Chapter 377: Take Me With You
Although Hoffland Merlin had warned before leaving that today's events, if leaked, might displease Lord Ryan, the truth was that every one of the dozen elders in the Merlin Family had friends and relatives of their own.
No one wanted to see their friends or family accidentally offend Matthew Merlin. That was no joke—better not provoke that madman, who'd kill at the drop of a hat. Life is precious, after all. Not everyone has a father like Owen Merlin, who can go toe-to-toe with such a lunatic...
So overnight, many in the Merlin Family learned one thing: Matthew Merlin was not someone to mess with. Cross him, and misfortune was sure to follow.
As for why he shouldn't be provoked...
Only a dozen or so elders knew the real reason. What happened at the Elder Council today couldn't be spoken of. For the Merlin Family, it was nothing short of a scandal: over a dozen elders joining forces to steal a young member's assets, only to have three killed and one gravely wounded by that very youth. If word got out, the family's reputation would be ruined...
Of course, Leon knew none of this...
All Leon knew was that ever since the Elder Council, he'd become something of an outcast in the Merlin Family manor. Especially those elders who'd attended the council—whenever they saw him, their eyes were filled with fear and anxiety, as if he carried the plague...
Whenever Leon walked anywhere, there was a hundred-meter radius of emptiness—no one dared come close.
At this point, the only people in the Merlin Family who dared approach Leon were Ross Merlin, William Merlin, and the little girl Lana, adopted by William's sister.
Strangely enough, this little girl Lana had always been reclusive and withdrawn, barely interacting with anyone in the Merlin Family except William Merlin...
But after Leon spent more than ten days living in William Merlin’s sister’s house, the girl gradually warmed up to him. She no longer bolted away at the sight of him; sometimes she even dared to whisper a few words to Leon.
Leon was genuinely pleased by this change. As the possessor of the Eyes of Shifting Sands, Lana, in his eyes, had even more potential than Hubert, the Dragonblood Orc...
Still, considering Lana’s age, Leon didn’t rush her. Instead, he spent a few days teaching her a set of exercises meant for pure-blooded elves. Of course, when he explained it to Lana, he simply said it was a routine to help her grow taller and stronger if she practiced diligently...
Watching the little girl happily practice the routine, Leon couldn’t help but smile wryly. If the pure-blooded elves ever found out that the royal family's supreme exercise was being taught as a children’s morning workout, they’d probably leap out of their graves in outrage...
For the next month or so, Leon, left undisturbed, returned to his usual low profile, devoting his time to the Arcane Wheel and the Doombringer Staff...
At the previous Elder Council, Leon had fought Thorne Merlin, relying on three Essence Relics to hold his own as a first-rank mage against a near-fifth-rank Sword Saint. The power those three relics displayed left everyone stunned—especially the Arcane Wheel, which killed three elders in three bursts and left a psychological scar on all present. Some of the more timid elders now trembled just looking at their dinner plates...
But as far as Leon was concerned...
Neither the Arcane Wheel nor the Doombringer Staff had truly shown their full power yet...
Leon saw these two Essence Relics as destined to reach the peak of true spirit, perhaps even transcend it and become something extraordinary. Even if they hadn’t fully matured yet and their power was lacking, it shouldn’t be to this extent. The fact that three Essence Relics couldn’t completely suppress Thorne Merlin was, in itself, deeply abnormal...
Leon knew the reason: both the Arcane Wheel and the Doombringer Staff were only newly created, and he hadn’t fully mastered them yet.
The Arcane Wheel was in slightly better shape.
Thanks to Anderson acting as a bridge, the Arcane Wheel had already been merged with the Mana Harness, allowing Leon to wield countless spells at will.
The Doombringer Staff was less fortunate. Built from a pile of components, it had yet to develop a Relic Spirit. In battle, Leon had to operate it manually, and it hadn’t shown the kind of power an Essence Relic should possess.
So, Leon’s current goal was to help the Doombringer Staff develop its own Relic Spirit as soon as possible.
But getting an Essence Relic to develop a Relic Spirit is no simple matter. It requires not just resources and time, but more importantly, the right opportunity...
And the stronger the Essence Relic, the harder it is to create a Relic Spirit...
Still, Leon wasn’t worried...
Because Leon knew that, barring any surprises, there was an opportunity waiting for him in Auckland—a chance that would almost certainly allow the Doombringer Staff to develop its Relic Spirit...
But before that, he needed to reach the level of a fifth-rank Archmage at the very least...
Once Leon was sure of this, he stopped worrying about the two Essence Relics and devoted all his time to magic. After another month, thanks to his battle with Thorne Merlin, Leon finally broke through and became a second-rank Archmage.
Then, Leon started to feel that something was off...
After advancing to second-rank Archmage, Leon could clearly sense that the Mana Harness and Meditation Codex were becoming more tightly integrated—almost inseparable.
"Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the Turin Mountains soon..." This change was more than a little unexpected for Leon.
In Leon’s original plan, he was supposed to wait until he was close to fifth-rank Archmage before heading to the Turin Mountains to seek out the King of the Caucasus’s Meditation Codex. That way, his strength would have peaked, and once he found the codex, he could fuse three sets of Meditation Codices and break through to the fifth rank in one go.
But the Mana Harness was so powerful that it threw the whole plan into chaos...
It sounded almost ridiculous, but this was the absurd problem Leon now faced.
There was no helping it—Leon had ten Mana Harnesses, an unprecedented level of power. He’d done everything possible to keep the Meditation Codex from merging with the Mana Harness, but when he broke through to second-rank Archmage, a minor complication still arose...
Fortunately, that minor complication was still within Leon’s control.
But if he kept advancing to third or even fourth-rank Archmage, Leon couldn’t be sure what would happen...
If the Meditation Codex fully merged with the Mana Harness, then even if Leon acquired the King of the Caucasus’s Meditation Codex, he’d never be able to fuse three sets of codices into one...
That was the last thing Leon wanted to see...
For the next half month, Leon put aside magical cultivation and sought out Hoffland Merlin, asking for a pass to the Merlin Family’s alchemy lab. He began spending all his days there...
It was at this point that the true consequences of the Elder Council battle became clear...
Normally, the Merlin Family’s alchemy lab was open to all certified alchemists. Ross Merlin and William Merlin had both said that, under normal circumstances, dozens if not hundreds of alchemists would be working there, each minding their own business and conducting their research...
But as soon as Leon showed up...
The entire alchemy lab instantly emptied out.
The usual crowd of alchemists seemed to have made a pact—each one fled faster than the last. Within three days, there wasn’t a single other alchemist left in the lab.
"Am I really that scary...?" Seeing this, Leon couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time...
Oh well, at least with the lab cleared out, Leon could finally use some techniques that didn’t belong to this era...
Another half month passed. Leon practically lived in the alchemy lab, and no one had any idea what he was working on—because nobody dared to go in and watch.
It wasn’t until two weeks later, when Leon opened the lab doors and called in Ross Merlin and William Merlin to help carry out over a hundred bottles of potions, that they finally realized just how much wealth their cousin had burned through in the last half month...
"Call up Huban—we’re heading to the Turin Mountains." With that, Leon began his final preparations.
The most important task was to recharge the Death Tome...
To do this, Leon opened a Plane Path to the Bone Plane. With help from the Gilded Rose Mercenary Corps, he swept through the Black Wasteland, collecting vast amounts of Soul Fire and finally recharged the Death Tome to its peak.
But when Leon returned from the Bone Plane, he suddenly found that William Merlin’s sister’s house had one more person in it.
"Leon, I know you’re heading to the Turin Mountains..." Lyon Merlin stood there beaming, then said something that nearly made Leon cough up blood: "How about you take me along?"
...Leon racked his brain, but still couldn’t figure out when he’d gotten close enough to Lyon Merlin for this.
Sure, they’d had a meal together after the Elder Council, but that was it. How did this guy get the idea they were close enough for a joint trip to the Turin Mountains?
And how did he know Leon was heading to the Turin Mountains?