“Phew…”

Merlin, who had been sleeping as dead as a log, let out a sigh as he opened his eyes. Although he had just woken after a long sleep, Merlin looked fully alert. He seemed more like a person who had just blinked their eyes momentarily.

/You are the first user to discover (7 hours ago) the new continent, Atlantis!/

/As the first discoverer, you’ve obtained 100,000 bonus EXP!/

“A hundred-thousand EXP… discovering new continents sure gives a lot of EXP.”

“What are you babbling about after waking up?”

As if something was still bothering her, Miho spoke in a sharp voice. Merlin just shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, nothing. Thank you for laying me on my bed.”

“Hmpf! I was just concerned that you’d drool on the sheets, so I flipped you over.”

When Miho turned her head after speaking, Merlin couldn’t help but smile at her cute reaction. However, Merlin spoke up about a different topic.

“Anyway, are we at our destination? I sense a lot of beings around us.”

Using Aura Vision, Merlin could sense many more auras than when he first stepped foot onto Moby Dick. Based on the sense he felt from the auras, Merlin figured that all the new passengers were from one party. He also sensed a considerable number of human auras in that party’s mix.

“Representatives of all power levels and groups will be present to receive the prophecy. I know most of the beings from the islands, but I’m not familiar with those on the main continent. It’s my first time seeing them as well.”

“Oh yeah?”

Merlin got up from his bed and put on his wide-brimmed hat and red mage robe. He flattened out the creases and wrinkles on his robe after imbuing it with magic. He looked like a traditional mage. If he had a wand or staff in his hand, the hallmark image would be complete, but Merlin was empty-handed.

‘It’s not like a staff will be of any use, right? It’ll just get in the way when I use my hand skills.’

With a staff, one could quickly release preset spells or expand one’s magic power, but Merlin didn’t feel that these benefits were necessary for him. He didn’t have any trouble casting spells in the first place.

“So, how far are we from that Holy Shrine place?”

“We’ll be arriving soon. Everyone that should board has boarded, so we’ll be making our way directly to our destination now.”

“Oh, right. You’ve mentioned powers and groups often. How many powers are there anyway? I already know of the six large islands since I’ve swum to each one of them.”

Merlin was referring to the Phantom Monster Magic Islands. There was Blue Forest Island, Creation Island with its extraterrestrial-like monsters that had mutated their life force, Heavenly Sky Island Icarus with its Avian species, Senior Remote Island with its spirit animals that trained in the Dao, Shura Island with its demon species, and Heavens Gate with its celestial species. Each of the six islands had their own ruling existence. Different from Dynamic Island where monsters spawned and waited for users in designated areas, each of these islands were populated with beings that freely lived their own lives.

“The main continent has three main ruling powers. There are the small people of the Iron Duchy, the humans of Idea Duchy, popularly known as Mech Nation, and the elves and fairies of Ertheia.”

“You said ‘main’, does that mean these three include some smaller powers in their societies?”

Miho nodded.

“The small-people species can be broken down into dwarves and gnomes. Then, there are the elves and fairies. As for humans… you called it martial arts, right? Anyway, humans really love fighting. They can be divided into the Jin, Rian, and Kael people. The human population is very large, and they occupy the most land. The entire human-ruled lands are larger than the lands of the midgets, elves, and fairies combined.”

“Then, how many teams are boarding this whale on this main continent?”

“One representative from the Iron Duchy, one representative from Ertheia, and three representatives from Idea Duchy, or Mech Nation.”

“Wow, it’s going to be bustling on top of this whale.”

The six islands, Aqualand, and the main continent’s five teams made it eleven teams, and since each team can bring two representatives, there would be twenty-two beings in total.

“Anyway, let’s get going. It’s time we meet up with the others.” said Miho, as she beckoned towards the door.

“Ah, just one moment.”

Merlin imbued internal energy into Shining, one of the two spirits that hovered around him. Recently, the spirits had been consuming a lot more internal energy. If he fed them at the same time, he’d have to expend nearly two-thirds of his single cycle of internal energy. It was burdensome for Merlin to feed them both at the same time.

Woong!

After feeding, Shining trembled and glowed a golden color. Soon, a text box appeared in front of Merlin.

/Your Wicalein Ring’s rank has risen to Rank 4!/

“Shining reached its max limit as well. Should I level up?”

Merlin was Level 6, which meant he could use items up to Rank 4. This also meant that his spirits couldn’t develop beyond Rank 4. Of course, Shining had just ranked up, so it would still take some time before it reached the next one. However, Younghwi had been sitting on Rank 4 for quite a while.

“The gold color has deepened. I guess it follows your attributes.”

“Huh? You can see it?”

It hadn’t been only a day or two since they met, so it was only natural that Miho could at least feel the presence of Merlin’s spirits, but Merlin was surprised that she could see them. Miho gave Merlin an incredulous look.

“Are you kidding me? It’s impossible to see spirits because they’re not physical beings, but any run-of-the-mill magic practitioner who knows even a little about spirits can sense spirit qi. Besides, I’m a Magic Eye practitioner. It’s often said that Enhanced Eyesight accepts and Magic Eye sends out, but that’s not all there is to them.”

What Miho said was right. It was possible to create a physical shockwave according to the way Enhanced Eyesight was used, and it was possible to read another being’s information or spiritual existence.

“Well, I guess I have been using Magic Eye in a very narrow range. Come to think of it, I utilize Enhanced Eyesight for many things, so I haven’t really had a need to use Magic Eye for the same purposes.”

Merlin’s eyes had three states they could enter. They were his standard black when nothing was happening, golden when his eyes were imbued by internal energy and went through his Golden Pill Immortal Technique, and red whenever he utilized Miho’s Magic Eye technique. In fact, if Merlin used Magic Eye and Enhanced Eyesight at the same time, there’d usually be a considerable lag time when switching between the two eyes. However, Merlin’s magic power and internal energy control ability reduced this lag time to less than a second. This meant he could switch between the two fairly easily if necessary.

“Anyway, let's head out.”

“Right.”

After double checking to see if he left anything behind, Merlin opened the door.

Creak!

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

Merlin met eyes with another being, a woman from the lodging directly in front of theirs. She wore a blue robe, had reddish blonde hair, was a little over a hundred-and-sixty centimeters in height, and carried a forty-centimeter long staff.

‘She’s a mage. She also seems to be a Seven Jewels School practitioner, no?’

Since he had reached a certain level in Enhanced Eyesight, Merlin was able to grasp the type and amount of magic she had with a single glance. Merlin also noticed that she had a blue jewel embedded on the back of her right hand. She gave Merlin a once-over before speaking.

“Hmm? That… you’re a jewel magic practitioner?”

“A jewel magic practitioner? Oh, well, yes.”

Merlin was momentarily confused by the unfamiliar term, but he soon nodded. There were no individuals better suited for the title of ‘jewel magic user’ than those in the Seven Jewel School, a magic school of thought that stored magic power in stones, and imbued natural-qi jewels with magic power to cast spells.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Nell Prona. I’m from Idea Duchy.”

“I’m Merlin. I’m from the Blue Forest Island in the Phantom Monster Magic Islands.”

Nell looked surprised.

“Huh? What do you mean Blue Forest Island? You look like a human being.”

“I’m friends with her, so I accompanied her here.”

Merlin pulled Miho in and stroked her head. Miho’s expression became cold. Though she didn’t seem to dislike being patted, as she didn’t cast off Merlin’s hand, she spoke in a slightly sullen tone.

“It’s almost time. We need to make our way to the front.”

“We’re already here?”

Merlin naturally used his Scanning Vision to look around. Moby Dick’s body, protected by a considerable amount of spirit-qi, could not be penetrated and looked into, but when Merlin operated Telescopic Vision, he could see the mountains far away beyond the nearby buildings.

“Oh, we’re still at the Nelson Mountains. It’s been a long time since I’ve met a fellow jewel magic practitioner. Would you mind if we walk together?”

“I don’t mind. We’re going the same way anyway.”

Merlin nodded and Nell smiled.

“One moment. Perrin!”

“I’ll be out soon!”

A weak voice came from inside Nell’s lodging. Then, with a thud, a girl dragging a large bag popped out.

“I’m ready… Eh! Who are you?!”

The girl who had just popped out from Nell’s lodging area had blonde hair that was clearer than Nell’s. Seeing Merlin, the girl lifted her staff in surprise. It was a posture taken before launching an attack, but she did not cast anything. She was a mage, but her level was extremely low. She wouldn’t be able to cast anything unless she took time to chant a spell for a long time.

Slap!

“Ack! Miss?!”

“Don’t point your staff anywhere! Your ability is not even up to scratch… What if you cause a fight? There are quite a few belligerent characters amongst the representatives who have been tasked with receiving the prophecy.”

“Don’t underestimate me! I completed Rank 1 last week! Besides, how am I supposed to know what the other representatives are thinking…”

“No, wait. You’ve reached Rank 1? You’ve completed 1 Star?” Merlin cut off Perrin’s words.

As an Enhanced Eyesight user, and a master of comprehension and analysis, Merlin could see her level as easily as looking down a mountain, so he couldn’t just allow her comment to pass by without asking. Moreover, the girl was also a Seven Jewels School practitioner.

Merlin peaked at Perrin’s right hand. It had a blue magic circle on it. It contained magic power, albeit a small amount, which allowed her to use spells. This type of magic circle was considered an advanced Magic Seal, but compared to jewels, the magic circle was the lowest of lows. In short, the girl hadn’t even entered the process of materializing magic power to make the lowest level magic stone.

“W-what? What’s with that look?” the young girl asked Merlin.

“Tsk, I can’t believe an ‘Unknown’ like you is saying she’s completed something,” Merlin replied.

“Unknown? What’s that?”

“What?”

Merlin was dumbfoundead. He couldn’t believe that a Seven Jewel School practitioner didn’t know about the state of ‘Unknown’. Merlin concluded that the magic system that the girl studied under must have been different from his own.

“Aren’t you part of the Seven Jewel School of magic?”

“What do you mean school… we’re just jewel magic practitioners. There aren’t even enough jewel magic practitioners to warrant a division into schools.”

“Huh… is that the situation here?”

Of course, even on Dynamic Island, there weren’t many schools of thought that involved crystallizing magic power and shaping it into a jewel. The number was perhaps only two or three in total. However, Dynamic Island’s schools of magic were named after the founders who established their respective systems, or the founders would give it a name of their choice. Just because one specialized in fire spells didn’t make one a fire magic practitioner, nor did specialization in casting ice-frost spells make one an ice magic practitioner. A name given to oneself based on specialty was just a nickname.

It wouldn’t make sense to think that a practitioner in a school of magic that specializes in fire spells doesn’t know anything about other schools of magic. There were even schools that specialized in the materialization of magic power into metal, instead of jewels, and using it like armor.