"Come on, Sir Didimoss. Show me the power of a Seventh-level Spell Caster!"

Merlin growled softly. He was covered entirely by a layer of Perfect Armor. Admittedly, he had Wizard Bammou, a Seventh-level Spell Caster and Wizard Leo, who possessed abilities that were not inferior to an Eighth-level Spell Caster in previous battles.

However, Merlin had never truly battled with a Seventh-level Spell Caster. In order to experience how strong a Seventh-level Spell Caster was, he would need to seek it out in battle.

"As you wish. Still, I'm a Runic Magic Circle spirit, and can only rely on the strength of the Runic Magic Circle. Here I go – Runic Thunder!"

Following Didimoss' great roar, the entire seventh floor of the Runic Tower was covered in many thunderbolts. These thunderbolts did not charge at Merlin but instead, quickly gathered and transformed into nine thunderbolts that were each as thick as an arm.

"Whiz whiz whiz."

One thunderbolt after another flew toward Merlin at an incredible speed. He could not keep up with them even after casting Flash Wind, so he could only block them by force.

"Pandora Demon Ability, Fiery Collapse!"

A fireball began to form before Merlin, emitting a terrifying force. With a push from both his arms, it quickly forged ahead.

"Bang!"

With only a loud explosion, the fireball erupted into white flames that filled up space. Nevertheless, very soon, the thunderbolts began to fly out from the midst of these flames.

Condensed Fire was completely unable to withstand such Seventh-level powers. Each thunderbolt contained a terrifying strength that was comparable to a Seventh-level spell.

"Boom!"

At last, the thunderbolts landed on Merlin's Perfect Armor. Just then, Merlin felt as if he was about to be submerged in these wide-ranging thunderbolts, a feeling that he was close to death!

"The Seventh-level – I still fall short by quite a bit…"

Merlin mumbled in a low voice. Perfect Armor, which was covering his body shattered in an instant. However, just as the thunderbolts crashed into his body, a beam of white light that flickered with mysterious runes quickly flashed over his body, intercepting the power of the thunderbolts which caused no harm to Merlin.

"Whoosh."

Following that, the white light enveloped Merlin and he disappeared from the seventh floor!

"His capabilities are still lacking by a bit. How boring – I don't know who will be able to clear the seventh floor. It's easier to go back to sleep!"

The black cat Didimoss glanced carelessly at where Merlin had disappeared, and gradually faded away as if he had never appeared in the first place…

…

The Spell Casters who had gathered outside the Runic Tower seemed to have increased slightly. There were even a few Fourth-level Spell Casters who were able to build their own individual towers that came before the Runic Tower. Their eyes fixed firmly onto the seventh floor of the Runic Tower.

Merlin had brought about a miracle by getting past the sixth floor, becoming the first Spell Caster over the past thousand years of the Dark Magic Region to step onto the seventh floor!

Nonetheless, there were many Spell Casters who anticipated more from Merlin, hoping that Merlin had a final spurt of energy in him to clear the seventh floor of the Runic Tower.

Suddenly, a light began to flicker on the seventh floor of the Runic Tower, causing everyone's emotions to fluctuate with uncertainty along with the flickering light.

Finally, after flashing three times, the light vanished completely. This meant that Merlin had failed to clear the tower!

"He still failed… The Seventh floor, the final floor of the Runic Tower, holds the greatest treasure left behind by the Great Wizard Fidel. It's a shame that even Wizard Merlin had failed."

"It seems like it's fated that no one will be able to clear the seventh floor of the Runic Tower."

As soon as the light faded on the seventh floor of the Runic Tower, a beam of light appeared before the tower. Following that, the light gradually dissolved, revealing a figure within.

At that moment, countless gazes were directed at this figure. They all knew that this figure was Merlin who had just failed to clear the tower. Although he had ultimately failed in getting past the seventh floor, it was hard to deny Merlin's glory.

"Wizard Merlin, can you divulge what sort of challenge lies on the sixth floor of the Runic Tower?"

A few Spell Casters who were more ambitious questioned Merlin softly. After all, the number of Spell Casters who had cleared the sixth floor could be counted on one hand, and Merlin was one of them. If they knew what the challenge was on the sixth floor, it might be of immense benefit to Spell Casters' future attempts in getting past the sixth floor.

Nevertheless, Merlin paid them no mind. In the Dark Magic Region, there were a few Spell Casters who had reached the sixth floor before, only they were not able to clear it. They should know what the challenge of the sixth floor was, yet they did not reveal it.

There was even a Spell Caster who had recorded the challenge of the sixth floor in writing and put it up for sale in the Resource Tower. Its price was in the hundreds of contribution points, and there were only a few Spell Casters who would be willing to spend so many contribution points to exchange for it.

Therefore, Merlin was even less likely to easily divulge what the challenge of the sixth floor was. At the moment, he was still caught up in the puzzlement of experiencing thunderbolts crashing into him yet surviving it without a scratch.

Merlin could clearly recall that power which was comparable to a Seventh-level spell. Once it landed on him, he would be heavily injured even if he survived. That feeling of perishing and suffocation was imprinted in his memory even now.

However, the moment the thunderbolts crashed into him, mysterious runes had entered his body, forcibly obstructing the harmful impact of the thunderbolts. Merlin guessed that those runes must have been set up by the Great Wizard Fidel inside the Runic Tower.

Once a Spell Caster was in imminent danger, the runes of the Runic Tower would protect them and bring them away from the tower. After all, the purpose of constructing the Runic Tower was to search for prodigious Spell Casters who had excelled in and mastered runes, not to kill Spell Casters.

Merlin looked around. Other than Wizard Leo, he spotted Wizard Envia and the rest, all three of them, in the crowd. As expected, they had been safely sent out from the Runic Tower. As they had failed on the fifth floor, they were transported from the Runic Tower.

"Merlin, how did it feel being in the Runic Tower?"

Wizard Leo cracked a rare "smile". Although his appearance was sinister and frightening, and his smile was more horrifying than his tears, Merlin could perceive his sincerity.

Merlin smiled and answered, "It wasn't too bad. The Runic Tower was built by the Great Wizard Fidel himself, and he was at his peak with his accomplishments in runology. Tsk tsk, runology is amazing indeed. It's only a shame that I have no talent in runology, otherwise, I would be studying runes with great care."

Merlin was not bothered that he understood nothing of runology. Furthermore, his lack of talent in runology extended to alchemy and even potions.

In terms of brewing potions, if Merlin did not have the precise control of the Matrix, he would be unable to make potions successfully. It could be said that Merlin merely possessed average skills in many areas, but because he had the Matrix, he was able to rise above the crowd of ordinary Spell Casters, becoming a Spell Caster who was even more genius than Kleis!

Wizard Leo nodded as well. "In fact, one may only have great accomplishments by focusing on one field. Even though I study runology in depth, my main focus is still on creating spells. This is why I'm able to become a Sixth-level Spell Caster. Focus your attention on constructing spells and forget about the rest."

Perhaps there were some Spell Casters who could grow holistically and be proficient in many fields such as a genius Spell Caster like Kleis. Nevertheless, they were the minority, and most Spell Casters would only focus on one aspect.

Of course, there were some Spell Casters who felt that they had not much talent in constructing spells and were unable to progress further. Thus, they turned to the study of runology or alchemy – perhaps they could still achieve wonderful things.

"All right, let's go back to the tower. There's no point in hanging around here."

Wizard Leo glanced at the teeming masses of Spell Casters and furrowed his brow slightly.

Merlin nodded as well. He wanted to find a quiet place to examine in detail the golden relief sculpture he had acquired on the sixth floor of the Runic Tower.

With that, both of them quickly soared into the air and flew toward Wizard Leo's tower.

…

Merlin's success in clearing the sixth floor and obtaining its treasure had caused a stir within the Dark Magic Region. The popularity of the topic was only second to Kleis' betrayal of the Dark Magic Region back then.

No one had been able to get past the sixth floor of the Runic Tower. Even Kleis had only made it as far as the sixth floor and was unable to clear it.

In this round of the unspoken rivalry between Merlin and Kleis, Merlin was of course ahead by one!

Thanks to Merlin, the Runic Tower was bustling with people once more. Initially, it was quiet and deserted without many people. Now, there were great crowds every day as countless Spell Casters waited for their turn to enter the Runic Tower.

However, no miracles occurred once more, and most Spell Casters failed on the fourth floor.

Still, Merlin knew nothing of the hubbub in the Dark Magic Region, and it did not have the slightest effect on Merlin.

Merlin was currently sitting in a room in the tower. He closed his eye slightly and tried his best to calm his emotions. Only when his thoughts were at peace would a new posture appear in his mind.

He had learned this posture from the fifth relief sculpture which shone with a golden glow.

Merlin was curious about this golden relief sculpture. He tried burning it but even when he used Fiery Collapse, he was unable to induce any changes in the golden relief sculpture, much less damage it.

He did not know what material the relief sculpture was made of that caused it to be so durable. More than this, besides the difference in color, its posture was also largely distinctive.

By itself, the posture on the golden relief sculpture would not be of much use in terms of improving one's physical attributes. Merlin had tested this on the other Spell Casters in the tower.

This aspect differed greatly from the previous four relief sculptures. Upon practicing the postures on each of the previous four relief sculptures, one would definitely have a boost on one's physique.

The oddities of the golden relief sculpture did not stop there. Although practicing the posture on the golden relief sculpture by itself was not of much help toward improving one's physical attributes, if one practiced the postures of the previous four relief sculptures before practicing the one on the golden relief sculpture, it was rather effortless. Merlin could even easily perceive that the posture on the golden relief sculpture was closely linked to the postures on the previous four relief sculptures.

Nevertheless, the effects of the posture could not be seen in one or two days. It required a long period of practice before the body would gradually change.

Merlin did not know what benefits there were in practicing the posture on the golden relief sculpture. However, he could vaguely sense that continuous practice of the posture would not improve his physical attributes, but serve some other purpose instead.

As for the exact change that would occur, Merlin could only confirm this in the future after he had practiced the posture on the golden relief sculpture.