There were many people crowding at the high platforms; every one of them drew a number plate. Merlin waited until Elena and the others had all drawn theirs before going forward to casually receive a number plate from the hands of a gray-robed Wizard.

Elena was curious so she asked, "Wizard Merlin, what number did you draw?"

"Sixteen."

Merlin waved the number plate in his hand, revealing the number on it.

Elena nodded and said, "Mine is twenty-six. I don't know whom I'll be facing."

After waiting for approximately another half an hour, the gray-robed Wizards on the high platforms recorded the number plates of every Spell Caster who joined the conference. Thus, the matches began on four platforms concurrently.

"The first match – Wizard Gera against Wizard Behrendt!"

After the gray-robed Wizard announced the names, two Spell Casters immediately walked forward from amongst the crowd. The gray-robed Wizard retreated from the high platform only after they had taken their positions.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The mysterious runes all around the high platform flashed with lights, forming a gigantic protective shroud which covered the entire high platform. These Runic Magic Circles were used to protect the crowds below so that they would not be hit by the impact of the spells. The protective cover formed by these mysterious Runic Magic Circles seemed capable of withstanding the attacks of Fourth-level spells.

Therefore, as long as the Runic Magic Circle had been activated, it was absolutely unnecessary to worry about the two men in the match affecting the crowds beneath them.

"Gera!"

"Behrendt!"

The two participants exchanged their names, observing the most basic form of formalities. Then, in a dash, Wizard Gera's figure appeared in front of Behrendt like a ghost.

"Wind Blade!"

Wizard Gera did not hesitate. He released a Wind-type Offensive spell. Suddenly, there were hundreds and thousands of swift and fierce Wind Blades all over the sky, drawing toward Wizard Behrendt in an overwhelming way.

Wizard Behrendt did not even have time to react when he saw Wind Blades filling the skies and the earth. He was so shocked that his footsteps staggered and he almost fell. He did not seem to have any Defensive spells. Thus, faced with Wizard Gera, who had struck pre-emptively and moved at such a high speed, there was no prospect of victory for him at all.

Thus, Behrendt yelled hastily, "I admit defeat!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

All the hundreds and thousands of Wind Blades hit Wizard Behrendt's body brutally. Nevertheless, the moment Wizard Behrendt uttered the two words, "admit defeat", the Runic Magic Circle which covered the high platform immediately flashed with a beam of light and enveloped Behrendt. No matter how the Wind Blades attacked him, they were unable to harm him in the least.

This was also another safety measure taken by the Dark Magic Region to prevent casualties. As long as a Spell Caster surrendered, he would receive immediate protection.

Merlin shook his head slightly. Both these Spell Casters could not be considered really powerful. As a matter of fact, he was able to see that there was no difference between their respective true strengths; both were about the same. However, Wizard Gera had gained the pre-emptive advantage in addition to the fact that Behrendt had been somewhat restricted due to the nature of his spells. These were the only reasons why he had won so easily.

Apart from these, the battles on the other high platforms were also coming to an end quickly. Most of these Spell Casters were Three-Elemental Wizards, and the spells they had built were not strong ones.

Merlin had even hoped to learn some techniques from the battles amongst these Spell Casters. However, from the looks of it, they seemed to be too weak. He no longer had the desire to watch them attentively.

"Next round – Wizard Merlin against Wizard Ida!"

Just as Merlin was beginning to feel somewhat bored, the gray-robed Wizard announced his name.

"Oh? Is it my turn now?"

Merlin stood up and looked around. Elena and the rest of the nine Spell Casters had not gone onstage. However, there were three of them whose names had been announced this time. Like Merlin, they would be going onstage to face their respective opponents.

"Wizard Merlin, you must defeat him!"

Elena was brandishing her small fists; she seemed to be even more excited about this than about going up onstage herself.

Merlin walked to the high platform. Standing opposite him was a burly man who had an imposing and stocky build1, with both sides of his jowls covered in an abundance of thick and black hair. He looked just like a barbarian, and a strong and vigorous barbarian at that.

"I'm called Ida!"

"Merlin!"

After they exchanged their names, the gray-robed Wizard immediately left the high platform. The Runic Magic Circle covered the high platform and the match officially began.

"Huuu..."

A gentle breeze blew. Merlin did not make his move immediately as he wished to wait for his opponent to strike first. However, Wizard Ida, whose physique seemed to contain much oppressive force, was very careful and diligent. He did not release any spells as well.

Merlin frowned. Deciding not to wait any longer, he stretched his hand out and pointed with his finger. A cluster of dense fog immediately appeared.

"Dark Mist!"

This was merely a typical Dark Mist but it shrouded nearly half of the high platform. A wave of dizziness swept over Wizard Ida's mind and his expression immediately became sluggish. It was obvious that he had already been plunged into an illusion.

"Frost!"

Seeing that Wizard Ida had clearly fallen into a state of illusion, Merlin cast Frost as well, freezing the completely vulnerable Wizard Ida with ease.

Following that, Merlin did not launch any other attacks. He dispersed Dark Mist and watched Wizard Ida with slightly narrowed eyes as Wizard Ida slowly came to his senses.

Realizing the situation he was in, Wizard Ida felt very embarrassed. As his face turned red, he could only say in a low voice, "I admit defeat!"

Merlin smiled at him and walked off the high platform immediately to wait for the next match.

"Wizard Merlin, the spell that you've just released – was it Dark Mist?"

Merlin had just reached the area off the platform when he saw Elena blinking her huge eyes continuously, asking him the question in surprise and delight.

"It really is Dark Mist!"

There was nothing to hide concerning this, so Merlin nodded in admittance.

Elena immediately spoke in an envious tone, "To think that you're able to construct Dark Mist's Spell Model, that's not easy at all. It looks like those gray-robed Wizards made a mistake when they assigned you to Wizard Leo's tower!"

"Oh? Is there anything special about Dark Mist?"

Merlin's expression changed. He lowered his voice and asked.

"Dark Mist is a quite powerful Zero-level spell but its Spell Model is extremely complicated. Actually, many Spell Casters wish to build this spell, but none of them have any confidence because the Spell Model is simply too difficult, so they give up. You're able to build Dark Mist's Spell Model so I really don't know why those gray-robed Wizards assigned you to Wizard Leo's tower."

Elena explained the reason in detail to Merlin and it turned out that the construction of Dark Mist was not so easy. It made sense now as Merlin felt it was strange to have so few Spell Casters who had built Dark Mist, which was such a useful Zero-level spell.

Merlin could fully understand the fact that the Spell Model was too complicated. Furthermore, the amount of Mind Power exhausted by Dark Mist was far more than what was required for any typical Zero-level spells.

A short while later, Merlin saw that the other three Spell Casters had also returned from their matches. Nevertheless, he knew for sure that they had lost judging by their dejected and abnormally beaten-up looks.

Out of the four of them, Merlin was the only one who had won with ease during this round.

Subsequently, the remaining few took part in their first matches as well. However, none of them could pass the first match, including Elena. She had been a little better off than the others as she possessed a Spell Scroll. Hence, her situation had appeared to be slightly better and she took the initiative to surrender.

Except for Merlin, Wizard Leo's students had been eliminated after the first match of the conference. If Merlin had not been there, Wizard Leo's students would have probably been completely stricken out1 during the first match.

Merlin could only shake his head helplessly as it was no surprise that the Spell Casters from other Wizard Towers felt overconfident at the mention of those who came from Wizard Leo's tower.

Merlin saw Wizard Leo, who was sitting on the high stone chair at the front of the square. There was nothing out of the ordinary about his expression. In fact, he looked calm.

"The second round – Wizard Merlin against Wizard Warren!"

Merlin heard the gray-robed Wizard call out his name once more; this was his second round of competition.

"It's him, Wizard Merlin. My opponent earlier was him. You must teach him a severe lesson!"

Elena had become somewhat agitated upon seeing the Spell Caster who had appeared on the high platform. It turned out that Wizard Warren was the Spell Caster who had defeated Elena earlier.

"Don't worry."

Merlin smiled. A confident grin revealed on his face. He immediately walked up onto the high platform.

"Merlin!"

"Warren!"

After both men had announced their names, the entire high platform was instantaneously protected by the Runic Magic Circle. This time, Merlin did not wait and struck first.

"Dark Mist!"

Merlin's attack was still Dark Mist. A vast fog immediately appeared, and although Warren had already prepared himself, his Mind Power was still unable to reach a level where he could break Dark Mist apart.

Therefore, Warren was inescapably plunged into an illusion as his expression became blank and sluggish.

"Crack!"

Just like Wizard Ida from the previous match, Wizard Warren was also rapidly frozen by ice crystals. Thus, the battle ended quickly.

It felt as though that it had just been a blink of an eye from the moment Merlin first struck until the end of the battle. Moreover, the spells Merlin had cast were identical to those from his previous match.

"Who's this man? Both matches were the same – all he did was cast two spells and the battle was over."

"That's Dark Mist. All Spell Casters who're able to construct Dark Mist's Spell Model aren't simple fellows. This Wizard Merlin, I wonder which Wizard Tower does he belong to?"

"Eh? Come, look quickly, he's walking toward the Spell Casters from Wizard Leo's tower. Could it be that he's Wizard Leo's student?"

Perhaps the first round, in which Merlin had defeated Ida without breaking a sweat, had not attracted much attention. This second round, however, Merlin had done the exact same thing by using the same two spells to defeat his second opponent. This had caught the eyes of some people.

However, there were odd expressions on many people's faces after they discovered that Merlin was Wizard Leo's student.

Merlin returned to the area beneath the platform once more. Elena could not contain her exhilaration – not only Merlin had helped her but also Merlin had won the second round. After so many years, this was the best battle result during a conference they had amongst Wizard Leo's students, after Sauron.

"Wizard Merlin, vindicate us, you must charge through the third round!"

All of a sudden, the few Spell Casters, who had already been eliminated during the first matches and had not even dared to speak loudly, were clenching their fists tightly. They looked at Merlin with excitement on their faces. A sliver of anticipation seemed to flash through their eyes.

The Chinese phrase used to describe him 虎背熊腰, literally means "the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear"The Chinese idiom used here, 全軍覆沒, is literally translated as "a complete annihilation of an army"