A Wizard’s Secret

“It really is the Neverending Book… You’re lucky to obtain the Neverending Book and bring it here to me. If it was anyone else, they would have no way to decipher the runes of the Neverending Book. However, the great Sir Didimoss is able to do it!”

The magnificent black cat’s voice became sharper. Following that, Merlin sensed that the stone tablet which stood on the beach was beginning to shake softly, after which mysterious runes appeared one by one and were slowly grasped by the black cat.

At the same time, Merlin perceived that streaks of powerful Mind fluctuations had emerged around the black cat. This gust of Mind Power made Merlin scared out of his wits.

Mind Power was something intangible. In reality, it was unable to cause any physical injury to anyone. However now, Merlin could feel the waves of Mind fluctuation around the black cat Didimoss as if once Didimoss’ petrifying Mind Power was targeted at him, he would have no resistance at all.

“Inscription, open!”

Didimoss pronounced a few ancient, mysterious characters, following which the enigmatic runes on the stone tablet were quickly engraved into the Neverending Book in Merlin’s hands.

The Neverending Book began to shine with waves of white light as if it was struggling mightily, but after a moment, the white light of the Neverending Book gradually weakened until it finally faded away.

What caught Merlin off guard was that this time, what he saw was a completely new volume of the Neverending Book. In this volume, lines of Molta language were recorded, containing an abundance of information. Merlin looked over the contents roughly and began to feel rather ecstatic for this information was about the clues on the second and even the third volume of the Neverending Book.

“Alright, the runes of the Neverending Book have been deciphered. How exhausting. I’m afraid I’ll have to sleep for a few months. Wizard Merlin, your elemental crystals stones were delicious but the great Sir Didimoss has given you his help. Whether or not you can locate the second and third volumes of the Neverending Book is all up to you…”

With that, the black cat Didimoss immediately transformed into a cloud of black fog and disappeared into the stone tablet.

Merlin bowed slightly toward the stone tablet. He knew that this time around, Didimoss had exhausted a lot of energy to decipher the runes of the Neverending Book. After all, the Neverending Book was a legendary treasure, and the Runic Magic Circles it contained could not be easily deciphered.

“Teacher, this is…”

Emma, who was standing on one side, was stunned by the scene she had just witnessed. The marvelous Didimoss was able to speak the human language, and the powers he possessed were even more inconceivable to her.

Merlin did not explain much but kept the Neverending Book instead. He was ready to closely examine the secrets of the Neverending Book once he had returned to the Dark Magic Region.

“Let’s go. Didimoss is a spirit of a Runic Magic Circle personally engraved by the Great Wizard Fidel, the founder of the Dark Magic Region. He’s a peculiar creature, older than any Spell Casters in the Dark Magic Region.”

Merlin gave Emma a simple introduction of the black cat Didimoss. Even though Emma only half-understood it, she recognized that this marvelous black cat had an impressive position in the Dark Magic Region. Thus, she also bowed deeply toward the stone tablet before she followed Merlin into the Dark Magic Region.

“This is the Dark Magic Region!”

Merlin heaved a small sigh. Looking at the familiar scene before his eyes, and the blocks of towers rising into the sky, his heart seemed to relax. He had already completely assimilated into the Dark Magic Region and had inadvertently become a part of the Dark Magic Region long ago.

Therefore, he felt a sense of belonging in the Dark Magic Region as if he had returned “home” to Prakash City.

Emma was inquisitive and in high spirits, continuously inquiring about the towers soaring into the sky, so Merlin answered her questions one after another.

“Alright, Emma, you should slowly familiarize yourself with the Dark Magic Region. However, I’m not a Fourth-level Spell Caster, so I don’t have an individual tower which I built. Thus, I have no way of accepting you as a student in my Wizard Tower. You still need to head over to the gray-robed Wizards for your appraisal – they’ll eventually assign you to the tower of some other Wizard.”

Merlin had not become a Fourth-level Spell Caster and was unable to individually build a Wizard Tower, so he had no way to immediately take on Emma as his student.

Nevertheless, Merlin had explained to Emma before that if she joined the Dark Magic Region, she would need to abide by their rules. Even if Emma was assigned to another Spell Caster’s tower, Merlin would still be her “teacher” as long as she was willing.

“Go ahead, I’ll wait for you outside.”

After he spoke, Emma nodded and drew in a deep breath. She walked into one of the towers. There, they would test her Spell Caster Quality as well as assign her to a Wizard Tower.

Seeing that Emma had gone in, Merlin quietly waited outside. Regarding Emma’s Quality, her Mind Power was not very strong, and she had only constructed three Zero-level spells. According to the Dark Magic Region’s system, she would most likely be assigned to Wizard Leo’s tower.

If that was the case, it would save them a lot of trouble.

After a long time, Emma came out. A dejected expression hung on her face, and when she saw Merlin, she was somewhat hesitant to speak.

Merlin smiled. “How was it, which Wizard’s tower were you assigned to?”

Emma shook her head helplessly. “My Spell Caster Quality was terrible, and I was assigned to Wizard Leo’s tower… Teacher, I’ve embarrassed you!”

From Emma’s perspective, Merlin was able to be so strong when he was only First-level. It was clear that in the Dark Magic Region, he was the cream of the crop. Emma was somewhat disturbed that as his student, she had inferior Spell Caster Quality.

However, Merlin breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on his face. “As expected, you’re assigned to Wizard Leo. There’s no need to be so despondent. I did not explain to you that, I’m Wizard Leo’s student, and am staying in Wizard Leo’s tower at the moment. Your assignment to Wizard Leo’s tower saves us a lot of trouble. I’ll explain your situation to Wizard Leo.”

“What? Teacher, you’re also assigned to Wizard Leo’s tower? The Spell Caster inside said that only Spell Casters of the lowest Spell Caster Quality would be assigned to Wizard Leo’s tower…”

Emma still found it rather unbelievable that Merlin was also assigned to Wizard Leo’s tower.

Merlin’s features gradually became stern, and he said solemnly, “Spell Caster Quality is not everything. What’s more, Wizard Leo is one of the strongest Spell Casters in the Dark Magic Region. You should feel lucky to be able to be in his tower. Alright, as for the rest, you’ll know about them later. Firstly, I’ll bring you to Wizard Leo’s tower.”

Emma bobbed her head and followed closely behind Merlin.

In a short while, Merlin had brought Emma to the front of Wizard Leo’s tower. It looked the same as before, but only when he returned here did Merlin feel truly comfortable.

“Come on.”

Merlin and Emma walked into the tower. On the first floor, Wizard Howl was engrossed in studying his potions as always. Merlin knew that Wizard Howl was obsessed with potions. In the past, he had thought that Wizard Howl, being a First-level Spell Caster and an official member of the Dark Magic Region, would have been very strong.

However, as Merlin slowly leveled up to a First-level Spell Caster, his horizons were gradually broadened, and he learned some things about Wizard Howl.

Although Wizard Howl had successfully leveled up to a First-level Spell Caster, the Spell Model he had created in the beginning had left him with an unseen affliction. As a result, he needed potions to sustain himself.

This constant suffering due to an unstable Spell Model was a situation similarly faced by Wizard Hill. It was because of this that Wizard Howl was so obsessed with potions. He hoped that through potions, he would be able to thoroughly cure his affliction.

Nonetheless, in so many years, Wizard Howl had not leveled up to a Second-level Spell Caster. It was evident that he had failed, and the potions he was preoccupied with did not completely cure his internal affliction.

Merlin shook his head slightly. A Spell Caster of this sort, without any hope, was the most pitiful. It was not surprising that besides anything to do with potions, Wizard Howl had a certain detached attitude toward other matters.

“Let’s go, I’ll bring you to meet Wizard Leo. He’s on the highest floor of the tower!”

Merlin brought Emma to the Runic Magic Circle on the first floor and activated it in a routine manner. A white light flashed instantly, and Merlin and Emma’s figures vanished from the first floor.

After they disappeared, Wizard Howl, who had been immersed in his potions, raised his head lightly. As he looked at the Runic Magic Circle from the corner of his eyes, a forlorn look grew upon his face…

…

“It’s Merlin, I suppose. Come in!”

Merlin had just reached Wizard Leo’s room when he heard Wizard Leo’s voice coming from inside.

“Creak…”

Merlin pushed the door and entered. He saw that Wizard Leo was beaming, appearing to be in good humor.

“Wizard Leo!”

Merlin bowed forward slightly but felt rather puzzled. He did not know why Wizard Leo seemed to be overjoyed today. Ever since he had joined Wizard Leo’s tower, Merlin had seldom seen Wizard Leo crack a smile.

“Merlin, well done. You killed Weiss and defeated Bluebird – two of Ozmu’s prodigies. Haha, your reputation now has surpassed my own!”

The blood-red third eye on Wizard Leo’s forehead flickered slightly with rays of crimson light. Merlin, who understood the behavior of Wizard Leo well, immediately knew that Wizard Leo was truly ecstatic.

Merlin did not expect that the news would spread so quickly. He had just returned to the Dark Magic Region, and the news had already reached them.

Seeing Merlin’s expression, Wizard Leo seemed to guess Merlin’s thoughts, and said, “Merlin, the news was able to spread so quickly was not because of you but because of Ozmu. We had just signed a pact with Ozmu, so of course, we’re following Ozmu’s every move closely. In addition, it’s not like Weiss and Bluebird were obscure nobodies, so naturally, we kept track of their whereabouts.”

Merlin nodded. It turned out that it was because Ozmu was observed by the Dark Magic Region and other spell casters’ organizations that they would so quickly know that he killed Weiss and Bluebird.

“Teacher Leo, there were some things which I was hiding from you. It’s about my Pandora Demon Ability…”

Merlin muttered to himself for a long time before deciding to tell Wizard Leo about Glacial Finger and Fiery Collapse. After what happened when they visited Abyss Fort, Merlin already had absolute trust in Wizard Leo. His possession of these Pandora Demon Abilities was not something he had to conceal from Wizard Leo anymore.