A Wizard’s Secret

“Boom.”

In Merlin’s Awareness, an incomparably massive Two-headed Pterolycus roared fiercely at Merlin’s consciousness. An earth-shattering pressure descended upon Merlin. Bloodthirst, cruelty, and other negative emotions were endlessly sweeping over, futilely battering against Merlin’s will.

However, in Merlin’s Awareness, would he fear a puny almighty beast of this world? Forget about a mere low-tier almighty beast – even a mid-tier or high-tier one, despite being a legendary almighty beast’s will, was no match for Merlin in his Awareness.

This was because Merlin had the natural order of the Illusory World.

The natural order had suppressed everything! Though Merlin’s natural order was reduced to a strand now, being the most fundamental force of the Illusory World, even one strand was not something the Two-headed Pterolycus could content against.

“Suppress!”

Merlin yelled hoarsely, his voice washing over the Two-headed Pterolycus from all directions. Instantly, the recently built framework of the Illusory World swiftly enveloped the Two-headed Pterolycus. In his Awareness, Merlin’s natural order would not be noticed by the will of this Latitude Cosmo. Thus, Merlin’s strand of natural order dominated this space, controlling everything.

“Boom.”

The might of the natural order could not be withstood by the Two-headed Pterolycus at all. Its cries even contained a hint of a pitiful whimper. Initially, it was aggressive and blustering, trying to swallow Merlin’s consciousness in one gulp but now, it stayed in his Awareness obediently, starting to slowly merge with Merlin’s consciousness.

This was parasitism because the consciousness must be merged, using the almighty beast’s will to spur the transformation of the body’s bloodline. One must constantly maintain and suppress the almighty beast’s will. This was difficult for most people but Merlin who suppressed with his natural order faced no such problem. Even if there were more almighty beasts’ wills, he could suppress them.

“Although I don’t have the Matrix, my Illusory World is my biggest asset!”

Merlin opened his eyes. No matter what happened, the Illusory World was his core. Although the Illusory World must not appear in the self-centered Almighty Beast World, being unable to confront the Almighty Beast World’s will, suppressing the almighty beasts’ will was still a piece of cake.

Therefore, parasitism, so dangerous and fatal to most people, was in fact, perfect for Merlin.

“Two-headed Pterolycus!”

Merlin stood up abruptly. He sensed a mystical energy coursing in his arms, exploding in accordance with his will.

Merlin’s hand instantly morphed into two wolf claws, covered in long fur. The strong claws seemed able to slice through metal with a gentle swipe.

“Shifting already? You’ve reached the first-form so soon. Not bad, Master Leon, you’ve succeeded!”

Heroult stared at Merlin’s appearance and his eyes gleamed, feeling a burst of joy. Merlin had truly succeeded. It should be known that he had carried out a few experiments before but all had failed. Unexpectedly, Merlin had made it. This was rather unbelievable.

“Master Leon, how do you feel now?”

Heroult was busy recording data. Generally, he had recorded most of the previous data. Now all that was left was Merlin’s experience.

“Feel?”

Merlin thought about it then pointed to his head. “The only feeling is that there’s an additional almighty beast in my head.”

Merlin was talking about the Two-headed Pterolycus. Currently, the Two-headed Pterolycus’ consciousness was tangled up with his own, and not completely merged. Once it was merged, it would not be able to transform Merlin’s bloodline, so this was a weird situation indeed.

Nonetheless, even now, no one had completed the path of parasitism. No one had a comprehensive system either. Even Heroult himself did not take this path of parasitism. He simply was interested in the subject, and thus studied it for years.

This situation of coexisting with the almighty beast’s will was surely not the optimal state. The optimal state would be to wipe out the almighty beast’s will completely, yet still obtaining formidable power.

Of course, this was something far from Merlin’s current considerations. Right now, he did not even know what grade his strength was after shifting.

“Swish.”

Merlin swiped gently. The speed of his shapeshifted claws was outrageous. Even with a quick gesture, all that he could see was a blur. Ordinary people would not be able to evade such an attack. Even a solid breastplate would not hold up against such sharp claws.

Moreover, the Two-headed Pterolycus was merely a low-tier almighty beast. Even in its full form, it could compare to a mid-tier almighty beast at best. However, the grade of its bloodline was only in the low-tier. It was enough to demonstrate how fearsome these formidable almighty beasts’ bloodlines were.

“The Two-headed Pterolycus’ specialty is its speed and sharp claws. Still, you’re currently shifting to the first-form only, which merely consists of the claws. Your speed won’t be that fast. At best, you possess sharp claws as your weapons.”

Heroult told Merlin calmly.

With Merlin’s single thought, his shapeshifting swiftly vanished, and his hands resumed their initial appearance. It was truly wondrous.

“What’s the difference between the different grades of shifters?”

Although Merlin had heard of the shifters’ grades before, it was not in detail. After all, since Merlin did not inherit his clan’s Deinosuchus bloodline, Count Stanwin was afraid that Merlin would let his imagination run wild. Therefore, he forbade people from mentioning the almighty beast bloodline in front of Merlin.

As a result, in Merlin’s memories, he only had a half-baked understanding of the strength differentiation of an almighty beast bloodline. He did not know them well. Now, he used this chance to ask Heroult about this.

“The differentiation of the almighty beast bloodline is simple. The first-form usually includes the arms, the second-form the legs, the third-form the torso while the fourth-form transforms every part except the head. The fifth-form morphs you completely, becoming a true almighty beast. This is the shifter’s most externally obvious fifth-form.

“After the fifth-form, it depends on the strength of one’s almighty beast bloodline. The fifth-form is a new form called a full-shift while those before the fifth-form are half-shifts!”

Heroult’s explanation was very detailed, and Merlin slowly absorbed it all. Shifting had five forms, differentiated between the half-shifts and the full-shift. Whether one relied on an almighty beast bloodline or the parasitism of an almighty beast’s will, it was the same.

Merlin nodded, then asked the question that he was most concerned about.

“How does a Host increase his capability?”

This was Merlin’s priority. Those who inherited an almighty beast bloodline did not need to worry. By constantly training their bloodline, they could become more powerful, like Count Stanwin. As his Deinosuchus bloodline was concentrated, with incessant training and the passage of time, he naturally reached the peak of the fourth-form. It was even possible to step into the fifth-form and become a full-shifter.

Of course, going from the fourth-form to the fifth-form was a threshold that had blocked many others.

However, Hosts did not have an almighty beast bloodline. How did they boost their strength?

“Master Leon, I’ve explained this before. You’d have to rely on the Nourishment Pond. Though you’ve succeeded in becoming a Host, you still need the Nourishment Pond. Its formula can produce rich nutrients that stimulate the bloodline. Under the imperceptible influence of the almighty beast’s will, you’ll gradually grow stronger. Without the Nourishment Pond, even if your parasitism was successful, it’s not of much use.”

Heroult had held on to one last bargaining chip. It was not surprising that he was not worried that Merlin’s parasitism succeeded. Even so, without Heroult’s Nourishment Pond formula, Merlin could not possibly increase his strength.

Following that, Heroult made a supreme effort in inviting Merlin to leave Boulder City for Holy Dragon City. Merlin only had to allow Heroult to study his condition and he could use the Nourishment Pond formula that Heroult manufactured for free. In a very short time, he could enhance his capabilities.

“There’s no need for that. Although I’m somewhat rueful to not have the Nourishment Pond formula, I think I’ll get some other formula in the future. Curator Heroult, you’ve gotten your data. We don’t owe each other anything.”

With that, Merlin stood up, and swiftly left the Fossil Museum.