A Transaction

Arthur Pendragon.

Even without the 'language pack' Merlin had transmitted to him, Ethan could tell the identity of the young man before him just from the pronunciation.

"This guy is King Arthur?"

He was now basically certain that this world wasn't any of the 'movie worlds' he was familiar with. If it were a movie world, the basic premise of filming King Arthur would be handled by British or American film companies, and they would definitely use English for dialogue, not a language he'd never encountered before.

His historical knowledge was limited, mostly gleaned from online novels. For example, he knew King Arthur was a native hero of the British Isles, that the time he existed wasn't very clear, and it wasn't even certain if such a person truly existed – though, in this plane, it was confirmed he did.

The British Isles of this period certainly wouldn't be using modern English, or even ancient English.

"Could it be Old Celtic?"

Ethan wasn't sure; he could only make wild guesses.

He carefully examined the young man before him. His golden hair was as dazzling as the sun, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, radiating righteousness. The phrase "eight o'clock in the morning sun" seemed tailor-made for this young man.

"Hello, Arthur, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ethan."

Ethan nodded, formally greeting the young King Arthur. This was the first time he had introduced himself.

The young heir to the throne returned the greeting very formally, which made Ethan feel a little awkward. "It is also a great pleasure to meet you, Sir Ethan."

"Now that we've been introduced, let's talk about the main business." Merlin, who had been sitting beside them, took control of the conversation again after seeing the two introduce themselves. "Actually, I was hoping you could do me a small favor, Ethan, which is why I stopped you while you were performing Planar Teleportation."

Ethan didn't interrupt; he waited for what came next. Merlin didn't try to be mysterious and directly stated his purpose.

It turned out that after teaching Arthur for a few years, Merlin saw that he was getting older and wanted to take him on a journey for a while to broaden his horizons and gain experience. This would also allow him to get a good understanding of the current state of the country, which would be very beneficial for him ruling it in the future.

It was at this time that he sensed a Sorcerer using powerful Space-Time Energy to break through the plane's barrier and arrive in this world. A new idea suddenly arose, and once it did, he couldn't suppress it. He didn't even waste time deliberating and directly 'pulled' Ethan to him.

In reality, Merlin had originally intended to spend some time with Ethan, getting to know his character while also organizing his own thoughts and considering whether the idea was reliable. However, he wasn't an unreasonable person. Since Ethan wanted to know why he was brought here, Merlin felt he should provide a reason.

After hearing what Merlin was asking of him, Ethan felt that this famous legendary Sorcerer might be a bit too ambitious.

"You mean... let Arthur travel with me to other worlds?"

That's right, Merlin had suddenly come up with this idea. Originally, he thought it would be enough for Arthur to understand this world. For some reason, this thought suddenly arose in his heart, and once it appeared, it was hard to contain.

As a powerful Sorcerer, he knew that such a thought wouldn't arise for no reason. Perhaps, stimulated by the powerful energy, he had a premonition in that instant, which in turn stimulated this thought.

It was also because he had figured this out that Merlin decided to be direct with Ethan. He didn't think Ethan would refuse, because he had enough leverage to negotiate with him. As for Ethan's character? He also had enough time to observe. If he was truly an unbearable villain, the old Sorcerer Merlin wasn't a stubborn old fool; getting rid of evil wouldn't be too much trouble.

"Yes, I suddenly feel that for him to become the best king, he needs to see more and understand more things."

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose; he felt the information was a bit overwhelming.

"Just because of that, you want him to wander around other worlds with me? Putting everything else aside, you should have some idea of my strength. I can't guarantee his safety."

This time, Merlin didn't answer. Instead, Arthur, who had been silent, spoke up.

"If I lose my life during the journey, it proves I am not qualified to inherit the throne." After a pause, Arthur added, "Furthermore, I have studied swordsmanship with Merlin for a long time and can fully protect myself."

Ethan didn't reply, just continued looking at Merlin.

"As Arthur said, if he loses his life during the journey, perhaps the throne should not be inherited by him." Merlin looked at Ethan, seemingly explaining both their words. "To become king, one faces many difficulties and dangers, many of which are beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Arthur will have to face various crises sooner or later. He needs a suitable environment to cultivate his ability to handle different situations."

Ethan nodded. He could grudgingly accept that last sentence.

"But what if he leaves with me and can never come back? You should be able to see that I can't freely control that powerful Space-Time Energy at all."

Merlin could certainly see that, and it was precisely because of this that he had the leverage to sit here and negotiate with Ethan.

"Yes, your control over that energy is simply terrible, so I will teach you for a while." The leverage Merlin offered this time was significant. He believed no young Sorcerer could refuse the guidance of the legendary Sorcerer Merlin.

Not even Ethan!

He desperately needed an excellent mentor for professional, systematic guidance. Although he hadn't encountered a bottleneck during this time, it was all because his starting point was too low, so low that even the entry stage required a considerable amount of time to cultivate.

Ethan was aware of this, and to avoid hitting a bottleneck, he tried his best to broaden his cultivation direction. Learning Magic Potion making, learning the construction of Magic Arrays, and so on were all preventive measures taken in advance to ensure he had other means to improve his strength after encountering a bottleneck.

"All knowledge of magic?"

It seemed impossible to refuse? Ethan still wanted to confirm something. Was the teaching Merlin proposed limited only to the application of Space-Time Energy, or could he learn everything Merlin knew?

"Not just things related to magic."

Merlin's answer made Ethan very happy. Now, he was even more hopeful that this 'deal' would be successfully concluded.

If this were a business negotiation, Ethan would likely have to sign a long list of unequal treaties to achieve his goal.

Fortunately, none of those present were merchants, and this wasn't a business negotiation. The moral character of everyone involved was above average, and there was no need to sign any contract. Both sides reached a consensus tacitly.

Next was the stage of getting to know each other.

Whether it was to facilitate Merlin's teaching or to get to know his future 'teammate' better, Ethan needed to explain some things in detail.

"We can put your personal cultivation situation aside for now. I think what Arthur wants to know most is the worlds he will experience next."

Ethan shrugged and briefly introduced the worlds he had experienced.

In the Marvel Universe, he was essentially caught red-handed by the Ancient One and couldn't go anywhere, so there wasn't much to say. He gave a general overview of the Diablo World, mainly limited to the adventures he had experienced.

He primarily talked about the Sea of Tranquility, a world full of oceans, where everyone had to search for magical islands at sea, collect various supplies to sustain life, and so on.

This completely different and magical world made the young Arthur feel very amazed, and he rarely showed a bit of the childishness belonging to his age – it was as if he had a needle under his butt and couldn't sit still.

As for the method of traveling between worlds, Merlin initially thought Ethan had some powerful Magic Item in his hand. He didn't expect it to be a talent-like ability – he had never had the idea of snatching it with his outstanding strength. If he did have such an idea, Ethan would have no way to stop him, so he could only choose to trust Merlin's character. Fortunately, Merlin's character was quite solid.

"So that's how it is."

Listening to Ethan explain his ability, Merlin finally understood why Ethan's Mental Power was only slightly stronger than an average person's, and he had no Magic Power at all, yet he could still activate such a tremendous amount of energy for Planar Teleportation.

Observing the Energy Pointer in Ethan's hand, Merlin found that he couldn't see through how the thing existed. In the end, he could only offer his suggestion: "While I don't understand the reason for this thing's existence or how it works, for a Sorcerer, any energy can be controlled. The only difference is the difficulty of control."

Therefore, Merlin advised Ethan to seize the opportunity while he still had a large amount of Space-Time Energy remaining in his body. He should quickly practice controlling this energy instead of letting it naturally dissipate within him, only to be passively triggered for teleportation and kicked back to his original world when it was about to disappear.

"If my guess is correct, the greater your control over Space-Time Energy, the more changes you will see in this ability of yours."

As for what specific changes would occur, Merlin wasn't very clear.

Ethan, however, had many ideas. For example, he might be able to travel back and forth more freely; or perhaps, after absorbing Space-Time Energy, he could store it instead of immediately activating the teleportation, using it when needed; he might even be able to specifically target the world he wanted to go to, rather than teleporting randomly like this.

These were all possibilities, and he had thought of them before, but he lacked the means to achieve these goals.

Now, Merlin had pointed him in one direction: strengthen his control over energy.

Coincidentally, controlling energy was a skill that Sorcerers were bound to master. It was just that he had been diligently practicing his Mental Power, intending to learn magic after his Mental Power reached a certain level of strength.

Besides this factor, there was another important reason: the first energy absorbed by a Sorcerer was very likely to influence their entire life, so it had to be done with caution!

Merlin specifically mentioned this point at this time.