Chapter 263: Silvermoon Elf
Only someone as unconventional as Leon—a master of alchemy with a mind full of treasure map locations—could spend his days fretting over which vault to dig up next. Even at the Archmage level, he already wielded an Essence Relic.
If it were any other Archmage, they wouldn't even dare to dream of such things...
What does an Essence Relic mean, anyway? That's Title Archmage-level combat power—give one to a mage apprentice, and they’d have the right to face a Title Archmage head-on. Take Leon’s Prime Flame Sprite, for example—even Salomon would be wary of it.
Just look at Seaview City—a city that size, and aside from Leon, who else has an Essence Relic? Powerful as Salomon, transcendent as Lance, wealthy as Kadgar—who among them possesses an Essence Relic?
Even Cloudspire Tower, one of the kingdom’s two major mage factions, only has two or three Essence Relics at most. When Leon wanted to borrow the Black Death Rune, he had to trade his solution to Vanrison's Formulas for it. That was no simple task—even for Leon, it took several days and a sleepless night to finally crack all the core spell models.
That alone shows just how much Cloudspire Tower values the Black Death Rune...
In all the millions of years of Northend’s history, anyone who truly possessed an Essence Relic was never some obscure nobody. At the very least, they’d reached the Title Archmage realm—a force to be reckoned with.
With that in mind, Leon’s curiosity about the identity of this corpse only grew...
However...
When Leon continued his examination, hoping to find more clues on the corpse, he realized the trail ended here—completely.
Originally, Leon planned to use his Mana Harness to analyze any lingering magical fluctuations on the corpse, but soon discovered there wasn't a trace of magic left.
"What is going on?" The discovery stunned Leon—a powerhouse at least at the Title Archmage level, yet no residual magical fluctuations after death?
It just doesn't make sense...
Mages begin by forming their Mana Vortex; Archmages condense Arcane Sigils. Upon reaching the Magus stage, nine Arcane Sigils merge and become one with the self. From that point on, spells are no longer just about channeling mana—every bit of power comes from the Magus themselves. At this level, they’re not so dependent on the environment, and can even resist certain rule-based suppression.
As for Title Archmages, that's a whole different story. They're a distinct lifeform entirely—even after death, as long as the body remains intact, their mana never fully dissipates.
That’s why Leon found it so strange...
Why would a powerhouse—at least Title Archmage level—whose corpse hasn’t fully decayed, leave behind no magical residue at all?
If not for the Essence Relic robe, Leon might not have believed that someone of at least Title Archmage level rested here. It was almost unbelievable.
What could explain this? Leon wracked his brain, but it made no sense. Had he misjudged the situation—was the person lying here, like him, someone who possessed an Essence Relic even before reaching the Title Archmage realm?
Yet even this lingering doubt was shattered in an instant.
Because as Leon turned the corpse over, he discovered another Essence Relic hidden beneath it...
Two Essence Relics!
Cold sweat broke out on Leon’s forehead...
A powerhouse wielding two Essence Relics—even if they were only at Sylas West’s level in life—would absolutely have the qualifications to challenge a Star Sage!
That’s already battle power infinitely close to Sky Rank...
What does Sky Rank mean? Even at the height of magical civilization, Sky Rank mages were the absolute peak of power in Northend. That’s the highest echelon of the profession—the summit of mana manipulation, the ultimate in magical might. Even Undead Lords and Sky Knights, those at comparable levels, are only deeper in their mastery of rules. In terms of pure power, they’re not much stronger than Sky Rank mages.
Yet now, someone so close to the pinnacle had fallen on the Plane Path...
No matter how Leon thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what had happened—why would a corpse like this be left on the Plane Path?
Afterward, Leon spent nearly half an hour thoroughly examining the corpse, but unfortunately, he still found nothing worth noting.
In the end, Leon could only shake his head, stand up, and say, "Let's go..."
What followed was another long trek.
But because of the impact of that corpse, the whole team’s mood felt heavy. No one spoke the entire way—a strange, oppressive calm settled over everyone...
Not until half an hour later...
The team pressed forward into the dazzling light, the world ahead a blinding expanse—like being swallowed by a sea of brilliance, with no end in sight...
"Merlin, Merlin, look!" After half an hour, Bardrack suddenly cried out.
As a ninth-rank sharpshooter, Bardrack was born with extraordinary vision. Without using spells or abilities, he had the best eyesight in the team—especially in this ocean of light, he was probably the only one who could still see normally.
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"Huh?" Leon was startled, then cast True Sight. Protected by magical power, his eyes pierced through the dazzling light—following Bardrack's pointing finger, he couldn't help but gasp as well.
"No way..."
"What is it, Merlin?" Salomon’s face instantly changed behind him.
"Look ahead..." Leon didn’t answer, just pointed forward as well.
"Let me see." Salomon also cast True Sight, and then stood completely stunned...
Ahead, about a thousand meters away, lay more than a dozen corpses scattered across the ground—slender, delicate, mysterious, and adorned with ornate innate magic sigils. Their faces were as finely carved as moonstone... Those were unmistakably the bodies of Silvermoon Elves!
Silvermoon Elves are one of the four pureblood elven races!
Tens of thousands of years ago, Emperor Charles shattered the Throne of All Creation, ending the glorious Silver Age. The last pureblood elves and dragons left Northend World, sailing the Emerald Ark into the endless void. Since then, not a single pureblood elf has been seen in Northend.
Today, the Gold Elves and Silver Elves living in Silvermoon Forest in southern Northend aren’t truly pureblood elves. In that distant Silver Age, Gold Elves and Silver Elves were merely the servants of pureblood elves—their status wasn’t much higher than other races.
The greatest difference between them is those mysterious and ornate innate magic sigils.
If dragons draw their power from bloodlines, then Silvermoon Elves draw theirs from innate magic sigils. These sigils grant Silvermoon Elves extraordinary power from birth—they are natural mages, born with the strength of a Grand Mage. Upon reaching adulthood, they naturally grow into Magisters. That means, in the Nesser Dynasty’s Magic Legion, even the lowest-ranking soldiers were at least Magisters.
Thankfully, the numbers in this Magic Legion were never too large.
Even at the height of the Nesser Dynasty, their Magic Legion never exceeded five thousand members.
Even so, that was terrifying enough...
And those were just the lowest-ranking soldiers—the ones truly high up in the Magic Legion were all Title Archmages, some even at Sky Rank.
And then there were their natural allies—the dragons...
Even now, the power the Nesser Dynasty once held is enough to make anyone despair.
It was a force that simply couldn’t be resisted...
Even now, many still wonder how Emperor Charles shattered the Throne of All Creation and ended such a mighty dynasty...
Unfortunately, with the Third Dynasty’s tradition of burial sacrifice, countless valuable records have been buried underground. Even after thousands of years, the descendants of the Third Dynasty probably have no idea how their ancestor Charles accomplished it all.
"Why is it like this again?" Half an hour later, Leon stood up, frowning once more.
Yes, just like before...
Not a trace of magical energy could be found in any of the Silvermoon Elf corpses—only their innate magic sigils hinted at their high status. Some might even have held high positions in the Magic Legion; in other words, they were likely Title Archmages or even Sky Rank Mages...
This discovery left Leon speechless for a long time.
The human mage carrying two Essence Relics had already stunned Leon. He never imagined that just half an hour later, he’d encounter more than a dozen corpses—likely Title Archmages or even Sky Rank Mages...
What kind of terrifying place lay beyond this Plane Path?
But before Leon could even process the shock of the Silvermoon Elf corpses, something massive up ahead made cold sweat break out all over him.
A dragon!