Seems like they're preparing a new part of Time Temple.

Simple:To show how strong he is. However the power surge he caused made him lose any power he had up to that point, so now he has to rest. I also don't think it would be out of the question to say Maximus, Grant, and Spiegelman all had their own roles to make us stronger. Grant to help us get stronger equipment, Maximus to get us stronger by fighting each other and learn how the Black Mage would attack, and Spiegelman to give us the higher challenge of stronger monsters so we're prepared for what comes.

I thought it was the general consensus that the Black Mage is already at conquer-worthy power, and is just toying with us at this point.

In other news....**draws attention to my last post**

I have a feeling Nexon's going to surprise anal all of us and make the Black Mage the collective evil of every Mapler, and when you fight him, you're really fighting a part of yourself, essentially making it so he's immortal. You fight him off, and kill him, but he never, ever goes away. You heard it here first!