Chapter Summaries

Merlin and the other casters discovered that the sealed jars in an ancient potion room held dangerous Patterned Spiders, which trapped them with corrosive silk and attacked in a swarm. They fought their way through using Second-Level Spells and Merlin’s enhanced Lightning Orb, while Mage Laisen watched Merlin’s casting tool with a strange glint.

• Mage Buren led Merlin and the others to an ancient potion-preparation room filled with corpses cocooned in white silk.
• Mage Samir ordered his Alchemical Monster to open a porcelain jar, releasing Patterned Spiders that survived his fire Spell and ensnared the group with corrosive silk.
• Merlin burned through the silk with enhanced Berserk Flame, but the spiders grew to enormous size and surrounded the casters.
• Mage Samir restrained many spiders with Water Bind while Merlin killed them with his enhanced Lightning Orb.
• Mages Buren and Samir noticed Merlin’s casting tool and suppressed their desire for it, while Mage Laisen watched him with a strange glint.

Merlin and Laisen left Samir and Buren on the second floor and entered a secret passage toward the Pandora Demon Energy, while Merlin grew wary of Laisen’s willingness to kill anyone who learned the secret. Golan followed the group’s trail to the first floor, where a Patterned Spider exposed his presence to the Spellcasters already there.

• Merlin and the others fought through Patterned Spiders on the lower floors, then found potions and Spellbooks on the second floor.
• Laisen told Merlin he knew where the Pandora Demon Energy was stored and led him away from Samir and Buren.
• Laisen admitted he might kill Samir and Buren if they insisted on following them, then showed Merlin a Secret Passage to the first floor.
• Golan, Anliena, and Karen followed the trail left by Samir’s group and reached the second floor without finding them.
• Golan entered the first floor by the normal route and killed a Patterned Spider, alerting the Spellcasters already there to his presence.

Merlin and Great Mage Laisen attacked the Puppet Guard blocking the way to a door that might conceal Pandora Demon Energy. Meanwhile, Great Mage Golan, Anliena, and Great Mage Karen confronted another group of spellcasters in the Ancient Tower as Great Mage Etran prepared to open the ruins’ treasure chamber.

• Great Mage Laisen explained that the Puppet Guard was an ancient alchemical puppet with powerful armor, and claimed that extreme ice magic could exploit its weakness.
• Merlin agreed to help defeat the guard, but its strength overwhelmed Laisen’s Alchemical Monster and shrugged off Laisen’s flames and Merlin’s Solidifying Ice spells.
• At Laisen’s urging, Merlin unleashed his Extreme Ice Finger at the Puppet Guard.
• Great Mage Golan led Anliena and Great Mage Karen out of hiding to face five spellcasters and their Alchemical Monsters on the tower’s first floor.
• Great Mage Etran said he would open the door to the treasure chamber while Great Mage Herman dealt with any spellcasters who arrived.

Golan, Anliena, and Karen struggled against Herman and the other Spellcasters when a mysterious armored creature burst through the stone door. After it tore apart Etran’s Alchemical Monster, a black-robed figure attacked it with an Extreme Ice Finger spell.

• Golan recognized Herman’s intent to kill the intruders, but he and the others were surrounded and attacked by the Spellcasters and their Alchemical Monsters.
• Herman bound Golan, Anliena, and Karen with a wind spell, leaving them in grave danger.
• Etran’s Alchemical Monster smashed through the stone door, and a towering black-armored shadow emerged from behind it.
• The shadow grabbed Etran’s Alchemical Monster and tore it in half, then turned toward the open doorway.
• A black-robed figure behind the door cast Magic Energy, Extreme Ice Finger at the shadow.

Merlin and Laisen joined Golan and the others in the Ancient Tower and fought the Puppet Guard with Merlin’s Extreme Ice Finger and Laisen’s Alchemical Monster. After driving away the other Spellcasters and exhausting Merlin’s mana, they saw the Puppet Guard’s eye-light vanish and its body go still.

• Merlin, Laisen, and the Alchemical Monster emerged through the stone door and rescued Golan, Anliena, and Karen from the Second-Level Spellcasters and the Puppet Guard.
• Merlin repeatedly froze the Puppet Guard with Extreme Ice Finger while Laisen’s Alchemical Monster hammered its black armor with a heavy hammer.
• Herman and the Second-Level Spellcasters fled, and Golan, Anliena, and the others left the Ancient Tower after Laisen warned them away.
• Merlin and Laisen continued attacking the Puppet Guard until Merlin’s ice-element mana was nearly depleted.
• After Merlin froze the Puppet Guard again, its eerie green eye-light vanished and it stopped moving.

Merlin and Great Mage Laisen found the Pandora Demon Energy recorded as Annihilation Flame in the Ancient Ruins, and Merlin copied its cultivation method. After Merlin finished, Great Mage Laisen turned hostile and demanded something Merlin had with him.

• Great Mage Laisen confirmed that the Puppet Guard had run out of power, and he and Merlin passed through the opened stone doors.
• Great Mage Laisen used fire-element Mana to open the Flame Statue and reveal a black wooden box containing a beast-hide scroll.
• Merlin read that the scroll described Annihilation Flame, whose first form he could cultivate because he had constructed Berserk Flame.
• Merlin secretly had Matrix record the scroll while copying its contents, then returned the beast hide to Great Mage Laisen.
• Great Mage Laisen asked Merlin to give him something he had, and Merlin stared at him warily.

Great Mage Laisen betrayed Merlin and blasted him with a Fourth-Level Earth Spear, leaving him severely wounded. Merlin struck back with Extreme Ice Finger, and Laisen escaped the attack at the cost of half his arm and his Alchemical Monster before sealing the tower door with Merlin inside.

• Great Mage Laisen attacked Merlin with a Fourth-Level Earth Spear, breaking through his defenses and severely injuring him.
• Merlin used Extreme Ice Finger against Great Mage Laisen, but then collapsed from his wounds.
• Great Mage Laisen recalled his Alchemical Monster to block the attack, but the frost froze and destroyed it.
• Great Mage Laisen cut off his arm after the frost began spreading through it, and the severed limb shattered into ice.
• Great Mage Laisen gave up on taking Merlin's Pandora Demon Energy and activated a hidden mechanism that lowered the stone door.

After Laisen grievously wounded Merlin and left him trapped in the Ancient Ruins, a giant Patterned Spider dragged the helpless spell caster to a hidden hall. There, a Flame Spirit revealed that Merlin had passed its master's test and would receive treasures for cultivating Annihilation Flame.

• Merlin calmed himself after realizing he had recorded the Annihilation Flame cultivation method before Laisen's ambush.
• A giant Patterned Spider emerged, shattered Merlin's Guardian Monument defenses, bound him in silk, and dragged him underground.
• The Patterned Spider released Merlin in a hidden hall filled with flame murals and an enormous flame-shaped statue.
• A Flame Spirit appeared and explained that Merlin had passed its master's test by defeating the Puppet Guard and possessing Berserk Flame.
• The Flame Spirit told Merlin that Laisen had left the Ancient Ruins and that Merlin was now the sole spell caster eligible to receive the master's Annihilation Flame treasures.

Merlin recovered from his severe injuries with potions found in the rings of Spellcasters killed in the Ancient Tower, while amassing great wealth and rare ingredients. After fifteen days, he prepared to leave and asked the Flame Spirit for the tower master's treasure, promising to return if he could master the second form of Annihilation Flame.

• Merlin asked the Flame Spirit for help recovering, and it sent Patterned Spiders to bring him rings taken from dead Spellcasters.
• Merlin found restorative potions in the rings and used them to shorten his recovery from several months to about ten days.
• Over fifteen days, Patterned Spiders brought Merlin more rings, giving him Elemental Crystals, potion ingredients, and Spells, including ingredients for at least a dozen Phantom Demon Potions.
• After his injuries mostly healed, Merlin told the Flame Spirit he planned to leave and asked for the Ancient Tower master's treasure, promising to return if he mastered the second form of Annihilation Flame.
• The Flame Spirit reacted with surprise when Merlin said he wanted to leave the Ancient Tower.

Merlin learned that the Ancient Tower’s sealed stone door could only be broken by an Archmage, but discovered an alternate exit hidden in a secret chamber. To reach the exit, he entered a trial against Lister, the tower’s powerful rabbit-like guardian, and their battle began.

• Merlin tested the stone door with Berserk Flame and Extreme Ice Finger, but could not damage it.
• The Flame Spirit explained that Merlin could leave through a Rune Formation in a secret chamber, which required him to cultivate the first form of Annihilation Flame.
• Merlin learned that the needed treasures were guarded by a trial opponent, then asked the Flame Spirit to take him to the secret chamber.
• Merlin entered the chamber and met Lister, an ice-element Elemental Lifeform and follower of Mage Dolan.
• Lister transformed for battle, dodged Merlin’s Extreme Ice Finger, and lunged at him with enormous claws.

After failing to defeat the Rabbit Guardian, Merlin trained in the Ancient Tower and used Phantom Demon Potions to raise his mental power enough to construct Darklight Domain. He became a six-element First-level Spellcaster, preparing to challenge the Guardian again.

• Merlin tried Thunder Web and Dark Mist against the Rabbit Guardian, but neither worked, so he fled the secret chamber.
• The Flame Spirit advised Merlin to become a First-level Spellcaster before challenging Lister again, and Merlin entered a quiet room to cultivate.
• Merlin spent three months training and preparing Phantom Demon Potions, then drank his last potion and broke through to the mental-power level of a Third-level Spellcaster.
• Merlin recalled that he might miss Macy and Yagesi's wedding, then used Matrix's analysis to begin constructing Darklight Domain.
• After a long effort, Merlin successfully constructed Darklight Domain and became a six-element First-level Spellcaster.

After constructing the Darklight Domain and becoming a First-level Spellcaster, Merlin returned to the trial chamber and defeated the Rabbit guard with the enhanced spell and repeated Berserk Flame attacks. He passed the trial, entered the inner chamber, and collected a vast store of treasures for cultivating Annihilation Flame.

• Merlin balanced all six Spells in his Sea of Consciousness, became a First-level Spellcaster, and decided to attempt the trial again.
• The Flame Spirit opened the secret chamber and reminded Merlin that the Rabbit guard could not leave its bounds.
• Merlin used the enhanced Darklight Domain to trap the Rabbit guard in an illusion, then struck it with more than ten Berserk Flame attacks.
• The Rabbit guard revealed that it could revive within the chamber and declared that Merlin had passed the trial.
• Merlin entered the inner chamber and found large quantities of Elemental Crystals and materials for cultivating Annihilation Flame.
• Merlin stored the treasures in his ring and left the secret chamber.

Merlin cultivated the first form of the Annihilation Flame in the Ancient Tower and discovered that it easily melted the ice created by his Extreme Ice Finger. With the Flame Spirit’s help, he left the tower to return to the Dark Spirit Domain before his deadline, promising to come back for the second-form treasure when he became a Fourth-level Spellcaster.

• The Flame Spirit told Merlin that cultivating the first form of the Annihilation Flame would let him leave the Ancient Tower.
• Merlin used fire-element treasures to cultivate the Annihilation Flame while completing the first stage of his Extreme Ice Finger.
• After Great Mage Leo summoned him back and his three-year deadline approached, Merlin resolved to finish cultivating the Annihilation Flame within three months.
• Merlin successfully cultivated the first form and tested it by melting the ice from his Extreme Ice Finger almost instantly.
• The Flame Spirit sent Patterned Spider to guide Merlin to the tower’s exit after Merlin promised to return for the second-form treasure.

Merlin left the Ancient Ruins through a Rune Formation but emerged far from Floating City, so he decided to return to the Dark Spirit Domain before pursuing Mage Laisen. He commandeered Viscount Anglis’s carriage to reach the Thorn Mountains, then departed for a nearby Rune Formation, while Nansi resolved to become a spellcaster to make Vitality Potions.

• Merlin used the first form of Annihilation Flame to open the secret chamber and teleported out of the Ancient Ruins.
• After discovering he had landed in Flame City’s territory, Merlin took Miss Nansi and her companions’ carriage and ordered the driver to head to the Thorn Mountains.
• During the journey, Merlin reassured Nansi that he would not turn her into an Alchemical Monster and told her about Vitality Potions.
• At the Thorn Mountains, Merlin sensed the Dark Spirit Domain’s Rune Formation with his Dark Spirit Ring and left using wind magic.
• Nansi decided to return home and become a spellcaster so she could prepare Vitality Potions.

Merlin returned to the Dark Spirit Domain after becoming a Six-Element First-level Spellcaster and chose to become an official member. Mage Leo took him to meet the Domain’s Seventh-level Spellcasters so Merlin could receive the rewards he deserved.

• Merlin used his Dark Spirit Ring to find a Rune Formation in the Thorn Mountains and return to the Dark Spirit Domain.
• Merlin gave Didimos ice-type Elemental Crystals and entered the Domain before visiting Mage Leo’s tower.
• Mage Hall told Merlin that Mage Leo had sought him out, and Merlin went to meet his mentor.
• Mage Leo revealed that he had killed Osius, a Seventh-level Spellcaster from Osum, but had lost his right arm in the battle.
• Merlin told Mage Leo that he had become a Six-Element First-level Spellcaster, and Mage Leo confirmed it with his blood-red eye.
• Merlin chose to become an official member of the Dark Spirit Domain, and Mage Leo took him toward the towers of its Seventh-level Spellcasters.

Leo activated the Dark Spirit Array to summon the Dark Spirit Domain’s Seventh-level Spellcasters and reveal that his student Merlin was a First-level Six-Element Spellcaster. He proposed awarding Merlin one hundred thousand Contribution Points, but the gathering remained divided over the risk that Merlin might betray the Dark Spirit Domain like Klais.

• Leo brought Merlin to the Dark Spirit Array and activated it, summoning the Dark Spirit Domain’s Seventh-level Spellcasters.
• Robia, Helsius, and six other Seventh-level Spellcasters gathered, and Leo explained that he had summoned them for his student Merlin.
• Leo revealed that Merlin was a First-level Six-Element Spellcaster, astonishing the gathered Mages, then sent Merlin outside.
• Leo proposed awarding Merlin one hundred thousand Contribution Points, arguing that his unprecedented talent deserved the reward.
• Robia questioned whether Merlin could be trusted not to betray the Dark Spirit Domain as Klais had, leaving the Mages’ decision unresolved.

Mage Leo secured a reward of one hundred thousand Contribution Points for Merlin, paid over ten years, and Merlin agreed to sign Dark Spirit Domain’s highest-grade contract. After the contract bound his Mind Power, Merlin became an official member of Dark Spirit Domain.

• Mage Leo defended Merlin against Mage Sharman’s doubts and vowed to kill Merlin if he ever betrayed Dark Spirit Domain.
• Mage Helsius proposed paying Merlin’s one hundred thousand Contribution Points over ten years and requiring him to sign the highest-grade contract.
• Mage Leo told Merlin about the reward and conditions, and Merlin asked what the contract would do.
• After Mage Leo explained that the contract prevented betrayal and was difficult to dissolve, Merlin agreed to sign it.
• Mage Leo brought out the highest-grade Contract Paper, and Merlin swore never to betray Dark Spirit Domain, completing the contract and becoming an official member.

After Merlin signed the Dark Spirit Domain’s highest-level contract, Great Mage Leo explained the war’s settlement and offered to help him obtain powerful dark-element abilities. Leo revealed that he had forcibly cultivated the incomplete Dark Eye method at the cost of his sight and any chance of reaching the Seventh level, then promised Merlin a different dark-element Pandora Demon Energy.

• Great Mage Helsius asked Leo whether he had finally moved past Leidor’s betrayal and Osius’s death, and Leo said he had let go and would focus on nurturing Merlin.
• Leo told Merlin that Osum and the Spellcaster Organizations had signed an agreement protecting defectors such as Klais, while the Dark Spirit Domain offered fifty thousand Contribution Points to anyone below the fourth level who killed him.
• Leo explained that Merlin’s ten thousand Contribution Points would let him obtain what he needed, and that Leo could still help him with the Dark Eye and higher-level dark-element Spells.
• Leo revealed that the Dark Eye’s cultivation method was incomplete and that his self-created method had left him blind and unable to become a Seventh-level Spellcaster.
• Leo told Merlin he could not pass on the Dark Eye but could teach him another dark-element Pandora Demon Energy and help him obtain the Spells he needed.

Merlin collected the robe granted to him as an official member of the Dark Spirit Domain and exchanged it for a more powerful Rune Robe. The chapter ended with him returning to Mage Leo’s tower, waiting to learn where Mage Leo would take him the next day.

• Merlin went to the Tower of Myriad Phenomena to collect his official member’s robe, and the Gray-Robed Mages recognized his status from his Dark Spirit Ring.
• Merlin learned that official members could exchange their free robe for stronger robes, while the most powerful Rune Robes required Runology proficiency to activate.
• Merlin chose a robe capable of withstanding Third-Level Spells and paid one thousand Contribution Points after the free robe’s value was deducted.
• Merlin declined to exchange for spells or potions, put on his new robe, and returned to Mage Leo’s tower to await their trip the next day.

Leo took Merlin to the Abyssal Fortress, where he broke the illusion concealing it and sought an audience with its leader, Mage Hobbes. After Leo raised the subject of the Dark Eye, Hobbes invited them inside, leaving Merlin to follow them into the fortress.

• Leo teleported Merlin out of the Dark Spirit Domain and flew with him to a valley concealed by an illusion Spell.
• Leo used his Spiritual Power to dispel the illusion and reveal the Abyssal Fortress.
• The fortress guards recognized Leo as the Seventh-level Spellcaster who had killed Osius of Osum and went to inform Mage Hobbes.
• Leo explained that a contract prevented him from giving Merlin the dark-type Spells he had obtained from the fortress.
• Mage Hobbes recognized that Leo had returned for Merlin, then invited them inside after Leo mentioned the Dark Eye.