Little Brat

A Magic Item that could store knowledge and all kinds of information?

Yinsen's request was not difficult. In fact, sorcerers had many similar methods. However, Yinsen had added an extra requirement: it needed to be able to continuously "absorb" or "copy" newly acquired books and other materials into the Magic Item for easy reference later.

"Oh, that's a good idea. But I'll need to study how to put it into practice."

For a sorcerer of Merlin's level, powerful Mental Power granted them extraordinarily strong memories. Even knowledge they had never encountered before could be committed to memory in very little time, without any concern over forgetting or remembering it incorrectly.

But Yinsen was still far from that level, so such a Magic Item was quite necessary.

Unlike many sorcerers, he could not have a fixed residence where he could collect all the books he had gathered. Based on the circumstances Yinsen had described earlier, storing books truly was a difficult problem—and yet he currently needed to collect and carry a large number of books. This had become the issue giving Yinsen the biggest headache.

"If only there were some more concrete references."

Of course, Yinsen knew of more concrete references. He even knew many kinds of them. For instance, the Tablet Computer he had used in his Past Life had been an extremely convenient tool. He had even considered making something similar, using Magic Stones for power. Perhaps the finished product would be even more useful.

But since he knew nothing at all about Magic Stone Technology, that could only remain part of a backup plan for the future.

Other than that, the most suitable thing for Merlin to use as a reference was the wristband that recorded his information.

"Do you think this will work?"

"Oh?" Merlin accepted the thin white strip Yinsen handed over. It was so inconspicuous that it was usually hidden beneath his Bracers; even Merlin had not noticed it before.

Now that he had seen and touched it himself, Merlin sensed that there was something unusual about it. "Interesting. With this as a reference, I should be able to get some ideas very quickly."

Yinsen suddenly remembered that he had also obtained a Magic Stone. Unsure whether its properties were the same, he simply handed it over to Merlin as well for him to study.

Merlin became even more delighted upon seeing the Magic Stone. Holding the wristband and Magic Stone, he immediately ducked into his laboratory without even saying hello to Yinsen.

A Legendary Sorcerer was still a sorcerer. When they encountered something that interested them, they inevitably revealed some of the habits common to sorcerers. Yinsen had simply met too few sorcerers before, so he had not reacted right away.

Arthur, who had been standing beside them, explained at the right moment. "When Lord Merlin encounters something that interests him, he can become overly focused on it and neglect other people or matters. I hope you won't feel offended because of that."

"Oh, no!" Yinsen waved his hand. "I was just wondering how long Lord Merlin would need to make what I want."

Arthur had great confidence in Merlin's abilities. "I believe it won't take long."

The two young men, who would surely become companions and drift across the seas together while adventuring through different worlds in the future, took the opportunity to chat for a while and get to know each other better.

In terms of age, Arthur was still a boy, only fourteen years old—much younger than Yinsen.

Moreover, Arthur had only just entered puberty. He looked rather thin and slight, was not particularly tall, and his voice had begun to crack... Yinsen could not help feeling as if he had somehow become a babysitter.

Arthur was very clever. On top of that, he had been carefully observing Yinsen, the person who would take him on adventures through different worlds, where he would learn about and witness all kinds of worlds and knowledge.

So when Yinsen revealed a faintly wry smile, Arthur quickly guessed what he was thinking.

Thus, young Arthur proposed that they have a sparring match.

Neither of them had anything to do at the moment. Chatting helped them get acquainted, and sparring did the same. As companions, it was also necessary to understand a comrade's combat ability. Otherwise, when an unexpected situation arose, you would not know whether to trust your teammate to face it alone or worry for their safety and step in to help.

Yinsen understood this as well, so he did not refuse Arthur's proposal. He simply nodded and agreed.

The result...

The result was extremely awkward for Yinsen!

Arthur might have been young, but he was still the King's biological son. Although his birth made it inconvenient to bring him directly back to the castle, the King had nevertheless entrusted the great sorcerer Merlin with raising him and providing him with a comprehensive education.

There had naturally been no difficulties with food, clothing, or other necessities. Combined with the training methods Merlin had tailored for him since childhood, more than ten years of uninterrupted training had made Arthur far stronger than Ordinary People.

Then there was Yinsen. Malnourished since childhood, a Sorcerer's Apprentice who had started halfway through and had not even truly entered the door, someone who had learned a few simple close-combat moves from a priest and had only recently begun to explore and practice Basic Swordsmanship on his own...

After being crushed by Merlin once, Yinsen was taught a lesson by young Arthur as well. It left him deeply frustrated. Fortunately, while Arthur's foundation was solid, his young age meant his strength was not yet overwhelming. He had also spent all his time training and lacked genuine combat experience. As a result, Yinsen won several of the later rounds and managed to salvage a little of his pride.

"Your foundation is very good."

"Your foundation is terrible."

After fighting for most of the day, they inevitably employed the supreme art of Verbal Taunt during their sparring to disrupt each other's performance. It was precisely because of this that their relationship became much closer afterward, and they spoke with fewer reservations.

"I've only been studying swordsmanship for a few months, and I've been figuring it out on my own."

Arthur nodded. If that was the case, then Yinsen's poor foundation in swordsmanship was understandable. Besides, Yinsen was a sorcerer and surely had to spend a great deal of time studying magic, leaving even less time to practice swordsmanship.

"Then it's already not easy for you to have reached your current level."

Yinsen gave a wry smile. He was not sure about that. Perhaps it was only because his foundation had been so poor that his initial progress had been fast. Maybe he would soon hit a bottleneck—when it came to close combat, his lack of strength put him at a severe disadvantage. And strength was limited by talent and living conditions, making it far from easy to increase.

Arthur, on the other hand, was only fourteen, yet his strength was not much weaker than Yinsen's. Once he grew a few more years older and his body fully matured, Yinsen probably would not even be able to withstand a single strike from him.

"Maybe I should consider finding something to improve my Physical Fitness?"

After all, he had no idea what kind of worlds he might travel to in the future. The Sea of Tranquility was manageable enough, but he had no intention of spending his entire life there muddling through and waiting to die. He would certainly have to push onward toward a broader world—and in that case, the Sea of Storms would become a gulf he had to cross. Besides having a better ship, a strong body could likewise increase his chances of success.

There was another factor as well: Lifespan.

Now that he possessed the ability to travel between different worlds, setting aside Eternal Undying for the moment, living longer than Ordinary People had at least become a possibility.

What was more, as he traveled back and forth between different worlds, time passed quickly. If he did not find a way to extend his Lifespan, he might die of old age and frailty before reaching his goals.

"That would be far too much of a loss."

So although Yinsen might have seemed to be wandering around aimlessly lately, he had actually been making all kinds of plans for his future.

Then, depending on various unpredictable circumstances, he continually adjusted the order of those plans.

At the beginning, improving his strength enough to ensure he could protect himself had already been accomplished.

Having found a method of cultivation he could continue practicing systematically, meeting Merlin had finally given him a lead.

As for creating a Magic Item capable of storing vast amounts of knowledge and information, that was a side objective he needed to solve during his cultivation. With Merlin's help, he now had a direction for that as well.

Once those two goals were achieved, Physical Fitness and Lifespan would be next at the top of the list.

Ever since he had confirmed that he could travel between planes, he had entertained such thoughts. But his own safety had been the more urgent concern, so he had buried those thoughts deep inside.

Only now, prompted by the issue of Physical Fitness, had he begun considering how to increase his Lifespan as well.

"Many planes have ways to extend a person's lifespan. The only problem is that I'm not sure whether I can travel to those worlds." For now, the most reliable approach was still to take things one step at a time, while working hard at his cultivation and striving to become a mage sooner.

According to Yinsen's speculation, many mages had methods of extending their own lifespans. Perhaps they had learned them from some secret tome, or perhaps they had developed them themselves while practicing various kinds of magic. He believed that once his magical ability reached a certain level, he might even be able to solve the problem of lifespan through his own capabilities.

By comparison, figuring out how to improve his Physical Fitness was even more troublesome—though improving it could also indirectly increase his Life Force, while boosting his Combat Power and making his personal safety more secure.

At present, the most effective method available to him was persistent training. There were no shortcuts.

This time, he even had a professional teacher: Britain's future legendary king, Arthur Pendragon!

The young King Arthur seemed to have discovered the joy of teaching in Yinsen. Almost every day at dawn, he would drag Yinsen out of bed and put him through every bit of training he himself had done in the past.

"This was all training you did when you were eight?"

After three days, Yinsen, who had increasingly felt that something was off, finally asked. To his surprise, the sunny young King Arthur actually looked embarrassed.

"Actually, I increased the amount of training several times over when I taught it to you. I was too young back then—I simply couldn't handle that much training."

"..."

Yinsen tipped his head back and stared at the sky. He had never expected King Arthur, with his thick brows, bright eyes, and righteous-looking face, to be such a scheming troublemaker. Unfortunately, he had not held that expression for more than a few seconds before Merlin, who had vanished for several days, finally reappeared—and brought Yinsen good news: the thing he wanted was finished.