A Wizard’s Secret

“Don’t tell me that the Dark Magic Region possesses Darkness-type Pandora Demon Ability?”

Merlin questioned doubtfully. The Dark Magic Region did not even have Darkness-type spells that were above Second-level, let alone Darkness-type Pandora Demon Ability which was more precious.

Wizard Leo shook his head slightly. “The Dark Magic Region doesn’t have Pandora Demon Ability, of course… Forget it, get yourself ready first. I’ll bring you to a place tomorrow and you’ll understand then.”

Wizard Leo did not tell Merlin right away but instead let Merlin head down to get ready. Merlin would naturally be clear about everything tomorrow when they would go to the said mysterious place.

Seeing that Wizard Leo was unwilling to go on, Merlin did not pursue the matter, and respectfully left Wizard Leo’s room.

Merlin did not return to his own room but headed straight for the Resource Tower after he had left the Wizard Tower. He wanted to receive the robe that he would get after becoming an official member of the Dark Magic Region.

The robe of the official members of the Dark Magic Region was no ordinary robe. It could be considered a Defensive casting tool, and one would need more than a hundred contribution points to exchange for it at the Resource Tower.

When Merlin reached the Resource Tower, he saw that the tower was bustling with movement as people passed back and forth. There were many Spell Casters who were exchanging spells or potions and so on in the Resource Tower.

At the entrance of the Resource Tower, a few gray-robed Wizards were lazing around with their eyes shut.

“I’m here to get the robe for official members.”

Merlin approached the gray-robed Wizards and spoke softly.

“The robe for official members? Hand over your Dark Magic ring.”

One of the gray-robed Wizards opened his eyes and gave Merlin a serene look as he asked for Merlin’s Dark Magic ring.

Merlin nodded and immediately handed his Dark Magic ring to this Wizard.

All information concerning a Spell Caster was recorded within the Dark Magic ring. Only the gray-robed Wizards who had mastered the designated casting tools of the Dark Magic Region were able to examine the information within the Dark Magic ring.

At first, this gray-robed Wizard seemed to be rather absent-minded but when Merlin’s Dark Magic ring shone its brilliant light and he saw the information contained within the ring, his face underwent a great change. When he lifted his head to look at Merlin again, his eyes revealed his incredulity.

“Wizard Merlin, you want to receive your official member’s robe?”

The gray-robed Wizard’s tone of voice had evidently become respectful. After seeing the information in Merlin’s Dark Magic ring, he still seemed to be in some sort of a disbelieving dream.

“That’s right, give me one of those robes for official members.”

Merlin nodded. Following that, the gray-robed Wizard woke up the other Wizards and briefed them in a low, urgent voice. Their expressions became dignified and they immediately went into the Resource Tower and took out a robe.

“Wizard Merlin, this is the robe for the official members of the Dark Magic Region. The powerful Runic Magic Circle inscribed on the robe will be able to defend against the attacks of First-level spells.”

The robe that the gray-robed Wizard took out was ink-black. The cuffs and collar were lined with a decorative golden design, and on the left breast was a unique runic imprint. This was the distinct imprint of the Dark Magic Region that represented the official members of the organization.

Any official member of the Dark Magic Region would wear this robe if they were completing a mission outside. Other spell casters’ organizations or knowledgeable Wizards would then recognize them as an official member of the Dark Magic Region.

If an official member was killed, the Dark Magic Region had an obligation to hunt and annihilate the killers until their very last breath! This was also a duty that official members would need to fulfill after signing the contract with the Dark Magic Region.

Therefore, even though one simply needed to wear the Dark Magic ring to enter the Dark Magic Region, no one was foolish enough to kill an official member of the Dark Magic Region and rob their rings, because not only would the killer be unable to enter the Dark Magic Region, they would also be constantly hunted by the Dark Magic Region.

One would only receive the Dark Magic Region’s protection by becoming its official member. Temporary members did not receive such protection and would be in danger after they left the Dark Magic Region.

Merlin had some understanding of this robe for official members of the Dark Magic Region. In the past, he had admired this robe, but now, a robe that could only defend against First-level spells was not of much use to Merlin.

“There’s only this type of robe? I recall that in the Resource Tower, there seems to be a robe with more exceptional defensive capabilities.”

Merlin frowned as he commented in a low voice.

The gray-robed Wizard hastened to explain, “Wizard Merlin, the free robe that official members get is just this one which can defend against First-level spells. Of course, in the Resource Tower, there are robes with better defensive capabilities, but they’re not given for free. If Wizard Merlin wanted to exchange for one of those, you could convert this robe into a hundred contribution points to be discounted from the robe you want, and you would have to pay the additional contribution points yourself.”

Hearing this, Merlin broke out into a smile. “I’ll exchange for that then. As for the required contribution points, naturally, I’ll compensate for them.”

From Merlin’s point of view, he wasn’t lacking in contribution points. Every year, the Dark Magic Region would award ten thousand contribution points, and he had just this amount in his Dark Magic ring. There were many Fourth-level Spell Casters who were able to build their own individual tower, but they were not even as prosperous as Merlin.

Thereafter, Merlin followed the gray-robed Wizard to the third floor of the Resource Tower. The place was filled with casting tools, among which the number of robes was the highest – all the robes that one could ever need were here.

The gray-robed Wizard explained to Merlin, “There are many types of robes in the Resource Tower. One of the common ones is the robe for official members, which is usually just able to defend against First-level spells. There are also robes which can withstand Second and Third-level spells. However, these robes may only be obtained by an official member. As for temporary members, they may exchange for robes with powerful defensive capabilities, but those robes won’t bear the Dark Magic Region’s unique runic imprint, so they won’t be recognized as an official member.”

Merlin nodded his head. In truth, Wizard Holmes from before had exchanged for a robe from the Resource Tower, and its defensive powers were not that much different from those worn by official members of the Dark Magic Region. However, it lacked the unique runic imprint of the Dark Magic Region, so even when he had worn the robe outside, he would not be identified as an official member.

“Is there no robe that could withstand Fourth-level spells?”

Merlin had only heard the gray-robed Wizard mention robes that could defend against Third-level spells, so he asked this doubtfully.

The gray-robed Wizard explained with a smile, “Of course there is. There are even robes which may defend against Fifth and Sixth-level spells, but these Runic Robes require a mastery of runology to activate the powerful Runic Magic Circles on the robes. Among the robes that would activate the Runic Magic Circle without the necessary expertise in runology, the strongest one could merely defend against Third-level spells.

“Furthermore, this is only because the Dark Magic Region specializes in runology. If it was some other spell casters’ organization whose expertise in runology isn’t as impressive as ours, it would be good enough for them to manufacture robes which may withstand Second-level spells without any prerequisites – to say nothing of robes which could easily block Third-level spells without any qualifications.”

Merlin nodded his head. The Dark Magic Region’s expertise was in runology, so they were easily able to manufacture robes which required no prerequisites, which could be worn by any Spell Caster and defend against Third-level spells. In other places, such a robe would be extremely precious.

At least, Merlin had not even seen a robe, capable of withstanding Third-level spells, that could be used by any Spell Caster when he was in Sterling House of Floating City.

Only in the Dark Magic Region would he be able to find such a powerful robe.

“Alright, I’ll take the robe that can defend against Third-level spells.”

Merlin was not an expert in runology, so naturally, he would not select the more powerful robes. Moreover, this robe that would block attacks from Third-level spells was rather handy as well. Whenever he was in danger, he would no longer need to constantly use the Enhancing casting tool to cast the strengthened version of Guardian Monument, which would greatly exhaust his Magic Power.

“Wizard Merlin, this robe costs one thousand and one hundred contribution points. After deducting the one hundred contribution points that the free robe would be converted into, you would still need to pay a thousand contribution points.”

The gray-robed Wizard beamed in joy as he spoke. A thousand contribution points – he had been in the Resource Tower for so long but had never seen such an amount. However, as he thought of the tremendous number of contribution points in Merlin’s Dark Magic ring, he was overcome by a powerless feeling.

The gray-robed Wizard was also an official member of the Dark Magic Region and earned contribution points from accepting missions in the Mission Hall. Looking at the fortune of contribution points in Merlin’s Dark Magic ring, he was naturally very astonished. However, he recalled that Merlin was a Six-Elemental Spell Caster, someone who was even more gifted than Kleis, so it was only natural that the Dark Magic Region would value him so.

“A thousand contribution points? It’s expensive indeed!”

Merlin was slightly taken aback. He inquired carefully to find out that the robe which could defend against First-level spells only cost a hundred contribution points whereas the price of the robe capable of withstanding Second-level spells was much higher – five hundred contribution points.

As for the robe that would defend against Third-level spells, one would need a costly sum of one thousand and one hundred contribution points. Only Spell Casters who were above Fourth-level could possess such an amount. However, a robe like this seemed to be of little value to Spell Casters of that level, thus, in the Resource Tower, a few years could go by without this expensive robe being exchanged for.

“I’ll exchange for this robe then!”

Even though this robe was costly, it would serve such a great purpose for Merlin. Merlin did not have any hesitation and quickly made up his mind to get this robe.

“Wizard Merlin, what else do you need? Spells? Potions?”

The gray-robed Wizard inquired warmly.

Merlin shook his head lightly. “I’ve no need for those, just this robe for now.”

He had just become a First-level Spell Caster not long ago, so there was no rush to construct Second-level spells. As for potions, he would select them at his leisure when he had time in the future. Although he had many contribution points, he would not squander them recklessly.

Merlin put on the robe he had just obtained and sensed that, in the event of an attack, the dense lines of runes on the robe would immediately emerge and absorb the attack.

With that, Merlin left the Resource Tower right away and returned once more to Wizard Leo’s tower.

“I wonder where Wizard Leo will bring me to tomorrow?”

Merlin returned to his room and was in deep thought on where would Wizard Leo be taking him the next day.