Now, the six spells in Merlin's Awareness had all become First-level spells after he had constructed Dark Light Realm. He had also reached a balanced level.

There were great advantages of having a balanced level. At the very least, Merlin needed to maintain the Spell Models in his Awareness, which required him to expend a huge amount of Mind Power as he was afraid that the Spell Models would collapse due to imbalance.

However, Merlin no longer needed so much Mind Power to maintain the Spell Models in his Awareness.

Furthermore, as he had become a First-level Spell Caster, the maximum capacity of the Magic Power of the Spell Models in Merlin's Awareness would be upgraded again. This meant that Merlin's strength would increase by at least a few folds once he had become a First-level Spell Caster.

Merlin stood up slowly. He was feeling the changes within his Awareness. Now that he had become a First-level Spell Caster, it seemed as though there was finally a "powerful" sensation.

"Time to pass the checkpoint!"

Merlin had been stuck in the ancient tower for more than three months. The spell construction of Dark Light Realm had been successful, and his strength had greatly increased, so he could try to pass through the checkpoint once more.

Merlin had just walked out from the anechoic chamber when the flame sprite flew out from the flame-shaped statue. It sized Merlin up with one glance, before speaking with a hint of delight in its voice, "Congratulations, Wizard Merlin, for finally becoming a First-level Spell Caster! Now that your strength has greatly improved, are you going to pass through that checkpoint?"

"That's right, I'm ready to try to get through the checkpoint once more to retrieve the treasures left behind by the master of the ancient tower. Then, I'm able to cultivate the first form of Fiery Collapse and leave the ancient tower."

Merlin nodded as he spoke.

"Very well. I shall open the secret chamber so you may go in. It's still the same rule. The moment you've no confidence in defeating Lister, leave the area of the secret chamber. Lister has absolutely no way to leave the secret chamber."

As it had done before, the flame sprite explained to Merlin the things he needed to take caution of. Merlin nodded before taking a deep breath, and immediately stepped into the secret chamber.

Merlin had just stepped into the secret chamber when he saw the "rabbit" guardian once again, curled up in the corner with a body of snow-white fur.

"Here again, little fellow?"

The "rabbit" guardian lifted its head and glanced at Merlin coldly. Thereafter, the "rabbit" guardian slowly stood up. With some astonishment in its voice, it said, "Little fellow, looks like you've not wasted the past few months. You've actually become a First-level Spell Caster!"

Merlin did not feel surprised at all. The flame sprite had been able to sense the change in him in just one glance, so perhaps this "rabbit" guardian also possessed the same strange ability to sense that Merlin had become a First-level Spell Caster with just one look.

Merlin nodded and said, "That's right, I'm here today to pass through the checkpoint."

"Hehe, little fellow, don't hold back in showing me your strongest tricks. I've not had a good exercise in many years. You were just too weak last time..."

The "rabbit" guardian spoke nonchalantly.

Merlin's expression was calm. He did not continue speaking. However, gray stone tablets quickly appeared from his body and surrounded Merlin.

This was the strengthened version of Guardian Monument released by Merlin using the Enhancing casting tool. Only after his defense had been set in place did Merlin immediately activate the First-level spell that had just been successfully constructed in his Awareness – Dark Light Realm!

"Dark Light Realm!"

Merlin let out a low growl. In mere moments, a light began to distort at a fast pace within the room that had been somewhat dark and dim before. In an instant, everything turned pitch-black. Even Mind Power was unable to probe for anything.

"A Darkness-type spell?"

For the first time, there was a change in the "rabbit" guardian's tone of voice. Immediately, Merlin could feel a violent fluctuation of Ice Elements and a thick slab of ice crystal surrounded the "rabbit" guardian's body, protecting it.

Although Merlin's Dark Light Realm was just a First-level spell, it was able to cause even Wizards who had the Mind Power level of a Third-level Spell Caster to fall into an illusion.

The "rabbit" guardian's Mind Power was extremely strong as well; it probably reached the peak of a Third-level Spell Caster. The ordinary First-level spell, Dark Light Realm, that Merlin cast did not cause the "rabbit" guardian to fall into an illusion. However, the "rabbit" guardian's tone of voice had also become solemn. It was obvious that coping with this would not be as easy as it had been a few months ago.

Three months ago, the "rabbit" guardian had dealt with Merlin in a way that had rendered him powerless to even put up a resistance.

Seeing that the ordinary Dark Light Realm did not seem to be affecting the "rabbit" guardian much, Merlin released a string of Dark Light Realms. Suddenly, he cast the strengthened version of Dark Light Realm.

Immediately, the entire room fell into pitch-black darkness. The ordinary Dark Light Realm was only able to cause Wizards with the Mind Power level of a Third-level Spell Caster to fall into an illusion, but the strengthened version of Dark Light Realm could plunge those with the peak of Third-level and even Fourth-level Spell Casters into illusions.

The "rabbit" guardian, which had still been able to control the Ice Elements earlier had already been plunged into an illusion after Merlin had released the strengthened version of Dark Light Realm. The only protection left for it was the thick slab of ice wall around it.

"Furious Flame!"

Merlin quickly released Furious Flame. With the great Mind Power that he possessed now, his control over spells was superb; not the slightest bit of the flames under his control escaped as they rumbled quickly toward the "rabbit" guardian.

Furthermore, it was not just a single Furious Flame that Merlin had released. He had let out ten of them consecutively. Half of the room was practically submerged in flames as the horrifying temperatures burnt everything in the chamber.

Merlin fixed his gaze quietly upon the fire that was spreading in the room. There was no way that the "rabbit" guardian, which had already been plunged into an illusion by Dark Light Realm, would be able to withstand this.

The strengthened version of Dark Light Realm could plunge Spell Casters at the peak of Third-level and even Fourth-level Spell Casters into illusions, including this "rabbit" guardian who was merely an Elemental Being. No matter how powerful it was, it was exposed to be slaughtered by anyone the moment it fell into an illusion.

This was also the powerful aspect of a Darkness-type spell, Dark Light Realm. Otherwise, Merlin would not have spent such a long time and so much effort to construct it.

The power of Dark Light Realm did not disappoint Merlin at all; it had defeated the powerful "rabbit" guardian the first time Merlin released it.

Soon, the flames began to gradually disappear. At the same time, the effects of Dark Light Realm started to weaken until light reappeared in the room. By then, the powerful "rabbit" guardian's white fur had become charred black, releasing an extremely horrible burnt smell.

"Dead?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly. Having been plunged into an illusion, the "rabbit" guardian had been forcefully subjected to more than ten of Merlin's Furious Flame attacks. It would not be able to withstand it even though it was an Elemental Being.

"Crack."

Just as Merlin was ready to walk further into the secret chamber, the "rabbit" guardian's body emitted a strange noise. The surface of its body began to crack, revealing snow-white fur.

"Little fellow, you've won. Go in!"

Suddenly, the "rabbit" guardian that had turned charred black spoke once more to Merlin.

"You're not dead?"

Merlin felt very astonished. He had clearly felt the power of Furious Flame earlier; there was absolutely no way for a body of flesh and blood to withstand that. It was obvious that the "rabbit" guardian had evolved from an Elemental Monster to an Elemental Being. It would not have been able to resist the attack of more than ten Furious Flames.

"How can I be dead? Elemental Beings like us evolve through special means by the previous master, but we didn't go through complete evolution and had only been able to evolve halfway. Don't think we're just bodies of flesh and blood; the insides of our bodies are still made of Ice Elements. We wouldn't die even if we're attacked by much stronger spells. As long as we're in this secret chamber, we can practically revive without limit. Unless the entire ancient tower is destroyed, in which case we would naturally disappear."

This "rabbit" guardian slowly explained everything. It turned out that the "rabbit" guardian was not a complete Elemental Being; it had merely evolved into half of an Elemental Monster. Only the surface of its body was flesh and blood; the rest of it was made of Ice Elements.

Furthermore, it could only move in the area of this secret chamber. This "rabbit" guardian would be able to revive instantly no matter how strong the attacks were.

However, the command given to it by the master of the ancient tower was just to stop Spell Casters who came to pass through the checkpoint. Once it was defeated, the checkpoint would be deemed to have been passed. Hence, it was unnecessary to kill the "rabbit" guardian.

Hence, Merlin had now successfully passed the checkpoint. Even though the "rabbit" guardian had revived, it would not attack him anymore.

Suddenly, there was a rumble.

As the "rabbit" guardian's voice died down, the thick slab of stone door opened once more. There was yet another secret chamber inside. This was where the master of the ancient tower had left his treasures.

Quickly, Merlin gave the "rabbit" guardian a slight nod before entering the innermost secret chamber.

...

The secret chamber was not very spacious. There were many gigantic pearls embedded in the four walls surrounding him. The light shining from those pearls lit up the entire secret chamber so brightly that it felt like it was daytime.

With just one glance, Merlin saw a few huge boxes covered with dust in the secret chamber.

He opened those few big boxes. Inside were some potion materials as well as elemental crystal stones. The Fire-type elemental crystal stones, in particular, were too numerous to count.

"Hellfire essence, firestones... As expected, the treasures needed to cultivate Fiery Collapse!"

Very quickly, Merlin could identify the treasures inside the boxes. Other than the Fire-type elemental crystal stones, there were some of the treasures required to cultivate Fiery Collapse. There were many of them, enough for Merlin to cultivate Fiery Collapse for a long time.

At least, there would not be much of a problem to cultivate the first form of Fiery Collapse.

Merlin examined the contents for some time. Both the elemental crystal stones and the treasures required to cultivate Fiery Collapse were extremely numerous; this could be considered a huge fortune. Thus, Merlin stored all the treasures in those big boxes into his ring before slowly leaving the secret chamber.