CH 120

*** New Continent ***

Whoosh.

A blue magic circle rose in the air and spun around before taking the form of a sphere. It was a strange sight to behold, but unlike the monsters on Dynamic Island, the monsters living under the Noise Belt couldn’t see this magic sphere. However, since the energy projected by the sphere couldn’t be hidden, they could still feel the place shake.

Bam!

The rotating magic sphere filled with blue light and took the shape of a water droplet before disappearing. In its place stood a user. He wore a red, brimmed mage hat and robe, and looked to be in his late teens. It was Merlin.

“Wow! It’s only been a day, but it feels like I haven’t been here in a while.”

Merlin smiled as he looked at the vast emerald colored sea, surrounded by a densely forested island. Though the island was filled with dangerous monsters and was absent of users, for Yongno, it gave him a sense of comfort, like it was his hometown.

Woong.

Once Merlin touched down on the ground, another magic circle appeared beside him. It too rose into the air and transformed into a sphere. The only difference this time was that the sphere only had a diameter of about one meter. Soon, a red eagle popped out of the sphere. It was Quiet Heaven.

“Hey, what the hell was that earlier?!”

As soon as Quiet Heaven appeared, it made a fuss and questioned Merlin. It recalled the unimaginable output of magic power that Merlin had unleashed in Dynamic Island before the server closed. Mahashah, the queen of the forest, had destroyed the Guardian Tower and was about to get ahold of the Guardian Stone within. In that moment of crisis, Merlin had pulled out a large, red-colored gem; a ruby.

“My ultimate.”

“Wait, that level of power goes way beyond what you should be capable of.”

Merlin placed the ruby on his tongue and swallowed it. His equipment changed to a full Mithril set, a set that Quiet Heaven had seen often, playing alongside Merlin. This was the identity of the fiery Mithril armor user who appeared at the end of the battle.

The jewel Merlin had swallowed contained dozens of times more magic power than his maximum capacity. In fact, the output power Merlin had exhibited was many times greater than the power he swallowed. Surprisingly, he had managed to control this overwhelming power without any problems. This was an unbelievable achievement, as it was enough to push back against the great mage Mahashah; a transcendent. Of course, that didn’t mean that his attack had damaged her, but even merely being able to push her away against her will meant that the power of Merlin’s attack was substantial.

“Refinement.”

“Refinement?”

“What I usually do… uhm… how should I explain this. You know what this is, right?”

Merlin pointed towards the Sapphire that was fixed on the back of his right hand.

“Of course, I know what that is. It’s the Seven Jewel School’s magic stone.”

“Right. Now look at this…”

Merlin reached inside his robe and placed his hand in a dark space to access his inventory. He took out two jewels, a yellow-colored Topaz and a green-colored Emerald. Both were thick and pure jewels that appeared invaluable.

“They’re not normal jewels. They’re also magic stones?”

“Yeah. These jewels are actually closer to what are known as normal magic stones. They’re top-quality, but the production process makes them unstable, so it’s impossible to use them as mana tanks.”

“They’re unstable, but you were still able to draw out so much force from them?”

Merlin’s face lit up in response to Quiet Heaven’s question. It seemed that he had been waiting to share this information with somebody.

“You might think that’s what I did, but that’s not quite the case. That instability is actually where the explosive force comes from.”

“The force comes from the magic stone’s instability…”

Quiet Heaven couldn’t understand what Merlin was saying. Wasn’t magic the act of creating explosive force through a specific, calculative technique and process? Merlin continued on.

“You know that I’m using the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and the Seven Jewel School of Magic, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then look closely.”

With his palms facing each other, Merlin raised his arms.

“Do you know what happens when you combine internal energy and magic power?”

“They repel against each other. In some cases, they can even cancel each other out.”

Quiet Heaven had trained in a branch of magic that dealt with creating harmonious connections; thus, just like how a practitioner of one discipline of martial arts would have a general idea and knowledge of most other martial art fields, Quiet Heaven possessed a considerable amount of knowledge about other magic fields and properties.

“Right. I heard from somewhere that combining magic power and divine power creates a tremendous repelling force, but since I’m not knowledgeable in divine power, I decided to use internal energy instead. Also, if the repelling force is too large, I might not be able to control it.”

While he spoke, Merlin started collecting internal energy in his left palm and magic power in his right palm. He did this as if it was normal, but Quiet Heaven let out a small cry.

‘He can control internal energy and magic power at the same time!’

Of course, magic-wielding swordsmen were able to use both internal energy and magic power, so the ability to use these two spiritual powers wasn’t that abnormal on its own, but those who wielded these two powers used them individually, at set intervals, not at the same time. Drawing a circle with one hand and then a star with the other hand wasn’t that difficult, but drawing both at the same time was. Similarly, many complications arose when one tried to use both internal energy and magic power simultaneously.

‘Not only that, he’s able to materialize the two energies into physical forms…’

Quiet Heaven could clearly see the physical forms of the two powers in each of Merlin’s hands. Even though the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and Seven Jewels School specialized in controlling magic power and creating physical forms from the magic power’s mana, physically materializing both powers at the same time was outrageously difficult. It would be like writing a paper with one hand while drawing a precise drawing with the other.

“You probably already know this, but it’s impossible to utilize the repulsion force by just combining magic power and internal energy. At the moment when the repulsion happens, one loses control. However, thanks to the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and Seven Jewels School’s method of materializing physical forms, I can stabilize the repulsion process. I can even control the direction of the repulsion! For example…”

Crackle.

As if making a prayer, Merlin momentarily placed both of his hands together and then separated them. A small rock-like crystal formed between his palms, like a mass of liquid that was instantly frozen. The magic power and internal energy in his hands had undergone a crystallization process.

Bam!

However, soon after it was created, the crystal exploded. Merlin’s hands were protected by his circulation of internal energy. However, based on the very small amount of internal energy and magic power that were used to create the crystal, the subsequent explosion was much more powerful than what one would have expected.

“The explosion was thanks to that process. It’s a repulsion force, but it doesn’t just scatter in all directions like a normal explosion. Of course, what I showed you is just the basics. If I put some effort into creating a more complex magic system, I could create a repulsion force that possesses fiery heat, or even one that is icy cold. Based on the process, I can imbue the repulsion force with different characteristics.”

After stating this, Merlin took out the Topaz and grazed his finger against it, causing a spark to fly off. The magic power within the jewel had reacted with Merlin’s internal energy.

“So, you carried around that jewel for several months and placed magic power within it whenever you could so that you could pull off that magic spell?”

Quiet Heaven’s question was sensible, but Merlin shook his head.

“None of my magic power is used in the phenomenon created by the jewels. The jewels’ output force is generated purely from the reaction of the magic power and internal energy.”

“Then why did you imbue magic power and internal energy into the jewels over the last few months?”

“That was to meet the necessary minimum amounts of power and energy needed to stabilize and start the repulsion process.”

The minimum amounts were ten Tetra of magic power and five years of internal energy. In theory, with this amount of magic power and internal energy, one would be able to make a magic stone. However, to maintain stability when the two jewels’ powers were forced together, a larger amount of internal energy and magic power was needed. This was why Merlin had spent so much time recharging the jewels.

“Is there any way to reduce the amounts needed to maintain stability? If you could find a way, it would cut down on your production time.”

“That would be nice, but unfortunately, that’s not possible.”

“Hmm. You’re giving up so easily.”

“Of course. Why anguish over something that can’t be done?”

Merlin’s matter-of-fact statement made Quiet Heaven feel awkward. Quiet Heaven was taken aback by Merlin’s resignation, as it had seen Merlin do so many other ridiculous things so easily during their time together.

‘Well, if this guy of all people says it’s not possible, it probably isn’t.’

It was already astonishing that Merlin could output great mage-level power with his relatively low magic power capacity and level, and it was unimaginable that he had somehow successfully executed the jewel magic, so expecting anything more would be illogical.

“Eh? It’s Merlin. Hey, long time no see.”

A red-skinned being with horns popped its head above the treeline. It was a goblin that Merlin knew well.

“Hello, mister. Are you gathering items?”

“Yeah. I’m planning on distilling and making some alcohol. I haven’t had time to drink ever since training started. You want some?”

“No, thanks. I’m not a fan of alcohol.”

When Merlin shook his head to say no, the goblin, who was picking fruit from a tree and putting it in a basket, clicked his tongue regretfully, but made a facial expression that expressed relief.

“Tsk. You don’t know the small joys of life. Ah, come to think of it, I think Miho has been looking for you since yesterday.”

“Eh? She’s looking for me?”

“Yeah. By the way, what have you been up to? Miho turned over the whole island looking for you.”

“Ugh.”

Merlin smacked his head. He remembered telling Miho that he’d be back in three days at the latest. However, there was nothing he could do. Who could have ever expected Sungmuk, a Freedom-Class monster, and Mahashah, the queen of the forest, would suddenly appear, face off against thousands of users, and break the Guardian Tower?

“Miho… should be at the cave, right?” Merlin muttered to himself. He used a lightness movement skill to move around. Miho lived in a crystal cave a bit away from the fox village. Though Miho wasn’t an old monster, she was still considered skilled amongst the fox monsters. Moreover, as a descendant of the red monster, who was talented in using eye-related magic, she possessed the qualifications to make and live in her own place.

“Let’s see, is Miho home… oh, she is.”

Using Enhanced Eyesight, Merlin was able to scan the crystal cave and recognize Miho’s aura. Of course, using Enhanced Eyesight to scan for spiritual presence wasn’t foolproof, as anyone could hide their aura. However, Miho had no reason to hide her aura, so Merlin was able to find her easily. He approached the crystal cave.

“Hey, Miho!”

When Merlin entered the crystal cave, he waved his hand. Of course, this action by itself meant little. Miho had set down various magic mechanisms around the cave, so if anyone entered, she’d feel their presence immediately and know exactly who or what they were. Thus, Merlin’s waving of his hand was just a good-natured greeting rather than an announcement of his presence. But the problem was…

Grr…

“Huh?”

A strong monster power rushed out towards Merlin. Though he recognized that it was Miho’s monster power, Merlin couldn’t help but be surprised by the sheer amount of monster power barrelling towards him. Moreover it had a fiery and active nature to it. It seemed to be imbued with strong emotion. As was his habit, Merlin used Enhanced Eyesight to interpret the pattern of the monster power’s spiritual qi.

“Let’s see now… this aura is filled with emotions of… anger, hatred, worry, and… retribution?”

As Merlin started to consider what was going on, Mi-ho's eyes, which had been closed and still, burst open as she let out a thunderous roar.

Merlin wondered why Miho’s monster power was flowing with so much ferocity, especially since there were no enemies nearby. As he wondered this, Miho screamed out.

“You! You…! You said you’d be back within three days!!”

“Eh?”

In an instant, a huge fox-fire spread out like a tidal wave and hit Merlin. Younghwi and Shining, the spirits who always hovered around his body, moved in front of him and transformed into shields, but they couldn’t withstand the fox-fire flame’s pressure.

Boom!

“Ack! What the heck?!”

Merlin was struck by the unexpected attack, causing him to collapse. He curled up, but surprisingly, his surroundings were not very hot. It seemed that the fox-fire attack had been unleashed without its usual heat property.

“You!”

Soon, Miho climbed atop Merlin’s body. Miho, a fox with six tails, whose golden eyes were burning fiercely, glared at Merlin while exuding a strong amount of monster power. It seemed she was upset that he was late.

“Ah, sorry. Sorry. Something unexpected and unavoidable came up.”

“Still, thirty hours late? We’re leaving tomorrow morning! Do you know how nervous I was?”

“Huh? Thirty hours… not ten days?”

Merlin was surprised at what Miho said. Since the server was closed for twenty-four hours in reality, twelve days should have passed in DIO. Why did Miho say that he was only thirty hours late?”

‘Ah, right. The servers went down.’

Merlin suddenly understood. Since the entire world of DIO had stopped operating when the server went down, the twelve-times time differential was a moot point. Even though this island was not part of Dynamic Island, it was still subject to the wider rules of the game.