From Matthew Merlin's memories, it seems Mason, much like himself, comes from a merchant family. Mason's father, Monty, is the president of Twinmoon Trading Company, one of the Seven Merchant Guilds in Seaview City. In fact, if you really think about it, Twinmoon Trading Company holds even greater prestige than Goldspark Trading Company among the Seven Merchant Guilds. After all, Goldspark's rise only happened in the past decade, while Twinmoon boasts a history stretching back over a thousand years—its true power is far more than what it appears on the surface.
However, Goldspark Trading Company's meteoric rise over the last ten years was so overwhelming that it completely overshadowed Twinmoon, to the point where almost everyone now believes Goldspark is the leading guild in Seaview City.
It was a strange twist of fate that Mason and Matthew Merlin would both become mage apprentices, one after the other. The rivalry between the two great merchant guilds naturally led to plenty of busybodies comparing the two of them.
But that comparison came to an abrupt end a few months ago.
Because Mason advanced to the rank of mage.
Then, during a gathering of the Seven Merchant Guilds, Mason found an excuse to give Matthew Merlin a harsh lesson—just as he’d described earlier, he beat him so badly that his nose bled. The incident left Goldspark and Twinmoon Trading Companies at odds, and if Roger Merlin hadn’t been shipwrecked soon after, who knows how ugly things might have gotten.
For Matthew Merlin, it was certainly not a pleasant memory—one could even call it humiliating. But for Leon, who had witnessed the end of the world firsthand, it was hardly worth his attention. The rivalry between a ninth-level mage apprentice and a first-level mage who barely advanced thanks to alchemical potions? It was nothing more than child's play.
So Leon didn’t even bother to look up—he simply nodded to show he understood, then turned away from the desk and walked over to his rows of bookshelves, focusing intently on his search.
Soon enough, Leon found what he was looking for: a hefty tome titled "Northend General History." He reached for it on the shelf and began flipping through its pages, one by one, slowly and carefully.
Leon was so absorbed in his reading that he didn’t even notice when Mason reappeared out of nowhere.
"Tsk tsk tsk, let me see what you’ve got there—Northend General History? No way, is it really Northend General History? Hahaha! I swear, Merlin, the world of mage apprentices is just impossible to understand..." Mason’s laughter was exaggerated as he spoke. "How much did your Merlin family spend to get you in here this time? And you’re not even making good use of the opportunity! This is the Sage’s Spire Library, you know—even if you don’t understand a single book here, you could at least broaden your horizons. But instead, you pick up some children’s book and pretend to look profound. Tsk tsk, Northend General History... If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to even show the cover..."
"By the way, I forgot to ask—didn’t they say Goldspark Trading Company went bankrupt? How did your family still have money to get you in here? Let me give you some advice: if you have any cash, you’d better pay off your debts. I heard your uncle Felix was just at your house a few days ago with a contract, demanding payment, right? So, how about it—want me to ask my father to lend you some money to get rid of him?"
At first, Leon had no intention of responding, but Mason kept on chattering, growing more and more animated, clearly unwilling to let Leon off the hook. Eventually, Leon furrowed his brow for the third time.
"Administrator." Leon’s voice wasn’t loud, but in the quiet of the library, it sounded unusually abrupt. Several mages looked up from their reading, some curious, some annoyed. The library administrator—a ninth-level mage in his thirties—slowly walked over from the entrance.
"What is it?" The ninth-level mage’s tone was clearly impatient. Mages who choose to work as library administrators usually do so for the peace and quiet, a chance to ponder their own questions undisturbed. Now, being interrupted by a couple of twenty-something kids—well, it’s no wonder his attitude was less than friendly.
"I’d like to file a complaint against Mage Mason. His excessive need to chat is interfering with my reading. I hope the library can move him farther away from me."
"Mage Mason, is that true?" Whatever the reason, disturbing others’ reading is strictly forbidden in the Sage’s Spire Library. The ninth-level mage looked at Mason, his gaze growing stern.
"N-no, that’s not it!" Mason was instantly startled. Getting into the Sage’s Spire Library had cost his father a small fortune—if he got kicked out for talking too much, it would be a huge injustice.
No, he needed to come up with an excuse—fast.
To be fair, Mason was pretty quick-witted. His gaze flickered to Leon, and he immediately had an idea. His voice steadied, his expression grew calm, and he shifted the blame: "I just suspected he got into the library through improper means and wanted to question him about it."
"Oh?"
"He doesn't even belong here. His name is Matthew Merlin, son of Roger Merlin from Goldspark Trading Company—a ninth-level mage apprentice. If I remember correctly, you need to be at least a first-level mage to enter the Sage’s Spire Library."
The moment Mason said this, even the ninth-level mage was taken aback. His gaze immediately shifted to Leon. "Mr. Matthew Merlin, may I see your pass?"
He used 'Mr.' instead of 'Mage,' which showed Mason's words had made an impact.
Unfortunately, that impact vanished the moment Leon handed over his pass.
The ninth-level mage took the pass, pausing for a moment before his face flashed with shock. He quickly masked his reaction, but when he spoke again, everyone could hear the respect in his voice.
"My apologies, Mage Matthew Merlin. I will handle this matter appropriately and make sure you are satisfied with the outcome."
With that, he respectfully returned the unusually 'hot' pass with both hands.
Was he kidding? The highest-level pass, issued just two days ago—everyone in Sage’s Spire knew that the Triumvirate had signed off on a top-level pass in the middle of the night. If anything happened to its holder in the library, he’d be the first to suffer the consequences.
"It’s nothing," Leon replied, nodding as he slipped the pass back into his pocket and picked up Northend General History again.
"Mage Mason, please come with me." On the other side, the ninth-level mage’s face was so dark it was frightening. Though his words sounded polite, his chilling tone sent shivers down Mason’s spine.
No wonder the ninth-level mage was so resentful toward Mason—he’d really been dragged into a mess by this idiot. Why couldn’t he just read his books quietly in the library? Instead, he had to stir up trouble, and with someone important enough to alarm the Triumvirate, no less. If you want to get yourself killed, just say so—why drag me down with you?
"I... I really was just suspicious of him..."
Mason tried to defend himself as the ninth-level mage led him away, but no one cared to listen anymore...
By the time the two of them left the library, Leon had already read through most of Northend General History.
"Just like that, three thousand years have passed."
Leon slowly closed Northend General History. There was no need to read further—if he was right, this should be just after the fall of the Third Dynasty, the dawn of the Plane Colonization Era. Humanity was just beginning to expand into other planes, and Northend’s complete destruction was still about thirty thousand years away.
It was truly the beginning of a great era...
The glory of Northend’s magical civilization began with the Plane Colonization Era.
Endless resources poured into Northend through plane colonization, fueling an explosive growth in magical civilization. The power and ambition of mages swelled along with it, overturning magical systems time and again, pushing magical civilization to heights previously unimaginable.
Until Northend’s magic was exhausted, and mages who fancied themselves gods fell from the clouds to the dust—its once-glorious magical civilization faded, and in the end, the entire world was buried beneath endless fire and darkness.
Of course, none of that has happened yet...
Leon put Northend General History back on the shelf and picked up a copy of the Kidd Formula.
Just from this copy of the Kidd Formula, it was clear how extensive the Sage’s Spire Library collection really was. Leon had seen a version of this formula in that decaying library before—back when it was the last spark of magical civilization. Any book kept there, even if left in a corner, was a treasure among treasures.
Of course, there were still major differences between the two versions of the Kidd Formula.
That was only natural—the version Leon had seen before had been perfected over countless years by generations of mages, refined to near perfection.
The one he held now was, at best, a rough draft...
But for Leon, whether it was a rough draft or not hardly mattered. Even if the perfected Kidd Formula was placed before him, it would just be another review. What he truly wanted was to use this version to judge the level of magical knowledge in this era. Only then could Leon truly understand the age he was in.
One book—Northend General History—just isn’t enough...
Sure, Leon could deduce that this was just after the fall of the Third Dynasty, right as the Plane Colonization Era was beginning. But honestly, that’s about all he knew about this age.
There’s no helping it—the apocalypse left plenty of useful things behind, but history definitely wasn’t one of them. In a world where you didn’t know if you’d survive tomorrow, who had the energy to record what happened yesterday? In fact, by the time magic had been depleted for about a hundred years, Northend’s history was completely lost. All Leon knew were a few major events passed down by word of mouth. As for anything more detailed, in Leon’s own words:
"All the honest historians are long dead..."
Leon sighed and focused his attention on the Kidd Formula.