6 My middle name is Arthur OR oops I overdid it a bi

I follow Merlin to a 'little' private room (it's from the point of view of the man with the higher position of Nyggloth after all). He sits down and invite me to do the same with a movement of the hand. While I nibble (well more like I gobble down) the equivalent of pre-dinner biscuits in my ancient world, he looks at me with a serious air, and ask me:

-Did you bring the artifact I asked you?

-Crunch… Yes I… Crunch… Did it…

I have absolutely NOT the impression to not respecting the more powerful being in the history at all.

-And… You brought another artifact? Why?

-I took some artifact while on my way… Crunch… I thought it can be useful.

I won't admit that I forgot which one I had to take! No, really…

-Can you give me these artifacts now?

He seems to run out of patience, a look of understanding appears on my face and I stop eating.

-Yes, but do you have an empty, well magically isolated room?

-An empty room?

He looks at me in a strange way, puzzled.

-Yes, but why do you need such a room?

I smile (I always loved surprise people, for example, with a surprise test a Friday in last hour).

-It's for the artifact, I have something to do to get them back…

[…]

I'm again following Merlin, this time, to a white room. Around the entrance, an airlock. I notice immediately a sealing spell formation of which the power and the complexity are surprising me. I wouldn't have enough time in a year to read it once…

I smile and I enter, followed by Merlin.

Merlin still have a puzzled glimmer in his expression, he goes to the right side of the room and observe me.

He watches me take out a seed, and reciting, while come out of the seed long and extremely thin liana that take the shape of a spell formation on the floor.

I place myself at the middle and skim my ring, anticipating already the face Merlin will have.

By a magic impetus, I active the spell formation.

This formation was more a precaution than anything else.

The same way I took out the dissimulation artifact the last time, I take out all the others artifacts.

The room is quickly filling with artifacts, and above all, the opposite reaction to what happened the last time happen:

All the mana that have been absorbed by the ring to extend the space is bluntly coming out of it while the space is taking back its shape. Merlin raise a brow while the mana coming out violently is making my spell formation crack.

But it's not finished!

There is still half of the artifact to take out!

The second wave of mana surge, and my spell formation break!

I wipe my forehead, happy to be in the eye of the storm.

I start to turn toward Merlin when I notice that the concentration of mana in the room reached new heights! There is almost 60% of mana concentration in the air, and even if I am at the center of the room, where the concentration is only of 10%, I have the impression to be drunk. I count myself lucky that the concentration of mana is weaker than at the center than in the rest of the room, until the moment a though cross my mind: Shit! The mana is coming!

The mana being unable to dissipate, it is attracted irresistibly to the center of the room, where there is less mana. The collision of the mana coming from all over the room create a huge pressure at the middle. It's enough to create a hole in space, and I see the reflect of what I'm naming the astral plane at this place.

This powerful attraction was going to disintegrate me when Merlin chose this moment to act:

-STOP!

He said only one word, and everything stopped.

-Oops, I overdid it a bit… Well… I think…

I feel a little guilty.

Panting, I look in his direction and I realize that he didn't move from where he was since the start, and that despite the destruction of a big part of the wall, the floor and the ceiling, he is standing on the air as on the floor. Without even talking about the spell he launched to stop the phenomenon was of a rank so low compared to him that he didn't need a formula, just his immobility testifies his power. I shiver.

But the reason why I shiver have nothing to do with his power, but with the gleam in his eyes… It's a gleam of pure domination, like he has a perfect control on the entire world.

Rapidly, however, the glow in his look disappear, and he watch me with interest. He does a movement with his hand, and the artifacts quickly disappear, which make me sigh, because some people have the money to obtain gigantic storage zones. But more important, he come closer and ask me series of questions about the way I succeed to compress space with such a limited magic capacity.

[…]

I look at Merlin with shining eyes. Not only he will augment my magic powers, but given the value of my technique of space concentration and the additional artifacts, minus my debts (in reality I'm not above zero from much giving I destroyed a prohibitively expensive room), he will also give me a weapon of technomagic (yes I invent words) Nygglotian that he will personally do!

Wanting to know, or even learn on the fly, the method he will use, I watch him attentively while he asks me my arm. I extend it to him and… I faint.

[…]

Fuck it! I can understand he want to keep his secrets, but I want to steal his secrets, me! Shit!

I wake up a bit angry. But my rage is calming quickly. I feel the magic rushing in my veins. It's like if before it was crawling, or worse in reverse gear. I'm feeling like liberated of a weight, like if a mountain that have always been on my shoulders disappeared. But what is making me even more happy is that I feel ALL the particles, and not only the plant magic particles! And in light of what I feel, it's at least at 50%!

I notice that Merlin is watching me with a worried air. His worry is immediately calming me, and I ask him:

-What's wrong?

He scratches his hairs, and he watch me, a bit embarrassed.

-There is a big problem.

No, don't say me I only have 48h left to live???

-In fact, I overdid it a bit, and it's possible that you'll have a hard time to control your magic.

-Phew!

I sight of relief. And I start to laugh nervously, my worry leaving me.

-Your actual power is the equivalent of the pinnacle of a rank 4, and your affinity to all the elements is… Well…

I suddenly stop laughing, and I'm freezing while he's speaking… Rank 5? Seriously??? It's the power of the more powerful mage of the Empire, the emperor himself!

-Well, your magic affinity is about 666% for all the elements…

He says that with a bit embarrassed face, as if it's not like it's something extraordinary, but I know myself that it's way too powerful, and absolutely… Impossible to believe!

The 666 of the percentage is not even able to make me laugh, and I don't want to do any remark… It means that it's 666 time easier and less tiring to use the magic than with my ancient power!

Furthermore, the rank 5, compared to my ancient rank 3, that was ma limit, is 7,3 times more powerful!

I overstepped my limits! And by a huge margin!

-Hem Hem!

I turn to Merlin, who interrupt my thoughts by giving me the much-vaunted weapon!

This is a sword, that look like a futurist of a medieval sword, with runes that roll in the middle, and seem to allow to transform the infinite source of power of the Nygglotian technology in spell. I straightaway remarked it because these runes are born of my researches!

By grabbing the sword, I know immediately how to use it, and its plentiful uses!

I thank Merlin warmly.

Caught by an urge to test this weapon, I head for my (new) house to prepare my departure another time for the Empire! But this time with a great confidence! I'm even confident in my capacity to escape to the wrath of gods!

Hey the heroes! Arthur is coming, and you are going to take Excalibur in your ass, you're not going to have time to understand anything!

Old author's thoughts:

For the part about rank. It's used by the mages and the human as classification.

But when the rank 1 of humans and mages are the same, the rest is irregular, given that each rank for mages is representing a different stage (and system for some) of magic power. The rank 2 of mages is the equivalent of the rank 5 of humans, the rank 3 is the equivalent of the rank 15, the rank 4 is the equivalent of the rank 30, and so on.

Of course, the normal humans reach at maximum the rank 20 (lifespan issue), while the mages win lifespan for each promotion, but the speed of progress is slowing down quickly after each rank. But the power of Merlin, able to fight against all the gods at the same time, is said to reach the rank 100 of mages at least.