A Wizard’s Secret

“Wizard Leo, I’d like to make a trip back to Prakash City.”

Merlin said to Wizard Leo softly.

Wizard Leo stretched out a withered finger before he nodded. “Go ahead. Remember the trip to Blacksand Fort is in one month’s time. It’s best if you can hurry back in advance.”

Merlin nodded in agreement. The Seventh-level Spell Casters of the Dark Magic Region had nominated Wizard Leo and Merlin to attend the trip to Blacksand Fort.

Following that, Merlin left Wizard Leo’s room. As he thought about the petrifying third eye in Wizard Leo’s forehead, Merlin’s initial determination to learn Darkness Eye was swayed as well.

The might of Darkness Eye was powerful indeed. As a special Pandora Demon Ability, it was stronger than Pandora Demon Abilities which could be merged with spells. However, Darkness Eye was a cursed ability. Other than the Legend of Darkness Wizard Oflas, no one else was able to cultivate the seven forms of Darkness Eye.

Wizard Leo had now taken on such a terrifying appearance and had even lost the possibility of becoming a Seventh-level Spell Caster – all because he cultivated Darkness Eye.

With Wizard Leo’s situation serving as a lesson, Merlin would need to consider carefully no matter how much he wanted to cultivate Darkness Eye.

…

Wilson Castle – from a distance, Merlin could perceive the changes that had taken place in it. In the past, it was near impossible that Elemental fluctuations would be present. However, Merlin could now feel the Elemental fluctuations even from a good distance away.

This meant that there were many Spell Casters in Wilson Castle.

Merlin frowned. There was only Wizard Bammou who was a Spell Caster in Wilson Castle. The rest were still trying to construct spells, which would take a long time. Even with Wizard Bammou’s guidance, they would not succeed in constructing spells so easily.

Therefore, now that such intense Elemental fluctuations had appeared, Merlin had become suspicious. Nevertheless, with Wizard Bammou in Wilson Castle, what could possibly happen?

Merlin did not care to guess any further, and immediately soared into the air and flew toward Wilson Castle.

The closer he was to the castle, the more he could feel the Elements fluctuations. When he was directly above Wilson Castle, he discovered to his surprise that more than ten Spell Casters had appeared in the castle.

Most of these Spell Casters were First-level Spell Casters, but there were also one or two whose Mind Power were abnormally strong, emanating an authoritative force from head to toe. Each of their movements seemed to indicate that they were the leaders of these Spell Casters.

“Fourth-level Spell Casters?”

Merlin’s suspicions increased, so he began to slowly descend toward Wilson Castle.

“Hmm? Who are you? Are you here to enlist under Wizard Bammou too?”

Very soon, the Spell Casters spotted Merlin and rapidly gathered around. However, their expressions held no hostility. Moreover, they mistook Merlin as someone who was here to enlist under Wizard Bammou.

Merlin did not move a muscle. What did they mean when they said “enlist under Wizard Bammou”? Back when Merlin was in Wilson Castle, there had been no such thing.

Seeing that Merlin was silent, these First-level Spell Casters did not dare speak up as well. After all, Merlin had just landed from the sky, which indicated that Merlin was at least a Fourth-level Spell Caster.

Of course, Merlin himself knew that he was relying upon a Flying casting tool in order to fly, and it was not because he had become a Fourth-level Spell Caster. Nevertheless, a Flying casting tool was more uncommon compared to a Fourth-level Spell Caster, so naturally, no one would think that it was a Flying casting tool.

Soon enough, the two Fourth-level Spell Caster that Merlin had sensed came forward and sized up Merlin. “You there, Wizard, are you here to join Wizard Bammou?”

As soon as he heard what they said, Merlin knew that these Spell Casters were certainly closely linked to Wizard Bammou. Thus, Merlin immediately took out the contract paper.

“Bammou, what’s with the Spell Casters in Wilson Castle?”

Merlin was able to use the contract paper to instantly communicate with Bammou. This was a special feature of the slave contract.

In a room somewhere in the castle, just as Bammou was enjoying the elemental crystal stones provided by some Spell Casters to rapidly replenish his Magic Power, Merlin’s voice rang in his mind.

“Master is back?”

Wizard Bammou felt a jolt in his heart, and no longer cared about accumulating Magic Power. Wind Element flickered slightly over his body and he immediately rushed out of the room.

“Hoo…”

A breeze went by, and Wizard Bammou had already appeared before Merlin.

“Wizard Bammou!”

The multitude of Spell Casters in the castle, upon seeing Wizard Bammou, appeared very respectful, bowing slightly toward him.

Nonetheless, as he met Merlin’s cold look, Wizard Bammou was unable to feel any joy from this. He said in a low voice straightaway, “This is my master, Wizard Merlin of the Wilson clan!”

“What? So, this is Wizard Merlin!”

These Spell Casters had evidently heard of Wizard Merlin before. However, they had not been clear about the relationship between Wizard Bammou and Wizard Merlin.

Many of them even thought that Merlin was under Wizard Bammou’s control. Currently, it looked as if this was not the case at all, completely subverting their preconceived notions.

Wizard Bammou had actually addressed Merlin as master!

“Bammou, tell me what this is all about?”

Merlin’s face was icy as he glared coldly at Bammou, causing Wizard Bammou’s heart to quiver.

“Master, it’s like this. For the Wilson clan to slowly grow as a Spell Caster clan, relying on just ourselves would never be enough. Thus, I used a few special methods to attract these Spell Casters. They’ve all joined the Wilson clan voluntarily. We can do what the other Spell Caster clans did and take them on as honorary members of the Wilson clan. In this manner, the power of the Wilson clan would grow rapidly, and there would be enough Spell Casters in the Wilson clan who can explain basic knowledge to those Wizards with Spell Caster Quality.”

Merlin’s heart leaped. He was not so easily fooled. It was likely that the “special methods” Wizard Bammou had mentioned were coercion and temptation, which was why he was able to get so many Spell Casters to join the Wilson clan willingly.

“Come to my room and give me a detailed explanation.”

Merlin glanced once more at these Spell Casters, especially those two Fourth-level Spell Casters. Among roaming Wizards, Fourth-level Spell Casters were relatively rare. He did not know what method Wizard Bammou had used in order to get these two Fourth-level Spell Casters to enlist under him.

“Swish.”

Merlin cast Flash Wind and disappeared from their sight in the blink of an eye.

…

Wizard Bammou stepped into the silent room rather apprehensively.

“Master!”

Wizard Bammou raised his head and looked at Merlin but could not tell what Merlin was thinking from his expression.

Merlin kept his tone calm. “Tell me, what methods did you use in order to get so many Spell Casters to come here to Wilson Castle?”

A smile broke out across Wizard Bammou’s face. “It was quite simple, Master. After I returned to Wilson Castle, I simply took a walk around and came across some roaming Wizards. After that, I killed a few, and the ones who were left naturally became adamant about following me. Of course, I asked them to be loyal toward the Wilson clan.”

“It’s that easy? Forget about the other First-level Spell Casters, but those two Fourth-level Spell Casters – surely they didn’t come onboard willingly with just a few threats?”

Merlin asked in suspicion.

“Of course, they did. Why would Fourth-level Spell Casters be arrogant? In the beginning, they were rather resistant, but after I told them that we can give them some Fifth-level spells and even knowledge about spell construction, they agreed without any hesitation to come to Wilson Castle.”

After hearing what Wizard Bammou said, Merlin nodded slightly. As expected, Wizard Bammou had used coercion and temptation in order to get those two Fourth-level Spell Casters to join voluntarily.

After all, the things that roaming Wizards lacked the most were spells and knowledge about constructing spells. Their success in constructing a Fourth-level spell was only possible through luck and hardship. If they wanted to further construct a Fifth-level spell, it would merely be a pipe dream without systematic knowledge and spells.

However, Wizard Bammou’s appearance at this moment had given them an opportunity. Coming here to Wilson Castle naturally became their only choice.

Coercion and temptation were indeed effective methods to strengthen the forces of the Wilson clan in a short time. However, if Wizard Bammou was not around, and neither was Merlin, these roaming Wizards would become restless and desirous, and would no longer be so willing.

In order to eliminate any future vulnerability, Merlin thought of the contract paper.

“It’s a good thing I’ve brought enough contract paper this time, otherwise we would have some trouble on our hands!”

Merlin mumbled in a low voice, following which he took out the contract paper from his ring, saying to Wizard Bammou, “Summon those ten or so Spell Casters. For those who are willing to sign a contract and become an honorary member of my Wilson clan, I’ll not be tight-fisted with mere Fifth-level spells and knowledge about spell construction. There will even be rewards of treasures that they had not imagined. For instance, those who have an affinity for runes, I can even grant them the Runic Magic Disc! For those good at potions, I can gift them with the most precious potion formulas!”

With that, Merlin immediately retrieved the Runic Magic Disc as well as a few potion formulas, allowing Wizard Bammou to bring these with him in order to enhance his persuasion.

Wizard Bammou nodded. “With the binding of the contract, they’ll thoroughly become a member of the Wilson clan. Master’s plan is a good one indeed.”

Wizard Bammou saw that Merlin did not further pursue the matter and could not help but relax a little. However, just as he was leaving, Merlin called out coldly behind him, “Bammou, the next time you wish for more elemental crystal stones, there’s no need to go to such great lengths. You can just ask them from me.”

As soon as he spoke, Merlin handed over a few thousand elemental crystal stones from his ring to Wizard Bammou. This was merely a portion of Merlin’s immense wealth. They served no purpose being piled up in his ring, so he might as well give them to Wizard Bammou, allowing him to quickly replenish his Magic Power. This would benefit the Wilson clan as well.

Wizard Bammou felt a jolt of astonishment in his heart, and his face burned with embarrassment. Indeed, despite the elaborate yarn he had spun just now, his original intention was unchanged. The reason he made his move against the roaming Wizards nearby was to obtain elemental crystal stones to restore his Magic Power.

To Merlin, every single movement of Wizard Bammou, even his way of thinking, could be accessed through the contract paper. Therefore, Wizard Bammou was completely unable to conceal this small intention from Merlin.

“Master, I shall take my leave first!”

After keeping the elemental crystal stones, Wizard Bammou hurried out of Merlin’s room as if he was running away from something.