"Come out!"

Merlin looked calm, but his sights were set on a rock some distance away, at the beach. He had already realized that there were people hiding behind the rock.

The Spell Casters hiding behind the rock looked at each other. Their faces displayed helplessness, but that turned into calm expressions soon after. The male Spell Caster muttered under his breath, "Let's go. We've already been spotted, there's no point in hiding anymore."

The female Spell Caster took in a deep breath and gave a slight nod. Together, the two of them walked out from behind the rock.

"My fellow Spell Caster, we were imminent prey to the Two-headed Infant earlier but thankfully, you've chased it away. If it weren't for your timely rescue, our fates would've been sealed."

The male Spell Caster thanked Merlin immediately as he stepped out. He had prior experience in dealing with similar situations. Under these circumstances, he knew that he must not let conflict arise between both sides. Otherwise, they would be put in a precarious position.

"Oh? The monster is called a Two-headed Infant? Such a fitting name!"

Merlin mumbled under his breath. He had never seen such a monster before, much less heard of it, and it was not until now that he found out it was called the Two-headed Infant. Judging by these two Spell Caster's expressions, the Two-headed Infant must be a very terrifying monster.

Though Merlin was only whispering to himself, the male Spell Caster was sharp and caught what he said. A cheerful expression appeared on his face as he quickly interrupted, "How may I address you, Sir?

Merlin hummed for a moment before deciding against being secretive. Calmly, he answered, "Merlin."

"Ah, so you're Wizard Merlin. You don't seem to recognize this Two-headed Infant, so I assume you're not a Spell Caster from Kurdmansla Islands. I'm curious to know where you're from?"

Upon hearing what the male Spell Caster had said, an indescribable expression flashed in Merlin's eyes. Merlin asked, "You two are Spell Casters from Kurdmansla Islands?"

"That's right. We're Spell Casters from Fort Udon1, one of the three major factions on Kurdmansla Islands. My name is Gerson, and she's Wizard Delph."

Merlin nodded in silence. The sole reason he traveled all the way here was to locate Kurdmansla Islands. Now that he had met these two people, his task had become much easier.

"Wizard Gerson, Wizard Delph, I'm indeed a traveler from far away. My aim is to locate Kurdmansla Islands."

Merlin kept his explanation brief, not wanting to reveal his true identity. However, both Wizard Ferson and Wizard Delph did not follow up on that. Instead, they kindly offered, "That's convenient, Wizard Merlin, cause we can bring you to Kurdmansla Islands. We, especially our people from Fort Udon, have always welcomed powerful wizards from distant lands. If Wizard Merlin is interested in joining our faction, I'd gladly introduce you."

"I'll give it a thought."

After a brief pause, Merlin glanced at that seemingly endless sea again. He looked fairly worried as he muttered, "I think it's best if we leave this place quickly. That Two-headed Infant could still return, and by that time, I'm afraid that even I don't have the confidence to deal with it again."

Merlin's fear did not stem from the Two-headed Infant itself, but rather from its overpowered summoning abilities. It was stunning how it could control some powerful sea beasts.

If the Two-headed Infant were to summon stronger sea beasts, even Merlin would not be able to fend them off. Hence, the danger was still present, and it was best for them to pick up their pace and leave this place.

Wizard Gerson nodded in agreement. It seemed like he was still recovering from the events earlier when he added, "True, we should really leave now. It's way too dangerous here."

Wizard Gerson was still traumatized. He and Wizard Delph were already regretting coming to a dangerous place like this. They could not quite believe that the first thing they encounter here was a Two-headed Infant. If not for Merlin, they would have been doomed.

Therefore, the three of them left the beach hastily.

*****

"Wizard Merlin, you've come to Kurdmansla Islands to join which faction? You can't survive without the protection of a faction on Kurdmansla Islands. Even the most powerful Spell Casters will join certain factions. Otherwise, they won't have any safety assurance when facing the sea beasts' violent attacks."

Along their way, Gerson was trying his best to update Merlin about some current affairs on Kurdmansla Islands.

There was no doubt that Kurdmansla Islands was a busy place, but that was on the basis that the place was safe. In truth, Kurdmansla Islands was not just unsafe, it was treacherous.

The thousands of small isles that formed Kurdmansla Islands were often a target of the menacing sea beasts' attacks. The sea beasts are true dictators of this vast sea. Every now and then, the sea beasts would gather in mass and attack Kurdmansla Islands.

This seemed to have become a norm for Kurdmansla Islands, and this precisely highlights the importance of factions. The stronger factions would be able to organize their forces and vanquish those sea beasts systematically. With that, one would not have to face the sea beasts alone, reducing the risks involved. On top of that, one could also split the various types of profits gained after eliminating the sea beasts.

For those Spell Casters who did not join any factions, no matter how strong they were, they would still crack under fatigue as a result of constant battling with endless waves of sea beasts. There were quite a few examples of those who had perished this way.

However, Merlin did not agree to it immediately. He had only just arrived at Kurdmansla Islands, so it made sense that he wanted to learn more about it first. Besides, he came here to find Lava Soil. If he could find it on Kurdmansla Islands, he would not need to look for it amongst those dangerous volcanoes.

"Right, besides Fort Udon, what other factions are on Kurdmansla Islands?"

Merlin recalled Wizard Gerson mentioning earlier that Fort Udon was only one of the three major factions on Kurdmansla Islands. This means there were two other factions that were more or less similar to Fort Udon.

Wizard Gerson did not conceal any info. On the contrary, he gave him a generous explanation. "Kurdmansla Islands houses a lot of factions, but the others are mere tiny factions. There are only three undisputed, dominating factions. Besides us Fort Udon, the other two factions are Gray Wing Alliance and Wizard's Tower."

Merlin ingrained those two factions' names in the back of his mind so that he could match them upon arriving at Kurdmansla Islands. However, the prerequisites for that to happen were if Merlin's had failed to find Lava Soil, thus leaving him no choice but to stay on Kurdmansla Islands for a little while longer.

Before long, Merlin could already see ubiquitous small isles at the edge of the beach. These isles were not far apart from each other. From afar, they looked as though they were all connected, and it seemed that there were tens of thousands of them.

This was the Kurdmansla Islands!

"Wizard Merlin, we've reached Kurdmansla Islands. We'll now head straight to the largest main island. Almost all of the factions, be it big or small, are stationed on the main island."

Wizard Gerson gave Merlin a detailed walkthrough as Merlin narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the location of the main island.

After brief scrutiny, he came to realize that the main island's location was really strategic as it was almost completely surrounded by the rest of the isles. Not only was it the largest, but it was the safest of all.

He had heard from Wizard Gerson that Kurdmansla Islands was not safe, because every once in a while there would be a great number of sea beasts launching attacks on Kurdmansla Islands. By that time, it would be a scene of a massacre with fierce battles going on everywhere. However, the strategic position of the main island ensured that the sea beasts would have a hard time infiltrating the main island.

No wonder so many factions rather station themselves on the main island, including the top three strongest factions.

Soon, under Wizard Gerson's lead, Merlin arrived at the main island. Quite a number of Spell Casters greeted Wizard Gerson. It would appear that he was quite popular around here.

"Wizard Merlin, we've arrived at Fort Udon. Have you decided on which faction you're going to join?"

Wizard Gerson's eyes gleamed with anticipation. He was well aware of Merlin's capabilities. Once Merlin joins Fort Udon, he would be rewarded generously and earn a lavish fortune.

"I'm not in a hurry really. Is there a place here that sells alchemy materials in bulk?"

Merlin gave a slight smile. He did not plan to make his decision at this point in time.

"Yes, there are places like these, but they're all Fort Udon merchants who mainly sells alchemy materials to members of our faction. If you're not one of ours, the prices are going to be steep."

"Doesn't matter, I just want to take a look."

Merlin did not mind at all. He had a lot of elemental crystal stones in his ring and he was already wastefully using the stones to replenish his Magic Powers while he was rushing his journey here, so he did not mind spending a little more of them. As long as he got his hands on Lava Soil, however many elemental crystal stones he spent would still be worthwhile.

Seeing that Merlin did not mind, Wizard Gerson did not add on to his point. Instead, he brought Merlin to a spacious shop. Many Spell Casters could be seen patronizing the place.

"Wizard Merlin, just request whatever you need here. If you can't find it here, you won't find it anywhere else on Kurdmansla Islands, even if you go to the other merchants."

Merlin nodded and entered the shop. Seeing him walking in, a sweet-looking female Spell Caster immediately came forward to welcome him.

"My dear Master Wizard, what can I get for you?"

This female Spell Caster looked like an Entrance-level Spell Caster. However, she looked rather young and seemed like she had just started cultivating recently. Anyhow, there was still a chance that she could become a First-level Spell Caster.

Merlin thought for a moment and asked, "I need Lava Soil. Do you have it here?"

"Lava Soil? That's gonna be tough. Lava Soil may be a precious alchemy material, but even for a place like Kurdmansla Islands, it's still scarcely found. One would need to look for it among the dangerous volcanoes. In recent times, there are very few Spell Casters who'd still look for Lava Soil. Master, if you need to craft certain casting tools, we have better replacements as raw materials. I can recommend you…"

Merlin immediately cut the female Spell Caster short. He furrowed his eyebrows as he interrupted, "You don't have Lava Soil here?"

The female Spell Caster gave Merlin a look over. She then nodded and continued, "That's right, people seldom scavenge for Lava Soil, so we really don't have it here. Even if you go to the other shops on Kurdmansla Islands, I'm sure you can't find it there either."

Merlin was somewhat disappointed. He could not quite believe, that after all the effort he made to finally arrive at Kurdmansla Islands, he still could not manage to find Lava Soil. Did he really have to go look for it amongst the dangerous volcanoes after all?

He had to remember, that once those volcanoes erupt, even a Seventh-level Spell Caster would not escape death if he or she was unprepared.

Just as Merlin was beginning to feel let down, Wizard Gerson, who had been standing behind him spoke, "So, turns out that you're looking for Lava Soil. If you were to join the Fort Udon faction, it really won't be hard to obtain some."

The name Udon is directly translated from the exact words used by the author in Mandarin language