“So, it works. I thought the paper for the painting felt a little different, and now it turns out that it’s a material that can readily absorb magic power.”

Characters weren’t the only structure that could contain ‘meaning.’ If a concept was well defined in an image, then that image could also act as a magic circle. Similar to how it was a school of study, magic was also an art. Magic divination and spells weren’t all based on rigorous logic and theory; magic existed in a plethora of varying forms.

“Alright, with these two items, I’m prepared for combat. If they’re not enough, I can always use my hand skills instead.”

After meditating for a moment to regain his magic power, Merlin entered the [Joint Warfare] testing area with his two long swords in hand. One of the swords was the one that was infused with the fire-related spell, and the other had the ice image imprinted on it.

“Oh! Another user is here!”

“Yay! How long have we waited for another player?”

“Oh, it’s a human! A human!”

“…?”

Surprised by the commotion, Merlin looked around the large waiting room to see three users. Among the three was a man who carried a two-meter-long pole.

“Would you like to join our party?”

“Oh, yeah. It looks like there aren’t many people here.”

“It seems that everyone has already finished their tests. Most people passed the Level 3 test a long time ago; only users who went through a reset seem to be passing by these parts.”

“That makes sense.”

Since the beta testing was running with a finite number of hand-picked players, it appeared that the users’ average level was quite high. While only a short amount of time had passed and few players had reached the upper levels of DIO, at the very least, the vast majority were at a certain level within the game.

“Let’s do a 4-person party. My name is Kang Sukhyun, and my ID is Sukhyun. I’m a practitioner of the Blue Star school of study’s Divine Barrier Pole, so I’m specialized in close combat. Pole-based martial arts are defensive in nature, so I usually serve as a tank.”

“I’m Kaire, an aura user. My role… I guess I can be considered a damage dealer.”

“My name is Jin. I’m a pure spiritual power user. I usually play the role of healer and general supporter, but I’m also suited for individual combat.”

The three players took turns introducing themselves. Although Merlin found this a bit awkward, he knew when it was his turn to speak up.

“My name is Merlin. I specialize in internal energy and magic power; I usually do close combat. I guess I’m a… damage dealer?”

Despite Merlin’s unsure tone, the others just nodded and prepared for battle. They weren’t soldiers who needed to understand their fellow compatriots, so it wasn’t necessary to grasp the details of anyone’s background. Additionally, in the lower levels, most users didn’t hone in on a specific concept, nor did they have a fixed role, so players generally cooperated and made up for others’ weaknesses while fighting together. The introductions mainly served to define each user’s role, either as an attacker, defender, or supporter.

“It would be nice if we had a magic power specialist, but our party composition doesn’t seem too bad. It’s arduous if the entire party is made up of the same type of players, no matter if it’s mages, warriors, or divine-based users.”

Then, the party went through the test door and found themselves in a circular ring that had wooden flooring. They were surrounded by raised seats, presumably for an audience; it looked like they were in some type of colosseum. 

“It’s a run-of-the-mill arena layout. Well, I guess this is better than fighting near an active volcano.”

Sukhyun firmly gripped his metal pole as he scanned his surroundings. The pole was made of reinforced iron and weighed more than ten kilograms, so while Sukhyun’s weapon could be classified as a semi-heavy weapon, he carried it around with moderate ease and control nonetheless. He was an experienced gamer who had already reset his character three times. 

“It’s coming.”

A magic circle appeared in front of the party and soon revealed the outline of a shadowy figure. Most monsters instantly attacked when they materialized inside the magic circle, but this monster had a dark aura and stayed in a relatively low, crouching position.

Sss.

Killing intent slowly began to emanate outward. The monster’s sinister, heavy aura had a demonic quality to it. This oppressive aura would have suffocated and terrified average users, but the monster had unfortunately met a bunch of abnormal opponents. These users had eliminated monsters by the thousands or tens of thousands to gain titles and experience. Struggling and fighting had become a way of life for these players. As such, rather than cry out in fear, they were eager to clash against their foe.

“Yes! A demonic species! You’re so dead!”

The happiest member of the party was the divine power user, the priest, Jin. He had already taken out two short swords and was wielding them in both hands. The swords didn’t have any noticeable details on them, but they were both holy swords that possessed divine power.

Bam!

Suddenly, the crouched demon uncoiled and sprung forward like an unraveling coil as it leaped towards the party, quickly clashing with Sukhyun’s refined iron pole. Though Sukhyun was pushed back around ten meters from the overwhelming force, his stance did not falter. When the demon paused for a brief moment, Jin shot a beam of light at the monster, and it was hit squarely on the head.

Screech!

For a demon, a priest was their worst enemy. Demons were beings that lived in chaos and darkness, and priests relied on greater power from divine sources. Thus, a priest was their natural poison.

Bam!

Though the demon attacked Jin ferociously, Kaires swiftly evoked a formless aura from his body and attacked the demon. The aura attack struck the demon’s skull, and soon, the other party members felt a gust of hot wind fill their surroundings.

“Fire-attribute aura?”

“I haven’t completed it, though.”

As Kaires spoke in a deadpan manner, Merlin passed him and rushed toward the demon while wielding his two swords. Of course, his swordsmanship skills were nothing to write home about. After all, he specialized in hand skills, not swordsmanship. However, Merlin had already learned how to read his enemy’s attacks and comprehend the general state of the battle. Furthermore, his hand skills had reached rank 1, so he was gradually becoming an expert martial artist. With this experience, swinging a sword wasn’t too challenging for him to pick up.

Clang!

Yet, his enemy was a demon. Of course, the demon was the weakest member of the demon species, but it was still a monster that out-leveled the party members. It wouldn’t be easily defeated by an attack from a rank 9- no, a rank 8 weapon.

‘Not even a scratch?’

Recalling how Jin’s attack ripped the demon’s skin, Merlin couldn’t help but feel frustrated at his attack’s lackluster results. However, this was an obvious outcome, as even a lowly demon was still a powerful existence. The only reason why Jin managed to injure the demon was that his attack possessed the qualities of divine power.

“Don’t be too nervous. Members of the demon species are Level 5 at their weakest, so that guy is at the bottom of the pecking order!”

“It sure has tough skin, though. How are we supposed to get through it?”

“We’ll get its attention. In the meantime, you can attack it, Jin!”

“Oh my! I’m usually just a supporting user!”

As the party members shouted and communicated with each other, they slowly started to constrict the low-grade demon. Sukhyun was able to limit the demon’s movement with his iron pole, and once he saw this, Merlin threw the sword being held in his right hand up into the air. Then, he stamped his feet on the ground and jumped three meters high.

‘If I were to use Great Strength Vajra Hand right now, I’d make quick work of that demon, but….’

As he soared upwards, Merlin grabbed the remaining fire spell-infused sword with both hands and sent a heavy slash down toward the demon’s head.

‘Let’s give my magic power skills a shot!’

Bam!

The sword strike was firm and destructive, but the demon blocked it effortlessly as it looked up. Upon closer observation, Merlin could see that the demon’s head was as tough as a diamond. The other parts of its body were most likely also durable, but it seemed that the demon’s head was the most protected. Despite the attack’s initial ineffectiveness, at that moment, Merlin activated the spell within his sword.

“Explode!”

Boom!

Immediately, the demon’s head was thrust down and smashed onto the wooden flooring. It looked as though the demon had been crushed by a hammer that weighed several tons. Before, the sword had momentarily stopped after hitting the monster’s head, but it was as if it had been sent flying with boosters from the spell’s kinetic energy.

‘Since it’s a double-edged sword, the effects are much weaker than I anticipated. It would have been nice if the spell had a bit more contact with the target area.’

As he reviewed the spell’s effects, Merlin thought that the attack would have been more potent if his weapon was a simple knife. Then, he extended his right hand outward and caught the falling sword that he’d thrown just moments ago. After this, he grabbed the low-grade demon’s head as it lay face down on the floor and stuck his sword through its mouth.

Slit.

The magic power from the image, ‘Iced-Over Lake,’ that was imprinted on the sword froze the demon’s entire head. With little delay, Sukhyun’s pole attack came in and shattered the demon’s head.

/Clear!/

Once the test was over, the party members started dividing up the spoils. Merlin received one silver and Black Blood. 

“Oh, yeah! Black Blood!”

“Oh, congratulations.”

“Argh, why is this slithering thing giving me a useless demon hide?”

“Hahaha! I got its ugly head. Well, I’m a priest, so it’s not like I have any use for it. I guess I can sell it to a necromancer?”

From the others’ responses, Merlin could tell that the Black Stone was the most popular item. It wasn’t necessarily a great item but instead seemed to possess the most uses as it was a low-grade magic stone. While its properties were dark in nature, the world of DIO offered many magic stores that would happily convert the stone to whatever the customer wanted. That is, for a fee, of course. A necromancer who dealt with a darkness-based aura could use the low-grade magic stone immediately.

/You have completed the level-up test!/

/You have leveled up to Level 3!/

/You have been given the authorization to use higher-tier weapons!/

/Your ability stat restriction has been raised to 150 points!/

“Alright, a level up. Good job, everyone!”

“Good job~!”

“Great work!”

After saying their goodbyes, everyone vanished. The test had ended. Yet, Merlin remained on the battlefield.

“Huh? Wait…”

Feeling that something was off, Merlin got into a battle-ready stance. As he expected, a magic circle soon appeared.

“Man, this game is bugged!”

Shriek!

This time around, since it was only Merlin, the demon attacked without any hesitation, charging at Merlin like a flying arrow. These events angered Merlin, but he didn’t lose his cool.

Bam!

Two years of internal energy were expanded to four years after going through Mercury, and those four years were further magnified into eight years after going through Venus. With those eight years, Merlin slammed his hands down on the rapidly approaching demon, causing the demon to sway in place. The blow wasn’t enough to instantly kill the monster, but the Penetration Power in the hand skill had caused tremendous internal injuries.

“Do I need to fight all the monsters twice? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter… huh?”

While complaining, Merlin raised the sword in his hand. Only then did he notice that his sword wasn’t doing well. Actually, it was near useless and was filled with hairline cracks. It seemed as if it would crumble to dust at any moment.

“I guess this is now useless.”

Merlin had applied an explosion spell on the sword. When he used it, he didn’t cause an explosion when he struck the enemy; Merlin was using the momentum from the blast to propel the sword at a faster rate. As such, the sword had to sustain the full force of clashing against its target. For the sword to survive such a massive collision, it had to either be made of tenacious metal, reinforced with magic, or protected with a protection-type internal energy enchantment.

“That ice property sword is ineffective as well.”

Merlin sighed as he looked at the ice-property sword stuck in the last demon’s head. It was nice to imbue swords with more properties, but it seemed that the blades couldn’t withstand the added power.

“In the end, I guess arrows are the answer. If I’m only able to use an item once, arrows are the more economical approach.”

Shriek!

Bam.

The low-grade demon saw an opening and tried to attack Merlin, but he swiftly sent out his hand skill, the Great Strength Vajra Hand, causing the demon’s immediate demise. To ensure that the final strike killed the demon, Merlin had expanded five years of internal energy into 20 years.

“Oh, Venus is pretty nice.”

It wasn’t just nice… Venus was a cheat. It was unbelievable for a user to be able to expand their internal energy without any cost.

“Anyway, now I know what I need to do in the next fight.”

Merlin left the testing room. Of course, he didn’t forget to collect the Black Stone, Black Blood, the demon’s hide, and Mulle’s skull, with Mulle most likely being the low-grade demon’s name.

“Let’s see… It’s three o'clock right now, so I have ten hours left before the next assault.”

Since the first wave for the Siege Quest occurred at 1 PM at the east gate, he had some time to spare before the second wave arrived. And so, Merlin turned and took a stroll around Starting. Since the testing room was located in the library at the center of the village, there were many restaurants nearby.

“Hey, have you heard? I heard the attacks yesterday destroyed the east, south, west, and north gates.”

“Yeah. The monster levels were much higher than what anyone expected. In addition, the bosses were on another level. I heard they decimated and sneered at the users. From what I know, the north gate faired the best, but even then, apparently, they couldn’t defeat the boss.”

Merlin listened intently to the passersby's conversations. Early in the siege, he was killed by Sungmuk as the monster traveled to the village to start the Siege Quest. So, Merlin had not experienced the actual siege.  

“Oh, right, I also heard that the user who blocked the boss at the north gate was a Master-level girl.”

“Yeah. People are saying that she was unbelievable. She used Aura Blade and some other unknown skills.”

“That’s incredible… but how was she able to do all that? People can take the level-up exams and constantly level up, but it’s only been a little less than two months since the beta opened. How was she able to absorb so much knowledge and make it her own in such a short amount of time?”