A Wizard’s Secret

In the quiet Wilson Castle, the rustling sound of Snake Elder drawing on a white sheet of paper could be heard.

“Creak…”

Two ugly Wizards quickly walked in, and said in a respectful manner, “Snake Elder, Merlin has informed us that he’s about to make his move. His first target is Taran City!”

The large, jade-green earrings on the ugly male Wizard swayed slightly. In addition to the peculiar, intricate tattoo on his face, he appeared rather sinister and frightening.

“Oh? Taran City is right next to where Lebis City used to be. Count Taran has been running things for a few generations, gathering a formidable group of roaming Wizards under his command. Particularly during recent years, there’s a Fourth-level Spell Caster called Wizard Finello who designed a gigantic Runic Magic Circle in Taran City.

“Tsk… Tsk… A roaming Wizard who’s capable of mastering Runic Magic Circles is really hard to find! With this Runic Magic Circle, most Fourth-level Spell Casters are of no threat to Taran City.”

After a pause, Snake Elder narrowed his eyes and lifted his head to look at the two ugly Wizards, and cautioned them. “If Merlin isn’t in any danger, then you mustn’t intervene no matter what happens. Do you understand? We’re only responsible for Merlin’s safety, and if Wizard Finello of Taran City wants to kill Merlin, then you must rescue and bring him back at all costs. This is also what His Royal Highness the eighth prince requested. If both of you step in, Wizard Finello of Taran City won’t dare to act against you. Being a mere roaming Wizard, he wouldn’t dare go against the intimidating power of His Royal Highness the eighth prince!”

The two ugly Wizards exchanged a glance. They understood what Snake Elder was asking of them. Their only task was to look after Merlin no matter how much trouble he stirred up, as long as they guaranteed his safety.

“Snake Elder, be rest assured. Heh heh, this Merlin thinks that he can act so superciliously just because he’s a prodigy of the Dark Magic Region. Very well, this time, he’ll learn that it’s not a good idea to provoke certain roaming Wizards.”

The ugly Wizard laughed coldly, apparently not looking kindly upon Merlin’s “madness” this time around.

“Alright, go on then. Report back to me at any time. I believe it won’t be long before news of His Royal Highness the eighth prince will reach us. Then we can start on our journey back to the Imperial City as quickly as possible…”

With a wave of his hand, Snake Elder dismissed the two ugly Wizards. Following that, he lowered his head and returned his attention to the paper on the table…

…

On the spacious street, four figures walked at a leisurely pace. However, if one took a closer look, one would find that although this group seemed very slow, there were in fact traces of Wind Elemental fluctuations floating around their bodies. They were powerful Spell Casters who had enveloped themselves in spells to quicken their journey.

The most noticeable ones were the two Wizards who followed behind, covered in brightly colored tattoos from head to toe and had hideous features.

“Old freak, so it’s just Merlin and his mysterious aide who are going to Taran City?”

The ugly female Wizard stared at the two figures in front, suspicion flashing in her eyes.

“Heh heh, old hag, our job is to follow Merlin and protect him while we’re at it. It’s no concern of ours how many people he’s bringing to Taran City or what he does.”

The group of travelers consisted of Merlin and Wizard Bammou, along with the two ugly Wizards sent by Snake Elder who were acting as “witnesses”. Nonetheless, the two subgroups, whether it was Merlin and Wizard Bammou, or the two ugly Wizards, did not talk to each other throughout the entire journey.

Wizard Bammou who was walking in front would sweep his Mind Power over the two ugly Wizards behind him from time to time. Wizard Bammou’s Mind Power was comparable to a Great Wizard’s and he was able to prevent the two ugly Wizards from realizing what he was doing.

“Master, it seems like the two behind us are quite ‘concerned’ about Master’s safety. Snake Elder had given them the order that no matter how much trouble Master causes, they wouldn’t get involved as long as Master isn’t in danger. However, once Master’s safety is at risk, they’ll protect Master at all costs.”

Wizard Bammou was conscientious in reporting to Merlin, even though he felt that these people were not worth mentioning and that they were underestimating Merlin.

It should be known that although Wizard Bammou’s “master” was not too strong, these Third and Fourth-level Spell Casters were still no match for him by far. Any Spell Caster who wanted to hurt Merlin had to be at least a Fifth-level Spell Caster.

Furthermore, not even Bammou knew what the true extent of Merlin’s powers was. In short, from Wizard Bammou’s perspective, Merlin was really a “mystery”– unfathomable and unpredictable – and was not the “weak” Wizard Snake Elder and the rest thought he was.

“The one that matters to them is Teacher Leo!”

A smile tugged at the corner of Merlin’s lips. The eighth prince had really pulled out all stops in order to win Wizard Leo over and had even spent so much just on Merlin. Admittedly, it was widely rumored that Merlin was Wizard Leo’s prized pupil. Still, even a mere rumor was enough to make the eighth prince go to such lengths.

To put it another way, this indicated how anxious the eighth prince was to win over Wizard Leo.

“Hold on.”

Merlin suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked toward the sky. At an unknown time, a few black crows had appeared in the bright sky, circling in the air.

“What bad luck to encounter crows.”

The two ugly Wizards at the back also resentfully eyed the two crows in the air. In general, the circling of crows above signified an ill omen of things to come.

“Swoosh!”

A ball of flame quickly ascended into the sky and engulfed the crows, turning them into ashes in the blink of an eye.

Merlin casually raised an arm. His gaze had already landed on the massive, white rampart in the distance.

“Taran City!”

It was Taran City, Merlin’s first target. As he thought about the crows, Merlin’s mouth pulled into a grim line. Perhaps they represented the turmoil that Taran City would face today.

“Come on, we’ll go straight in!”

Merlin said in a low voice. Still, he seemed to have thought of something and turned back to the two ugly Wizards. “If you guys can’t keep up, you can reach Taran City later.”

After Merlin spoke, the two ugly Wizards seemed to be at a lost, not understanding what Merlin meant. Just then, the figures of Merlin and Wizard Bammou suddenly rose into the air slowly, their bodies encircled in strong Wind Elements. They immediately flew toward the imposing Taran City.

“This… They’ve flown away? Wizard Merlin and his aide are able to fly?”

“A Fourth-level Spell Caster – Merlin’s aide must surely be a Fourth-level Spell Caster or even higher. Wizard Merlin seems to be wearing a Flying casting tool as well. They’ve left us just like that? So, they had been holding back for us before this…”

The two ugly Wizards wore bitter expressions. They had been secretly comparing their Magic Power and speed to Merlin’s, but now it appeared that Merlin and Wizard Bammou had just been waiting for them to hurry along at their “slow pace”. Otherwise, if Merlin and Wizard Bammou had flown the entire way, they would have reached Taran City long ago.

The expressions on the Wizards kept on shifting as they stared at the disappearing figures of Merlin and Wizard Bammou. The ugly male Wizard clenched his jaw furiously, and growled, “Let’s hurry, we need to reach Taran City as soon as possible. To think that Wizard Merlin would enter Taran City with such swagger when it’s protected by a Runic Magic Circle! Not even Snake Elder would dare to barge into Taran City. If Wizard Merlin is killed by the people of Taran City, we won’t dare to show our faces to Snake Elder and the eighth prince.”

Taran City was protected by a Runic Magic Circle as well as countless roaming Wizards. Such a force could be considered tremendous and had made Taran City’s position as a somewhat neutral city-state. The other princes would not force Taran City to pledge allegiance to any one side.

As they thought about the possibility of Merlin running into danger, the two ugly Wizards dared not treat the matter lightly. Snake Elder had repeatedly emphasized the importance of keeping Merlin safe. The mere thought of Snake Elder’s rage if any harm came to Merlin was enough to scare the wits out of the two ugly Wizards.

…

The busy Taran City had unexpected visitors today. Two small black dots suddenly appeared in the distant sky and were closing in fast.

Perhaps the Normies would not even be able to tell what was in the sky, but to those Spell Casters who were monitoring every movement in Taran City at all times, this was a shocking development.

“Oh no, two Spell Casters are flying toward Taran City. Identities unknown!”

A few Spell Casters immediately began to report this to Taran City, and many powerful Elemental Swordsmen began to get ready as their bodies flickered with powerful Elemental fluctuations.

All of these Elemental Swordsmen were intermediate Elemental Swordsmen and were capable of injuring Spell Casters. In great numbers, they were rather terrifying.

“Halt! This is Taran City. No matter who you are, if you don’t halt, you’ll be killed!”

On the tall ramparts, a man decked out in majestic silver armor yelled at the two small black dots in the sky.

“Boom!”

In response to the armored man, innumerable fireballs blocked the sky and rained down in a torrent, melting a hole in the rampart. Almost half of the rampart collapsed, and the shattered pieces tumbled down, causing a disturbance in the city-state.

“It’s an enemy attack! Kill them!”

Taran City responded very quickly. Countless Elemental Swordsmen instantly bellowed at the sky and a wide-ranging burst of firelight flared up into the air. This was the full-force attack of the intermediate Elemental Swordsmen, and it was even comparable to a Third-level spell.

This was the importance of numbers. One or two intermediate Elemental Swordsmen might not be a threat, but if hundreds and thousands of them gathered, their strength would be petrifying.

Endless Fire Element transformed the sky into a fiery red hue as if it was caught in raging flames, and the two black dots in the sky were instantly engulfed.

“Fire?”

A cold voice suddenly came down from the sky.

“Bang!”

Thereafter, the flames which filled the sky burst open as innumerable sparks descended. The fiery red blaze turned a pale white. Even the solid ramparts were scorched and broken through. These ramparts, which had taken up so much labor and materials, were burned down in this short time by the white blaze.

“Feeble, they’re really so feeble. Master, no matter how many Normies there are, they’re still Normies at the end of the day.”

Wizard Bammou watched the struggling crowd of Normies on the ramparts and shook his head forlornly. Normies were completely unable to intervene in a battle between Spell Casters.

Even the extremely terrifying war fort was totally useless in the face of powerful Spell Casters. The only thing that could take on Spell Casters was the power of other Spell Casters!

“Wizard Finello, who are these two people?”

At last, the chaos in Taran City caught the attention of Count Taran.