A Wizard’s Secret

“Charise.”

Merlin returned to his room and saw that Charise was still waiting up for him. Although she forced a smile, she seemed to have a load on her mind.

“Celia’s sleeping now, Merlin…”

Charise wanted to say more but did not say anything else ultimately. Merlin had a vague idea of what she wanted to say. It was likely that when they were in the hall, Celia’s naïve dream of becoming a Spell Caster had stirred up her worries.

Merlin came before Charise, his sharp eyes fixing upon her as he said softly, “Charise, you worry too much about things. So, what if Celia has no way of becoming a Spell Caster? When she grows up, she’ll have children – perhaps her descendants will have Spell Caster Quality. What’s more, I’m a powerful Spell Caster now. Barring anything unexpected, I shall be able to protect the Wilson clan for hundreds of years. With me around, Celia can live a good life in her short, decades-long lifespan!”

Charise could sense how caring Merlin was from his manner of speaking. She gently grasped his large hand and felt her heart settled down quietly. It was true – Merlin was now a powerful Spell Caster and could live for hundreds of years. Even when Celia or Conxion’s children had passed away, Merlin would still be alive.

With Merlin around, the Wilson clan would have enough time to expand slowly. Nevertheless, Charise was just a Normie woman, so her child was still her priority.

Seeing that Charise did not utter a word and remained reticent, Merlin felt rather helpless. He was no longer a Normie, so he had no way of understanding Charise’s way of thinking. It could be said that Merlin’s thinking was now worlds apart from the mindsets of Charise, Avril, and Old Wilson.

Merlin could take more than a century to think deeply about a matter, but Normies were unlikely to live over a hundred years.

After a moment of thinking, Merlin shook his head powerlessly, and lightly stroked Charise’s long soft hair. He said softly, “We still have a long time together. Haven’t you always wanted another child?”

Charise’s breathing became heavy, and their figures quickly rolled over and became entangled. There was no sound save for their intermittent moans and pants…

…

The next day, Merlin asked around and discovered that Felinda had been sent to Wilson Castle two days ago. At the moment, she was staying alone in a guest room.

“Felinda!”

Merlin had found her. Gone were the sorrows that had haunted this pretty female guard back when she was in Guinomi City. Now, she seemed to burst with vigor.

It looked like she was suited for life in Wilson Castle.

“Oh? It’s Sir Viscount!”

Felinda had a book in her hand and was reading with keen interest. Upon seeing that it was Merlin, she stood up hurriedly and bowed respectfully. By now, she had learned of Merlin’s identity as the viscount of Prakash City.

“No need to be nervous. I’ve come today to see how you find life in Wilson Castle. Have you gotten used to it?”

Upon seeing Felinda’s stiff movements, Merlin broke out into a knowing smile.

“Sir Viscount, life in Wilson Castle is good, and there’s nothing that I can’t get used to. Still, Sir Viscount, I would like to learn some Spell Caster knowledge as soon as I can.”

After Felinda finished speaking, she looked at Merlin, full of hope and expectation.

From the corner of his eye, Merlin saw that the book which Felinda was so engrossed in was an introductory book on Spell Casters. He did not know where she found it. In the Kingdom of Blackmoon, Spell Casters were many and commonly seen, but books on Spell Casters were relatively rare.

He saw that Felinda could wait no longer to become a Spell Caster. However, her Spell Caster Quality and even her Mind Power were lacking, being even less than Merlin’s Mind Power when he was starting out.

Furthermore, creating a Spell Model was not something that could be done in a short time. Felinda did not have the knowledge of Spell Casters, and it would take a long time to impart knowledge about creating spells to her.

“You can construct a Spell Model for now. It’s not realistic for you to become a Spell Caster yet, but you can start learning some Spell Caster knowledge. How’s this? I’ll ask Wizard Bammou to teach you.”

Merlin thought of Wizard Bammou. Most spell casters’ organizations would not be so “extravagant” as to send a magnificent and powerful Seventh-level Spell Caster to teach the basic knowledge of Spell Casters. However, to Merlin, Wizard Bammou was the best candidate. Moreover, as of now, Wizard Bammou was the only Spell Caster in the Wilson clan besides Merlin.

“Swish!”

Soon enough, Wizard Bammou arrived at Merlin’s side, asking respectfully, “Master, what are your orders?”

Merlin pointed at Felinda. “Bammou, Felinda has Spell Caster Quality. Although she can’t construct spells for now, you can teach her some Spell Caster knowledge so that she has a foundation.”

Bammou’s face shifted slightly, and he felt unwilling. Although it was rather dismal that a Seventh-level Spell Caster had to do something like this, Wizard Bammou was now Merlin’s slave. Even if he was unwilling, he could only agree.

“Master, I shall devote myself to teaching Felinda. What field of knowledge should I start with?”

It seemed like Wizard Bammou had never had a student before. Although he had deep and extensive knowledge, he did not know where to begin to teach. After all, Spell Casters had inherited a large amount of knowledge which encompassed all the fields. Constructing spells was only a small part of it.

“Teach Felinda the fundamentals first, then you may explain to her using your own judgment, some knowledge on runology, potions, or alchemy. See which field she has an affinity for, after which we can focus on that in her learning.”

Merlin thought about it for a moment before deciding to see which field Felinda was skilled at.

With Felinda’s Spell Caster Quality, it was difficult for her to become a First-level Spell Caster. However, if she had a gift in some other field, like runology, potions, or alchemy, then they could prioritize that in her education.

The Wilson clan was just starting out and would need all sorts of Spell Casters. For instance, in runology – Merlin had just obtained Wizard Finello’s Runic Magic Disc in Taran City, which only a Spell Caster who was proficient in runology could use. Neither Merlin nor Wizard Bammou was proficient in runology.

Thus, even if he had the Runic Magic Disc, he had no way of using it.

Thus, a Spell Caster clan should expand in a comprehensive manner, with Spell Casters in all fields. Letting Wizard Bammou teach Felinda was merely the first step. Bammou knew a little of runology and potions, so teaching an Entrance-level Spell Caster was not a problem. If they were to go deeper, they would need someone with a systematic knowledge of the field.

The Wilson clan had just started out, yet it was already so challenging. At times, Merlin felt like he did not have enough energy. Would it not be even more taxing on him in the future?

As he thought about this, Merlin left Felinda to Wizard Bammou and went to find a quiet room. He began to sort out his harvest from his period of repeated massacres.

First, it was the rings. Merlin had obtained too many rings that might serve as the Wilson clan’s reserves. Merlin had not meticulously looked through the contents of all the rings.

The owners of these rings were mostly roaming Wizards who were not wealthy. Thus, there were not many elemental crystal stones in the rings. Mostly, there were only Zero-level and First-level spells, with the occasional Second-level and Third-level spells.

As for spells above the Fourth-level, there were far too few of those.

Merlin did not care much for these spells. The complete spells passed on to him in the Dark Magic Region, and even the spells within the Neverending Book were far superior to the spells of these roaming Wizards.

Merlin even decided not to keep these spells in the Wilson clan. Spells were a fundamental aspect. However, some of the roaming Wizards’ spells were totally flawed, created through the careless derivations and repeated repairs of these roaming Wizards. In truth, these spells harbored great defects within them, and if one constructed them by force, one would end up like the black-robed old man. Even if the spells were successfully constructed, it would cause the Spell Models to be destabilized, and one would have to suffer from an unstable Spell Model for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, Merlin had decided on a few first-rate spells. Although certain spells of the Dark Magic Region must not be divulged so easily, the spells in the Neverending Book were relatively decent and could be used as the Wilson clan’s reserve of spells.

As for the many Spells belonging to these roaming Wizards, Merlin did not plan on wasting them. For Merlin, all these numerous spells only had one function, which was to populate the Matrix’s database.

“Matrix, record all these Spell Models!”

Merlin immediately started up the Matrix. Instantly, the Matrix began to scan and record each of the Spell Models. The high number of spells was enough to populate the Matrix’s database.

Merlin had always had a plan for when the Matrix’s database was populated. When the number and types of spells were sufficient, he would use the Matrix’s process of data integration in hopes that it would be able to derive new spells, just like those Seventh-level Spell Casters who derived new spells which were suitable for Spell Casters.

Once a Spell Caster reached the Seventh-level, they would need to derive and construct a new Spell Model themselves, one that no one had ever used before. Only by doing so could they become a Seventh-level Spell Caster!

Wizard Leo was hindered at this step, thus he was unable to become a Seventh-level Spell Caster no matter what.

However, it was not just Seventh-level Spell Casters who were able to derive new spells. During the Spell Casters’ most glorious era, a few genuinely genius Spell Casters were already using spells they constructed themselves as they constructed Fourth-level spells.

That was what true genius was – to be able to shine brightly even in the golden age of Spell Casters. It was just like the master of the Flame Maxim that Merlin had obtained, the Legend Nikola. When he was a Fourth-level Spell Caster, he was able to kill a Seventh-level Spell Caster. Merlin suspected that it might be possible that the Legend Nikola was long able to derive his own spells.

Thus, Merlin had in fact been hard at work, trying to populate the Matrix’s database. It was only a shame that, after so many years, the database was still lacking.

Perhaps to most Spell Casters, this number of spells was already a considerable harvest. However, if he wanted to carry out the process of data integration, he would need thousands or even tens of thousands of data to act as the foundation, and in order to carry out the most basic functions of operation and derivation.

At the moment, the database of the Matrix consisted of not more than two hundred spells, and most of these were Zero-level spells. These were the many spells that Merlin had obtained after he had killed innumerable Spell Casters.

“Actually, I could give it a shot and see if the Matrix is able to carry out the process of data integration and derive a new spell?”

After Merlin had populated the Matrix’s database with all the spells, he felt some anticipation. Although a few hundred spells were still a long way from thousands of spells, perhaps he might gain something unexpected?

Trying his luck, Merlin gave the order to the Matrix. Following that, he stayed in the room, silently waiting for the results from the Matrix.