A Wizard’s Secret

What did Arcane City really have? Why would countless genius Spell Casters wish to enter Arcane City?

Ever since Merlin had attempted the Mind Tower, he had a dim understanding of why generations after generations of genius Wizards would come to Arcane City by any means possible.

One would have everything that one needed, for instance, Merlin’s Mind Power which had been troubling him. He was able to challenge the Mind Tower, each floor offered Merlin some stimulation, expanding his Mind Power in that manner.

Now, Merlin was training to fuse his Mind Power with his instincts. Once he had done so, Merlin’s Mind Power would flourish swiftly, and might even break through to an Eighth-level Mind Heart instantly. In addition, he would then be able to complete the ninth floor of the Mind Tower.

Moreover, Arcane City had many other great items such as casting tools. Arcane City was known to be a place where one could find any casting tool.

Merlin gave it a try. As of now, he had only used very few casting tools because most casting tools were not worth his while.

The only exception was the Assembled casting tool, which was still incomplete. Merlin had not paid the Bell Space any attention for a long time.

As for Wizard Bell, Merlin had even deliberately looked him up in Arcane City. There was a very comprehensive set of information regarding powerful Wizards in Arcane City, which was free to access. Only Arcane City could have something like this.

From this information, Merlin found out some facts about Wizard Bell at last. Wizard Bell was previously a Great Alchemist of the Molta Empire royal family. At that time, he was a Great Legend and was reputed to be the foremost Great Alchemist in the Molta Empire.

As for the Assembled casting tool, it was first created by Wizard Bell. In the field of alchemy, Wizard Bell had always been a pioneer. In general, a large portion of alchemy was gradually developed and refined thanks to Wizard Bell.

However, during the war between the mysterious dimension and the civilization of Spell Casters, the fires of war burned the Glorious Land, and the Great Alchemist Wizard Bell died there.

These were details about Wizard Bell. Merlin was deeply moved when he learned this. Back when he had obtained the components of the Bell Space, he had vaguely sensed that these casting tools were not that simple.

This turned out to be true. Although Wizard Bell was the first to create Assembled casting tools, the one which he was proudest of throughout his life was the God-Binding Disc. It was assembled from nine casting components, and each component was an individual casting tool. They could become various sorts of new casting tools when combined in different ways.

This was the unique characteristic of Assembled casting tools.

Merlin became excited when he learned about the God-Binding Disc, so he looked up descriptions of it. The God-Binding Disc was the most powerful casting tool transfigured by Wizard Bell, one with supreme might, and was formed from nine individual casting tools in total.

Back then, Wizard Bell had become a Great Legend by consolidating a Fire-type Maxim, and ultimately that was the only Maxim he created. However, he focused all his efforts into alchemy and transfigured the God-Binding Disc. Thereafter, he was able to use the God-Binding Disc to suppress natural gods.

Even if some natural gods were stronger than Wizard Bell himself, possessing divinity transformed from the endless power of faith and being nearly immortal, once the God-Binding Disc was wielded, the formidable natural gods were subdued one after another.

It was because of such prowess that Wizard Bell was unreservedly recognized as the foremost Great Alchemist, even in the Molta Empire which was brimming with talent.

Other than Wizard Bell, there were no Great Alchemists who had such splendid results in battle. The God-Binding Disc, as wielded by Wizard Bell, was able to suppress six natural gods in all.

“God-Binding Disc?”

Merlin’s heart leaped. He had acquired three casting components which formed the Bell Space. This Bell Space was marvelous as well, possessing some mystical powers.

Therefore, Merlin wondered if the three casting components he had were components of the God-Binding Disc?

Thus, Merlin continued inquiring about the God-Binding Disc. In Wizard Bell’s hands, the God-Binding Disc had exploded with terrifying strength. However, after a great war erupted between the Glorious Land and the mysterious dimension, not only did Wizard Bell die but even the God-Binding Disc was lost.

According to rumors, the God-Binding Disc had been broken up into nine most basic casting components, scattered throughout the lands.

“God-Binding Disc!”

There was a feverous fire in Merlin’s heart. He increasingly believed that his Bell Space was, in fact, three of the casting components making up the God-Binding Disc.

Arcane City reputedly had the richest supply of casting tools and other alchemy products, along with some rare, strange treasures. Merlin began his inquiries, actively seeking out the casting tools of Wizard Bell.

As the leading Great Alchemist of the Spell Caster’s most glorious era, Wizard Bell had many casting tools which were widely circulated. After a brief search, Merlin figured he might as well ask about the components of the God-Binding Disc.

As a sacred place created by the Ultimate Arcane Wizards, Arcane City was the hub of the entire Spell Caster civilization. The three great Arcane Cities were the most secure fort of the Spell Caster civilization, and the places which would preserve the spark of civilization if the Spell Caster civilization was ever endangered.

Therefore, the three great Arcane Cities had everything one would ever need.

As Merlin enquired about the God-Binding Disc, the Great Legends who watched over the countless casting tools and alchemy products of Arcane City did not find his questions strange. There were many Spell Casters who, like Merlin, had previously looked into legendary casting tools with powerful might such as the God-Binding Disc.

“There are only four casting components of the God-Binding Disc in Arcane City.”

“Four?”

Merlin was slightly stupefied before his heart burst with elation. Initially, he had not hoped for four more components for it was too challenging to assemble the complete God-Binding Disc all at once. It was uncertain if he could assemble it as a few of those components might even have been completely destroyed.

Therefore, four components were already beyond Merlin’s expectations.

“How many Adventure points would the four casting tools cost?”

Merlin asked immediately.

He was curious as to why not many Spell Casters were willing to purchase the renowned God-Binding Disc. Otherwise, these components would no longer be in Arcane City.

The Great Legends raised their head and eyed Merlin, then said calmly, “Each component of the God-Binding Disc requires five hundred Adventure points, so four components cost two thousand Adventure points in total!”

“What? Five hundred Adventure points?”

Merlin’s mouth fell wide open. Five hundred points in addition to five hundred more would make a thousand Adventure points. That was enough to exchange for a first-rate casting tool in Arcane City.

Merlin’s Aurora Ship, for example, specialized in speed. In truth, there were similar alchemy products in Arcane City, which merely required a little more than one thousand Adventure points.

Spell Casters with so many Adventure points would have purchased other first-rate casting tools. Who would waste their energy on four individual components?

The God-Binding Disc had a great reputation indeed but if it was just four components, they could not compare to other first-rate casting tools or alchemy products.

Moreover, these four components were damaged to different degrees and were not in perfect condition. With such defects, in addition to their costly price, it was natural that not many Wizards were willing to exchange for these four components of the God-Binding Disc.

Merlin was silent for a moment, then drew in a deep breath, and turned to leave right away.

These four components were costly indeed and were even “defective”, not worthy of such a huge sum of Adventure points at all. Merlin had only been in Arcane City for a few days but he already understood how difficult it was to obtain Adventure points. In general, each mission might take months or even years, and one would only receive a few dozen Adventure points in return.

This was to say nothing of Adventure points above hundreds and thousands. In the eyes of most Potential Wizards, this was a huge fortune.

Nonetheless, Merlin had secretly made up his mind to acquire the four casting components of the God-Binding Disc. When combined, the four components might not be formidable, and might not even compare to Merlin’s Aurora Ship, but Merlin also possessed three casting components that were very likely to be part of the God-Binding Disc.

With these three components, Merlin would have seven casting components of the God-Binding Disc. Although these seven parts might not form a complete God-Binding Disc, and would not have the full, mystical powers of the God-Binding Disc, they would surely surpass most first-rate casting tools. It was something only obtainable by sheer chance.

Therefore, Merlin was determined to get the four casting components of the God-Binding Disc in Arcane City!

“Oh, Adventure points. Without Adventure points, one’s cultivation in Arcane City would surely suffer a great blow.”

Merlin already understood the significance of Adventure points in Arcane City. The Mind Tower, the force field area, and so on, all required Adventure points to be used.

One must complete an adventure mission to gain Adventure points, which would only be awarded after the mission is completed.

Merlin was already familiar with many places in Arcane City. Of course, he knew about the Mission Tower too. The fat Wizard Arrot had previously introduced Merlin to most of the places in Arcane City, and the Mission Tower was one which Arrot had emphasized.

There was a considerable number of Spell Casters in Arcane City but because Arcane City was too big, it looked as if it was sparsely populated by Spell Casters. The only exception was the Mission Tower.

People came and went in the Mission Tower, and each day, there were many Spell Casters who went there. Among them, there were not just Spell Casters below the Seventh-level. Spell Casters above the Seventh-level and even Great Wizards were more common.

In Arcane City, anyone below the level of Legends could be considered a Potential Wizard, each of whom had a time limit of one thousand years in Arcane City.

Once those thousand years had passed, if one had not become a Great Legend, one would be sent by Arcane City to assist Great Legends in standing guard over other dimensions. After all, there were plenty of dimensions directly controlled by Arcane City, requiring the supervision of many powerful Wizards.

Of course, there were those who stood guard willingly. As long as a Potential Wizard had become a Great Wizard, they would usually be top-notch Great Wizards among the tens of thousands of dimensions. Great Wizards like these were able to voluntarily apply to guard the dimensions.

Moreover, based on how disorderly the dimension was, and how long one stood guard, Arcane City might give a great sum of Adventure points. This method was generally not very risky. One would just need to spend some time to obtain a lot of Adventure points.

Nevertheless, Merlin could not apply for missions like this as he was not a Great Wizard. He was not qualified at all to apply to guard dimensions, and could only take on other missions.

After stepping into the Mission Tower, Merlin glanced around casually. There were mostly difficult missions which would take a long time with only a few Adventure points as a reward such as capturing a foreign tribe.

Other than that, one could choose to enter the front lines and fight against foreign tribes directly. Missions of this sort were very hazardous, and even most Great Wizards would be at risk of dying.

If the resulting Adventure points were higher, Merlin would not mind the risk but these missions had comparatively fewer Adventure points. In comparison to the number of Adventure points Merlin would need to purchase the four components of God-Binding Disc, it was far too insufficient.

“There are many missions with over a thousand Adventure points, but those are far too dangerous for me. For instance, hunting down Great Wizards at their peak – I can’t possibly succeed…”

Merlin furrowed his brows tightly. After going around the Mission Tower for a long time, he still did not see any mission that was appropriate and would satisfy him.