Merlin raised his head toward the sky. He felt a solid gaze watching him, scanning through every part of his body until there were no secrets left behind.
"Seventh-level Spell Caster!"
Merlin held his fist tightly. He knew the gaze was coming from a Seventh-level Spell Caster. Even though being so far away, the other party's stare still felt very intense.
This glare lingered on him for a brief while, and Merlin heaved a sigh of relief when it was finally lifted off.
"I've revealed my identity as a Six-Elemental Spell Caster, maybe I'll be noticed by these Seventh-level Spell Casters!"
Merlin murmured to himself. He had braved his nerves to release numerous spells at once in order to crumple Wizard Neil not only on Wizard Holmes's behalf but mostly to showcase his skills to the Seventh-level Spell Casters that were high up in the towers.
On the other hand, Wizard Neil glared fiercely at Merlin. His features were twisted and hints of jealousy and enviousness flashed across his eyes. He murmured through gritted teeth, "I didn't even have a chance to strike… He's completely ruined my plans!"
Wizard Neil was a narrow-minded person. This time, he was so confident to show his extraordinary talents to gain attention from the Seventh-level Spell Casters.
However, it was beyond his expectation to encounter Merlin, a Six-Elemental Spell Caster. Merlin was not only more superior than him in strength, more importantly, in a critical match like this that garnered even the Seventh-level Spell Casters' attention, Merlin did not even give him the chance to make a move.
Neil was unwilling to let this pass!
Merlin frowned slightly as he seemed to have noticed Neil's glare. At one glance, he could tell Wizard Neil was a person of petty character, one that sought revenge for the smallest grievance.
Anyhow, Merlin was not too bothered about Wizard Neil. He was only a Three-Elemental Spell Caster that constructed First-level spell in advance. He was incomparable to Wizard Holmes in terms of potential. Naturally, Wizard Gretel had good eyes for judging people and would have good reasons to favor Wizard Holmes over Neil.
However, a person as narrow-minded as Wizard Neil would not understand.
Merlin left the high platform eventually. Elena and the others looked at him open-mouthed as if he was a monster.
"Wizard Merlin, you've constructed six spells?"
Elena could not help herself and ask in a low voice at last.
Elena's voice was soft, but due to the silence that had enveloped the surrounding, Spell Casters from other towers also turned around to look at Merlin.
Merlin had already released all his spells so there was nothing to hide. He nodded before replying, "Yes, I've constructed six Zero-level spells!"
All the Spell Casters were shocked to hear it coming from Merlin's own mouth, even though they had already seen Merlin released the varieties of spells earlier and figured out earlier that he was a Six-Elemental Spell Caster.
If Three-Elemental Spell Caster was common, Four-Elemental Spell Caster was considered a genius. Five-Elemental Spell Caster was an even rarer occurrence. In the past hundreds of years, there was only one Five-Elemental Spell Caster that emerged from the Dark Magic Region, and that was Wizard Kleis.
Six-Elemental Spell Caster was as scarce as hen's teeth, even so in those top-notch, large-scale Spell Caster organization.
Therefore, Merlin's identity as a Six-Elemental Spell Caster was a shocking news to many of the Spell Casters in the Dark Magic Region, even to those Spell Casters of Fourth-level or above.
At this time, many Spell Casters of Fourth-level or above came forward to congratulate Wizard Leo for acquiring such an outstanding student. Disregarding if he could become a First-level Spell Caster in the end, his courage to construct six spells already deserved praising, especially a Zero-level spell as complicated as Dark Mist.
At the very least, Merlin had his special excellence on constructing Spell Models.
A hint of a smile came to Wizard Leo's face, only that his smile was a more terrifying sight than an ugly cry. Those vacant eyes of his and that bloody vertical eye on his forehead only made him look worse.
"Wizard Leo, Merlin's a Six-Elemental Spell Caster. Didn't you remind him about how difficult it might be for a Six-Elemental Spell Caster to become First-level?"
The voice belonged to Wizard Nasha. Although she had leveled up to Fourth-level and finished building her Wizard Tower just recently, she was extremely patient in tutoring her students. This was the reason why there was already two First-level Spell Casters among her students. In comparison, Wizard Nasha was much more suitable as a mentor than Wizard Leo.
This was why she realized the problem at one glance. Merlin would have a higher success rate of level up to a First-level Spell Caster if he was only Four-Elemental.
Even if he was only Five-Elemental, there was still hope for him to level up to First-level if given extra time.
However, Six-Elemental Spell Caster would require multiple times more effort compared to other Spell Casters in both Spell Models construction and Mind Power. There had never been a Six-Elemental Spell Caster in the Dark Magic Region, and it definitely showed how difficult it must be for a Six-Elemental to become First-level Spell Caster.
Wizard Leo's gaze focused on Merlin who was standing amongst the crowd, and he said in a deep voice, "This is Merlin's own choice… But, Wizard Nasha, don't you think Merlin resembles myself when I was younger?"
Wizard Nasha looked into Wizard Leo's vacant eyes and shook her head helplessly. She knew clearly how much Wizard Leo had sacrificed in order to condense the Darkness Eye.
Even those Seventh-level Spell Casters did not think Wizard Leo would succeed in condensing the Darkness Eye. However, in the end, Wizard Leo endured an agonizing pain unimaginable to others while destroying his own eyes, in order to create the Darkness Eye by force.
This wild, reckless behavior had once created numerous headaches for the Seventh-level Spell Casters in the Dark Magic Region. Other Spell Casters would at least give lectures on Spell Model construction, or runology, potion making, alchemy, but Wizard Leo was not bothered about conducting classes at all.
Even if Wizard Leo had achieved high attainments in runology and alchemy, since the construction of his wizard tower to becoming a Sixth-level Spell Caster, Wizard Leo had never once taken the initiative to conduct even one lesson to his students.
Eventually, Seventh-level Spell Casters gave orders so that gray-robed Wizards would assign the Spell Casters of worst talents that arrived at the Dark Magic Region into Wizard Leo's tower.
"It's exactly because he's so much like you that Merlin might not be favored by those Seventh-level Spell Casters. It might also be extremely difficult for him to upgrade to First-level in the next two years and risk being sent out of the Dark Magic Region!"
Wizard Nasha shook her head helplessly. She glanced toward Merlin and felt pity for him. If Merlin had been assigned to her wizard tower instead, she would never allow him to construct Six-Elemental spells, only Five-Elemental at most.
By doing so, perhaps Merlin had hoped to become yet another First-level Five-Elemental Spell Caster after Kleis!
"I wish you good luck."
Wizard Nasha shifted her attention toward the tallest towers in the Dark Magic Region again. Those Seventh-level Spell Casters were paying attention to the match. If they took interest in any of these Spell Casters, the lucky one would be taken in into their wizard towers.
***************
The Dark Magic Region conference was now at the most intense stage. There was only four Spell Casters left in the competition. In theory, four of these Spell Casters, even the eight of them from previous rounds, had received attention from the Seventh-level Spell Casters, and they all stood a chance to become the students of those Seventh-level Spell Casters.
However, at this stage of the match, who would not want to step ahead higher to garner more attention?
Four of those Spell Casters were examining each other. Through Elena, Merlin also managed to get hold of some information about those three Spell Casters.
Cecil had only constructed one First-level spell, but he was a Four-Elemental Spell Caster. Each of his Zero-level spells was extremely powerful and complicated, which required five contribution points if one wanted to exchange from the Resource Tower.
Therefore, this was a significantly strong opponent! His teacher was a Fourth-level Spell Caster, hence he also yearned to be noticed by those lofty Seventh-level Spell Casters.
On the other side was Loan, Merlin's opponent for his seventh round. Although Loan only needed one more First-level spell to become a First-level Spell Caster, he had only constructed three spells of different Elements. His potential was unlike that of Cecil's but he was much stronger in strength.
Lastly, it was Wizard Abril. Even though he was also a Four-Elemental Spell Caster, and was gifted with talents, he had not construct any First-level spells. It seemed like his strength was even weaker than that of Wizard Neil that Merlin had just defeated.
However, Wizard Abril had fought his way to the seventh round with the assistance of numerous casting tools. Even Merlin was not confident when it came to fighting an opponent like him.
"The seventh round, Wizard Abril versus Wizard Cecil!"
"The seventh round, Wizard Merlin versus Wizard Loan!"
Both of the matches had to go on simultaneously, but Merlin was the one that received more attention from the audience. After all, Six-Elemental Spell Caster had never appeared in the history of the Dark Magic Region. It was still a great surprise to all of the Spell Casters.
These Spell Casters were also curious to see how far Merlin could go.
Merlin rose to his feet slowly, and his gaze immediately met another Spell Caster that was standing not far away. It belonged to his opponent, Wizard Loan.
Wizard Loan nodded slightly when he noticed Merlin, and a friendly smile washed over his face.
Soon, both of them went up to the high platform. Most of the Spell Casters shifted their attention toward this stage. When Merlin lifted his head, he could even locate Wizard Leo who was sitting on the stone seat.
There was no expression on Wizard Leo's face, but that bloody vertical eye on his forehead was obviously wide-open, revealing a red pupil that glistened with faint red light.
It had been rumored that the Darkness Eye possessed numerous mystical powers. It meant that Wizard Leo regarded Merlin's match with high importance if he had opened even his Darkness Eye.
"Wizard Merlin, you have my greatest admiration for your courage to construct Six-Elemental spells. I wasn't even bold enough to construct Four-Elemental spells."
Wizard Loan sounded as if he was catching up with a familiar friend that he had not seen in a long time. He was not at all tense like one was supposed to be before a great fight.
"I was only lucky. Wizard Loan will soon become First-level Spell Caster, and that's the real path to becoming a true Wizard."
Merlin replied calmly.
Although both of them appeared unusually calm on the outside, their eyes displayed utmost determination. Not one between the two wished to be defeated in this round.
"Alright, let's get started!"
Wizard Loan gathered his composure, and then shifted his attention toward the several wizard towers standing tall in the distant. His eyes glistened with enthusiasm.
In the meantime, Runic Magic Circle also enveloped the whole high platform, as an intense battle would break out at any moment!
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