Lin Li and the team arrived in the Blackstone Mountains in the evening. There, the Adventurers set up a shabby campsite on a plateau halfway up a mountain using tents and stones under Emendas' orders. A few bonfires were set up, and the Adventurers gathered around them as they ate their dry rations and drank hard liquor, taking the time to recoup after the exhausting day.
The Blackstone Mountains were a dangerous place indeed. While it only took less than three hours for them to reach the midpoint of the mountain from the bottom, they met many magical beasts—all of them were at least level-15, including some powerful level-17 and level-18 ones. After dealing with all of them, even a level-17 Archmage like Emendas could barely hold up, and he quickly retreated into his tent to meditate after the shabby campsite was set up. But, before he did so, he assigned Lin Li with a task…
"So cold…" Lin Li curled up under a tree and rubbed his red nose as he muttered to himself, "How is this wretched place so cold at night, is it trying to kill me…"
The chilling wind blowing in the pitch-black forest made Lin Li pale from the cold, his thin robe doing little to help even though he wrapped himself in it a few times. The cold penetrated his entire body, making him feel like he was submerged in ice. This damned forest was like a maze; no matter where he was, it seemed like he was going around in circles as all he could see was the eerie shadows of trees. The howling wind could be heard occasionally from somewhere deep in the forest, making his skin crawl.
"Damn it, you've got guts, Emendas!" Lin Li said through gritted teeth. He should have been sitting next to a bonfire, satisfying his hunger with the dry rations and drinking the hard liquor to fend off the cold while he listened to the well-traveled Adventurers boast as they told their stories.
Unfortunately, all of this vanished into thin air with a sentence from Emendas.
"You're Mage Felic, right? There might be magical beasts in the forest in front. Go and take a look. If you're in any danger, let out the signal, and we'll rush there as soon as we can."
"…" Lin Li wanted to slap him back then…
This was the Blackstone Mountains, where high-ranking magical beasts roamed freely! Even an idiot would know what he was up to, asking a level-10 Magic Shooter to go into the forest alone. Signal? Rush over as soon as they could? What nonsense! If I was really a level-10 Magic Shooter, I wouldn't even have the time to scream in front of a magical beast, much less let out a signal and wait for you to save me!! You really take me for an idiot, don't you?
As he thought of the second young master of the Malfa Family as well as the unlucky adventurers, Lin Li would have to be an idiot not to guess what was going on. Emendas was probably instructed by someone to make his life difficult—or, even better, kill him off…
Thankfully, he was not really a level-10 Magic Shooter…
While the Blackstone Mountains were dangerous, it was not too much of a threat to him. However, what he really hated about this place was that it was really too cold!
"Once we're done with this whole Crimson Python nonsense, I'm going to make that bastard suffer!" Lin Li rubbed his red nose as he tugged at his thin Robe of the Void to wrap it tighter around himself.
Well, Emendas deserved it—all he thought of was the second master of the Malfa Family. Little did he realize that he had brought great misfortune upon himself…
Of course, Lin Li was not really looking for any magical beast in the forest, knowing that Emendas had a hidden motive.
Less than half an hour into the forest, Lin Li found a rock blocking the wind and hid behind it, warming his legs as he opened the Ring of Endless Storm. He took out a sleeping bag and some fire-starting tools that he had prepared earlier before lighting a small bonfire behind the rock where it was shielded from the wind.
Lin Li had already decided before entering the forest that he was not going to look out for any magical beast—since he was going into the forest anyway, he would hang around for a few hours, and then tell that bastard Emendas that the forest was empty and very safe.
Lin Li did not really care whether it was really safe.
Anyway, even if they met a powerful magical beast when they entered the forest the next day, Lin Li would have a good enough excuse for not finding it—he was supposed to be a level-10 Magic Shooter, after all, so it made sense that he was not able to detect the presence of a magical beast, didn't it?
After the bonfire was up and going, Lin Li sat at the side and drank some of the hard liquor he had brought from the camp as he finally felt his cold body warm up.
"If only I had some food…" Lin Li could not hold his liquor well; after taking it on an empty stomach, he felt his insides burn. Unfortunately, all he could find in the Ring of Endless Storm was a great deal of condiments and seasonings instead of actual food.
These condiments and seasonings had been in the Ring of Endless Storm for a long time as they were left behind from when Lin Li practiced cooking when he was bored in the Endless World. He had put in a great deal of effort to practice cooking, and besides trying all kinds of ingredients, he had tried all the animals he could find in the Endless World except for dragons.
And then there was all the seasonings.
These were not just your everyday seasonings like salt and vinegar—once someone became a Master at cooking, the seasonings they used were nothing short of lavish. Many of these were precious magic ingredients; one of them was the Blue Grass, which could be used to remove the bloody taste of meat and make tough meat amazingly tender.
However, Blue Grass itself was a precious magic ingredient, and mages often dried it to grind into powder. If a little bit of Blue Grass powder was used during magic, a mage could easily execute a level-15 spell without wasting their mana.
Back then, Lin Li had caused quite a stir in the Endless World when he bought a lot of Blue Grass in one go. All the mages were making conjectures that some twisted union wanted to monopolize the trade of Blue Grass, and many mages formed protest groups because of that. Unfortunately, they had been chanting their slogan "stop corrupt businessmen, stop monopoly" for a month, only to find out that some bastard had bought a bunch of Blue Grass simply because he was trying to perfect his barbecuing skills…
"Oh, right, so what if I don't have food? I can just make some myself, right? It's been a long time since I've done so anyway…" When he thought of that, Lin Li grabbed a bunch of Blue Grass from the Ring of Endless Storm and muttered a spell: Life Detector.
Given his abilities now, he was able to detect all life forms within a 100-meter radius with just one Life Detector spell. He had initially thought that there should be quite a few magical beasts in this gloomy forest, only to find out that there was nothing within a 100-meter radius—not even a single rabbit…
"That's strange…" Lin Li inhaled, and his expression froze.
This was the Blackstone Mountains, where magical beasts roamed, after all. Wasn't it strange that he could not find even a single magical beast in this forest?
Lin Li refused to believe it, and pumped in more mana to increase the Life Detector's radius to 200 meters. However, the result was the same: there was no trace of life in the area he searched.
"How can this be…" Lin Li gritted his teeth, and decided to fly above the forest with a Levitation Spell. Then, he flew to the other end of the forest.
As he was flying, he continued to use the Life Detector to scan the forest beneath him.
He spent about half an hour to scan the entire forest before reaching the edge of the forest, where he finally found a trace of a magical beast's Scent of Life. It was a level-10 Blood-toothed Wild Boar, one of the lowest-level magical beasts of the Blackstone Mountains. The Blood-toothed Wild Boar was already low in level, yet it did not even inherit any magic of its own; the only thing worth mentioning was probably the brute force hidden within its body.
But this brute force was no match for a mage—especially a starving mage. The boar met a sad end…
Served the Blood-toothed Wild Boar right for its bad luck—it had just come out of its den when Lin Li rushed down from the sky. The boar had just lifted its head before it felt a bone-chilling cold…
Lin Li had not even landed before he used a Death Frost spell, and a white fog started spreading throughout the place. The poor Blood-toothed Wild Boar could not even make a sound before it was completely frozen by the Death Frost. Lin Li then tightened his grip on the Aether Staff again before another loud booming noise followed as something exploded within the white fog…
At the same time, Lin Li landed on the ground. When he emerged from the fog and flames, he was already holding onto a bare Blood-toothed Wild Boar!
Even Andoine would smile reassured if he saw this display of fire and ice magic—this fellow was now able to execute these two kinds of magic almost perfectly. He used a Death Frost to freeze the Blood-toothed Wild Boar, and followed up with an Endless Flames spell to melt the ice—they were both level-16 magic, yet he was able to control them with incredible precision. The Endless Flames could be used to melt the ice, and at the same time rid the Blood-toothed Wild Boar of its thick coat of fur while not harming its flesh at all. Besides the fact that the Blood-toothed Wild Boar's heart ceased to beat and its blood no longer flowed through its body, it was no different from when it was alive, its body remaining warm for a long time after that.
WIth his Master-level cooking skills, Lin Li only used 10 minutes to prepare the Blood-toothed Wild Boar. He had made a simple roasting rack with just a few branches and rocks, and the Blood-toothed Wild Boar was stuffed with Blue Grass and skewed on a sharp wooden rod as it sizzled beautifully above the fire.
The fragrance of the Blue Grass penetrated the meat and fused with it, forming a mouth-watering aroma. Lin Li rotated the wooden rod carefully to roast the boar evenly as he retrieved a small silver knife from his pocket to slice off a piece of meat from its hind leg.
"Not bad…" He was surprised that he still had his skills—this Blue Grass roasted boar tasted as good as those he had made before. If he had to find something bad to say about it, it would be that there was not enough seasonings to really emphasize the taste of the meat.
But, he could not help it. The Ring of Endless Storm was only used to store valuable items, and common ingredients like salt and vinegar were not carried in it. Well, since he was in the wilderness, he could settle for this, and make up for it by making some more roasted boar meat another day. He had enough Blue Grass in the Ring of Endless Storm to make a few dozen more roasted boars anyway.
Just as Lin Li was lamenting about this, he heard a soft noise coming from the forest.
Lin Li froze immediately after hearing the soft noise. After all, he did not retract the Life Detector he'd used earlier, and no movement within the area surrounding him could escape his knowledge. How could there still be something approaching him without him knowing?
There were only two possibilities…
One, it was a high-ranking Bandit skilled at shadowing and able to escape the Life Detector with his well-honed techniques, or two, it was something way more powerful than him if it was able to escape the Life Detector's detection unknowingly…
The scariest thing was that Lin Li could feel a huge force coming from the forest—it was a fierce and especially majestic aura, making him want to submit unconsciously. Lin Li knew that such a ferocious aura could only belong to a magical beast, but the aura coming from the forest was unlike that of any magical beast that Lin Li knew of. Besides being a fierce aura, it was majestic and commanded absolute respect—not even the aura of the Crimson Python and the Salamander made Lin Li feel so oppressed. If he really had to find a comparison, it would have to be the Dragon of Destruction, Azardas, that had died a wrongful death in the Endless World…
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and while it sounded complicated, it had only taken no longer than a second. Just as he heard the sound, Lin Li grabbed his Aether Staff unconsciously, and a large fireball was hurled into the air with a loud 'boom' as the Dragon's Eye glimmered…
This was the Pyroblast Lin Li had stored long ago in the Dragon's Eye, and was meant for unexpected situations like this. Mages were not as physically strong as Warriors, after all, and they could only rely on high-level magic already stored in their magical equipment like that.
A loud booming noise was heard—the forest turned into a sea of fire as the Pyroblast exploded in it. Red flared in the pitch-black darkness as a blinding trail of fire shot up into the night sky.
Lin Li dared not stop at just a Pyroblast, and used a Levitation Spell to fly into the sky before throwing out a Warlock's Eyes as he floated soundlessly into the forest under the cover of the flames.
Through the Warlock's Eyes, Lin Li could clearly see what was happening within the raging fire—there was a black-cloaked figure strolling casually towards him…
"It wasn't a magical beast?" Lin Li could not believe his eyes. He'd never thought that a human—and not a magical beast like he had thought—could give off such a ferocious aura…
This was not good…
Lin Li brushed his nose as he felt embarrassed.
He had thought that it was a powerful magical beast, and did not bother reasoning with it as he thought that it was to his advantage to strike first no matter what creature it was. However, little did he know that it was a human walking out of the forest. This was complicated now—they might just have been passing by and meant him no harm, but it might be a different story after the Pyroblast he pulled off earlier…
Then, Lin Li saw the figure reach out a hand and wave gently before the Warlock's Eyes fell into their palm like a falling leaf…
Lin Li could not see anything after that…
His heart sank as the Warlock's Eyes disappeared…
If Lin Li had doubted the capabilities of the other person earlier, he was now completely sure that this person was way more powerful than he was. While the Warlock's Eyes was called an 'eye', it was not actually one—instead, it was formed from a mage's mental strength combined with mana and thereby forming an extension of his senses. Through this sliver of mental strength, the mage was able to get a clear grasp of their surroundings, and in order to destroy the Warlock's Eyes, one would have to be able to grab this sliver of mental strength.
Mental strength was in itself an incredibly abstract existence, especially for someone as talented as Lin Li—he had already trained his mental strength such that he could wield it easily as he pleased. As long as he wished to, nobody would be able to catch that sliver of his mental strength even if they set up an elaborate trap to do so.
Earlier, however, that black-cloaked figure merely gave a gentle wave before that sliver of mental strength seemed to be sucked in by a vortex and fell easily into their grasp…
How powerful must this person be.
Lin Li had seen many powerful people, even Legendary-realm ones, after arriving in Anril, but he was confident that not even those Legendary ones would be able to catch his mental strength as easily as the black-cloaked figure had.
Perhaps Apophis would be able to…
But how many Apophises were there in the world?
Just as Lin Li was staring wide-eyed, the figure slowly walked out of the forest. As he looked at the black cloak, the raging flames as well as the strolling figure, Lin Li felt his skin crawl. This person had just emerged from the burning fire, yet he looked completely fine.
"You're attacking me, little mage?" The man looked to be in his forties, and had a strong figure and tan skin. His squarish jaw made him look very majestic, and while his voice was not loud when he spoke, every word sounded like thunder in Lin Li's ears. If not for Lin Li's incredibly strong mental strength, he would have been done for after hearing just a sentence.
The moment the man emerged from the forest, Lin Li knew he was right—the violent aura coming off him was ferocious, and similar to that of a prehistoric magical beast. The only difference was that this man's aura held a deep prestige unlike that of a prehistoric magical beast. Lin Li could feel the almost concrete pressure pressing on him even from where he stood.
"This…" Lin Li gulped as he tried his best to withstand the attack of the pressure. His once clear thoughts seemed to have frozen up now, and even if he tried to come up with an excuse, he found his brain as blank as a sheet of paper.
"Little mage, do you know what will happen if you attack me?" The man's voice still sounded as calm as ever, and there was no trace of anger on his squarish face. Anyone else would have thought that they were merely having a conversation about the weather.
But for Lin Li who was being oppressed by the immense pressure, he knew clearly how scary the pressure brought to him by the man was. It felt like he was under a mountain, and even though he was a level-18 Archmage, he had to use all his might to suppress his fear using his mental strength. He knew that if he let up a bit, he would definitely crumble under the immense pressure.
The man looked at Lin Li quietly. There was a hint of a smile on his face, but the immense pressure continued rolling off him, and it was becoming stronger. Even the raging flames withered down as though a gust of wind had just blown past them as they crackled quietly in the otherwise silent forest.
The forest seemed eerily quiet for a second as there was no sound besides the quiet crackling of flames and the occasional dripping of sweat from Lin Li. Lin Li's mental strength had been pushed to a limit from trying to withstand the scary pressure, and his face was now as pale as a sheet, while large beads of sweat dripped from his face. Lin Li knew that he could not continue like this for long, as he was strung up tightly like a bow now—he could draw the bow tighter and tighter but end up breaking it, or he could shoot an arrow while his mental strength and mana were pushed to their limits…
Lin Li gritted his teeth and pushed his already strained mental strength to an even greater height, one that was beyond his limits. In that instant, an incredibly strong magical wave spread out in the forest—it was like waves in the sea, and each wave was higher than the previous and continued to crash into the surroundings. For a split second, even the mysterious man's expression was frozen.
After he pushed his mental strength to an extreme, Lin Li could clearly feel that the magical wave coming off him formed many invisible vortexes, and although they seemed calm, it only took a thought from him for these vortexes to release the gargantuan power contained in them.
Even experienced mages like Aldwin and Andoine would be staring with open mouths at this. For the magical waves to form vortexes was a sign of reaching the Legendary-realm, but a level-18 Archmage was able to forcefully make it happen simply by using his mental strength. How could anyone achieve such a scary feat?
But Lin Li did not have time to think about that; the man's expression froze when Lin Li's mental strength was completely released, and he could finally catch a breather from the oppressive pressure. Lin Li immediately stopped the Levitation Spell, and descended from the sky.
For the first time, Lin Li found it wonderful to step on the ground again…
"Firstly, let me apologize for my rashness…" As Lin Li landed on the ground, the oppressive pressure that seemed to fill up the place seemed to have vanished. Lin Li knew that the first test of his capabilities had ended, and this man would not try and make things difficult for him for the time being.
Since he knew the other person would not do anything to him now, Lin Li happily sat next to the bonfire as he rotated the Blue Grass roasted boar, smiling as he said, "But I have a question…"
"What is it?"
"What would you do if you heard something behind you while you're alone in the wilderness at night?"
"I'll make sure that fellow isn't capable of making another noise in his life."
"Hehe…" Lin Li laughed dryly as he was silently in awe that only someone like him could make such arrogant words sound not disgustingly pompous. It was as if being arrogant was second nature to him.
"You're interesting, little mage." The man stared at Lin Li for a long time before he smiled. "Let's get to know each other, my name is Tutankhamun."
"I'm Felic." Lin Li stretched out his hand and shook Tutankhamun's as he let out a long sigh in his mind. He knew that the smile on this man's face now was a genuine one, unlike those from before that seemed to mock and test him. This smile truly represented a sense of friendliness; it seemed like his previous display of power with his mental strength had gained the other person's approval.
"Aren't you going to invite me to have a taste?" Tutankhamun pointed at the Blue Grass roasted boar after introducing himself, a sheepish look appearing on his squarish face for the first time. "To be honest, I was lured here by the smell of this…"
"…" Lin Li was nearly in tears from how amused he was—he had been wondering what was Tutankhamun's motive for approaching him, and he had even thought that he was helping Emendas. Never had he thought that Tutankhamun was here because of the Blue Grass roasted boar he had made on a whim…
If he had known earlier, he would have rather starved to death than roasted a boar…
But it was too late for regrets now, and the boar was so large there was no way he could finish it alone anyway. He might as well invite Tutankhamun to eat with him and do him a favor that way.
"Hehe, why wouldn't I…" Lin Li laughed and took out his small silver knife again to cut off a tender piece of meat from the boar's hind leg, drawing a small cross on the meat with his knife before sprinkling some salt on it from the bottle of salt he carried around. As the salt dissolved into the meat, a meaty aroma permeated the forest.
"Please."
"I will not stand on ceremony, then…" Tutankhamun did not hold back after taking the piece of meat from Lin Li, and started eating to his heart's content, praising the food as he ate. "Wow, little mage, you can cook better than I thought. This food is so delicious! I don't think I've ever tasted anything like that ever since prehistoric times…"
"Hehe…" Lin Li smiled, but did not hurry to deny the praise. He was a Master of cooking, after all, so if his food was anything less than 'delicious', how could he be deserving of the title?
Wait a minute…
Lin Li's smile froze halfway through his laugh.
This Tutankhamun said… prehistoric times?
My God…
Lin Li stared dumbly at Tutankhamun. What kind of era was the prehistoric times? That was when the Dragons and the Titans fought to rule over the lands! The unimaginably proud High Elves were only just born under the Tree of Eternity, and they were still far from a tribe yet. To put it simply, they were merely food for the powerful beings of the prehistoric times…
Lin Li felt his skin crawl.
He had thought that he had seen more than enough, seeing as he had a Vampire from the Dark Ages as well as a Lich that had died hundreds of years ago as his followers… moreover, he had come from another world himself.
But, Lin Li had never thought that he would one day be sitting next to a bonfire with a powerful being from the distant prehistoric times, enjoying roasted meat and hard liquor while he complained about how wretched the weather was these days in the Blackstone Mountains…
"What's going on, little mage?" Tutankhamun asked after making quick work of the boar's hind leg as he rubbed his mouth, savoring its taste.
"No… nothing." Lin Li smiled, and only after that did he realize that his voice was unusually scratchy, just like something was stuck in his throat.
"It really has been years since I've tasted such delicious food…" Seeing as Lin Li did not wish to speak of it, Tutankhamun dropped the subject, and only licked his lips as he still looked longingly at the food.
"Hehe, if you like it, feel free to have more, there's so much anyway…" Lin Li did not eat much to begin with, and he was almost full from the piece he had earlier. Moreover, after hearing Tutankhamun say that he was from the prehistoric times, Lin Li had lost his appetite, and was more interested in guessing Tutankhamun's identity as he chatted aimlessly with him.
The two of them sat next to the bonfire and chatted for about an hour. Lin Li had only eaten a small piece of meat from the boar's hind leg, while the rest had been polished off by Tutankhamun. Lin Li was not shocked by his appetite—instead, he was shocked by how seemingly endless Tutankhamun's knowledge was.
He knew a great deal indeed, and Lin Li even wondered if there was anything in this world that this mysterious mad did not know of. Tutankhamun casually spoke of everything from the prehistoric times to the Dark Ages and the present day as though the history of Anril was merely everyday objects he could find at home. He ate the roasted meat as he told Lin Li stories, including details that could not even be found in the most respected publications, yet they sounded like a personal encounter from Tutankhamun himself.
The only thing that made Lin Li suspicious was that Tutankhamun's memory was strange—he remembered distant events far more clearly than he did the recent ones. It was especially so for events that had happened after the Dark Ages. For some reason, he knew less of them than a foreigner like Lin Li…
But even then, his knowledge was nothing short of spectacular. It was not just on history, as he had an incredible understanding of topics like magic and martial arts, especially magic. Honestly, Lin Li had thought that he already understood magic very well since he had always been around formidable mages of Anril in his time here. After spending so much time with them, there was no way he could not be well-versed in magic.
But for the first time, Lin Li felt unbelievably ignorant before Tutankhamun.
There were many techniques on the use of magic that he had never even heard of.
Lin Li had thought that Tutankhamun was making these things up, but after he pondered over the technicalities behind it, he found that it all seemed doable. While it was incredibly difficult to execute it, it was not entirely impossible, and Lin Li found himself perking up at the mention of the techniques used by the High Elves' royalty.
Surprisingly, Lin Li was the one who had gained more from this as they ate their roasted meat…
"Right, little mage, I realized your mental strength is somewhat strange. I remember there was a mage like you during the Dark Ages—he had very powerful mental strength as well, but he was a bit more powerful than you. He had reached an impressive level in terms of controlling his mental strength, and even came up with a method of training it…"
"There's such a thing?" Lin Li jumped in shock. It was every mage's dream to improve their mental strength as it largely determined how powerful they could eventually become. If there was really a way of improving it, then he was sure that more than half of the mage apprentices in the world would be able to become Archmages.
Unfortunately, it had been proven that all of these were just a fantasy. Mental strength represented a mage's talent for magic. It was predetermined, and only in rare cases like surpassing a level or a sudden change occurring in their mental strength would there be a chance of change.
Yet Tutankhamun said that a mage had left behind a method of training mental strength…
"It is a coincidence indeed. I have these notes, but I did not bring it with me today. When you have the time, you can come visit me, and I'll give it to you as thanks for this meat." Tutankhamun stood up and let out a loud burp.
Lin Li couldn't find it in himself to believe it. "Is there really such a method?"
"Yes." Tutankhamun nodded his head firmly before tilting his head as though he was thinking. "Right, that mage was called Geresco. He seems pretty well-known amongst you humans… you should know him, right?"
"…" Lin Li felt his brain buzzing…
A method of training mental strength left behind by the God of Mages, Geresco!
"Alright, I'm leaving. It was nice to meet you, little mage. Come and visit me when you have time. I live at the top of the Blackstone Mountains, but it's difficult to reach my house, so you might have some problems given your abilities now. How about this, you can go look around for a magical beast called the Crimson Python and try to enter its nest. At the end of their nest, you'll find a secret passage that leads to the top of the mountain. You can reach my house that way."
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