Councilor Delkon watched the table like a hawk. He was anxious to return to the mage tower and visit Merlin's workshop. As soon as the last person, Rijana, finished eating, the mage stood up. He placed a gold coin to cover the cost of food and tips. "Let's gather in the lobby," he requested.

I rose from my seat and followed Van out of the VIP room. As I passed by the common room, the patrons noticed my presence.

"Successor!" they acknowledged while lowering of heads in my direction.

I waved politely at the patrons.

My party gathered in the lobby.

I walked over to the reception desk, which was manned by Bernetta this morning. "We're leaving now. We won't be returning to our rooms," I told her.

The brunette woman bowed deeply. "I apologize for the disturbance in your room last night."

"I apologize as well," Councilor Delkon added with a deep bow to me.

I waved my hand. "It's out of your control."

The councilor was secretly relieved to hear that I did not hold the Magic Guild responsible for the despicable act of the two rogue mages. "I'm going to create a Gate connecting to the front of the mage tower," he announced. Master Delkon closed his eyes and cast the spell.

I noticed that he was able to cast Gate faster than Rijana.

A green portal appeared before the spellcaster.

Van and Bila walked through the portal to check the other side. A moment later, Bila stuck her paw through the magical gate and gave a thumbs-up.

Rijana entered with Bjoukin and Bjoukia.

I nodded at Delkon and then entered the shimmering portal.

The spellcaster was the last to walk through, and he closed the portal behind him.

We reappeared in front of the entrance to the mage tower.

Councilor Delkon marched right in and waited for the rest of my party to enter. "Please hold hands," he requested, and we quickly formed a circle. The mage turned toward me and said, "You need to use the power word, 'Merlin.'"

"Merlin!" I repeated the word. My world turned into a kaleidoscope as my group teleported to another floor. My dizziness cleared a moment later. "The possessor of the black key is the only one who could teleport to this level?" I inquired.

"Yes," Delkon nodded.

We were standing in an empty room and before us was a black door. The surface of the door had depictions of the Gods of the Pantheon. There were twelve in total. Some of them, such as Bane and Musa, I recognized immediately while some other faces I wasn't familiar.

I reached into my pocket and took out the black key. It started humming. When I inserted the key into the keyhole, I heard a loud "DING!"

Suddenly, a ghost emerged from the door!

I felt the entire room freeze over, and my body started shivering uncontrollably.

The ghost huffed angrily in a whisper, "Who dares to enter the workshop of Merlin the Sorcerer Supreme?" Its malicious eyes glowed red as it swept the room and judged our worthiness to seek entry.

I held up the Staff of Merlin in front of its face. "I'm Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, Merlin's rightful Successor," I announced boldly.

The ghost's eyes squinted as it stared at the relic for a moment before they turned back toward me. "You?" it cackled. "You're no mighty wizard! You can't even cast a Ninth-Tier spell!" the guardian snorted.

Seeing that the ridicule flustered me, Van pushed me aside. "Enough! If you refuse to recognize Brother Mulligan as Merlin's Successor, then we will destroy you!" he threatened.

"Hahahaha!" the ghost laughed out loud. "A tiny man-ling like you will do nothing of the sort," it smirked.

I grabbed the hot-headed paladin by the shoulder and pulled him back. I looked at the ghost directly in the eyes. "I hold Merlin's Staff. What must I do to gain entry into his workshop?" I asked curtly.

The guardian suddenly smiled at me. It wagged a finger in my face. "Now, THAT is the right question!" it beamed with delight. The ghost reached out with its hand over my heart. "I need to drain a portion of your essence."

"Why?" I demanded to know.

"There are additional guardians behind the door. Once the guardians receive a sample of your essence, you will be our new master," the ghost explained.

I was surprised that the guardian suddenly became so forthcoming. Seeing no way to avoid its demand, I replied, "Go ahead."

The spectral hand reached into my chest, and I felt a coldness gripe my heart! I felt a brief, sharp pain.

Thankfully, the ghost withdrew its hand immediately.

I glanced at my in-game notification, and it read: "-5 Permanent Health." Ouch! I was astonished to learn that the loss of health was permanent.

Councilor Delkon noticed my grimace and asked, "Are you okay, Successor?"

I gritted my teeth. "I'm fine."

*BAM* The ghost waved its arm, and the door flew open. The guardian bowed deeply to me and disappeared into the wall.

When I stepped into the room, globes hanging from the ceiling suddenly activated and bathed the room with a soft light. I saw many bookshelves lining the left side of the room. There were small wooden tables and chairs in front of the shelves. On the right side was a cauldron on top of what appeared to be heating stones. Next to it were more shelves; some shelves had small drawers while others held trays of glass vials. A long table was nearby, and on it were beakers, small bowls, and several sets of mortar and pestle.

Further into the room was a bed, a study desk and chair, and more bookshelves plus a cabinet. Believing that Merlin's spellbook may be on the shelf, I quickly walked across the floor. Before I reached the study, two shadowy creatures appeared and confronted me!

"Halt! Unauthorized visitors shall not pass beyond this point," one of the shadows challenged me.

I showed the guardians the Staff of Merlin and said defiantly, "I'm Merlin's Successor, and I have the right to access his study."

The shadow who spoke reached out with its incorporeal hand to grasp the magic item. *Ding* The Guardian released the artifact. "Merlin's Staff is bound to this flesh thing," it admitted.

"You may proceed," the other shadow said before dissipating.

I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew that shadows were difficult opponents which could be harmed only by magic. If I were to start tossing fireballs and lightning bolts at the guardians, I would risk damaging the fragile items in Merlin's study.

Once the shadows were gone, Councilor Delkon walked briskly past me to reach the bookshelves. He started examining the titles on the book spines.

I joined him. I was prepared to blow off the dust from the book spines, but I discovered there was no dust at all! Soon, I learned that the upper shelves held notebooks kept by Merlin to record his experimentations. The lower shelves held some treatises on alchemy. Additionally, there were some bestiaries, written by Melin, on various monsters he encountered during his adventuring days along with their weaknesses and natural habitats.

Since none of the books captured my interest, I soon left Delkon at the bookshelves, and I started exploring the rest of the floor. As I walked along a wall, the staff abruptly emitted a "ding" sound. My body froze immediately, and I turned to face the wall directly.

I squinted my eyes and stared at the wall for a solid minute before I bravely touched the wall. I braced myself for possibly triggering a trap. To my surprise, a panel on the wall slid open, revealing a walk-in closet. Hanging on the rack were many robes in various colors. Above the clothes rack was a shelf; on the shelf were several traditional-looking wizard hats with pointy tops. However, I noticed something else on the shelf--a spellbook!

While tampering down my excitement, I pushed aside the hats and took the spellbook off the shelf. The book had a black leather cover. When I tried to open the book, the front cover resisted at first. But I heard the telltale "ding" sound again, and the spellbook eventually lost its resistance to me. I started flipping through the pages, and I saw that the book was, indeed, a spellbook. Some of the spells ran a dozen pages in length.

"What did you find?" someone asked.

I turned around, and I saw Councilor Delkon. Without comment, I handed him Merlin's spellbook.

The blue mage's eyes widened, and his hands shook as Delkon took the precious book from me. He started flipping through the pages. He whistled as he surveyed the names of the spells. Finally, Delkon closed the book with a "clup," and he returned Merlin's spellbook to me. "This is a partial spellbook. It collects all the known Ninth-Tier spells," he announced.

Delkon's brows knitted. "How high are your Intelligence Attribute and your Read Magic skill?" he inquired suddenly.

"I have 43 points in Intelligence, and my skill is Level 9 in Read Magic," I answered honestly. I ignored the fact that my Staff of Merlin provided another 10 points in Intelligence.

The councilor's eyes widened in surprise. Delkon was very impressed by my answer. "I didn't expect those numbers to be that high," he admitted readily. "If Lady Luck is on your side, you should have a decent chance of learning those spells."

"What Ninth-Tier spells should I try to learn first?" I asked.

Delkon thought for a moment. "Meteor Swarm is a must have because you will be going off to war soon," he answered in a somber tone of voice. "Gate is handy to know; the guild branches are always seeking members who know this spell to help maintain travel between the branches. The third spell would be Prismatic Sphere. It is the ultimate protection spell against physical and magical attacks."

I nodded in appreciation. However, I saw the look of disappointment in Delkon eyes. "Is something wrong?" I asked out of concern. He was among the first persons to enter Merlin's workshop in centuries. How could Delkon be disappointed with this visit?

My host was reluctant to answer. Finally, he said, "I was hoping to find some secret, undisclosed inventions of Merlin in this workshop, something that I could take out of here and examine. Unfortunately, I found nothing of the sort. Even the Ninth-Tier spells in this partial spellbook are obtainable via other sources. Some unusual guardians are protecting this workshop, but that's dependent on the skill of the monster summoner, and these summonings cannot be replicated easily. In the end, there's nothing that I could take from Merlin's workshop and share with my guildmates." Delkon sighed deeply with disappointment.

"I'm sorry," I said.

The blue mage chuckled. "There's nothing for YOU to apologize for. Merlin was a stingy man and this habit extended to anything he chose to leave behind in this workshop, which is essentially nothing." Delkon shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I should take my leave. I'm sure you need some time alone to study from the spellbook. I bid you a good day, Successor." Delkon bowed deeply to me and left the workshop.

Once he was gone, I shook my head. The idiom, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," definitely held true in my case. Merlin's spellbook had saved me the trouble of seeking the scrolls for Gate and Meteor Swarm at the Magic Bazaar. I suspected that time would be in short supply for me once The Twelve summons me. Thus, I should spend the rest of today copying Ninth-Tier spells from Merlin's spellbook.

I looked around the floor, and I saw that my companions were all preoccupied. In particular, I saw that Bjoukin was slowly opening each drawer in the cabinet to identify the ingredients and examine their conditions. Rijana and Bjoukia were seated at the table and reading books. Bila folded her body and slept on the couch.

I called up my Player Status screen. A picture of my player avatar was in the left column and right above that read: “Title: Pursuer of the Crown, Title: Merlin's Successor, Title: Spirit Magi, Title: Matter User, Title: Anti-Matter User, Title: Dragonslayer, Title: Finalist in the Melee Tournament, Title: Undead Hunter, Title: Were-Hunter, Title: Avenger of the Town Judge Wachtel; Title: Liege of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship, Title: Protector of Southampton, Status: Member of the Mage Guild, Status: Journeyman of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship, Status: Adept of the Church of Britannia, Status: Town Judge of Tregome, Status: Honorary member of the Tregome Bordermen, Status: True Friend of Burnhamm Village.”

The middle column read: "Name: Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, Race: Human, Alignment: Lawful Good, Permanent Conditions: Marked by Bane, Marked by Musa, Marked by Luck, Marked by Gaea, Marked by Jasla, Marked by Leonus; Profession: Mage/Swordsman, Level: 15, Experience: 146,050/120,000, Reputation: 85,402, Attack: 62, Damage: 10-12 (Unarmed), 12-16 (Dagger), 12-22 (Long Sword), Critical Attack: 12%, Critical Damage: 300%."

On the right side of the screen, my player attributes were listed as follows: "Health: 135, Stamina: 88, Magic: 102, Strength: 25, Intelligence: 43 (+10), Wisdom: 18 (+11), Dexterity: 20, Constitution: 30, Charisma: 18. Abilities: Navigation-Sense (Level 7), Magic Sense (Level 10/MAX), Immunity to Electricity (Level 2), Immunity to Fear (Level X), Negotiation (Level 5), Spirit Sense (Level 10/MAX), Reroll (Level X)."

At the bottom were six tabs. The first tab was marked, "Skills." When I mentally clicked on the tab, I saw: "Professional Skills: Mage—Read Magic (Level 9); Swordsman—Dual-Weld (Level X), Charge (Level 6), Disarm (Level 4), First Strike (Level 3), Slide Step (Level 4), Duel Winner (Level 2), Sprint (Level 1), One Hundred Butterflies (Level 1); Staff—Impenetrable Dome (Level 1)."

The second tab was "Magic Spells: General (Level 8+1)—Detect Trap, Light, Dispel Magic, Enchant Magic Item, Enhance Minor Attribute, Permanency, Summon Elemental, Anti-Magic Shell; Fire (Level 8+1)—Fire Bolt, Flaming Sphere, Fireball, Protection from Fire; Water (Level 4+1)—Acid Arrow, Iceball, Acid Storm; Earth (Level 4+1)—Armor, Web, Earth Spike; Air (Level 6+1)—Magic Missile, Invisibility, Fly, Lightning Bolt, Recall; Light (Level 3+1)—Protection from Undead; Dark (Level 4+1)—Dark Vision, Darkness."

The third tab was: "Divine Spells: Order—Unveil (Level X), Call of the Wild (Level X), Chaos—Veil (Level X), Charm Opposite Sex (Level X); Life—Minor Heal (Level X)."

The fourth tab was "Artifacts," and it revealed: "Truth-Stone of Order and Chaos—Truth-Telling (Level X); Copper Ring of Wisdom +1; Staff of Merlin; Merlin's Legacy (key, card)."

The fifth tab was "Followers," and it listed: "Bila, Journeyman Swordswoman."

The final tab was "Leylines," and it listed: "Divine Forest of Gaea (Earth); Hleandro's Lair (Fire); Southampton Water (Water); Southampton Harbor (Wind); Primrose Hill (Wind)."

My Health was initially at 140 points. The Guardian of Merlin's Workshop drained 5 Health from me permanently, thereby dropping my Health to 135 points. I was shocked and dismayed at losing my Health since I was a fighter and needed as much Health as possible to survive fights and duels. But this was a small price to pay for access to all of Merlin's workshops, and I made peace with my loss of Health.

I advanced my Character Level to 17 so that I could access Ninth-Tier spells. To my disappointment, I needed 153,000 XP to reach Level 18. I currently had 146,000 points, meaning that I needed an additional 7,000 XP to advance again.

I added the five attribute points from raising my character level into my Intelligence; its score was now 48 (+10). The reason was that the Intelligence attribute was a primary factor in determining whether I succeed in learning a new magic spell or not. Since I will try to learn Ninth-Tier spells, I wanted to give myself as much of an advantage as possible. It would be disastrous if I fail to learn either Meteor Swarm or Gate; I MUST learn these spells!

Looking at my status report again, I saw that my new Health was 147 points, and my Attack score was now 64 points. My Critical Attack and Damage remained the same.

I decided that the first spell I will attempt to copy was Gate. I returned to the study. I sat in the chair behind the small desk near the bed. I pulled out my writing equipment and my spellbook. I opened Merlin's book and flipped through it until I found the Gate spell. I took a deep breath and started copying. Five hours later, dice rolled inside my head. "Read magic SUCCESSFUL. +250 XP. Spell of air LEARNED: Gate. +250 XP."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was happy that I was able to copy the Gate spell. Now, for round two. I turned the pages of Merlin's spellbook until I found Meteor Swarm. I took a deep breath and started copying the spell into my book. Another five hours rolled by in an instant, and I heard dice rolling in my mind again. "Read magic SUCCESSFUL. Level 10, +250 XP. Spell of earth LEARNED: Meteor Swarm. +250 XP."

I blinked my eyes. My stomach rumbled. I felt eyes staring at me. "What time is it?" I asked aloud.

"It's an hour before midnight," a female voice answered.

I recognized the voice as belonging to Rijana.

My magic instructor placed something on the table. "You should eat this because you missed the evening meal at The Trade Wind," she said.

I saw dried rations and a waterskin. I sighed with disappointment at the sight of the unappealing food but said, "Thank you."

"May I look at Merlin's spellbook?" she asked as I started eating.

"Sure," I replied after swallowing my food. "I already copied Gate and Meteor Swarm tonight. Which spell should I try to learn next?" I inquired.

Rijana shook her head. "No wonder you had to miss dinner. You were fortunate to copy two Ninth-Tier spells successfully back-to-back," she remarked with a slight frown.

"I don't have the luxury of waiting to copy them later," I replied in self-defense.

The enchanter sighed. "I suppose not," she admitted. "To answer your question, I recommend that you copy Time Stop next."

I stopped eating. "Why?" I was surprised to learn that Rijana had a different opinion than Delkon, who recommended Prismatic Sphere.

Rijana closed Merlin's spellbook and placed it on the table. "Time Stop allows you create a small field around you where time ceases momentarily. This spell effect can turn into a critical advantage during your fight with Arthur. More importantly, Time Stop is one of the few spells which can circumvent an Anti-Magic barrier," she explained.

"Ah!" I nodded. I didn't realize the barrier could be circumvented! "I will copy the spell tonight," I agreed.

"No!" my instructor said while placing a hand on my arm. "You need your rest. You can try to learn it tomorrow."

I opened my mouth to reject her suggestion, but Rijana dug her fingernails into my arms. She stared directly into my eyes until I yielded to her. "Fine," I sulked.

"Good," Rijana smiled and released my arm. "I'll borrow the book if you don't mind." The enchanter took Merlin's spellbook, and it disappeared into her Bag of Holding before I could deny her.

I resumed eating my bland rations. Thankfully, Rijana left me alone.