A Wizard’s Secret

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Wizard Leo!”

Merlin shouted loudly from outside the door.

“Come in.”

Wizard Leo’s voice came through the door, so Merlin pushed the door and entered the room.

“Wizard Leo, what can I help you with?” a confused Merlin asked as he bowed in greeting.

Wizard Leo’s vacant, gray eyes still made Merlin shudder. Thankfully, after a few encounters, Merlin now managed to look into those eyes directly.

“Buzz!”

Wizard Leo did not answer the question but waved his hand in the air. Numerous runes densely packed together surfaced on the wall behind his back. Merlin was able to see clearly that amongst the runes, there was a scene where Merlin killed the silver-haired old man in the cave.

“This…”

Merlin trembled slightly as he stared with fear at Wizard Leo’s face that was nothing far from a terrifying nightmare.

“Hehe, Merlin, don’t you worry. The gray-robed Wizards from the Mission Hall sent this to me. Naturally, the gray-robed Wizards have to notify me when there exists a Sixth-Elemental Spell Caster among my students.”

Wizard Leo seemed to see through Merlin’s mind at a glance, and a smile appeared on his face reluctantly. However, Wizard Leo’s amiable smile seemed to be uglier than crying, which gave Merlin goosebumps.

“I was only lucky…”

Merlin lowered his head and said softly.

“This is not pure luck. The gray-robed Wizards said that you’ve built a total of six Zero-level spells and it would be self-defeating enough to not think of becoming a First-level Spell Caster! But I have different opinions. Not only will you not give up on yourself, but you’ll also do your best to construct a First-level spell and become the only Six-elemental Wizard in the Dark Magic Region since the past hundreds of years, isn’t it?”

Wizard Leo had a solemn look on his face. The bloody vertical eye on his forehead was glowing a faint red light, emitting a strong oppressing sensation.

Merlin took a deep look at Wizard Leo, before whispering, “Yes, Master Leo, I’ve never given up on becoming a First-level Spell Caster!”

“Good! Very good! When I first entered the Dark Magic Region, like you, I was full of pride. I wanted to construct Five-Elemental and Six-Elemental spells, but I didn’t have the determination to do so. Eventually, I managed to construct only Four-Elemental spells!”

Wizard Leo sighed with emotion, but Merlin remained silent. He knew that Wizard Leo had not called him over alone to listen to his regrets.

Sure enough, Wizard Leo quickly changed his tone, and said with hints of excitement, “Regarding Six-Elemental spells, not to bring up other concerns, obtaining appropriate First-level spells would require a lot of contributions points. It might be different if you have a long time to spare, but you only have two years left in the Dark Magic Region!”

Wizard Leo paused mid-sentence, nodded slightly and continued speaking after seeing there was no change of emotions on Merlin’s face, “Those First-level spells are very expensive, ranging from dozens of contributions points to hundreds of them! However, if you attend the Dark Magic Region conference that’s happening in one month’s time as a member representative for the tower, and not emerge at the bottom and let me gain face in front of the old guys, I’ll gift you whichever First-level spells you need in the future without any contribution points!”

“Without any contribution points?”

Merlin was tempted by the offer. Just as Wizard Leo mentioned, putting aside other concerns, if he wished to construct a First-level spell, it required an abundant amount of contribution points what more a series of First-level spells. Besides, he did not have much time left in the Dark Magic Region.

Naturally, it would be great if he could get contribution points for free.

As he thought of this, Merlin came to a decision and accepted the offer. “Thank you, tutor, for giving me this opportunity.”

“Haha, I also know that Spell Casters who are assigned to my tower are not blessed with natural endowments. The old guys have been teasing me for many years now. This time, you just have to earn me a good ranking. Not only can I gain some pride, but it’ll also be good for you too. The Dark Magic Region conference that’s held once every three years is mostly participated by those who haven’t become official members. If they perform well, they’ll even be noticed by some Wizards who are actually great at teaching.

“I’ve no patience to explain to you the knowledge on Spell Models. If you can perform well at this conference and be noticed by other Wizards, I’ll not stop you from going over to learn from them.”

Merlin was a little surprised. He did not expect this conference would offer such an opportunity. Presumably, this was also to prevent qualified Spell Casters, under various reasons, being assigned to some Wizards who were not good at teaching. Hence, they could still stand a chance to be noticed by other powerful Spell Casters if they gave a good performance.

“Alright, go ahead and prepare yourself.”

Indeed, Wizard Leo was not a man of much patience. He soon waved his hand to signal Merlin’s leave.

Merlin bowed slightly, bade farewell to Wizard Leo, and then returned to his room.

He would have to be well-prepared for the conference that Wizard Leo had mentioned earlier. There was one month left and it would be sufficient for him to be prepared. Merlin did not dare to look down on other temporary members in the Dark Magic Region, as some of them were potentially close to becoming powerful First-level Spell Casters.

Merlin was no longer in the mood to study First-level Furious Flame after knowing about the conference. His current Mind Power was definitely not at the desired level to construct a First-level spell.

“If Magic Monster Potion could be formulated successfully, my Mind Power would be greatly improved. Maybe by then, I can try constructing Furious Flame.”

Merlin thought of the Magic Monster Potion formula that he had just gained from the silver-haired old man. If the formulation was successful, his Mind Power could be greatly increased within a short period of time, which in turn allowed him to construct First-level Furious Flame with ease.

There was a fundamental difference between a First-level spell and a Zero-level spell. If the construction was successful, Merlin’s strength would increase rapidly.

However, it was not easy to formulate potions. Merlin had not even attended Potion Class before, and to do so now was obviously already too late.

“I should consult Wizard Howl!”

Merlin thought of Wizard Howl who lived in Wizard Leo’s tower. He was among the few official members who lived in Wizard Leo’s tower.

As he thought of this, Merlin walked straight out of the room and went to the bottom of the tower as Wizard Howl lived on the first floor of the tower.

…

“Wizard Howl!”

Soon enough, Merlin located Wizard Howl on the first floor of the tower. As expected, Wizard Howl had occupied himself with researching some viscous dark green potion which emitted an unpleasant smell.

Even without raising his head, Wizard Howl said with little interest, “Spill it quick if you’ve anything to say.”

Merlin shook his head helplessly looking at the raunchy, slovenly looking Spell Caster who had almost gone crazy in potion research, but still, he explained the purpose of his visit, “Wizard Howl, I’m here to consult you about problems of formulating potions and potions ingredients.”

Wizard Howl, who was not as enthusiastic as Laurinka, replied coldly, “Attend potion classes if you want to study potion, not come to me.”

However, Merlin was not fazed as he had already expected to be treated like this by Wizard Howl. He flipped his palm and took out a blue flower with only one leaf from the ring.

“Well? Blue Charm Flower? This is the main ingredient for formulating Blue Heart potion. Where did you get it from?”

Looking at the potion ingredient in Merlin’s hand, Wizard Howl immediately became more enthusiastic, his eyes flashing with a glimmer of brilliance.

Merlin smiled slightly. “I received this unexpectedly when I went on a mission a few days ago. I’ve no idea how to make a potion, so I’m giving it to you, Wizard Howl.”

There were a variety of potion ingredients inside Merlin’s ring. Merlin knew the value of this precious Blue Charm Flower and giving it to Wizard Howl would certainly please the other party.

Sure enough, Wizard Howl appeared contented and satisfied. He quickly accepted the Blue Charm Flower, and his voice changed to a friendlier tone, “You would like to learn more about potion-making, Wizard Merlin? It’s very simple. Come to me every day for an hour, and I’ll teach you some knowledge about potions.”

Merlin’s heart filled with joy and immediately began asking more questions about potion-making.

For the next few days, Merlin consulted Wizard Howl on potions. Wizard Howl also tried his best to answer all the questions.

Therefore, in just a few days, Merlin had already mastered the general steps of potion-making. He was not planning to really study potion-making but only wanted to understand the steps of formulating potions so he could gather the ingredients for Magic Monster Potion and use the Matrix to precisely control the proportion of ingredients to formulate Magic Monster Potion.

…

Ten days later, Merlin stayed quietly in a spacious room.

There were several long wooden tables in the room, which were placed with various kinds of delicate glassware, which was necessary for formulating potions.

Merlin spent almost all his twenty contribution points to exchange for the glassware at the Resource Tower, and these were only the simplest tools, per say. Even hundreds of contribution points were not enough to build a complete potion lab.

Merlin took out some potion ingredients from the ring. Instead of formulating Magic Monster Potion, he wanted to try making Coagulation Potion.

This simple and effective potion could stop bleeding quickly. This was a formula recommended by Wizard Howl for beginners who first learn how to make potions.

Besides, Merlin had the Matrix, which he could use to precisely control the proportion of ingredients. This was a great advantage that an average Spell Caster could never attain. Even Spell Casters who studied potions extensively were not able to have complete and precise control over the proportions of ingredients.

It was exactly because of this advantage that Merlin wanted to try formulating potions himself.

“Matrix, activate potion formula for Coagulation. Precise control over the proportion of ingredients and strictly follow the steps of potion-making!”

Merlin had already scanned with the Matrix beforehand and recorded the required ingredients, proportions, and even every step of potion formulation into the machine. When it was time, he could strictly follow the steps given by the Matrix to formulate Coagulation Potion.

“Knock! Knock! Knock!”

At this moment, there was a rap of knocks on the other side of the door before a familiar voice came through, “Wizard Merlin, it’s Laurinka!”

“Wizard Laurinka? Isn’t she trying to build First-level Furious Flame?”

Merlin frowned but had no choice other than to temporarily pause the preparation of potion-making. It would be something important if Laurinka was here at this hour.