A Deal

Arthur Pendragon.

Even if Yinsen had not received the Language Pack Merlin had sent him, he could still have identified the boy before him from the pronunciation alone.

"So this guy is King Arthur?"

He could now basically confirm that this world was not one of the Movie Worlds he knew. If it were a movie world, the films about King Arthur would have been made by British or American companies, and they would certainly have used English rather than a language he had never encountered.

His knowledge of history was merely so-so, and most of it came from web novels. He knew, for example, that King Arthur was a native hero of the British Isles, but he was unclear about when he had lived. Even whether such a person had truly existed remained uncertain—though in this plane, his existence was beyond doubt.

Naturally, the British Isles of this era could not possibly have used modern English. It was not even ancient English.

"Could it be Old Celtic?"

Yinsen was not certain either. He could only make a wild guess.

He carefully examined the boy before him. His golden hair was as dazzling as the sun, and his thick brows, large eyes, and upright expression made him seem full of righteous spirit. The phrase "the sun at eight in the morning" seemed as though it had been coined specifically for this boy.

"Hello, Arthur. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yinsen."

Yinsen nodded and formally greeted the young King Arthur. This was also the first time he had introduced himself by name.

The young Heir to the Throne returned the gesture with great formality, which instead made Yinsen feel a little embarrassed. "The pleasure is mine as well, Lord Ethan."

"Now that you have met, let's discuss business." Merlin, who had been sitting to the side all this time, took control of the conversation again after the two had introduced themselves. "Actually, I hope Yinsen can help me with a small matter. That is why I intercepted you when you were using magical teleportation."

Yinsen did not interrupt. He waited for Merlin to continue, and Merlin did not play coy, directly explaining his purpose.

It turned out that after teaching Arthur for several years, Merlin had seen him gradually grow older and wanted to take him traveling for a while. He wanted Arthur to broaden his horizons and gain experience, while also giving him a proper understanding of the country's current state. That would greatly benefit Arthur's future rule.

It was at that very time that Merlin sensed a Mage using powerful Space-Time Energy to break through the plane's barrier and arrive in this world. A new thought suddenly arose in him, and once it appeared, he could no longer suppress it. He had not even taken the time to consider it carefully before directly pulling Yinsen before him.

In truth, Merlin had originally intended to spend some time getting in touch with Yinsen, learning about his character while organizing his own thoughts and considering whether the idea was truly feasible. But he was not an unreasonable man. Since Yinsen wanted to know why he had been brought here, Merlin felt that he ought to give him a reason.

After hearing what Merlin wanted to ask of him, Yinsen instead felt that this famous Legendary Sorcerer was being far too bold.

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

That was right. Merlin had suddenly come up with this idea. Originally, he had thought it would be enough for Arthur to understand this world. Yet for some reason, this thought suddenly surfaced in his heart, and once it did, he could not contain it.

As a powerful Mage, he knew he would not have such a thought for no reason. Perhaps the powerful energy had caused him to foresee something in that instant, which in turn had prompted this idea.

It was because he had figured this out that Merlin decided to explain everything directly to Yinsen. He did not think Yinsen would refuse, because he had enough bargaining chips to negotiate with him. As for Yinsen's character, he had plenty of time to observe it. If Yinsen truly turned out to be some vile evildoer, Old Sorcerer Merlin was not some rigid old fool. Eliminating evil along the way would not take much effort.

"Yes. I suddenly felt that if I want him to become the finest king, he needs to see more and understand more."

Yinsen rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt that this was a lot to take in.

"Just because of that, you want him to follow me around other worlds? Setting everything else aside, you should know my strength. I can't guarantee his safety."

This time, Merlin did not answer. Instead, Arthur, who had remained silent until now, spoke.

"If I lose my life during the journey, then that proves I am unqualified to inherit the throne." After a pause, Arthur added, "Besides, I have studied swordsmanship under Merlin for a long time. I can protect myself."

Yinsen did not respond. He merely continued looking at Merlin.

"Just as Arthur said, if he loses his life during the journey, then perhaps the throne should not be inherited by him." Merlin looked at Yinsen as though explaining both of their words. "To become king, one must face many difficulties and dangers, many of which exceed ordinary people's imagination. Arthur will have to confront all kinds of crises sooner or later. He needs a suitable environment to develop the ability to deal with every kind of situation."

Yinsen nodded. That last point was barely acceptable.

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

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

"Yes, your control over that energy is utterly terrible. So next, I will teach you for a period of time." The bargaining chip Merlin offered this time was no small thing. He believed that no young Mage could refuse the guidance of the Legendary Sorcerer Merlin.

Yinsen could not either!

He desperately needed an outstanding mentor to provide professional, systematic guidance. Although he had not encountered a bottleneck yet, that was only because his starting point had been too low—so low that even the introductory stage required a considerable amount of training.

Yinsen understood this himself. To avoid encountering a bottleneck, he had expanded the range of his training as much as possible. Learning to make Magic Potions, learning how to construct Magic Arrays, and so on were all precautions he had taken in advance, so that he would not have no other means of improving his strength after reaching a bottleneck.

"Everything related to magic?"

It seemed impossible to refuse, but Yinsen still needed to confirm something. Was Merlin's instruction limited only to the use of Space-Time Energy, or could he learn everything Merlin knew?

"Not only things related to magic."

Merlin's answer delighted Yinsen. Now, he was the one hoping even more that this transaction would proceed smoothly.

If this had been a business negotiation, Yinsen would probably have had to sign a long string of unequal treaties to achieve his goal.

Fortunately, no one present was a merchant, and this was not a business negotiation. Their moral character was all above the line, so they did not even need to sign a contract. Both sides reached an understanding with tacit agreement.

Next came the stage of getting to know each other.

Whether to make Merlin's teaching easier or to deepen his understanding with his future teammate, Yinsen needed to explain some things in detail.

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

Yinsen shrugged and briefly introduced the worlds he had experienced.

In the Marvel Universe, he had essentially been caught red-handed by The Ancient One and had not managed to go anywhere, so there was nothing much to say. He gave a rough account of the Diablo World, mainly limiting it to the adventures he had personally experienced.

What he mainly described was the Sea of Tranquility, a world covered in oceans, where everyone seemed to have to search the seas for mysterious islands and gather all kinds of supplies to sustain their lives.

This completely different and wondrous world left young Arthur feeling incredibly amazed. For once, he showed a bit of the childishness appropriate for his age—as though there were needles beneath him, he could not sit still.

As for the method that allowed him to travel between worlds, Merlin had initially thought Yinsen possessed some powerful Magic Item. He had not expected it to be an ability similar to a talent. Merlin had never entertained the thought of using his overwhelming strength to seize it by force. If he had, Yinsen would have had no way to stop him, so all Yinsen could do was trust Merlin's character. Fortunately, Merlin's character was solid enough.

"So that's how it is."

As he listened to Yinsen describe his ability, Merlin understood why Yinsen's Mental Power was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person, and why he had no magic power at all, yet could still activate such enormous energy to perform Planar Teleportation.

After observing the Energy Pointer in Yinsen's hand, Merlin found that even he could not see through the way it existed. In the end, he could only offer his advice. "Although I cannot understand why this thing exists or how it operates, for a sorcerer, any energy can be controlled. The only difference lies in how difficult it is to control."

Therefore, Merlin advised Yinsen to seize the time while a large amount of Space-Time Energy still remained in his body and practice controlling it, rather than letting it naturally dissipate inside him, only to passively trigger teleportation and kick him back to his original world when it was nearly gone.

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

As for what changes would occur specifically, Merlin was not very sure.

Yinsen, however, had quite a few guesses. For example, he might be able to travel back and forth more freely; perhaps after absorbing Space-Time Energy, he could store it rather than immediately activating it, then teleport when needed; perhaps he could even precisely locate the world he wanted to visit rather than teleporting randomly like this.

These were all possible directions. It was not as though he had never considered them, but he lacked the means to achieve those goals.

Now Merlin had pointed out one: strengthen his control over energy.

As it happened, controlling energy was an ability Mages were bound to master. He had simply been diligently training his Mental Power until now, intending to learn it after his Mental Power reached a certain level.

Besides that factor, there was another important reason: the first energy a Mage came into contact with and absorbed would very likely affect that Mage's entire life, so it had to be approached with caution!

At this moment, Merlin deliberately brought up this point as well.