"Bam!"

The Ship of Nikola had slammed into something hard. If there was no control, it would be very easy for it to collide into the reef as it shuttled under and through the sea.

Merlin was awoken by the collision. He immediately checked the situation under the sea and discovered that a gigantic piece of reef had blocked the Ship of Nikola.

Merlin had not exercised control over the Ship of Nikola during the time it had been under the sea. He had completely let go and allowed the Ship of Nikola to drift, not afraid at all that anything might damage it due to the ship's strong and solid body.

"Has the Mind Power duplicate in the Bell Space reached its limit again?"

Merlin was aware of a scorching hot feeling of convulsion in his chest and knew that the Mind Power duplicate in the Bell Space had reached the limit once more.

Ever since he had obtained Flash Wind, he had been training day and night aboard the Ship of Nikola. Although the only requirement for Flash Wind was a high fusion rate with a Wind-type Speed spell, it was still extremely difficult to achieve and required a very long period of time. Even after more than two months of training, Merlin had only been able to get Flash Wind to work just a little. He still could not fuse it completely with his Wind-type spell.

Although he had only managed to exert the effect of Flash Wind a little, its speed was still much faster than if he had purely cast spells such as Light Breeze and Wind of Freedom.

"Mind Power duplicate, combine!"

Merlin spoke in a low voice. Fusing the Mind Power duplicate was already a walk in the park for Merlin now; he was clearly very well-versed with it. Hence, the Mind Power duplicate merged with his Mind Power very quickly.

For a moment, there was an obvious increase in Merlin's Mind Power. However, fusing with the Mind Power duplicate once a month was now rather insufficient ever since Merlin's Mind Power had leveled up to the Fourth-level. The increase in Mind Power happened very gradually. Moreover, the Mind Power required for the Fourth to Fifth-levels was incomparably great.

"Looks like it's time to return to the Dark Magic Region!"

Merlin could feel the Mind Power in his body. He was now a Second-level Spell Caster; there were Third-level spells in the first volume of the Neverending Book if he wished to obtain some, but naturally, the power of those spells would be much weaker than spells from the Dark Magic Region. Merlin still had to return to the Dark Magic Region if he wished to construct Third-level spells.

Moreover, the purpose of Merlin coming to the Kurdmansla Islands back then was to find Lava Soil and cultivate the Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth. Lava Soil had already been successfully found, and the Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth had also finally merged with an Earth-type spell.

Therefore, Merlin's purpose had been achieved. Furthermore, not only had he achieved his goal but he had also received an even bigger advantage – Flame Maxim!

Even though the Flame Maxim was still floating quietly in Merlin's Awareness as it had always done, Merlin had been unable to mobilize this Flame Maxim at all during normal days, other than to control the Ship of Nikola. He could only borrow the natural suppressing effect the Flame Maxim had upon flames to forcefully merge Fiery Collapse with a Fire-type spell.

"Where should I keep the Ship of Nikola?"

Merlin wished to return to the Dark Magic Region now. However, it was impossible to bring the Ship of Nikola along with him. He was afraid there would be no guarantee that the gigantic ship, along with its unique built, would not be discovered if it were to come too close to the Kurdmansla Islands.

However, if it were too far, the Ship of Nikola may drift aimlessly along with the currents of the sea and gradually float toward unknown destinations. Then, perhaps even Merlin would not be able to find it.

"Eh? This isn't bad. If we put the Shop of Nikola among this group of reefs, it wouldn't drift away that easily. In the future, if I were to return to the Kurdmansla Islands again, I would be able to sense it easily and mobilize the Ship of Nikola from there!"

Upon seeing the group of reefs that the Ship of Nikola had collided into, Merlin felt that this was an extremely suitable place. These reefs were intricate and complex; the Ship of Nikola would not be pushed away by the undercurrents of the sea. There was also a certain distance between this area and the Kurdmansla Island, but it was still not so far away that Merlin would not be able to sense it.

"Master, everything has been prepared well! The Runic Magic Circle on the Ship of Nikola should be able to send us to a more remote island among the Kurdmansla Islands. It won't attract the attention of the three major factions on the Islands."

Wizard Bammou was like a ghost. His entire body was shrouded in a black robe, and he moved very swiftly, coming and going like a spirit. It was very difficult to defend against him.

Nevertheless, Merlin had long been accustomed to him. He felt very at peace with Wizard Bammou making the arrangements.

"Wizard Bammou, don't call me 'Master' anymore after we leave the Ship of Nikola. Just call me Wizard Merlin."

Merlin spoke in a calm tone of voice, after glancing at the respectful and reverent Wizard Bammou behind him. Although Wizard Bammou was indeed Merlin's slave, Merlin had not usually given Wizard Bammou a hard time. In fact, he had a lot of respect for Wizard Bammou, which caused Wizard Bammou to feel reassured.

He had seen some Spell Casters whose lives, after they had signed slave contracts, became a living hell in front of their 'masters'. They did not have any dignity at all. He felt such grief whenever he thought about those situations.

However, this master of his, Merlin, was not as harsh.

Wizard Bammou pondered for a moment. He ended up obeying Merlin's instructions anyway, and called out softly, "Wizard Merlin, we can leave now!"

Merlin nodded. He gave the Ship of Nikola another glance; Merlin still had two opportunities to temporarily hold the power of a "Legendary Wizard" due to the existence of two-thirds of the Pillars of Flame within the Ship of Nikola, as well as two-thirds of the Flame Maxim that remained in Merlin's Awareness.

However, they must leave the Ship of Nikola now.

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Standing inside the Runic Magic Circle onboard the Ship of Nikola, two beams of white light rapidly covered Merlin and Wizard Bammou respectively. Their figures slowly disappeared.

...

A few seagulls were flapping their wings on a golden beach, playing around with each other. The sea breeze blew gently and occasionally riffled up some gravel to reveal (Reveal What?)

"Swish!"

A beam of white light appeared in the space above the beach. Following which, two figures staggered out from the white light. One of them was a slightly young-looking Spell Caster dressed in a gold-lined gray robe, and the other was a Spell Caster wearing a black robe.

"Wizard Merlin, there aren't any Spell Casters on this small island. It should be the outermost remote island among the Kurdmansla Islands.

These Spell Caster's were Merlin and Wizard Bammou who had just left the Ship of Nikola. The Runic Magic Circle on the Ship of Nikola could only transport them to an approximate location and over an inexact distance. Hence, it was very normal that the location where they had been transported to now had somewhat deviated from where Wizard Bammou had estimated them to land.

Merlin used his Mind Power to sweep his surroundings once. Now that his Mind Power had reached the Fourth-level, the area it could cover was extremely wide. Although he did not have the Mind Power that Wizard Bammou possessed, which could rival that of a Great Wizard and easily check out an entire island, he could still examine his surroundings more clearly.

"That's right. This should be one of the remote islands of the Kurdmansla Islands. It's just nice that there aren't any Spell Casters. We can then quietly leave the Kurdmansla Islands!"

Merlin knew that there were many remote islands like this one in the outer areas of the Kurdmansla Islands. The size of the island's area was not very big, and neither was it of much value. Both Fort Udon and Gray Wing Alliance, and perhaps Wizard's Tower, would not be interested in these remote islands. Naturally, they would not send Spell Casters here.

This was perfect for Merlin and Wizard Bammou. Previously, when the sea beast had attacked the Kurdmansla Islands, Wizard Umo had already released everyone in Fort Udon of their contracts. As a result, Merlin was no longer bound by the contract and could leave whenever he wanted.

Also, Merlin did not plan to return to Fort Udon as he wanted to leave quietly.

Wizard Bammou followed Merlin's eyes and saw that Merlin was looking in the direction of the main island of the Kurdmansla Islands. There seemed to be hints of troubled emotions in his expression.

"Wizard Merlin, should we go and take a look on the mainland?"

Wizard Bammou probed.

Merlin turned his eyes back and shook his head before speaking in a calm tone, "There's no need to go. Let's leave the Kurdmansla Islands like this, without alarming anyone!"

Merlin had remembered the days spent in Fort Udon. Although his time there had been very short, he still missed the harmonious atmosphere in Fort Udon.

Merlin then drew a deep breath. Wisps of Wind Elements appeared on his body. As the green belt took effect, Merlin's figure speedily rose up into the air and, just like Wizard Bammou, flew off the Kurdmansla Islands quickly.

Merlin already possessed the green belt, which was an extremely unique flying casting tool. However, its speed was still naturally much slower than Wizard Bammou. Furthermore, it expended a lot of the Wind-type Magic Power within his Awareness.

Especially now that Merlin was regularly training to increase the fusion rate between Flash Wind and the Wind-type spell during fights to familiarize himself more. Due to that, he often stopped and resumed flight, therefore his speed would gradually fall short of Wizard Bammou.

However, Merlin and Wizard Bammou had been continuously rushing their journey for more than a month before finally and gradually seeing some familiar city walls and moats. It was no longer desolate forests and mountains, or vast flowing rivers.

"Almost reaching the Dark Magic Region!"

Merlin saw the familiar city walls and moats lining the road and quietly calculated the time it would take for him to reach the Dark Magic Region.

Back then, Merlin would take approximately two months to walk from the Dark Magic Region to the Kurdmansla Islands. This time, however, Merlin had the flying casting tool, so he was a lot faster despite the many pauses which caused some delay. After only slightly more than a month's time, he was already reaching the Dark Magic Region.

His trip this time, however, had seen more than three months spent on just traveling. In addition to the time spent on the Kurdmansla Islands as well as on the Ship of Nikola, Merlin had, unconsciously so, been away from the Dark Magic Region for half a year.

"I wonder how Teacher Leo, Laurinka and Emma are now."

Three figures appeared in Merlin's mind. These were the only three people whom Merlin missed in the Dark Magic Region.

"Wizard Bammou, hide out in the small town at the foot of the mountain. I'll go back to the Dark Magic Region and take a look at the situation first."

Merlin spoke to Wizard Bammou. He wanted Wizard Bammou to settle down first. After all, only the Dark Magic Ring could grant entry into the Dark Magic Region. Without the Dark Magic Ring, there was no way into the Dark Magic Region.

Therefore, even though Wizard Bammou was a Seventh-level Spell Caster, he could only hide in a small town.

Only after making arrangements for Wizard Bammou did Merlin return to the front of the Runic Magic Circle for the Dark Magic Region. He stretched out the Dark Magic Ring gently, took a deep breath and said, "I'm finally back again!"

"Swoosh!"

A beam of white light flashed inside the Runic Magic Circle as it shrouded Merlin. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.