Chapter 259
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“Huh. This is ridiculous. He’s entered a state of self-contemplation, which is neither meditation nor a trance… he’s just looking within himself, but he’s been able to stay in that state for three whole days?”
Quiet Heaven looked at Merlin while saying the same thing that Mary, who guided Merlin during the DIO tutorial, had once said.
Self-contemplation, an advanced spiritual ability to look inside oneself, was an ability of a completely different concept from meditation or entering a trance-like state, which erased one’s distracting thoughts and allowed one to organize one’s thoughts.
If one had to describe what self-contemplation was most like, one would state that it was most like a trance state, but unlike being in a trance, where one’s sense of body awareness and time was much shorter than the actual time that passed, self-contemplation had the same sensory time flow as actual time. In other words, time passed relatively quickly when one was in a trance state, allowing one to be in such a state for a longer period of time. However, self-contemplation was a state in which beings could normally only be in for an hour at best, no matter how long one tried.
However, Merlin was already on day three in this self-contemplation state.
“Come to think of it… this guy is Level 19. Couldn’t it be… is he going to achieve some great enlightenment and reach Level 20? Is he going to enter the realm of transcendence?”
Of course, the speaker, Ellie, was gently wagging her tail as she spoke these words. She stated this aloud as a joke more than anything.
In the first place, transcendence wasn’t a level that could easily be reached.
It took thousands of years for even mysterious creatures, commonly called spirit beasts, to reach the transcendent realm, and even that feat required the spirit beasts to overcome countless difficulties and adversities. How could such a young human achieve transcendence in just a few years? This went against all common sense.
Of course, it was quite common for humans who received the blessing of a creation god and who received the protection of a planet’s supreme being to become a transcendent within an [extremely short] period of time, but even that was tens to hundreds of years. However, the ‘quite common’ was an infinitesimally small probability when considering the entire population of beings in the whole universe. Even on planets with developed superpowers, there were numerous cases where not a single being had reached transcendence after a thousand years.
“But this guy is an Irregular, a one in a quintillion. Of course, it’s widely known that, in most cases, Irregulars face an insurmountable wall and usually fail in reaching the transcendence realm, but seeing this guy do the things he does, and in such a casual manner, I wouldn’t bet against him entering the transcendence realm soon.”
Merlin’s growth rate was absurd. It was to the point that a normal martial artist or mage would probably give up on their personal pursuits after watching Merlin, as they’d feel a sense of utter loss and shame in comparison to him.
Quiet Heaven and Ellie came from planets that were in between the 3rd and 4th Stage of Civilization, or simply, the 3.5th Stage of Civilization. Thus, Quiet Heaven and Ellie were in a position to look down on earthlings and other lesser civilization beings as [primitive] beings; however, seeing Merlin and his development, they couldn’t help but feel their inner spirits and minds being shaken to the core. This didn’t just apply to Merlin but also the other users who made up the Heaven above the Heavens.
Seeing Quiet Heaven quietly looking down at Merlin, Arc asked Quiet Heaven a question.
“Does that mean Merlin is great?”
“Great? Scary is more like it.”
Of course, the various martial arts and school of thought studies provided by and available within DIO were truly amazing. The studies reached the limits of the 2nd Stage of Civilization… No, to be more precise, depending on the type of study material, some information corresponded to the 3rd Stage of Civilization. These studies were generously provided by the DIO system, so it could be said that users were afforded and provided every convenience, to the extent of being seen as excessive. However, Merlin went beyond the civilization limitations of these studies through his own learning and development, and he produced results that were seemingly absurd, if looked upon from the perspective of a ‘more civilized’ observer.
Wasn’t all this possible because of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and its fundamental basis of No Living World?
“I have visited dozens of galaxies and have seen countless schools of thought, but no being has ever produced such ridiculous results. Does it make sense that a being with a maximum capacity of 100 years of internal energy can output an attack of 1,600 years of internal energy?”
This wasn’t something that just anyone could do. Actually, it was unheard of.
Moreover, within the accepted traditional understandings of spiritual power practices and structures, it should have been impossible for a being that had not reached the transcendent state to be able to deal with such a large amount of internal energy.
If Merlin was a member of the Union, and this fact had been publicized, Merlin would have even been invited to become a professor at Ouroboros, the best academic institution in the universe.
“Hey, Quiet Heaven. This guy… will he really ascend to the transcendent realm?”
“Ah, stop it. I don’t know anything anymore, either. Arthur has ascended to the transcendent realm, albeit as a pseudo transcendent, so I don’t know what to think anymore. I’m sure my knowledge of Irregulars isn’t wrong…”
Irregulars were very rare, even in the entire universe, so even though Quiet Heaven had never seen an Irregular in person before, Quiet Heaven knew a lot about them from its studies.
This was why Quiet Heaven initially expected that it would take Merlin quite some time, if ever, to reach the transcendence realm, but now, even Quiet Heaven was having doubts.
Right at that moment…
“Are you awake?”
Merlin opened his eyes quietly, without any forewarning. Arc, who noticed Merlin’s subtle movement, approached him.
Miho, who was reading a magic book she had obtained from the library, also hurriedly approached Merlin.
“Are you alright? Your self-contemplation was unusually long.”
“I usually take this long.”
Merlin answered languorously as he got up.
Though Merlin acted as he normally did, at that moment, everyone around him flinched.
“Huh? What?”
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Eh?”
“Uhm, Merlin…?”
“You feel… a bit strange… for a second, it was as though…”
As Merlin got up, the air around him calmed down.
Even though Merlin did not interfere with anything material, his surroundings were naturally influenced by his existence. Sungmuk, who had been sitting cross-legged and immersed in his own meditation, exclaimed.
“Oh, your momentum and aura has changed.”
Indeed, as Sungmuk said, Merlin’s momentum and aura had dramatically changed.
A quiet, intense, and explosive momentum and aura dwelled within and exuded out from Merlin.
It was an intense energy that one couldn’t help but notice, even though Merlin wasn’t doing anything special; however, Merlin casually grumbled a reply.
“My momentum and aura are currently outside of my control, so it’s rather troublesome. I guess I won’t be able to move stealthily for the time being.”
While muttering, Merlin took off the Wicalein rings from the middle and ring fingers of his left hand and threw them on the floor.
Bang! Sss…
The Wicalein Rings were made of mithril, an ethereal metal, but the moment they fell on the ground, they turned to dust and scattered. It seemed as though the rings could not withstand the process of accepting the Chintamani Marble’s powerful spiritual power, so they had crumbled and fallen apart.
Woong!
Merlin focused his mind and felt the newly created planets within his No Living World, Jupiter and Saturn.
What was contained in Jupiter and Saturn was an unprecedented, unimaginable power.
Objectively speaking, Merlin’s internal energy and magic power capacity didn’t increase a single year or tetra respectively, but his current power level was leaps and bounds above what they were before he created Jupiter and Saturn.
“Have you become stronger?”
Merlin nodded after hearing Arc’s question.
“You can say that.”
“Did you reach Level 20?”
“No, I didn’t.”
In order to create strong qi, one needed mastery over the abilities of basic mana and absolute mana control. Moreover, Merlin hadn’t yet fully understood, aligned, and connected on a deeper level with the universe, a prerequisite to becoming a transcendent.
Furthermore, Merlin had not yet made the decision of whether he’d become a great mage or ultimate internal energy warrior. He wasn’t even sure if he should or could aim for both.
“You’re still at Level 19 even though you’ve become this much stronger?”
Miho, who originally played the role of an NPC, was deeply interested and attracted to the user’s level system.
The users’ level system, where one could accurately gauge and know one’s level and strength, was much more convenient than the NPC’s situation, where an NPC had to vaguely guess one’s strength in comparison to others.
Merlin shook his head.
“Don’t put too much faith in the users’ level system. The users’ level system is intuitive and efficient, but not absolute.”
Even if one was a Level 15 user, there was no guarantee that one would definitely beat a Level 10 user. Compatibility of one’s power and strengths to one’s skills and abilities, external factors such as situations, conditions, and environments… all of these aspects needed to be considered and factored into play. In addition, there were also large gaps within the same level, so it was very dangerous to think that two users at the same level possessed equal strength and power.
Moreover, this discrepancy was even wider at the margins, such as Level 19 users who were facing a barrier to break into Level 20, the level that denoted transcendence, which often seemed like a hopelessly large gulf for any being.
“Ah, more importantly, Miho, what level do you think you can attain without much difficulty?”
Miho tilted her head after hearing Merlin’s question. In the past, her tail would have wagged whenever she pondered about something, but since her body was now that of a [human] user, the tell-tale characteristics of a seven tailed fox weren’t visible.
“I don’t think I’ll be as strong as I used to be, at least, in the near term. I reached the seven tailed fox level right before I died, but… I’m a human now, so…”
Miho still retained most of the knowledge regarding her previous abilities in DIO, and even the magic studies that she previously trained in were still helpful and valid even though she became a human user, so, without too much difficulty, Miho felt that she’d be able to reach Level 13 without much issue.
However, unlike when she was a monster, as a being in a human body, she’d have to rely on mana instead of monster power, so it was impossible for her to exert the power level she exhibited before her death.
“So, what does that mean? What level?”
“Well… about Level 15?”
“Reach Level 17.”
“What? Hey, it’s not as easy as you make it out to be. I can’t just reach a level because you tell me to…”
Merlin didn’t let Miho, who was flustered by Merlin’s comment, finish speaking before he turned to Arc and asked.
“What’s the highest Rank spell that you can pull off in a live battle?”
“Currently, Rank 4. If the battle lasts for more than an hour, I can probably pull off a Rank 2 spell.”
Because Arc had trained in the Black Yak School of Magic, which emphasized absolute stability, and applied those school of magic principles in combination with her combat, she was able to create a completely different fighting style from Jeros, who chose to go down the path as a pure magic user, even though they practiced the same magic school of thought.
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“Huh. This is ridiculous. He’s entered a state of self-contemplation, which is neither meditation nor a trance… he’s just looking within himself, but he’s been able to stay in that state for three whole days?”
Quiet Heaven looked at Merlin while saying the same thing that Mary, who guided Merlin during the DIO tutorial, had once said.
Self-contemplation, an advanced spiritual ability to look inside oneself, was an ability of a completely different concept from meditation or entering a trance-like state, which erased one’s distracting thoughts and allowed one to organize one’s thoughts.
If one had to describe what self-contemplation was most like, one would state that it was most like a trance state, but unlike being in a trance, where one’s sense of body awareness and time was much shorter than the actual time that passed, self-contemplation had the same sensory time flow as actual time. In other words, time passed relatively quickly when one was in a trance state, allowing one to be in such a state for a longer period of time. However, self-contemplation was a state in which beings could normally only be in for an hour at best, no matter how long one tried.
However, Merlin was already on day three in this self-contemplation state.
“Come to think of it… this guy is Level 19. Couldn’t it be… is he going to achieve some great enlightenment and reach Level 20? Is he going to enter the realm of transcendence?”
Of course, the speaker, Ellie, was gently wagging her tail as she spoke these words. She stated this aloud as a joke more than anything.
In the first place, transcendence wasn’t a level that could easily be reached.
It took thousands of years for even mysterious creatures, commonly called spirit beasts, to reach the transcendent realm, and even that feat required the spirit beasts to overcome countless difficulties and adversities. How could such a young human achieve transcendence in just a few years? This went against all common sense.
Of course, it was quite common for humans who received the blessing of a creation god and who received the protection of a planet’s supreme being to become a transcendent within an [extremely short] period of time, but even that was tens to hundreds of years. However, the ‘quite common’ was an infinitesimally small probability when considering the entire population of beings in the whole universe. Even on planets with developed superpowers, there were numerous cases where not a single being had reached transcendence after a thousand years.
“But this guy is an Irregular, a one in a quintillion. Of course, it’s widely known that, in most cases, Irregulars face an insurmountable wall and usually fail in reaching the transcendence realm, but seeing this guy do the things he does, and in such a casual manner, I wouldn’t bet against him entering the transcendence realm soon.”
Merlin’s growth rate was absurd. It was to the point that a normal martial artist or mage would probably give up on their personal pursuits after watching Merlin, as they’d feel a sense of utter loss and shame in comparison to him.
Quiet Heaven and Ellie came from planets that were in between the 3rd and 4th Stage of Civilization, or simply, the 3.5th Stage of Civilization. Thus, Quiet Heaven and Ellie were in a position to look down on earthlings and other lesser civilization beings as [primitive] beings; however, seeing Merlin and his development, they couldn’t help but feel their inner spirits and minds being shaken to the core. This didn’t just apply to Merlin but also the other users who made up the Heaven above the Heavens.
Seeing Quiet Heaven quietly looking down at Merlin, Arc asked Quiet Heaven a question.
“Does that mean Merlin is great?”
“Great? Scary is more like it.”
Of course, the various martial arts and school of thought studies provided by and available within DIO were truly amazing. The studies reached the limits of the 2nd Stage of Civilization… No, to be more precise, depending on the type of study material, some information corresponded to the 3rd Stage of Civilization. These studies were generously provided by the DIO system, so it could be said that users were afforded and provided every convenience, to the extent of being seen as excessive. However, Merlin went beyond the civilization limitations of these studies through his own learning and development, and he produced results that were seemingly absurd, if looked upon from the perspective of a ‘more civilized’ observer.
Wasn’t all this possible because of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and its fundamental basis of No Living World?
“I have visited dozens of galaxies and have seen countless schools of thought, but no being has ever produced such ridiculous results. Does it make sense that a being with a maximum capacity of 100 years of internal energy can output an attack of 1,600 years of internal energy?”
This wasn’t something that just anyone could do. Actually, it was unheard of.
Moreover, within the accepted traditional understandings of spiritual power practices and structures, it should have been impossible for a being that had not reached the transcendent state to be able to deal with such a large amount of internal energy.
If Merlin was a member of the Union, and this fact had been publicized, Merlin would have even been invited to become a professor at Ouroboros, the best academic institution in the universe.
“Hey, Quiet Heaven. This guy… will he really ascend to the transcendent realm?”
“Ah, stop it. I don’t know anything anymore, either. Arthur has ascended to the transcendent realm, albeit as a pseudo transcendent, so I don’t know what to think anymore. I’m sure my knowledge of Irregulars isn’t wrong…”
Irregulars were very rare, even in the entire universe, so even though Quiet Heaven had never seen an Irregular in person before, Quiet Heaven knew a lot about them from its studies.
This was why Quiet Heaven initially expected that it would take Merlin quite some time, if ever, to reach the transcendence realm, but now, even Quiet Heaven was having doubts.
Right at that moment…
“Are you awake?”
Merlin opened his eyes quietly, without any forewarning. Arc, who noticed Merlin’s subtle movement, approached him.
Miho, who was reading a magic book she had obtained from the library, also hurriedly approached Merlin.
“Are you alright? Your self-contemplation was unusually long.”
“I usually take this long.”
Merlin answered languorously as he got up.
Though Merlin acted as he normally did, at that moment, everyone around him flinched.
“Huh? What?”
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Eh?”
“Uhm, Merlin…?”
“You feel… a bit strange… for a second, it was as though…”
As Merlin got up, the air around him calmed down.
Even though Merlin did not interfere with anything material, his surroundings were naturally influenced by his existence. Sungmuk, who had been sitting cross-legged and immersed in his own meditation, exclaimed.
“Oh, your momentum and aura has changed.”
Indeed, as Sungmuk said, Merlin’s momentum and aura had dramatically changed.
A quiet, intense, and explosive momentum and aura dwelled within and exuded out from Merlin.
It was an intense energy that one couldn’t help but notice, even though Merlin wasn’t doing anything special; however, Merlin casually grumbled a reply.
“My momentum and aura are currently outside of my control, so it’s rather troublesome. I guess I won’t be able to move stealthily for the time being.”
While muttering, Merlin took off the Wicalein rings from the middle and ring fingers of his left hand and threw them on the floor.
Bang! Sss…
The Wicalein Rings were made of mithril, an ethereal metal, but the moment they fell on the ground, they turned to dust and scattered. It seemed as though the rings could not withstand the process of accepting the Chintamani Marble’s powerful spiritual power, so they had crumbled and fallen apart.
Woong!
Merlin focused his mind and felt the newly created planets within his No Living World, Jupiter and Saturn.
What was contained in Jupiter and Saturn was an unprecedented, unimaginable power.
Objectively speaking, Merlin’s internal energy and magic power capacity didn’t increase a single year or tetra respectively, but his current power level was leaps and bounds above what they were before he created Jupiter and Saturn.
“Have you become stronger?”
Merlin nodded after hearing Arc’s question.
“You can say that.”
“Did you reach Level 20?”
“No, I didn’t.”
In order to create strong qi, one needed mastery over the abilities of basic mana and absolute mana control. Moreover, Merlin hadn’t yet fully understood, aligned, and connected on a deeper level with the universe, a prerequisite to becoming a transcendent.
Furthermore, Merlin had not yet made the decision of whether he’d become a great mage or ultimate internal energy warrior. He wasn’t even sure if he should or could aim for both.
“You’re still at Level 19 even though you’ve become this much stronger?”
Miho, who originally played the role of an NPC, was deeply interested and attracted to the user’s level system.
The users’ level system, where one could accurately gauge and know one’s level and strength, was much more convenient than the NPC’s situation, where an NPC had to vaguely guess one’s strength in comparison to others.
Merlin shook his head.
“Don’t put too much faith in the users’ level system. The users’ level system is intuitive and efficient, but not absolute.”
Even if one was a Level 15 user, there was no guarantee that one would definitely beat a Level 10 user. Compatibility of one’s power and strengths to one’s skills and abilities, external factors such as situations, conditions, and environments… all of these aspects needed to be considered and factored into play. In addition, there were also large gaps within the same level, so it was very dangerous to think that two users at the same level possessed equal strength and power.
Moreover, this discrepancy was even wider at the margins, such as Level 19 users who were facing a barrier to break into Level 20, the level that denoted transcendence, which often seemed like a hopelessly large gulf for any being.
“Ah, more importantly, Miho, what level do you think you can attain without much difficulty?”
Miho tilted her head after hearing Merlin’s question. In the past, her tail would have wagged whenever she pondered about something, but since her body was now that of a [human] user, the tell-tale characteristics of a seven tailed fox weren’t visible.
“I don’t think I’ll be as strong as I used to be, at least, in the near term. I reached the seven tailed fox level right before I died, but… I’m a human now, so…”
Miho still retained most of the knowledge regarding her previous abilities in DIO, and even the magic studies that she previously trained in were still helpful and valid even though she became a human user, so, without too much difficulty, Miho felt that she’d be able to reach Level 13 without much issue.
However, unlike when she was a monster, as a being in a human body, she’d have to rely on mana instead of monster power, so it was impossible for her to exert the power level she exhibited before her death.
“So, what does that mean? What level?”
“Well… about Level 15?”
“Reach Level 17.”
“What? Hey, it’s not as easy as you make it out to be. I can’t just reach a level because you tell me to…”
Merlin didn’t let Miho, who was flustered by Merlin’s comment, finish speaking before he turned to Arc and asked.
“What’s the highest Rank spell that you can pull off in a live battle?”
“Currently, Rank 4. If the battle lasts for more than an hour, I can probably pull off a Rank 2 spell.”
Because Arc had trained in the Black Yak School of Magic, which emphasized absolute stability, and applied those school of magic principles in combination with her combat, she was able to create a completely different fighting style from Jeros, who chose to go down the path as a pure magic user, even though they practiced the same magic school of thought.
Huh. This is ridiculous. He's entered a state of self-contemplation, which is neither meditation nor a trance he's just looking within himself, but he's been able to stay in that state for three whole days?Quiet Heaven looked at Merlin while saying the same thing that Mary, who guided Merlin during the DIO tutorial, had once said.Self-contemplation, an advanced spiritual ability to look inside oneself, was an ability of a completely different concept from meditation or entering a trance-like state, which erased one's distracting thoughts and allowed one to organize one's thoughts.If one had to describe what self-contemplation was most like, one would state that it was most like a trance state, but unlike being in a trance, where one's sense of body awareness and time was much shorter than the actual time that passed, self-contemplation had the same sensory time flow as actual time. In other words, time passed relatively quickly when one was in a trance state, allowing one to be in such a state for a longer period of time. However, self-contemplation was a state in which beings could normally only be in for an hour at best, no matter how long one tried.However, Merlin was already on day three in this self-contemplation state.Come to think of it this guy is Level 19. Couldn't it be is he going to achieve some great enlightenment and reach Level 20? Is he going to enter the realm of transcendence?Of course, the speaker, Ellie, was gently wagging her tail as she spoke these words. She stated this aloud as a joke more than anything.In the first place, transcendence wasn't a level that could easily be reached.It took thousands of years for even mysterious creatures, commonly called spirit beasts, to reach the transcendent realm, and even that feat required the spirit beasts to overcome countless difficulties and adversities. How could such a young human achieve transcendence in just a few years? This went against all common sense.Of course, it was quite common for humans who received the blessing of a creation god and who received the protection of a planet's supreme being to become a transcendent within an extremely short period of time, but even that was tens to hundreds of years. However, the quite common' was an infinitesimally small probability when considering the entire population of beings in the whole universe. Even on planets with developed superpowers, there were numerous cases where not a single being had reached transcendence after a thousand years.But this guy is an Irregular, a one in a quintillion. Of course, it's widely known that, in most cases, Irregulars face an insurmountable wall and usually fail in reaching the transcendence realm, but seeing this guy do the things he does, and in such a casual manner, I wouldn't bet against him entering the transcendence realm soon.Merlin's growth rate was absurd. It was to the point that a normal martial artist or mage would probably give up on their personal pursuits after watching Merlin, as they'd feel a sense of utter loss and shame in comparison to him.Quiet Heaven and Ellie came from planets that were in between the 3rd and 4th Stage of Civilization, or simply, the 3.5th Stage of Civilization. Thus, Quiet Heaven and Ellie were in a position to look down on earthlings and other lesser civilization beings as primitive beings; however, seeing Merlin and his development, they couldn't help but feel their inner spirits and minds being shaken to the core. This didn't just apply to Merlin but also the other users who made up the Heaven above the Heavens.Seeing Quiet Heaven quietly looking down at Merlin, Arc asked Quiet Heaven a question.Does that mean Merlin is great?Great? Scary is more like it.Of course, the various martial arts and school of thought studies provided by and available within DIO were truly amazing. The studies reached the limits of the 2nd Stage of Civilization No, to be more precise, depending on the type of study material, some information corresponded to the 3rd Stage of Civilization. These studies were generously provided by the DIO system, so it could be said that users were afforded and provided every convenience, to the extent of being seen as excessive. However, Merlin went beyond the civilization limitations of these studies through his own learning and development, and he produced results that were seemingly absurd, if looked upon from the perspective of a more civilized' observer.Wasn't all this possible because of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique and its fundamental basis of No Living World?I have visited dozens of galaxies and have seen countless schools of thought, but no being has ever produced such ridiculous results. Does it make sense that a being with a maximum capacity of 100 years of internal energy can output an attack of 1,600 years of internal energy?This wasn't something that just anyone could do. Actually, it was unheard of.Moreover, within the accepted traditional understandings of spiritual power practices and structures, it should have been impossible for a being that had not reached the transcendent state to be able to deal with such a large amount of internal energy.If Merlin was a member of the Union, and this fact had been publicized, Merlin would have even been invited to become a professor at Ouroboros, the best academic institution in the universe.Hey, Quiet Heaven. This guy will he really ascend to the transcendent realm?Ah, stop it. I don't know anything anymore, either. Arthur has ascended to the transcendent realm, albeit as a pseudo transcendent, so I don't know what to think anymore. I'm sure my knowledge of Irregulars isn't wrongIrregulars were very rare, even in the entire universe, so even though Quiet Heaven had never seen an Irregular in person before, Quiet Heaven knew a lot about them from its studies.This was why Quiet Heaven initially expected that it would take Merlin quite some time, if ever, to reach the transcendence realm, but now, even Quiet Heaven was having doubts.Right at that momentAre you awake?Merlin opened his eyes quietly, without any forewarning. Arc, who noticed Merlin's subtle movement, approached him.Miho, who was reading a magic book she had obtained from the library, also hurriedly approached Merlin.Are you alright? Your self-contemplation was unusually long.I usually take this long.Merlin answered languorously as he got up.Though Merlin acted as he normally did, at that moment, everyone around him flinched.Huh? What?It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.Eh?Uhm, Merlin?You feel a bit strange for a second, it was as thoughAs Merlin got up, the air around him calmed down.Even though Merlin did not interfere with anything material, his surroundings were naturally influenced by his existence. Sungmuk, who had been sitting cross-legged and immersed in his own meditation, exclaimed.Oh, your momentum and aura has changed.Indeed, as Sungmuk said, Merlin's momentum and aura had dramatically changed.A quiet, intense, and explosive momentum and aura dwelled within and exuded out from Merlin.It was an intense energy that one couldn't help but notice, even though Merlin wasn't doing anything special; however, Merlin casually grumbled a reply.My momentum and aura are currently outside of my control, so it's rather troublesome. I guess I won't be able to move stealthily for the time being.While muttering, Merlin took off the Wicalein rings from the middle and ring fingers of his left hand and threw them on the floor.Bang! SssThe Wicalein Rings were made of mithril, an ethereal metal, but the moment they fell on the ground, they turned to dust and scattered. It seemed as though the rings could not withstand the process of accepting the Chintamani Marble's powerful spiritual power, so they had crumbled and fallen apart.Woong!Merlin focused his mind and felt the newly created planets within his No Living World, Jupiter and Saturn.What was contained in Jupiter and Saturn was an unprecedented, unimaginable power.Objectively speaking, Merlin's internal energy and magic power capacity didn't increase a single year or tetra respectively, but his current power level was leaps and bounds above what they were before he created Jupiter and Saturn.Have you become stronger?Merlin nodded after hearing Arc's question.You can say that.Did you reach Level 20?No, I didn't.In order to create strong qi, one needed mastery over the abilities of basic mana and absolute mana control. Moreover, Merlin hadn't yet fully understood, aligned, and connected on a deeper level with the universe, a prerequisite to becoming a transcendent.Furthermore, Merlin had not yet made the decision of whether he'd become a great mage or ultimate internal energy warrior. He wasn't even sure if he should or could aim for both.You're still at Level 19 even though you've become this much stronger?Miho, who originally played the role of an NPC, was deeply interested and attracted to the user's level system.The users' level system, where one could accurately gauge and know one's level and strength, was much more convenient than the NPC's situation, where an NPC had to vaguely guess one's strength in comparison to others.Merlin shook his head.Don't put too much faith in the users' level system. The users' level system is intuitive and efficient, but not absolute.Even if one was a Level 15 user, there was no guarantee that one would definitely beat a Level 10 user. Compatibility of one's power and strengths to one's skills and abilities, external factors such as situations, conditions, and environments all of these aspects needed to be considered and factored into play. In addition, there were also large gaps within the same level, so it was very dangerous to think that two users at the same level possessed equal strength and power.Moreover, this discrepancy was even wider at the margins, such as Level 19 users who were facing a barrier to break into Level 20, the level that denoted transcendence, which often seemed like a hopelessly large gulf for any being.Ah, more importantly, Miho, what level do you think you can attain without much difficulty?Miho tilted her head after hearing Merlin's question. In the past, her tail would have wagged whenever she pondered about something, but since her body was now that of a human user, the tell-tale characteristics of a seven tailed fox weren't visible.I don't think I'll be as strong as I used to be, at least, in the near term. I reached the seven tailed fox level right before I died, but I'm a human now, soMiho still retained most of the knowledge regarding her previous abilities in DIO, and even the magic studies that she previously trained in were still helpful and valid even though she became a human user, so, without too much difficulty, Miho felt that she'd be able to reach Level 13 without much issue.However, unlike when she was a monster, as a being in a human body, she'd have to rely on mana instead of monster power, so it was impossible for her to exert the power level she exhibited before her death.So, what does that mean? What level?Well about Level 15?Reach Level 17.What? Hey, it's not as easy as you make it out to be. I can't just reach a level because you tell me toMerlin didn't let Miho, who was flustered by Merlin's comment, finish speaking before he turned to Arc and asked.What's the highest Rank spell that you can pull off in a live battle?Currently, Rank 4. If the battle lasts for more than an hour, I can probably pull off a Rank 2 spell.Because Arc had trained in the Black Yak School of Magic, which emphasized absolute stability, and applied those school of magic principles in combination with her combat, she was able to create a completely different fighting style from Jeros, who chose to go down the path as a pure magic user, even though they practiced the same magic school of thought.
