911 Vicente's Awakening

By the time Vicente reached the beginning of the 6th stage, his senses had expanded to the point where he could sense the troubled emotions of his companions on the outskirts of the Citadel.

He used his powers to see through the buildings on his way and discovered the camp of monsters and vampires near this place.

'Archmages...' With a sigh, he got up from where he was, almost completely missing the good feeling of advancing on a stage.

For a moment, Vicente put aside the various improvements he had undergone.

Even though it was often said that one did not truly become an Archmage until they absorbed their next pentagram, that did not mean that such a person did not have much stronger senses and abilities than at the previous stage. Besides the extra mana, one's strength would be greatly improved after one's ascension.

The best thing after ascending would surely be the absorption of a new pentagram. With the absorption of a new pentagram, all of a magician's powers could improve. But even before that, one would become much stronger.

Forgetting about his new abilities, his vitality and the way ahead, Vicente moved and caught up with one of his companions.

"Vicente, you..."

"Congratulations on reaching the 6th stage!" the big Roc said, feeling in his heart how strong this young had become.

As difficult as it would be to escape the siege of the Citadel and eventually find a new cyan pentagram for Vicente's second magical form, his current power was already very good, and reaching the sixth pentagram of the first magical form shouldn't be difficult.

As long as he escaped from the Citadel, Vicente should have at least 11 pentagrams with him in six months at the most!

Qiang looked at the black-haired young man with a twinkle in his eye, feeling he was nearing the end of his journey. 'After this battle, I will retire. Unfortunately, I can't go any further,' he thought silently.

Qiang felt Vicente was so strong now that the company of mere Intermediate Archmages wouldn't make the slightest difference.

Vicente nodded to his companions as he heard the praise and congratulations. But changing the subject, he kept looking in the direction of the monster camp and said, "From what I can sense, there are 6th stage vampires in that place."

"Yes, one of them is an old acquaintance of mine. He's certainly an Archmage now." Lonan confirmed.

"There is also a Master Archmage in this group. Leaving the Citadel won't be easy." Vicente changed direction from where he was looking and looked to the sky, where he could feel a powerful seal. "They even put a seal on us to prevent teleportation devices. If we want to leave the Citadel, we'll have to do it with the enemy surrounding us."

"I'm afraid that would mean death for almost all of us." Tenglin laughed bitterly, hardly able to believe he would fall so soon after becoming a powerful Intermediate Archmage.

Unfortunately, that was the most likely reality for all of them.

"Maybe not." Vicente looked at Qilin, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "I have a plan. By the way, have you forgotten that I'm a blacksmith? I've spent the last few months preparing to become a 6th stage blacksmith. Now the rank is within my reach."

The four of them looked at Vicente with interest, their hearts beating faster as their minds raced through their thoughts.

If Vicente could build a small battalion of 6th stage artificial beings, then things could really be different than they imagined.

"What do you have in mind?" Lonan asked as he took a step forward and approached Vicente.

Vicente looked into the werewolf's eyes and replied, "Give me a month. We can't stay here too long because of the risk of Demien Bloodthorne waking up and joining the siege. But a month should be long enough for me, and he shouldn't leave his place of seclusion until then."

The magical creatures looked at each other, a little uncertain about the future, aware every day longer in this place was a greater risk to their lives, but it was also a day longer they could live in peace. Once they left the Citadel, death and disaster awaited them.

Would they survive the siege of the enemy? There was no way to know. Most likely not, even considering the contributions Vicente would make in a month.

But it was better to try than to leave the Citadel now and face the enemies in a less favorable condition.

After everyone had agreed, Vicente called all his robotic armors around the Citadel closer to him and returned to the headquarters of the Blacksmiths' Association, where the best materials he had ever seen in his life were stored.

With the amount of materials in this place and the structures of his current armor, Vicente believed he could test many of his theories and create new armor, as well as accessories for his allies.

He didn't know how strong and resistant these items would be, but he was certain that they would be better than what he currently had in his group.

'If I can create good 6th stage armor, we might distract the enemies while we flee the area...' Vicente thought as he arrived at his workstation. 'As long as we can escape, I'll get my sixth pentagram from my first magical form and send them back to their domains. Then I'll be ready to face Demien Bloodthorne and test my destiny!'

With this in mind, Vicente activated his magical powers, causing his Magic Gems on his forehead to glow cyan while his five pentagrams of the first magical form appeared around him.

The armor in the area disintegrated and turned into clouds of particles that floated in the area at Vicente's command.

The minerals in the area were similarly affected, as various elements were concentrated in this forge room, marking the beginning of Vicente's month-long experiment.

When a magician advanced one stage, their profession would not immediately advance to the next stage. An alchemist would certainly find it easier to produce the same items they had produced in the past. But creating higher quality items would take time.

One had to master their newfound understanding, grasp new principles, and then put that knowledge into practice. Only after doing so for some time could one consider oneself a professional at the same level as one's cultivation.

Fortunately, Vicente had already learned 6th stage things when he was only a 5th stage blacksmith. Soon, he would get good results from his experiments!