Merick Family

Biodata

Power Progression

The family’s advancement centers on its inherited techniques and noble standing. Lister’s first Lucian countship was explicitly personal and nonhereditary, unlike the family’s earlier titles; he later received a separate hereditary earldom 3 17 41 80.

History

Origins and Hereditary Privileges

The Mericks were among eight professional families established in the lands that became the Duchy of Will. After Will I pledged allegiance to the Kingdom of Lucian and became duke, the other seven families received hereditary noble titles. The Mericks preserved their lineage through the Merrick Saber Technique 3.

The founding agreement allowed the seven families to retain their interests and independence. They did not unconditionally obey ducal orders or routinely contribute to the kingdom’s military demands. Over time, the seven came under the Conner Family’s leadership and grew increasingly distant from the ducal house 3 32.

Among the eight established families, the Mericks alone followed a saber-wielding martial path. Their hereditary status, techniques, resources, and local connections continued to distinguish them from newer nobles even during their decline 7 12.

Decline under Mel and Lister

By Baron Mel’s final years, the family supported only three professionals, and its caravan had dwindled to a handful of people. After his death, those professionals departed and the commercial organization collapsed. A small copper mine became the family’s only remaining source of income 3 9.

Lister inherited the title three months before Anke explained the family’s condition to him. His previous preoccupation with Anna and neglect of training had left him poorly regarded even within his household. The family’s finances could support only his own professional development, so he initially postponed recruiting or training others 3 6.

After Chen Xinhe accepted his identity as Lister, he received the main quest to restore the family’s renown. His early recovery efforts combined personal training with reopening trade through the Kayas Region 5 9.

Conflict with Duke Will II

Will II selected the Merick Family as the first target in his campaign to bring the old professional families under ducal control. Its severe decline made it the easiest family to suppress, and its destruction would serve as a warning to the other six 13.

The duel between Lister and Quint was therefore more than a dispute over Anna. Will II turned it into a public spectacle intended to humiliate the family. Instead, Lister’s use of the Iai Slash demonstrated that its inheritance remained intact, and his victory restored its standing among the city’s nobles 14 16 17.

Will II then offered a hereditary viscountcy and a valuable copper mine for exterminating the Ghost-Eyed Giants, privately intending to arrange Lister’s death in the south. Lister accepted, later learned of the danger, and formed an equal partnership with Quint rather than becoming his follower 17 18 19.

Elevation and Departure from Will

Will II fulfilled the promised promotion and mine grant after Lister’s return. The investiture publicly credited the family’s 207-year history and also appointed Lister captain of the city guard’s seventh squad 32 33.

Lister subsequently became a count and diplomat of the Kingdom of Lucian. His command of the royal Sixth Guard made further attacks politically dangerous for Will II 41 42.

Morey then proposed removing the family through the distinction between Lucian and ducal nobility: Lister could no longer remain a subordinate noble of Will while owing allegiance directly to Lucian. Lister accepted the revocation of his family’s ducal honors and departed for Great Chu with ten Sixth Guard professionals 43.

Return to Prominence

Hughes later awarded Lister a hereditary earldom, a copper mine, and potions after Lister declined a generalship in the planned war against Tyrande. Lister subsequently returned toward Will with goods taken from the royal treasury with Wang Yue’s help 80 81.

Lister intervened in the Duchy of Will’s civil war alongside Quint and Count Connor. His confrontation with Morey demonstrated his strength to both armies. After the conflict, Quint and the Seven Great Families restored order, and the Merick Family enjoyed an unparalleled position in the duchy despite having no other formal family members 84 85 86.

Lister began teaching the Merrick Saber Technique beyond the family, including to Tim and to players. He also directed players toward the rumored Ghost Bride Anna for training and experience 69 86 88.

Grand Duchy and Civilization

When Hughes searched for Lister, Count Yodi accused him of defecting to Great Chu, and a renewed investigation also cast suspicion on him over the treasury theft. Lister confronted them, killed Yodi, and spared Hughes. He was subsequently made Grand Duke of Merrick and granted the former Parik Province as the territory of a new duchy 109 110 111.

Lister registered the Merrick Civilization with the Galactic Federation and built a teleportation array connecting it to the Federation. The civilization later established a government, reached level three, and received approval for the Merrick Civilization Army with Lister as its commander. It subsequently advanced to level four, adopting the family’s former sword-and-shield emblem as its own 156 204 238 261.

Three hundred years later, the rearmed Seventh Central Army had become a formidable force under the Merrick Civilization, though the Beta and Witchcraft Civilizations restricted Merrick’s technological growth. The civilization later came to control the Milky Way Galaxy 274 286.

Inherited Techniques

Merrick Saber Technique

Originally a C-grade, rare-quality saber art, it forms the foundation of the family’s professional lineage 3 16.

• Delivers precise strikes whose damage increases with Strength 1 6.
• Unlocks the Merrick Saber Draw Slash at LV5 6.
• Reaches LV10 under Lister, increasing the derivative slash’s damage and range 33.
• Was treated as a closely guarded inheritance: established professional families did not normally teach outsiders the rare skills on which their lineages depended. Lister later taught the C-rank technique to players and to Tim 20 69 74 86.
• Advances to B-rank, excellent quality under Lister, slightly reducing control effects during strikes and increasing the Iai Slash’s speed and range. At A-rank, it grants immunity to most control effects while striking and makes saber attacks difficult to interrupt 74 87.
• Advances to S-rank, granting control immunity through super armor while attacking. At SS-rank, it also provides a degree of damage immunity and an execution check against sufficiently weakened opponents 140 255.
• Advances to SSS-rank at LV215. It scales with Strength, killing intent intensity, and soul attributes, locks down the target’s space-time, and can check for immediate execution below 8.6% health, with a three-day check cooldown 297.
• Was taught widely enough that players later used an SS-rank version in battle against the Void clans 288.

Merrick Saber Draw Slash

Also called the Iai Slash, this sweeping attack is the family’s signature technique 6 16.

• Strikes nearby enemies in a wide sweep, providing an uncommon area attack for a martial profession 6.
• Cannot be upgraded independently; its damage scales with the Merrick Saber Technique and Strength. Its damage and sweeping range increase at five-level intervals of the parent technique 6.
• Serves as a test of legitimate succession: the Seven Great Families regard mastery of it as the mark of a true Merick heir 16.
• Was never truly mastered by Mel despite his lifelong training. Lister’s public display therefore represented a recovery of an inheritance his father had not fully realized 16.
• Becomes considerably more powerful as Lister advances the parent technique; he uses its B-rank, LV40 form against Morey during the duchy’s civil war 85.

Merrick Breathing Technique

An unranked passive technique that grants additional Strength 1.

• Provides +2 Strength at LV2, +10 at LV10, +20 at LV20, and +30 at LV30 1 21 33 43.
• Supplies much of the power behind Lister’s unusually strong Iai Slash during the duel 16.
• Is an inherited secret technique of a kind Anke considers nearly impossible to purchase in Will City 3.

Holdings and Resources

Estate and Equipment

• Merick Castle — The family residence and administrative center. Viscount Anbeite later pays for renovations as an apology over Anna. The castle is subsequently rebuilt and remains a prominent landmark in the Duchy of Merrick’s main city 9 32 109 202.
• Training ground — Occupies the open land directly before the castle instead of a garden, providing room for saber practice 12.
• Family library — Holds local and Lucian histories, but little information about distant states such as Great Chu 2 11.
• Heirloom saber — A C-grade, rare-quality weapon particularly comfortable to wield with the family technique. The Merrick Long Saber is part of the Merrick Set, whose bonus increases attacks using the Merrick Saber Technique; it is later shattered 12 100.
• Heirloom armor — Lister’s inherited equipment is rare-quality; his silver leather armor remains in use during his visit to Great Chu 5 47.
• Wine cellar — Stores the rare Agas ginkgo wine awarded to Quint, who keeps none for himself 88.

Income and Commercial Interests

Members and Household

• Lister Merick — Current head, sole heir, and initially the family’s only remaining professional. His recovery of the signature saber art reverses its public decline; he later becomes Grand Duke of Merrick and the pioneer of the Merrick Civilization 3 5 16 111 156.
• Mel Merick — Lister’s deceased father and predecessor. Retained the family’s final three professionals and hoped Lister would pursue Erica Connor 3.
• Butler Anke — Long-serving steward who joined the household at seven and became steward at nineteen. Manages supplies, investigations, gifts, and estate affairs; he has a butler subclass rather than a professional class. He later retires after accepting favors from other families as the Mericks prosper 3 18 33 88.
• Lilian — Lister’s personal maid, selected to serve him three months before the opening events. Helps retrieve books and receive household gifts 2 18.
• Tim — A household attendant who becomes a Class Holder under Lister’s guidance, despite limited talent. After Anke’s retirement, he serves Lister in a butler’s uniform and preserves his bedroom in the rebuilt castle 86 88 109.

Relationships

• Conner Family — Leading allied house among the Seven Great Families. Count Liad Connor publicly supports Lister before the duel and supplies valuable potions. The Mericks have stood with his family since the duchy’s founding. After the civil war, Erica Connor visits Lister frequently and asks him to teach her saber techniques 3 15 17 18 86.
• Will Family — Former ruling house and political adversary under Will II, who seeks to abolish the Mericks’ independent standing. Their initial conflict leads to the family’s removal from the ducal noble hierarchy; Lister later intervenes in the duchy’s civil war 13 43 84.
• Quint Will — Initially Lister’s duel opponent; later an equal partner seeking support from the Seven Great Families for his bid for the dukedom. He works with Lister during and after the civil war and later helps with the Merrick Civilization’s affairs 19 20 84 86 238 274.
• Poly Merchant Association — Protected commercial partner led by President Porter. Pledges service to the family, contributes toward Lister’s potions, and arranges supplies. Its later convoys invoke the Merick name as a powerful source of protection 10 12 21 108.
• Viscount Gabriel — Trade partner whose territory becomes more accessible after Lister clears the Kayas Region 9.
• Ambet Family — Initially has little historical contact with the Mericks. Viscount Anbeite favors a marriage between Anna and Lister partly because he covets the family’s inherited resources and rare saber skill 3 16.
• Lucian Royal Family — Receives Lister’s allegiance, grants his personal countship, and places the Sixth Guard under his diplomatic command. Hughes later awards him a hereditary earldom; their relationship becomes strained by accusations against Lister before his elevation to grand duke 40 41 80 109 110 111.
• Wang Yue — Helps Lister obtain goods from Lucian’s royal treasury and later devotes herself to developing the Merrick Civilization. Her ties to the Berry Family prompt that family to seek a branch in Merrick 81 274 306.

Main Quest: Reforge Merick’s Glory

Lister triggers and accepts the quest after recognizing the world as real and embracing his position as the family’s sole heir 5.

• Winning the duel alone does not complete the first stage 18.
• The second-stage reward raises Lister’s available resurrections from zero to one 41.
• A later, separate exclusive quest, The Rise of the Merrick Civilization, concerns the civilization’s development and the establishment of its army. Lister completes it after the civilization reaches level three and he becomes a Federation Military District major general 156 245.