Chapter 296 Leveling Up and Gaining Loot!

In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, a large ship which was enclosed in a bubble was slowly moving forward.

"Right, this place is fine!"

Merlin immediately stopped the Ship of Nikola. He was now thousands of meters below the surface of the sea, far away from the Kurdmansla Islands. Not even a Great Wizard would be able to find him.

After solving the crisis of the Kurdmansla Islands, Merlin did not choose to leave but instead stayed in the Ship of Nikola in order to obtain a detailed understanding of the ship.

"Mmm, my Mind Power is at the peak of the Third-level. I can construct two more Second-level spells."

Through the Mind Power duplicate in the Bell Space, Merlin's Mind Power had grown at a great pace. He was now able to construct two more Second-level spells. However, he was in no rush to do that. He wanted to understand the Ship of Nikola thoroughly and would need a period of time for that. During this time, he would also try to increase his Mind Power in order to break through to the Fourth-level.

At that point, he would be able to construct the four Second-level spells that remained, and level up to a Second-level Spell Caster in one swoop!

As such, Merlin silently closed his eyes and began familiarizing himself with the Ship of Nikola.

…

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Merlin gradually opened his eyes. He glanced at the Bell Space at his chest. There was a tremor, along with scorching energy coming once again from the Bell Space. This was already the third time.

"Hopefully, this time my Mind Power will break through to the Fourth-level!"

Merlin drew in a deep breath as his eyes shone with a light of anticipation. He had been on the Ship of Nikola for more than three months. This was the third time the Mind Power duplicate in the Bell Space had reached its limit.

Despite having merged with the Mind Power duplicate twice already, Merlin's Mind Power had still not broken through. It was as though the limit did not even exist.

"Mind Power duplicate, combine!"

Merlin quickly fused the Mind Power duplicate of the Bell Space into his Mind Power. He was familiar with the fusion process, so in no time at all, he was slowly beginning to fuse with the Mind Power duplicate.

It was a hurdle to go from Third-level to Fourth-level Mind Power and a very difficult hurdle at that. Therefore, Merlin was not anxious. With the Bell Space, his Mind Power could expand continuously by fusing with the Mind Power duplicate. This was much faster than the ordinary Meditation Method.

Thus, Merlin only had to wait patiently. Once the right conditions were fulfilled, his Mind Power would quite naturally break through to the next level.

"Boom!"

At last, after Merlin combined with the Mind Power duplicate for the third time, his Mind Power became like a tide of water bursting out from the floodgates. An entirely new sensation emerged in Merlin's senses.

Everything before his eyes seemed much clearer than before. He could distinctly feel the movement of various Elements in the air, which seemed to shimmer with life in a vivid manner.

"Have I broken through?"

Merlin felt a rush of glee. The breakthrough of his Mind Power had occurred as the conditions were right. Since the accumulation of his Mind Power had reached a sufficient level, it had naturally broken through.

This significant boost of his Mind Power also seemed to make it easier for him to control the Ship of Nikola.

"My Mind Power finally underwent a breakthrough. Following this, it's time to construct the four remaining Second-level spells!"

By now, Merlin had constructed two Second-level spells – Darkness Tide and Earth Veil. However, if he wanted to become a Second-level Spell Caster, he needed to construct the four remaining Second-level spells.

Merlin had already prepared for these Second-level spells back when he was in the Dark Magic Region and could construct them at any time.

"The Matrix, analyze the Spell Model of the Second-level spell, Sea of Purgatory Fire!"

Merlin first began to construct the Second-level Fire-type spell, Sea of Purgatory Fire.

With the help of the Matrix, alongside the fact that he had abundant Mind Power, Merlin had almost no chance of failure. As a result, the construction of the Spell Model went very smoothly.

The Second-level Fire-type spell "Sea of Purgatory Fire" was successfully constructed!

The Second-level Wind-type spell "Light Breeze" was successfully constructed!

The Second-level Thunder-type spell "Lightning Flash" was successfully constructed!

The Second-level Ice-type spell "Ice Seal Zone" was successfully constructed!

…

Other Spell Casters might need to spend a long time deriving their Spell Models even if they had sufficient Mind Power. Moreover, they would need to keep an eye on the stability, the compatibility, and other aspects, so it was time-consuming. They would require a few months' time or even a few years.

It was this challenging and complicated process of derivation that hindered the majority of Spell Casters, resulting in them being unable to construct new Spell Models no matter what.

However, Merlin did not need to concern himself with these matters. His only concern was to have sufficient Mind Power. With that, he could rely on the Matrix to construct Spell Models freely and consistently. Therefore, in a mere ten days, Merlin successfully constructed the four remaining Second-level spells.

The instant he completed constructing all the Second-level spells, Merlin clearly felt some indescribable change occurring in his Awareness. It was a subtle change, and Merlin would not have been able to perceive it in the past.

Nonetheless, after his Mind Power had reached the Fourth-level, it had become much keener, so he detected the change in his Awareness right away.

Beneath the numerous Spell Models, his Awareness seemed to be broadening slowly.

Initially, his Awareness seemed to have no boundaries, but in fact, most of it was a blank space. On the other hand, the construction of the Spell Models seemed to have further illuminated an area. The more Spell Models he constructed, and the stronger the Spell Models were, then the wider the illuminated area became.

Merlin did not know what this change in his Awareness actually meant, but it seemed that there was nothing abnormal about his Spell Models, so he did not worry about it.

After having constructed many spells consecutively, who knew how long it would take to transform Magic Power through the Spell Models alone? Thus, in general, many advanced Spell Casters, after constructing their spells, would use elemental crystal stones to build up Magic Power at first.

Merlin was no exception. He still had plenty of elemental crystal stones after using them the last time. However, having constructed four Second-level spells all at once, he had used up a large number of his elemental crystal stones.

"I don't have many elemental crystal stones left… I didn't expect that I would use so many elemental crystal stones just for Second-level spells."

Merlin felt somewhat helpless. His Second-level spells were the best among their level and were able to build up a lot of Magic Power. However, at the same time, they used up a great number of elemental crystal stones as well.

Merlin, being in the pitch-black depths of the ocean, had no way of obtaining elemental crystal stones. Nevertheless, he had a plan. During these three months, he had already achieved a thorough mastery of the Ship of Nikola.

Merlin discovered that before the three obstacles of the Ship of Nikola, particularly in front of the first and second obstacles, there were piles of dry bones. They used to be Spell Casters who had been roped in to complete the obstacles of the Ship of Nikola but who died instead.

"Whoosh!"

With the Ship of Nikola under his control, a mysterious Runic Magic Circle rapidly surfaced on Merlin's body. In a flash, he appeared before the first obstacle. 

There were many skeletons that had crumbled into white dust at the lightest touch. It was evident that a long time had passed. Nonetheless, even so, the rings did not deteriorate with the passage of time. The space within these rings was extremely stable and would not suffer any damage unless it came under the attack of a powerful force.

Merlin's target was these rings. He picked up a few at random and quickly searched them with this Mind Power.

"Mmm, not bad. There are many elemental crystal stones as well as Spell Models and potion materials."

"Eh? This one has some robes along with some rare treasures."

Merlin looked through all the rings. They were mainly filled with elemental crystal stones, some potion materials, and alchemy materials. Still, this was only the first obstacle. Spell Casters who could not even clear the first obstacle had weaker capabilities, so it was natural that they did not have much good stuff.

Very soon, Merlin came to the second obstacle. There were fewer bones yet Merlin had higher expectations for the rings here.

Those who were able to reach the second obstacle would have had greater powers, so of course, they would have more valuable items. Therefore, Merlin quickly began to pick up the rings on the ground and looked through them carefully.

"There is quite a number of elemental crystal stones here, and some stronger spells too."

"Robes, and more than one at that. Hold on, what casting tool is this?"

Merlin looked through many rings in a row. In one of the rings were many casting tools, many of which Merlin had never seen before.

The owner of this ring must have been wealthy when they were alive in order to possess so many casting tools. However, when one was trapped in the Ship of Nikola, it did not matter how many casting tools one had. The second obstacle did not allow the use of casting tools.

In this ring, the most eye-catching item was a belt which appeared to be glowing with a very faint green light. At a glance, Merlin was able to recognize that this was a casting tool as it was emitting obvious Elemental fluctuations.

As soon as he thought of that, Merlin immediately retrieved this green patterned belt from the ring and lightly fastened it around his waist. It appeared to fit him but did not seem to have any special features.

Since it was a casting tool, he would need to use Mind Power or Magic Power to activate it. Therefore, Merlin enveloped the belt with his Mind Power, but nothing changed even after a long time.

As Mind Power was unable to activate this casting tool, Merlin decided to use Magic Power. First, he used Fire-type Magic Power. He mobilized the Fire-type Magic Power within his body, and it quickly surged into the belt.

However, it did not serve any function, so Merlin proceeded to use Earth-type Magic Power. Still, nothing changed.

At this, Merlin gradually began to furrow his brow. It was a good thing he had more than two types of Magic Power. Thus, he mobilized his Ice-type Magic Power and Wind-type Magic Power next.

"Hum..."

At last, when Merlin channeled his Wind-type Magic Power into the belt, it began to tremble slightly. At the same time, Merlin felt a fierce gust of Wind Elemental fluctuations. His body seemed to be carried by a breeze and he abruptly rose into the air.

"This… This is a Flying casting tool?"

Merlin stared down at his gradually ascending body and irrepressible expression of glee appeared on his face.