eyes became brighter and brighter as they listened to Link’s plan. After Link succeeded in creating a body double indistinguishable from Hank, the three mercenaries had absolutely faith in Link.

…

While Link was waiting for people to clear out from the echo valley, Witt was receiving a special guest. This guest was draped in a hooded cloak. He wore gloves, without showing even the slightest bit of skin. The only information he divulged about himself, was the sapphire wand he gripped in his hand.

On a table positioned in front of them, a purse and a crystal emitting inky violet light sat on it. Because of the crystal, although the cavern was candlelit, a gloomy overcast seemed to cover the cavern.

“Witt, the inside the purse contains gems of the best quality. Their worth is around 500 gold coins. This is your reward. What you need to do, is to deliver this crystal to a magician in eastern valley magic academy. The magician needs to show an interest in black magic.”

“Got it, boss.” Witt eyed the purse, his eyes filled with greed. He was a man who’s sole goal in life was making money. Every time he received money, he would store it. Every coin he stored would give him the greatest sense of satisfaction.

As long as one paid enough, he would not hesitate in selling out his own relatives. Hehe.

“Don’t disappoint me. Don’t disappoint the master.” The cloaked man croaked out in a hoarse voice. If Link was here, he would be able to identify the use of magic altering the cloaked man’s voice.

“I will carry out this task with the utmost of my abilities.” Witt kneeled on the floor, showing his loyalty. When he raised his head, the cloaked man was already gone, just as sudden as he had appeared.

Adoration and reverence filled Witt’s heart, “Truly a frightening trick.”

He reached for the purse on the table. Under the flame of the candles, the gems seemed to sparkle like cut diamonds.

“Zeze, Chrysoberyl, Sapphire, Fire diamond. They’re beautiful. Giving 500 gold coins for just one mission, the boss is too generous.” Witt carefully admired every gem, extremely contented.

-Chapter 38, end-

Tler’s notes:

*ALERT ALERT CODE RED RANT WARNING TURN BACK NOW*

Goddamn. If this novel keeps going downhill, it’ll be really frustrating to tl something so generic.

Problems I have with this novel:

1. Cliche, cliche. I love the OP mc cliche but it’s gonna be a killjoy if the mc whips up a convenient plan every single time where his allies gather around him and are enlightened. It was interesting the first time in Glaston city where he was actually in danger when Holm ambushed them. It’s no longer fun or thrilling if mc is omnipotent. And really, a bunch of mercenaries conveniently walking into the inn? What was he gonna do if they never entered, help out with manual labour through the aid of magic?

2. He knows just about every little data in the game. I understand he has a high IQ but is his brain a quantum computer? If he knows every little detail and how things are gonna play out, it’s more than just knowing the mc will win — you know HOW he will win. We already more or less know how this will play out, Link kills everyone in valley, foils Witt’s plans and then obtains enough money before entering the academy and giving Al Wright a surprise, yada yada yada. Why don’t we get something different for a change where the mc f’s up?

3. While I’ve been bitching about the last few chapters, it’s good to finally see the plot moving and conspiracies behind Link’s back. I hope that while he knows how Feloma continent was taken over by the darkness, he is unaware of the conspiracies below the surface. I’d be really pissed off to see my favourite novel spiralling into text walls of expository about how Feloma continent was conquered by the darkness in detail just as Link remembers one name. And now Link and us know everything about how Feloma continent was destroyed. And shit is Link even human? He looks unfazed at everything that happens…trust me, I toned his lack of reactions down a lot but it’s pretty bad on raws.

All in all, nothing bad has happened yet. Just a gut feeling it’ll get worse and worse from here on. Don’t wanna get tied down like Magus Era, where tler continues tling a bad novel. (no offense lol couldn’t take it at chapter 800 or something)

Rant over, soz. I translate purely as a fan so maybe that quite unsightly e.e needed that rant though. I’d really have no drive to go on if it degenerates into a some cliche plot with no actual substance.

As for those who got triggered, dude, chill. I’m as much of a reader as you are.

Chapter end