Chapter 169 What is Demon Ability?

"Demon Ability, Glacial Finger!"

Merlin was overwhelmed with emotions when he saw the large words written in Molta language in the book. It was as if these golden words had become "alive".

"What is Demon Ability? Is it a sort of spell?"

Merlin frowned. He had no idea what Demon Ability was. He had not heard of this term before even in the Dark Magic Region.

Right when Merlin wanted to continue reading the next page, the sounds of horses rang before him. Following that, a black wave of people arrived before Merlin. It was Old Wilson and his heavy armored knights.

"Merlin, what's wrong?"

Old Wilson approached Merlin quickly and glanced at him.

Merlin kept the book and shook his head slightly. "Father, I'm alright. Oh right, how are Count Selin and the others?"

Old Wilson glanced at the bodies on the ground. He knew that these bodies were all powerful Spell Casters when they were alive, but they were all killed by Merlin. He was rather shocked by this scene. He did not know how strong Merlin truly was now.

"Count Selin is commanding the army to chase after the defeated army of Lebis City. Moreover, it seems that he wants to take advantage of this opportunity to take Lebis City under his control."

Old Wilson glimpsed at the soldiers who were still indulging in killing far away from them. His thoughts about Count Selin were not far off from the reality.

This time, Longardi had truly given his all since he had gathered all soldiers and brought them here. After this defeat, there would only be a small number of soldiers who could make it back alive to Lebis City. They had no chance of defending against Count Selin's army at all.

However, Merlin did not need to concern himself with this matter. He only needed to solve the danger of Prakash City and leave the rest to Count Selin.

"Father, let's go. Count Selin will deal with the rest."

Thereafter, Merlin rode his horse and slowly returned to Prakash City.

…

After the battle, Prakash City appeared to be bustling with activities. Many had received news that the army of Lebis City had suffered an unsightly defeat, so countless people were cheering in excitement.

Even Merlin had noticed the sincere smiles on many servants in Wilson Castle.

After he returned to his room, he instructed his servants to not let anyone disturb him. Then, he took out the strange book that he found in Wizard Heghar's ring.

Merlin had already read the first page. It was his first time hearing about Demon Ability. He had no idea what that was, so he proceeded to read the second page.

The second page wrote about a detailed explanation of Demon Ability, thus Merlin read the text carefully.

"Demon Ability, or Pandora Demon Ability, is a strange power manifested from the combination of many techniques such as spells, alchemy, runology, potions, and such!"

"Glacial Finger is one of the Ice-type Demon Abilities. The conditions to cultivate it include – one must construct First-level spell, Frigid Ice, and possess hundred years' ice bone marrow of strange creature!"

Merlin read the book attentively. The effect of Pandora Demon Ability was not outlined in detail in this book except for an introduction of Glacial Finger. Once one had cultivated it, one could possess a powerful freezing skill.

However, the book did not explain how powerful this freezing skill would be. In Merlin's opinion, the freezing effect would be significant.

There were two stages to cultivate Glacial Finger. Firstly, he needed a First-level spell, Frigid Ice and hundred years' ice bone marrow. Meanwhile, the second stage was more complicated and difficult than the first stage. He would need a Fourth-level spell and thousand years' ice essence.

However, Merlin had not heard of either hundred years' ice bone marrow or thousand years' ice essence before.

On the other hand, the First-level spell needed in the first stage of Glacial Finger was Frigid Ice that Merlin wanted to construct as well. Since his Mind Power was still insufficient, he still could not construct it.

Merlin closed his eyes slightly and rearranged the information in his head. The strange Pandora Demon Ability, Glacial Finger he obtained from Heghar would be a powerful addition. Since Merlin was also preparing to construct Frigid Ice, he would not mind cultivating Glacial Finger if he got hold of hundred years' ice bone marrow.

Following that, Merlin closed his eyes completely and began meditating.

…

After a month, Count Selin had led his army and successfully taken down Lebis City. Instantly, Count Selin's influence had doubled. Now, the entire Prakash City was an extremely powerful small-scaled city-state.

After Count Selin achieved his objective, he did not forget his promise to Merlin. Thus, he announced publicly to promote Merlin from baron to viscount and to appoint Old Wilson to a baron.

It was extremely rare to have two aristocrats in a family in Prakash City. After all, noble titles were inherited throughout the family. The fact that the Wilson family had two aristocrats symbolized that the Wilson family was flourishing.

A year ago, the Wilson family was only settlers from a faraway land but now they had become an influential family in Prakash City.

Meanwhile, Merlin stayed in Wilson Castle all the while. When he had time during the day, he would accompany Avril and Charise, while at night, he made the best use of his time to make potions.

The potion Merlin wanted to make was Phantasmal Magic Potion, which required extremely precious materials. The potion materials he had gotten from the silver-haired old man were only enough to make two Phantasmal Magic Potions. Moreover, there was a huge chance that he might fail in making the potion, so Merlin did not try his luck back in the Dark Magic Region. He was afraid that he might use up all potion materials and it would be difficult to find the materials again.

After he left the Dark Magic Region, Merlin realized how scarce the resources were out here. It was even difficult to find some of the most common potion materials, not to mention such precious materials for Phantasmal Magic Potion.

Due to this reason, unsurprisingly, many Spell Casters preferred to stay in deserted areas. The most important reason was probably due to a lack of potion materials out here, to the extent that they could not support the daily cultivation of a Spell Caster.

Merlin planned to make Phantasmal Magic Potion to enhance the strength of his Mind Power. Even if he failed in making it, he could still make some Blueberry Potion. In Wizard Vyksa's ring, there were still some potion materials left to make Blueberry Potion.

It was extremely quick to increase his Mind Power by using a potion. The increment of Mind Power was also much more than the increment of spending long hours in meditation.

"Begin the process of Phantasmal Magic Potion!"

Merlin instructed the Matrix to prepare the potion. He had already gotten used to preparing potions by now but he did not have much confidence in preparing Phantasmal Magic Potion.

One hour, two hours…

Soon, Merlin prepared Phantasmal Magic Potion according to the instructions given by the Matrix. Unfortunately, he failed in preparing the potion after verification by the Matrix.

What was left now was the last portion of potion materials. Nevertheless, Merlin was determined to make the potion. In the Dark Magic Region, he had made about five Phantasmal Magic Potions, but only the final potion worked.

Thus, Merlin could not be sure that he could make it successfully with the last portion of potion materials.

After a few hours, Merlin continued the preparation of Phantasmal Magic Potion. This time, the potion was deemed qualified by the Matrix. 

"I finally made it!"

Merlin was overwhelmed with elation as he was successful the second time. A large part of his success was due to luck since Merlin could not ensure he would succeed when he made the potion for the second time.

Merlin did not take Phantasmal Magic Potion directly. Instead, he began to make Blueberry Potion.

It was relatively easier to make Blueberry Potion. He had obtained the formula from the cloaked man, Wizard Vyksa. Vyksa's Mind Power was strong mainly because of Blueberry Potion.

Hence, Merlin wanted to make Blueberry Potion and take it with Phantasmal Magic Potion to increase his Mind Power as quickly as possible. He planned to construct another First-level spell in the shortest amount of time.

Although the making of Blueberry Potion was relatively easier than that of Phantasmal Magic Potion, Merlin was defeated by its success rate. He had made a handful of Blueberry Potions continuously but only three were successful.

Without potion materials, Merlin could not make more, so he stopped. Soon, Merlin was ready to take the potion and observe how far his Mind Power could improve.

Back when Merlin first consumed Phantasmal Magic Potion, his Mind Power actually improved by thirty percent.

Then, Merlin rested for a long while. When his Mind Power had resumed to its peak, he consumed Phantasmal Magic Potion. Instantly, there seemed to be a warm sensation which quickly expanded in his head, which made it extremely unbearable for him. 

The sensation he felt this time was the same as the last time he took Phantasmal Magic Potion. Fortunately, Merlin's Mind Power was strong enough to endure the suffering.

After some time, the sensation in Merlin's head slowly cleared up while his Mind Power had improved significantly. From his initial estimation, his Mind Power had at least increased by twenty percent, albeit not as exaggerated as thirty percent during the last round. 

Increasing Mind Power by twenty percent in just a few hours was much quicker than the speed of meditation. However, he had to pay a great cost for this as well. If he had not been successful in making the potion, he would have wasted countless potion materials. He would need a lot of contribution points to exchange for the potion materials at the Resource Tower.

Although the potion could increase his Mind Power rapidly, it was simply unrealistic to rely solely on a potion.

Merlin did not stop here. After taking Phantasmal Magic Potion, he continued to take Blueberry Potion.

The effect of Blueberry Potion was slightly worse than that of Phantasmal Magic Potion but the total effect of three Blueberry Potions combined was comparable to that of Phantasmal Magic Potion.

Both Phantasmal Magic Potion and Blueberry Potions had increased Merlin's Mind Power by half. Now, Merlin felt that he could construct another First-level spell.

"It's time to decide which spell to construct now."

Merlin focused his attention on this matter and started looking at the First-level spells that he kept in his ring. Since he did not have much Mind Power, he could only choose the spell that could assist him the most.