Archae'ard
Archae'ard is a blue dragon and magical researcher who confronts Sungjin over a sky gem and the Ring of the Great Sage. He treats the human's resistance as a test of capability, acknowledges defeat when forced out of his human form, and leaves three crafted artifacts chosen after reading Sungjin's history. (Chapters 156–160)
Appearance
Archae'ard first appears in a handsome human polymorph with blond hair and blue eyes, the eye color signaling his true scales to other dragons. His actual body is an immense blue dragon estimated at least twice the size of Khal Gal. He carries a long staff set with blue sky gems while in human form. (Chapters 156 and 159–160)
Personality
Archae'ard is self-assured, acquisitive, talkative, and intensely interested in magic. He demands rare materials with little concern for the human owner's survival, praises his own genius, and treats Time Reversal as a valuable research experience. He nevertheless keeps the terms he accepts: after Sungjin forces his transformation, Archae'ard recognizes the outcome, leaves the ring in place, and rewards the victor. (Chapters 156–160)
Biography
The dragon's test
Archae'ard approaches Sungjin after the Barrastan battle and demands both a sky gem and the Ring of the Great Sage for his research. He reads enough of Sungjin's past to recognize a repeated life, then frames the choice as surrendering the ring or dying. Sungjin refuses both outcomes and prepares to fight. Archae'ard accepts the challenge, receives the Operator's Magic Researcher designation, and battles Sungjin and his summons in human form. (Chapter 156)
The dragon dominates with rapid blue magic, removes summons from the field, and counters much of Sungjin's swordplay. Sungjin uses Time Reversal to exploit knowledge of their exchange, interrupts Archae'ard's casting, and forces him to reveal his enormous true body. Archae'ard treats that transformation as a loss rather than continuing at full draconic strength. After reading Sungjin's memories again, he gives Ever Dream, Sereberf, and a personal storage cube, then leaves without disclosing a larger agenda beyond research, tradition, and his stated calculations. (Chapters 157–160)
Relationships
- Sungjin: Archae'ard begins as a coercive collector and hidden boss, but Sungjin's refusal and use of Time Reversal earn his interest and conditional respect. He reads Sungjin's memories, honors the agreed result, and tailors gifts to the human's repeated fate without explaining every calculation behind them. (Chapters 156–160)
- Ariane the Dragon: Archae'ard recognizes the test by which Ariane awarded Sungjin the ring and compares his own decision with hers. The corpus establishes familiarity and a shared draconic frame of reference, but does not provide a fuller personal history between them. (Chapters 156 and 159–160)
Skills and abilities
Blue-dragon magic. Archae'ard casts ice, wind, lightning, teleportation, dispelling, and anti-spirit effects with exceptional speed and power. He can compel truthful answers, sense or read memories, recognize Time Reversal after it occurs, and open portals. Human polymorph limits his durability and leaves brief casting windows that relentless close combat can exploit. (Chapters 156–160)
Draconic combat. Millennia of study and extensive fighting experience let Archae'ard read and counter Sungjin's sword patterns with a staff. His true dragon body dwarfs major raid monsters and appears beyond Sungjin's exhausted ability to defeat, but Archae'ard voluntarily ends the contest once the agreed human-form threshold has been crossed. (Chapters 157–159)
Artifact crafting. Archae'ard creates a small possession cube and possesses advanced magical equipment suited to mana recovery and amplification. After examining Sungjin's history, he selects gifts that can reveal past events and support future magic, though the exact reach of his predictions is not established. (Chapters 159–160)
Equipment
- Ever Dream: Archae'ard gives Sungjin this eye-mask-like accessory, which can show desired scenes from gaps in the past during sufficiently long sleep. Its later visions expose events Sungjin did not originally witness. (Chapters 159–160)
- Sereberf – Andal's Staff: Archae'ard's long staff returns part of recently spent mana and can temporarily increase Magic Power. He uses it in the duel and then gives it to Sungjin. (Chapters 157–160)
- Plasmic Cube: A small cube crafted by Archae'ard stores an item as the owner's personal possession. He predicts its distinction from the Operator's larger cube will matter later, but the supplied chapters do not confirm how. (Chapter 160)