In comparison, deriving a Wind-type spell was much simpler. In Merlin's Awareness, he had constructed Zero-level spell Gale, First-level spell Wind of Freedom, Second-level spell Light Breeze, and Third-level spell Shadow Gust.

These spells were speed enhancers and had distinctive features. If Merlin wanted to derive a new Fourth-level spell, it would need to have sufficient speed.

Moreover, a Fourth-level Wind-type spell had another feature, which was to enable flight. Currently, Merlin could only rely on the Flying casting tool to fly, but he was no match for Spell Casters above the Fourth-level in terms of speed.

The exception was if Merlin could merge with Flash Wind. However, this would consume too much energy. Flash Wind was not meant for speeding up journeys, but for battle. It was able to increase one's speed countless times in an instant.

Therefore, if Merlin were to construct a new Fourth-level Flying spell now, there was no doubt that his speed would increase. Furthermore, if it was combined with Flash Wind, Merlin would be even more elusive during battle. If his opponent did not have Binding spells, then no matter how strong they were, they would be of no threat to Merlin.

Thus, the third spell that Merlin derived was a Fourth-level Wind-type spell.

Following that, he activated the Matrix and began deriving a new Fourth-level Wind-type spell. This time, Merlin monitored the changes of the Flame Maxim at all times.

When the Matrix began to derive a new spell, Merlin clearly felt a change in the Flame Maxim. It really was diminishing bit by bit as it was consumed by the Matrix.

Presently, the Flame Maxim was simply being used as an "energy" to support the derivation of a new spell by the Matrix!

The Flame Maxim was not used up too much. It was the same as when he derived Darkness-type spells — the Maxim shrank a little, and the Fourth-level Wind-type spells were derived.

Merlin selected the spell with a hundred percent compatibility which had greater speed and enabled flight. He named it Rainbow Wind because once it was cast along with Flash Wind, it was like a rainbow beam of astonishing speed.

These newly derived spells had never been created by any Spell Caster before. Being unique, they belonged only to Merlin.

In the future, Merlin could pass these on as spells unique to the Wilson clan.

Once the Wind-type spell was derived, Merlin continued with deriving an Earth-type spell. This would be a Defensive spell and was crucial as well. Based on the current state of the Flame Maxim, it could only further support the derivation of one or two spells at most. If Merlin went all out, he could even use up the Flame Maxim entirely and construct all types of Fourth-level spells.

However, if the Flame Maxim disappeared, it would cause more harm than good, and was not worth it at all.

Therefore, Merlin could only derive this last Earth-type spell.

The features of an Earth-type spell were obvious. It possessed great defensive strength. The derived spells would also have high compatibility. In general, most Earth-type spells that were derived could achieve a hundred percent compatibility rate.

As it turned out, it was as Merlin had predicted. A majority of the Earth-type spells that the Matrix had derived had compatibility that was near a hundred percent.

This time, his choice was not so easy. Most of the spells were almost the same, having only subtle differences in certain aspects. Previously, Merlin's Earth-type spells Earth Guard, Guardian Monument, Earth Veil, and Perfect Armor all shared a similar feature – they provided all-around protection.

Among the spells derived by the Matrix, the defense emphasis of the spells varied. Some were customized to defend from the front with terrifying capabilities whereas others were particularly effective in defending against a certain type of spell.

For spells that defended on all sides, their defensive capability on any one side certainly could not compare to those spells. Nevertheless, in terms of overall strength, they were the most powerful!

Naturally, Merlin chose a spell with all-around defenses. He gave it the name Rippling Armor. The reason for this was that the spell had a similar appearance to a suit of armor. Moreover, once Rippling Armor sustained a blow, ripples would spread across the armor as if it was water.

Each layer of these ripples would reduce the power of the attack by a margin. Through the progressive diminishing caused by the innumerable ripples, the force of the attack would dwindle unceasingly until it finally disappeared.

This was the greatest feature of Rippling Armor.

Furthermore, if it was combined with Pandora Demon Ability Fuse Earth, even the peak of the Seventh-level strength would have no way of overcoming Merlin's Rippling Armor.

"Phew…"

Merlin let out a long sigh at last. He had now derived and constructed Incinerating Fire, Darkness Illusory Death, Rainbow Wind, and Rippling Armor – four Fourth-level spells in total. These were all derived by the Matrix through the consumption of the Flame Maxim.

There was just a small ball left of the Flame Maxim. Merlin decided that before he obtained a new Maxim, he would not exploit the Flame Maxim to derive the remaining Thunder-type and Ice-type spells.

Although Merlin was currently still not a Fourth-level Spell Caster, he had already constructed four newly derived spells. Merlin's abilities were greatly improved. All four spells could be merged with a Pandora Demon Ability. If Merlin were to battle with Kleis once more, he did not have to worry even without activating the third form of Darkness Eye.

At the standard of Fourth-level spells, Merlin's utilization of the Matrix to derive spells was truly the greatest advantage. He had become frightening once more. Even if Kleis had cultivated a scary special Pandora Demon Ability, he was likewise still at the stage of the Fourth-level. Merlin, even without Darkness Eye, was not inferior to Kleis!

This was the double effect of Merlin's derivation of new spells and his Pandora Demon Abilities. Of course, if Kleis was able to successfully cultivate the fourth form of Spatial Blade, Merlin would be no match for him. However, only Spell Casters above the Seventh-level would be able to cultivate the fourth form of a special Pandora Demon Ability.

Otherwise, one would end up like Wizard Leo, who had forcibly activated the fourth form of Darkness Eye and died from the backlash.

Merlin sorted out his abilities. In the past, his powers were in a disorder for he had spells, Pandora Demon Abilities, the Flame Maxim, and even his fortified body.

These strengths were all scattered. As for now, Merlin had gradually brought together spells and Pandora Demon Abilities, completely merging them. The outstanding quality of power in Merlin's spells was developed to the fullest.

Even Kleis could not compare to the spells Merlin had constructed in terms of Fourth-level spells. Thus, by adding his Pandora Demon Abilities, Merlin could enhance the might of his spells to the peak of the Seventh-level. Of course, this only applied to Wind-type, Darkness-type, and Earth-type spells. As for Fire-type Fiery Collapse, it was still at its first form. At best, it was equivalent to an average Seventh-level spell and was still far from the peak of the Seventh-level.

"The second form of Fiery Collapse – it's time for another trip to the ancient monument."

Back then, Merlin clearly recalled that when he left the ancient monument, the flame sprite mentioned that if he wanted to cultivate the second and third form of Fiery Collapse, he would have to visit the ancient monument once more. This was because the treasures that enabled the cultivation of the second and third form of Fiery could only be found there.

As he thought of this, Merlin stood up immediately and left the tower.

The Dark Magic Region was as tranquil as before, with no trace of a tense atmosphere, for it could be considered very isolated. Other than the Spell Casters above the Seventh-level at the higher ranks, not many Spell Casters knew about the situation outside.

Most Spell Casters stayed silently in the Dark Magic Region. Here, there were various cultivation resources such as spells, potions, runology, and so on. Naturally, not many Spell Casters would head out voluntarily, and outsiders who came in were undoubtedly uncommon in the Dark Magic Region.

As a result, most Spell Casters of the Dark Magic Region had no knowledge of what the situation outside was like. Only the Seventh-level Spell Casters of the higher levels would occasionally leave the Dark Magic Region to inquire about the developments outside.

In particular, during recent times, even the sole Ninth-level Spell Caster in the Dark Magic Region, Wizard Delma, had left the Dark Magic Region. Obviously, a great change was brewing, so the higher-ups of the Dark Magic Region would frequently go outside to get updates.

Although Merlin had not left the Dark Magic Region, he knew that chaos was imminent. The great change in the entire southern Spell Caster world and the battle with Ozmu was not as simple as one might imagine. The entire southern Spell Caster world would be altered, and every Spell Caster would be embroiled in the conflict.

"Buzz buzz buzz."

The Runic Heartprint appeared on his forehead. Within the Runic Heartprint, Merlin instantly created a Runic Magic Circle. These Runic Magic Circles were originally left behind in the Runic Heartprint. Now that Merlin controlled it, he was able to control the Runic Magic Circles within.

The mysterious Runic Magic Circle began to gradually twinkle with white light, following which it rapidly engulfed Merlin. A powerful pulling force immediately absorbed Merlin into the Runic Magic Circle.

"Whoosh."

In the blink of an eye, Merlin's figure had disappeared from the Dark Magic Region.

…

In the dense mountain forest, lush, towering trees grew branches heavy with leaves. Birds in flight landed on the canopy and flitted around playfully, chirping constantly.

"Swoosh."

A white ray suddenly flickered. Soon, a black-robed figure stepped out from the white light, descending firmly onto the ground.

"There's a Runic Magic Circle here too? How many of these did the Dark Magic Region set up in the beginning?"

This figure was Merlin, who had just left the Dark Magic Region. He had followed the Runic Magic Circle of the Runic Heartprint, roughly determined the direction of the ancient monument, then selected a Runic Magic Circle that was in the general direction.

He did not think that he would be transported so far, immediately reaching the jungle where the ancient monument was.

Merlin turned back and glanced at the ground. Underneath the thick carpet of fallen leaves, there was a buried Runic Magic Circle. It was through this Runic Magic Circle that Merlin had arrived here.

It was obvious that this Runic Magic Circle had not been used for many years. If Merlin had not utilized the Runic Magic Circle in the Runic Heartprint, he would not have known about this Runic Magic Circle.

Back when the Great Wizard Fidel had founded the Dark Magic Region, the main way of entering and exiting was through Runic Magic Circles. Furthermore, in the countless years to come, the Dark Magic Region had set up an unknown number of Runic Magic Circles outside. Now, no one knew how many Runic Magic Circles were arranged in the beginning.

This was also due to the considerations of that time. If the Dark Magic Region was under attack where the attackers had successfully broken through the protection of the Runic Magic Circle, the Spell Casters of the Dark Magic Region could escape in an instant through the Runic Magic Circles by transporting to all sorts of different locations.

These points were all considered by the Great Wizard Fidel. By relying on the Runic Magic Circles, the Dark Magic Region had held on to its mystery for so many years and had not been under much threat since.

It must be said that when the Great Wizard Fidel founded the Dark Magic Region, he had thought of everything. Thus, even if the influence of the Dark Magic Region had declined by much, it did not receive many threats.

"Hmm? The ancient monument should be somewhere nearby up ahead!"

Merlin examined his surroundings. Just as he was looking for the ancient monument, he suddenly felt the presence of the flame sprite. Only those who had cultivated Fiery Collapse would have such a reaction when they were near the flame sprite.

It was clear that the ancient monument was not far from where Merlin stood! As he thought of this, Merlin shut his eyes lightly, carefully sensing the fluctuations of the flame sprite. Thereafter, he determined the direction and walked forward.